Twenty-one Weeks at Quantico
By: Lesera128
Rated: T (for now, but may be bumped later for language... and possibly other stuff. I'll let you know though).
Disclaimer: I own nothing... Obviously. Just playing in someone else's sandbox for a bit.
Summary: When the FBI establishes a pilot program for consultants to receive training at the FBI academy, Brennan and Booth clash over whether she should enroll. AU.
A/N: Most of my prior readers know this given some of the allusions I've made… but, this makes it official… this story can be considered to exist in the same timeline as "Often Quoted Quotes"… about a year from the end of that story (last chapter, not the epilogue). You don't necessarily need to read that story to understand this one… but, it might help for those who are feeling like they are missing something re: character motivations... and for those of you who are wondering where certain characters are from that story… well, yeah… they're coming.
5. T-minus 6 Weeks until Orientation
"Booth! PUT. ME. DOWN." Brennan had been yelling at him, pounding him on his shoulders and finally, finally was trying to figure out how much pressure she could exert without causing his back too much permanent damage, while at the same time achieving her goal of getting free of his grasp.
Before she could make that decision, he unceremoniously kicked the door to the bathroom open and dumped her in the tub. She landed with a loud *PLOP* as water splashed over the sides.
Reaching a hand up to her head, she brushed the bangs that lay plastered across her forehead out of her field of vision. She scowled at Booth, feeling a bit of tender pain throb where her bottom had come into hard contact with the porcelain of the tub, but not wanting to give more to him than she already had as she said, "That was quite uncalled for, Booth."
He bent down, smiling at her, and placed his arms on the edge of the tub. He nodded and said, "Yeah, well… you needed to cool off. And you did tell me to put you down."
"But I didn't mean in the bathtub!" Brennan again scowled. "Why did you do that?"
"To get you talking to me again," Booth said. "I'm tired of the silent treatment, Bones."
"Yes, well, you deserve it."
"And why is that?"
"For your deliberate and repeated attempts to block my participation in the program, Booth," Brennan muttered. "Six weeks... we've been having this same disagreement for almost six weeks, and I still don't know why except for you not wanting me to go. I have asked you repeatedly to explain to me what your reasoning is... or for you to let me explain and have you understand my reasoning. Instead... we've spent six weeks in this contest of who can be more stubborn, and I'm over it, Booth. I. AM. OVER. IT." Brenann yelled.
Looking down, Booth said, "Then you could just concede."
"That is not going to happen," Brennan said emphatically. "But I'm not going to play this little game of yours either. It was one thing to pull that little stunt on our anniversary... but then... try to go over my head to both Cam... and Andrew's boss!"
"I had my reasons, Bones... I... why won't you trust me on this one?"
"It's not a question of trust, Booth... and doing what you did... trying to control me... my career... my LIFE. And doing it in such an underhanded way..." Brennan said.
"Well... I wouldn't have had to do that if you hadn't decided to stop listening to me, Bones," Booth said in exasperation.
Pointing her finger at him, she said, "What you did... putting doubts in their minds as to my suitability to the program... aside from the fact that your very reasoning was laughable... the very thing that you did... that was an assault on my professional creditentials, Booth... and the one thing I will never, EVER tolerate from anyone... even you... is someone purposely with deliberate harm and intent interfering with my work. You were the one who taught me that intent is everything, Booth, when blame is being assigned. Well, what you did... you did with willful and malicious intent!"
"I did what I had to do to protect my family," Booth said, snapping suddenly.
Brennan watched him for a moment. She saw it for a moment... a glimmer... and that glimmer suddenly made a lot of sense... he was hiding something from her... something that scared him.
"What is it?" Brennan said. "Don't... please don't pull away from me... shut me out."
He looked at her and then shook his head. "I'm not shutting you out," he said, the change in his tone indicating that the walls were back in place.
"Yes, you are," Brennan said. "And if that's all this was... just between you and me... that would be one thing... but you making me look bad in my job. That's... y-you know how important that is to me, even if you don't want to know the reasons why, and yet you did what you did anyway. So, yeah, you deserve the quiet treatment and a whole lot more... and, moreover, your adolescent prank will not have the desired effect that you hope, Booth," Brennan said.
Booth shrugged as he started to rise from where he had been kneeling beside the tub. "It already has now, hasn't it… you're talking to me, aren't you?"
"Arrgh!" Brennan said. "You—you—stupid alpha male!"
