Moments—Chapter 3
Disclaimer: The only character that I own in this story is the scrumptious Dr. Sean Weatherman that Howdylynn and I are both crushing on. They wouldn't give me Booth so I had to make up my own version of a perfect hottie. Don't get me wrong, Booth is still 'da man' but…
Author's notes: Well, ask and ye shall receive…another chapter anyway. It seems that Chapter 2 didn't suck that much after all so when I awoke at 3 in the morning the other day with part of this chapter mapped out in my brain, I figured I might as well run with it. Keep the reviews coming and I'll do my best to keep the chapters for this and "A Pain That I'm Used To" coming as well. And just in case I didn't mention it earlier—all of the people who reviewed this story 'rock'! Yeah, I never claimed to be cool…
Read, enjoy and let me know what you think.
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He took the long way around the lab, passing the multiple platform areas as he slowly made his way toward the exit. Booth watched as Sean stepped closer to his partner—what the….was he trying to kiss her? What bothered him even more was that Bones didn't step away from him. No, instead she leaned into his space. He slowed his pace a little more and watched intently. Sean backed away with a major grin on his face and exited the lab. Before Booth could reach Brennan, Angela accosted her friend and they were off to Brennan's office.
Refocusing his attention on the exit, Booth quickened his pace and his resolve to have a little talk with Mr. Archeology. He found Sean lingering in the hallway outside the guard's station searching through his coat and pants pockets.
"Lose something?"
Sean turned and chuckled. "Agent Booth. Um, yes, I always have a terrible habit of misplacing my keys…Ah, there they are."
"Hmmm, leaving so soon huh? Well that's too bad." Get your charismatic, flirting ass out of my lab and away from my… Wait, my what? Bones is not your 'anything' and she would most definitely have something to say about your alpha male dominance and contention that she did, in some way, belong to you. Great, now you're calling yourself an alpha male…damn Bones and her anthropological rants….of all the things to have stuck in your head.
He suddenly realized that Sean's mouth was moving, forming words that he had not registered.
"Yeah, yeah, well that sounds great Woodpecker…"
Sean chuckled again. "Weatherman. And I'm glad you're okay with that because there is a good possibility that I will accept the Jeffersonian's offer…unless of course Stanford makes a counteroffer that I can't pass up."
"And I'm sure they will…it's Stanford. Great place. Probably better than here—at least weather wise, right?" He slapped the other man on the back, once again displaying his dominance and a little bit of his strength.
"Right. Well, it was nice to meet you Agent Booth." Sean jingled his keys in his hand and walked out the exit.
"It was nice to meet you," Booth mocked under his breath.
The truth of the matter was Sean Weatherman was not a bad guy. In fact, Booth's gut told him that he was a good man. He seemed to be the type of guy that Booth and his army buddies would hang out with in a bar or at a barbecue. However, as he watched the doctor saunter through the parking garage, Booth only felt immense hatred for the man. Absolute illogical and unreasonable hatred.
"Stupid, charming…" he stood and muttered under his breath.
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Angela hastily made her way from Brennan's office to Hodgins'. She took a seat beside him as he studied fibers that had been found on the young Jane Doe.
"I accidentally told Bren about Cam and Booth sleeping together," she blurted out in a hushed tone.
Wide blue eyes turned toward her, conveying Hodgins' obvious surprise. "Well I didn't hear any yelling or see any bodies flying by my door so I guess she took it well. Unless of course, she already had her suspicions…"
"Oh, she didn't." Angela chewed on her lower lip, deep in thought and clearly agitated.
Hodgins leaned away from his work area and crossed his arms, watching her intently. "Exactly how did you 'accidentally' dispense this information?"
She sighed as she placed her elbows on the table in front of her and cradled her head in her hands, her fingers becoming lost in her long black hair. Hodgins' heart skipped a beat as he imagined that it was his fingers combing through the soft silky tendrils.
"You know I mentioned to you earlier this week how I felt that Bren has been avoiding me…all of us…"
"Yeah, she started acting weird after the case with Judge Ramos, which was around the same time that I told you about Cam and Booth." The proud smile on his face made Angela chuckle as she lifted her eyes to meet his.
"Okay, okay, so you figured that one out before I did."
"That's what I'm talking about baby…"
"Anyway, after Bren set up a date with Dr. Hottie…"
"She's got a date?"
"One topic at a time Jack," she said in an exasperated tone. "I went to her office in an attempt to gather some information about her obvious past with Sean and she shot me down. So I mentioned how she's been avoiding us and then it dawned on me when that started and I casually, accidentally blurted out the whole Cam and Booth sleeping together thing."
"How upset was she?"
"That's the unsettling part of this…she didn't appear upset. But you know how Bren is—logic overrides emotions."
"But logic didn't override Brennan accepting a date with Rico Suave?" He grinned at her as his question elicited a laugh.
