Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me and I am not getting any profit (except satisfaction and joy from reviews) for this story.
AN: Sorry for taking so long -life has been crazy hectic with two jobs on my schedule. Enjoy and leave many awesome reviews!
TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
BONES
Season 6, Episode 15: The Killer in the Crosshairs
Laura Marie Wiegert was not what Booth had expected. Considering men tended to have a type when it came to women –in looks and personality –it was a surprise to see Laura was as opposite in looks to Lauren Eames as it could possibly get.
She was small in stature, curvy instead of slim, with bright green eyes and curly strawberry-blond hair down to the middle of her back. She had a small nose and a scattering of freckles over the bridge and across her cheekbones. Her lips were generous and prone to smiling, her teeth perfectly straight, probably due to braces as a child. She had this full bodied laugh that made Brennan smile, her eyes always dancing with an inner joy she willingly shared with those around her.
"How long have you been in the Air Force?"
Laura's smile grew as she placed her fork down, picking up her glass of lemonade as she answered Booth's question, "Four years. I've been a flight nurse for the last two and it's been quite an experience."
Bones took a sip of her red wine before asking a question of her own, "Are you planning on making the Air Force into a career?"
"Not at all," Laura smiled, reaching up to tuck a curl behind her ear, "I have two more years, including the six months I'm stationed stateside. I've been working with E.C.H.O. in planning my next steps once I'm done with my commitment to the Air Force."
Booth steadily made his way through his sirloin steak, listening to Bones and Laura as they asked each other questions, getting to know each other, all the while watching Chris as he occasionally interjected a comment or observation.
Booth was glad he had agreed to join Bones on this double dinner date or whatever the hell it was –seeing the look of awe on Chris' face every time he looked at Laura settled a lot of Booth's worries regarding the friendship between the pilot and his partner.
"What motivated you to start writing murder mysteries," Laura asked as she wiped her mouth, setting the napkin to the left of her plate, her hand staying in place as Chris placed his own over it, their fingers interlocking.
"Well," Bones let out a soft puff of air, her eyes moving over to look at Booth before returning to Laura, "I, uh…I met Booth and we worked on a case…it was an interesting experience, considering up to that point I only ever worked with ancient remains. Learning the forensics of modern murders was intriguing for me and, um…the idea of that first book kind of just…came to me soon after Booth and I parted ways."
Booth tried not to smile, dropping his eyes to his plate where all that was left was a bite size piece of his steak and some garlic mashed potatoes. He'd always suspected he'd been the catalyst for that very first book Bones' had written despite her denials to the contrary.
"I've written before, of course," Bones fiddled with her fork for a bit, "Articles for academic journals, technical manuals…learning how to write fiction has been a rather enjoyable experience."
"Do you find inspiration from real life situations?"
He cleared his throat as he picked up his beer, giving Bones a look of innocence as she looked over at him, "It's a good question, Bones. You know what I've always wondered –are the characters in your books inspired by the people in your life?"
"Oh," Laura's smile widened as she looked over at Booth then back at Bones, "Are they?"
Booth grinned as Bones glared at him, shrugging as he tipped back his beer bottle, "Inquiring minds would like to know, Bones."
"The characters in my books are fictional," Bones picked up her wine glass and took a sip, wrinkling her nose at Booth as she continued, "And are loosely –very loosely –based on…people I may or may not know."
"That's a very nebulous answer to such a simple question, Temperance," Chris grinned at his friend, leaning back in his seat as he brushed his thumb over Laura's knuckles, enjoying the feel of her small hand in his much larger one.
Booth let out a deep chuckle as a faint blush stained his partner's cheeks, "Come on, Bones. Tell us…is Agent Andy Lister supposed to be me?"
Placing her near empty wine glass back on the table, she sat up straight, blue eyes sparking as she looked at him, "Fine, yes. Yes, Agent Andy Lister was inspired by you. I was…having difficulty compartmentalizing after we parted ways and I would spend nights while in Guatemala putting together these…scenes and…it is said 'you write what you know' and that is what I did."
Reaching out, he gave her hand a squeeze, brown eyes twinkling as he gave her a smile, "Its okay, Bones. I already knew Agent Andy Lister was based on me."
Laura watched them as they bantered back and forth, her mouth spreading into a smile as she leaned in close enough to whisper into Chris's ear, "You sure they're not a couple?"
Chris chuckled softly, seeing what she was seeing, "Not yet. Give it time, though. They'll eventually get their ducks in a row."
"I hope it doesn't take too long," Laura gave him a smile, her heart giving a hard thump as she looked into his brown eyes, "I think they're perfect for each other."
"I do too."
Three Weeks Later
Booth grinned as he caught sight of a familiar ponytail swishing back and forth. Changing direction, he kept a steady pace as he admired her running form –shoulders back, chin up, heel to toe. As he followed her at a distance, he realized he'd never gone running with her before. He knew she liked to do all sorts of physical activities, such as biking, hiking, kayaking apparently. It was interesting they'd never ran together before, being they both liked to use running as their daily form of cardio.
