A Pain That I'm Used To—Chapter 27
Disclaimer: Believe it or not, I still don't own them! Drat!
Author's notes: Thanks to everyone for reading and of course special thanks to all of you who continue to review each chapter. I apologize for the delay in updating but writer's block and a horrible time at work hindered my "creative process".
To BonesDBchippie—Yep, that stock pile of Advil came in handy!
To Bella-mi-amore—The truffles are always appreciated whether they are expensive or not. (LOL)
To elliot02uk (my dearest Jean B.)—I'm sorry I put you through the arduous task of reading the last chapter twice. It must have been hell on you. (wink)
To Teenabird—I don't know how talented or smart I am but I do appreciate your nice comments.
And to everyone else who took the time to review the last chapter—A very special thank you for your encouragement and nice comments. I was nervous about posting the last chapter with that scene but after reading over it several times I decided that it wasn't too bad.
So it's that time again. Please read, enjoy and review.
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Russ sat at the dining room table drinking a cup of coffee and absorbing the scene of domesticity that was playing out in front of him. His lips twitched into a smirk at the sight of Temperance and Booth's choreographed dance of familiarity as they moved about the kitchen. He watched as his sister spooned three full tablespoons of sugar into a coffee mug and handed to the special agent. Booth, in turn, handed her a half of a bagel that he had lightly covered with cream cheese.
"Thanks," Brennan mumbled as she continued to peruse the newspaper lying on top of the counter.
Booth's eyes skimmed the front page of the paper as he sipped his coffee. The massive headline about the murder of Agent Charles Andrews and his informant was difficult to miss. Much to his dismay, he noticed Brennan's brow furrow as she quickly read through the article.
"Andrews," she muttered to herself as though trying to remember why the name sounded familiar.
"Ahem," Russ said as he cleared his throat. "Would anyone like to share the events surrounding the bombing incident at the Jeffersonian? 'Cause from the look of my sister's forehead, I'm pretty sure you two were involved."
Brennan's gaze strayed from the paper, her concentration broken by her brother's inquiry. "My car was involved…we just happened to be in the parking garage when it exploded."
The color drained from Russ' face as he turned his head in Booth's direction. "And you didn't think that merited a phone call?"
"If your sister wanted you to know, then she would have told you," he responded softly. The look on the agent's face revealed to Russ that Booth understood his concern and agitation.
After placing her empty coffee mug in the sink, Brennan turned back to her brother and sighed. "It wasn't that serious Russ…"
"Not that serious? Tempe, you look like someone beat the hell out of you. Someone tried to kill you…."
"But they didn't succeed," she replied in a frustrated tone.
"But they could have! God, how can you be so calm about this?" Russ ran his right hand through his light brown hair. "I mean you're acting as though you have your life threatened on a regular basis."
"Not a regular basis, no." She walked over to her desk and grabbed her bag and jacket. "Come on Booth, I don't want to be late."
Putting the remainder of his bagel in his mouth, Booth quickly rinsed off the plate, placing it in the sink. He turned and motioned for Russ to follow him. "Grab your coat, you're coming with us."
"Why?" The siblings asked at the same time.
"Well let's see, there are lots of reasons. The first reason is because I said so…" Booth grabbed Russ' jacket and threw it to him. "The second reason is that it's apparently 'Brennan hunting season' so as long as you're in town, you and your sister are under my protection. Let's go."
Brennan rolled her eyes as she slipped on her jacket. "When he gets like this it's best not to argue with him," she told her brother as she walked past Booth to the front door.
"And yet she does every time," Booth muttered.
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The ride to the Jeffersonian was quiet with Russ sitting in the back seat sulking and Brennan sitting in her usual seat, contemplating where she had heard Andrews' name before.
Booth pulled into Brennan's parking space and shifted the vehicle into park. He glanced up at the rearview mirror and caught Russ' reaction to the charred portions of the parking garage.
