Through A Glass Darkly

Title: Through A Glass Darkly
Author: saraluvbonz
Rating: T (just to be safe)
Summary: A series of one-shots written from the perspective of people watching Brennan's and Booth's relationship with each other.

AN: I hope you enjoy this series. There will be at least four, probably more, one-shots. Thanks, as always, goes to my faithful editor, redrider6612.

A Hard Case
Junior agent Joseph Munez, Joe to his friends and family, sat at his desk, staring at the stack of paperwork that still needed to be done. He couldn't believe he'd gotten so behind. It was going to take hours to finish it all.

Glancing at the light coming from a nearby office, he thought, 'At least I'm not here all by myself. It’s too quiet when I'm the only one here.'

The occupant of the other office emerged with a small duffel bag tossed over his shoulder.

"Hey, Booth. Headed for the gym?" he asked.

"Uh huh," Booth replied shortly.

'So much for having company,' Joe thought as he turned back to his desk.

He was still hard at work an hour later when the other man returned from his workout clad in casual clothes.

Joe was just about to ask how his day had been when the strains of Hot Blooded started to echo in the empty room.

Booth grabbed his phone and answered, "Hi, Bones."

He paused to listen and then said, "Yeah, I'm still here. I have to finish up a few things."

He walked into his office, but left the door open. Although he had to strain to hear, a moment later Joe heard him say, "Okay. I'll see you soon. You wanna do pie afterwards?"

The junior agent sighed quietly and returned to his slowly dwindling pile of paperwork.

Ten minutes later, Dr. Brennan walked by on her way to Booth's office. They had never been formally introduced, but everyone knew who she was – one half of the best investigative team in the building. What nobody could figure out was the exact nature of the relationship between the two partners. They denied being involved, but their body language told a different story.

As he watched, Booth lifted his head from its slumped position over the desk and greeted her. Joe turned back to his paperwork. They might be interesting to watch, but he really wanted to get out of here.

In Booth's office, Brennan dumped her purse and coat onto one of the chairs and pulled another around the desk until it was next to Booth's chair. She could tell he was exhausted. The case they had solved and were now doing the paperwork for had been hard – a sadistic child killer had gotten three kids between the time they'd identified the first body and when they caught him.

"You ready to do this?" she asked, smiling at him. "If we work together I think we can get it done in an hour or so and then we can get that pie you mentioned." She tried to sound upbeat, but she was as exhausted and frustrated by the case as he was.

It wasn't until he reached across his desk for a pen that she noticed his knuckles. They were raw and red and a few of them were bleeding.

"Taking out your frustration on the punching bag again?" she asked softly.

He looked at her a moment and then answered, "You know, sometimes this job just gets to me. Working homicide isn't easy."

"I know, Booth," she responded in a soothing tone. "Before we were partners, all I saw were the bodies and what I could tell about them from the bones. But now, we meet the people who knew them and that makes it hard to stay detached."

Although the pair weren't speaking loudly, the open door combined with the acoustics of the larger room made it impossible for Joe to ignore their conversation. He gave up trying to work on his paperwork and surreptitiously observed the pair with the "rear view mirror" he had put on his computer monitor. He usually used it so he could see who was walking into his cube, but with a minor adjustment it worked just as well for this purpose. He watched as Dr. Brennan opened a drawer in Booth's desk and pulled out antiseptic ointment and Band-Aids.

Gently she bandaged Booth's knuckles. Then she turned his hands and dropped a single kiss on each palm. He started in surprise, partly because the action was so unexpected and partly because of the fire that raced from his palms through his body.

"Um, Bones?" he said hesitantly.

Almost as surprised as he was, she apologized, "Sorry, Booth. I'm not sure what came over me."

He looked at her for a long minute before opening a folder and buckling down to work.

Now Joe was confused. Before, he had been certain they were involved, but now he wasn't so sure. The surprise on Booth's face was genuine. They were an unusual pair.

Since they were diligently working, he turned his attention back to his own paperwork. He finally managed to concentrate and his stack of work started to diminish more rapidly.

"See you later, Joe," Booth said as he and his partner headed toward the elevators.

Joe glanced at his watch. An hour and a half had passed. He grabbed his jacket and followed them. As the three waited for the elevators, Booth introduced him to Dr. Brennan, who shook his hand politely and asked how he was.

The three rode down the elevator in silence. As they parted ways in the parking lot, Booth said "See you tomorrow, Joe," and Dr. Brennan said "It was nice to meet you." As the partners headed toward their cars, Booth slung his arm around her neck in a friendly fashion and they began to argue about whose car they would take and what flavor of pie to order.

