(Season 3)
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It had been a while since Booth had dated and he felt like it was time to get out there and look for someone that liked the same things he did and who might want a relationship with him. His dating game had been off since he'd broken up with Cam. He'd dated a few times since that breakup, but none of the women he had dated had taken him seriously and he'd been fine with that up until now. He hadn't been looking for anything permanent, but after a while he realized that he wasn't eighteen years old anymore and he should be looking for someone that wanted a permanent relationship. Someone that wanted to get married, have kids and who didn't mind being married to a Federal Agent.
He had learned his lesson when dating Cam, so he knew he couldn't date anyone he worked with no matter how much he wanted to. Fearful that dating someone like Brennan or Cam could end up getting them killed, he felt that he needed to find someone away from the Lab or the Hoover. His main problem was he worked long hours and he didn't have a lot of opportunities to meet anyone that wasn't involved in one of his investigations. It was frustrating and he wasn't sure what to do about it. He knew he was a great looking guy with a cool job, but for some reason he didn't seem to attract anyone that was interested in a serious relationship.
Bored, Booth had gone bowling. He wasn't too bad and bowled once in a while to keep his hand in. His job didn't give him enough free time to belong to a bowling league, but bowling by himself wasn't the end of the world. He was running up his score and so far, he was hitting strikes and spares with consistency when he was interrupted.
"Wow, you're not bad." Paula Cornette had been watching Booth for the last ten minutes and she liked what she saw. A handsome man, athletic, not too old and no ring on his left hand.
Surprised, Booth smiled at the lady standing near the ball return and moved closer to her. "Thanks, I practice when I can." The ball returned, Booth picked it up and gave the lady one of his devastating charm smiles. "Excuse me. I need to finish up my line." Turning he walked towards the line gracefully letting the ball drop in an arc and rolled the ball when he got to the line. Watching the pin formation shatter, he saw that he had rolled a strike. Nice timing, Seeley. Nice timing. Turning away from the line, he found the lady was still standing near the ball return. "Well, that's it, 215 not bad if I do have to say so myself." The score was about average for him and he was proud that he was that good even if he didn't bowl very often.
"Well, I agree with you." Holding out her hand, Paula smiled. "My name is Paula Cornette."
Rubbing the palm of his hand down the sides of his jeans first, Booth shook her hand. "Seeley Booth . . . you come here often?"
"I just moved into town. I work at the treasury department." With time on her hands, she had gone bowling to relieve the boredom she was feeling and now she knew she had made the right decision.
"I work at the Hoover. FBI . . . Special Agent." Booth was feeling a little shy and for the life of him he didn't know why. Maybe because he was rusty at flirting and he didn't want to make a mistake and scare Paula off before she got to know him. "Welcome to the District."
Curious, Paula watched as Booth carried his ball over to his bowling bag, placed it in the bag, took off his bowling shoes and put on a nice pair of boots. "Thank you. How would you like to go for a drink? There's a bar next door. I've been there twice. It's nice and it's not too dark like some bars are."
"Sure, why not?" Picking up his bag, Booth pointed towards the desk in the area above the lanes. "Let me pay and we can go."
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A cold glass of beer in her hand, Paula smiled at the agent she had met in the bowling alley. "So, how long have you been working for the FBI?"
"About eight years. I joined the FBI right after I got out of the Army." Booth sipped his beer. "What do you do at the Treasury?"
"I'm a budget analyst." She looked to see if the man's eyes would glaze over as normally happened, but he actually nodded his head and looked interested. "I help manage the short and long range planning and execution of the budget for Revenue Collections Management."
Impressed, Booth liked that she wasn't shy about what she did for a living. Smart women impressed him and he was attracted to them. "I can barely do my checkbook." He saw her frown and held up his hand. "I'm just kidding, I probably do that too much. I'm not intimidated that you're a budget analyst if that's what you think. My partner is a forensic anthropologist, the best in the world. I learn stuff from her all the time."
Not sure how to take the man sitting at the table with her, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "It's fascinating work, but it's not for everyone." Taking a sip from her glass, she noticed a man walk into the room, slip his hand under his jacket and look around. "Oh shit."