"Jesus Christ," he whispered. Russ realized that the garage had been cleared of the debris and the structure had been stabilized but the appearance still reminded him of a war zone.
The trio quickly climbed out of the SUV and Brennan led the way to the entrance of the lab. "I'll be in my office," she said over her shoulder.
"Let's get you a visitor's pass." Booth pulled Russ to the security station outside of the lab.
"You know, I don't understand why I couldn't just stay at Tempe's place and watch television all day."
"This will be much better okay." He pushed a piece of paper on the counter in front of Russ. "You'll need to sign this remember?"
After scribbling his signature on the paper, Russ sighed. "I really don't want to hang around the lab and all of those…bones…and dead people. I mean, I know that Tempe loves her job but it's a little…"
"Creepy?" Booth offered.
"Yeah, creepy."
"Look, there's more to this place than the lab area. They've got a really great museum and some really interesting exhibits….and you could care less couldn't you?"
Russ smiled as he clipped the visitor's badge to his shirt. "Unless they have a classic car exhibit, then yeah I could care less."
The two men began to move toward the lab area. "Ah man, I saw the most amazing cherry red Mustang…" Booth said with a dreamy look in his eyes.
"What year?"
"1968. It was a beauty. This kid put a lot of hard work into it."
"Sounds sweet."
Booth nodded his head and sighed. "It was…until his girlfriend took a kayak paddle to it."
Russ grimaced at the thought. "Oh man, that poor innocent car."
"Oh my god, Russ!" Angela walked over to him quickly and hugged him. "When did you get in?"
He smiled as she released him and stepped back. "Hey Angela. I got in last night…well, technically early this morning."
Booth glanced past the artist and Russ into Brennan's office where she was pacing in front of her desk. Checking his watch he decided he need to head over to the Hoover building and speak with Cullen. "Well I've got to run. Ange, would you mind taking care of Russ today…he's not real keen on the idea of playing around dead bodies all day."
"Sure thing."
Booth moved to leave the lab area but was stopped by Brennan who came charging out of her office straight for him. "Booth!"
"Oh crap," he mumbled as he realized that she had managed to connect the dead Agent Andrews to her parents' case.
"Did you know about this?" she asked as she thrust the newspaper in his face.
"Bones, we can discuss this later…"
"No we're going to discuss it right now!" Brennan's loud angry tone carried through the lab, causing several employees to turn their attention in her direction.
Booth grabbed her left arm and pulled her into her office, slamming the door behind them. Invading her personal space, Booth stepped forward bringing his face precariously close to hers. "Temperance I cannot discuss this with you right now."
Placing her hands on her hips, Brennan didn't back down but she did lower her voice. "A simple yes or no Booth—did you know about Agent Andrews' death last night?"
"Yes," he answered through gritted teeth.
"And this is the same Agent Andrews who was investigating my parents when they worked for the syndicate?"
"Yes."
"Would you care to explain why you didn't feel compelled to share this information with me last night?" Anger flashed through her blue eyes as she waited for his response.
He sighed, his expression softening slightly. "I wanted to tell you everything Temperance but…"
"But what? You were afraid I wouldn't have fallen into bed and had sex with you if I had known about this?"
Booth's eyes grew dark with anger at her accusation and he leaned in even closer. "I know you're angry with me right now and you're lashing out…so I'm gonna let that last comment go. I can't discuss Andrews' murder with you because Cullen informed me that he would pull me off of your parents' case if I did. It killed me to have to face you and not tell you about it whether you believe that or not."
He pulled away from her and started walking toward her office door. As he placed his hand on the door handle, Booth turned back to her. "And we didn't just have sex last night Temperance…we made love. When I told you that I loved you I meant it. Again, whether you believe that or not is up to you."