Joe watched in amusement, shaking his head at their antics.

'No wonder nobody can figure them out,' he thought. 'It seems like they're a bit of everything.'

He'd better change his bet in the office pool though; they definitely weren't dating yet. He climbed into his car and headed home for the night, dreading his empty apartment, wishing he had the kind of a partner Booth did.

This is fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I think that's enough exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I love the angle of several one-shots from non-main character POVs.

I'm glad. I may get around to doing one from some of the other characters on the show eventually. But I have a couple written and ideas for several more.

AN: Here's a shortie for you. Thanks to redrider6612 for being a fabulous beta and to ForensicMama who reviewed 'A Hard Case.'

A Long Day
When Dr. Clark Edison walked into the Medico-Legal Lab late that night, he wasn't surprised to find the lights on. No, what surprised him was that Dr. Brennan wasn't on the platform bent over a skeleton.

He glanced at her office. She was sitting at her desk, but Agent Booth partly obscured his view.

The FBI agent's voice was easy to hear in the hallway. "Come on, Bones. Your head is killing you. You need to take some aspirin."

"I'll be fine, Booth."

Clark watched as he opened her desk drawer, grabbed a bottle of pills, shook two out and shoved them toward her.

"I told you I was fine."

He moved his hand forward. She plucked the pills from his hand and swallowed them, then turned back toward her computer.

Clark shook his head at their antics. Everything with those two was drama. They argued about everything and nothing. He turned to go to his workstation, but the continuing drama in the office caught his eye again.

"Nuh uh, Bones." Booth grabbed the arms of her chair and turned it to face him. "Your head still hurts and it will be twenty minutes 'til those aspirin kick in."

He reached for her wrists and tugged gently. She stood and he pulled her in the direction of her couch. Clark had to step back to have an unobstructed view.

Brennan was slumped on the couch, her hands cradling her head. Booth knelt in front of her and moved her arms. Then he began to massage her temples, slowly and rhythmically. Her eyes closed the minute he touched her and after a minute she moaned slightly.

"Sorry, Bones. I didn't mean to hurt you."

In a dreamy voice, she replied, "No, it felt so good, don't stop."

Clark tore his attention from the partners. He really wasn't interested in what they did with their time off, he reminded himself. He moved toward his desk to look for his reading glasses. He found the case on top of the desk and glasses in a drawer. Scolding himself for his carelessness, he headed to his car.

As he passed her office, he couldn't help but take one last glance. Booth was now sitting on the couch with Brennan's head in his lap. She appeared to have fallen asleep while Booth stroked her hair.

'Argh! I've been in this office too long! I'm getting interested in what's happening in my colleagues' personal lives! I'd better leave.'

As he turned to leave, Booth caught his eye and winked. Clark bolted. If he wasn't careful, in the near future he'd be making out with his romantic partner somewhere in the Jeffersonian.

That was excellent. I love how other characters see their interactions.

Sara, these are really good!! I like how we get the thrill of their private relationship without them going places that they really haven't gone yet! Can't wait for more...

I enjoyed reading both of those. Good job!

BonesInOz, DBCrazy, missdebra87 thanks for the reviews.

These stories are wonderful, I just love them, can't wait for more.

I love these. It's always interesting to see how everyone views their relationship, how they're with everyone else but also kind of lost in their own world at the same time. Great work!

AN: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. Here's your next installment. I am planning to post another one tomorrow, which is the last one that I currently have written. There may be more after that, we'll have to see.

Title: A Little Pie
At the chime, Sally looked up to see her favorite couple entering the diner. They came in at strange hours of the day or night and they were bickering, but then these two were always bickering. Well, almost always.

Tonya timidly approached the pair. She offered them each a menu. "Would you like to start with something to drink?"

They paused their argument and the man said, "We'll take our usual." Then he turned back to the argument.

"You have a usual?" Tonya asked hesitantly.

"Just tell Sally, she'll know."

As she moved away, the bickering began again.

"Sally, they said you'd know what their 'usual' was."

Sally took pity on the new waitress; it was only her second day. "Yep. They're in here several times a week. His name is Booth, and he calls her Bones." She listened to the sound of their voices. "When she's snippy with him, they've come for dinner. Otherwise, it's coffee and pie."

"Are they always like that?" Tonya asked.

"Pretty much. Sometimes their friends come in with them. Then they don't argue as much. Watch the next time someone is with them. It's like those two are the nucleus of an atom and the others are the electrons." Sally laughed. "Listen to me, babbling on about nothing. I guess that's what I get for helping my son with his science homework! He'll have a Coke and she drinks iced tea. I'll have their food ready in a few minutes."

