Author's note: thanks for reading it and leaving reviews!
"What a good question," Christopher looked interested, but not particularly surprised; "But… I have no idea what you are talking about…"
"Fine!" Booth raised his hand and hit the table, so loudly that the criminal almost bit his tongue. Literally; "I'll rephrase my question, okay? Could you hack the Pentagon database right now and delete some files from it? Theoretically speaking, of course," he uttered, gritting his teeth.
Pelant blinked few times in a row, and something flashed in his eyes, something that Booth had already seen just once: during the interrogation when they talked about the virus in the bone. This sight was a sort of cunning with awareness of his own magnificence.
"Yes, I could. However, I need certain conditions for this "theoretical job", because things are pretty serious."
"Go ahead," the agent nervously bit his lip.
"Everything is simple. You must tell me what I'm looking for, clearly and specifically, and not distract me. Any mistake I make will cost both of us a lot. Do you understand, Senior Chief Booth?"
Seeley's face changed instantly. He guessed that Christopher had seen his military archives earlier, and it was a nasty feeling aching within. The feeling that he was currently sitting next to a killer and breaking the law with him.
"Don't you dare call me that."
"Or what? You'll put me in jail? I'm scared to death…" he smacked his lips. Honestly, he was sick and tired of Booth's rudeness, and he also could show his teeth to besiege someone he considered arrogant; "But you should know that if someone would decide to double-check your record with bad intentions, you'd guaranteed go to jail. So am I. What a coincidence!"
For the first time today, he fought back and felt the advantage. It was priceless to see how Booth had to hold his tongue, how he finally realized that he wasn't the only one here with tricks up his sleeve and skeletons in the closet.
"What?" continued Christopher; "You really thought I wouldn't use your vulnerability for my own benefit? I'll tell you more, agent Booth. I have known about your secrets for a long time, I know what you did in the war, and there is more blood on your hands than on mine. Am I right? And I could use this hidden information against you at any moment."
He really searched his biography inside and out, and while doing this, he noticed how much he liked to look at his photographs: what a brutal look and strong hands Seeley has, especially when he grabs Christopher by his shoulders... Much more he was attracted by the dark side of Booth and how professionally he hid it from the rest.
"And why didn't you use it then, smart guy?"
Pelant gave him a searching look, then sighed and shrugged.
"It doesn't matter, okay?"
"No, it's not okay," Seeley argued; "I smashed your face one day, I… I was threatening you so many times and the only thing you did was to file stupid complaints. Why?"
"Did you forget what I said? Shut up and let me do my job. Special agent Seeley Booth is outlawed!" Christopher sneered. Emotions overwhelmed him, and his tongue suddenly got out of control; "It sounds so good that it's turning me on!"
"What did you just say?!" Seeley got wide-eyed.
"I…. Just a bad wording" he laughed, but at the same time lowered his eyes; "Turning on in the sense... Intriguing."
"Okay…"
Booth fell silent. Shouting didn't affect Pelant at all, even brute force wasn't as effective as a cunning approach.
"My throat is dry…" he complained and stood up; "Don't you have something to drink?"
What was he doing? He made a deal with bastard without any guarantees, more awful - he also saw live evidences that Sweets was right. Was Pelant really fascinated by him, using Brennan as a cover and distraction? Was he hiding his real intentions under his twisted attempts at flirting with Temperance? Whenever he smiled at Brennan, it looked like a primitive mocking. Christopher knew perfectly well that he was scaring her, so he deliberately scared her further, while next to Booth he was completely different. He looked… sincere?
"Damn! Holy crap!" he thought, clutching his fists; "And what should I do with it now?!"
"Open the fridge," the criminal muttered without being distracted: he couldn't stand dealing with Pentagon with its endless levels of cybersecurity.
"I asked for a drink, not canned urine with sugar," Seeley couldn't help but quipped, looking at energy drinks, soda and other rubbish; "You'll ditch your heart."
"Do you really care about my heart?"
"Absolutely not," he answered extremely indifferently.
Without getting a refusal, he continued his exploration of Pelant's kitchen and finally found a small bar situated on one of the shelves.
"Exactly what I was looking for…" he mumbled quietly.
Alcohol never led him to the right decisions, but he always helped to switch off for a short time. The level of stress became unbearable, aching under the ribs. However, it was hard to find a better way to dig your own grave.
"Hey, what are you doing there?" Pelant understood what exactly he was doing, but he wanted to hear it from Booth.
"Nothing that could compromise you, I promise," he grunted and then paused, sighed and grabbed the new bottle of brandy.
"Do you mind?" Booth asked politely, and Christopher had to turn around.
"You're welcome. If it helps you stay quiet."
