Brennan was trying not to think about her father. His message had been unsettling. She dried her hair off with her towel and stood in the mirror, looking at herself. Some would say she was hot, others stunning or beautiful. She saw herself as average, maybe pretty. She was just like any other woman out there. She hated when people based their opinions on people's looks. Everyone was beautiful in their own way. She got dressed and hurried around grabbing last minute things before heading off to work. She was humming to herself when she reached her classroom. Today was going to be a good day. There was just a feel about it.
"Brennan?" the principal asked, poking his head around the door.
"Yes?"
"Can I have a word?"
"Absolutely," she nodded. He came in and stood in front of her desk.
"I was wondering how you would feel if I asked a guest speaker to come to your class? I am thinking it might boost our school's reputation."
"Oh? Who?" Brennan asked.
"Dr. Zack Addy from the Jeffersonian. He recently got his doctorate, and he works with the FBI solving crimes," the principal gushed. "I really think it would be great."
"I don't see why not," Brennan shrugged. Someone from the Jeffersonian here?! It made her excited.
"Great! I will let them know. Maybe he can bring a colleague," the principal mused, more to himself than to Brennan. He scurried off to make the call, leaving Brennan wondering what Dr. Addy would be like.
"Oho look at this! We're the first ones here," Booth's voice said suddenly. Brennan's head snapped up. He was indeed standing there with Parker in front of him, his hands on his son's shoulders.
"This is weird," Parker said. "The bell hasn't even rung." Booth gave his shoulders another squeeze before pushing him forward.
"It's never weird to be early, son," Booth said as Parker went to his desk.
"No Rebecca today?" Brennan asked. She was secretly thrilled to see him again. She wondered if he knew that and was doing this on purpose.
"Nope. She's letting me have him tonight too, so we get to spend a lot of time together, right pal?" Booth asked Parker.
"Right," Parker confirmed. He rolled his eyes. He so knew what his father was doing.
"So," Booth said, moving closer to Brennan. "We kind of got interrupted yesterday..."
"We did," Brennan agreed. Her heart raced a little.
"Are you free Saturday night?" he asked.
"I would have to check my schedule," she teased.
"I can wait," Booth smiled.
"Ugh," Parker muttered to himself. Adults were weird sometimes. His teacher laughed while making a show of looking through her day planner.
"I can squeeze it in," Brennan smiled at Booth.
"Great," he grinned. "I'll pick you up around seven?"
"All right," she agreed. She wrote down her address and number on a post it and handed it to him. He folded it and carefully stowed it away in his pocket.
"I'll see you later," he winked. "Have a great day, Parker!" He strolled out the door with one last look at Brennan.
"Are you dating my Dad now?" Parker asked.
"That depends how well Saturday night goes," Brennan answered. She really hoped it would go well. She liked Booth a lot.
"You're going on a date! Ahhhh!" Angela shrieked, hugging Brennan tightly. They were in the teacher's lounge for lunch while the kids all ran around outside like hooligans.
"It's very exciting," Brennan agreed.
"You are gonna have to tell me everything," Angela instructed. "And I mean EVERYTHING."
"All right," Brennan laughed.
"When you guys date a little bit, we could double date!" Angela exclaimed. "Oh this is sooo exciting!"
"Things with Gary are going well then?" Brennan asked.
"Mmhmm. He's wonderful. Oh! Speak of the devil," Angela laughed, seeing her phone ring. "I'll talk to you later." She went off to answer it. Brennan leaned on the window sill, watching the kids play. She was lost in her thoughts when Angela came back.
"What's wrong?" Brennan asked, seeing her face.
"Gary's dad's friend was found dead," Angela said in a hushed voice. "He was gutted and burned. Brennan, this is terrible. I don't know what to do!"
"Hi, baby. I just got your message. I gotta lay low for a while. I will explain later. I love you."
No. That had nothing to do with this. Her father wasn't a murderer. She was going to call him later and confirm.
"I'm so sorry, Ange," Brennan said, hugging her friend. She felt sick. Then she wondered if Booth would still be able to take her on that date after all.