Booth laughed. "Sticks and stones, Bones—"
Brennan's eyes narrowed. She then said, "Fine—" And, then she managed, somewhat unexpectedly from Booth's vantage point, to have enough flexibility to hoist herself partially out of the tub, just enough to reach up and grab Booth. Yanking him towards her, she immediately regretted the action when the landed in the tub... on top of her... with a loud *OMMPH*… Booth suddenly a dead weight on Brennan's smaller form.
"Off!" Brennan heaved.
Booth looked at her, rolling off of her and onto his side, trying to catch his breath as more water splashed over the sides of the tub and onto the floor. "That hurt!"
"It's not like you didn't fall mostly on me," Brennan said testily. She then frowned as she rubbed her side. "Owww."
Shaking water droplets out of his eyes, Booth said, the annoyance clear in his voice, "Now, why did you go and do a stupid thing like that, Bones?"
She scowled. He then looked at her as he rubbed his shoulder from where he had hit it on the edge of the tub when they had fallen in… and saw Brennan, dripping wet, hair plastered to her head, fully clothed and radiating hostility and then looked at himself… in much the same state… minus the anger, and began to laugh. This infuriated her even more.
"What's so funny, Booth?"
He waved her off, "Nothing… nothing… I just—I mean, look at us, Bones. How can you not think that this isn't funny?"
"Because I don't like taking baths with my clothing on?"
Booth's laugh waned into a chuckle and finally he simply smiled as he said, "I'm sorry?"
"No, you're not," Brennan said as the pair shifted. Wanting to get out of the tub as quickly as possible, but not certain how to do that without hurting Booth by stepping on some part of him, Brennan nodded. "Now, move so I can get out."
"No."
"No, what? No, you're not sorry?" Brennan asked.
"Well… yeah... no, I'm not sorry, but, no, I'm not moving, too."
"Booth—"
Realizing she was about to go on another angry tirade, Booth reached over and grabbed her wet shirt. He pulled her towards him and leaned in for a kiss. For a moment, she remained steadfastly unresponsive. And, then, just when Booth was about to give up, she started to respond. Ah, gotcha, Booth thought.
After a moment, the pair mutually pulled away, and breathing heavily, Brennan said, "That is not fair."
"What?"
"You—you just can't use… you can't just kiss me to shut me up and make me forget why I'm angry at you, Booth."
"I think I just did, Bones."
"Yeah, well, it's not fair."
"So… sue me."
Brennan sighed. "Fine… fine. You want to talk *finally*? You're ready… fine."
"Here," Booth said.
"What?" Brennan asked in confusion.
"Here… we talk here," Booth said, gesturing between them.
"Why?"
"Because if we get out of the tub, you're going to close off and give me the silent treatment again by the time you reach the bedroom. By the time you've taken off your wet clothes and pulled your robe on, I'm going to be back at square one… and I'm not doing that again," Booth said.
"I wouldn't do that... I've been waiting for you to be ready to talk to me about this for over a month, Booth... so fine, you want to do this here... we'll do this here... as long as you're finally going to tell me why you have a problem with me going to take part in the program at Quantico. You couldn't do that before..."
"Not *couldn't* Bones... *wouldn't*... big difference," Booth said.
"So... now you are not only able to answer my question, but now *want* to?" Brennan clarified.
Booth was quiet for a moment, but he nodded. "If… first, if you tell me why you want to do this. Really. Why? What's the big deal?"
Brennan considered the question for a moment. "In all these weeks… that's the first time you've asked me that."
Booth nodded.
"Why now?" Brennan asked. "Why are you ready to listen to me now?"
Booth shrugged. "It seems like... like it's time. So... you have an answer for me, Bones, or what?"
Brennan thought for a moment and then continued. "I want… I…."
"What, Bones?"
"I… I don't want to lose being able to work in the field if you're not there, Booth," Brennan said.
Booth frowned at this. "Bones-"
"What?" she asked. "You wanted me to tell you... so I'm telling you."
"So..." Booth began... "This has nothing to do with the Eames' case?"
Brennan paled at that, but said nothing as she asked. "Why would you bring up that case? We... we haven't talked about that case in months."
"Bones-"
"Of course, you know that you're the only agent I want to work with…" Brennan suddenly said, trying to go back to her original topic.
"Well, that's not quite true seeing as how you've worked with both Sully and Perotta when I was there," Booth countered.
"For all we know, those could be more exceptions to the rule, Booth... and, if they are... and, if you're not there… I-I…I don't want to go back to being a lab rat. I... I need to know that I have options if something happens to you."
