Chapter 38: I've Got You Under My Nails

One minute Booth was staring at the file in front of him showing that his DNA was found on Victor Arnold and the next he was being hauled to his feet and shoved out the door by a slightly hyper Caroline who told Veers she needed to consult with her client. Glaring daggers at the guards who looked like they were going to tag along she prodded Booth into one of the empty conference rooms and shoved him into a chair.

"That's your DNA," she wasn't asking him.

"Yup," he admitted softly, trying to look anywhere else but right at her.

"Explain. Now."

Booth sighed heavily and leaned back in the chair as his mind traveled back 48 hours.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

Tuesday:

With Brennan being so busy at the lab with the Maluku Project, she hadn't been able to find time lately to join him for lunch or dinner. After a particularly grueling morning of teaching and one of the longest, most boring meetings Booth had endured during his professional career, he found himself needing to blow off some steam, so he grabbed enough take-out for two and left.

By the time he strolled through the lab doors and waved at security he was much more relaxed than he had been all morning. A smile crossed his face as he let his free hand drift into his pocket, brushing past the dice, and the poker chip, and the Zippo to the small box he'd had on his person since the day after Jared's wedding. His fingers deftly opened the velvety lid, caressing the rings inside.

His mind drifted to how he could ask her, and what she would say, and if she would recognize the rings as her mother's. The fact that Max had entrusted them to him meant a lot but they talked about her mother almost as much as they talked about his father and with marriage already being a delicate subject with her he didn't want to risk upsetting the apple cart.

He closed the box and curled his hand instead around the note that had accompanied the rings. "Take care of her," was all it said and that's exactly what he intended on doing. Every day. For the rest of their lives.

A sound snapped him out of his musings and back to the present and as he came around the corner in the otherwise deserted hallway, his blood froze in his veins. Dr. Victor Arnold had Brennan boxed in against the wall and the low, controlled tenor of her voice made it clear the advances weren't welcome.

"You don't know what you're missing," the other scientist told her.

"I think she does," Booth set down the food and made his presence known, "and I think it's time for you to be on your way."

"You gonna shoot me, G-man?" Arnold sneered with open contempt at the sidearm Booth was making no effort to hide.

Booth stepped forward and Brennan slipped from her spot against the wall, holding up a hand to Booth, "It's not worth it."

He was about to back down when the other man made a sound like a whip and muttered something under his breath.

"You wanna share that with the rest of the class, Vicky?" Booth stepped around Brennan and glared.

"Booth!" she reprimanded.

"Yes, Booth," the other man mocked, "behave yourself."

"You are way outta line, Pal," Booth was barely keeping a lid on his temper.

"And you're way out of her league," Arnold shot back. "A woman of Dr. Brennan's caliber doesn't belong with a cop."

"And you think you are?" Booth raised an eyebrow.

"I'm wealthy, intelligent, and successful," boasted Victor. "I'm sure Dr. Brennan must know that the anthropological class differences between the two of you will be almost impossible to overcome for a successful, long-term relationship. The disparity is too great no matter how good the sex is right now."

With a haughty sniff the scientist moved around Brennan and up the hallway, deliberately brushing Booth back with his shoulder. Without a conscious thought, Booth's hand reached out and grabbed Victor's collar, picking him up off of the ground as he did so. Panicked, the smaller man clawed at Booth's arm, then took a swipe at his exposed neck.

"I don't think so," Booth shook him off, barely registering the contact. "You stay the hell away from Bones and if you're lucky I won't charge you with assaulting a federal officer. Got it?"

"Booth does not make idle threats," Brennan informed Victor when the other man refused to acknowledge anything.

Victor's head dipped ever so slightly and Booth relinquished his hold, walking casually over to where he'd left the food and then moving toward the relative safety of Brennan's office. He resisted the temptation to look over his shoulder and watch the other man retreat, content enough to feel Brennan following in his wake.

Neither one of them spoke as they entered her office and the silence continued well into their meal. He sighed, wondering if this was going to be one of those things where she was more upset with him for fighting over her than at the other guy for starting it.

"You okay, Bones?" he asked finally, too curious not to ask.

She shifted the food around its carton with her chopstick with a slow nod.

"Mad at me?" he guessed, resigning himself to being in the doghouse.

After a long look she sighed, "No, Booth. I- I recognize that were acting on my behalf."

"Did he hurt you?" Booth was on his feet and around her desk in a heartbeat. "Before I got there, I mean."

"I'm fine," she assured him, rising to place her hands on his chest to soothe him. "He was pressuring me to go out with him and was attempting to trap me against the wall, but he didn't touch me."

"This has happened before?" Booth tamped down on the ire rising back up inside of him as he studied her face.

"He's," she trailed off, then finished the thought, "persistent. Despite the fact that I've made it quite clear I'm content in my current relationship."

"Mmm, I like being with you too, Baby," he rested his forehead against hers. "You wanna talk about it some more?"

"I want to kiss you."

The air from her words hit his lips just before she closed the gap between them. He felt her small hands caress his back as their tongues danced gently.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

"Spare me the porno," Caroline halted him. She leaned back, brow furrowing, "This is exactly the kind of thing I should've known about before we went in there. Do you realize how bad this looks, Cherie?"

"I didn't kill him, Caroline, I swear!" protested Booth.

"Look," she laid a meaty hand on his shoulder, "I believe you or I wouldn't be here but we are swimming upstream on this one and your elite gang of squints is too close to you for me to let them handle evidence."

The door to the conference room sprang open, revealing an agitated Veers, "Are you two finished in here?"

"I have a right to consult privately with my client," Caroline said belligerently. "Now, are you going to charge this man or are we going to waste more of the taxpayers' money listening to you jaw on and on?"

"Is your client willing to sign a confession?" Veers asked, crossing his arms.

"Hell no," she shook her head.

"Than I have no choice but to charge him," Veers informed her.

"We'll see what the judge sets bail at and get you out as soon as possible," the prosecutor told Booth, then turned to Veers. "He's not a flight risk."

"Agreed, though there's still the issue of where Dr. Brennan is," he pointed out.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

Time was marked by the position of the sun and she scratched a mark in the dirt to help her keep track of the days. Saturday morning's paper came with her meager breakfast, announcing that Booth had been formally charged and her heart sunk. The only thing that gave her hope was that the article mentioned that Caroline Julian had taken his case. She wondered if their old colleagues had been gathered as well, but the paper offered no information in that regard.

Sunday passed. Then Monday. Then Tuesday.

It seemed if anything was going to happen, she was going to have to do it herself.