The Tequila in the Anthropologist

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Bones. Bartender, just leave the Tequila bottle...

Angela Montenegro's spidey sense had begun tingling the moment she entered the Anthropology Unit of the Jeffersonian Institute. She put this to the back of her mind at the start of the day, on account of arriving 20 minutes late. Fortunately, Cam was mid-conference call with another institute three time zones away, missing Angela's tardy arrival. Angela gave silent thanks and made a 'note to self' to light another candle at her password-protected virtual George Clooney shrine, securely located within the Angelator.

The morning after any session with Sweets was guaranteed to be worth some entertaining conversation with Bren, and today was no different. Angela got straight to work on finishing the reconstruction job that Bren had wanted some tissue thickness modifications made. With any luck, she could legitimately interrupt Bren and drag her up to the Mezzanine floor for coffee and a blow-by-blow rendition of the latest episode of 'Sweets versus the Dynamic Duo'.

10:45 a.m.

Angela swept right into Brens' office with the completed reconstruction ready for sign-off.

"Sweetie? Would you prefer to go over these changes now, or after a coffee-break?", asked Angela, placing the completed work of art on the desk.

"Now will do", replied Bones in her most monotone and distracted tone, whilst attaching a gift card to a bottle bag.

Of course, Angela is as single-minded about unidentified gifts as her best friend is about unidentified human remains. Within 1.3 seconds, the contents of the tasteful gift bag were identified and the details of the inscription on the card were processed. The commentary began almost simultanously.

"Ooh. A gift!...a bottle of Patron Silver...Tequila, verrrry nice. 'I am so very sorry. How can I begin to apologise?'...Bren, did you upset Sweets again? Is he even old enough to drink this stuff?"

Bones focused on the reconstruction in front of her, fixing it with her intent stare and checking the finished product against each of the technical changes she had requested. In true Temperance Brennan style, she reserved a small portion of her giant intellect to keeping up her end of the conversation with Angela.

"Yes Ange, we did upset Sweets last night. He even suggested that his book was ruined, although I suspect that he was being overly dramatic. This gift is not for him though. Angela, the reconstruction is really excellent work. I will sign this off immediately and we can have some coffee upstairs as you suggested." Bones rose from her desk and strode towards the door as she announced her intentions.

Angela paused, then followed her friend toward the stairs, preparing her next series of questions for Bren. Some junior interns saw the approach of their Anthropology Idol and risked permanent oesophageal tissue damage by gulping down their hot beverages. They hastily vacated the couches of the mezzanine area as previously instructed by Mr Nigel-Murray, who had already survived two tours of duty at the Jeffersonian with Dr. Brennan.

Bones remained oblivious to all of this activity and focused on pouring coffee into two oversized mugs, handing one to her artistically gifted friend. Angela wore a wide smile and settled herself into a deceptively relaxed-looking pose, poised to sip her coffee, and fired off the next question; aiming straight to the heart of the matter.

"So. Who is the tequila for, and why are you sorry Bren?", asked Ange.

"The tequila is for Booth", replied Bones bluntly. "I am apologising for upsetting him".

Giving up all pretence of relaxation, Angela sat bolt upright, slopping coffee over the lip of her mug, ignoring the drips falling onto her new boots. Angela 'Pearly Gates' Montenegro was speechless, her jaw dropped so far that Bones could see the excellent condition of her lower molars. Misinterpreting the silence from Angela as an invitation to elaborate further, Bones went on.

"Our session with Sweets was very confronting. We discussed our very first case. Sweets challenged Booth to 'break our circle' and tell me how he really felt. We left the session to go and eat, and on our way to dinner, Booth followed Sweets' advice and he told me he wanted 'us' to work." Tears started involuntarily welling up in her eyes and began trickling down her face, dripping into her coffee mug. He kissed me. I kissed him. When we kissed, it was just like it was in the beginning. But I told him, I couldn't do it to him..."

Temperance Brennan was snapped from her vivid recollection of the taste of Seeley Booth on her lips, by the loud shattering of a coffee mug, dropped by Angela, which was followed by a strangled shriek.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Seeley Booth was reading the card attached to the gift bag on the desk of his partner, when he was distracted by the sound of smashing crockery.

So...do you want more?