Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing on my one-shots. Finally, here is a new one-shot - Present tense / 1st person Booth… I hope you'll like it.
The Frown
There it is again. And I know I provoked it…somehow. It always starts the same way… her eyebrows draw together and a fine, vertical line appears between them. The expression in her eyes changes somehow, goes from neutral to a mixture of affront, hurt and confusion. There's a subtle change in how she's holding her head and I can see that she is clenching her teeth. The Frown. With a capital F.
I sigh. Something is wrong and I have no clue what I did to be on the receiving end of the Frown. Again.
"What?" I ask.
"What what?" She snaps back. She crosses her arms in front of her chest, reinforcing her defence.
"What did I do now?" I sigh, defeated.
"Nothing." She forces out through gritted teeth.
"Sure. That's why you're spitting fire right now." My answer does NOT lighten her mood.
"Spitting fire is impossible." She comments. I sneak another glance at her, once again not paying as much attention to the road as I should. But how am I supposed to concentrate on driving with Bones scowling at me like that?
"You are angry. Or upset. It's not always easy to tell with you." I give back and she snorts.
"Both?" I ask after a moment of silence. No answer. "Would you please tell me what's wrong?"
"Nothing." She grumbles again.
Right. As if I hadn't heard that one before.
"Yeah, yeah. That's what women always say. And in reality there's a HUGE something." I answer.
"If you say so." She just mumbles, stubbornly looking out of the window on the passenger side, refusing to meet my gaze now.
Here goes nothing. Fine, I tell myself, let's try something else. I pull over and stop the car at the shoulder. It isn't as if there was a lot of traffic on that road in the middle of nowhere.
"What are you doing?" She asks. Her frown deepens as she looks at me, she's so obviously pissed I wouldn't be surprised to really see her spitting fire.
"Waiting out the storm." I answer and an expression of utter confusion briefly smoothes away the line marring her forehead. "There is no storm. The weather is great and we're not expecting a change." She lectures me.
"I know. You're the storm." I barely get the words out… yep, the Frown is back in place.
I sigh, as I often do with her around. "Bones, will you please tell me what's happening? We still have about an hour or more ahead of us."
"I didn't tell you to stop the car." She informs me and I roll my eyes. "Jesus. Fine, Bones… I stopped the car because I know you're upset or angry. I know I'm probably supposed to figure out myself what the hell I did wrong, but I'm tired and I want to go home. So could you please cut me some slack and for once TELL me what I did to deserve the Frown.?" I rant at her.
She blinks. "The Frown?" Her eyes narrow dangerously.
I snort. Of course she picks up on that, not on anything else I said.
"Yes, the Frown. You'll get a wrinkled forehead one day." I mumble and now her eyes widen in outrage. "What are you talking about?"
"I know when you're angry, cause you have that big bad scowling face complete with wrinkles on your forehead and clenched teeth." I inform her.
"Glabellar line" She says. I raise an eyebrow at her. She indicates the frown line. "That's how it's called."
"Fine. Call it a fancy name." I say exasperated. "It doesn't change the fact that I KNOW you're angry. Most likely at me. I don't know why and I won't just apologise on principal for who knows what, although maybe it would settle all this……So would you please tell me?"
The Frown doesn't vanish completely, but she tones it down a little.
"I don't understand." She finally says.
My patience is fading. "What? You don't understand what?" I ask.
"I don't even know why I'm angry." She confesses and I have to laugh out loud. "Now that's rich. You don't know WHY you're so cranky, but I'm supposed to figure it out?"
"I never said you had to do that." She defends herself.
"Right." I nod. As if. She might not have said it, but she meant it, maybe only subconsciously. Even Bones, who can be so blunt and straightforward, uses the same tactics as every other woman occasionally. Must be innate.
"Don't be so condescending." She snaps. She seems to be more irritable than usual. Now it's my turn to frown. She's clenching her fists tightly and I suddenly know that there is more to this than first met the eye. Something is really bothering her. Upsetting her. My anger fades and I reach over to cover one of her hands with mine. My action clearly startles her and she looks up at me and now I see the unguarded emotion in her eyes: profound confusion. The anger, the Frown … it had all been façade.