"I thought you didn't drink at all," he put the bottle and glass on the table.
"I don't drink strong alcohol, right. That's one is a present."
"From who?"
"Not your business at all," the criminal snapped.
"Looks like that someone knows you bad."
"Better than you," Christopher hissed, losing all patience, and noticed how the agent was surprised by his rude answer. He froze, forgot to hide his confusion, but then he shook his head and pour a glass of brandy, saying no comments.
They have been keeping silent for a long time. Seeley had the third glass of alcohol in a row and was looking at how Pelant was pulling off his cyber machinations. Until he suddenly turned to him with the words:
"How much longer?"
Christopher shuddered. Booth's voice became low, a little hoarse, and it acquired notes of tart fluidity, just like the alcohol he had drunk. And Christopher realised he found his voice pleasant, which he didn't expect from himself.
"No. But listen, be patient. This is not a porn site for you to hack and not some archive with fanfiction."
"With what?"
"Just forget."
"For heaven's sake, what do you do in your free time?!" Booth couldn't help smiling, and Pelant suddenly laughed. He talked an unusually lot today and he has already said too much... Even though he was absolutely sober. Well, a presence of Seeley obviously affected Christopher more than any alcohol.
"I hear a lot of new things from people who I work with. In case you forgot, I have a job. And I love it."
"You're explaining to older people how to open the "Word" program. What can be interesting about that?"
"We've got teen classes as well. You know, some kids are amazed by our elementary coding lessons. And I'm a head teacher."
"I can't believe they let you communicate with children!" Seeley exclaimed; "That's inappropriate!"
"Oh, that's what you think about me… Okay, Booth, I got it. And I'm even offended. A little."
"Indeed?"
"Yes. I'm capable doing my job properly and I'm always competent with our clients. No matter how old they are. But of course I can't change your mind because you're extremely, unbearably stubborn, so… enough about me," he said, and a folder with files appeared on the screen; "The first stage has been completed. What should I remove from it?"
"Everything," Booth answered without a doubt; "No one should ever know what happened many years ago."
"A deal is a deal. But… I understand how such things can burn your brain, becoming a living hell. Until you'll finally get that off your chest."
"Why don't you pour out your soul to anyone then?" Booth questioned, but his enthusiasm was fake.
"Nice try, almost brilliant. But are you sure I don't talk to people at all?" Pelant snorted, launching one by one programs for erasing folder components.
Booth quieted down, and then he said:
"Flynn… It was Flynn, right? And he gave you this bottle of brandy."
It sounded strange, like jealousy. Pelant was immediately taken aback, because Seeley looked at him too persistently.
"I don't have to let you know about my business. I'm not an idiot, Booth. Flynn and I talked about everything, I can even say we had a great time together. And yes, he gave me this bottle as a gift, because I helped him with some papers during his divorce. But I could "pour out my soul" only to a person whom I could trust."
He looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped himself in time, glancing at Seeley with regret. And Booth noticed it.
A short beep sounded from the laptop, and this distracted Seeley from any other questions:
"What it is?"
Christopher could swear that he would give everything he had just to look longer into his eyes full of sheer fear.
"Don't worry, it's just a notification that the data has been successfully and irretrievably erased," Pelant was hurrying: now it was necessary to get out of the Pentagon database without leaving cyber traces behind. Fortunately, he was good at covering his tracks; "Well, congratulations, now you are clean as a whistle. Your wish has been fulfilled."
Seeley didn't smile or rejoice, he kept silent thoughtfully, without taking his eyes off the computer screen with "Desktop" open on it, as if nothing had happened. Christopher didn't expect thanks from him, but he expected to see something positive at least.
"Hey, is something wrong?" the criminal yawned, stretching his stiff shoulders and fingers; "I told you, nothing threatens your reputation from now on."
"I know, but… I'd been dreaming of it for so long," he was in despair, and Christopher saw it perfectly.
"But, having disappeared from the network, they still remained in your head," Pelant sighed, completing his thought, which made Seeley stare at him in amazement: he did not hope to suddenly find understanding; "What I was talking about."
"Do you really understand?" Booth moved closer to him, and Christopher didn't staggered back.
"Your feelings are far from unique."
Now he spoke just like Brennan. Rational, clear, justified. And Seeley always found piece when his hot-tempered mind was cooled by down-to-earth remarks. It was the trait that attracted him so much throughout his life, but now he suddenly saw that Temperance wasn't the only one who had this personality feature. A dissonance appeared his mind, and alcohol played not the last role.