"You want this training as some kind of safety net, Bones?" Booth asked, somewhat surprised as the thought had not occurred to him before. "And you think if I'm not there, if something happens to me... our work..."
"Won't continue," Brennan completed his sentence.
Booth was quiet for a moment as he said, "I was gone in Afghanistan for seven months, Bones... and you still found a way to do what you needed to do, field work included."
"I-"
"Bones..."
"If something did happen to you... I know I would need to be able to have the option of falling back on work... work as it is *now*... to... to get me through it. The IDs from Limbo aren't what they once were, Booth."
"Is that it?" Booth said, eyeing her curiously. "I mean, yeah, that's a big deal... but... you've only EVER dug in this hard on one thing before... and it had nothing to do with your professional career. You can understand if, after six weeks, if I'm not entirely convinced that's it."
Brennan sighed and looked away. "Why does this have to be about anything but my professional life, Booth?'
"Come on, Bones," Booth said. "You want me to tell you what my big deal is... quid pro quo, right?"
She looked away from him. The tub didn't offer her a lot of room to run, but Booth could feel it. She was scared... something was scaring her, and she was debating if she should tell him or not. Reaching out, he gently turned a hand to turn her wet face toward him and cupped it. "Bones-"
"I..."
"What is it?"
Frowning, Brennan whispered, "I- it hasn't been the same since I came back."
At this, somewhat surprised, Booth shifted in the tub. She was looking away from him again, and he had to turn her face towards him gently. Again. "Meaning?"
"Meaning... since February... since I've been back... the past six months... it hasn't been the same as it was like before I left," Brennan said.
"Well, yeah, Bones, that's to be expected," Booth said. "A lot happened."
"Things have changed-"
Booth shook his head. "No, not really, Bones..."
"Yes, they have, Booth. I know... I... I've seen it and experienced it personally," Brennan said. "The lab... work... us, it's different."
Booth said softly, "Work isn't what changed, Bones... you did."
"No," Brennan said, shaking her head vehemently. "No... I'm still the exact same person I was-"
Booth sighed. "Bones, no, you're not... and that's okay. You had a baby... you and me... we're together... that changes things."
"Not at work," Brennan repeated. She gestured between them as she had often seen Booth do in the past. "You... me... here... fine. At home, us... fine, yes. It's changed... for the better, too. And I love it. I don't want to go back to how it was before. But, work... us... the partnership and the lab, it wasn't supposed to change, Booth. And, now... Quantico..."
"Yeah, Bones?"
"I... if I go there... if I go... then I'll know... I know I can find proof that even if you're right... and if I'm the one who's actually changed, I'll know I'm... I'm not this weak person that I seem to have become when I'm at the Jeffersonian," Brennan muttered. She looked up at him. "I'm *not* weak, Booth. I'm... I'm not like her. I'm not."
"Not like who?"
Brennan looked away. "I'm not like her," she repeated.
"Bones... who?"
When the answer came, it was almost a whisper. "Eames."
Booth shook his head in agreement. "No, Bones, you're not- and I'm not even sure why you think you are."
"Because!" Brennan said, a bit too loudly. "Because... she... her life, Booth... things started to happen to her and she... she did things... to try to make her feel something... compensating for... for the lack of balance she had in her life... and... and what if I've been doing the exact same thing since before Chrissy was born... but instead of buying drugs and doing everything else Eames was doing... what if my drug of choice has just been you and the baby?"
There... it was out... and Booth... he didn't know what to say. He sighed for a moment.
Brennan, however, was not waiting for him to speak. Instead, she continued, "All the things I used to do... I can't anymore. I used to be able to stay up for 36 hours and look at the bones and they would say things to me proverbially... I could look at at a set of remains, and I would be able to do what I needed to do. Now... since the baby was born... if I'm on my feet more than 12 hours, my brain refuses to cooperate at times and simply stops working. Sometimes I look at a bone and forget what it's called. I... I need more sleep... I-I don't have distance anymore... we were looking at this one set of remains from Limbo... the remains were those of a female child... maybe about six... and I started to think... this little girl never had a chance to grow up... and it must have killed her mother metaphorically... knowing she created that life and carried it for nine months and struggled to bring it into the world for nothing... and those thoughts distracted me so much, Wendall had to point out an error I had made in making a measurement of the femur. *Wendall*, Booth, caught an error that I would have chastised him excessively for if he had been the one to make the same mistake... and then... that's not even counting that I turn into this messy emotional pile of goop if I don't see her at least once in the morning and when I come home at night. I... I'm not impervious anymore, Booth... and I knew that would happen when we decided to be together... and that's okay... I could live with that... but I... somehow I sidestepped the link from impervious to strong and just landed on weak... and I... I can't stand it any more. I'm weak... and you know it's true. I've become weak just like Lauren Eames was before she went and got herself killed."
