(Season 9)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

The new girl seemed to be working out well. She was fast, had a great attitude and seemed to be a hard worker. Jane was pleased with the help and hoped that Kelly stayed at the Diner for a while. While she was placing a milkshake down in front of Agent Barns she noticed Kelly rushing towards her with a look of terror on her face. Now what!

"Jane, oh my God, we need to call the police." Kelly was trembling and trying to keep her voice low, but the hysteria was making her voice louder instead.

Puzzled, Jane looked around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Why? What's wrong?"

Kelly moved closer to Jane and pointed at the back table near the window while trying to hide the fact that she was pointing. "That couple is talking about murdering someone. I think they already did it and they have a picture of the body to prove it. It's so gross . . . We need to call the police before they leave."

As patiently as she could, Jane turned Kelly to face her and placed her hands on the young woman's shoulders. "They are the police. The man is FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth and the woman is Dr. Temperance Brennan. She's a forensic anthropologist. They solve murders . . . They've been warned about the pictures though." Jane lowered her arms. "If you're going to work here you're going to have to get used to that stuff. The FBI and the scientists at the Jeffersonian like to eat breakfast and lunch here. They forget they're in a public place sometimes and say anything that pops into their head."

Relieved that the couple wasn't dangerous, Kelly laughed although it was tinged with embarrassment. "Okay . . . you should have warned me. That picture is so gross. How can they eat and look it? It made me want to throw up just looking at it."

Jane patted Kelly's upper arm, walked around her and marched over to the table where Booth and Brennan were sitting. Pointing at the picture lying between the couple, Jane interrupted them. "We've talked about this before Agent Booth . . . Dr. Brennan. This is a place where we serve food and no one wants to see those kinds of pictures while they're trying to scarf down a hamburger or a salad."

"Sorry, Jane." Booth scooped up the picture and handed it to Brennan who placed it in her messenger bag. "We forgot."

Since she was defenseless against the agent's charming smile, Jane nodded her head. "Well, okay then. You scared Kelly, our trainee. She thought you were murderers."

Puzzled, Brennan placed her bag on the floor. "Does she really think a murderer would display a picture of his or her victim in public? That would seem rather counterproductive."

Amused, Jane laughed. "That is why prisons are full Dr. Brennan." Jane noticed the almost empty coffee cups on their table and knew it was time for a refill. "You should know that." As she walked away she heard Booth chuckle. He had the sexiest laugh and she wished he belonged to her instead of Dr. Brennan.

"Okay, Kelly, they need a refill." Jane pointed at the coffee pot and the partners. "They put their picture away . . . If they do that again, just tell them to put it up. They'll do it."

Kelly nodded her head, picked up the coffee pot and carried it over to the table. Once the coffee cups were refilled she turned to go, but the Agent stopped her.

"Kelly." Booth felt bad for the new server. She was working around crime fighters and that wasn't always pleasant. "We didn't mean to scare you. A lot of times our lunches are working lunches . . . If we get a little too offensive just say something and we'll talk about something else."

Embarrassed that she had jumped to conclusions, Kelly nodded her head. "I didn't know you were police . . . still the picture was awful."

"It was and we're sorry." Booth picked up a couple of sugar packets, tore them open and dumped the sweetener in his coffee. "Besides our picture, how do you like working here?"

"It's nice. Frankie seems nice." Kelly noticed a customer trying to get her attention and left.

Brennan waited for Kelly to leave before she commented. "We did promise Frankie that we would stop displaying crime scene photos at the diner."

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "We made a mistake. Don't worry about it." As he picked up his burger he noticed Hodgins enter the Diner holding a small box in his hands. "No rest for the wicked."

Before she could comment, Hodgins sat down next to her and placed the box on the table in front of him. "I'm glad I found you before you went to talk to Heidi Fleegal. I don't think she did it."

"Couldn't you just call me?" Booth had wanted to have dinner with his wife. God, he still loved staying that. Wife. It seemed so surreal that he was Brennan's husband and . . .

"Booth, pay attention." Hodgins had started to explain why he was there when he noticed Booth zone out. "Come on man. You're not on your honeymoon anymore."

Annoyed, Booth took a bite from his burger and chewed it slowly while glaring at the entomologist.

Now that he had both Brennan and Booth's attention, Hodgins started over. "Okay, our victim was supposedly killed at her house by her best friend Heidi and the evidence seemed to corroborate that, but I combed Nancy's hair to see if there were any particulates in it and guess what I found?"

