Chapter 2. The pilot.
"what are you doing here?" Brennan asked looking at him frustrated.
Booth walked over flashing his badge "FBI. Special Agent Seeley Booth, Major Crime Investigation, D.C. Bones identifies bodies for us."
"Don't call me Bones." She said rolling her eyes at him. "And I do more than identify." She said seriously turning back to the homeland security agent
Booth held up her book then slid it across the table to the other Agent "She also writes books."
He picked up the book looking at the picture on the back. "Fine. She's all yours."
"Great. Let's grab your skull and let's vamoose."
Brennan shot up pissed off. "What! That's it? She's all yours? Why did you stop me?"
"What does it matter? You're free to go. Let's just grab your bags." He said grabbing her bags from the table.
Brennan looked to Booth. "You set me up."she accused angrily. " You got a hold for questioning request from the FBI didn't you? She asked the agent as he looked to Booth. Brennan looked back and forth between them knowing she was set up.
He smiled lightly handing her the book. "I love this book."
She grabbed the book and then the skull and pushed past Booth who was holding all of her bags "Come on."
They sat in a tense silence as he left the airport and reached the teeming streets of DC.
Brennan turned to him still pissed. "That's the best you can do?"
"What?"
"Getting Homeland Security to snatch me so that you can stage a fake rescue."
"Well, at least I picked you up at the airport huh?" he said giving her a charming little grin which only annoys her more. "Hey, come on. I went through the appropriate channels but your assistant there, he stonewalled me!"
"Yeah, well after what happened I told Zach to never, ever to put you through. He's a good assistant. You can let me out anywhere along here." She said attempting to end the conversation.
"Alright, listen. A decomposed corpse was found this morning at Arlington National Cemetery down…" he explained giving in.
"Arlington National Cemetery is full of decomposed corpses, it's… a cemetery." She pointed out sharply.
"Yeah, but this one is your type of corpse, it wasn't in a casket."
"If you drive one more block, I'm screaming 'kidnap' out the window." She said smiling.
"Do you know what, I'm trying to mend bridges here."
She didn't want to hear it. "Pull over."
He pulled over and she hopped out, he got out following her.
"I'm going home." She said walking awayfrom him.
"Great! Could we… Look, could we just skip this part?" he said keeping up.
"I find you very condescending."
"Me! I'm condescending." He said offended. "I'm not the one who's got to mention that she's got a Doctorate every, five, minutes."
"I am the one with the Doctorate." She said walking backwards to face him.
"Yeah, well you know what? I'm the one with the badge and the gun huh. You know, you're not the only forensic anthropologist in town."
Brennan laughed at his ignorance. "Yes I am. The next nearest is in Montreal. Parlez-vous francais?"
"What's it going to take?" he asked stopping and she turned around
"Full participation in the case."
"Fine."
"Not just lab work, everything."
"What? Do you want me to spit in my hand? We're Scully and Mulder." He said shrugging.
" I don't know what that means."
"It's an olive branch, just get back in the car."
She sighed. "why do you want to work with me Seeley Booth?"
He walked up to her smiling. "because youre brilliant, tempe, you're the best and that's what I need on my side. Even if it's only professionally." He admitted.
Brennan nodded. "alright. But that's as far as it goes" she said walking back towards the car.
The next day. Late afternoon. Brennan is at the shooting range blowing off some steam.
"Thought I'd find you here." Booth said as she took the headphones off. She looked at him. "You know, you being a good shot and doing martial arts, it's all your way of dealing. Who knows better than you how fragile life can be? "
" Maybe an Army Ranger sniper who became an FBI homicide investigator?" she said looking away.
" Ah, you looked me up, huh?" he said walking up behind her. "A sniper gets to know a little something about killers." He said matter of factly. "and the senator, he's no killer." He said turning to her.
"Oh, and Oliver is?" she said disbelievingly
Booth backed Brennan against the wall of the firing booth getting in her face. "The way I read Laurier, he's unhinged. That makes him dangerous."
"That'd be your gut telling you that, correct?" she said condescendingly.
Booth smiled lightly knowing how badly he was annoying her. "You know, homicides, they're not solved by scientists. They're solved by guys like me asking a thousand questions a thousand times, catching people telling lies every time." He placed his hand by her head leaning in a little farther. "You're great at what you do, Bones, but you don't solve murders,cops do."
She looked him in the eyes. "Cleo Eller was killed on a cement floor sprinkled with diatomaceous earth. Traces of her blood will still be in that cement. One of us is wrong, maybe both of us. But if Bethlehem wasn't a Senator, you'd be right there in his basement looking for that killing floor. You're afraid of him. Your hypothesis is that squints don't solve murders and cops do, prove it. Be a cop." She said coldly smirking and walking away
He smiled lightly grabbing her arm and turning her around. "you're just trying to prove you're point aren't you?"
"did it work?"
"not even close." He lied with his most charming smile.
She kissed him strongly. "you always were a horrible liar." She said pushing him away and walking off.
He sighed and pulled out his phone dialing.
2 days later. DC cemetery. The gang were standing in the back watching the funeral service for Cleo.
Brennan walked forward placing a red rose on her casket and off into the silence of the hills. Booth followed a solemn look on his face.
He sighed catching up to her.
"what?" she asked a light smile playing at her lips knowing an I told you so was coming.
"I told you it wasn't the senator." He said smiling
"and I told you it was, I guess we're even."
"except we work the same cases and you wind up on the NEW YORK TIMES bestsellers list." He said smile widening."
"what? I didn't know that." She said excited.
"mmhmm. Number 3. With a bullet." He said nodding.
"that's good right?" she said smiling.
"oh yeah. Means your rich. Call your accountant."
She laughed. "I don't have an accountant."
"then get one" he said smiling as they stopped walking and looked back at the ceremony.
"… I know how the Ellers feel. My parent disappeared when I was 15. …nobody knows what happened to them"
"being a sniper. i… took a lot of lives. And what I'd like to do before I'm done is try and catch at least that many murderers." He offered up in return seriously.
She smiled. "you dint think theres some kind of… cosmic balance sheet do you?" he didn't answer. "I'd like to help you with that."
"I can deal with that." He said smiling again.
"good. Because I'm not going anywhere." She said lacing her arm in his as they walked away.