Twenty-one Weeks at Quantico

By: Lesera128

Rated: T

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.

18. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1: Graduation

Thirty-three weeks ago, on the day when Andrew Hacker had first called her into his office the prior May… Brennan had thought that on this day, after twenty-one weeks that she would proudly be participating in the small ceremony and celebratory party to, if nothing else, commemorate what had been a grueling experience for everyone involved. Thirty-three weeks… it was just a month shy of about what it had taken to conceive, carry, and produce her daughter, Brennan thought wryly. And, in a way, she wondered if the gift of knowledge that the experience had so painfully birthed for her might not also be considered a second child. After all, her life *had* changed because of the experience… both for better and for the worst, and there was no going back now.

But, on this day, the day of the 'graduation' for eleven of the twelve FBI consultants who had been selected for the pilot program… it was actually Booth that was there… smiling, shaking hands, answering questions… and it was Brennan who was absent. No one spoke a word of her, not to Booth or even in front of him, and, as far as he and MacKinnon could tell, no one was even breathing her name or making vague reference to her behind his back. No, it was as if Dr. Temperance Brennan, but for her connection resulting in Booth's ultimate presence at Quantico that day, had never even existed as far as the pilot program was concerned. And, so, dressed in his suit, flanked by Cullen and MacKinnon, Booth continued to impart witty comments, lavish praise when it was appropriate on his trainees as he introduced them to various Bureau big wigs, including the Director of the FBI (whose side Hacker never left) and accepted a hand shake from Harding when she entered the room on a pair of crutches.

"Agent Harding," he smiled, the first smile that was genuine all day. "Long time no see. How are you feeling?"

"Tired… and in pain… and desirous of kicking your butt outta here so I can have my job back," she said gruffly. Cracking a small smile, she then added, "No offense intended."

Booth chuckled. "And none is taken, Agent Harding, because again, no offense intended… you can have this job back, and I say this with all due respect, but you cannot only have this crappy job back, happily, but, I'd be only too happy if you would shove it somewhere—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Harding shrugged. "I get the idea, Agent Booth." She paused and looked at him in earnest, "I think, maybe, you want to get back to your job as much as I want to get back to mine… this damn, ever-lasting PT that's keeping me grounded aside."

Booth nodded. "I do. I-I… I don't really belong here."

Harding's eyebrow arched. She said quietly, "You did what you had to do, Agent Booth. As I said two months ago when I told you. Ultimately, you did your job… and the reason she failed was all because of Brennan, Agent Booth, not because of you. She was the one who couldn't do what she needed to do, and then, again, she's the one who chose to walk away."

"And, yet, I still feel like a failure for some reason," Booth admitted.

Harding shrugged. "Understandable. Technically, your trainee... our trainee, was the only one out of a dozen who didn't make it through. That's something that can feel really… personal… even if it's really not."

"Yeah," Booth said.

"Agent Booth?"

"Yes, Agent Harding?"

"Did you really do the best you could to do the job as it needed to be done by her?" Harding asked directly.

Booth was quiet for a moment as he thought, and the he nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"Okay, then," Harding said. "Then that's it. You did your job, and it's not your fault things happened like this for Dr. Brennan… things just happened as they were supposed to happen."

"It doesn't mean it makes it feel any less shitty, though, Agent Harding," Booth repeated with a sigh.

"No," she said. "No, it doesn't."

For some reason, after a very long and grueling day of preparation for one of Caroline's cases, Brennan had left the conference room in the Hoover, and somewhat on autopilot, she found herself wandering in the direction of Booth's office. It was empty, of course, as he was still at Quantico for the day's graduation ceremony. However, flicking the lights on, she couldn't help herself as she went behind the desk and sat down tentatively in his chair. She glanced at the picture of Parker that he kept on the edge of the desk… the one that he had had for as long as she had known him… and she smiled. Brennan was absentmindedly staring at the photo when the office door was thrown open and a loud voice boomed.

