Testing the waters again with this one - Here we have Teenager!AU Booth a Brennan.

Chapter One

2004 -

Jocelyn Arrington had been someone who really struck something in Seeley Booth. The case of her missing daughter, Gemma, was starting to get to him and he had no idea where to go outside of leaving the case in the same place it had been for nearly three years - cold. The FBI agent had been longing for a promotion and knew that if he could solve this case he could finally be on his way to Supervisory Agent where he knew he belonged. With a three year old son he was struggling to pay support on and a gambling addiction he was struggling even more with, he felt like this case was his only way to rise to the top and be the break he desperately needed.

"Forensics don't solve crimes, cops do." He sighed as he walked the hall with his long time friend Cam. She made a comment about his gambling and he rolled his eyes as he pushed the button on the elevator for her. He wasn't sure what to do but she was sure that if he partnered up and got a fresh set of eyes would do him some good. "What's that doctor's name?" He finally asked as the doors started to close. "Temperance Brennan."

He choked on the sound of her name the Pathologist disappearing before he had a chance to make sure he heard her right. Of course he did, no one had a name like Temperance Brennan that would be confused with someone else's. Finding his way back to his desk he realized he wasn't breathing and took a deep breath as he pulled out his wallet and the nearly ten year old photo he kept for no real reason but stupid superstitions.

Tem-Tam and Seel Team May '93. The year that he graduated high school and one of the last times he had seen his once best friend Temperance Brennan. His thumb ran over her handwriting on the bottom of the Polaroid and he sighed. He knew who she was now, had seen her name in the papers regarding her success in Anthropology but he had never had the nerve to reach out to her and he assumed she felt the same. That or she had completely forgotten about him when she got out of that small town where they met. She had always had dreams bigger than all of them and if anyone was going to reach them it was her. It was always her.

It took all of his nerves to make his way to American University where he found her lecturing on something that made his stomach churn and he couldn't help but interject questioning her motives with destroying what he thought to be evidence. "Are you a student here?" She had asked and he laughed pulling out his badge, his stomach in knots just looking at her in person again.

"FBI, special agent -" He was cut off by a gasp from the young woman in front of him. She smiled in disbelief like she thought she would never see him again. "Hey, Tem." He said softly, taking a step closer to her not sure what else to say as she eyed him from head to toe.

"Booth?" Temperance Brennan asked in complete shock as to who was standing in front of her. It has been years since she last saw him. It has been what her twenty-first birthday? She hadn't been sure who he was at first, when he first walked in interrupting the end of her lecture but it only took her seconds to recognize his jaw line and the way his body was built as an adult to know it was him. He had changed so much since the last time she saw him yet he hadn't changed a bit.

"What are you doing here?" She asked slowly, getting over the shock of her once friend standing in front of her in a well fitted suit working for the FBI.

"Do you believe in fate?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Absolutely not. Ludicrous." She answered with a grin. "That also doesn't answer my question. She added as she shifted from one foot to another still taking him in.

"I need your help, with a uh case. You see I work with the FBI in the homicide division." She already knew that though, she had seen his name in cases he had worked and a time or two when she had been at the FBI doing her own work with them regarding cold cases she helped identify on. There had never been a time she had reached out to him though, having left the past in the past the second she turned eighteen and graduated high school. She had been lucky in the time she had in her last years of high school, finding what was as close to a family as she was going to get, the best of friends she could ask for, but she could never find herself to go back in time and think about it all.

Brennan had thought the past was history but it turns out when they say history has a way of repeating itself, they were right.

May 1991 -

Fifteen year old Temperance Brennan sat stiff as a board in the front seat of her social workers car for the eighth time since her parents disappeared a year and a half prior. Connie was going on and on about how this family was going to be the perfect fit for her. A husband and wife who were empty-nesters but had a son a few years older than her. She mentioned how they were new to the foster care system and she stifled a laugh. That only meant one thing to her, they were in it for the little bit of money she would make them. They'd be just like the others, but as long as they were better than the last home she couldn't really hope for much more.

Born in Maryland, raised in Ohio for fourteen years, she had somehow found herself now in Shepherdstown, West Virginia having been bounced around in the tri-state area in foster care. The social worker explained they were about an hour and a half outside of Washington DC so it was a big commuter town but it was small and the 'townies' as she called them made it home.

They pulled into a driveway in a small cul de sac of about about ten houses and she bit her lip hard until she tasted blood. It was a beautiful house, two stories with a pool in view out back, flower beds were blooming, and a porch swing swung slightly in the breeze. It looked like the picture perfect home, but they almost all did.

They exited the car and she grabbed her trash bag of belongings and held onto it tightly as they walked up the steps to the front porch. Connie knocked on the door and quickly a middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair opened beaming from ear to ear. Fake smiling, that's how she read all of them. They would fake a smile and be nice until the social worker left and then it was rules and regulations from then on out.

She introduced herself as Lisa and her husband, Brad, appeared behind her. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell." Brennan said with an even voice. She moved the trash bag from her left hand to her right that was currently in a cast and then back to the left when she realized she couldn't hold it correctly in the injured.

"Sweetie let me take that for you." Lisa said as she reached for the bag and Temperance quickly took a step back out of fear. Connie's hand fell to her shoulder and she flinched before ducking her head behind her hair that had fallen in her face. "My apologies." Temperance whispered as she handed the bag of belongings over.

The air around them grew stiff and cold and she shuffled her feet as she stared at the ground, this was how things would go bad quickly she just knew it. She had already messed up. "I'm sorry." She said again as she looked at the couple with worried looks on their faces.

Brad shook his head with a soft smile. "No need to say sorry, kiddo. We're not scary, promise." He chuckled and she smiled back pretending to believe him. That's what her last foster father had said too yet she stood in front of a new one with a cast on her arm and mental and physical scars to last a lifetime. "Come on lets all sit and talk."

