Father Mears stopped to peek into the second grade classroom on his way to the chapel. "Did things go well yesterday, Sister? I assume you and Dr. Brennan worked together successfully."

"We had a nice time yesterday, Father." Mary Agnes flashed a broad smile at the priest. "It seems that she and Christine have discussed some of the Old Testament stories at great length, with Dr. Brennan pointing out all of the scientific flaws in the stories." The nun chuckled as she pulled some boxes of crayons from a shelf. "Christine was quite sure Jonah couldn't live the stomach of a large fish because the fish's digestive juices would've killed him, and I can see her point, especially when the Bible recounts how the fish vomited Jonah up on dry land."

"You know, I've often wondered about that myself.", Father Mears laughed as he helped his young protege' place the boxes of crayons on the desks. "It will be interesting to see what they say about today's lesson. The story of David and Goliath is usually a crowd pleaser."

"Aye, it will be interesting, won't it? I'm sure the children will keep me on my toes." Mary Agnes turned and smiled as she heard her students arriving. "Ah, here we are...good morning, my dears…"

Oooooooooo

The children came rushing noisily into the classroom, having enjoyed a rousing series of games during their playtime. Brennan had shown the class how to make rudimentary slingshots with rubber bands and a pair of popsicle sticks taped together, and the children had used miniature marshmallows as ammunition, pelting each other and their teachers with what seemed to be thousands of the sweet treats, not to mention how many marshmallows had been eaten, both before and after they'd been launched from the slingshots.

Slightly tired and flushed with the summer heat, Sister Mary Agnes perched on her chair, fanning herself with her booklet as the children crowded around her on the floor. "That was fun, wasn't it? Did you remember to tell Dr. Brennan thank you?"

The children turned to the back of the room where Brennan was sitting. "Thank you, Dr. Brennan!", they said in unison.

"Very good." The nun took a sip of water before she began the lesson. "Alright, now...who can tell me what our theme was today? Fiona?"

Scratching her freckled nose, Fiona thought for a few seconds. "God calls us to be brave?"

"That's correct! Very good. Now, who remembers the names of the 2 main people in the story? Yes, Aaron…"

Aaron elbowed Tommy in the ribs before he answered. "David and Goliath. David was the good guy, and Goliath was bad."

"Really...what did Goliath do that was so bad?" Mary Agnes watched her students think through the question. "How would you describe it? Lucy?"

"I think Goliath was a big bully!", Lucy blurted out angrily. "He was mean, and he said a lot of bad things about people and about God, too."

"Well, I guess that about covers it." Grinning at the little girl, the young nun asked another question. "What did David do about it?"

"He hit Goliath with a rock right between the eyes!" Tommy made a big show of falling down as he imagined Goliath had done. "That must've been hard, since Goliath was so big."

"That's right, Sister!" Annie chimed in. "Goliath was a giant. He was like a million feet tall!"

"I don't think he was quite that tall, Annie." Sister Mary Agnes and Dr. Brennan exchanged amused smiles. "What do you think, Dr. Brennan? Have there ever been any real giants in history?"

"I certainly think that Goliath was quite a bit taller than the average Hebrew man, but I'm not sure he was a true giant." Brennan tilted her head to one side as she thought about the question. "Perhaps he was as tall as a professional basketball player, like LeBron James or someone like that. If he was over seven feet tall, he would certainly look like a giant compared to David, but I feel sure he wasn't a million feet tall."

"So, boys and girls...David was a boy, not much older than you, and he was upset about the way that Goliath was talking about the Lord. He went out on the field of battle, and he faced down a man much larger than himself with just a slingshot and some rocks. I'd say David was very brave, wouldn't you?" The wide eyed children all nodded, obviously very impressed with the story. "And that leads us to the theme for today. God calls us to be brave. Now, we may never have to face a giant, but sometimes at school, we have to stand up for what's right. Like Lucy said, sometimes people can be mean and act like bullies, and we have to ask them to stop being mean. That can be really scary, but we can ask God to help us be brave."

Christine raised her hand. "One time at school, this boy named Lucas was teasing my friend Emma, and I helped her by telling the teacher about it in private. Was I being brave?"

"Of course you were, Christine. Any time you take a stand to help someone, you're being brave." Mary Agnes smiled at the little girl. "And I'd say you were a good friend, too."