"Booth, I didn't think you were getting paroled from detention at the Academy today, but since you are here, it's time to make yourself useful—" Caroline hadn't even looked up as she continued her rant. However, she finally stopped and glanced at Brennan. Her eyebrow arched as she said, "You are not Booth."

"No, I'm not," Brennan said.

"Don't take this the wrong way, cher, but I've spent enough time looking at your confused and overwrought face today," Caroline said. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know…." Brennan said. "I just sorta… ended up here."

"Yeah, well, when he's here, I could understand that… him being so cute and all," Caroline huffed as she sank down into one of the chairs in front of the desk. "But, we both know he wasn't gonna be here today, cherie, so why are you here and looking like someone just backed over your dog and left it there to die on the side of the road?"

"I… I'm sad," Brennan admitted.

"Well, of course you are," Caroline said. "You feel left out… after all the work you put into that bone-brained idea of yours. He's there, and, well, not to put to fine a point on it… but you're not. Fortunately, you are much better off than he is right now because you're here… with me." She considered this for a moment, and then smiled. "'You know, you really should feel grateful, being blessed as you are to be able to be the sole focus of my attention finally."

"I'm sorry?" Brennan said. "I'm not sure why…."

"Because," Caroline interrupted her. "If you had come to me nine months ago when Hacker dropped this insane idea in your head, I would have told you 'no'… going to play cops and robbers at Quantico is not something you needed to do. You should get enough of that when you're out in the field with Booth… and if not… then when you're in the bedroom with your boyfriend."

"Booth is not my boyfriend," Brennan instantly protested.

At this, Caroline knowingly pointed a finger at her as she said, "Of course, that is true. How I keep forgetting things in my inspired old age. He's not your boyfriend anymore, is he? That cute drink of tall, dark, and handsome is actually your hubby now, isn't he?" Brennan was shocked at Caroline's words, and continued to stare at her as Caroline added, "'Course the cute ones like Booth always fall for the complicated ones. Never fails."

"How do you know—" Brennan finally asked, recovering from the shock of Caroline's admission.

Waving her off, Caroline said, "Don't worry that pretty little head of yours off, cher. Your marital escapades with Booth aren't widely known, even though I have known about you two for some time. I'm just well-informed like that. But, at some point, other people are going to know, so you need to think about how you're going to handle that when it happens, because it *will* happen. And, by the way, I *am* still very incensed at both of you, forgetting to invite *me* to the wedding like that. No respect, showed none at all. And, I would have given you a very nice wedding gift, too."

Brennan said, still shocked, "I'm sorry?"

"Damn right, you should be," Caroline chastised her. "For that… and for jumping into the shark tank out at Quantico. I mean, it's one thing if you're going out there to try to shut down the lab—"

"I only did that once!" Brennan said. "And I didn't actually succeed in shutting it down… even though it's staff and facilities are extremely inferior, to the level of gross incompetence, when compared to those of the Jeffersonian… and, it's not like Booth would let me try to shut it down again, anyway. He made me promise."

At this, Caroline chuckled. "He's a good boy… most of the time… but, you… you did not make the most intelligent of choices, cherie, considering how smart you're supposed to be. Especially with that spitfire Rose Harding out there… If you had just come to me, as you should know by now you ought to do before making a decision like this, I could've told you little good would come from you tangling again with a woman like Harding. Did you not learn anything in New Orleans when she arrested you, cher… because, obviously, it appears you did not… throwing in with her life that. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Brennan sighed. "While hindsight is twenty-twenty… I find that I must agree with most of your assessments, Caroline… but for one part."

"And what would that one part be…even if I am perturbed at you that you would dare to disagree with me," Caroline asked.

Biting her lip, Brennan nodded at the picture of Booth and Parker. "If I hadn't gone to Quantico… who's to say that Booth and I would be married right now?"

