Chapter 35
Monday
10:11 AM
Brennan exited the elevator and headed straight for Booth's office. She had never expected to get anything out of talking to Sweets. In actuality, she thought talking to him would just aggravate her. But, he had helped her. He had helped her see that she couldn't hide anymore.
Brennan stopped just outside of Booth's office door. He was sitting at his computer, clicking away with his mouse. She could tell by the look on his face that he was busy. He always got a crease in his forehead when he was concentrating on something and Brennan could definitely see the crease. She thought about leaving so that he could get his work done, but she realized she didn't have anywhere else to go. Her car was still at the Jeffersonian. In essence, she was Booth's hostage. She knocked quietly on the door before walking into Booth's office.
"Hey," Booth said, standing up. The first thing he did was look at her face to see if she had been crying. Thankfully, she hadn't. Booth wondered if Sweets had gotten anywhere with her. Brennan wasn't the easiest person to get to open up.
"Hi." Brennan walked to one of the chairs in front of his desk and sat down. Booth couldn't help but notice the slight frown on her face as she sat. He forgot just how much pain she was probably in.
"How did it go with Sweets?"
Brennan thought about how to approach the subject. After years of building up walls and pushing Booth away, it was going to be difficult for her open up.
"He didn't sign the paper," she answered.
"What paper?" Booth asked, before remembering the lie he had told her. "Oh, right. Well, I'm sure he just forgot. Besides, you can't go back to work yet anyway."
"According to you."
"And Dr. London." Booth sat back down. He tried to read her face. Besides the fact that he knew she hadn't been crying, he tried to see what she was thinking. The problem was, she was incredibly good at masking her feelings. "So…did you and Sweets…talk?"
"Yes."
"Good. That's good. Right?"
"I think so."
"Good. That's good."
"You said that already."
"Oh." He paused, not sure what to say. "You know, Bones, you can always…talk to me."
"I know. I…wanted to talk to you about that. I wanted to…ask you if we could…if you would…"
Brennan was cut off by a knock at the door. Booth looked up at whoever knocked while Brennan looked down at the floor. She had finally gained the courage to ask Booth for help and she was interrupted.
"Casey," Booth said.
Casey was standing in the doorway with a file folder in her hand. She looked at Booth who did not look too happy. Her eyes traveled to the chair that Brennan was sitting in and she realized her mistake. She obviously interrupted something. Suddenly she felt incredibly guilty.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'll come back later."
"Ah…no, that's ok," Booth said. "Come on in."
Brennan couldn't help but feel rejected as Casey walked in. Booth had chosen her over the important thing that Brennan needed to say.
Casey walked in slowly, feeling incredibly out of place. She could feel the tension in the room. She walked over to the chair next to Brennan and looked at her. She recognized Brennan, but the woman she saw before her looked incredibly different than the woman she had seen tied up in the basement of the mall.
Booth noticed the look that Brennan gave Casey. It was as if Brennan were sizing her up. The tension was growing thicker. Booth knew he had to do something.
"Casey, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan," Booth introduced. "Bones, this is Agent Casey Temple."
"Dr. Brennan," Casey said. "It's so nice to finally meet you."
Casey held out her right hand. Brennan raised her right hand and put it in Casey's. Casey noticed her hesitation and didn't shake her hand too tightly. She knew she was still recovering from her trauma.
"Booth said you aided in locating me. I guess I owe you a thank you."
"I was just part of the team, Dr. Brennan. Despite my protests, Agent Booth here really led the investigation." She smiled at Booth, but he didn't smile back. He glanced over at Brennan, seeing the look of disdain on her face.
"That's because Booth is the best," Brennan stated.
Booth couldn't help but be proud that Brennan had complimented him. Compliments from her were incredibly rare.
"Yes, he is," Casey agreed. "And your team at the Jeffersonian...they're incredible."
"They are each at the tops of their fields," Brennan said. "I don't accept anything less."
"Of course you don't. What makes them incredible is not that they're at the tops of their fields, Dr. Brennan. They are also incredibly loyal to you. You're very lucky."
"Yes, I am."
Brennan was being short with her and Booth knew it.
"What's that?" Booth asked Casey, pointing to the file she was holding. He definitely needed to change the subject before a cat fight started in his office.
"Oh…I came to tell you that we identified our victim."
Casey handed him the file.
"Who was he?"
"A Mr. Tony Rossi. Angela was able to create a reconstruction and we finally got a hit in the missing persons database."
"What took so long?" Brennan asked accusingly. "You've had the body since Wednesday."
"The body has been in the woods for fifty-five years, Dr. Brennan," Casey explained. "We only have the last fifty years of missing persons in our computer database. I had to have my people going through the missing persons files by hand."
"What do we know about him?" Booth questioned. He opened the file Casey had given him and began skimming it.
"His wife reported him missing in 1954. He went to work one day and just didn't come back. The investigating officers never could prove foul play without a body. His daughter was only four when he went missing. She's on her way in right now. She should be here within the hour. I could…meet with her alone if you'd like."
"I can help," Brennan offered.
"No," Booth replied. "You're not working."