"Dad? It's me. Please call me back. I'm worried. What happened?" Brennan asked. Then she hung up. Straight to voicemail. It made no sense. He hadn't acted like this before. She spun her dolphin ring absently. She missed her mother desperately in that moment. She decided to distract herself. She went over and prepared her class for tomorrow. Dr. Addy was coming with a Dr. Hodgins. She wanted to introduce them properly, so she did some research on them. Their bios online were incredible. She felt anxious to meet them. She didn't want to appear stupid. Her phone rang then.
"Hi, baby," her father's voice said in her ear.
"Dad! Where are you?" Brennan asked, afraid.
"Nothing to worry about. I got into a tiff with someone and decided to lay low before they came after me," Matthew explained.
"A tiff?"
"You know, a disagreement. A fight."
"I know what a tiff means, Dad. I'm asking what happened."
"I don't want to trouble you with it. Just be assured I'm well and fine where I am. I'll see you once it blows over."
"When will that be?"
"I don't know. I'll call you when I do," Matthew reassured her. Then he was gone. Brennan stared at the phone in her hand. None of it made any sense.
The Next Day
Brennan paced nervously around her classroom. They were coming any minute. Her students picked up on her anxiousness.
"Are you okay?" Parker asked. He didn't like seeing his teacher so stressed.
"I'm fine, Parker. I'm just thinking about stuff," Brennan answered. The knock finally came, and she went to answer it. Two men in their mid to late twenties stood there looking at her. One was shorter than the other with curly hair and an elastic band on his wrist. The other had a fairly close shaved head with dark eyes.
"I'm Dr. Addy," the second man said. "This is..."
"Dr. Hodgins," the curly haired one cut in. "I can introduce myself, geez." He snapped the band quickly. Brennan wondered why.
"Anyway," Addy said. "Are you ready for us?"
"Yes! Come in," Brennan said. "Class, this is Dr. Addy and Dr. Hodgins." The class echoed their greeting enthusiastically. Brennan watched as the two set up their presentation. She sat at the back of the class, giving them free reign. She watched with joy as they described what they did. Hodgins was particularly fascinating to the children with his bugs and how he figured out time of death with them and other particulates. Addy was also interesting with his talk about bones and how he discovered causes of death and such. Thankfully, none of the images were too graphic, and everything was kept to a level a seven year old would understand and not run home screaming about in fright. Brennan wanted so badly to work with this two. She knew a lot of the material they covered, and she knew she'd be a great asset. Then she looked at the children, and she remembered why she became a teacher instead. The love of learning was almost as great as the love of saving the world.
"Thank you, Dr. Addy and Dr. Hodgins," Brennan said, clapping once they were finished. Hodgins took a small bow, smiling. Addy looked uncomfortable. The bell rang for recess, so the children single filed out the door while the two scientists started packing up.
"Thank you for having us," Hodgins said, reaching to shake her hand again. "It was refreshing."
"Do you think I was too intellectual? Cam said I should dumb down my words for children," Addy mused, looking concerned.
"She did not say 'dumb down,'" Hodgins corrected at Brennan's look. "She said, and I quote, 'Don't use too many big words.'"
"I think it was fine," Brennan cut in before Addy could argue back. She sensed that this Cam person had her hands full with these two. Addy's pager went off.
"Cam needs us," he said, looking at it.
"I'm amazed she let us go at all today what with..." Hodgins stopped abruptly, remembering Brennan was there.
"I heard about the murdered FBI agent," she said, hoping they would keep talking. She wanted to know more.
"Ah...well, we can't talk about it," Hodgins said. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Brennan sighed. Angela came in just then.
"I am going out of my mind here," she said. She halted in front of Brennan, squinting at the men. "Who are these guys?"
"Dr. Zack Addy and Dr. Jack Hodgins," Brennan told her. They waved back to her. Hodgins looked almost transfixed by Angela.
"Nice to meet you," Angela said offhandedly. "Brennan? A word?" She gestured for Brennan to follow, so she did.
"What's wrong?" Brennan asked.
"I need your help. Gary has lost his mind with grief. He was really close to Garrett's son, so he knew Garrett well too. They're like his second family. I don't know what to do," Angela said, wringing her hands.
