Booth's Odd Visitor

A/N: This off-the-wall story idea struck my brain this morning, so I went with it.

One fall afternoon as Booth labored to complete his budget projections which the Director needed for a 10 am meeting the next day, Charlie Burns stuck his head through his boss's door.

"Hey, Booth, you have a visitor at the front desk and security wants you to come downstairs and clear her before they give her a visitor's badge."

"Geez, why now, when I'm up to my eyeballs in alligators? I despise budgets! What's her name, and why can't the security team just call me? Send me her name and photo?"

"I dunno, but Hector insists," Charlie replied.

Heaving a deep sigh, Booth rose from his not-so-comfortable inherited office chair and pulled on his suit jacket.

"While I'm gone, would you please take a look at the ammunition numbers I've come up with, Charlie, and see if they'r sufficient for our January training sessions? With the unrest around the Capitol during that March for Life, the guys need to be as pinpoint accurate as possible."

"Sure thing, Boss."
"Don't call me Boss, Charlie."
"Okay, okay, what's the difference? Just a couple of letters...switch out the o's and t's for s's!" Charlie grinned.

Booth wadded up an expired memo and tossed it at his friend.

Taking the stairs to clear the fog of numbers from his head, Booth wondered who in the heck might feel it was so dang necessary to talk with him today, when he had so much hated paperwork to finish up. As he reached the ground floor, Booth paused to peer through the wire-reinforced glass window at the visitors' seating area in the FBI lobby. A small woman sat in one of the chairs. She wore a wool coat and a houndstooth scarf over graying hair. Booth had an excellent memory for faces, and realized he'd never seen this lady.

He strode across the lobby and greeted Hector Ramirez, the chief of security, stepping into the man's small office for a moment.

"Any idea who this lady is, Hector?"

"Bennie out there says her name is Gladys Pelant Johnson," Ramirez replied. "Ring any bells? His mother?"

"No, she apparently passed away just after he started high school," Booth recalled.

"Well, I can't give you any more. She insisted she didn't need to come upstairs; she just wanted to talk with you."
"Strange, don't you think?" Booth asked.

"Why'ont you just go talk to her, Booth, instead of askin' me? I bet she'll tell you whatever you need to know."

Booth smirked at Hector. "Still a smart ass, huh?" he muttered under his breath so his voice didn't carry.
"You know it, Booth!" Hector shot back.

Booth left the tiny office, greeted Bennie, and smiled slightly at the diminutive visitor waiting for him.

"M'am, how may I help you? The security staff says you requested to talk with me?"

Gladys stood up, the handle of her purse crunched tightly in her fists.
"Agent Booth, I just wanted to thank you for finally handling my nephew," she said resolutely.

"M'am, you're his aunt? I'm sorry for your loss. As much as we needed to bring Christopher Pelant to justice, we realize that his death brings pain to his family."
"May I take you up to my office so we can talk? Could I get you some coffee?"

"No, Sir, I know you are busy with other cases. I just want you to know we're glad the boy can't cause anyone else harm. After my sister-in-law, Christopher's mother died, and his father was away so much on business, my husband Roy and I tried to take care of Chris."

She sat back down. "Can we just talk here for a moment?"
Booth sat down across from Gladys, and smiled at her. "Please continue, Mrs. Johnson."

"We moved into Robert's house and stayed with Chris. That general uncle of his was always filling his head with conspiracy nonsense and his father worried a lot, thought the boy needed some down-to-earth guidance from normal family. Robert had plenty of money, but not enough time to balance his business and his son. He loved the boy, but the two of them could never seem to relate."

Booth stayed quiet, listening intently to the woman's story about his oddest adversary.

"When Chris's mother Vanessa died, the kids were sad for Chris and tried to comfort him, but he just pushed them away. After awhile, they quit trying. This group of children had all gone through school together since first grade, and Chris had once been somewhat popular, but the older he got, the stranger he became."

"Chris was teased so much about his weight and his mouthy talk...Christopher was very intelligent, but not smart enough to keep friends. He'd boast about how much smarter he was than everyone else and the kids got sick of his high and mighty ways, so they ostracized him. That only made things worse, but Chris wouldn't listen to me."

"He'd come home from school, cry some, eat more, and just sit in his room. Never went outside, refused to participate in school sports, or try to get along or make new friends."

"Robert's army brother was a bad influence on the boy. Roy and I tried to make Chris see that he was driving his friends away, but he just became more and more of a loner. The kid was brilliant but he was his own worse enemy in the human relations department," Gladys Johnson said sadly.
She sniffled a bit, wiped her eyes with her fist, sat up straighter and squared her Booth straight in the eye, she continued.

"I've taken up more of your time than I intended and for that, I apologize. I just wanted to thank you for stopping Christopher from hurting any more people. His misdeeds would have killed his mother, if the cancer hadn't. She was a fine woman, and raised her son right during the time she had. His father was absent so much of the time, he didn't have much influence on Chris. That's why the boy craved his uncle's attention. And believe me, that wasn't always a good thing!"

"Once he went to college, we only saw him at Christmas since he always stayed on campus during other holidays and through the summer, working in one of their computer labs. If only we'd known what terrible havoc he'd wreak..."
"I don't know that Roy and I could've stopped Chris from killing those poor people, but we'd certainly have tried. He had all the money he needed, just no good sense or moral compass after Vanessa was gone."

"It's sad that he had to die so young, but if evil is all a person is going to cause in the world, it's better if they're gone from it." "So that's why I came to see you, Agent Booth. I know Christopher also hurt your family, and I'm sorry. Your persistence in solving his crimes, despite of the great personal pain he caused you, has made all of us safer."

Gladys Johnson arose from her seat, and patted Booth's shoulder. Once he stood up, she wouldn't have been able to reach it to do so.

"Mrs. Johnson, thank you for taking the time to come see me. There aren't many times someone goes to the trouble of thanking us, and it means a lot. Believe me, I wasn't the only one working on Christopher's case. I had great support and help from many people."

"Especially your brilliant wife!" Gladys smiled for the first time.
"Dr. Temperance Brennan is one of the few people with an intellect to match Chris's. No offense intended, Agent Booth, but they are both way smarter than most people."

Booth laughed. "Truer words were never spoken, Mrs. Johnson. My wife's brain is far better than mine. I rely on my gut most of the time."

"Sir, there's a need for that type of smarts in the world, too," his visitor said.

"Yup, that's what my Bones tells me..."

"I bet there's a story behind that nickname, but I've taken up too much of your time, Agent Booth. Thank you, and good-bye," Gladys said warmly. "It's an honor to have met you."

"You too, Mrs. Johnson. Bennie here will show you the way out. Thank you again for coming. Take care of yourself and your husband."

Once she had left the building, Booth turned to Bennie and Hector. "Was that the oddest thing that's every happened in this lobby? If not, it's a close second!"

He jogged back up the stairs to his office, and stopped at Charlie Burns' desk.

"Go grab a cup of coffee, and come in here a minute. You'll never guess who my visitor downstairs was!"