"No-" Booth began. "No..."
"Then... why... why have you started to treat me differently, Booth? Not many people see it... but you... you don't keep me as close as you used to... you're... it's different between us, Booth. You're... we aren't as close as we were before the baby... if you can, you take Sweets or someone else in for interviews... Angela even asked me if you had started dating someone again since she doesn't see us going out for the case drinks like we used to..."
"Bones, if you want to go out for drinks after a case, all you gotta do is let me know... it's just since the baby was born, we're both usually so tired at the end, so home and bed and sleep, they seemed to be all both of us have wanted... or at least, I thought that was what both of us wanted," Booth said. "Yeah, the team doesn't see us out as much together anymore... but... they don't know that we come home here, do they? So.. maybe we do need to work on that... or, I don't know... finally get over this thing and tell everyone... but... it doesn't mean I'm treating you any differently than I ever had. You're still my partner, Bones."
"I don't feel like it anymore," Brennan said. "I feel like... like it's a partnership... at work... in name only... and even if it's only subconscious on your part... I think it's because I've changed... and... if I do this... if I can successfully complete the training... then I'll know. I'll know for certain that I haven't lost this fundamental part of what makes me me, Booth. I'll know I'm not weak... I'm not going to end up like Eames... I can still... I can still have this life with you, with our family, with my work... and still be *me*. Can you understand that?" Brennan asked. "The fact that it would give me a proverbial safety net with my work options in case anything ever happened to you just makes it even more appealing to me."
"So you want to do this to see if it can help you make certain that you still have options if something happens to me?" Booth asked. "Bones, I... I understand what you're saying... but... you have to know... I don't think it's a realistic fear to think you won't have that option just because I'm not there, you know? I'm not going anywhere," Booth said.
"Booth, we both know that you are not infallible. In the past, you have had things that pulled you away from the field. And, there is a high probability of that occurring again at some point in the future. Should that change be permanant, I want to know I can still do this job like I've always done it," Brennan said. "You can't forget that you were the first agent to ever take a chance on a squint... particularly taking a squint into the field."
"Yeah," Booth nodded. "And now everyone thinks I'm quite brilliant for having done it. I find that really funny, but, you know-" He shrugged and then said, "Still, the only problem I see with your assessment, Bones… is that I'm not planning on going anywhere any time soon," Booth said gently.
"For now," Brennan conceded. "And while I agree that it is futile to try to anticipate random events that may remove you from work... there is still the fact that you did just turn forty, Booth," Brennan said gently.
Booth looked down, a frown coming over his face as she knew she had raised a very sensitive point. "Thanks for bringing that up, Bones. I really appreciate it."
Brennan shrugged. "I apologize if that factual observation disturbs you, Booth, but it is the truth."
"So what?" Booth said. "It's not like the Bureau has a statute that says 'on an agent's fortieth birthday they shall be taken to the nearest cliff, thrown off, and sacrificed to the gods of the tar pits'."
Brennan frowned at his facetiousness. "Aside from the fact that there are no active tar pits accessible in Washington D.C., Booth, which would make such a practice impractical and a drain on the Bureau's personnel resources... the idea behind your hyperbole is true... but… you and I both know that sooner or later, they're going to want to pull you from field duty to promote you, Booth. That's… that's what organizations like the Bureau do with their best members. We both know you retiring at the SAC rank isn't really realistic."
Those words… those simple words caused Booth's gut to twist. They echoed, eerily, Gordon Gordon's earlier assessment… the very reason that Booth had gone to see him a couple of months before, on the very day this whole Quantico training argument had started.
"I am not old," Booth said defiantly, focusing more on that point then on the others that were... to be quite honest, very unsettling to him.
Brennan nodded. "I know that."
"I am *not* old, Bones," Booth continued.
"No, you're just experienced," Brennan said. She leaned forward and gave him a kiss. "You have to keep in mind, Booth, from an anthropological standpoint… an alpha-female like me would not choose a rundown ex-alpha male as her mate."
"So," Booth said, carefully choosing his words. "You're saying that since my hot, younger girlfriend is still my hot, younger girlfriend that I should take that as a positive confirmation of my youth?"
"And virility," Brennan said, her eyes darkening a shade.
