(Season 10)
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Stark had been blunt and to the point which Brennan appreciated. Too many times she found that people beat around the proverbial bush and refused to come to the point in a timely fashion which she found very annoying. Deputy Director Stark had confronted Brennan in the Hoover parking garage and spoke clearly and precisely. He wanted Booth to accept James Aubrey as his partner and he wanted it done quickly. The man had approached Booth and told him that it was necessary, but Stark had soon realized that Booth was ignoring him, disregarding the possible repercussions. Booth was playing a game he couldn't win and Stark wanted Brennan to know that. He was counting on her influence with her husband to win the day for them all.
She knew that Aubrey was willing to become Booth's partner, but so far he had been unable to get Booth to consider it. Finally Brennan knew that she would have to intervene or her husband was going to end up sitting behind his desk for the rest of his career, a fate that would likely destroy Booth's love of his job. She knew her husband needed purpose and he needed to do his job unimpeded. He was a fine investigator and to force him behind a desk would leave him doomed to misery and she knew that wasn't hyperbole, but fact. Brennan understood that even if Booth didn't.
Brennan had tried to prod Booth into accepting a partner other than her, but she was failing and she was growing frustrated with the situation. Time was running out and finally she felt she had no choice but to actively insist that Booth take on Aubrey as a partner. She had the proof that would allow Booth to go after Alan Spaziano as the murderer of Hutch Whitehouse and she would use that to force a change. Arriving at the Hoover she had tracked down Aubrey in the hallway just outside the break room and had gone over the proof he would need to confront Spaziano.
"Look, Dr. Brennan, Booth isn't going to allow me in the interrogation room and you know that." Aubrey had listened carefully to the scientific proof they needed, but he knew she was wasting her time. "He's going to insist that you go in with him."
"And normally I would at this phase of the investigation, but you need to be presented as an able partner to Booth in such a way that he won't be able to turn down your help." Brennan sighed. "I have given you all the information you need to help close the case. When we go down to the interrogation room, I will refuse to accompany Booth into the room and I will force him to use you. This will be your opportunity to show Booth what an asset you are . . . You have already done that as far as I am concerned, but Booth is being stubborn . . . well, it is actually more than that. It is actually his lack of trust in everyone here at the Hoover that is impeding his acceptance of you as his partner, but if you are successful in the interrogation room, it will make Booth see you in a new light. I hope I am being clear. This will most likely be your last opportunity to impress him, so you cannot fail."
Filled with a little angst, Aubrey heard Brennan out and knew she was right. The Deputy Director had let him know he wanted Booth to accept Aubrey as a partner soon or that opportunity would be lost. "Wow, no pressure."
He had spoken the words softly, but Brennan had heard them. "Everyone is under pressure in this situation, Agent Aubrey. Your career as well as Booth's career are in the balance right now and I know you know that. The Deputy Director confronted me in the parking garage about this situation and he was quite serious. Booth must accept you as his partner and very soon."
A small headache building up between his eyes, Aubrey grimly nodded his head. "Let's do this thing."
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Brennan knew her husband well. She had confronted him outside the interrogation room and had forced the issue about Aubrey and his partnership. "You can trust him, Booth. I know a good man when I see one. I picked you didn't I? I'll meet you at home." Her leaving the Hoover was part of her plan. She had told her husband that she had explained everything to Aubrey and if he wanted to close his case then he would have to relent and use the younger agent. She had removed herself from his proximity and she knew that would force Booth to accept the situation and it had. Her husband might be stubborn to the point of exasperation, but he could bend when he had too.
The one thing that still worried her was his refusal to go to church. She knew that Booth was still distrustful and that distrust had grown to include his faith. Just because she had forced Booth to accept Aubrey as his new partner didn't mean a complete victory. Brennan knew her husband well enough to understand that this was going to be a long campaign. He had been cruelly betrayed and that betrayal had almost destroyed him and everything he valued in the world. Booth wasn't going to change back to his old self with the snap of her fingers. He was going to fight her at every turn, but she was confident that over time, his distrust would lessen and he might regain his faith. At this point she didn't think the old Booth would ever return completely, but she felt that she could accept that. She had no choice. She loved him and she knew he loved her. That hadn't changed.
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Sunday arrived and Brennan had hoped that Booth would finally go to church, but he had gone for a run instead, returned to the house to shower, changed clothes and made breakfast. Sad that Booth wasn't in church where he needed to be, Brennan joined her husband and daughter in the kitchen for a late breakfast. "I thought you'd be in church, Booth. It's still not too late. You could go to the latter mass."
His back toward Brennan, Booth flipped a few pancakes onto a plate and with his emotions under control, he turned and handed her the plate. "Nah, I'm good." He had been unable to go to services ever since he had been attacked in his home and almost killed. He could have overcome that if he had been backed up by the FBI and the Justice Department, but they had believed the worst in him and thrown him in to prison. The first few weeks in prison, he had prayed every day for help. He had asked for divine intervention, but nothing had happened. In the past his prayers had been answered when he really needed them to be and he had assumed that they would be this time too. Once he was released into the general prison population, the abuse started at the hands of the inmates and the guards. It had grown steadily worse and more than once he had used the skills he had learned as a Ranger to save his own life. As his plight worsened he had realized that his prayers were going to be ignored. Unlike his rescue by his grandfather as a child and his fellow Rangers when he had been captured and made a prisoner of war, his fate seemed to be sealed and he was on his own. His faith was shattered and he wasn't sure he would ever get it back. He had done nothing wrong and yet he had been betrayed by those he had thought he could trust. "I'm tired, Bones. I'm just going to stay home, watch some games on TV, maybe read with Christine . . . I have those new books that I bought for her . . . you understand right?"
"Yes, I understand." Brennan recognized the excuses for what they were, but she couldn't very well call him a liar. "Perhaps you could go to mass tonight after you've rested."
He knew that Brennan was worried about the changes in his life, but those changes weren't his fault and he tried to be as patient as he could be. After all these changes in him weren't her fault either. "Nah, I'm good. I might go to bed early tonight."
Staring at the plate of pancakes, Brennan found her appetite to have disappeared, but she knew she would have to eat or Booth would become worried. Some parts of him might have changed, but that part of him hadn't. He was still protective of her and worried when she didn't eat. "Alright. These look delicious."
"Yeah, I bet you missed my pancakes while I was gone." Booth almost choked on the last word, but again, his imprisonment wasn't his wife's fault. She had actually saved him by getting him out of prison and he knew he probably owed her his life. "Um, eat up. How about some syrup?" He poured a little of the maple syrup on her pancakes before she could respond. "Good . . . right?"
She took a small bite and forced herself to smile. "Yes, delicious, thank you."
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