"Hodgy, you really need to update your references," she said as her laughter became a soft chuckle. "Judging from their body language, I would say that Bren and Sean are, um, very well acquainted."
"Hmm, poor Booth."
Angela's dark eyebrows practically shot through the ceiling as she stared at him. "Poor Booth? Are you serious? He jumps into bed with Cam, obviously without a thought as to how it would affect our cases and his relationship with Bren. Even though his little fling with Cam is over now, any chance he had with Brennan is over too."
She quickly stood and made her way to his office door. Her obvious irritation startled Hodgins.
"Wait, Booth and Cam aren't together anymore?"
"Learn how to keep up Jack," she said as she rolled her eyes and exited his office.
Hodgins leaned forward and massaged his temples. "I'm trying to. Man, how does Booth keep his sanity with all his women?"
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Her nimble fingers moving rapidly over the keyboard, detailing the findings of a case, did little to distract Brennan from the newfound knowledge of her partner's "relationship" with her boss. Usually she found work therapeutic—she could lose herself in the intricacies of a case, memorizing each injury the deceased had ever suffered and piecing together what type of life they led. But at the moment, her brilliant mind had replaced images of skeletons with those of Booth in bed with Cam.
She still had been unable to pinpoint the strong emotion she'd felt when Angela had let the news of his affair slip. Brennan's hands became still, resting lightly on her keyboard as she began to contemplate her feelings and the possible logical reasons for them. Her sound reasoning skills were halted by the ringing of her office phone.
"Brennan," she answered curtly.
"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Sean's smooth, melodic tone eased some of the tension she'd felt building in the last few minutes.
"Sean, I'm…no, no. I was just working on a few reports."
The sound of his chuckle was warm and playful. "I figured you would get caught up with work and lose track of time…some things never change Temperance."
She glanced at the clock on her wall and noted that it was almost six-thirty. "Your hotel isn't that far from the lab. I can still be there by seven."
"If you're busy I completely understand…"
Smiling at his apologetic tone, Brennan began shutting down her computer. "Actually, I'm not busy but I am hungry." A night out with an old friend was exactly what she needed, she decided.
"Okay, so I'll see you in a few minutes. I'm looking forward to seeing you Temperance."
She listened to the soft click as Sean hung up and sighed. "I am too," she whispered.
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She managed to leave the lab undetected by Angela. While Brennan was not a religious person, she did consider that small act miraculous. Angela had the tenacity of a pit bull sometimes and if she had managed to sink her teeth into Brennan's past with Sean, the artist would have been unstoppable.
As she pulled her silver sports car in front of the hotel, Brennan spotted Sean standing in the lobby near the entrance. She watched as several young women walked past him, offering him flirtatious smiles and flipping their hair. Sean returned the smiles with a friendly nod but kept his focus on the traffic outside the hotel. She noticed how handsome he appeared in his well worn blue jeans, white button up shirt and black leather jacket.
The hotel's valet opened the door of her car for Brennan to exit. She shivered slightly as the cool October air caressed her face and neck. "Thank you," she said as she took the ticket and moved to allow him to enter her car.
Sean moved quickly from the lobby and met her outside. "Nice car Temperance," he said with a wink. "The Jeffersonian must pay you really well."
She grinned at him. "No, it's one of the perks of writing books that people seem to enjoy reading."
"Oh yes, lest I forget that I will be dining with 'author' Dr. Temperance Brennan." The playful gleam in his emerald eyes was unmistakable. He took her right hand in his left and guided her toward the busy sidewalk. They walked in silence for a while, maneuvering around the crowd until they reached the restaurant Sean had mentioned earlier.
He placed his hand on the door and glanced over at Brennan with a smile on his face. "I know, I know…you can open the door for yourself but please indulge me."
"Just this once," she commented as she laughed. Her laughter ceased as Sean placed his hand on the small of her back, immediately bringing thoughts of Booth to her mind.
He noticed the sudden change in her demeanor and brought his face close her hers. "Are you okay?" he whispered in her ear.
"Fine," she answered as her eyes scanned the interior of the restaurant. The setting was warm with dim ceiling lighting and a vast array of candles lit throughout the place. The atmosphere was relaxed and casual and Brennan tried to set her frame of mind to match.
They were seated in a cozy section near one of the large windows displaying the busy downtown area. Sean ordered red wine for them and watched as Brennan perused the menu.
"Do you know what you want?" she asked as she tried to decide between the eggplant parmesan and a linguini dish.
"Yes," he answered as he continued to watch her.
Their waiter returned to the table with their wine and took their orders.
"I have to say that I'm surprised you're not dating anyone Temperance," Sean stated as he poured a glass of wine for her. "Pleasantly surprised, mind you."
She sipped the wine, savoring the bold taste. "I was seeing someone but it ended a few months ago. He found someone else who had time for him—his words."
He watched as her gaze flitted out the window as though she was recalling the painful conversation with her ex. "Was it Agent Booth?"