"Stop that," Booth said, noticing her tone. "We're talking serious stuff here, Bones."
"What…? I didn't say anything," Brennan said innocently. She whetted her lips, and Booth felt himself begin to respond.
"Cut it out, Bones... you can't do that-" Booth said.
"Why? You use your physical attributes to distract and shut me up all the time," Brennan said.
"Yeah, but I'm me," Booth said. He then paued and said, "Please? We... we need to finish this... besides, aren't you the one who's been begging me for weeks to listen to you, and now that I am you want to stop before we're done? Inconsistent, Bones... very inconsistent."
"Okay... you're right," she said with a sigh. She then looked up and said, "So… this reason about you not wanting me to go... it isn't about me going to get the training… it's really about you… and your fear of getting old?"
Immediately, Booth tensed. "I am *not* old!" Booth muttered in protest.
Brennan shrugged. "I know… I'm just saying… is that why you've been so recalcitrant about this?"
"No," Booth said, after a moment. He paused and then said, "It started out when Cullen explained to me they wanted us both to go. I'm not lying if I said I am afraid that as soon as I set foot at Quantico as an instructor of any kind... it will taint me and will only be a matter of time before someone tries to put me there permanantly. So, yeah... I do have a concern... that somehow, some way, if you go, in six weeks, I'm going to get a call from one of my many bosses ordering me to report to the academy instead of the Hoover. And I really don't want to do that-"
"But?" Brennan prodded.
"But... there might be another reason in addition to all that," Booth finally admitted.
"And that would be?" Brennan asked softly.
Booth looked at her and nodded, "Now, I'm not saying I agree with him… but Gordon Gordon thinks that it might… from a psychological point of view… touch on my fear that if you have the training, you won't need me to protect you anymore... especially... if for some reason... I might not be able to do what I used to do in the same way I've been used to doing things."
"You hardly protect me now," Brennan said thoughtfully. "Even... even if I have not been feeling like I usually do, I know I am a very capable individual, Booth—I always have been…. And I know I can protect my baby and myself from whatever hostilities-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Booth said, knowing the Brennan litany that was about to ensue. "But… still—when we're in the field…."
"You have a superiority because of your training that gives you leverage over me... requires me to need you, in a professional sense, as I could not currently act on my own in the field," Brennan said.
"Something like that," Booth admitted.
"So... you don't want me to go, according to Gordon Gordon's assessment of your subconscience, because of the exact opposite reason I want to go?" Brennan asked. "I need to go to know I'm not too dependent on you... that I still have some control in my own life... and you don't want me to go because then I might not need you and you would be losing control because I would no longer be dependent on you at work?"
"Maybe... I don't know, honestly."
"Booth?"
"What?"
"Is that all Gordon Gordon said?"
Booth was quiet for a moment. At last he spoke and said, "I am *not* having the beginning stages of a mid-life crisis, okay?"
Brennan turned... surprise coming onto her face. "What?"
"You... me... us... starting a new... a second family... I'm not doing it because I'm having a mid-life crisis," Booth repeated.
"I never said you were, Booth," Brennan said.
"I... I know I'm not the same person I was twenty years ago... ten years ago... hell, even five years ago. And, I'm okay with that. My life is so much better now than it was then... I *don't* want to go back either... but... if us... if our partnership changes... it... not 'us' here... 'us'... you and me... but if 'us'... 'us'... as partners changes... if it changes because suddenly we have to do things differently than we have been because you're not my partner in the same capacity you have been for the last seven years... that... might... that might worry me a bit," Booth said.
"Why?"
Booth sighed. "Because if that changes... if that changes... I don't know what it will change in to... and I... I- I've been dealing with a lot of changes here, too, Bones... you, me...Chrissy... don't get me wrong... I love all of it... I don't want to go back to how it was before... lose what we have now... but... it's still a lot to deal with... like you siad... especially because I'm not-"
"Not what?"
"Not- not as young as I once was," Booth said. "Okay? There. Fine. I said it. I'm not as young as I once was... and I don't know how I would deal with having to start all over again."
"I hate psychology," Brennan said. "I hate it even more on the rare times it makes any logical sense. For every one instance it makes sense… there are a thousand times it doesn't."
"You think he's right, don't you?" Booth said immediately, a bit defensively. "You agree with Gordon Gordon?"
Brennan shrugged. "You know my feelings about psychology... my opinion doesn't matter as much as yours does... obviously this situation caused you enough emotional chaos that you went to go see him."
