(About six months after season 12 ended.)

This story was requested by JAG'ed Bones in the Caskett quite a while ago. I hope this is what you wanted.

I really don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooo

It had been ages since Chief Inspector Cate Pritchard had seen Booth and Brennan and while she was in the D.C. area she had every intention of dropping in on them and seeing what they were up to. She kept track of the two rather vicariously by reading about their exploits in the Washington Post and online in the chat rooms. Brennan was a very popular mystery novelist and her fans seemed to know more about her than the local newspapers and Booth was in the news for various exploits including being arrested for murdering several FBI Agents, the charges later being dropped and stopping an attempted coup of the United States government. That had been quite a shocker and Pritch had found that to be more than a little disturbing. She knew that politics could be wild in the States, but an attempted Coup? It shook her faith in the colonies and that made her very uncomfortable.

She arrived in Washington D.C. on a Wednesday afternoon. She was there to hand over a wanted American serial killer who had been found in Cornwall and turned over to Scotland Yard by the Truro police department. She had volunteered to help Inspector David David with the task of escorting Wayne Blanchard to America with the understanding that she was going to take a week's vacation in the United States afterward. She hadn't been to the States since she had been at University and was looking forward to it.

As per usual, Inspector David was in a sullen mood because of a misunderstanding about his last name. Customs Agents at Dulles International Airport kept pronouncing his last name David instead of Dah-veed. "I mean who would call their children David David? That's the most asinine thing ever."

Used to the inevitable rant, Pritch continued to walk to the luggage carousel while David followed behind her and their prisoner, scowling at anyone that looked at him. "I should change my name or maybe carry a card around with the proper pronunciation listed on the card, that's assuming people can read and understand it. The bloody education system had gone downhill since my time at school. It really has."

After retrieving their luggage, they continued on to the exit where they were met by two FBI agents who had just arrived at the airport. The agents hadn't counted on the plane arriving early and almost missed Prichard and David with their prisoner. Holding up his credentials, Aubrey smiled at the approaching Scotland Yard inspectors. "Special Agent James Aubrey and this is Special Agent Morris Harris. I believe you have a package for us." He turned his attention upon the serial killer and was shocked at how innocuous the man appeared to be. "This is Wayne Blanchard?"

Amused, Pritch gently pushed Blanchard in the back towards Aubrey and Harris. "He is indeed . . . Don't let the façade fool you. Mr. Blanchard tried to murder a police officer while he was being arrested. He grabbed the poor arresting officer around the neck and tried to crush the poor officer's windpipe while biting the man's ear. It was quite a sight and Officer Jones had to knock him out to save Officer William's life."

Shrugging his shoulders, Blanchard commented with a soft Cajun accent. "Dat police man called me a coonass. No one can call me dat, no one . . . Dat is an insult of my heritage, Cher'. I don't know how a foreigner know about coonasses but I ain't one of them."

Not sure what he was talking about, Agent Harris grabbed the killer's arm and pulled him towards the exit. "You're going to love the prosecutor prosecuting your case, Blanchard. She's from Louisiana too and she doesn't like couyons." He'd been called a couyon several times over the years by Ms. Julian and because of her habit of dropping Cajun French in the middle of conversations with him, he'd picked up a few words of the language.

Following behind Harris and Blanchard, Aubrey glanced back at Pritchard and David. "We have a van in the loading zone. We can take you to your hotel after we drop Blanchard off at the Hoover."

"Thank you, Agent Aubrey." Tired, Pritch was looking forward to a soaking bath when she got to the hotel later that evening. She planned to sleep in and then go to the Hoover to see Booth about her prisoner and to catch up on old times. There was a lot of catching up to do.

Ooooooooooooooo

As she entered Booth's office, she found an older man than she had met ten years earlier. Booth had aged well and was as handsome as ever but he appeared to be more solemn than the last time they had met. "Agent Booth?"

Expecting Chief Inspector Pritchard, Booth stood up and walked around his desk to meet her near the door. "Pritch, hey thanks for Blanchard, that guy is insane. He attacked one of my agents last night because he didn't like the dinner they gave him. Blanchard actually tried to shove a roll up Agent Crawford's nose . . . They had to beat the shit out of him to make him let Crawford go."

Amused, Pritch shook Booth's hand. "He tried to break the neck a police officer in Cornwall when he was arrested and chewed on the officer's ear for good measure, so I think turnabout is fair play . . . You look good, Agent Booth. I think the years have treated you kindly."

"Yeah, well, not that kindly, but I've done alright." Booth knew that his body ached more and there were scars on his body that hadn't been there the last time he'd seen the Inspector, but still he had nothing to complain about. "You look nice too Pritch. As pretty as the last time I saw you."

Her cheeks flushed a light rose color, Pritch shook her head. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Booth." Chuckling, she looked around the agent's office. "You have a nice office. I like it. It reflects the owner."

Glancing around, Booth smiled. "Yeah, I hate a sterile office . . . so, Blanchard is going to be arraigned this afternoon at two, I have to be in court for that, but if you'd like to go see Bones, I can drive you over to the Lab now. She's looking forward to seeing you."

"Thank you, but I don't want to impose. I can take a taxi."

"Nah, I can take you." Booth glanced at his watch. "I don't know if you know it, but someone set off some bombs in the Lab where Bones works six months ago and they had to rebuild parts of. It's done, but it still has that new paint smell so fair warning."

Of course she knew about the bombing. "That bombing was a shock. I'm glad that you and Temperance weren't seriously hurt. It was on the news for days and I tried to call, but I could never get through to you, so I finally had my boss call your boss and that's when we heard the whole story. That was a close call, Booth. A little too close for everyone's comfort."