As she cooked, she kept an eye on the bickering pair. Booth leaned across the table, making his point both physically and with words. Bones sat in her chair arms folded across her chest, clearly unimpressed. When he was done, she started speaking, slowly leaning closer and closer to him. He gradually shifted further back in his chair until he was sitting all the way back.

She assembled the burger on a plate and added the fries. Going to a back counter, she washed her hands and prepared a large salad.

"The salad is for her and the burger for him," she told Tonya.

Tonya glanced at the plates. "Can he really eat all that?"

Sally smiled. "Just watch."

Tonya set the plates on the table in front of the pair. "The Royal Salad for you ma'am. And a burger with extra fries."

The diner only had two other patrons, so Tonya wiped down the chairs, the worst chore. As she cleaned, she kept an eye on them.

Their arguing stopped when they started to eat. But then the entertainment began. The woman snitched a fry when his attention was on his burger. She did it several times.

"Bones, stop stealing my fries," he said, swatting at her hand. "If you want fries, order your own."

Her hand snaked across the table again, this time swiping some ketchup with the fry. "But Booth, yours always taste better than mine."

"You just like stealing my fries!"

As they ate, they continued to bicker about the fries, but he never really stopped her from eating them. By the time the plates were empty, they were both leaning over the table towards each other, heads only a few inches apart.

"What can I get for you for dessert?" Tonya asked as she cleared the plates.

"The usual," they chorused.

"They'll both have coffee and one piece of today's pie. Two forks." Sally always sent two forks. Booth always tried to get her to eat pie, and she subtly helped with his campaign.

"Two coffees and a slice of pie," Tonya announced. She set the cups on the table and poured the coffee.

"Bones, you have to try the pie. I'm telling you, the diner makes the best pie!"

Tonya set the pie down between them.

Booth grabbed a fork and took a bite without really looking at it.

"Booth, you know I don't like my fruit cooked."

As the flavor of chocolate exploded in his mouth, he glanced down at the pie in surprise. The diner always served fruit pies, but for some reason today they were serving French Silk.

He grabbed the second fork. "Bones, you have to try this pie. No fruit involved."

She looked at the piece on the fork and then opened her mouth. He carefully moved the fork into her mouth and she closed her teeth around it. She moaned as she swallowed.

"That was amazing." She pulled the plate toward her and grabbed the fork from his hand.

He stared at her, stunned.

By now, both Tonya and Sally had given up pretending to work to watch them.

He reached his fork across the table, but she swatted it away. "This is my pie."

He laughed and called, "Can I get some apple pie, please?" He turned back to his partner with a smug smile. "So, Bones, now do you believe me?"

"This is amazing," she mumbled through a bite. She swallowed. "You're right, the diner makes amazing pie."

The second piece of pie appeared and he took a large bite. "So, how about a bite of apple?"

She rolled her eyes at him in a 'don't push your luck' look.

"Come on, just one bite. If you don't like it, I promise I'll never bug you about it again."

He was giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, just one bite." She took a piece, chewed it slowly and swallowed.

"For baked fruit, that was pretty good."

He leaned over the table until his forehead touched hers. "I wanted you to try it because I didn't want you to miss out on one of the good things in life."

"Well, maybe I should listen to you more often."

He smiled.

Sally had to strain to hear her next words.

"Is Sweets right? Is you trying to get me to eat pie a metaphor for seduction? Because if it is…"

He drained his coffee and tossed a few bills on the table. "Sweets is like, twelve, Bones."

They stood up and he slung his arm around her shoulder. "It means whatever we want it to mean, Bones."

Then the door closed behind them and the atmosphere of the diner when from electric back to normal.

"None of the staff can decide if they're together or not," Sally answered Tonya's unspoken question. "But they're never boring."

Sara, thank you! B/B and are always good and so is pie - it's a can't miss combination!!

Lol... I have to agree with you completely. Regarding your sig.... there are some men that just get better looking as they age (at least until they get old...)

saraluvzbonz wrote:Lol... I have to agree with you completely. Regarding your sig.... there are some men that just get better looking as they age (at least until they get old...)

Yeah, there's nothing bad happening to DB, that's for sure. But the fact that I'm older than he is, I'll probably never think there's anything wrong with him. His father is still a nice looking man too!

AN: Here's the last one that I have written. Thanks for all the reviews and adding my story to alerts. I'm intending to write more, but I probably won't have anything ready in the next week. Thanks as usual to redrider6612 for betaing for me.

Title: A Serious Argument
FBI Agent Jim Porter checked his equipment, thinking about the upcoming mission. The suspect and a couple of his cronies were holed up in an abandoned warehouse. According to their intel, piles of boxes were scattered around the main room. A row of offices lined the wall opposite their point of entry.