"Something's bothering you. Won't you tell me what it is?" I try to be gentle now.
"I'm…." She pauses, bites her lower lip. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea." She finally says, averting her gaze.
"Why? Come on, Bones… We're partners, you can tell me everything." I say, hoping fervently she won't take it literally and tell me about her PMS, in case that's what's troubling her. There's only so much a man needs to know about that kind of problems.
"You won't understand. I don't understand myself. I… I'm sorry. I don't think we should talk about this. I'll…. Try not to think about it anymore. You can..." She waves her hand, indicating that we should hit the road again.
"Nope." I shake my head. "I'm not going to spend the next hour in uncomfortable silence, just because you're too proud to tell me what's upsetting you."
"I'm not too proud to tell you…" She instantly gives back, clearly affronted. "It's… If I promise to talk to Angela about it when we're back, will that be alright?"
Temperance Brennan does NOT give in like that. Temperance Brennan does NOT offer a compromise that easily. And she does NOT end sentences with 'will that be alright?' in that unsecure voice.
What the hell had happened to my partner these past few hours? She had been normal – well her normal self – during our drive to the farm where we met the family of a guy whose remains she'd evaluated. He'd had his driver's license with him, so identification was easy.. The poor bloke had been dead for ten years until somebody had found his bones. We had finally had the chance to give the family closure. It had been a hiking accident, not a homicide, but since we had been on our drive home from the scene and it was on our way, we offered to deliver the news to the family instead of having the local police make the drive.
She had been fine. What is wrong with her now?
"Bones." I hear myself say and the concern I feel is leaking into my voice. She has to be able to hear it.
"Please tell me what's wrong. Is there something I can do?"
"No." She shakes her head. "I guess I'm maybe coming down with something. This is just.. an aberration." She shakes her head again, as if trying to get rid of something, starts muttering so herself.
Women are a mystery to men. Always were, always will be. Bones is of course no exception… she could be speaking Chinese right now, it wouldn't make a difference.
"Not logical. Just… an aberration." She mutters.
"Is this about the guy we found?" I ask, taking a wild guess.
"Not so much about him as about his daughter." She answers, then clamps her mouth shut, clearly displeased with herself for blurting out that little tid-bit of information.
An image of the pretty red-haired thirty year old daughter of the dead guy flashes through my mind. Cynthia Barlowe. She had been nice, had shed a few tears, but after ten years she had known her father wouldn't be coming back. The news about the discovery of his remains, the information about how he had died had been closure, more comfort than anything else. I have no clue why the daughter or her behaviour might upset my partner.
"I'm not sure I can follow you." I offer hesitantly.
"Well, then don't. I don't even understand myself." She sighs.
"Come on, Bones… let's figure this out. I don't like it when something's bothering you." I pressure her and she gives me an exasperated look. "Do we really have to discuss this now? Can't we just drive back home and forget about this?"
"No." I answer firmly. "Sweets encourages to discuss problems when they occur instead of postponing it. You agreed with him. Out with it."
"Fine." She spat at me. " I seem to be displaying some kind of territorial behaviour around you." She almost yells. "I'm sure it's just temporary… some kind of aberration, as I said." She clenches her teeth and stares out the window.
The force of her answer renders me speechless for a while, then the words register in and I'm confused. "Territorial behaviour?" I repeat slowly.
"Yes. Happy now?" She snaps.
"No. I'm not sure what you're talking about and I have no clue how this has anything to do with Cynthia Barlowe." I shake my head. Women…there is just no way of understanding them.
She clenches her fists again and her voice is clipped as she forces out her next words. "She cried all over you. Turned it on one moment and off the next. Her grief was not real."
"Are you saying she faked it? You mean…" I pause, contemplating what she was insinuating.
"Yes. She just wanted you to comfort her." My partner confirms in a flat voice, tight with anger.