"Yeah, that's a fact." Pointing at the door, Booth smiled. "Bones will be happy to see you. A lot has changed since we were in England."

"I can imagine." Following Booth out of the office, they walked over to the elevator. "So you're married to Temperance and you have two kids."

While he waited for the elevator car to arrive, Booth leaned against the wall. "I have three kids, but yeah two with Bones . . . I'm happy."

"Good."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Though she had been more formal with Booth, Pritch hugged Brennan as soon as they met. "Temperance, it's so good to see you in such fine health."

Not used to hugging anyone but her children and Booth, Brennan tried not to be awkward when she returned the hug. "I'm glad to see you too, Cate. I tried to see you the last time I was in England, but you were in Spain on vacation."

"Yes, that was unfortunate timing." Pritch released Brennan and looked around. "I heard you had a bit of trouble at your lab earlier this year, but all looks well now." Glancing at Booth, she wrinkled her nose. "It does have a new paint smell . . . would you and Booth like to go get a cup of coffee? My treat."

"Well, if you're paying, sure." Booth never turned down a free cup of coffee. "We can go to the Royal Diner, it's not far from here and we usually walk over."

A walk sounded fine with the Inspector. "Wonderful, I hope they sell donuts. I haven't had breakfast this morning."

As they walked towards the entrance, Booth noticed Hodgins sitting in his wheelchair in front of his office and walked over to see him. "Hey, we're going to go get coffee. Want to join us?"

"Nah, I have an experiment running. If I leave now, it might do something I don't want it to do." Hodgins smiled at Booth's look of worry. "Don't worry, no explosives or anything like that. We've all had a little too much excitement around here to last us for a while."

"You got that right." Booth hurried down the hallway and caught up with Brennan and Pritch as they left the Lab. "Hodgins is running one of his experiments. I think we need to get out of here while we can."

Amused, Brennan laughed. She loved Hodgins' experiments and especially loved them when they involved noise and sound. "He's just experimenting to see how long it takes to dissolve human flesh in lye. Apparently a plumber found bits of human bones in some pipes he was replacing in an apartment building. After testing the bones, Hodgins found they'd been immersed in lye. It's possible that someone killed someone else, dissolved the body and poured the liquefied body down the drain."

Since that was Aubrey's case, Booth was interested. "Aubrey is looking into who lives in the apartment building and if anyone is missing."

A little repulsed, Pritch rolled her eyes. "I leave those cases for my more junior detectives. I despise liquid bodies. They're so . . . "

"Disgusting?" Booth wasn't a fan of liquid bodies either. "That's why I gave the case to Aubrey."

Rolling her eyes, Brennan left the Jeffersonian and turned right down the sidewalk. "I for one find them fascinating. It's amazing how many ways there are to break down body tissue and bone."

"Yeah, amazing." Booth glanced at Pritch and gave her a thumbs down. "That's what they are amazing."

Ooooooooooooooooo

Settled at the Diner, Pritch leaned back as she waited for the waitress to pour her a cup of coffee. "I do like American coffee." While she sprinkled some sugar into her beverage, she watched Booth open two packets of sugar and pour it in his coffee. The man obviously had a sweet took and it amazed her that his body was in fine masculine shape. Personally, she had to watch her sugar intake because it went straight to her hips, but she did like to indulge while she was on vacation. "I've never had an apple fritter before." Booth had talked her out of ordering donuts and to order an apple fritter instead.

"Frankie uses real apples." Booth stirred his coffee, sipped some of it and placed the cup down on the table. "Even Bones will eat one once in a while."

"I used to dislike cooked fruit immensely, but over the years, I've found that like most things, there are exceptions to the rules." Brennan sipped some of her black coffee. "How long will you be staying in the District?"

Leaning back, Pritch watched the waitress place a plate in front of her containing a crispy apple fritter. "I'm staying until Monday then I'm renting a car and driving up to Boston. I've always wanted to see Boston and try Boston clam chowder. I'm flying home from there next Friday."

"While you're here, you should stay with us." Brennan felt that paying for a hotel room was a waste of money if there was free lodging available.

"Oh thank you, but no." Pritch took a bite of the fritter and almost groaned with delight. "Oh, these are good . . . thank you Temperance, but I really like the hotel I'm staying in and I can walk to several historical sites nearby that I want to visit while I'm here. I'm playing being a tourist for now." After taking another bite from her pastry, Pritch glanced at Booth who was also enjoying a fritter and turned back to look at Brennan. "So, you finally climbed Mount Everest."

Confused, Booth swallowed his bite of pastry and gave Pritch a puzzled look. "Bones hasn't climbed Mount Everest."

Amused, Brennan smiled at Pritch. "Yes, I finally climbed Mount Everest and it was worth the climb." Brennan knew that Pritch was talking about her relationship with Booth. "It's been a remarkable trip."

Shaking his head, Booth sighed. "I hate it when people talk in code . . . what's Mount Everest?"

"She is referring to having sex with you, Booth." Brennan noticed Booth's shocked face. "You did ask."

"Yeah, I don't know why I do that." His attention on his cup of coffee, Booth knew he was blushing. "Just pretend I'm not here."

Chuckling, Pritch reached across the table and patted Booth's hand. "Really Booth, it's a compliment to be compared to Mount Everest. It's a huge accomplishment to conquer the best."

Not sure how to take that, Booth drank some of his coffee. He was used to Brennan being blunt, but he forgot that Pritch was that way too. "You know you should go to Philadelphia instead of Boston. You can go see the Liberty Bell. It commemorates the Americans kicking the British out of the colonies you know?"

"Um, ancient history, Booth. It's just ancient history."

Oooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thanks.

The prompt was Pritch and Brennan discussing climbing Mount Everest years after they first met.