"And do you regret something too?" he asked, but Christopher seemed to be expecting something like this:
"I'm alive, not mechanical," he smiled forcedly: he considered a disadvantage, because it was sucks to feel inner pain of loneliness sometimes, despite the fact he caused this loneliness by himself; "You just don't know me at all."
"You don't let anyone get close."
"I have reason to keep my distance. Especially next to you."
Today Seeley had the opportunity to spend a surprisingly long time with Pelant to finally make sure that all his mockeries were a shield he used to cover his nature. He figured out it was enough to beat around the bush. He needed to make things clear as soon as possible, so it was a time to enact decisive measures. Including a combination of trick and intimidation.
"You know, you're doing the right thing," Booth drained another glass in one gulp, then sniffed and continued; "I'm not the best target for psychopaths like you, and if my loved ones are threatened… Then I can do exactly what you recently deleted."
Christopher swallowed. One wrong word, and Booth would blow up in rage because of his drunk mind. Pelant had a great chance to be bruised again, but this time without the opportunity to respond: the federal agent had more abrupt evidences against him.
"Well, it's not necessary to talk about it…" he had no choice but to give in again, trying to avoid trouble.
"What did you expect, flirting with "Bones" and threatening her?" Seeley totally ignored the request; "That I'll let you hurt her?"
Booth was inflaming himself with his own words. He even had time to regret he made a deal - he should have just arrested him immediately. He looked into Christopher's bright eyes with an eternal spark. And they no longer seemed to him crazy, sick, reckless. They were alive, they reflected an unlimited number of thoughts, but rage disappeared from them. Or had it ever been there at all? Or was it not addressed to Booth? To anyone except him?
"Flirting? No. I don't need your Brennan," the criminal leaked as he could. His tactic was stupid, too dumb for such intellectual person as him, but it could work, taking into consideration Seeley's intoxicated mind; "I just wanted to talk about things we both understand. She's not even my type!"
Pelant tried to focus on how to pull himself off this disgusting situation. But the more he tried, the more his subconscious got involved, paying attention to Booth's courageous face was, his pleasant voice, powerful hands, especially when they squeezed his neck... Damn it. He seems to be in a bigger trouble than a beating risk.
"And who is your type then?" Seeley suddenly got so close to him that Pelant could feel how his lips were saturated with alcohol. His seductively parted lips...
"Stop!" Christopher hindered himself because it was out of line. Although sometimes Booth looked at him so ambiguously over the past day that the criminal involuntarily got confused.
"I'm not going to answer you..."
"Why's that?" Booth gently put the hand on his neck, feeling the carotid artery pulsated under his fingers. He was smiling flirtatiously; "Pelant, I wasn't born last night."
Christopher has voluntarily become a toy in his hands - a multifunctional toy. Booth liked it so much, and the understanding of his power was poisoning him better than any alcohol. It burned through his body, making him want more, perversely more. It was addictive to watch how Pelant allowed to grab him, how he was forced to endure his submission without a hint of disobey. Here it is, a worthy punishment for the manipulator.
"Come on, squeeze harder, you won't get a word from me anyway," Christopher spat out, his eyes covered with a veil. He smiled too, seductive and teasing.
Pelant looked at him unusually, and Booth subconsciously reacted to it. And when he was completely drunk, things didn't end well. He could use his next wish and order Christopher to tell him the truth about his actual intentions. But there were no guarantees that his answer would be honest. So Booth decided to "test" Pelant with the method he imagined a few seconds ago. A crazy, twisted method, however, the idea seemed worthy to him.
"So what?" Christopher raised his eyebrows expectantly, but everything turned out to be a little different: Booth leaned towards him and kissed him, and the criminal froze as he was numb.
He felt first time in a while how his heart, indifferent and cooled to everything, was beating in his chest, getting the blood flowing. And he could swear it was the best feeling ever - to understand he was still alive.
Pelant didn't stagger back - Booth did it first. And it scared him to death:
"What? You don't even try to push me away?"
"You're drunk," he tried to stay calm, but a slight trembling appeared across his body.
"Yes, I am. But come on, Pelant, tell me that it was disgusting! Tell me that you're going to fill a formal harassment complaint, please."
But Christopher said nothing, just continued staring at him in disarray.
"Okay, Pelant, you make me nervous. What if I kiss you again, huh? What if I… Will you push me away next time, right? Or say something offensive to me as you always do," Seeley grabbed him by his shoulders and started to shake; "Come on, do something that I can realise Sweets was wrong about you…"
Nothing again. This time Christopher dropped his eyes and bit his bottom lip, so it was enough for Seeley to make an insane conclusion:
"Really? Pelant, are you…" Booth suddenly clutched his head and exclaimed: "Fuck!"
"Indeed…" the criminal sighed.