Disclaimer: Bones and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement. All characters and places are meant to be fictional.
Author's Notes: Oops. I said B & B would be dirty dancing in this chapter, but the muse took a short detour. This chapter is a little on the short side. But there was a natural place to stop.
Responses to your reviews are at the end.
Sweets' Plan for the Truth
Chapters 29: Double the Work
When Hannah walked into the lab, heads began to turn in disbelief. She noticed, of course. But she needed to make amends. She found Brennan's door to be opened and realized that she was intently focused on her computer. She knocked twice before getting her attention.
"Hannah? What are you doing here?"
"I was hoping that we could go to lunch. I'd like to share some new information that could help the case."
"I think you should call Booth or one of the other agents about that."
"I don't think Seeley is going to take me seriously right now. You're the only person I have to turn to."
Hodgins walked in to hear the end of what Hannah was saying and his protective instincts kicked into gear. "Is everything okay, Dr. Brennan?"
"Currently, everything is fine." She turned back to Hannah. "I don't see why you can't talk to me here where it's more private."
"I think I would be more comfortable in a different setting and it's very important that I talk with you."
"Dr. Brennan, may I talk to you privately for a minute?"
Brennan reluctantly followed Hodgins out of her office; they stayed close enough to keep an eye on Hannah. She just didn't trust her not to snoop.
"I don't think this is a good idea. You should call Booth."
"Play along," she silently mouthed to him. Then she spoke just loud enough to be heard. "I am capable of taking care of myself."
"I still don't like it." Hodgins mimicked her stance with his arms folded in front of him.
"Diner," she mouthed. "You don't have to like it," she said for Hannah's benefit again. She mouthed her final words to Hodgins. "Call Booth."
And then Hodgins stormed away.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
After their lunches were ordered, Brennan confronted her a bit harshly about her information.
"You're not one to beat around the bush."
"I don't know what that means. I'd prefer that you be direct if this is as important as you claim it is."
Hannah let out a big sigh. "I should have known this wasn't going to be easy."
They were so intensely focused on each other that they didn't notice Booth and Perotta walk into the diner.
"I told you he would give all of himself to you and you promised me you wouldn't hurt him. I trusted you to make him happy," Brennan reminded her.
Booth had overheard her say that one other time. "When did you do that?" asked Booth. "Why would you do that?" asked Perotta.
Both women looked surprised. Brennan didn't know which question to answer first or if she should even attempt any answers. It was Booth who broke the awkward silence.
"I brought Agent Perotta with me since I'm not officially managing the case," he said to Brennan. Then he turned Hannah. "Bones is my partner, Hannah. If you have information about the case, I want to know about it." Booth and Perotta had taken their seats. Booth sat next to Brennan while Perotta sat next to Hannah. "So… tell me what this is about."
"The deal may be going down at a different location."
"What makes you think that?" asked Perotta.
"I was standing outside Kip's office while he was talking on the phone. I wasn't suspicious, at first. I was just waiting for him to finish. But then he was talking about bars… two of them. One of them was Tim's Tavern, the one he told you about. The other one is called The Lab. During our discussion, he excused himself to talk to another journalist at his door. I glanced at his day planner which was lying open on his desk. On today's date, it said The Lab.
"What would make you need to talk to him after yesterday's revelations?" asked Booth skeptically.
She shrugged as if it was inconsequential. "I wanted an explanation for his actions."
"Why are you being so forthcoming now?" asked Perotta.
"I want to make things right. I never meant to hurt anyone." Hannah looked directly at Booth. "I never meant to hurt you."
"But you just couldn't help yourself. The journalist in you wanted the story more than anything else." Booth's voice was matter of fact, without emotion and it made Hannah tear up at the truth of his words. She should have remembered that she wasn't meant to be in a committed relationship. Her chosen profession and life style didn't allow it. She quietly left the group to have lunch without her.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
A briefing was quickly held at the Hoover an hour later. Not knowing if they were following a false lead, they decided to cover both locations. It was decided that Booth and Brennan would go to Tim's Tavern as planned. Tim's Tavern was an establishment that saw a regular group of patrons on Thursday nights. In order to look less out of place, they decided it would be safer to go as a group celebrating an event. So Booth and Brennan would be joining Chase and three other agents.
Sweets, Perotta and a couple more agents would go undercover at The Lab which was more of a bar and grill with a small dance floor and less rowdy. When Rachel found out Sweets was going undercover again, she talked her way into the action claiming that she was legally part of the case and virtually unknown. Sweets wanted to believe she was acting out of jealousy and would've liked to tease her, but he didn't push his luck.
It was late in the afternoon when Booth was informed that one of their female undercover agents pulled out of the operation because her husband had been in a car accident. The lead agents agreed with Booth that the available female agents that night were too inexperienced for undercover work.
Booth walked up the steps to the platform where the squints were examining a body.
"Booth, you're here early. Is there something wrong?"
He received all of the squints' attention, but his focus for the moment was on one particular squint. "Hopefully not for long, Bones."
"Hey, I need those," Bones said annoyingly. Hodgins and Cam laughed at the FBI agent as he whipped off Brennan's rubber gloves.
"I'll give them back. Don't worry."
