Chapter 6—I Missed You
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything associated with BONES.
Author's notes: Thank you all for reading and for the nice reviews. I too would not mind if Booth appeared in Brennan's office shirtless to extend his, um, apology…but I think it might be a little out of character. Hope you enjoy this chapter. I think there might be one or two more left. I'll figure it out when I finish writing it.
Angela moved swiftly down the hallway toward Brennan's office with a cup of coffee in each hand. She stopped briefly at the doorway of the office and smile widely as Brennan's head turned quickly toward her.
"Oh, hey Ange." Brennan turned back to her monitor and continued checking her email.
Angela almost laughed at the disappointment that had momentarily graced Brennan's face. "Expecting someone else?"
"No, I wasn't expecting anyone."
"Uh-uh, right." Angela walked over to Brennan's desk and placed one of the coffee cups in front of her friend. "You thought it was Booth. Better yet, you hoped it was Booth." She took a seat across from Brennan and watched as the anthropologist attempted to ignore her.
"Did not," Brennan mumbled like a petulant child.
Smiling at Brennan's not so convincing denial, Angela quietly drank her coffee. Unfortunately for Brennan the silence didn't last long.
"You know, Bren, you did the same thing everyday last week."
Brennan turned away from her monitor and stared at her friend. "Did what?"
"You would look up every time someone entered your office or the platform area like you were expecting…"
"Do not finish that sentence." Brennan leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed and a defiant look on her face.
"So, you deny it?"
"Absolutely."
"Uh-uh." Angela continued to drink her coffee as she and Brennan became engaged in a staring contest. "Might want to drink your coffee before it gets cold," Angela said, gesturing toward the cup she had placed on Brennan's desk.
Brennan broke eye contact and reached for her coffee. "You're welcome, by the way," she heard Angela mumble as she took a sip.
A knock on her office door catapulted Brennan's attention to the entrance of her office, an expectant look on her face once again.
"Hi Angela. Good morning Dr. Brennan. Has, um, Agent Booth come in with a new case or should I continue working on the remains of the Revolutionary War soldier?" Zach Addy stood timidly in the doorway waiting for his mentor to give him his working orders.
Angela saw the crestfallen look on Brennan's face as she, once again, did not see a certain hunky FBI agent at her door.
"Waiting for your mommy's orders there Zach?" Hodgins asked as he pushed past the young assistant and entered Brennan's office. Noticing the glare that the good doctor was directing at him, Hodgins stopped in his tracks. "I meant mommy in the most respectful way, of course."
Angela choked on the coffee she'd been drinking before sputtering out a small laugh and then continued drinking.
Hodgins glanced at the coffee cup in Brennan's hand and the cup in Angela's hand. "So, I guess you have to be part of the estrogen brigade for someone to bring you a coffee around here?"
"You prefer herbal tea," Zach replied, causing Angela to choke again.
Hodgins turned to the young man angrily. "Not the point, Zach," he responded through clenched teeth. "It would be nice to come to work and be offered a nice cup of coffee…and maybe some breakfast food or pastry." He turned and looked pointedly at Angela, who simply grinned at him.
"I couldn't agree with you more," came a familiar voice from the doorway. All eyes turned to find Booth standing with a tray of coffee drinks in one hand, a bag of bagels in the other and a charming smile plastered on his face.
Brennan felt her face flush as she stared at her partner. Angela didn't miss the effect that seeing Booth had on her friend. She decided to remain silent and see what would transpire between the two.
"Agent Booth, you brought us coffee and bagels?"
"You've got a knack for stating the obvious there Zach," he replied as he offered the young man a drink and a bagel. He then walked into the office toward Hodgins who eyed him warily.
"What? You're not going to make me jump up and down and try to take the coffee out of your hand?" inquired Hodgins as he popped the rubber band around his wrist.
"Well, I wasn't planning on it…the coffee's a little hot…" Booth smiled at the entomologist. "I'm, um, sorry about the thing with the keys. Sid told me about it."
Taking one of the coffees and a bagel from the bag, Hodgins moved to leave the office. He stopped at the doorway and turned back to face Booth. "Just so you know, 5'10 is considered average height for a man."
"You're not 5'10," Zach said as he bit into his bagel.
Hodgins turned angrily, pushing Zach out the door. "You really need to shut up today!"
Booth chuckled as he watched the duo walk toward the platform area. "I actually missed those two," he said as he shook his head.
"Are they the only ones you missed?" Angela asked, attempting to pull off an innocent look as Brennan glared at her.