"Hmmm," Caroline mused. "That is a fair point. One that I would take some time to consider – later. Not now when…." Caroline glanced at her watch, "…when, if you leave right now, you should be able to just make it home in time to meet that delectable man of yours."

"I'm not certain he wants to see me," Brennan confessed, at last, the real reason for her morose face.

"Why?" Caroline asked. "Did he tell you that?"

"Well, no, not in so many words, but-"

"Then, stop," Caroline said. "Just stop."

"I'm not certain-"

"Did you not just hear me? I said 'stop'," Caroline insisted.

At this, Brennan finally did stop talking. With a firm nod of approval, Caroline said, "Now. Here's what you need to do. What you should do. What you're going to do. Reach out. Make the effort. Go home. Make up to him… or let him make up to you… or, you both make up together at the same time so no one feels affronted, superseded, or left out. Then, go and enjoy what you've both worked so hard to get to the same place at the same time to enjoy."

Standing in the chair, Brennan smiled. "You're right."

"Of course, I'm right… I'm *always* right… don't you know at least *that* by now?" Caroline said.

Moving in front of the desk, Brennan took a step towards Caroline. Caroline, weary, took a step back.

"What?"

"I find that I would like to hug you right now," Brennan said.

Caroline paled. "Uhh, yeah… ummm… let's not and say we did?"

Brennan smiled at her, but nodded, sensing her plain discomfort at the suggestion. "If you prefer—"

"I do, most definitely, I do certainly prefer," Caroline insisted.

"But," Brennan said, with a point of her finger. "One of these days, I *am* going to hug you."

"Why on earth would you possibly want to hug a fabulously and divinely inspired woman such as myself—" Caroline stopped and then nodded, "Okay, I can see why you'd want to, but please resist the temptation… and how about you go home and hug Booth instead?"

Nodding, Brennan gave her a final smile of thanks and then turned to leave.

Just as he was debating how much longer he had to stay at Quantico before he could make an exit that didn't seem too hasty, Booth looked down at his phone and saw that the text message indicator was light up.

Quickly scrolling through the screens, his heart skipped a beat when he saw the message.

Text Message Received from Bones: Please come home?

Booth looked at the clock and saw that the message had been sent about half an hour earlier.

He quickly typed a short response: Is everything okay?

It took only a moment for the reply to come, and the swiftness of the response gave him hope.

Text Message Received from Bones: Not yet… but I think it will be… if you come?

Not expecting her response, his throat constricted as he typed: Are you sure?

Text Message Received from Bones: Yes. Will you?

Booth replied: If you want me to.

Text Message Received from Bones: Yes, I do… and if it helps… as extra motivation… I have a bottle of scotch in front of me that has your name on it.

Nodding, Booth smiled. He then responded: See you in a little bit.

Brennan immediately noticed when he didn't sign off as normal… and so… this time she added it.

Text Message Received from Bones: Please be careful. Love you.

A short time later, Brennan sat next to Booth on their couch, turned so that they were facing each other, and she was holding his hand in hers before taking a moment to speak and break the tense silence that had fallen between them.

"I wasn't sure if you would come or not," Brennan said, self-doubt creeping into her voice.

Booth traced small circles on the back of her palm as he replied, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because," she whispered. "I-I... I thought you might... I don't know... just be done with things. Us, me... everything."

Booth was quiet for a minute, but he said, "I don't know, even if I wanted to, if I would even know *how* I could ever been done with you. It's kind of this thing I've got... I get real attached to people like wives. I don't really like to go through the hassle of breaking a new one in every couple of months. I've tried. It gets tedious."

Brennan bit her lip, realized he was joking, and looked up with a slight upturn of her lip as she said, "You're making fun of me?"

"Yes, a bit."

Brennan nodded. She then took her free hand and tilted Booth's face to meet hers. "I'm sorry that I hit you."

"I'm sorry, too," he chuckled. "It hurt. And, I know I should know better, but I don't seem to remember you being able to hit *that* hard."

