Hey guys - this is the final of the new five new chapters I had done, so unless I get a kick on tonight, the next chapter after this one will be on in the next few days or so.
Two quick things:
Firstly, thank you to my great supporters, you are amazing! I write for all of those who want to hear! Secondly, the stuff up with the person who copied my chapter, has deleted their story. DW - If you had read both, and wondered why it was the same, never fear: you weren't going crazy. It has been sorted out.
M'kay - enjoy guys!
Xx G
16. Turning Point
"Hoi," Hodgins greeted cheerily from the entrance to Brennan's office. "How was your night?"
"Good," Brennan replied slowly, putting down her things by her desk. "Angela must have told you, right?"
"What? Oh, yeah. She had a great time...sad that she missed out on the gelato, but she said she'd live."
Gelato. What Brennan had had last night instead of gelato. Her face flushed fully in colour, and her stomach flipped nervously.
"Hey man," Booth's cheery voice sounded from behind Hodgins, and Brennan heard a slap on the back.
Hodgins looked at the two, and dismissed himself almost immediately.
"I missed you," Booth said, sauntering over to Brennan quickly.
She put out a restraining hand. "I-it's been an hour and a half. What took you so long?"
"Had...stuff to do. I had to talk to Cam, too." He realised that she almost sounded nervous. "What's the matter, Bones?"
"N-nothing," she stammered, trying to keep her eyes from locking with his.
"Do you regret kissing me?" Booth asked, a little offensively.
"No!" she amended quickly. "I do not. It was extremely invigorating. You are a great kisser...it's just that-"
"Just that 'what'?"
"I don't want things to get...complicated. I want to keep things neutral, just until the case is over."
"Oh."
"Don't get me wrong," she assured him lowly, eyes glowing with desire. "I really do wish that I had the capability to lose myself in someone, without suffering consequences and dilemmas." She reached into her pocket, and retrieved his phone, which he had left that morning. "I just want to be sure that I won't destroy this."
He took the phone that she held. "Consequences?" he denounced.
She rolled her shoulders back, and slumped her posture. "You and I have been friends for nearly seven years. There has always been the romantic, or physical potential there, had we both been courageous enough to explore it. Given that we have such a strong emotional bond, I fear that by entering a romantic relationship with you, I may lose sight of what really matters." She dropped her gaze to the floor, and her hair shielded her face. "I am afraid that, if this goes ill between us, that I will lose you as a friend, as well as a soul mate."
He softened compassionately, and moved his hold from the phone connecting their hands, to her arm. Turning it over, he traced the veins that pulsed there, and brought her wrist up to his mouth, planting a soft kiss to its smooth skin.
"You'll never lose me," he whispered, an undeniably finality to his voice. "What we have been through, proves that."
"I know," she breathed, closing her eyes and sighing.
"I don't believe that we can't work this out," Booth said sincerely, tucking her soft brown hair behind her ears.
She opened her eyes, and locked them with his. He took her chin between his thumb and index finger.
Booth's phone vibrated in her hands. She passed it to him.
"We're going to get Mary Rushmore in for further interrogating," Booth informed Brennan, after glancing at the text message. "She claims that she is going to come without a lawyer."
"Do you want me to come in with you?" his partner asked hopefully, although there was an ounce of doubt guarding her question. She remembered her previous meeting with the sassy blonde very clearly.
"Of course. I know you two don't exactly see eye to eye, but you, my dear, are beautiful at shutting down her lies." Booth grinned proudly.
Brennan bloomed at his praise.
"When do you want to go?" she asked, folding an arm across her torso.
"Now? She's in custody at the FBI office."
"Okay. I have the case files, if you want me to bring them along."
"Is that even a question?"
"No, I just wanted to make it sound like I am going to be of use to you."
He chuckled lightly. "Of course you are, Bones. Silly Bones."
-~B&B~-
"Never met them in my life," Mary said quickly, looking over her shoulder.
Brennan glared down on the case file, and ground her molars together in attempt to conceal a retort.
Of course you didn't know any of these men, Mary, she thought bitterly, you just married them for their money and never spared them a second thought once they were dealt with. She could feel Booth flexing his forearm beside her, and she knew that he was fighting the urge to pounce.
He was a great cop, she gave him that, but when it came to something personal, there was no one that could stand in his way. For both of them now, this case was personal, and she feared that Andrew Hacker might take them off it for unprofessionalism.