Deciding to make a change on that score, he picked up his pace, reaching out to playfully tap her on the shoulder before veering around her other side, grinning as she laughed and pulled her earbuds out, "What are you doing here?"
He kept step with her, grinning as he lifted a shoulder in a shrug, "Ah, day off. Want some company?"
Her blue eyes sparkled, making him catch his breath as she threw out a teasing challenge, "You think you can keep up with me?"
Letting his grin grow, he prepared himself to speed up as he responded to her challenge, "Hey, that's my line, Bones."
He increased his speed, looking over his shoulder and laughing as she did the same, calling out to him as she placed her earbuds back in place, "Oh, no, you don't!"
He laughed, making sure to stay a few feet ahead of her, looking over his shoulder to catch sight of her determined face. He slowed down then sped up as she started to catch up to him, enjoying himself as he teased her with the possibility of her catching up to him.
It had been way too long since they'd simply spent time together, enjoying themselves in each other's company. In the last few weeks, he'd realized he'd been distant and absent in her life while he was with Hannah, especially towards the beginning of that doomed relationship.
How he couldn't see the writing on the wall when it came to Hannah, he still had yet to figure out. If anything, he chalked it up to his stupid pride…or just stupidity in general.
He felt her veer towards his left in preparation for passing him, grinning over his shoulder at her as he cut her off, pushing himself a bit harder as he took the path leading towards the coffee cart.
Slowing down, he came to a trotting stop just a few feet away from the cart, laughing when she slapped her hands against his back, "I won!"
He looked over at her as she moved to stand beside him, bending over as she worked on catching her breath, "What do you mean, you won? I got here first."
Straightening, she sucked in air as she pointed out the logic behind her victory statement, "No, you took off before me by approximately two seconds, which means that you were both mentally and physically prepared before you accelerated."
Grinning, he shook his head at her, "No, no. You're not going to science your way to a win here."
"I won, and you're buying the coffee."
"Okay, listen," he gave her a pointed look as he gestured, "I'll buy the coffee because I won, and I'm a gracious victor."
He tried not to drown in her clear blue eyes as she looked up at him, the sun haloing her and nearly causing him to lose his breath.
"So, what are you doing on your day off?"
He blinked, forcing his fuzzy brain to concentrate on what she was saying and not on how her lips looked as they shaped the words, "I don't know. You still going to that, uh, lecture thingy for the, uh, what is it? The Peloponnesian War?"
"Yeah."
"Well," he shifted his weight, swallowing as he tried to push past his burgeoning feelings, "You know, if you want some company."
She tilted her head, the little furrow between her winged brows making his fingers itch with the desire to smooth it out, "I, I don't think you'd like it. It's going to be very dry."
"It's war, Bones."
"Well," she swept her bangs out of her eyes, her high cheekbones pinked by the morning sun, "If you're sure you won't be bored."
"Of course I won't."
They moved up a spot, the guy before them putting in an order for some ridiculous drink with extra foam, no fat, and so forth so on. Booth looked sideways at Bones, tightening his lips as he saw she was trying not to laugh as the coffee cart guy tried explaining all he had to offer was straight up black coffee.
"Hey, buddy," Booth finally stepped in as he noticed the guy's agitation was growing, "There's a Starbucks down the street that way. They have all the fancy crap you want on your coffee."
The guy whipped around, his face mottled red as he opened his mouth before looking up into Booth's serious face and thinking better of it.
Brennan looked at Booth's smirking face as the guy stomped off, muttering under his breath. She felt herself flush as he bumped his shoulder into hers, very much aware of the sudden height difference, as she was wearing running shoes and not her usual heeled boots.
"I'll take two black coffees," Booth said to the coffee cart guy, pulling out his wallet from the pocket of his running pants. He exchanged money for the cups, handing one over to Bones as they stepped out of the way, "So how about I pick you up in an hour? Is it enough time for you to get ready?"
"An hour is fine," she sipped her coffee, holding it with both hands, "Why don't I just meet –"
The ring of both their cell phones interrupted her, both of them looking at each other before they pulled out their phones and checked the screen –Cam for Bones and Hacker for Booth.
"Looks like we're not making it to the lecture," Bones ended her call with Cam, slipping the phone back into the armband holder she used for running.
"A real bummer," Booth shoved his phone into the pocket of his running pants, his hand coming to rest on the small of her back as he guided her to where he'd parked, "I'll drive."
"From where I stand, you are good. Broadsky's bad."
He stared at her, his heart beating hard as he lost himself in her crystal blue eyes, seeing so many untold things as she looked back at him, her beautiful mouth tilted into a small smile as he finally smiled at her, "Thanks for standing there, Bones."
Lifting a shoulder in a shrug, before responding in a no-nonsense tone of voice, "I'm standing right beside you, Booth. Like always. Like I always will. I'm being metaphoric, of course, because we're currently sitting."
