(The But in the Joke)

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I really don't own Bones, not even a little bit.

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Sweets' jokes were very funny even if Booth didn't think so. They were witty and they made her laugh. Brennan loved a good joke and she envied the ability that others seem to have to be able to tell a good joke and make people laugh. Usually the only people that laughed at her jokes were Angela and Booth although sometimes even they seemed to strain to see the humor in her efforts.

Their practical joke war was sporadic and most of the time Booth or she played one on the other because their lover was sad or was having a bad day. Brennan wanted to play a joke on Booth because he'd been so successful at open mike telling jokes and she wanted to show him that she could make him laugh. After much thought, she thought she'd found the right practical joke to do the job.

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Traffic was bad that morning. The stop and start traffic was very aggravating and it just made Booth that much more impatient. While Booth stewed over the meeting he was going to be late for, the red Ford Fiesta in front of them stopped rather abruptly which forced him to hit his brakes. When the SUV rocked to a stop, both Booth and Brennan heard an odd noise.

Startled, Booth looked around the cab and finally at Brennan. "Did you hear that?"

Brennan nodded her head. "It seemed like an odd noise . . . I'm not sure I can describe it . . . bolts hitting something metallic perhaps?"

Not sure himself, Booth eased off of his brakes, let the SUV creep forward and then hit his brakes hard. Once more the SUV rocked to a stop and the noise appeared again. "There . . . that can't be good."

"No, probably not." Brennan stared at car in front of her. "Traffic is moving Booth."

Leary, Booth eased off of the brake and followed the car in front of him. "I might take this in to the shop. I don't think I've ever heard a car or truck make a noise like that."

Her attention now on her phone, Brennan scanned her mail. "Um . . . I don't think I have either."

Once they reached the Jeffersonian, Brennan exited the truck, opened the back passenger door and grabbed her messenger bag. As she pulled the bag towards her, she reached under the seat and pulled a sealed can out and placed it in her bag. "I'll call you later about the case, Booth."

His mind still on the noise, Booth nodded his head, waited for her to walk over to the elevator and then he backed out of the parking place. As he moved towards the ramp he hit his brakes to recreate what had happened on the road. This time there was no noise. "Okay that's weird." Since it didn't make the noise again, Booth forgot about it.

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The next day, while he was driving Brennan to a crime scene, Booth was forced to brake suddenly when a motorcycle ran a red light. Cursing the stupidity of certain drivers, Booth was unnerved when he heard the bolts and metal sound again. Worried, he turned to look at Brennan. "There it is again . . . I don't get it. It made that noise while we were in traffic yesterday morning, but not later and now it's back again . . . Once we get back I have to take this to the shop. The last thing I need is for something to happen when I have Christine in here."

"Yes, I agree." Brennan watched Booth as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "It's an odd noise. Perhaps it's something minor."

Frustrated, Booth shifted his left leg and glared at the road ahead. "God I hope so . . . I'm good at tinkering with cars, but these newer models with computers and mother boards . . . there's too much crap in the newer cars that can go wrong."

Silent, Brennan allowed Booth to rant for the last three miles to the crime scene. So far this is very amusing.

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After a long morning at the crime scene, once Booth dropped Brennan off at the Jeffersonian, Booth drove back to the Jeffersonian and had one of his agents call someone to come and take a look at his SUV.

The afternoon was spent working on paper work and making phone calls as part of his investigation. Engrossed in a case file Agent Saunders had turned in, Booth didn't hear the man at the door until he knocked on the doorframe. "Yeah!" Booth looked up and stared at the man in the doorway.

"Yeah, I brought your truck back." Stepping into the room, Barry handed Booth a piece of paper. "We put it up on the rack and searched for anything that might have caused the noise and we didn't find anything. We test drove it for about ten miles, did some sudden braking and still nothing out of the ordinary."

Not really satisfied, Booth sighed. "I heard what I heard. It makes a noise when I brake suddenly . . . well not all the time, but a lot of the time. I'm telling you something's wrong."