"Two daughters, Mary," Booth said suddenly, producing a family photograph of the trio. "Charlotte, Elizabeth and Nicholas; two daughters, and their father. You're telling me that you never met them?"
Mary nodded emotionlessly, and then flickered a glance at her nails.
Again, Booth produced a document. Slammed it down on the table.
It was a marriage certificate.
Booth opened his file folder, and brought out another couple of sheets.
Bank statements. Letters. Signatures. Mary's own birth certificate.
"We can prove just about anything, Mary. You were married. Three times. Your signatures on bank statements and letters match the ones on your marriage certificates."
Mary crossed her arms. "Waddaya want from me?" she huffed.
"Your cooperation."
"Nuh-uh. Doesn't work that way. I came here without a lawyer, even though I said I would get one – that is my extension of cooperation to you."
"Alright, fine. I'll tell you how this is going to work then." Booth stood, put his hands on his hips, and began to circle the table. "You're probably going to request a lawyer now, which we are going to have to graciously accept...But then it gets toucher," he continued, keeping an even tone. "There will be all sorts of legal obstacles, and you're going to believe that you're safe behind your unbeatable wall of legal defences; that your brother is behind you. That you're invincible. Well, you see, that's why we're here-" he broke off to give Brennan a supportive smile, "-we're going to make sure, that if you have done anything...we will find out. Not one little stone is going to be left unturned, do you understand?"
Mary nodded tightly. "Understood. Now, considering you can't question me without my attorney or lawyer, I'd like to be dismissed."
Booth looked at Brennan. She met his eyes with a quick flicker.
"You will be met by Agent Heath, who will explain to you some terms. Mrs Rushmore, you are now a suspect in a federal investigation – there will be some limitations to your everyday lifestyle. I will see to it that Heath tells you everything." Booth opened the door for Brennan, and motioned with his hand for her to leave.
Gathering her things, she gratefully departed with him.
-~B&B~-
"Look, I am generally not disturbed by much, but that woman-" Brennan began, not long after their pear-shaped interrogation.
They were in the coffee room, trying to perk their dampened confidence.
"I know, Bones," Booth interrupted her, pulling a disposable coffee cup from the stack. "She gave me the creeps. No shotty drug dealers, no loonies, have ever really done that to me. Disgusted me, maybe. But that woman was just cold."
"Like the Gravedigger?" Brennan suggested, taking a cup also.
Booth grimaced. "Well, yes and no. Not really the same thing, Bones..."
"Why not?" she contradicted. "The Gravedigger murdered, covered it up and lied about it. Mary Rushmore is doing just that."
"Yeah. But the Gravedigger planned her murders-"
"So did Mary-"
"Mary Rushmore killed for money. She married, killed for money, and then gave it to her brother."
"You were the one that said that Blake Wineries was doing badly," Brennan pointed out swiftly, trying to avoid being interrupted again, "so perhaps she kept the money for herself. Just like the Gravedigger would have, had she ever succeeded in collecting the ransom."
"It's not the same, Bones," Booth snapped, and thrashed his cup to the ground.
She jumped, but didn't retreat. She held her ground. Bit her bottom lip.
"Geez, Bones." He shook his head dejectedly. "I'm sorry. I'm angry, and I have no right to let it out on you. You're just trying to make sense of this as much as I am." He bent and picked up the cup, tossing it in the bin. "I don't feel like a coffee," he then said, running a hand through his hair. "Will you join me for lunch?"
Brennan took a deep breath. "At the diner?"
"Founding Fathers. I feel like I need to have a proper meal. That okay? Or are you too busy?"
"My schedule is free, if I want it to be."
"So I take that as a yes?"
She squeezed his arm supportively, giving him her answer. A hint of a smile wavered across his face.
-~B&B~-
For a typical working day, the Founding Fathers was quiet for its usually busy Wednesdays, and despite having an empty restaurant, the two decided on a booth tucked away around the corner. After ordering meals, the two leant back into their own seats, and before Brennan could raise a topic, Booth covered one of her exposed, folded hands with his.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, catching her nervous eyes.
"I know," she replied instantly, thinking that he meant to express regret for their most recent banter.
"Not just for going off at you before...but for everything. You know that, don't you?"
"Know what?" she asked him blankly.
