A/N: Thanks to all who R&R'd. I've decided to go ahead and continue this. Please try to be patient with me when it comes to updating. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Physics 101

"Bones, what the hell are you doing here?" he hissed through clenched teeth, taking the empty seat beside her. The class was relatively small, about twenty people, the majority of whom were male.

"I'm taking a class, what does it look like?" she whispered back. "You should know better by now than to leave me behind on something like this. Now, hush, here comes the instructor."

"Couldn't you at least have sat in the back?"

"No."

The professor introduced himself as Dr. Hawthorne and began his lecture. Booth was lost from the start. He didn't have a prayer. The only words he understood were 'science' and 'difficulties'. He choked back a yawn and glanced over at Brennan, who was furiously scribbling notes. He turned to his own notebook, and jotted down a note of his own.

Really, why are you here? We discussed this.

He passed it to her and a moment later received a reply.

I told you already. Besides, you might need me. You don't know what's going to happen.

"I assume you're writing something relevant to the study of physics in your note Ms. Tylor?"

Brennan's head snapped up. "Of course." She then asked a clarifying question using words Booth had never heard before and he zoned out again.

After the lecture had ended, and the insane number of pages to read assigned, Booth caught Brennan in the hallway outside the room.

"How did he know who you were?"

"Oh, I met with him before class. He's quite knowledgeable."

"He's teaching the class. I would hope so."

She got a curious look in her eyes and went behind him, digging around in his backpack and coming up with his course schedule. They were in all the same classes of course, she had made sure of that, but she wanted to see the name he'd registered under.

"Riley Jordan?"

"It's a name Bones. What's yours? Something Tylor."

"Leslie Tylor. I took it from two famous anthropologists. Tylor was…"

"Dead scientists. I gotcha. Look, I got two free hours before I gotta suffer through Biology, and I need to settle into my dorm room. My stuff's already there, but I need to unpack." He still couldn't believe he had to live in a dorm. But, as had been pointed out to him, it made more sense. He could do a better job being on campus than off.

"I'll go with you. What building are you in?"

"Field."

"I'm in Brook. According to my map, they're across the quad from each other. Do you have a roommate?"

"I snagged a double room, but no, just me."

"I have one. Her name is Samantha. I'm supposed to call her Sam. She's very nice. She reminds me a little of Angela only more…outgoing. We're polar opposites, but I think it'll work out."

"That's good."

They headed out of the building and began walking across the campus. "So what's the plan?" Brennan asked.

"Plan?"

"Yes, I'm assuming you have some sort of plan."

"My plan is to keep an eye on the other girls in the physics class for now and assimilate. The local cops are questioning suspects on their end. My main job, and I do mean my, is to make sure this doesn't happen again until they make an arrest."

"So you're playing bodyguard to seven undergrads?"

"That about covers it. And it's eight."

"I only counted seven girls in that class Booth. Was someone absent?"

"No. I meant you. You're female and you're in the physics class. As of now, you fit the victim profile."

"I don't need a bodyguard Booth. I'm perfectly capable of defending myself. And I'm not an undergrad."

"You're not, but Leslie Tylor is."

They arrived in front of the Union, and immediately noticed trouble. A tall, burly looking guy had a girl up against the wall of the building and was yelling in her face. A group of guys were crowded around, not participating, but not breaking it up either. The girl, for her part, had her hands up in front of her, shielding herself in case the angry words turned to blows.

She yelled at him to leave her alone, but it had no effect. The man raised his hand, ready to strike her across the face. He was stopped by a strong hand gripping his wrist tightly, pulling him away from the scared redhead.

"What do you think you're doing?"

He tried to wrench his hand out of Booth's grasp, but had no success.

Seeing this wasn't someone he should mess with, he met Booth's eyes briefly before glaring at the girl, still pressed against the wall. "She broke up with me! You think I could stand for that?"

"I don't think you have a choice. Now, the lady asked you to leave her alone."

Releasing his hold, he watched as the guy strode off, still glaring. Looking at his face, Booth recognized him from class. He made a mental note to call the local police once he was in his dorm room. They should question him. He turned to the girl. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Thank you so much. Jake was going to hit me, I can't believe it." She looked at Booth with wide eyes and a captivating smile and Brennan, observing the whole thing, could recognize that look even if Booth was clueless. "I'm Erica Timmerman. You're in physics with me, aren't you? With Dr. Hawthorne?"

"Yea. Riley Jordan."

Her smile grew, if that were possible. "Nice to meet you. And thanks again. If you hadn't come along and saved me when you did…"

"Someone else would have," Booth broke in. He glanced at the other guys, who were still standing around. One came forward.

"Hey, nice moves. None of us really had the balls to stand up to Jake." He held out his hand. "Brad Runyan. You a…non-traditional student then?" he asked, taking in the fact that Booth was older than any of them.

Booth shook the hand. "Something like that. What's Jake's last name?"

"Schrader. He's kind of a jerk, but hey, teammates gotta stick together I guess."

"Football?"

"Basketball. Hey, a bunch of us are going out to the bar down the street tonight. You wanna come? You can bring your girl." He gestured at Brennan. Erica's face turned pink at his words.

"Oh, we're not…" Booth trailed off, glancing at Brennan. He considered the offer. This was a good way to assimilate, get in good with the basketball team. And it sounded a hell of a lot better than spending the evening with his nose in various textbooks. "Sounds good. I'll be there."

Brad nodded. "Excellent. Catch you later." He turned and headed into the Union, followed by Erica and the rest of the team.

"That girl likes you," Brennan commented as they continued their walk.

"She's just grateful Bones."

"I saw that look on her face Booth, and she blushed when Brad made the assumption that we were involved."

"You think too much. She could be in trouble. I'll talk to her tonight at the bar and see if I can get anything out of her regarding Jake." He stopped in front of his dorm building. "This is me. I'll see you in Biology."

"Booth, wait." He turned back to her. "You're not bitter about me just showing up, are you? I really think I could help."

"I know that. It's ok. I just…worry about you being in danger."

"Well, don't."

"Are you going to come?"

"Where?"

"To the bar tonight. You could observe and see if you notice anything."

"I should do the reading. Just because I'm not here for the purpose of higher education doesn't mean I should neglect the assignments."

"You just said you wanted to help."

"I'll think about it. Perhaps Sam will come with me. College bars aren't…"

"Your thing?" he finished her sentence.

"Precisely." She gave him a little smile and a wave and headed across the quad to her own building.

Booth sighed and went up to the second floor stopping in front of room 217. There was a strange smell emanating from under the door. Booth turned his key in the lock, and his mouth dropped open in shock.

There was a boy sitting on one of the beds, a bong in front of him, and several small and illegal plants adorned the windowsill. Great. He wasn't supposed to have a roommate.

"Hey man or should I say roomie!" the guy said. "I'm Chuck." He took a hit from the bong and coughed. Well, that explained the smell. And he couldn't make any arrests or even threaten; his cover would be blown on the first day. Assimilate, he reminded himself. It was that one word that kept him from calling the cops on Chuck. God, he hated that word.

"Hey, you're not gonna narc on me are you man? You're cool, right?" Chuck asked, as though sensing his inner dilemma. He ran a hand through dirty, scruffy hair and pleaded with Booth with red rimmed green eyes.

Booth sighed and nodded, trying not to breathe in too deep. He flopped on the bed and opened his physics textbook. It may as well have been written in Mandarin Chinese. How was he ever going to pass this class?

A/N: I hope everyone has a good week! I also hope you liked this chapter. I apologize if things are still a bit slow. I type what comes to mind. Thanks for reading!!