"I thought you were going to pass out when Hodgins brought out the welding torch to roast the corn on the cob," Brennan was smiling and on the verge of an amused laugh at Booth's expense as they drove back into DC to try and find a spot to watch the fireworks on the mall.
"For the record, Bones, I was not going to pass out," He gestured emphatically as he drove, he was a man and not just any man, he was an FBI Special Agent and FBI Special Agents did not pass out in the face of a welding torch; especially FBI Special Agents who were former Army Ranger Sharpshooters. "I might have been slightly startled, but I was not going to pass out."
"Startled." Bones considered that one for a moment; he might deny it, but she was sure that from the momentary look of terror on his face when he turned around to see Hodgins smiling a bit too maniacally with the welding torch in hand that it was just about enough to make even Seeley Booth pass out. He'd quickly recovered of course when he realized that Hodgins had simply wanted to share in his own conspiratorial way a rather innovative method for roasting ears of corn.
"And you would have been startled too if you'd seen the look on his face." Booth's voice sounded all puffed up as he continued to explain away how the color had literally drained from his face. "But the corn was remarkably good I do have to say...all caramelly."
Bones snickered and pursed her lips together to keep from outright laughing at him; he claimed that the squints as he referred to her and her colleagues were socially awkward, but despite his knowledge of psychology and pop culture, he was awkward in his own way, "Caramelization is a result of sugars breaking down when heat is applied; perhaps that's what Hodgins did, the corn did have an extra sweet flavor to it."
"You don't let him play with that thing in the lab do you; between him and Zach they could burn the place down." Booth looked genuinely worried; some of the pranks and experiments the two of them had put together had become legendary in the lab and not in the good sense either.
"They're grown men, Booth; a little rational interjection at key moments usually works." Although it didn't work all the time and to an empiricist such as herself that thought was a bit unsettling. Perhaps that was part of the reason at least that she preferred to work with bones rather than live people; they didn't change their characteristics on a whim.
"I would hardly refer to either Hodgins or Zach as grown men, Bones; thirteen-year olds in grown men's bodies maybe, but most grown men don't even think about half of what those two come up with. They're like Dr. Jeckel and Mr Hyde."
Bones arched her brow rather skeptically, "They're no different than you; you like to play guns and badges." Really, how could he not see that most men would stay little boys if they could get away with it?
"Cops and robbers, Bones, and I'm the good guy, ok? And it's not a game, I'm sure you're familiar with the fact that we use real bullets." Booth wasn't sure how they had gotten from corn on the cob to this. He furrowed his brow as he considered just how many other people were planning on watching fireworks on the mall and he realized that there wasn't a parking spot anywhere as far as he could see. "Doesn't anyone use the Metro anymore?"
"I guess a lot of people had the same idea." Bones observed that the streets surrounding the mall were as crowded as they were at rush hour; perhaps watching fireworks here wasn't the best idea after all, even if it would have made for an interesting scientific observation.
"Well this is just great; by the time we find a parking spot the fireworks will be over." Booth was so focused on finding a spot large enough for his FBI issued vehicle that it seemed to escape him that he was after all an FBI agent and that the headquarters of the FBI were just a few blocks away from the mall; or the fact that the Jeffersonian wasn't all that far away either and there was a reserved parking spot with Dr. Brennan's name on it.
Bones chuckled, "We could just head over to the Jeffersonian, Booth." It seemed perfectly logical and rational that as long as they planned on watching fireworks on the mall that they might as well stop at the Jeffersonian.
"Hey, it's Independence Day, Bones, the whole point of today was to get you out of the lab and experience a bit of real American culture; get in touch with your cultural anthropologist side so to speak. I'm not taking you to work." Booth couldn't believe that she'd suggested the lab; well actually, he wasn't really all that surprised, sometimes he wondered how often she even went home and if she was willing to throw the towel in at watching some fireworks because there wasn't any parking then maybe he ought to use a little FBI muscle and create a parking spot.
"I wasn't suggesting that I wanted to work; although there is a significant backlog; I was merely thinking that we could park there and watch the fireworks from the roof." This would be far better than trying to mill through a huge crush of people that had probably been staking out locations since the sun had first begun to poke over the horizon the way Angela had talked about it. Besides, Angela had seen to it that they had leftover apple pie to share and it would be far easier to enjoy it if they didn't have to worry about someone stepping in it in the dark.
"Great idea, Bones." A grin stole over Booth's face; yes, this was definitely turning out to be one of the best 4th of Julys he'd had in a very long time. Bones and him alone on the roof watching fireworks; of course this could backfire too; he might make a fool out of himself and do something stupid like try and kiss her accidentally and then there'd be a fireworks display that would make the ones on the mall pale by comparison. Of course he wasn't an idiot either, he could tell that Bone found him attractive, they had some sparks of chemistry, but neither one of them had ever been willing to cross that line in the interest of preserving their friendship and their partnership. Maybe it was a good thing. Or not.
"It's simply logical, the Jeffersonian is on the mall, how much better can the parking get?" Of course the thought did occur to her that she might be setting herself up for something she'd been trying to avoid. It wasn't like she didn't spend time alone with Booth on a regular basis, but it was usually when they were working on a case or discussing a case over a meal; today was feeling a bit more date-like and while the idea of her and Booth had crossed her mind several dozen times or more since they'd started working together, they'd never crossed that line. Of course the fact that neither one of them was seeing anyone at the moment brought the possibility of 'what if?' to the forefront of her mind and if she were to follow it to its logical conclusion, they might just create some fireworks of their own. Or not.
To Be Continued...