Never tried second person before…so the title might refer to me as much as the story!
She turns from you, biting her lip in anger or embarrassment, you can't be sure which even after working with her for so long. You know you've been pushing it a little with all the corrections--even Cam is starting to give you funny looks. But you can't help it. Just as you can't help but wonder what kind of childhood she had--by choice or otherwise--every time she looks puzzled at references she should know. Who doesn't know Mr. Ed, for example? And this last one--Christ, how could she, with all her black belts, not have at the very least heard of the Karate Kid? The movies came out long before her parents left!
All right, that deserves an apology, you decide--later. In private.
Unfortunately for you, Bones decides to bring it up in front of Sweets, instead of discussing it in the diner or over takeout or even in her office.
"So, Agent Booth, why do you feel the need to constantly correct Dr. Brennan?"
"It's not constantly," you protest.
"Well, it's beginning to feel like it," she says hotly and some part of you cringes. "I'm getting tired of it, Booth."
"Look, Bones, I'm--I'm just trying to help you join the rest of the world, here! I know how you hate to be embarrassed." That's it--spin it 'til it's practically VTOL.
She looks suspicious and Sweets doubtful, but they both accept it for now. Guess you squirmed enough to make them believe you. That, and the mumbled apology and promise to try not to do it as much. You only hope you can keep it.
You think about it later that night, cold beer in hand and ESPN in the background. Yeah, it's partly what you said in Sweets' office, about wanting to bring her into sync with the rest of the world. But that isn't all of it, not by a long shot.
There's pity for being so cut off from the rest of the world, yes, but that's not something you could actually say to her. She'd kill you for it. Probably knows exactly how to execute the death by a thousand cuts--learned while trekking through China and Tibet, no doubt.
And then there's the real reason, which you wouldn't admit even under torture… Every time she opens that pretty mouth and a stream of squintese falls out, you feel…inadequate somehow. You're not used to feeling inferior anymore. You were top of your class both in Ranger training and at Quantico. You have one of the highest close rates in the entire FBI. Women flirt with you and it's not because you're ugly. (Even if you rarely reciprocate these days.) Maybe not the highest GPA in college but it was respectable. And you were a good athlete until your shoulder gave out.
But when Bones talks sometimes, none of that seems to matter anymore. You know she doesn't mean it--at least not any more. When you first started working together, maybe. You aren't as smart as her, you know it. Nowhere near the education that she has--or any of the squints, for that matter. So you display your mastery and belittle hers in one of the few arenas you can, with your favorite proving ground the Jeffersonian itself. Selfish bastard that you are. Making the person closest to you unhappy just to pump your own ego a little more. Selfish doesn't begin to describe it, and you wonder about making amends. With Bones, your usual methods won't work; you're going to have to work at it. Well, you always did love a challenge.