Chuckling, he tipped his beer bottle to his lips, taking a healthy swallow before bringing it back down, "Thank goodness, 'cause I thought I'd shrunk."
She brought down the glass of wine she had been about to take a sip out of, her chuckle harmonizing with his soon as she swallowed, "That's funny, because you made a joke based on relative position, which goes back thematically to our discussion of situational morality."
There was tenderness in his eyes as he studied her face, giving a slight shake of his head as he responded, "That's not why it's funny."
"Tell me another one."
He gave her a quizzical look, shaking his head as she leaned in closer, her playful smile making his heart slam hard against his ribs, "You got another joke?"
"No," he laughed as he leaned in, his elbows on the surface of the bar, "You got plans this weekend?"
Shaking her head, she set her glass to the side, resting her crossed arms on the bar, "Not as of today. You?"
"I have Parker for the weekend. I'm taking him to the county fair in Arlington. Want to join us?"
"I've never been to a county fair before."
"Really?"
"Not that I recall," she tilted her head to the side, her hair sliding against her jaw, the track lights over the bar causing it to shine, making Booth's fingers itchy with the need to run them through the soft looking strands, "There was the case where we had with the body in the haunted house."
"That doesn't count," Booth nudged her elbow with his, finishing his beer before continuing, "I'm talking Ferris wheel, bumper cars, ring toss, darts, fried Twinkies, funnel cakes, cotton candy, snow cones, popcorn, corndogs –"
"It sounds like a gastrointestinal nightmare," the skeptical look on her face had Booth chuckling, which turned into an out and out laugh as she continued, "I would hope you wait until after the nausea inducing rides before eating all that high caloric, sugar laden, fried food."
His shoulders shaking as he worked on calming down, he reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, his hand freezing against the curve of her jaw as he realized what he was doing. She stared at him, the tension between them a living thing, as familiar as an old friend. Pulling back, he cleared his throat before signaling to the bartender for another beer, "So, what do you say? Want to join us?"
"Alright," letting out the breath she'd been holding, "If Parker has no problem with me joining you two, that is."
"He won't have a problem, but I'll ask."
Arlington County Fair
"That was so much fun," Parker exclaimed as he bounced between Booth and Brennan, his blond curls tumbling over his forehead, "Wasn't that fun, Bones?"
Brennan grinned at him as she combed her fingers through her disheveled hair, "It was fun, Parker."
Booth grinned as they meandered through the crowd, keeping an eye on their surroundings and the other on his son and Bones.
"How does the Tilt-A-Whirl work," Parker asked, staring up at Brennan as he slipped his hand into hers, turning to find his father and grab on to his hand.
She smiled down at him, her light blue eyes twinkling as she explained the physics behind the Tilt-A-Whirl, "The cars are attached in fixed pivot points on the platform. When it rotates, the different plates of the platform lift and drop, which result in centrifugal and gravitational forces to come into play, causing the cars to spin in different directions and at different speeds. When you add the weight of the passengers, and its distribution, it changes the variations, either creating a faster or slower motion of the cars, which results in chaotic motion."
"Cool!"
Booth laughed, knowing his son probably understood about ten percent of her explanation, but didn't point this out to either one of them. He could see Parker was having a blast hanging out with Bones; his boy had always loved his partner, had enjoyed whenever she joined them on their weekends or whenever they would head over to her place to go swimming, and although it had been a while since they've spent time with Bones, Parker and her were falling back into their old patterns of interaction, one that made him smile so much, it left his face feeling sore by the end of the day.
"Hey, look," Parker let go of his Dad's hand, pointing excitedly ahead of them, "There's an ice cream booth! Can we get ice cream, Dad? Can we please?"
He looked at Bones over Parker's head, cocking an eyebrow at her, "What do you say, Bones? Want ice cream?"
"Sure," her smile turned into a laugh as Parker gave an excited jump, slightly jerking her arm in the process. They got in line, Parker keeping them entertained with his observations regarding their experience, as well as pointing out everything they still had left to do.
Once it was their turn to order, Booth looked down at Parker, "Chocolate ice cream?"
Parker shook his head, his blond curls falling over his small forehead, "Nah, I'll have strawberry ice cream."
"I thought chocolate ice cream was your favorite now?"
Shrugging, Parker looked up at his father, shifting as he put one sneakered foot on top of the other, "For a bit it was, but strawberry ice cream will always be my very, very favorite."
Nodding in understanding, he looked over at Bones, smiling as she studied the ice cream choices written on a chalkboard, "What about you, Bones? Want to try something other than your favorite?"
Bones looked over at him, her beautiful blue eyes looking deep into his brown ones, her face set in a serious expression as if she were searching for something before she smiled, "No, I have no need to try anything other than my favorite."
He looked over at the guy manning the ice cream booth, unable to keep the smile from his face, "Can we have three ice cream cones? Two strawberry, one vanilla."