"But I don't understand." Christine's brow furrowed as she thought about the story. "One of the Ten Commandments is 'don't kill someone'. How come it was okay for David to kill Goliath?"

Sending up a quick emergency prayer for assistance, Mary Agnes hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "It's a hard thing, my dear. Sometimes, when we are put in the position of defending our country, or defending those who can't defend themselves, we have to use force against someone, and sometimes, when we have to do that, the other person dies. That makes God very sad, but He understands that bad things happen in those situations, and when we ask for His forgiveness, he extends it to us." Noticing that Brennan was listening closely, the nun chose her words carefully. "Fiona's mother is a police officer, and your father solves crimes for the FBI, Christine. Lucy's father is overseas being a soldier in Afghanistan. We pray for them everyday, hoping that they won't be in a scary situation, but we know that if they are, they'll be brave, because they've asked God to help them. God calls all of us to be brave everyday in big things and in little things." Checking her watch, the teacher rose from her chair. "Alright, time for dismissal. I'll see you in the morning, children."

Brennan held Christine's hand as she stopped to speak to the younger woman. "I enjoyed working with you today, Sister."

"Thank you. I'm glad you thought of the slingshots. I'd say they were a big hit." Sister Mary Agnes smiled at her helper. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Ooooooooooo

Christine was in bed sound asleep when Booth brought Brennan a glass of wine. Sitting next to her on the sofa, he sipped his Scotch as he put his arm around her. "How was Bible school today?"

"I think Christine enjoyed it. The story was about David and Goliath, which is a classic underdog story. Of course, since David won, the Hebrews claimed that their god helped him win, when in actuality he was an expert with his slingshot, and Goliath was extremely overconfident, which led to his downfall."

"I see." Booth nodded quietly, having received more information than he'd bargained for. "I've always liked that story. Sometimes, when things look bad, there's always a chance for the little guy to come out on top, you know?"

"I suppose that makes sense." Brennan snuggled against her husband. "Christine asked Sister Mary Agnes an interesting question today."

"Of course she did. She's our kid, so she's exceptional." Booth grinned at his wife. "Takes after her dad…"

"In this case, I'd say that was true. She asked Sister Mary Agnes why it was acceptable for David to kill Goliath if the Commandments say that killing someone is a sin."

"Wow. That's deep." Booth ran his finger along the rim of his glass. "What did Sister say?"

"That sometimes we have to be brave and defend ourselves or someone else, and we might have to use force or kill someone, but your church believes your god will forgive you if you ask him to do so. That must be a great comfort to you, Booth."

"Yeah, it is. I mean, I know I've killed a lot of guys as a sniper and as part of my job at the FBI, but I know I can be forgiven by God if I ask, and at the end of the day, that makes me feel a lot better." He sighed softly. "It doesn't hurt to be reminded of that, though. So Christine really asked that? Amazing…"

"Yes, she did. I was quite proud of her for asking her teacher a difficult question instead of just accepting what someone has told her in the past. She's thinking critically about what she's learning, and that's good."

"C'mon, Bones...some things have to be accepted by faith…" Booth took another sip of his Scotch. "Sometimes you just have to go with what someone else says, especially when you're a little kid…"

"True, but I'm still glad she's thinking for herself. That sort of confidence will most likely prevent her from falling victim to peer pressure."

"I suppose." Booth grinned as he took Brennan's glass and set it on the table. "You know, another story I remember about David is the one about him spying on Bathsheba while she was taking a bath. You know what that makes me think of?"

Brennan giggled. "Spying on your wife while she's in the bathtub? Didn't David cause a lot of problems doing that? He wasn't actually married to Bathsheba when he first spied on her."

"Maybe he did get into trouble, but we're married, so it's okay if I spy on you for awhile...and then maybe I'll decide to join you. Let's go…" Booth pulled Brennan up from the couch. "You'd better go to bed early so you're ready for Bible School tomorrow."

Grinning as she slowly walked toward their bedroom, Brennan rolled her eyes at her husband. "I may go to bed early, but I doubt that I'll get to go to sleep early…"

"Excellent critical thinking skills there, Bones. C'mon...last one to the bathtub is a rotten egg…"