Turning, Booth spied a man near the door pull a gun from under his jacket, lower his arm so the gun was beside his leg and walk over to the bar. As the gunman passed by Booth and Paula he yelled out to everyone in the room. "This is a robbery. Everyone stay where you are."
Booth immediately stood up and placed the man in a choke hold his hand gripping the arm that held the pistol.
In a panic, the gunman shot off a round at the floor narrowly missing his own foot. "Let me go or I'll kill you."
His grip tighter around the man's throat, Booth warned him. "Drop the gun. I'm an FBI Agent and I won't let you harm anyone here."
Barely able to breathe the man released the gun and let it clatter to the floor. Once he was unarmed, Booth pulled some handcuffs from his jacket pocket and cuffed the man. "Bartender call 911 and report an attempted robbery." Moving the man away from the bar, he forced him to sit in the chair Booth has just vacated. "We'll wait for reinforcements."
Stunned at the turn of events, Paula sat in her chair and felt cold. Soon two policemen walked into the room and moved over towards the bar. Holding up his badge and credentials, Booth placed his hand on the gunman's shoulder. "Junior here tried to rob the place." Using the toe of his boot, he pointed at the gun. "There's his gun."
After an hour of interviews, the gunman being escorted from the room and the patrons finally allowed to leave, Booth sat down at the table next to Paula. "Would you like to go someplace else? I know this great little Chinese place that serves great ribs."
Staring at Booth, Paula decided that she was attracted to the wrong men. "No, I would not like to go somewhere else. My God you endangered everyone. What's wrong with you?"
"Endangered everyone? The man was armed. There was no guarantee that he wouldn't have shot the barman or taken hostages to get what he wanted. I did what I had to do. It's my job." Not sure why he was being made out to be the bad guy in this situation, Booth stood up. "It's my job to protect innocent people from people like him. I couldn't just sit here."
"I was sitting next to that idiot when he shot his gun. The bullet struck the floor bare inches from me." Furious, Paula picked up her purse and stood up. "I can't believe you did that."
A quick glance at the floor and Booth couldn't help but correct her. "Two feet not bare inches."
"Semantics." Her anger surging out of control, Paula slapped her date. "You're an idiot." Marching from the room, she didn't look back.
Feeling sorry for the agent, the barman carried a fresh glass of beer around the bar and placed it on the table in front of him. "Well I'm glad you did what you did and you're not an idiot in my book. Thanks man."
His cheek stinging, Booth sat down and took a sip from the glass. "Thanks." Well that went well.
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"So, she slapped you?" Brennan was having a hard time understanding why Booth's date had acted the way she had. "You did your job and probably saved someone from being hurt or killed. Her actions don't make any sense."
Rubbing his face where Paula had slapped him, Booth sighed. "I don't get it either. I'm an FBI Agent. A guy with a gun threatened a room full of people. I couldn't just sit there and let it happen." He had met Brennan for breakfast the next day and still puzzled about what had happened he had told her about his date. "I did tell her I was an FBI Agent . . . slapping me was over the top too."
"I agree. She's lucky you didn't arrest her for assaulting a Federal Agent." Brennan was angry that her friend and partner had been mistreated. "You didn't do anything wrong, Booth. If I had been there with you, I would have helped you take control of the situation."
"Thanks, Bones." Booth reached down, picked up his cup of coffee and drank some of the hot brew. "You get it, you always get it."
Slowly nodding her head, Brennan gave her partner a smile. "I do, Booth. I know that you didn't do anything to warrant how your date treated you." She thought Booth had been very brave and deserved a reward, not to be assaulted. Perhaps she would pay for lunch later.
"I guess I should date lawyers or cops or something." Booth knew the dating game was rough, but not this rough. "I'll figure it out."
Wishing only the best for her partner, Brennan wished that things were different and that she was allowed to date Booth, but of course she couldn't. He was searching for someone to marry him, to give him children and she wasn't interested in such things. She was also his partner and the no fraternization rule meant that she would not risk her partnership with him. She enjoyed working with Booth and her partnership was just as important to her as their friendship. "I'm sure you will."
Silently sipping his coffee, Booth wished that things were different. He'd felt something towards Brennan for a long time and dating her would have been wonderful, but she was his partner and he wouldn't risk a hair on her head, not after what had happened to Cam. Life sucked sometimes. It really did.
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