"What's happening?"
"We don't know! They won't tell us. Obviously Garrett was murdered, but nobody knows why or who did it," Angela answered.
"I think those two are on the case," Brennan whispered, tilting her head in the direction of Hodgins and Addy.
"Really?" Angela asked. Hodgins was caught staring, and he turned away quickly, his face going red.
"They won't tell me anything though, but they just got paged to go back to work."
"I hope they solve it soon," Angela muttered.
"Me too," Brennan nodded. Although she was afraid of who they would link the murder to. She fought with herself all day that her father was not a murderer. He had been a bank robber, that was all, and even that had shocked her. Matthew wouldn't say anything more about it, so aside from Russ telling her about their previous names, that was all she knew. They had spent most of their lives hiding at her mother's parents' house until one day her father declared all was well and safe and they could rejoin society. Brennan never knew why. She thought they were still being hunted by McVicar, but perhaps she was wrong after all. She realized suddenly that she never asked, just assumed. Surely her father didn't kill him? Her head started to hurt. She needed answers, and she needed them soon.
Booth
"I really want this wrapped up nice and tight and soon," Director Robert Kirby said to Booth, who nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"No time off until you do."
"I got it." Booth waited until the director was gone. He banged his fist on the desk. He had a date with Temperance tomorrow night. There was no way he was missing that. He got on the phone quickly.
"Cam? Yea. We gotta move on this case or else nobody gets a life ever again," he said.
"We're doing the best we can," she replied.
"Do it faster," he told her, hanging up. He pulled out the files he had been looking at earlier. Robert Kirby had been upset about Booth looking into Marvin Beckett, and Booth wanted to know why. None of this settled well with him, and he really didn't want to suspect a dirty agent was in play.
Saturday Night
Brennan waited all day for Booth to call and cancel, but he didn't. The news didn't say much about the dead FBI agent, so Brennan wondered if Booth was even on that case. She got ready, trying not to feel nervous. She went with her black dress, the one that accented her figure nicely. She left her hair down but curled. Ripley sat watching as she paced. When the knock came on her door, she was immensely relieved.
"Hi," Booth grinned when she opened the door. "Wow, you look amazing." He looked at her appreciatively.
"Thank you," she smiled back. "I have to admit, I thought you weren't coming."
"Really? Why's that?" He stepped into her apartment while she went to grab her purse. Ripley approached him cautiously, and Booth reached out to pet him.
"I heard about the FBI agent who was murdered. I assumed you would be stuck working that case," she replied, looking at him.
"Technically, I am. I'm just on dinner break," he winked.
"I see," she laughed. "And how will you explain my presence?"
"You're my consultant," he teased. "Or else you're just some really beautiful woman who happened to sit down next to me and share a meal."
"I think I prefer the second one," Brennan said, her eyes twinkling.
"Sounds good to me," Booth smiled. He held out his arm. "Shall we?"
"Absolutely." She locked the door behind her.
"Love your dog," Booth said as they walked away. "What's his name?"
"Ripley."
"It suits him."
"Yes. I have to agree with that one." Booth opened the car door for her, and she stepped in. He was proving to be very gentleman-like, and she was thoroughly enjoying it.
Dinner had been one of the best ones Brennan had ever had. Booth was charming and humorous, and she loved the way he kept asking her questions with genuine interest in her answers. The night had gone very, very well, and Brennan knew she wanted to see him again. Yes, he was FBI, but really, how would he know who her father is if she never told him? They were at her door within moments, and Brennan could sense he was hovering, waiting for her to decide if he could come in or not. Brennan made up her mind.
"Would you like to come in?" she asked.
"Okay," he grinned.
"Do you want something to drink?" she asked while he wandered to the window, looking at the view.
"No thanks," he said. He fingered through her music selection. She had good taste. He liked that.
"Checking to see if I like the same music you do?" Brennan asked. She knew what he was doing.
"Not at all," he joked. "But I see you like Hot Blooded, which is good."
"It's only my favorite song," she said, smirking.
"Really?" He raised a brow at her, challenging her.