Brennan's head quickly turned toward him. "What? No! No, Booth and I are partners and…friends." At least I thought we were.
"I just…well, the way he was acting toward me at the lab earlier…I just thought…"
"No, that's just Booth. You were invading his territory and like any good alpha male he was intent on rooting you out." Brennan took another long drink of her wine, enjoying the warmth that was flowing through her system.
Sean smiled at her, the candle light enhancing the brightness of his green eyes. "And you're sure that you were not the, uh, territory?"
"Absolutely," she answered as she locked eyes with him. "And what about you? You're not dating anyone?"
"No. In fact, I just have gotten back into the dating game—I got divorced six months ago." He laughed at the surprised look that crossed Brennan's face. "I met Renee a few months after you and I parted ways. She was into the whole 'Indiana Jones' mystique…"
"Is he well known in the archeology community? Angela mentioned him to me earlier."
He reached across and took hold of her hand as a chuckle escaped his lips. "He's a fictional movie character."
"Oh," she said as she blushed.
"Don't be embarrassed. I find it refreshing to talk to someone that doesn't have to use a pop culture reference every five seconds." He squeezed her hand and smiled at her. "Anyway, Renee quickly lost interest in the life of an archeologist. We were married for three months. I saw her for two weeks that whole time and she managed to find someone else to keep her company."
"I'm sorry," she replied softly.
"Don't be. If I was still with her then I wouldn't be here with you now."
"Okay, then I'm not sorry," Brennan said as a slow smile spread across her face.
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Booth pulled on the knot of his tie, loosening its hold on his neck. As he stared at the computer screen in his office, he unbuttoned the top of his dress shirt. He glanced at the time on the screen and groaned when he saw that it was ten o'clock at night. Booth pushed his body away from his desk and stood, stretching his tired muscles. Since leaving the lab earlier in the evening, he had gone through every conceivable missing persons file on his desk attempting to match a face with Angela's sketch.
"Agent Booth?" The young male agent hesitantly knocked on his office door. "I have a few more files for you."
Booth dropped his tired body back into his chair and motioned for the agent to come inside the office. "Just put them on my desk."
The young man did as he was told. "So, no luck huh?"
"Way to state the obvious," Booth replied as he leaned forward and opened the file that was sitting on top. He stopped as he stared at the photograph of a young redheaded woman with piercing green eyes. The file identified her as fifteen-year-old Katie Stonestreet from Dover, Delaware who had been missing for two and a half years. Angela's sketch was eerily accurate as Booth placed the sketch next to the last photograph that had been taken of Katie. I gotta call Bones.
"Is that her?" The forgotten agent leaned forward to study the sketch.
Booth glanced up and glared at him as he reached for his phone. "Why are you still here?"
"Cause you didn't tell me to leave."
"Your last name isn't Addy by any chance is it?" He studied the young man for a moment.
"No sir."
"Out…now." He watched as the agent tripped over his own feet in his haste to leave the office. After dialing the number to Brennan's office, he picked up a pencil and tapped it on the desk. The fact that she didn't answer surprised him—she didn't usually leave the lab before eleven o'clock each night. He dialed her cell phone number next. Maybe she took a break….or maybe she went home early. She did seem tired earlier at the lab.
He hung up and contemplated calling her at home. No, she needs to rest. We can't do anything tonight anyway.
Sighing heavily, he grabbed the file on Katie and stood. First thing in the morning he would meet Bones at the lab with the new information and then they would travel to Dover to inform the Stonestreet family of their loss.
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They quickly entered the lobby of the hotel to escape the chilly wind whipping through the city.
"Would you like to come up to my suite for coffee?" Sean gathered her hands in his own and stared into her eyes.
"Suite? Wow, the Jeffersonian must really want you." She smiled up at him, her eyes slightly glazed from the wine she had consumed at the restaurant.
He pulled her closer to him. "Just the Jeffersonian?"
"Coffee sounds really good," she said softly.
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Perhaps it was the alcohol or the fact that she had not been with anyone since David, but Brennan found herself reveling in Sean's touch as his hand slid under her shirt. He continued to kiss her as he guided her toward the bed.
She pulled his dress shirt from his jeans and began to lose herself in the moment. The last few weeks had drained her—McVicar's death and her father's apparent involvement; taking someone's life; Cam's hold over her team; and the final straw, Cam's involvement with Booth. Brennan just wanted comfort, even if only for a few hours. She couldn't talk to Angela; and now she felt that she couldn't confide in Booth; but she had Sean, at least for the night.
Author's notes: Do I hear booing? People cursing my name? Hey, you, stop throwing those rocks! Before you get upset, remember that the story is not over yet. (quickly takes cover to continue working on this story and "A Pain…") I know you all are upset with me—seriously, stop throwing things already—but hang in there with me. I promise I'll make it all better by the end of the story.