Brennan snorted. "That would be very unsanitary." But her annoyance faded into laughter when Booth twirled her around and then guided her body into a dip.
"Oh, Angie's going to be pissed when she hears she missed this," said Hodgins with a chuckle.
"Alright people. Get back to work," Cam announced to the squinterns who were close enough to see the action. She turned to Booth who was already grabbing a new pair of gloves and handing them to Brennan. "Would you mind telling me what the problem is? I can't imagine it has anything to do with your dance moves."
"It's close."
Cam squinted at him as she tried to figure out what he may be thinking.
"How are your dancing skills these days?"
"Are you hinting that you think I'm getting too old to dance?" Cam's squint turned to more of a glare.
Booth flashed his charming smile because he knew it would calm her down. Even though his back was to Brennan, she laughed.
"Is there something funny about those bones, Dr. Brennan?"
Brennan only glanced up for a moment. "Of course not," she finished with no further explanation.
"Okay… I'll bite. What was so funny?" asked Cam.
"I was amused at how quickly Booth's smile changed your mood."
Cam's jaw dropped. Booth's eyebrows rose in surprise. But Brennan didn't notice either of their expressions.
"Okay big guy, what's the problem?"
"The problem is that I lost an agent for tonight's operation. Are you game?"
"Seriously, you want me to go undercover with you?"
"That's what he just asked," came Brennan's voice from behind Booth. Cam's chin scrunched in amusement and Booth chuckled.
Sounding like she was being punished, Cam jokingly answered. "Fine. What time do you need me?"
"Meet me at Bone's apartment at 8:30." He started down the steps but turned around. "Oh… and Cam. You won't regret it. You're being partnered up with a well structured specimen of the male kingdom." Then he quickly disappeared out the doors.
Brennan snorted again and rolled her eyes. "Kingdom." she mumbled. Then there was silence.
"That's all you're going to say?" Cam asked in surprise.
"What?" asked Brennan.
"No complaints about Booth's sexist comment?"
Brennan simply said, "Booth will always be Booth. It's really quite logical."
Cam thought they may have gone crazy on her in the past 10 minutes. She shook her head and headed to her office.
I don't usually ask for reviews, but this time I am… because I have questions. *u*
Question #1: In this chapter, we found out that the FBI will be sending undercover agents (and non-agents) into two bars instead of one. I'm wondering how predictable this plot is going to turn out. So… Does anyone want to guess what will happen because of this new development?
Question #2: The TV show, in my opinion, gradually brought the team back together in the 2nd half of the season. How am I doing with that?
Question #3 in the Cam section below.
Reviews and Responses for: NCISaddict77, Rankor01, JET1967, Boneslover10, Jdragonfire29, BanBSHIPPER and SouthunLady.
Cam: I agree that Cam is the most likely character to successfully help Booth get back to the center. I was disappointed that the show didn't use her for that. All we saw was Booth helping her with Paul. I personally thought that was a forced and unbelievable scene… but that's just little old me.
Question #3: Cam will play another important role in this story at the end. Can you guess what that will be? (Again… Am I being predictable?)
Chase: Yeah, I'm feeling sorry for him, too. I guess I wrote him better than I thought I would. LOL! I've finally figured out what will happen with him, but it won't play out fully unless I do a sequel.
Boneslover10: Thanks for all the encouragement you've given me! Flashback: Thank you so much for mentioning that! I'm not experienced with that type of writing and I'm glad it worked.
BandBSHIPPER: You mentioned that you wondered what Booth would look like blonde. There are a couple of photos with him having blonde streaks and they can be found on my blog. There is a direct link on my profile page. Blogging: One of the reasons I'm blogging is because I'm hoping to become published with my original fiction stories and non-fiction teachers' guides. Publishers and agents are looking for internet savvy writers: digital publications, blog tours, participation on websites, etc. I would love it if you looked at my blog, and if you're interested, click the follow button and/or make a comment or two. What does my Bones blog have? (Photos, Quotes, Promos, Spoilers, Interviews, Fan Fiction Stories, YouTube Videos, Forum Discussions, Ratings and Reviews)
(I'm treading carefully on this topic…) Two different viewpoints have been addressed after chapter 28 about Booth:
There does seem to be a division in the perception of how the 100th episode affected the plot of the show. And some people, me included, didn't like how Booth acted in the first half of season 6. But I hope that it has come across that I don't put all the blame on just one character. I think all of the characters, especially B&B, have evolved into better versions of themselves… including recognizing mistakes and moving forward. (To me, moving forward and moving on have 2 different meanings.)
This story is post 100th. Therefore, I'm not examining what would have happened if either Booth or Brennan had acted differently and ended up a couple then. (Did that make sense?) So, I'm not really sure how to answer the confusion that was posed around this idea.
Apologies… I hope I've shown them as doing this gradually with each other and with themselves and they continue to evolve. Booth apologizes to Bones in chapter 22. It will be more focused on Brennan apologizing near the end of the story. That said, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the ending. I haven't read every story in fandom, but I haven't read a storyline that will bring B&B together the way I will be writing it in this story. (Geez… I hope I didn't sound too much like HH and SN by claiming that. Eek! Should I knock on wood?)