"Here, let me put it on," she said, moving over to join him. He let her brush against him, and he felt on fire. This woman was incredible, and he could only imagine what kissing her would be like.
"Shoot," she said, dropping the CD. She bent down to retrieve it just as something came smashing through her window.
"Get down!" Booth shouted, grabbing her and throwing himself on top of her. A few more bullets came whizzing through. Brennan let out a scream of fright, her hands over her ears. Booth clutched her to him until it stopped.
"Are you all right?" he asked, looking down at her. She nodded shakily. She didn't want to cry in front of him on their first date. Then again, she never imagined getting shot at on her first date with him. Booth moved off of her but gestured for her to stay down. He reached for his phone.
"This is Agent Booth calling. Shots were fired at..."
Brennan stopped listening. "Shots fired" kept echoing in her brain. Someone took a shot at her. Why would anyone do that? She didn't understand. She was shaking hard. She wanted to talk to her father.
"Hey," Booth said, now off the phone. He was looking at her, his hands on her shoulder. "It's all right. Everything is gonna be all right." Brennan threw herself into his arms, and he held her tightly with his chin resting on the top of her head. This was not how he saw this date ending at all. His next thought was about the shooter and why they were shooting at Brennan to begin with. What was she involved in? Had he gotten himself into something he shouldn't have? He felt her trembling against him. His boss was gonna be so pissed when he found out Booth was here instead of where he was supposed to be-work.
Brennan was cleared by the paramedics. She was in shock, though, which she knew. Booth was talking to the other FBI agents, and she felt like everything was underwater and in slow motion. Eventually, he was standing in front of her.
"Temperance?" he said, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
"Mm?"
"Do you have somewhere you can go?"
"Um..." she looked around. Obviously she couldn't stay here. Ripley was cowering in her bedroom, refusing to come out.
"A friend? Family?"
"Angela," Brennan said finally. Of course! Angela's place was safe. She could go there.
"All right. Tell me where she lives, and I'll take you there," Booth said.
"Okay," she agreed. She gave him the directions and went to pack a bag. She felt odd leaving strangers in her home analyzing the evidence. She hoped they would figure out who had tried to kill her soon.
"Brennan!" Angela cried, seeing her at the door with Booth. "What happened?"
"Someone tried to shoot me, Ange," Brennan said as they went inside. Angela grabbed her into a hug.
"Oh my God! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Booth saved me," Brennan said, looking at him with a half smile. "I'm forever grateful to you."
"Don't mention it," he replied, waving his hand.
"Stay here as long as you need," Angela said. A sound came from the kitchen.
"Is someone here?" Booth asked.
"Oh, yes. It's Gary. He's been practically living here since Garrett died," Angela answered.
"Gary as in Gary Kirby?" Booth asked. He felt a strange feeling in his stomach suddenly.
"Yea! He's been a wreck. I'm comforting him," Angela said. Gary came out just then.
"Oh, hello," he said. "Temperance. Nice to see you again."
"Hello, Gary," Booth interrupted.
"Hey, Booth."
"I'm sorry about Garrett."
"Me too. He was like a second father to me," Gary explained. "Aren't you on the case?"
"I am," Booth nodded.
"May I ask how it came to be that you are with this fine woman?"
"She sat down beside me while I took my dinner break. Not that it's any of your business," Booth answered.
"Lucky. She's extraordinary," Gary said.
"She got shot at," Angela cut in. "She's staying here for a bit."
"Oh! How terrible!" Gary cried. He looked between them both. "I'm glad you're all right, Temperance, but I was just going. I'll see you again later okay?"
"Okay," Angela agreed as he kissed her goodbye. He swiveled to Booth.
"Booth."
"Gary."
They watched Gary walk out the door and shut it behind him.
"Maybe you should stay somewhere else," Booth said.
"Booth, I'm fine here," Brennan argued. "Thank you so much for tonight, but I really need to sleep now. Good night, Booth. Thank you again for dinner."
"This way," Angela said, leading her to a bedroom. Ripley followed. Booth stood there knowing he was dismissed, but he had an odd feeling in his chest as he left.