"I was just dropping by for lunch-" Booth protested.
Narrowing her eyes, Brennan said, "Pure coincidence?"
"Yeah," Booth said with a smile.
She paused and then looked up at him, "Booth?'
"What?"
"You know," Brennan began. "You know… that even once I do this… I'll still always need you, right? Me needing you... wanting to need you, isn't the part that bothers me. It... I can't explain why, logically... but that part... that part's never made me feel weak."
This time, it was Booth who narrowed his eyes. He was quiet for a moment and said, "Yeah, Bones. 'Course I know that."
The way he said it, though, made Brennan frown a bit. "You sure about that?" she asked.
Booth sighed and then looked away. He was quiet for a moment before he said, "I… it took us a long time to get to the point where you could admit that to me, Bones… and mean it."
"Same for you, Booth," Brennan said softly.
"I—I – can't lose that. I can't go back to a life of not having you need me… I know it sounds really bad, but— I.. if the partnership changes... there's a part of me that's worried that what we have here... it'll...just get lost somehow."
At this, Brennan laughed. Booth eyed her, annoyed. "What's so funny?"
"You."
"Why?"
"Twenty minutes ago... weren't you the one telling me that *I* was the one who changed... and implied that change happens and you just have to adapt... even if we both seem to agree that the status of are partnership remaining constant is somewhat that is very important to both of us?"
Silence ensued for a moment. "Well... yeah."
Brennan shrugged. "This is you evolving, too, Booth."
"I get that, Bones, it... it doesn't mean that dealing with it is any easier," Booth said.
"No, it doesn't," she conceded. "I just... I don't know what to do, Booth. I think I've changed and that's why our partnership's changing. You think I've changed but that it hasn't changed yet and our partnership only will if I go to Quantico... but we both agree the partnership changing at work is a bad thing... I don't know how to resolve that impass."
"Well, when you put it like that... I guess we're just going to have to have trust... and faith," Booth said.
"Can you trust me on this?" Brennan asked. "Can you, Booth?"
He was quiet for a moment before he nodded. "I- now, for you... for this... yes. I'll try. I'm... it's going to be hard, but... for you... I'll try."
"I know what you mean," Brennan said softly, knowing what he really meant as he spoke the words. She then added, "But... what's bothering you because you think you might lose it, it won't happen, Booth."
"It did... once before," he said, looking up at her. "I... I was with you once before... we were a family... had a child... err, were going to have a child, and then I woke up in that damn hospital bed, and I lost it... and even though I got it back... I still lost it. I can't... I can't do that again," Booth said.
"You'll never have to," Brennan said. "This... our life together... it isn't a dream."
"My heart knows that, but it doesn't mean my head isn't scared," Booth said. "If it happened once before... it can happen again, Bones... and losing it the first time almost destroyed me... you weren't here since you left for that dig when I was trying to get things straight in my head... but, for those first six weeks... I-I... it wasn't good."
Brennan frowned, but remained silent as Booth reflected on the memories in question.
He then looked up at her and said, "I just don't think I can do that again, Bones. In fact, I know I can't."
Leaning forward, somewhat distracted from her own problems by Booth's admission made her feel better. She decided a bit of teasing was in order to lighten the mood. Things were just... too serious. "You know what I think... I think... that... just because I might get a chance to carry a firearm of my own... you can't handle that idea," Brennan said with a chuckle.
Booth scowled at that comment, but his mood did shift as she had hoped. "That's how Hacker sold this to you, wasn't it? First, he appealed to your skills… then said it wouldn't threaten the partnership… and then sealed the deal with the promise that you could have your own gun."
Brennan frowned. "How did you know that?"
"Ha!" Booth yelled. "I knew it. That… doofus is so friggin' predictable."
"Or," Brennan countered. "I am."
Booth shrugged. "Well, yeah, that, too."
Brennan suddenly looked up at him and said, "So, we done talking now?"
"Not really," Booth said. "I—we… there's still some issues to work out here, Bones..."
Brennan nodded. "I agree, but—"
"But?"
"But… the water is getting cold… and I find that if I have to take a shower now… I would rather do it undressed and with you in close proximity," Brennan said.
Booth saw her eyes darken again. "What is it with you and this tub, Bones?"
"Can't help it," Brennan said. "I mean, you have your thing with me and doors... and I suppose I have a thing with you and tubs. You're just really hot when you're dripping wet..." She moved in to kiss him. "Any objections?"
"Not that I can think of at the moment," Booth said honestly.
-TBC-