A/N: So…I'm stumped as to what I'm doing. Let us see what happens.
Chapter Three.
The inside of the warm Hoover building was a welcome relief from the temperature outside. January had hit an atypical low that winter, at least five degrees below normal.
Booth kept Brennan close to him, unnerved by the call she had received, and they headed up to Cullen's office.
"Agent Booth, you weren't supposed to be here for another hour. And why has Dr Brennan accompanied you?" the deputy director asked when they walked in.
"Sir, Dr Brennan recently got a call from someone who was less then happy she was working on the new case from this morning."
Cullen rested his gaze on Brennan. "When did you receive the call?"
"At about ten," she replied after thinking for a second.
"I'll get onto it," Cullen picked up his phone and dialled a number, keeping his gaze fixed on the desk in front of him. He spoke to someone named Fisher about tracing any calls to the Jeffersonian between nine forty-five and ten-fifteen and thanked them before hanging up.
"I'm guessing you're going to work out the rest?" he asked Booth, his tone almost amused.
"Yes, sir."
"This won't affect your status on the current case? You are still required to investigate, even if you are upping security around Dr Brennan and her team."
"No, sir, my work will be unaffected."
Cullen nodded, a sign he wanted them out.
"Come on, Bones," Booth put a hand to his partner's back and steered her out of his boss' office.
"Booth, is this entirely necessary? I've said before that many people would like me to stop doing my job because of what I could find out about them, but I don't quit for them. I don't quit for anyone."
Booth managed a smile. "I know, Bones. But I've said before that I won't let anything happen to you again. I intend to stick by that statement as much as you do yours."
She frowned, not pleased with his reply, but she didn't say anything.
They went into Booth's office and he told her to sit. She grudgingly complied, leaning her elbows on the desk in front of her.
"Stay here while I go and sort some things out. If you want, you can help finish my crossword. I can't figure out eight down." Booth left the room and Brennan thought better of protesting.
He walked down the hall, thinking about what the death threats to his partner meant for her safety. For one, she no longer was safe; death threats didn't usually mean someone was looking where to send the thank you card.
He knocked on a door that would take him into his colleague, Adam Harding's office.
"Harding. I've got a favour to ask."
Harding looked up.
"I need you to increase security around the Jeffersonian Institute, particularly the Medico-Legal lab, and also Dr Brennan's apartment block."
"Any particular reason why, Booth?" Harding asked curiously.
"Dr Brennan has been having a few…problems recently."
"You know I'm not allowed to do this as a personal favour because you're worried about your girlfriend, right?"
"There've been threats because of a case she's currently working on," Booth corrected the first part of Harding's question. "And she's not my girlfriend," he wasn't going to correct the second part, but then he thought of David and a knot twisted in his stomach, so he felt he had to.
Harding raised an eyebrow at him before nodding. "Whatever you say, man."
Booth left the office and went back to his own. Brennan was still sitting in her chair, her pen tapping the crossword puzzle as she thought about an answer.
"Seems like you couldn't figure out more than just eight down. Which was the word 'symphony', by the way," she said as he came in, her eyes only briefly flicking to his from the paper.
"I was never very good at crosswords."
"So why do you attempt them?" she asked, confused as to why he'd want to waste his time.
"So I can have an excuse to ask you for help," he flashed her a winning but entirely insincere smile and sat down opposite her at his desk.
She just shook her head at him.
"I've gotten extra security around the Jeffersonian and your apartment block. If this guy is going to try and take a shot at you, we'll be ready. Now, we have to go and find someone to track him down. You'll have to tell them exactly what happened."
Brennan nodded. "Okay."
They got up, and Brennan dropped the crossword onto the table before walking out the door beside Booth.
-
Ten minutes later, Brennan was sitting opposite a heavyset officer simply known to anyone and everyone as Jim. He could stand to eat a few less donuts so he could tighten his belt, but he had a good sense of humour and was an excellent cop.
