A/N: Today's combo is Oliver Wells, Christine, an elevator, and a backpack. Set about 8 years into the future, when Christine is 18.

It was a cold, rainy January day, and Dr. Oliver Wells sighed as he trudged up the sidewalk leading to the front doors of Arlington Community High School.

To say he was unenthusiastic about his new position was an understatement of astronomical proportions. Here he was, with a PhD in physics and master's degrees in several other sciences, and he was reduced to being a long term substitute teacher for a general physical science class for a semester.

"I'm so overqualified for this position, it's not even funny," he grumbled to himself as he found the front office. "I can't believe I have to abase myself in this manner…"

The thought of teaching basic physics to five groups of shiftless and woefully unconcerned tenth grade students was almost more than he could bear, but he had to admit, it was better than being unemployed. He knew he'd been fortunate to find any sort of academic position in the middle of the school year, and it would be much better to have a long term position rather than having to sub for random classes every day. "I suppose I should be glad that Mr. Humboldt's spouse received the offer for a promotion in Des Moines…"

Still, he was bitter. He knew he deserved better out of life, especially with his brilliant intellect, but things just hadn't worked out like he'd planned.

He'd hoped that finishing his PhD in forensic anthropology would open all sorts of doors for him. After all, he'd passed the bar, and combining those two fields of study should've made him a sought after consultant for attorneys who needed a 'hired gun' of sorts...someone who could explain forensic evidence in just the right way so that a jury could be swayed to produce the desired verdict.

Unfortunately, less than stellar working conditions at the Jeffersonian had prevented him from completing his course of study there, and lukewarm recommendations from both Dr. Brennan and Dr. Hodgins had prevented him from being admitted to another university.

"It's not my fault that they didn't appreciate my superior abilities. I know they both resented that I'm smarter than they are.," he muttered angrily. "Neither one of them can handle constructive criticism...and besides, Dr. Brennan isn't objective enough to be a true scientist. She held a grudge against me for proving that…hence my less than satisfactory rating as her intern..."

So, with no practical education to speak of, Oliver had spent the next ten years working at various places as a lab assistant, but it seemed he still had a problem with authority figures. Being expected to follow inane instructions without question was impossible for him to fathom, and he never lasted at one place for very long before being fired. "People should listen to my suggestions...I know what I'm doing…"

Finally, however, his financial condition indicated that it was time for drastic measures, so he'd decided to become a substitute teacher, which he hoped would give him a bit of autonomy in his life. He could work when he wanted, and he hoped in time to eventually obtain alternate teacher's certification. Then perhaps, with his extensive knowledge of the sciences, he could teach advanced science students the finer points of quantum mechanics or Newtonian physics. Until then, this job would pay the bills, and he'd get his foot in the door with the building principal.

After checking in with the office, Wells made his way down the hall to the elevator. Pressing the button, he heard someone call to him as the doors opened.

"Hold the elevator, please!" Leaning on crutches, a young woman was moving slowly down the hall. Shouldering her backpack, she brushed her auburn hair over her shoulder and smiled as she entered the car. "Third floor. Thanks." She gestured toward her leg. "I was playing hockey with my dad and younger brother over Winter Break, and I sprained my ankle. I'm still learning how to navigate on these things, so I'm not very speedy right now, but at least it's not broken."

"Hmm." Pressing the button for the third floor, Oliver shrugged. "Sports injuries can often be prevented with proper equipment and a certain amount of caution…"

"Yeah, that's what my mom said. She wasn't happy with my dad for checking me so hard, but he says I've gotta learn to take it if I want to play in college." Studying her fellow passenger intently, she paused. "You're the new guy, right? The sub? Aren't you taking Mr. Humboldt's place for the rest of the year? That might be hard, teaching physics all day..."

"Yes." Squaring his shoulders, he gave her a haughty look with a dismissive wave. "I'm Dr. Wells...PhD in physics, so I'm highly qualified to take his place."

"I see. That makes sense." The young woman tilted her head to one side. "You know, I think I've met you before. Didn't you work for my mom several years ago?" Seeing the man's surprise, she laughed. "I guess you don't know who my mom is, do you?"

"No, of course not." Turning away from her, Oliver scoffed in exasperation. "How would I?"

