My mother is a scientist. Her life is based on evidence and proof in any form that it is available. She is the smartest person that I know, and I can be certain she is the smartest person that I may ever know. She is both physically strong, with a mind as sharp as razor wire. My mother is the esteemed Doctor Temperance Brennan. She never professionally took my father's name, and I think that both of them have always been fine with that. Their relationship was never built on the banal, and it would have done both of them a great disservice if they fell into that trap. Her job is her life, but her life is her family, and that is something that has never wavered in the twenty seven years that I have been alive.
Through high school and as I perused articles on the best colleges, my mind always went back to my mother's work in the Jeffersonian lab. Her focus and love for the job, for learning and reading the human body was absolutely intriguing to me. She helped people, and that was what I wanted to do with my life.
(Two years earlier)
Booth sat down at the table, glancing to the waitress, she nodded when he caught her eye and moved to get his cup of coffee. "Are you sure you want to intern at the lab?" he asked his daughter as she sat down, her brow furrowed. "You want to be a squint?"
Antonia's lip curled into her mother's half smile, and she shook her head at her father. "I know the Jeffersonian, I know the lab. I love my work, daddy, and it would just be easier if I was someplace comfortable. I want to help people."
"Aren't you worried about being accused of nepotism? Kids can be cruel."
"Daddy, I'm not a kid. The other interns, they're not kids either. You have to be really smart to get into the program at the Jeffersonian. I have to fill out an application just like everyone else. I refuse to enter the program on anything other than my educational merits."
"You're still a kid." Booth replied, seeming to ignore everything else that Antonia had just said. Antonia shook her head and sipped the coffee that the waitress had brought them. They were quiet for several moments. "The Jeffersonian would be lucky to have you."
"You think I don't know that?" Antonia grinned brightly, sipping her coffee at her father's laugh. "I am a genius, you know."
Of course, if I'm going to describe my mother, I can't forget to mention my father. Special Agent Seeley Booth. Former Army ranger, former FBI Agent, and in his most recent move, former Secret Service agent. My father is beyond a doubt, a 'by the book' kind of guy, but all of the 'books' seem to have been written by him. He and my mother were partners long before I was even a gleam in their eye. They spent their work hours and their personal time together, and were virtually inseparable as a team. Dad was the brawn, and Mom was the brains, though sometimes it seems that their abilities were shared.
Dad tried retirement a year or so ago. He tried to spend time with his grandchildren, tried to focus on himself for once. The truth is though; Dad can't stay still for very long without having the distinct feeling that he'll become obsolete or unneeded. He has always needed to be doing something, anything, in order to feel useful. I am not sure if it is something built into him that keeps his mind constantly working, or if he is just afraid of relaxing, but when Dad doesn't have something to do, he always finds some kind of trouble to get into. That, and when he's bored… he tends to drive my mother up a wall.
With extra free time, he was spending even more time in the lab with Mom and her partner, Ace than he had when he was when he actually worked at the Jeffersonian. He was always sticking his nose into their cases, and though Mom is the master of compartmentalization, even in her busiest times she is no match for my father's charm.
In a bold move by Aunt Cam (Maybe out of desperation) , he was given the job of FBI-Jeffersonian ambassador. The position was as a freelance consultant for the FBI in an attempt to keep the bond between agents in the field, and the scientists at the Jeffersonian strong, workable, and copasetic. Dad has always been a good influence on other agents. He always keeps his head in the game as an agent, and always treats his 'squints' with respect. He is patient and is always willing to learn, and protective of both the evidence, and his partner's well being. These qualities are important when two divergent mindsets work together for a common result, for field agents don't always have a scientific background and scientists don't typically embrace certain social mores particularly well.
Through the years my father has put many, many criminals behind bars, both with and without the aid of my mother's team at the Jeffersonian. He is an example to many, and most agents look to him as a mentor… even if he does have some bad habits.
(Present Day- December 4th)
"We'll take you down to the lab, get to know the squints in their natural environment," Booth rattled on to his passenger. The young agent in the seat next to him looked so green that Booth could nearly smell the 'new agent' smell that Booth jokingly said existed. Dressed in his typical suit and tie, the young man in the seat beside him twisted his fingers with his hand. "They'll probably want to break you in a little bit, but there's no need to be put off if they seem a little cold. They are just very concentrated on what they're doing… and sometimes the world passes by while they are stuck staring into their microscopes."
He turned onto the next road and continued straight. He glanced behind him when he saw the police officer pull out behind him, and glanced to the agent beside him. He then looked back at the rear view mirror when he saw the flashing lights behind him. "Crap." He muttered.
"What?" the agent asked, glancing back, he saw the flashing lights as well. His eyebrows lifted and he turned around, swallowing hard. He watched as Booth pulled to the side of the road, and rolled down his window as the officer stopped behind him, lights still flashing.
"Aw, come on…" He muttered, as the police officer's car door opened.
The other agent registered a look on Booth's face that he couldn't quite decipher as the officer approached. She was a tall, thin woman, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes narrowed as she approached the driver's side.
She leaned down and gave Booth a good, long look. "Sir." She stated, her voice taking on an authoritative tone. "Do you know why I pulled you over?"
"Yes." Booth replied, glaring up at the officer.
"Do you care to share with the rest of the class?" She asked, indicating herself and his passenger.
"Do we really have to go through this? Can't you just…"
"Sir?"
"My seatbelt." Booth muttered.
"Excuse me?" She said, leaning in the car a bit. The agent in the passenger seat caught a gleam of humor in her ice blue eyes. "I couldn't hear you."
"My seatbelt." Booth said, reaching his hand back, he touched the unbuckled belt.
"That's right." She nodded her head. "Wearing your seatbelt is the law, sir. I'm sure you have children… grandchildren, maybe even great grand children that would like to see you live a few more years." She said, suddenly the subject of an irritated glare. "Can I please see your license and registration?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"Do I look like I'm joking, sir?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "License and registration."
Booth muttered under his breath and leaned over, pulling the registration out of the glove compartment, he slapped it, and his wallet into her hand. "There."
"Thank you, sir." She then turned and walked toward her car.
Booth sat back in his seat, his brow furrowed as he shook his head angrily. He glanced to the agent beside him, and noticed that the young man was staring straight ahead. He glanced in the rear view mirror as the officer opened the door to her cruiser. "You've got to be kidding me…" He muttered, swinging his car door open, he climbed from the car and quickly approached the officer's car. The agent in the passenger seat twisted his neck to see, and watched as Booth argued with her. They exchanged words for several moments, and Booth's face seemed to be turning red in anger. After a moment or two, he seemed to calm down, the officer was now smiling at him as she leaned on the cruiser and talked to him. She wrote something down and handed it to him. Booth looked in the direction of his car, and the agent quickly averted his gaze.
After a minute or two, Booth swung open the door to the car and sat down. He threw the papers in his hand toward his passenger and grabbed at his seatbelt. It stuck two, three times, before he grunted and pulled at it a fourth time just right, slowly pulling it to latch it. When he looked up, the police officer was driving past, waving at him with a grin.
"Just what I needed today." He muttered, glancing to the agent beside him. "You can put those in the glove compartment."
"Couldn't get out of it, huh?" he asked, opening up the box, he put it inside, glancing at the piece of paper.
"No." He said, grabbing the other slip of paper from the other man's hand. "Sorry, that's mine… grocery list." The agent lifted an eyebrow. "You're invited to dinner with my family this evening." He said with a sarcastic smile, as he glanced behind him, and pulled back into traffic.