"I was angry," she said. "I'm not saying that to excuse it, just explain."

"Okay," he said. "So... now... can you tell me why?"

Brenna sighed. "I want to... I really want to, but I… I don't know if I know *how* to tell you… all the things that happened at the Alley… a lot of it was raw… and personal… and so personal… I… I don't think I'm not ready to tell you yet. But, I promise, one day soon, I will."

"Okay," Booth said.

"Yeah?" Brennan asked. "You sure you're okay with that?"

"As long as you're going to tell me, when you're ready, then yes," Booth said.

Swallowing, Brennan nodded as she said, "I also need to tell you that I'm sorry…. You didn't betray me, Booth… I… I admit that…. Now. You're right. You didn't betray me. But… you still hurt me. You used your personal knowledge of our life to do your job… and… and, it feels like you chose the Bureau over me when you did that. I-I… I never thought you would do that… but you did. And that hurt. I can't help it if that's how it feels, even if that's not fair or an accurate reflection of things from your point of view. I just feel… that… what you did… it hurt me more than I ever thought you possibly could… ever *would*. And, in some ways… that… *that*… that made things even worse for me," Brennan said.

"Bones, I—" Booth immediately said, trying to explain.

Raising a finger to his lips she said, "I know." She nodded at him again, and said, "I *know* logically that wasn't your intent. My brain knows that, Booth. I… I'm just working at catching my heart up to my brain, you know?"

"You mean just like usual?" he joked softly.

Brennan nodded. "I… the work we do… it's… I think it's safe to say, you and I, we can try as hard as we can to keep work out there, and us… this… our family… here… just us. But, we can only *try*, and that means, sometimes we'll succeed… sometimes we won't. And, when we don't, we've got to do what we need to do to get past things."

"Can we get past this?" Booth asked quietly.

Breathing slowly, Brennan closed her eyes and said, "Yes. I think so. It will take time… and I'm going to need some space to face what all this means and deal with it… but, yes. Yes, I think we can." She paused for a moment, opened her eyes, and looked up at him. "Do *you* think we can get past this?"

"We want to get past it, right?" he said. "So, if we want to, we will."

"Do we?" Brennan asked. "I know I do, but… I'm afraid… you don't? And so, if *you* don't, how can *we* want to get past it?"

"I do want to get past it, Bones," Booth said. "More than anything I can think of just about now… I wish… I wish that I had a magic wand or a Fairy Godmother or some random genie that would come out and grant me just one wish… so that I could wish that we were over this and past it and back to the way things were before all this bullshit started. I-I.. I really just want to be done with it, and have things get back to normal, but—"

"But?"

"But… like you said, it's gonna take time. So, yeah, do we want to get past it, do I want to get past it? Yes. Definitely. The answer is definitely 'yes'. God, is the answer is yes. But… we need to take some time, like you said… and then we'll see what happens," Booth said.

"And you're certain about that?" Brennan asked.

Looking at her, Booth said, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because," Brennan's voice dropping to the level of barely a whisper. "Because of what I said to you that day—"

Biting his lip, Booth nodded. "I can't lie… that hurt… coming from you, of all people… those were some real cheap shots, Bones... *way* below the belt. They cut…."

"I am so sorry," she said. "I-I… I was hurting though… and I wanted to make you feel as badly as you made me feel. But, I didn't mean what I said, Booth. You know that, right?"

Booth nodded. "I know. I know, Bones." He was quiet for a moment before he said, "You know, Jared… he once said to me… hurting each other… the fighting. He said it's what you and I do, have always done."

"That does not sound like he thinks our relationship is a very healthy one if that statement is in any way accurate," Brennan mused.

Shrugging, Booth said, "Oh, I don't know, Bones… when you love someone… the people you love the most… they're the ones that have the greatest power to hurt you… and sometimes, the hurt? The hurting? That does happen… on both sides."

"But?" she asked, hopeful.