Impatient, Booth swallowed his bite of burger. He hated twenty questions unless he was doing the questioning. "Just tell us bug boy."

Disappointed that Booth didn't want to guess, Hodgins frowned at the man. "Couldn't even to do one guess?"

Placing his burger down, Booth leaned forward. "How about I guess how long it would take you to die if I take my gun out and shoot you between the eyes."

"Booth, Kelly heard you say that." Brennan had noticed the server moving towards them, but abruptly turn around and walk behind the counter. "I think you offended her again."

"What'd I'd do?" Booth was starting to get very annoyed. "If I can't talk normal around here then we may have to find another place to eat lunch."

Hodgins waved his hand to recapture Booth and Brennan's attention. "So anyway, when I combed Nancy's hair I found hair that didn't belong to her. Now the girl seemed to have decent hygiene and she had enough bath products in her bathroom to prove it." He paused. Booth was pointing at his wrist watch. "Alright . . . anyway, I found hair that belonged to someone else and that had to mean that they were pretty close . . . like kissing close . . . so, I had Cam run some DNA and I really think you should wait for the results to come back. There may have been someone else at the house that day."

Brennan thought it was sound advice. "We should wait, Booth. I think Hodgins may have found something that might alter your theory about Heidi."

It didn't do any harm to wait. It wasn't like Heidi was going anywhere. Her daughter was expecting her baby any minute and Heidi wasn't going to leave her daughter alone in that situation. "Fine . . . what's in the box?" He regretted asking as soon as the words left his mouth. "Wait."

Eager to show his friend the contents, Hodgins popped the lid open and pulled out a small snake. "Oh yeah, look at what I found at the pet store down the street. Michael Vincent will love it."

Several things happened at this time. Brennan moved her chair closer to the window and away from Hodgins trying to keep as much distance between them as possible. The lady sitting behind Hodgins turned to look and screamed. Kelly who was carrying a plate of spaghetti to a nearby table dropped it and backed towards the counter and Frankie who happened to be behind the counter talking to a customer shouted at Hodgins to put the snake back in the box. "What's the matter with you? I've told you not to bring animals into my Diner. Are you trying to get me shut down by the board of health?"

His cheeks scarlet, Hodgins slipped the snake back in the box. "It's just a milk snake for goodness sake. It's harmless. I mean, yeah sure . . . it kind of looks like a coral snake, but it isn't."

Kelly had had enough. Marching over to where Frankie was fuming, Kelly slapped her hand on the counter. "I quit. This place is nuts." After she grabbed her purse and fled the building, Frankie and Jane walked over the Booth/Brennan table. "Okay, I hate to do this, but you three are banned from the dinner for the rest of the week. You crossed a line that I told you, you can't cross."

Jane shook her head. "I told you to behave."

"What did I do?" Booth held his hands up. "I didn't do anything."

Frankie didn't care. "All three of you are banned until next Monday. Pay your bill, Jane will put your meals in to-go containers and you can leave . . . I hope the board of health doesn't shut me down." Furious, he stalked back to the counter. "Jane, scrub that table down. I mean make sure no snake cooties are left behind."

Hodgins glanced at Booth and knew that his friend wanted to strangle him. "It's just a milk snake . . . okay I'm going."

As his meal was dumped into a Styrofoam container, Booth fished in his wallet for money. "Come on Bones. I guess we can eat at the Founding Fathers for the rest of the week. Damn Hodgins anyway."

Brennan calmly took the to-go boxes from Jane and stood up. "I think it's a good thing that Kelly quit. She seems very excitable. It was just a milk snake. They're very innocuous."

"Innocuous?" Booth stood up and gulped some of his coffee before placing the cup back down. "You practically plastered yourself against the wall."

"You are mistaken." Brennan was not about to admit the snake had frightened her. "I was merely allowing Hodgins room to display his snake."

Booth snorted. "Sure you were."

She didn't like the connotation of those three words. "I was, Booth. I am not afraid of snakes." As she and Booth walked towards the door they continued their bickering. Once they were gone, Frankie placed his hands on the counter, stared at the floor and sighed. "My best customers and they are a damn pain in the ass."

Jane laughed. "They are a lot of fun though. Isn't this the fourth time they've been banned?"

Frankie smiled as he turned to look at his best employee. "Five, but who's counting?"

Oooooooooooooo

I hope you enjoyed this one.