The whole situation, her anger and her insight in that woman confuse me. "Okay. Well… that's… You sure?" I ask, stunned. Usually it was me picking up on things like that.
"Yes. She never missed her father. There is not one single picture of him around and she only looked sad when you were watching her. Besides, she seemed rather fascinated by parts of your anatomy." Bones informs me, her voice cool.
O-kay. "You mean she was checking me out? And then started the water works so I would hold her while she was crying?" I ask again, just for confirmation.
"Yes." Bones hisses.
"Wow. That's pretty low." And disgusting. The woman had just gotten the confirmation that her father was dead and had nothing better to do than hit on me? How fucked up is this world, anyway.?
"Hm." My partner's response – if you can call it that – surprises me again. So, she is pissed at that woman for being a opportunistic bitch. Fine with me. But why the Frown and that talk about…
"Territorial behaviour." I repeat her earlier words again. Big words. Anthropological. Clinical and detached. But surely she is not saying what I think she is saying.
"It's just temporarily." She quickly explains, her eyes shooting daggers at me. "I'm probably displaying odd forms of behaviour because I'm fending off a viral infection."
I narrow my eyes at her. "You're not sick."
"Angela was sick last week. She might have passed it on to me. Incubation time varies…" She starts to ramble and I interrupt her. "Temperance." Using her first name has the desired effect. She shuts up, eyes wide. After a moment she starts biting her bottom lip.
"Are you trying to tell me…. that you were jealous?" The concept seems so alien, I can hear the doubt in my own voice.
"An aberration, as I said." She quickly comments, stubbornly staring out of the window on her right side, effectively avoiding my gaze.
"You were jealous?" I can't quite believe it. The sudden satisfaction I feel upon imagining Bones being jealous on my behalf comes as a surprise… or not. "Of her?" Had that deceiving red-head brought along something good after all?
"I didn't say… I'm…. As I explained, I seem to be displaying …" I quickly realise what she is doing. Trying to talk herself out of it, putting distance between herself and what she is feeling, cloaking it into her scientific mumbo-jumbo. As if it has nothing to do with her!
Somehow that makes me mad. No, you won't! A sudden burst of anger explodes inside me.
"Cut the crap." I bark, with more force than necessary. "Just say it."
Her head whips around, her blue eyes blazing. "Yes. I was jealous. Satisfied now?" There is desperation in her voice.
Hearing her say the words like that makes my heart skip a beat. Should I tell her that I've been fiercely jealous of every guy she's been dating these past years?
I settle for. "Actually no."
"What no!" She bites out, clearly furious. And embarrassed.
"Not satisfied." I answer.
"Well, that's not my problem. I told you what bothered me. I'm sure this is just… a phase or something so you can…" She starts rambling again and I feel obliged to interrupt her.
"That's what's worrying me." I whisper. And God help me if it isn't the truth.
She only blinks. Temperance Brennan, speechless. A sight to behold.
"That it might only be temporarily." I clarify. "That you might be able to talk yourself out of this." Silence settles between us.
"And what would THIS be?" She asks after a moment. The same question coming from somebody else might have seemed sarcastic, but there was sincere curiosity and confusion in her voice.
"Us, Bones." I simply say. I see a hint of understanding in her eyes, but it's not enough. Somehow this is the time and place to come clear. I wouldn't have pictured it like this, in my SUV in the middle of nowhere, but what did it matter. I owe her the truth. Her and myself.
"I can't stand seeing you with other men." I finally explain. She gasps in surprise. "Thinking of you rolling around with some asshole in your bed makes me want to …" I swallow the rest of the sentence and clench my fists. The mere thought of it makes my insides churn.
"Oh." She makes and swallows hard. As I watch her I see the moment she starts to understand.
"This… is…." She stutters and stops, seems to mull things over in her head. I'm a little afraid of whatever she is going to come up with. Her brain sometimes produces the oddest conclusions. They are always logical, in some twisted way. They just lack feeling sometimes, because she's so fucking good at distancing herself..
"Where does this leave us?" She suddenly asks.
