Author's Note: So we got a school day in and Booth is pretty smitten with the new girl. Obviously Angela is being the obsessed bestie, but I also like that Hodgins is taking her under his wing too and Lance is being the imprinted duckling.
Temperance walked into the group home and found a note on her door stating that the social worker wanted to see her. She walked to the first floor where the offices were and knocked on Dr. Goodman's door.
"Come in." His rich voice filled the air and she entered his office before gently closing the door. "Ah, Temperance. I wanted to check in on your first day of school." He smiled and she gave a tight lipped smile back. She was always wary of new social workers. Dr. Goodman seemed like a nice man, but she never knew whether to trust anyone in the system.
"Uh, it was good. The AP courses seem to be at a good level for my academic status, so I feel like I won't be bored." She responded and he nodded.
"How about friendships?" He asked and she wrung her hands.
"I have made a handful of connections." She responded not wanting to get her hopes up.
"Connections?" He asked.
"Well, I can be placed in a new facility at any time, Dr. Goodman, it's best to not get too close with anyone." She responded and he sighed.
"Temperance, it's good for you to make friends at your age. You're at an age where building relationships and having meaningful connections is healthy and will take you places in the long run." He stated and she fidgeted uncomfortably.
"But, sir, I could be moved." She muttered and he nodded.
"Yes, and if you make friends, they will want to keep in touch." He responded and she let out a deep breath.
"I suppose."
"So tell me about these connections." He replied, using her vernacular to help ease into the conversation.
"Well there are a couple of boys from my AP biology class, and some from my lunch hour, uhm, there's a girl in my English class, and a boy who is on my bus?" She responded. "Oh and then there's Booth." She added.
"Booth?" He asked. It was the only one that she gave a name to, which intrigued him.
"Yes, uhm his locker is next to mine so he introduced himself this morning and then he's kinda been all over the place ever since." She responded and he smiled.
"All over the place?"
"Well, it just seems like whenever I'm just walking to class, he's calling out my name, it's very strange. Like he's always behind me. He's in my lunch hour, and PE, and English class, but we don't sit by each other." She added quickly and Dr. Goodman tilted his head.
"Why not, it seems like this boy is interested in talking to you?"
"Well Angela is in my English class and wanted to sit by me and in lunch, Lance sat with me, plus Booth is a football player, so we don't have the same interests." She responded by shaking her head. He nodded, finally understanding her hesitation with this Booth boy.
"So, he's a bit of a jock?" He asked and she nodded.
"That's what the others said at lunch and Booth said I was hanging out with squints or geeks."
"Well that's not very kind." He replied and she shrugged.
"He's not necessarily wrong. I've been called much worse." She added quietly and he made a mental note to add some annotations to her file.
"Well, Temperance, I want to continue to check in with you, if that's okay. How about once a week?" She nodded before leaving his office and he quickly scribbled down what he had learned about the quiet girl who had begun living at the group home.
-BB-
Booth tossed a football to Jared in his backyard while continuously thinking of ways to talk to Temperance. She's good at math, so I can always ask for help with my math homework. He thought to himself as he tossed the ball a little further, causing Jared to fall backwards.
"Hey! You did that on purpose!" He shouted and Seeley rolled his eyes.
"If you want to make varsity next year, you have to be able to catch stuff like that." He shouted back. Seeley continued to toss the ball back and forth with his brother. Then Seeley remembered the blonde kid who used to hang out with the brainiacs, but tried out for the football team this year. "Hey, Jarhead, what's that sophomore's name, the smart one that just made varsity?"
"Wendall?" His brother called out and he nodded.
"Doesn't he usually hang out with the geek squad?"
"Yea, I guess, but he's been hanging out with your group since making varsity." Jared shrugged. Bingo. Booth thought as Pops called them in for dinner.
-BB-
"All I'm saying is that your argument that it's a soft science is invalid." Lance ranted as he and Temperance walked into the building. She sighed as she made her way to her locker.
"Lance, I cannot have this argument with you every morning, it will become redundant." She responded as she put in the combination to her locker, not noticing Booth leaning against his locker watching the duo.
"It's not redundant if I continue to make different arguments in my favor!" He exclaimed and she rolled her eyes.
"I just don't see the purpose. You are trying to state that the human mind can be controlled through emotion, which is irrational. If you truly want to argue with me, look at the chemical breakdowns." She shrugged and collected her textbooks for the morning. Jack walked up to them and waved at Booth, who gave him a small nod back.
"Are you two still arguing about psychology?" Hodgins asked and Lance opened his mouth to begin his ranting, but he held up his hand. "Yes or no."
"Yes." Tempe responded. "I would like to be done with the conversation." She continued, which caused Booth to chuckle and for her to look over her shoulder and squint at him. "Is something I said humorous?"
"Very." He replied, while smirking at her.
"Come on, Tempe, I want to get to class so we can go over the worksheet." Jack said, throwing an arm over her shoulders and causing Booth to feel a knot form in his stomach. Were they a thing now? He wondered, but Bren didn't seem interested, she just continued walking.
"Uh, see ya in PE, Tempe!" He called out, which got him a wave from Brennan and a sideways glance from Hodgins.