He smirked softly at her old 'clueless' habit, and tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.
"You know how sorry I am for everything," he said gently, "for letting you down."
"I know. But you understand the gravity of the situation."
"And what is that?" He furrowed a brow.
"That I need time. You know, that normally I would take you back in the blink of an eye...but I can't help this feeling of fear. I feel like I might die before I will ever trust anyone so fully again. Though, I do understand that the fault is not all your own. I know that I cannot blame you for falling in love with someone, and then returning to me, with her, and finding that I expected everything to slot into place as it had once been."
Booth remained silent, knowing that she needed to talk. He had done enough interrupting for one day.
"I just only wish that I had examined the workings of my heart and had been willing to push my boundaries before I lost it all," she concluded, hanging her head. "For my part in ruining everything between us, I am sorry. Make today for apologies. Tomorrow will be a new day."
"As much as I might think it would ease tension by saying my relationship with Hannah was a mistake...I don't think it was, really," he told her, wary of the territory he was stepping into. "I know that if I had just waited, then perhaps I could have had a relationship with you, but you and I both know that that wouldn't have happened for a while, and not without encouragement, either. I mean, it took us six years to admit feelings, and that was courtesy to a nudge – or shove, should I say – from a pesky twelve-year-old psychologist."
She broke into a smile at his explanation.
"You know that I love you," he said in thick, burning voice. "You know where I stand. And I know that, when you're ready, you will know too."
She nodded respectfully, accepting his vow of emotions.
"What do you want for lunch?" she then asked, pulling out a menu.
"Meatloaf, without the hardboiled eggs."
Again, she beamed. "What's ours, is ours," she murmured fondly, remembering. "I'll have the garden salad."
Booth waved the waiter over. "The meatloaf, without the hard-boiled egg, and a garden salad, please," he told him. "Two glasses of Barossa Valley white, too, thank you."
The waiter nodded, having jotted the orders, and walked away.
"Our wine," Brennan hummed, taking a table napkin and toying with it, to conceal her giddy expression.
"It is the best," he told her, taking a napkin as well.
"I'm glad my partner has such good taste," she conceded, "I should think that otherwise, I wouldn't survive."
"Are you going all Jane Austen on me, now?"
"Jane Austen, who?"
Booth dropped his jaw in mock horror. "Even I know Jane Austen."
"I'm just joking, Booth," she laughed. "I think I have read every novel of hers that was ever printed."
"Look at you," he said fondly, eyes glowing. "Playing cheek with me."
"Is it too farfetched?"
"No, it's just perfect."
He reached out an brushed the length of her face, settling at the base of her throat.
She stared down at his hand wondrously, heart fluttering, and a flush spreading from her chest to rouge cheeks. Her chest rose heavily with her intakes of breath, and he seemed to enjoy the feel of her powerful lungs withdrawing air, beneath his hand.
"Your wine, sir?" A deep voice said, breaking their moment.
They drew apart, and the waiter placed their beverages by their hands.
"Does this count as a date?" she asked jovially, smiling behind the rim of her glass.
"Well, I wouldn't call it a date. This is you and I, having lunch." Booth took a sip of his wine.
"Not just any lunch." She seemed to hold great significance for the moment.
"No, not just any lunch," he agreed, taking her hand in his. "This is a turning point." He kissed her hand warmly.
"Turning point," she repeated in a murmur.
"Yes."
They waited in comfortable silence, with the occasional comment on small subjects that didn't need to be breached any further.
"Sir? Your meatloaf, without the hard-boiled egg?" Their waiter told them quarter of an hour later, setting down his meal.
"Yes, thank you." He accepted the plate.
Brennan smiled so widely, that Booth had to laugh.
"No human eye-ball?" Brennan joked, poking him.
"No eye-ball, Bones."
She laughed heartily and brought the wine glass to her lips.
The moment felt perfect.
And she had a great suspicion, that there would be many more to come.
There you go guys - remember, I write for you, my readers, so if you have any ideas as to how you guys would like it to go, let me know!
Just in case I may have confused you though, Booth and Brennan are not together yet. Cringe. I know. Sorry, but there is a bit more grovelling on Booth's part, before we can allow that to happen. Also, it has probably only been about a month since Booth broke up with Hannah.
Until next time (which is hopefully, very soon: get writing Miss G!)
Xx G