This has been kicking at me since they reran "The Verdict in the Story" this summer. I noticed the look on Brennan's face when Booth admitted she could have done it; not happy, or even pleased that her plan worked, but rather...pained.
Disclaimer in ch. 1.
It hurt more than she had expected, hearing Booth say she could have committed murder. Her father's attorney had dragged it out of him, pushing past all attestations to her character. She should have known Booth would still try to defend her. If only she could have warned him…but the rules of this game did not permit that.
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She shook her head and quietly rose to her feet an hour after the jury had filed out. A gentle hand on Russ's shoulder kept him in his seat. "I just need a few moments," she murmured just loud enough for him to hear. "I-I'm not going anywhere."
She collected her coat and went outside. She shivered, but not because of the wind. Rather the remembrance of the look on Booth's face. She now understood the expression about hearts being torn out all too well. It had almost killed him to say it, and she only hoped he could or would forgive her. She had no idea how anyone else had reacted; her eyes had been locked on his, willing him to say it, say the one thing that just might save her father. Even if it meant putting the blame on her.
She had taken his advice on putting the heart into overdrive and the brain in the backseat. But her brain could not be subordinate for long, and when the lawyer said they needed an alternative story, another bogeyman, the wheels had begun to turn.
When she called Booth and asked him to meet her, she knew she couldn't tell him exactly what she was thinking. But who else could she ask? Angela? No, for her best friend was being irrational and over-emotional. Not to mention Ange knew nothing about the legal system. Sweets? Oh, please. She didn't know any lawyer save Caroline Julian well enough, and since she was the prosecutor…well, that was a non-starter. Booth was the only person who could help her figure out this heart business as well as the intricacies of the law. Even when they were on opposite sides and he had absolutely no idea of what she was planning, what she was going to ask him to do. I still don't understand why I couldn't just leave it alone…He's a criminal, a murderer. And my father…who abandoned us. Frowning, she wondered that she could not truly abandon him in her turn. A year ago, she had sworn she had no loyalty to him. But somehow, once she reopened the door to Russ, it had become wide enough to let their father in as well. Whatever his past.
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She had no idea how long she had been outside, wrestling with these thoughts, when Booth came out. He said nothing, simply pulled her into his arms for a long moment. It felt so good, so right, that she was confused when he let go. But Angela was there and then her father came out, grinning like an idiot. And she hugged him, hugged her father, for the first time in years.
She smiled at Booth over her father's shoulder, trying to show him her gratitude. And there was something in his shadowed eyes that told her that at some level he understood she had not meant to be cruel to him.