-BB-
Cam watched as Seeley fidgeted throughout Spanish and smacked his knee.
"Dude, stop bouncing up and down like you're going to lose your mind." She mumbled as their teacher passed out their assignment for the night.
"It's just I got to school early so that I could say hi to Temperance," He started and watched as Cam smiled like the Cheshire cat. "But then that Hodgins kid came out of nowhere and slung his arm over her shoulders and scurried her off to class. I swear I can't just get two seconds alone with her." He whispered back and Cam laughed.
"You have it bad for this girl." She responded and Seeley rolled his eyes.
"She's just interesting." He replied and she nodded.
"Yea, okay, interesting." She said sarcastically. "Well I have biology with them next, I'll sniff out what's going on, but you owe me."
-BB-
Seeley changed faster than lightening for PE as he sprinted to the gym. He saw Temperance sitting and reading a book about the human anatomy as he walked up.
"Hey there." He smiled as she looked up from her book. "Whatcha reading?"
"Human anatomy and fracture patterns." She responded matter-of-factly as she flipped the page. He scrunched his face up a little.
"Isn't that kinda dark and creepy?" He asked and she shrugged.
"I find it interesting. A person's bones can tell us a lot about their life. Like based off the way you walk, I can tell you either fractured or broke your ankle as a child and didn't get it properly reset by a medical professional." She responded and he blinked.
"How? I don't limp." He spoke defensively and she chuckled.
"Not obviously, but you do have a slight limp. You also tend to roll your right ankle, cracking it consistently, like it causes you pain." She explained. "Yesterday I noticed you would even shake out your right ankle every so often and you place more of your weight on your left side." She continued and he tilted his head.
"Hmm. What else can you tell?" She leaned back as if to observe him.
"Can you hold out your hands?" He did so. "You've broken your fingers multiple times." She touched them lightly, causing goosebumps to appear on his skin. "Now flex like this." She demonstrated with her slender hands and he repeated the action. "See, your pinky on your left hand almost bows outward, like it was out of place." She traced it lightly. He felt like his hands were on fire and his mouth went dry. He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.
"Yea, that makes sense. Uhm, I did fracture my right ankle and I've been in a couple fist fights, so I've broken a few fingers." He mumbled. She nodded. "So uhm, you're pretty good at looking at bones, huh … Bones." He smiled and she tilted her head.
"Why did you repeat that?"
"I just thought of a good nickname for you, is all." He responded and she shook her head.
"That doesn't sound like a good nickname." She replied and he grinned.
"I have to disagree with ya, Bones, it's a wonderful nickname." He smiled and she scowled.
"Don't call me Bones!" She replied and he chuckled. The coach blew the whistle and Booth smirked.
"Oh, saved by the bell there, Bones!" He called out to her and she shook her head, before opening her book back up. He flexed his fingers a few times, feeling the warmth of her touch as he glanced over at the bleachers. Catching her eye, he would wink, watching her cheeks tint. He liked knowing he had the same effect on her that she had on him.
-BB-
He watched on as she sat in the middle of the table overflowing with squints.
"You know, Seeley, it's like you're not even paying attention to me." Hannah whined and Booth rolled his eyes. For a girl that couldn't hold a conversation for two dates, she seemed more than interested now that he wasn't interested in her. He looked over at Wendall, who seemed to also be looking over at his old group of friends with a sour look on his face.
"Wendall, right?" Booth asked and Wendall nodded.
"Yea, uhm, hey." He seemed nervous at the older boy's recognition.
"Missing your friends over at the geek squad?" He asked as he jabbed him jokingly with his elbow and grinned.
"I - it's just, you guys are cool and all, but I've known those guys since I was a kid." Wendall mumbled. He was a great player and had been doing well with the team, but Seeley could understand that Wendall wanted to hang out with his friends.
"You don't have to sit with us." Booth responded, lowering his voice, he continued. "To be honest, I've been trying to figure out a way to talk to that new girl, Temperance, and it seems like your friends have taken her under their wing."
Wendall looked over and saw Hodgins pointing out different things in Brennan's book with innate fascination. "Yea, Jack seems to find all of us misfits." He responded with a shrug. "I'm good at sports, but that book their reading about human anatomy is something that I've read three times." He replied and Booth shook his head.
"Jeez, I don't understand you science people." He responded with a chuckle.
"Well you might want to try because from what I see, that's what's gotten Temperance's interest." Wendall responded before standing up and walking over to the table where his friends warmly welcomed him back. He stuck his hand out to Temperance, who gingerly took it with a small smile. He then peered over her shoulder and pointed something out in the book, which she looked out with intense interest. Booth squinted at this and felt that familiar pang of jealousy.
"Hey, Seeley." Cam's voice rang in his ear. "Green doesn't look good on you." She whispered and he scowled.
"I'm not jealous of a few squints." He replied and she rolled her eyes.
"Well from what I gathered in biology, Hodgins has the hots for Angela, so no worries there, and Zack is practically a robot, so you don't have to worry about him putting the moves on Tempe."
"Tempe?" He asked with his eyebrows raised. Cam shrugged.