"Dr Brennan, I hear you had a little mishap with a caller earlier today. Booth filled me in, but I'll need to get the details from you. About what time did he call? He was a 'he', yeah?"
Brennan nodded. "It was a male voice, he called around ten."
"What were his exact words? Or at least close to."
"He said if I didn't stop working the new case from the Jeffersonian gardens he'd make sure I didn't see it through to the end of it."
Jim took notes onto a pad of paper then gave Brennan a quick smile as he picked up the phone.
When he hung up he looked to Booth, who stood behind the chair Brennan was sitting in, his hands on the back.
"We're getting another agent on this case, and Dr Brennan will be spared from the field as much as possible."
"You're terminating our partnership?" Brennan asked, indignant.
"Not terminating, just…toning down, so to speak. If you aren't needed to examine remains, we'll keep you in the lab."
Brennan was irritated. It still sounded like something just short of termination to her.
She crossed her arms over her chest and Booth noticed her crankiness.
"Cheer up, Bones. As soon as this case is over we can go back to being proper partners again," he squeezed her shoulder and felt the muscles beneath his fingers tense.
"I'll send the new agent to your office within the hour," said Jim, reclining back in his chair.
Booth nodded and patted his partner's shoulder. "You want to go get something to eat, Bones?" he asked, sensing she was still slightly put out.
"Sure." She got up and waited for Booth to walk out the door.
They went down the elevator and out onto the white streets of DC, heading for a well-known restaurant they both headed to almost more frequently than Wong Foo's.
They were seated at a table and Booth watched as Brennan picked up a menu, following suit but not paying the slightest bit of attention to it.
"Booth, its distracting when you stare at me like that."
"I know you're upset about the whole partnership thing, but you know it's safer."
"I don't care that it's safer!" her voice was louder than she intended it to be and several people in the crowded restaurant looked at her. "I don't care," she said in a lower voice, "I want to be out in the field with you." She looked slightly surprised at the profundity of her statement.
Booth smiled. "And we will be, just hold your horses, okay?"
"Is that some sort of figure of speech to tell me to be patient?" she asked.
He nodded. "You're getting better. I just mean that its not permanent, its just one case."
"You weren't this worried about the thing with Kenton," she said.
"Well I didn't know enough then. We've got to cover our bases this time," upon catching the look on her face he stopped, "we've got to be thorough."
She seemed to be content with that answer and turned back to her menu.
A waitress came around shortly after, a pen and notebook in hand.
"And what would you two like to order today?" she asked, her eyes looking first at Booth, then at Brennan. She couldn't have been much older than eighteen, her dark hair piled up into a messy bun and her features delicate.
They placed their orders and the girl, her nametag reading 'Natalie', smiled as she left to give them to the chef.
They fell back into their usual banter, joking about what Booth's new partner would be like. By the time their meals arrived, they had concluded he'd be a one-eyed Texas native who'd wear cowboy boots and baggy jeans to hide his plastic leg. How they'd come up with it neither of them knew. Nor did they know why he'd be able to wrestle snakes. Neither of them really cared, they were just enjoying each other's company, though Booth's mind couldn't help but wonder whether he was violating some dating code by taking Brennan out to lunch when she was seeing David, not him.
When they had finished, Brennan didn't protest when Booth payed the bill, and they left to go back to their respective jobs.
"I'll drop you at the lab, then I'll come back and check out this Texan snake-wrestler, okay?"
Brennan couldn't help the smile that crept over her face when she thought about it. They went back to the FBI building and got into Booth's SUV, heading back through the slippery roads to the Jeffersonian.
She waved goodbye after getting out of the car and headed inside the building, though Booth didn't leave until she was out of sight. He wasn't taking any chances. After seeing her disappear, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed back along the streets that would take him to his new partner.
He knew even if they did wrestle snakes or possibly have a Texan accent, or even be unbelievably witty and smart, he'd still have Brennan any day.