(After 'The Verdict in the Story')
I don't own Bones.
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Because of the trial, Booth had fallen behind on his reports and other duties and he was trying to play catchup. He needed to talk to his partner, but work had to come first since both the assistant Deputy Director and the Deputy Director were putting pressure on him to catch up with his paperwork. Unless he had a case, he knew he would have to sit at his desk and fulfill his obligations.
It had been three days since the trial had ended and Brennan hadn't seen Booth in that time. She had called him and invited him to lunch, but he had claimed to be too busy to see her and she knew she had to accept that excuse. She hoped he wasn't trying to avoid her since she felt that they had a few things to discuss, but she also knew Booth was the head of his department and it came with a lot of responsibilities.
A little concerned about her relationship with her partner, Brennan decided to force the issue. After stopping by the Royal Diner and picking up lunch for both her and Booth, she traveled to the Hoover and walked up to her partner's office. Standing in his office doorway, she noticed her partner leaning over a report, his head leaning on one hand while he flipped a page with the other hand.
"Booth."
Startled, Booth looked up and found his partner standing in his doorway. "Bones, um . . . I'm sorry that I haven't seen you lately, but I really have been working on reports." He pointed at a pile of folders on the right side of his desk and smiled. "I'm not sure when we're going paperless, but it can't be too soon for me."
Moving into the office, Brennan placed one of the bags she was carrying on her partner's desk in front of him and sat down with the other bag in her lap. "Since you turned down going to lunch with me, I worried that you might be skipping lunch . . . I brought you something to eat."
Grateful, Booth moved the bag closer to him and looked inside. "Thank you. I've been eating chips and crackers for lunch lately. A hamburger will be a nice change believe me." Removing the hamburger from the bag, he placed it on the desk and stood up. "Let me go get a drink for both of us from the break room." Before Brennan could respond, Booth left the room.
While he was gone, Brennan removed her cup of French onion soup from the bag and waited for Booth to return. Once he was back in the room, she took the can of Coke from him and placed it on the desktop in front of her next to her soup. "Thank you."
"No, thank you. I was getting tired of chips." Booth sat down, opened his can of Coke and drank some of it. Once he was done, he placed the can down and stared at his partner. "Bones . . . I talked to the Deputy Director the day after the trial and he said your contract with the FBI is still intact. You're still my partner . . . The Director isn't happy with what you did, but he doesn't want to give up on our partnership. We do good work and he wants that to keep happening."
"I'm glad." Brennan had worried about that for the last three days. She had started to worry that Booth was avoiding her because her contract had been nullified by the FBI. "Booth . . . I know you don't approve of what I did, but I did it to save Max . . . He helped me save you from Melvin Gallagher and I owed him my help. It was a debt I needed to pay."
Rubbing the back of his neck, Booth debated how to respond. "If there was debt to be paid it was me, Bones. Not you . . . You should have talked to me and let me know what you were going to do."
"You would have tried to stop me and no, the debt was mine, not yours." Brennan sighed. "I was the one that asked him to help me find you . . . He's my father, Booth . . . I didn't have a lot of faith in the FBI. I was afraid they wouldn't find you in time, so I took matters in to my own hand. Max offered to help me find you and I was grateful for the help. He risked being arrested to help me Booth . . . I felt obligated to help him during his trial."
"Not to mention he's your father." Booth knew Brennan had difficulty understanding the motives of people she dealt with and he knew that included her own motives too. She was a strong independent woman, but she had difficulty with emotions, hers and everyone else's.
Brennan stared at her cup of soup sitting on Booth's desk. "Yes, he is my father, but he hasn't been in my life for over 15 years. I don't think I have any affection for him . . . I'm not really sure what I feel for Max. It's confusing." She had hugged Max after the trial and felt relief that he had been found not guilty, but she wasn't sure how she really felt about her father. She knew it would take time.
"Yeah, it would confuse me too." Booth knew that if his father tried to contact him to have a relationship with him, he'd turn him down in a hurry. But he also knew there was a difference between Max Keenan and Edwin Booth. Max had never hit his children and he'd loved them. As far as he could tell, Max still loved his kids. On the other hand, Edwin had brutalized his children before Pops had taken them from him and Booth couldn't forgive that. "Bones, what you did was risky. Caroline could have decided to try you for the murder of Kirby." He noticed his partner open her mouth and he held up his hand. "Yeah, she's not going to go after you, but she could have. If the prosecutor had been Ben Dimakos instead of Carolyn, he'd have had you arrested for the murder of Kirby. He's a vindictive son of a bitch and he really hates to lose. More than Carolyn does."
She could see that Booth was upset, but she wasn't sure she could make him see why she had done what she did. "Max helped me save you, Booth. I couldn't risk not finding you when Gallagher kidnapped you. You told me after we rescued you that you knew I'd find you. Well, I used every resource in my power to find you and that included using Max. I don't want to be in his debt and now I'm not. I've talked to him and I've told him that I will not help him if he is ever put on trial for any other crime he has committed. My debt is paid and I will not risk my life or career to help him again."
Relieved, Booth nodded his head. "Good, that's good. Deputy Director Bishop told me that if Max is ever tried again, he's not going to allow you into the courthouse. He doesn't trust you right now. He's new and he doesn't understand what makes you tick."
"So, if Max is ever tried for another crime, I will not be able to sit in the courtroom to support him?" Brennan found that to be appalling. "Bishop would take away my right to support my father? That can't be legal."
"Legal or not, that's what he said. Not only will you be kept out of the courtroom, you'll be kept out of the courthouse." Booth removed his hamburger from the bag, unwrapped it and was delighted to find a double patty burger with bacon and loaded with toppings. "Hey, my favorite burger, thanks Bones."
Her soup getting cool, Brennan opened the container, retrieved a spoon from the bag and smiled. "I know you must be hungry and I bought you two burgers plus some fries." Sipping some of her soup, Brennan found she had an appetite.
"Well thank you. I appreciate this." Booth took a bite from his burger, chewed it and swallowed.
"I assume you still want me to be your partner." Brennan stared at Booth and hoped that was true.
Placing his burger down on the desk, Booth grabbed some fries and placed them on a napkin. Moving the napkin near Brennan's bag, he smiled. "Of course I do, are you kidding me? We're the best investigative team on the East Coast. The Director knew it would be crazy to break us up . . . The Director and Bishop aren't happy with you right now, but once we solve a few cases and prove how valuable our team is . . . well, they'll get over it."
"I'm glad. I enjoy solving cases with you." Brennan picked up a fry and ate it. "I don't know why I don't order French fries for myself. I do like them."
"Well, as long as I have some, you can have some of mine." Booth picked up his burger and stared at his partner. "We're good, Bones. You're still my partner and we're good."
Smiling, Brennan began to eat her soup. She had been afraid that their partnership was over. "I won't let Max get between us again, Booth. My debt is paid. I'm not sure how I feel about Max right now, but I have time to ruminate about it."
"Yeah, you do." Booth smiled at his partner. "And if you need my help, just ask me."
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This is not the end of my story. There is one more chapter to go. Let me know what you think of it. Thank you.