"But," he said. "It's how you deal with the hurt… that's what's the true measure of a good relationship, I think."

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded, "Okay, so how are we going to deal with the hurt?"

He looked up at her and said, "We've already started, Bones. You asked me to come here... and met me half-way."

"Well, you were the one that actually put out the proverbial olive branch this time," she said quietly. "You came to the lab... with the frame. God, Booth, how did you even know it was broken... and where I kept it... and that it needed to be fixed?"

Shrugging, he said, "Happy accidents."

"I love it, you know," she told him. "More than I think you realize. It's one of the best gifts I've *ever* gotten. You have no idea how much I cried when I saw that the glass shattered and the frame cracked that night."

"It's important to me that it's so important to you, Bones... I... can you forgive me?" he asked, pulling Brennan into the depth and turbulence of *his* emotions with a single glance.

She was quiet for a moment before she nodded, "Yes... I think I can... I *know* I can... I just... I-I need time, Booth... and some space... and time." She stopped talking again and then said softly, "Can you forgive me?"

His head slowly nodded, "I already have."

At this, she began to cry, not a lot, just a little bit. He pulled her to him, crushing her tightly in his arms.

"I-I... how can you do that?" she said through the sobs.

"Do what?" he murmured.

"Be so wonderful to me? I... I don't deserve it," Brennan choked.

"Because I love you," Booth said, simply. "You're my wife... and the mother of my child... and... as important as those things *are*... even combined... they're still not as important as the fact that I. LOVE. YOU. And, when you have that, you *don't* just walk away. You *don't* just give up on it, because it's the easier thing to do. Too many people do that in the world. They give up too easily when bad things happen. And, I won't do that. You know that... it's just not the type of guy I am. I told you before, and I'll say it again. When two people love each other, baring very few things, you find a way to work through the hurt and make things work."

Brennan had no response for his except to cry even harder. Booth continued to hold her until the cries subsided, and she spoke again once more.

"I—I'm scared, Booth," Brennan said. "I am *so* scared."

"I know," he replied quietly. "I know."

"I-I... I'm not sure if you know this- I mean, I'm not sure how you could *not* not know this, but on the day that I handed in my resignation to Andrew? I... I gave them the official notification about us, about our marriage," Brennan said.

Booth nodded. "I know. He and I had a long talk about that." Booth laughed for a minute. "He said he was going to flag the system and black out the data as much as possible. Put it on a protected, need-to-know level of clearance only."

"He told me he would do that."

"Yeah," Booth nodded. "He also told me that... well, I think he was torn. He told me that if they had known we got married during the training, I would have been pulled immediately from being in any way the person who was assessing you. It was too much of a conflict of interest. And, he was right. But, on the other hand, he said he was really glad that they weren't told until after you left because... well, he said he was glad that I was there with you for at least the weeks you finished after Harding's accident. Hacker said if they go with the 'personal reasons' explanation as to why you left, given how much time you did put in, and the fact that you were technically passing the training when you left, it might be enough to convince the Director when they try to get permission to implement the program on a standard basis."

Brennan was quiet for a moment before she said, "Does it sound bad if I say as fascinating as all that sounds, I don't really care about any of it?"

"Nope," Booth said. "Not at all."

Brennan nodded. "Booth?"

"Yes, Bones?"

"What do we do now?"

He was quiet for a moment, before he said softly, "Big picture or little picture?"

"Both?" came the hesitant response.

"Okay, well... I, ah, I assume since you told the FBI about us getting married that... does it mean that you don't regret doing it?" he asked nervously.

"No!" Brennan said immediately. "I... I love you. I-I don't want to give up on our marriage. D-do you?"

The last word seemed to choke in her throat as her voice trailed off.

Booth looked at her and shook his head. "No, I don't."

"But?" she asked, realizing there was more.