"What can I say? She's cute as a button and quiet, a lot better than your usual blonde bimbo type." She laughed and Seeley rolled his eyes and went back to looking at the table of misfit toys. Colin Fisher was now leaning over and talking incredibly close to Temperance's face, only to have Angela shove him away. "Don't be creepy, Colin!" Angela could be heard and Booth wanted to personally thank her, but stayed where he was and watched from a distance.
-BB-
As Temperance and Lance waited at the bus stop, Booth stood in the parking lot waiting for Jared to get to the car. Practice had been canceled due to reports of a lightening storm heading their way. Booth watched curiously as Lance excitedly talked to Temperance, whose head was still in a book. It didn't deter the younger kid from chatting with the older girl as they got on the bus.
-BB-
The rest of the week went by in a blur. The days blended together as Booth continued to try and find subtle ways to talk to Brennan without inserting himself too much into her routine. He didn't want to scare her or freak her out, but on Friday, she didn't show up at their lockers. He wondered if maybe she had missed her bus or was running late. Then she wasn't in PE.
Walking up to the geek squad, 8 sets of eyes fell on him.
"Sup." He tried to sound calm, but inside he was freaking out.
"Can we help you?" Hodgins asked in a confused tone.
"Where's Temperance?" He asked and watched as everyone shrugged their shoulders.
"She wasn't on the bus this morning." Lance spoke up.
"Had she mentioned she wasn't feeling good?" Booth asked and Hodgins squinted at him with a furrowed brow.
"Why do you care?" He asked and Booth started to get agitated.
"I just do, okay?"
"Uhm, no? She didn't mention not feeling good, but you know, things go around quick in the group homes." Lance said with a shrug. The entire table went quiet and looked at him.
"Group homes?" Angela asked.
"That's where we pick her up from, the DC Youth Group Home on M Street." Lance shrugged. "I was a foster kid, so I didn't think anything of it." He quickly responded and everyone did a double take. Booth felt like his heart was racing. Temperance was a foster kid? She was living at a group home? From the reaction of all of her friends, it didn't look like she mentioned it to anyone else.
"Well, let's just forget about it." Hodgins muttered. "She clearly didn't want us to know." But for Seeley that just didn't jive. She wasn't in school so something felt off. He was worried for her.
-BB-
Dr. Goodman knocked on Temperance's door and waited for a response. He knew she hadn't made it to the bus this morning and was wondering if maybe she caught the flu.
"Temperance?" He called, knocking once more on the door. Finally he announced that he would be unlocking the door with the skeleton key all of the social workers had in case of emergency. When he opened the door he found Temperance sitting hunched over her desk. "Temperance, is everything okay?" But was shocked when she turned around. Her face was swollen and her right eye was bruised. "Oh, Temperance, what happened?" He closed the door and sat down beside her, watching as the tears streamed down her face.
"I just - I didn't do my chores fast enough." She murmured. He knew that violence was a struggle for the system, children in the system struggled with it, even the social workers and foster parents had used violence against the children. But he never got used to seeing a child in pain. Here was a girl who was struggling. He had scoured over her casefile. Her parents disappeared about a year prior, her brother abandoned her, she had lived in six different foster homes so far, and the last one she had to be removed due to her foster father trapping her in a car trunk for two days after accidentally breaking a dish. Yet here she was, black and blue over some chores that weren't finished on time.
"I'm sorry, Temperance." He replied, his hand gently placed on her shoulder. "I am so very sorry." He didn't know how else to convey that she shouldn't be suffering. So he just sat there with her, the sounds of the children throughout the home filling the empty space around them.
-BB-
Booth parked outside of the group home and looked at the outside. The barred windows and bland brick exterior looked more like a penitentiary than a 'home' to him. Part of him wondered what he was doing there and the other part wondered if Brennan would even want to see him.
He didn't know how long he was staring at the walls of the building before a knock came at his driver side window. A tall black man stood there, his welcoming face and smile was not what Booth was expecting as he rolled down his window.
"Can I help you, my boy?" The man asked.
"Uhm, yea, my friend wasn't at school today and another friend of mine said she lived here." Booth spoke nervously and the man furrowed his brow.
"What's your friend's name?"
"Uhm Temperance Brennan." Booth replied and the man smiled.
"Ah, yes, she wasn't feeling good today. I am hoping she will feel better by Monday." He replied. "My name is Dr. Daniel Goodman, I'm one of her social workers." The man held out his hand through the open window and Booth shook it.
"Oh, so she does live here, okay. Uhm, well can you let her know that we missed her today or maybe I could stop inside and tell her myself?" Booth posed.
"I will let her know that you and your friends missed her today at school." Dr. Goodman responded, nipping Booth's proposal in the bud. Booth's shoulders slumped and he nodded. "I don't believe I caught your name." Dr. Goodman said, before Booth rolled his window back up.
"Oh, Seeley Booth, she and I have PE together and -"
"Your lockers are next to one another." Dr. Goodman finished with a smile. Booth nodded with a bit of a grin. So maybe she does talk about me. He thought as he turned on his ignition and left the parking lot.