"You tell me, Bones. You're the one who keeps on insisting on your feelings being temporarily." I answer.
"That's not fair. You can't just throw this back at me." She glares at me. "It might be just… a phase in your case, too."
"I doubt that. It's been a pretty long phase so far." I murmur.
"Oh." She says again, takes a deep breath and forces out the next question. "Ah, since when?"
"Since always. It's just getting worse. First I only needed to do a background check on the men in your life. Now I want to shoot them. Or strangle them. Sometimes both." So much honesty should earn me an award, god damn it. I suck in a deep breath, not sure what to say or do now. Silence descends, seems to choke me.
"I didn't expect this." She suddenly whispers.
That's all I get for my honesty? Great.
"Yeah, well. Life's full of surprises, Bones." I mutter glumly.
"Don't be angry. I didn't say I didn't like it." My partner says matter-of-factly. I stare at her, not sure what to make of her words. Here we are, sitting in my car, staring at each other.
"I lied, Booth." Bones suddenly murmurs. Did she now? About what, I ask myself.
She continues in a low voice. "Not only to you… also to myself. It's not just a phase."
I blink. Take in a deep breath and slowly let it out again. Did she really just say that…?
"I've always been uncomfortable thinking of you having intercourse with other women." She adds after a moment, almost shyly. Jesus. Talk about honesty.
I recover from my – positive – shock and decide to take action now. There's time for talking and there's time for ACTING. And since I'm not sure I can form a coherent sentence anyway, kissing her might just do the trick. I reach for her and before I fully comprehend what's going on she's in my arms and we're kissing. Not the romantic kind of kisses, though I plan to give her those too… no, this is the carnal kind, the kind that says
"Let's strip naked and do it NOW."
Her fingers trail over my shoulder, my chest. Hot damn. I'm definitely responding on all levels to her. She moans in my mouth and I know she's just as turned on as I am… But I know we need to stop before tearing off each others clothes. After all this time we had wanted each other, we should be able to control the need a little longer, right?
"Bones." My voice is hoarse. "We need to stop."
"Why?" She asks, her voice husky, sexy, threatening to tear what little control I have left to pieces.
"Because we're in my car on the road and we're not teenagers any more." I gasp when she presses a kiss against my throat and I'm close to just giving in and forgetting about anything but her and me and how good we fit together.
But then a shadow falls over us, somebody taps against my window and we break apart instantly. I suck in a deep breath and meet the gaze of…. "Highway Patrol?" I mutter. Oh, wonderful.
I roll down my window. The officer tries to scowl at us, but there's a grin lurking somewhere underneath. "Ma'am, Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but the way your vehicle is parked here is …." I see his eyes flash as he notices the telltale bulge of a concealed weapon under my jacket. "Sir, please place your hands …."
I interrupt him before he can give me his speech. "Special Agent Booth, FBI. I'd show you my badge, but I don't want to make you nervous."
"Ah." He nods. "FBI. Heard you're in town. You've been at the Barlowe farm, right? Informing poor Cynthia about her Dad's accident?"
I hear Bones snort beside me. "Yes." I nod. "This is my partner, Dr. Brennan."
"Your…partner. I see." He clears his throat. "Ma'am." He nods at her and the grin finally breaks through. "I'd still like to see your badge, Special Agent Booth."
I fumble for my badge and present it, the officer nods and smiles at us. I see a mischievous spark in his eyes and I know there's going to be a funny remark before he lets us off the hook.
"I trust you to continue this investigation elsewhere." He says and winks at us. I roll my eyes, but I can't contain a smile. Bones starts to laugh quietly.
The officer marches off, waves and he and his vehicle vanish in a cloud of dust.
I look at my partner, see her smile at me. She doesn't seem upset or embarrassed. "Well, let's take this investigation to DC, what do you say?" I ask her and the smile broadens. "Okay."
I turn the key in the ignition and steal another glance at here. She's still smiling, seems happy, relaxed, but also full of anticipation. A Smile with a capital S. I can live with that.
Sooooo, I hope you liked this one-shot.
Reviews would be great.