"You wouldn't." Smirking slightly, she shifted on her crutches so she could extend a hand. "My name is Christine Brennan, and my mother is…"

"Dr. Temperance Brennan. Right." Oliver sighed softly, wondering if this chance meeting was a portent of how things would go in the Spring semester. "Nice to meet you."

"Thanks."

The elevator chimed as the doors opened, and both passengers disembarked. Oliver quickly turned toward the hall where his new classroom was located, hoping to avoid any unpleasantries, but Christine had other ideas.

"Excuse me, Dr. Wells. I know you're busy, but I'd like to show you something." She opened her backpack and took out a bulky envelope. Removing the papers from within, she held them up where he could see them. "I'm going to graduate this year, and this is the application I'll be sending to the University of Wisconsin. I just need to get my advisor to sign it." She shrugged slightly. "I'm hoping to play hockey for them, since they've been recruiting me, but I'm applying for an academic scholarship as well. I want to study genetics there, and eventually I want to be a genetic counselor." She produced an official looking document. "Look...here on my transcript...a 5.0 grade point average." Seeing his confusion, she laughed. "I'm on the Honors track, so I took AP Chemistry, AP Bio, AP Physics with Mechanics, AP Calculus, AP American History, and AP Statistics. I've also been enrolled currently with the local community college to get some of my basics out of the way. All of those classes are weighted into my GPA, so it's over 4.0. Of course, I suppose my average isn't as good as it could be. Our leading candidate for valedictorian, Victoria Vargas, has 5.25, but she also studies constantly. I guess playing varsity hockey has taken too much time away from my schoolwork…"

For once in his life, Oliver was rendered speechless for a few seconds. "Well...um...very good…"

"Yeah, not too bad. My parents are happy, too, because with all of those classes out of the way, I'll be able to enroll at Wisconsin as a second semester sophomore, so I'll have an extra year of eligibility if I decide to play hockey there. Anyway, I thought I might as well get some of the easy stuff taken care of so my parents don't have to pay a huge amount of tuition for me to take those classes at college, right?"

"Yes…that's a good point..."

"Well, I know you're busy, with it being your first day and all, but I just wanted to share my success with you, since you were so worried about it all those years ago...worried enough to steal my report card from my mom's desk." She paused, a smile playing across her lips as she continued in a calm tone. "So...not bad for a kid who supposedly cheated on her grade school report card, right? I guess I turned out pretty well after all, despite all of your dire predictions for my future, even if I might be a 'dumb jock' who's most likely gonna hockey for her university." Enjoying Oliver's shocked expression, Christine chuckled as she folded the papers and put them back in the envelope. "And I guess all that trouble you went to, stealing a legal document from a desk at the Jeffersonian to prove your point to my mom...it helped you a lot with your career, didn't it? I imagine you're just subbing in the general physical science classes because you're being altruistic...because you want to stamp out ignorance among the masses. You probably just want to make sure everyone has a good solid basis in physics, right? I'm sure it's not because you don't have a lab to work in somewhere..."

Oliver stared at the young woman standing before him, trying to think of a snappy comeback but failing miserably. "I...um...I really must be going…I need to get ready for my first class."

"Okay. Well, good luck this semester, Dr. Wells. See ya 'round. Bye..."

Watching as the man slowly walked away from her, Christine took her phone from her backpack and quickly placed a call. "Hey, Dad...guess who's subbing at my school this semester! Oliver Wells! What? Of course, I was 'nice' when I saw him...sort of. No, I'm not gonna get into trouble. I didn't do anything wrong...and I wasn't snotty...I just let him know that I knew what had happened with my report card when I was little. What? Well, if you didn't want me to say anything to him, you shouldn't have told me the story, okay? And no...I wasn't mouthy..." She laughed quietly as she shook her head. "Look, Dad...I kinda feel sorry for the guy, you know? He's kinda pathetic...and as far as me getting into trouble about saying something rude to him…don't worry, I won't. He's definitely not worth it."

A/N: a bit of clarification...I don't think teaching is a profession that is beneath people, and subs do an awesome service in the classroom. However, I think Oliver might feel as if it was beneath him.

Thanks for reading. If you have time to review, I'd appreciate it. Laura.