Lisa followed close by but not too close that she felt like she was being hovered over as they sat in the living room on a cozy couch with picture frames and decorations galore. "Temperance, I just want to say on behalf of Brad and I that we are so happy you are here. When we decided to become foster parents we knew that it was going to be a difficult decision, but it was the right one to do. We're so lucky to have matched with you so quickly. We understand things might be a little weird but we want you to be happy and comfortable." The blonde spoke softly but upbeat and she did her best to match her smile so that she seemed believable but Temperance felt nothing but fear.

Like clockwork Connie excused herself and said her goodbyes. Leaving her alone with another set of strangers in another strange home that would never be the one that was abandoned by her parents.

"Let us show you upstairs to your room." Lisa said as they all made their way up their staircase. "This room right here is our son Kevin's. He's moved out on his own recently but he still keeps some of his belongings here. This is the game room, there is a tv and a gaming system in here as well as pretty much whatever else can entertain you. I'm sure you will find yourself in there a lot, though if you don't like something just let me know and we can find something to fit your interests." It was clear that Lisa was nervous and a talker as they walked down the hallway and she pointed out every detail from a closet full of Christmas decorations to the two linen closets next to the bathroom. The last room at the end of the hall they opened the door and was said to be her room.

"And this is yours. When they told us you were a teenage girl I had to ask friends of ours with a teenager what she likes so hopefully this suits you. If not, we'll go shopping." The woman smiled as Temperance looked around the room. It was twice if not more the size of her last four rooms combined, with an entire queen bedroom suit instead of just a twin bed shoved in a corner with a worn down dresser next to a wall and nothing else. It was overwhelming to see so much stuff in a room, she hadn't seen anything like it since her room at her house.

"This is…" She stammered. "I promise to take very good care of this room. Not a scratch and I'll make sure it's clean and made up at all times. Thank you." She said with her back straight wanting them to know that she was a rule follower. "What time would you like me to start dinner? I am very good in the kitchen, just let me know how you like things and I can get right on them. If you let me know your schedule I'll make sure I have breakfast ready first thing in the mornings as well."

Lisa and Brad both looked at her dumbfounded as she sat the trash bag next to the overly nice bed. "What do you mean?" Lisa asked and Temperance blinked at her unsure how to respond. "We don't expect you to do anything, Temperance. Nor do we want you to. You're a teenager, not a maid. If we wanted a maid we'd hire one." She looked at them both as confused as they were, this wasn't how things went. By now she was trying to keep a steady composure as the threats were laid upon her if she did something wrong. She wasn't supposed to be treated nicely. "You are a teenager, your only job is to be a teenager and have fun while you still can."

"Fun?" Temperance answered with a laugh before covering her mouth. "I'm sorry." Closing her eyes she took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves before finally nodding. "I- uh okay. I guess I can learn to do that." She answered as she bit her lip and looked down at the floor once again. Lisa and Brad both excused themselves to let her settle in and she softly sat on the bed. It was more comfortable than she could ever imagine and she let a tear slip down her cheek at how much she missed being in a room that felt like it was a part of a home.

It took her only a few minutes to unpack the very little belongings she had. Placing a photograph of her parents on the desk, she wrung her hands unsure what to do next. Looking out the window she saw who she assumed were their neighbors outside a grill. An older man with two boys hovering over him pointing at the food being cooked. They laughed and she smiled at how happy they seemed, at how happy they all seemed. She just hoped she could find a little happiness as well.

She finally made her way downstairs taking her time to take in the objects and different decorations. It was obvious that the home was well lived in with a lot of memories. Stopping in the living room she looked at a family photo of who must be who they declared Kevin. He looked like the perfect blend of his parents and she smiled at how many photos there were of him. "That's Kevin, you'll meet him tomorrow. He didn't want to come around today and overwhelm you." Brad said from behind her and she jumped knocking a lamp beside her over onto a chair.

"I am so sorry." She said as she scrambled to pick it up and breathed a sigh of relief when it wasn't broken. Brad simply smiled and motioned for her to follow him. "Trust me Temperance, that lamp has been through much more than falling over. You can ask Kev about the time he and his friend Jason decided the living room was a football field. Also no more saying sorry, you've worn the word out."

She laughed awkwardly at his words and stepped outside with him where Lisa was at their own grill plating food and placing it on a table on the patio. "Now I have no idea what foods you liked so I'm afraid I have fixed pretty much everything that is there to be made." She said as she motioned to the table stacked with a variety of foods. There was more food there than Temperance had eaten in a year.

"You didn't have to go to so much trouble." Temperance said as she sat down at the table with them. "I'll eat anything, I'm not picky. I really appreciate you doing this for me." While she still felt terrified she somewhat felt it melting away as they sat around the table making small talk. Lisa and Brad asked her simple things such as her favorite color to more what she wanted to be when she grew up, blue and an anthropologist. They didn't dive into anything personal but by the time dinner was over they knew more about her than any other foster family and she knew more about them than anyone ever. They told her how the house was passed down from Lisa's mother and she herself has grown up in what was now her room, they told her about how they met and their jobs. Lisa worked at the college in Shepherdstown and Brad commuted to DC as an accountant.

Temperance Brennan had found herself in a family situation for the first time since her own family had left her and she had no idea how to feel about it. They were eating ice cream when one the neighbors she had seen from upstairs walked over. "Mrs. and Mr. Mitchell I apologize to barge over here, but did you find my airplane by chance? Jared was playing with it and said he flew it and it crashed in the tree and we can't find it." The young man said running his fingers through his hair before looking at her directly. "Oh, hi. Sorry I didn't see you. I'm Booth, well Seeley Booth but you can call me Booth."