"But I feel…" She was going to say 'fine,' but then she remembered what he had said in the elevator if she said she was feeling fine. She didn't want him to shoot something. "I feel good enough to work."
"No," Booth responded.
"I'll…call you when the victim's daughter gets here," Casey said, realizing that a fight was most likely about to ensue.
"Thanks Casey."
"It was very nice to meet you, Dr. Brennan."
Casey stood there, waiting for any type of response. When she didn't get one, she simply nodded at Booth and walked out of his office.
"You could have said it was nice to meet her, too, Bones," Booth said once Casey was gone.
"But it wasn't nice to meet her."
"Bones, she helped save your life."
"You could have saved my life without her."
"Why don't you like her? You don't even know her."
Brennan sighed. "Can I interrogate the victim's daughter with you?" She asked in a child-like voice.
"We're not interrogating her, Bones. She was four when her father disappeared. I highly doubt she's our murderer. We're just going to talk to her."
"Well, can I talk to her with you?"
He shook his head. "No, Bones."
"Why? Because now you have Casey as your partner instead?"
"This has nothing to do with Casey."
"She's very pretty," Brennan commented.
"What?"
"Casey. She's very pretty. I'm sure you noticed."
"I…yeah, she's pretty. So what?"
"She's very much your type."
"Are you trying to start an argument, Bones?"
"I…" Her intention had not been to argue with him. Her intention had been quite the opposite. "I want to go home. If you won't let me work, I want to go home."
"Alright. I'll take you home."
"That's not necessary." She stood up. "I'll simply get a ride to the Jeffersonian. My car is there anyway."
"You shouldn't be driving, Bones. You know that."
"There is absolutely no reason why I can't drive."
"The medication you're on for one. The fact that your wrists hurt if you so much as move in the wrong direction."
"I can drive home," she stated.
She headed for the door, but Booth was faster. He pushed back in his chair, stood up, and was in front of her before she even knew what happened. When she moved to the side to walk past him, he stepped in front of her, blocking her.
"Let me by," she insisted.
"No." Booth put his hand on her hip, stopping her. He knew in her state, there was no way she would be able to overpower him. It was probably the one time he knew she couldn't win physically.
"What did you want to ask me?"
"What?"
"When you first came in here, you said that you wanted to ask me something. What did you want to ask me?" Her eyes were focused on the ground. "Bones?"
She looked him in the eye. "Stay with me," she whispered.
"What?"
"Stay with me. Tonight. Stay with me tonight. I can't…I don't want to be alone."
"Oh, Bones…"
He pulled her against his chest gently. She tucked her head under his chin and allowed him to hug her. It felt good being in his arms. She felt his hands rubbing her back soothingly. She closed her eyes momentarily, taking in the peaceful moment. Then she realized that he hadn't answered her question. He hadn't agreed to stay with her. Instead he hugged her as if he were avoiding the question. Brennan's eyes jerked open as she realized that she could have made the biggest mistake of her life. She pulled away from him. He looked surprised.
"Bones?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
She went to walk away. He instinctively grabbed her arm, but immediately regretted it as he heard a cry escape her lips. He immediately let her go.
"God, Bones, I'm sorry."
"Forget it," she said. She walked out into the hallway, heading straight for the elevators. He immediately followed her.
"Don't walk away," he pleaded.
"Don't follow me."
"What he hell, Bones?"
She whipped around and glared at him. She was using her anger to keep her tears away.
"Excuse me?"
"One minute you're fine and the next minute you're pushing me away and practically running away from me. What gives?"
She lowered her voice so that the people walking around them couldn't hear. "I am not running away. I asked you to stay with me, and you said nothing so I am simply going home."
"Of course I'll stay with you."
She shook her head, confused. She wondered if she missed something. Had he agreed and she didn't notice?
"But you didn't…you didn't say you would. You just…hugged me."
"I kind of assumed that the hug meant I was staying."
"Oh."
"I'm sorry, Bones. I should know not to assume anything when it comes to you and social cues."
"Now you're making fun of me."
"No I'm not. Look, let's just go. Let's get out of here. I'll take you home and we can…"
"Do another puzzle?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with laughter.
"If that's what you want to do, Bones, then yeah, we can do another puzzle."
"You have to meet with the victim's daughter."
"I'll have Casey do it."
"No. This is your case. You should do it."
"Bones…"
"I'll have Angela pick me up and take me home. I wanted to work on my book anyway. And then later, after you're done, you can come over and bring Italian since we didn't quite get the chance to eat it last time, and then we can…talk."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm sure. Go help that family find peace, Booth."
He nodded. "I will."
"Then I'll see you later?"
"Absolutely."
Brennan smiled and continued walking towards the elevator. Booth stood still, watching her go.
"Bones," he called out before she turned the corner.
She turned back around. "Yeah?"
"If I call Angela and she tells me you drove home, I'll make sure you don't go to work for ten weeks."
"You can't do that."
"Yes I can. I'll just tell the FBI that you're not mentally competent to return to work."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me," he said, smirking.
"You're not being very nice, Booth."
"I'll see you tonight, Bones."
Booth saw her roll her eyes as she turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
Author's Note: There's a lot more Brennan and Booth to come so stay tuned!
