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Chapter 36: Do You Play

Afghanistan: July 22nd

Brennan groaned when the reveille sounded across the camp at sunrise. Grunting she reached for Booth but the other side of the cot was empty. Groaning she carefully sat up and swung her legs to the edge of the cot. Her legs were weak and wobbly but after a moment, they straightened. Stumbling over to her bags, she dug out her clothes.

Grabbing her towel and showering supplies, she slowly made her way to the showers, stopping for a minute to stop the world from spinning on her way to the shower. Feeling victorious when she reached the showers, she sat on the bench waiting for her legs to stop wobbling so much. Brennan hissed when the cold water hit her skin, becoming grateful when it got warm.

After finishing her shower, Brennan pulled her clothes on and made her way to her tent. Although her legs felt much steadier and stronger she still took her time going back to her tent. Reaching her tent, she set her shower items in the tent on the floor then sat of the bed for a moment.

A few minutes later, she made her way to the mess tent. Walker gave her a big grin and set a plate with a vegetable omelet in front of her with coffee on the side. Giving him a grateful smile she made her way to the table where Booth's unit was sitting and sat down. She was talking to them quietly when she suddenly said,

"Booth are you doing to sit down or stare at my breasts all day?" Booth's eyes popped open and grin lit his face.

"Is the second one an option?" The men at the table did not try very hard to stifle their laughter.

"Henderson wants to talk to all of us about what happened last night," Booth informed the table who nodded.

"You too Bones," he said when she didn't nod or reply.

"You can tell him where to find me," she said as if were an everyday occurrence.

"Nuh uh you're staying in that tent. You couldn't use most of your body yesterday. You are not sitting in the morgue putting someone's skull back together," Booth argued. She leaned in until their noses were almost touching her eyes locked on his.

"Make me," she said in a daring tone with a self-satisfied smirk plastered on her face. The men began to hoot and holler at her challenge. Booth eyed her and asked,

"Is that a challenge?"

"Yes I believe that is what that would be called," she sassed back.

"If you won't stay in the tent then I'll drag you into the classroom with me," he threatened.

"I'd be glad to teach them," she told him and took a bite of her omelet.

"Sending the hottie teacher fantasy up a notch," muttered Brown. Booth looked at Brown with a raised eyebrow, then turned to look at Brennan and thought about it for for a moment.

"You can work on your skull on one condition," he bargained.

"Depends upon the condition," Brennan replied.

"You take breaks when I come and get you, as well as end the day when I say," Booth told her in a smug fashion, knowing she hated being told what to do.

"That is two conditions," she corrected and took another bite.

"Take it or leave it," he said blithely, making her sigh and roll her eyes.

"Deal," she agreed. She watched as Addison stiffly stood up, she eyed his back.

"Pvt. Addison your why are you T10 and T11 out of alignment?" He stopped and stayed hunched a little his face turning red.

"I fell asleep hanging over my bunk," he replied in a pained tone. Brennan nodded then stood up; walking behind him, taking a steadying stance she placed her arms under his arms and hooked them behind his neck.

"Whaa. What are you doing?"

"Just let her do it Addison. You'll be kissing her feet in the next few minutes," Booth assured him having been on the receiving end of her spinal adjustments.

"Just relax," she coaxed and he relaxed his muscles. She slowly rotated him forward and the around and with a quick snap pushed the vertebrae back into place. Addison stood there for a second then moved around.

"Oh my god that feels so much better. How in the world did you do that?"

"I call her Bones for a reason," Booth told him with a grunt.

"Actually it's my Kinesiology doctorate that helps in this situation," she corrected.

"What the hell is kinesiology?" Legates asked still eating but curious.

"Study of human movement," she stated. Moving from behind Addison, she said,

"I have work to do." Standing up she disposed of her dishes then made her way from the tent moving faster than she had that morning yet still slow.

"She doesn't pull any punches does she Sarge?" Davis laughed out with a grin on his face.

"Nope but it makes for some very interesting, embarrassing, and informative discussions," Booth told them with a grin and a wink.

Brennan was sitting at the table in the morgue with the last piece of the parietal bone of the first skull in her hand when the door swung open. Placing the piece firmly she looked up and smiled,

"James what can I do for you?"

"You can get your ass back in bed and get better," he snapped.

"If I did not know that you respect me more than that I might have said something degrading," she snapped back cutting her eyes at him. He laughed and walked over to pull up a stool. Sitting down on it, he eyed her while she picked up another piece of skull.

"Are you dealing Tempe?"

"I am learning and as you know I have a steep learning curve so yes I am as you put it dealing," came her monotone reply as she placed the piece in her hand.

"Are you here to ask about the incident with Francis? Booth said you would want to talk to me," she questioned.

"Nahhh I got the statements from Booth and the unit, if you would like to look them over that is fine. But no need to talk about it unless you want to," he told her.