"But, you know, Bones... as scared as you are? I'm just as scared. The very thing we both wanted to avoid when all this started… it ended up finding us anyway… and… I'm not leaving you, you're not leaving me… us… we're still *us* Bones, but…this is one of those times where you are going to need some faith to get you through." Booth said. "Until… until we get where we're going. And, that's the answer for the short term, by the way. We keep going forward, because if we stop, if we give up? Well, that's when we know we're done, and everything that's out there? It's finally beaten us. That's how we'll know then, and I pray... I've spent a lot of time praying since this whole thing started, and I pray that we never reach that point, but if we ever do, that's how we'll know."

Brennan was quiet for another moment before she admitted weakly, "I'm… I'm not even sure I know how to get where we're going, Booth," Brennan said meekly.

He smiled and clasped her hand reassuringly. "That, Bones… *that* I do know… you just keep putting one foot in front of the other."

"And that's it?" she said softly.

Smiling, Booth nodded. "Yeah, Bones… that's how it's done... that's it."

And, for now... it was.

~The End~

A/N: And, so, here ends another chapter in the saga that is Booth and Brennan's lives. Again, as we all know I don't really do author note's except at the end, so pardon the length. First, I would like to say to all of you who reviewed - especially my regular reviewers, as some of you guys who had something to say every chapter and that was very cool - it truly does mean a lot. Even if I don't address reviews individually, or respond in huge personal notes on the next chapter after said awesomeness that was your review, I always read what is said… carefully… by each of you, and I sometimes reread the reviews several times because they mean that much to me.

Second, to answer the final question I know some people have… will all be okay between the pair, or is there still work to be done? Well, the answer is this... of course, they're going to be okay. But, if I just waved a magic wand, where would the story be? I work very hard to balance fluff, angst, drama, and plot. Other people may disagree, but, in the end, I do think it balances out. And, yes, to answer another question, I write a lot of stories with Brennan's perspective as the primary one in mind. I do try to keep the characterizations I've established of two very flawed people as balanced and as consistent as possible. I started out this story with the goal of wanting to balance the karmic scale between them after Brennan ripped Booth apart with her actions in Quotes. I don't know how well I succeeded, but that's what I was going for when I wrote it, and I did try. For those who didn't like this story and/or approach, and are still reading after this note... then I have to say... why are you still here? The world of fan fiction is like an ocean, deep and plentiful. If this story (or my writing) isn't to your liking, happy hunting in finding something that is more to your taste.

Now that that's done... anyone still here? If so... is anyone curious to know how will they go about putting back together the pieces of their relationship in the aftermath of the events at Quantico? Well, the answers to this question and others will be found out in the upcoming companion piece, "An Alpha Male vs. An Alpha Female." It deals with the immediate fall out of Booth's actions at the Academy as Brennan copes in that frustrating and stubborn way she has, much to Booth's ultimate aggravation…. until both are pushed to the breaking point. It will be rated M… ahem, yeah… just in case you're wondering, as I know some people do prefer the T rating such as Quantico has had. Now, I don't think anyone who has ever read my work could say that what I write is explicit. I myself think it borders more on sensual than detailed that some other authors wonderfully share, but the CP will be more involved than Quantico has been, because, let's face it - as those of you who read Quotes know... a blow out like this requires makeup sex, so yeah. I know. And, it's coming. Leave it to Jared and Padme to provide the perfect setting for the ultimate show down for B and B when they finally get married.

And, in the not too distant future, the adventures of Booth and Brennan will return in the final entry of my BB trilogy in a story entitled "More From Brennan's Nonexistent Journal." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Brennan's journal will be back. Be on the look out for it, because, I promise... all those things that you think I may have forgotten about... things and people and events that seemed to just conveniently fade away for B&B's convenient happy ending? Well, they're gonna be back... with a vengeance... and there will be no way keeping secrets will be able to protect them *this* time. So... stay tuned... feel free to sign up for an author alert so you don't miss the new stories, and, as ever... thank you for reading.