What Goes Around

9. Soft Science Is Not Sweet

Booth was trying hard to keep his mouth shut. Not that he was scared of the man in front of him, but that man, being his boss's boss, could easily take his badge and his gun away. So every time he went to say something, all that came out was, "Yes, sir" or, "I understand, sir."

"You assured us, agent Booth, that Dr. Brennan was capable of handling the situation."

But when you attacked his Bones...

"She wasn't the problem, sir."

"Oh! Then, you were?"

Keep it cool, Booth.

"Dr. Sweets guaranteed you two were fit to work as a team. That's not what we've..."

"Speaking of Dr. Sweets," Booth interjected. As much as the psychologist was getting under his skin most of the time, he didn't want to get him in trouble. But he kind of had to. His partnership with Bones could be on the line here. "He had eyes on the scene. He could have alerted us! He should have..."

"Are you telling me, agent Booth, that you need a shrink by your side to do your job?"

"Of course not, but..."

"One more mistake like this, and your badge is mine."

Gulp.

"Yes, sir," he whispered.

Booth was waiting for him to continue. But there was only silence and mean stares. Was he supposed to leave? Was everything OK? Could he go back to work?

"And since you love that shrink so much, you and your doctor will see him once a week for a month. And he will report directly to me. You're under evaluation... again."

"Sir..."

"That will be all, agent Booth."

He fled out of there as fast as humanly possible.

Waiting in the hall of the federal building, Brennan reviewed what had just happened. She had been so nervous and so excited, so eager to catch the bastard, that she had compromised the whole thing. That kiss... was not a kiss. It was the only logical way Booth had found to keep cover. She was the one who had turned it into something more. Right?

She sighed and buried her face in her palms for a second. No matter how she tried to spin it, the outcome was the same: they had screwed up. And where was Sweets during that moment where the suspect had fled? Don't put this on him. It's all on you.

She heard a door shut and her head spun up. As soon as she saw him approaching, she was on her feet, terrified.

"So?"

"So what?" he asked, making his way out of the building.

She followed his fast pace. "Are you in tro... Are we ok?"

Booth was infuriated. With himself. Never, in all his years as a sniper or as a cop, had he ever screwed up like this. Shooting a clown didn't even register on the scale of mistakes of this magnitude. He wanted to distract her, sure. But kissing her? Really? That was incredibly stupid. He knew what it would do. He knew he couldn't just give her a peck. The second she had sighed into his mouth, he had lost it. All he could think about was to do her on the brick wall, right there in the alley.

Finally outside, Booth tried to remember in which parking lot he had left his car. He looked right, then left, then decided to go left.

"Booth! Are we ok?" she asked again. He was visibly upset. More than she had ever seen him.

He realized he was going in the wrong direction and turned the other way, almost bumping into her. He could hear her talk, but he was just too pissed to...