"So why are you here then?" Brennan asked as she held the two pieces of bone together to let the glue dry

He pulled out an off-white envelope with her name neatly printed on the front. She took it from his hand and opened it. It was an invitation to a formal dinner for him.

She nodded and replied,
"I'll be there."

"Are you bringing a date?"

"Of course Booth is coming. I should ask him first though," she amended quickly.

"I will need to get a dress. When I packed for Maluku I did not expect a formal occasion," she told him.

"Some of the female privates want to meet you and since you seem to be constantly in the mens tents they've been unable to speak with you. Private Wilkins has extended an invitation to go with them to do some shopping in Kabul if you are interested," he told her.

"That sounds like it would be interesting," she said with a smile.

"You sure have changed Tempe, it's not a bad thing but it's different."

"I've evolved James, Booth started it and I am working on completing it," she returned.

"Booth's important to you then?"

"Yes, I love him," came her soft reply. Henderson whistled low and raised his eyebrows.

"Well let me go get Wilkins so you two can discuss what you are doing," he told her. Henderson left the morgue and Brennan continued to glue the skull of the fallen soldier together. Two hours later found Brennan in a jeep with five other women who were laughing and teasing each other.

"So you're what's got Sgt. Major Booth in such a snit," laughed out Wilkins wiggling her eyebrows at her.

"I don't know what that means," Brennan said with a smile.

"Honey that man is head over heels for you. He used to sit in the com tent reading those e-mails and coming out with that grin on his face. Man if I could get a man that good looking to grin like that over me," she sighed out. The women laughed and fanned themselves and Brennan started to grin.

"You sound like my best friend Angela. She refers to him as Agent studly, or g-man or sometimes just calls him sexy," she told them with a smirk. The privates burst out laughing and Paulson snickered out,
"If he wasn't higher rank I would so call him sexy."

"So what are you shopping for Dr. Brennan?" Fredricks asked her with a smile.

"I am going to the formal dinner for James. So I need a dress and everything that goes with it," she said. The women looked at each other mouthing "James" in question.

"Oh you mean General Henderson," Paulson suddenly realized.

"Yeah I'm going with Masterson," Wilkins told them.

The women started shopping for Brennan and Wilkins first, since the two of them were looking for something specific not just shopping. It took over two hours for them to find dresses because Brennan was constantly having to stop and rest. Then the group spent another two hours finding the perfect dress for Wilkins.

The privates were trying hard not to have a complete panic attack at the price tag on Brennan's dress and Brennan just shrugged handing the cashier her credit card. They spent an hour picking out shoes and accessories. Carrying their bags they made their way to the jeep, climbing in they drove back to camp. When Paulson pulled the jeep into the parking spot they saw Booth striding towards them with a scowl on his face.

"Uh oh you are in trouble. And he is still hot when he's mad," Wilkins smirked at her. Brennan laughed and rolled her eyes as she and the other women jumped out of the jeep.

"Bones," he growled and the women fanned their faces. He looked at them then raised his eyebrows at them.

"They think you're sexy Booth," she told him bluntly. Booth's face turned red and she smirked at him.

"How many times have I told you your features are symmetrical and your musculature is defined well," she told him with a smile.

"Bones, flattery gets you almost nowhere with me. What were you doing taking off like that? No one knew where you were. You drive me nuts sometimes I swear. How many times have you gotten yourself into trouble by running off and not telling me where you were?" Brennan rolled her eyes and grabbed her bags from the jeep.

"I'll see you tomorrow Wilkins," she called as she stalked off. Booth strode off leaving the privates standing there with their mouths hanging open. The women burst out laughing at the same time, grabbed their bags, and headed to their tents.

"Bones, I am not through talking to you," Booth called out.

"You are not talking to me you are in fact yelling at me. And yes, you are finished," Brennan said in a cold tone. Continuing to walk towards her tent, Brennan ignored the snarling man following her. After entering the tent she found herself spun around by the waist in a very firm grip.

"Bones," he rumbled low in his throat, "you worried me sick. This is no place to go running off alone."

"I was not alone I was with privates Wilkins, Jackson, Paulson, Johns, and Fredricks."

"Bones," Booth reprimanded, "I nearly had a heart attack. None of my guys knew where you were no one at the morgue saw you leave. I can't protect you if I don't know where you are."

"Booth I can take care of myself," she retorted.

"You've done a fine job so far," he said sarcastically. Her back stiffened and her jaw set, he saw the walls inch up just a little bit. He ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm sorry Bones. I am really sorry, that was uncalled for and wrong. It's just, I can't protect you if I don't know where you are. I didn't in Indonesia and that was not a war zone. Please just let me know or even one of the guys know if you're going somewhere, please," he said in a pained whisper.