Booth turned to face the two women. "No, of course not." He smiled as he offered Angela a coffee. "Oh, the one on the right is Bones'. I ordered it just the way she likes it."
"Really? Just the way she likes it, huh?" Angela took the other coffee and stood up. "Oh Booth, you're just an angel….I could just kiss you."
"Angela!" Brennan's outburst garnered Booth's full attention.
"Easy Bones, I never make out with a pretty woman while I'm on duty," he teased. Turning back to Angela, Booth winked playfully.
"Well, before I get into any further trouble, I will take my apparent caffeine addiction to my own office." Angela moved toward the door and then looked back at her friend, who was avoiding all eye contact at the moment. "See ya later, Booth. And Bren?"
Brennan glanced over at her friend.
"You did it again." Wearing a smile that could be seen from a space shuttle, Angela scurried out of the office. Brennan simply rolled her eyes and turned back to her monitor.
Booth took Angela's seat across from Brennan. He leaned forward and offered her the last coffee and a bagel. She took both items from him and placed them on her desk.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome Bones." Brennan felt her stomach flutter at the nickname he'd graced her with. 'What is wrong with me?'
"So, Britney Spears, what did you do again?" He watched as she looked at him, confusion evident on her pretty features. 'Wait for it, wait for it.'
"I don't know what that means."
'God, it's good to be back.' He smiled at her. "I know you don't Bones. In fact, I might be a little worried about you if you did." He found it so easy to fall back into their banter, but he felt that something was a little off. He noticed that she had been very quiet since he had arrived. 'Shit, she's mad.'
"So, uh, Bones," Booth began as he tore off a piece of the bagel that he'd bought for himself, "you doing okay?"
'Don't look at him. Don't look at those big brown eyes or those soft lips.' Straightening slightly in her seat, Brennan studied her monitor intensely. "I'm fine," she replied.
He chewed on the bagel piece and watched her. 'Yep, definitely mad.'
"You know Bones, I was, uh, worried about you."
"Why? There's no reason to worry. I'm fine." She began typing a response to one of her emails to distract herself from his presence.
"This last case…you know….it was pretty bad. I didn't deal with it very well, what with the whole drinking episode." He watched as she continued to type and ignore him. "So, um, how did you deal with it…the case, I mean?"
"I took an inebriated, singing federal agent back to my apartment." She stopped typing and turned her attention to a file lying on her desk.
"Singing?" Booth mentally kicked himself for adding to the embarrassment quota of that one drunken evening.
"Yep, singing." Head down, she attempted to peruse the contents of the file.
"Please tell me it was something manly, at least. AC/DC, Areosmith, Black Sabbath?"
"Do they sing something about bananas?"
"Bananas?" The ringing of Booth's cell phone halted any further questions from the agent.
Sliding the phone out of his jacket pocket, Booth flipped it open and answered it. "Booth."
"Agent Booth, are you planning on coming into the office today?" Deputy Director Cullen's voice boomed in Booth's ear.
"Yes, sir. I'm on my way. I just needed to stop by the Jeffersonian and check on my…uh, the squints."
"Check on your squints or Dr. Brennan?"
"Uh…" Cullen's response had left Booth slightly surprised.
"Well, that answers that question. Agent Booth, when you've ensured to your satisfaction that Dr. Brennan can survive, at least the next few hours, without you, I want to see you in my office."
"New case, sir?"
"No, just tying up a few things on the last one. You have 30 minutes, Booth."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh and Booth, tell your lady scientist I said hello."
Booth heard the dial tone in his ear and closed his phone.
"Cullen?" Brennan asked, still perusing the same page of the file.
"Yeah, I need to go to the office." He stood and straightened his tie. "Hey Bones, would you like to go to lunch?"
"I'm busy today Booth."
He sighed as he watched her continue to ignore him. 'Maybe I should leave her alone. No, she's had a week to cool off, leaving her alone now is not going to help.'
Booth leaned across her desk, placed his right index finger under Brennan's chin and forced her to look up at him.
Brennan felt her skin tingle and her heart rate increase as she looked into Booth's face, which was just inches from hers.
"Bones, please. I think we have a few things to discuss. Is one o'clock okay?"
Speechless, Brennan simply nodded. Booth smiled at her, glad that she had relented. "Good. I'll pick you up. Later Bones."
She watched as her partner sauntered out of her office and Angela came bounding in.
"Okay, sweetie, you completely left out the detail about Booth singing. It's those type of details that really help me visualize what happened." Angela sat down, occupying her original seat. "So…spill."
Brennan placed her head on her desk, wishing she had locked her office door that morning.