The moment she heard her office door close Brennan wished she could take back the last two minutes. She moved to her desk and slowly sat down in her chair. Her anger at Booth, and what she had perceived as his betrayal by an omission of pertinent information, slowly dissipated. She knew that if he had been ordered not to share anything about a case, then he would follow those orders. She understood that he had no choice in the matter. After all, how many times had she gone on assignments for the NSA or Homeland Security and she had been unable to share any information on those cases?
Brennan grew nauseas as she recalled the hurt and anger in Booth's eyes when she threw the subject of them in bed together in his face. He had been right—she had lashed out at him and she had used something that she innately knew would hurt him.
"When I told you that I loved you I meant it." Her heart seized as she realized she had let him walk out the door possibly believing that she thought he had lied to her about that. "I meant it too Seeley," she whispered as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
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Angela and Russ watched as Brennan charged out of her office at the special agent, who seemed somewhat prepared for the attack. The loud disturbance between the couple brought Hodgins and Zach to Angela's location.
"Hey Russ, good to see you again," the entomologist smiled and slapped the other man on the shoulder. "What's going on with those two this morning?"
Angela shrugged as she watched her best friend shove a newspaper in Booth's face. "I don't know but she's really pissed off."
"No she's only mildly irritated right now," Zach corrected as he stood beside Russ and watched the scene unfold. "When she's really mad, Dr. Brennan's eyes become this intense aqua and her nostrils flare slightly…"
Russ cast a confused look in Angela and Hodgins' direction.
"Yeah, he's hot for teacher," Hodgins confirmed as he chuckled while Russ shook his head.
The slamming of Brennan's office door drew their attention away from Zach's observations. They all stared as Booth and Brennan stood mere inches apart from each other arguing.
"It's like watching a porno when those two fight," Hodgins said as he sat down on the steps leading to the platform.
"Oh come on, that's my sister…" Russ made a face to show his disgust with the image Hodgins had created.
"Unfortunately I have to agree with Jack," Angela said as she took a seat beside the curly haired doctor. "You know, as much as I would love for those two to just fall into bed and have at it…"
"Seriously, which part of 'that's my sister' didn't either of you understand?"
"All I'm saying is their arguments would not be nearly as intense if they would just sleep together." Angela leaned forward as she saw Brennan place her hands on her hips.
"Okay, now she's mad," Zach informed the others.
Russ sighed as he watched his sister continue her argument with her boyfriend. "I don't think sleeping together is going to hinder the intensity of their arguments."
Raising one eyebrow, Angela looked up at Russ. "You know something…don't you?"
"Okay let me rephrase—I know that sleeping together is not going to hinder the intensity of their arguments."
"Dude, did you walk in on them?" Hodgins laughed as Russ' face contorted into one of disgust.
"No…I'm pretty sure it was after."
Angela stood up, determined to gather all of the facts before talking with her best friend. "Why would you say that?"
"She was wearing one of his shirts…"
The artist sighed and sat back down. "That doesn't mean anything."
"And they both had, um, 'sex hair'." Russ attempted to shrug off the discomfort of discussing his sister in this manner. Hell the last time Russ had seen or spoken to Temperance, she had been an awkward fifteen year old who never spoke to anyone, especially boys. His sister had always been shy around members of the opposite sex, although from the scene in her office at the moment, no one would have ever guessed it.
Angela's dark eyes lit up and a smile slowly spread across her face. "That is one lucky woman…."
"Wait, what's 'sex hair'?" Zach glanced over the others with a look of pure confusion on his face.
"Is he for real?" Russ questioned.
"We keep waiting for Geppeto to turn him into a real boy," Hodgins replied causing Angela to laugh.
The group grew quiet as they watched Booth stalk out of Brennan's office and exit the lab.
"Uh-oh," Angela said. "I think one of them just screwed up again." As she watched her best friend slowly lower herself into her chair behind her desk, Angela knew that Brennan was the culprit this time.
Author's notes: I apologize for the short chapter but it took forever for me to get this much written! Stupid writer's block….I think I'll watch several episodes of BONES tonight. Maybe that will help.