He was not looking forward to this, even though a whole FBI SWAT team was going in. The room had too many places for their targets to hide. They'd be extremely lucky if they got out with any major injuries.

As he turned to make sure his partner was ready, the team leader, Seeley Booth, caught his eye. He was arguing with his partner. Booth was solid, but his Dr. Brennan was a loose cannon.

Although he was too far away to hear what they were saying, he could tell the two were arguing passionately about something. Given the defeated set of his shoulders as he walked to the back of his SUV, he must have lost the argument.

He was giving her a bulletproof vest? Booth couldn't seriously be bringing his scientist partner on a SWAT raid! She'd either be killed or get one of the team killed. Jim's suspicions were confirmed when Booth pulled his backup piece from his ankle holster and offered it to her. Thank God he hadn't given her an earpiece.

"Gather round everybody," Booth called. When the team had circled up, he said, "Everybody clear on the plan?"

Jim nodded along with the rest of them.

"Alright, then. Head out!"

"But, sir…" Jim frowned at the newest member of the team. The way Smith was eyeing Dr. Brennan, it was clear he was going to do something stupid. Nobody messed with Booth.

Sure enough, Booth silenced Smith with a hard glare. "You understand the plan, Smith, and what you're supposed to be doing?"

Smith nodded slowly.

"Then do your job! The time for raising objections is during the planning."

Booth glanced at the group. "Head out! Maintain radio silence as long as possible."

With a few hand signals, he directed my partner and me to the left side of our point of entry and another team to the right.

Carefully the team infiltrated the warehouse. The two-man teams hop scotched around each other; the team in the lead securing the next area.

Ten minutes later, deep in the warehouse, shots rang out. Seconds later, Booth's voice came over the radio, "Porter, you're in charge. Shots came from 4 o'clock. I think I got one of them."

Jim looked over to see Booth prone atop his partner, protecting her. "Delta, circle in from the left, echo, the right. Everyone else hold position."

Five minutes later, the targets were in custody and several of the guys were having superficial wounds treated by EMTs, Booth included. The EMT was trying to put a bandage on his wound, but the man was too busy arguing with his partner to notice.

He loomed over her, his shoulders rigid, his voice raised. "Bones, I told you to stay behind me. What part of 'stay behind me' didn't you understand?!? I never should have allowed you to come and I'm certainly never taking you again. You put everybody in danger and you revealed our location to the targets!"

The EMT swooped in and placed a bandage against Booth's shoulder.

"Booth, I was doing what everyone else was doing!"

"They were following orders. Theirs were different than yours. You promised, Bones. You promised!"

By now, everyone was watching the drama.

"I don't know why you're so upset. We caught the guys and nobody is seriously hurt."

"I'm upset because you were shot at! Regardless of the outcome, you put everyone at risk by your recklessness. Part of working with a team is doing your part of the job."

Jim caught a hint of fear mixed in with Booth's anger and frustration.

"I work just fine with my team. Besides, you didn't have a regular partner for two years before you started working with me. What does that say about your ability to work as part of a team?"

Jim winced. She didn't pull any punches. How could Booth work with her?

"Former Army Ranger here. Snipers work in teams of two. And when I first joined the FBI, before I became a special agent, I worked SWAT. As for your team, you work well together because you have different skills and need each other to complete your tasks. It's not the same thing at all. You can't take orders or follow a plan! Not even something as simple as stay behind me!"

By this time, there was only two inches between their bodies and he was yelling right at her face.

"But Booth…"

"No buts, Bones. Into the car. Now."

As she stomped away, Booth stood still long enough for the EMT to finish taping the bandage on the graze he sustained while protecting his partner.

"Show's over people. I need your written reports by noon tomorrow." Then he climbed into the SUV.

Smith's nervous laughing broke the tension. "Can you believe her? If he'd yelled at me like that, I'd… well I don't know what."

"You'd go home and cry to your mommy!"

"He was right and all she did was argue back!"

"I wish I could be a fly on the wall in Cullen's office tomorrow when he turns in the report."

"I think he's got bigger problems than Cullen," Jim commented thoughtfully. "Did you see the way she was looking at him? She's probably yelling at him right now. I wonder if he knows he's in love with her."

His teammates responded, but he was too busy thinking about the careful way Booth had protected Brennan in the warehouse. The second the shooting started, he'd tackled her, taking them both to the floor. He'd rested his elbows on either side of her head and gotten off three shots immediately and she hadn't even flinched or fought him. Maybe Booth wasn't the only one in love.