"You are forgiven, but I would like to remind you, that you were protecting me when I was kidnapped. Today I was shopping for a formal dinner for James. I was going to ask you but if all you need to know is where I am, then I think perhaps I'll ask Parks since you now know where I'll be," she snipped out with a curt nod.

"Oh no you don't," he growled pulling her into a kiss.

"If you want to go with me then I suggest you get your dress uniform ready. Now if you will excuse me I have skulls to reconstruct," she said pushing away with a small snarl.

"Okay I guess I deserved that. I'm going to go grab something to eat and do some pt so I guess I'll see you later," he said with a sigh.

He opened the tent door and let it close with a thunk walking over to the mess tent. Brennan sighed and sat down on her cot and opened her computer. Clicking on the teleconference link, she waited for someone to answer. The screen opened and Hodgins face appeared on the screen.

"Hey Dr. B! Glad to see you joined the land of the moving," he smiled while saying.

"I don't know what that means," she said automatically. He just laughed and asked,

"What do you need?"

"I need to talk to Angela please."

"Scientific or best friend?"

"Best friend."

"Yeah just a minute I'll transfer you to her office." The screen went blank Brennan impatiently tapped her fingers on the keyboard.

"Hey sweetie what's up?" Angela asked beaming her a smile that faltered at the look of pain in Brennan's eyes and the firm set of her jaw.

"The roof of my tent is up," Brennan replied automatically for which she received the look she knew so well.

"To literal?" Angela nodded in the affirmative and waited for a reply.

"Ange I don't know what to do. I lost complete control of my body because of my mind. The one thing I could always trust to be logical did this to me. I feel like I have lost control over everything. These emotions are running amok and I feel like nothing is logical, nothing is rational. Booth just told me that apparently I've not been doing a good job of taking care of myself and I don't know whether he meant it," Brennan said trying not to cry. Angela watched her friend struggle with the flood of emotions and uncertainty.

"Okay what exactly happened with Booth? That does not sound like g-man at all." Brennan rubbed her forehead and explained what had happened. Angela listened intently as Brennan told her what had happened.

"Sweetie first of all he would never say something intentionally that would hurt you. He loves you and is worried about you, scared for your safety. He's always been like that but one of his fears became reality in Maluku. Now you're in Afghanistan and that is a war zone your chances of getting hurt or disappearing are much higher. Between the two situations his "alpha male" characteristics are in over drive," she explained with a little sympathy.

"But Ange if I cannot get some control over my life back then all of them have won. I'll be broken and unable to put my life back together," Brennan whispered. Angela's heart broke at the whispered words. She had known about what happened in El Salvador and Indonesia, she partially understood about her time in the car from Jack. But what hurt her most was that Brennan felt broken.

"Talk to Sweets, don't tell him anything you're not comfortable with but maybe he can give you some coping techniques to help you put yourself back together and be stronger for it," Angela told her, "then wrap yourself in a cast called Booth and let the glue dry."

After closing the connection with Angela, Brennan left her tent and made her way to the morgue. She finished putting the skull together took digital pictures and placed tissue markers then took more pictures. By dinner time she had another skull half-way finished. Stopping to glance at the clock she stood up and pulled off her gloves with a snap. Walking towards the door she pulled off the white lab coat, hung it next to the door and stepped out of the morgue. As she made her way down the hall, she bumped into Walker.

"Booth sent me to fetch you Dr. Brennan," he told her with an indulgent smile.

"Thank you Sgt. Walker but I am quite capable of making my way to the mess tent myself," Brennan returned swiftly.

Walker smiled then gestured for her to precede him. Walking three steps behind her, he followed her to the mess tent. After getting her food, Brennan sat down between Williamson and Parks. The men were discussing the dinner tomorrow night and Brennan listened quietly as she ate. Booth sat at the other end of the table watching her as she observed what was going on around her.

Brennan left the mess tent after finishing her dinner. Making her way to her tent, she entered then sat on the edge of the bed. Booting up her computer she uploaded the pictures from her camera onto the Jeffersonian server. As she was sending Angela a quick email she heard the soft strum of a guitar. Brennan left her tent after she finished sending the email to Angela.

Following the sounds of the guitar she found Techie sitting in a camp chair playing the guitar. There were several chairs around him and she sat in one to listen. He looked up to find her looking at his guitar with interest. He raised his eyebrows at her and asked,

"Do you play?"

A/N: Okay so I appologize if this chapter seems worse (grammer and transitionally speaking) worse. I'm having a bad bloodsugar morning. Anywho up next...Sesame Street, Incompetence and realizations. The next chapter is extremely short and I appologize ahead of time but in order for the cut off points to flow a little better I had to cut it off. Maybe if yall are nice and review alot I might post two chapters ).

Reviews are awesome and I love them! So please do.