Barry shook his head, "Hey I even looked under the seats just in case you had a coke can under there. I couldn't find anything to make that noise . . . tell you what . . . you hear it again, call me and I'll be happy to look at it again." Barry turned and left the office.

After the mechanic left, Booth stared at the empty doorway and thought about the noise and it suddenly dawned on him that he might have been played. "Bones . . . Bones that wasn't very nice."

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That evening, Booth looked through Brennan's messenger bag while she was taking a shower and found the small can at the bottom of the bag. It was taped shut and when he gently shook it, he heard the sound he'd heard in his SUV. Quickly placing the can back where he'd found it, Booth left his bedroom and walked out to the garage where he created his own little noise maker. Once it was made, he placed it in Brennan's car under the passenger seat. Just to make it harder on her, he taped it to the bottom of the seat with duct tape. He'd used a old small juice can and placed a handful of washers inside the can before he'd taped the lid closed. Two can play at that game, Bones.

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Booth had to drive to the Hoover for an early meeting, so that meant that Brennan would have to drive to work. She had barely started her trip, when she heard a strange noise coming from somewhere in her car every time she slowed the car down with her brakes. A quick glance at Christine found her child sleeping in her car seat. Since the little girl wasn't the source of the noise, Brennan pulled over into a service station and parked near the entrance. One she had parked the car, she got out of the car and looked under her seat. The floor clean, she walked around the car, opened the door and looked under the passenger seat and didn't see anything there either. After she checked the floor under the back seats, the glove box and the trunk, Brennan hadn't found the source of the noise and she was very annoyed.

On the way once more, Brennan heard the noise several times before she finally arrived at the Jeffersonian. As soon as she delivered her child to Day Care, she hurried to the Lab and asked Hodgins to examine her car when he had time. The noise worried her and she wanted to know if she needed to take it to the repair shop.

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Hodgins entered Brennan's office and plunked the can filled with washers on Brennan's desk. "I found this taped to the bottom of the passenger seat . . . Booth is playing a trick on you . . . or I'm guessing it's him anyway."

Her tongue skimming the top of her teeth, Brennan nodded her head. "It would seem he's trying to play joke on me."

Amused, Hodgins smiled. "That's actually pretty funny. I might have to try that one on Angela." With a wave of his hand, the entomologist left the office leaving behind a very annoyed anthropologist.

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She met him for lunch at the Royal Diner. Once she was seated across the table from Booth, she pulled the small can from her bag, placed it on the table and placed her purse next to the window. "Very funny Booth."

Staring at that the can, Booth smiled. "How long did it take you to find it?"

Honest with her answer, Brennan folded her arms against her chest. "I didn't find it. Hodgins found it for me. This is a very lame joke, Booth. I don't think it's very amusing at all."

Booth stood up, reached for Brennan's bag, opened it and rummaged around in the bag.

Stunned, Brennan spluttered, "Booth . . . what are you doing . . . "Once he pulled a similar can from her purse, she stopped talking and stared in wonder at her mate. "How did . . ."

"Ha!" Settled back on his chair, Booth handed Brennan her purse. "Very lame Bones . . . very lame."

The idea that they had both used the same joke to fool each other suddenly seemed very amusing to her which made Brennan laugh. "This is very funny, Booth. You and I used the same joke and we were both successful in fooling the other . . . well at least for a while." Her laughter loud enough to cause heads to turn, Brennan shook her head. "We are very amusing."

Unable to prevent it, Booth smiled and then chuckled. "We are Bones. We are very amusing . . . also our jokes are very lame."

"That's what I love about them, Booth." Brennan smiled at her partner and mate. "It's ours and we love them . . . don't we?"

Slowly nodding his head, Booth reached across the table and grasped her hand. "We do love it, Bones . . . it's definitely our thing."

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This is the last chapter of this story. I hope you liked it. Let me know. Thanks.