This is going to be a collection of short stories. Some will be sad and some will be amusing.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooo

It seemed like a day never went by when one of her classmates didn't have something snide or mean to say to Temperance Brennan and that made Ray Buxley so angry and so sad. The child had no friends that he could see and it reminded him too much of his own childhood.

He tried to keep an eye on the lonely teenager and talked to her when he could. He found out that she was a science nerd and she was interested in forensic anthropology. He'd had to look that one up and had been suitably impressed when he'd discovered what it was.

He talked to his sister Mavis about it and she pointed out that he could probably help her with her studies by finding dead animals in the woods behind the school and saving them for her to cut up and examine.

Ray had been a little worried that the girl might think he was some kind of pervert giving her animal carcasses, but Mavis had pointed out that Temperance needed a friend and she needed someone to encourage her in her studies. The child was a diamond stuck in a pile of coal and she and Ray were the only ones that could help that little gem shine. No one else seemed to care.

Oooooooooooooooooo

He'd found her in the back of the school crying and it made him want to kill someone. "Temperance . . . what's wrong Temperance."

Quickly wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater, the child cleared her throat and turned towards the school janitor. "Nothing . . . nothing is wrong."

Ray may have been a man with a limited education, but he was smarter than most of the adults that lived in the child's world. "Hey, Mavis made you some peanut butter cookies. Let me go get them for you. It will cheer you right up."

Her tears gone, Temperance immediately followed Ray as he walked to his office. "I'll go with you. This is my lunch hour so no one will miss me."

His heart aching for the teenager, Ray allowed her to follow him. "Oh, hey Mavis made me a huge lunch and there is no way I can finish it. Would you do me a big favor and help me eat it? You know how Mavis is, if I don't finish it she'll just fuss at me and you know I hate that. She's one of them control freaks you know."

Although she'd never met Mavis, Ray talked about her a lot and Temperance had grown fond of her. "Yes, of course."

Once she was in Ray's office, she sat down next to his desk and watched as he opened a desk drawer and pulled out a paper bag filled with delicious food. Once the two ham sandwiches, the baggy of corn chips, baggy of carrot sticks, baggy of cookies were on the table, he opened his little fridge and pulled out two bottles of coke. "Ha we got us a real feast here. Better that there mystery crap they palm off on you kids and call it nutritious. That bread is homemade and no preservatives and same for the cookies. You know Mavis runs the bakery downtown and no one makes bread and cakes and cookies like she can."

After everything was equally divided, Ray was careful to make sure she ate everything. He didn't trust those Foster parents of hers and he wasn't so sure they fed her right. He vowed to bring food every day and try to pass it on to her. Someone had to take care of the child. "Oh hey, I found a dead skunk in the woods yesterday . . . I brought him here and put him in the fridge. If you want, we can cut him up and look at his insides . . . if you want."

Surprised, Temperance smiled at her friend. "Thank you Mr. Buxley. That sounds like fun."

Pleased that she was interested, Ray nodded his head. "Tell you what. Whenever I find something like that, I'll bring it to school and we can look at it together. Learn how them things I find are put together."

Excited, Temperance finished her sandwich. "Why are you so good to me Mr. Buxley?"

Caught by surprise, Ray rubbed the back of his head. "My late wife died giving birth to my little baby girl. The poor baby didn't live more than a day . . . she'd be about your age now, almost. Anyway, I like you, you got smarts . . . hell let's face it, there ain't no one in this school smarter than you I think. You got what they call potential. If you can keep up with your studies . . . work real hard, you could earn one of those scholarships they give to smart kids and you could leave all these losers behind. You're going to be someone someday, Temperance. I just know it and well, I want to help you because well, if my little baby girl had lived I'd hope she was smart and brave like you are . . . You ignore all these mean kids around here Temperance. School is only a short time in your life and then you'll be away and you can go where you want. You just got to be patient . . . . Do you understand?

His words were the first words of encouragement she'd received since her parents had abandoned her and she soaked them up like a sponge. "I will. Thank you."

Pleased that the child had listened to him, Ray smiled at her. "You're going to be important someday Temperance and when that happens, I'll be able to tell everyone that I was your friend. I am your friend, Temperance. You remember that. When everyone around here is giving you a hard time, you remember Ray and Mavis Buxley are your friends."

"I will." She'd never had an adult friend and somehow it made her feel older and she liked that.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Prom week was fast approaching and Ray saw the writing on the wall. Not one boy in the school was going to step up to the plate and invite Temperance to the party. "Mavis it's just not right. She's almost out of school and them classmates of hers are just as horrible to Temperance as they was last year. Not one of those boys have asked our girl to the Prom. Not one."

Appalled, Mavis sat down on the chair across from Ray and placed her chin in her hand. "We need to have a party for her. We could invite some of our friends and I could bake a cake and stuff and well . . . she wouldn't be alone on Prom night . . . I just hate her classmates."

Slowly nodding his head, Ray thought about it and came to the realization that it was up to them to make Temperance happy. "You're right. We'll invite a few friends and we'll dress up . . . suits and long dresses and . . . yeah, I think we can do it . . . You know Temperance's foster parents barely buy her clothes as it is and I don't want her to waste her money she makes from her part-time job so . . ." He didn't want to seem too forward and maybe he was crossing a line he shouldn't.

Mavis knew how the world was so she knew why her brother was hesitating. "I'll buy her a prom dress. I know the manager of the dress shop "What A Night". She might be able to sell me one at a decent price."

Surprised with the offer, Ray beamed at his sister. "She don't need no damn Prom. If she went her classmates would just ignore her. We'll make sure she has a nice party, something to remember."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

The day before the Prom, Ray met Temperance in his office for lunch. "Hey Temperance. You ain't going to the Prom are you?"

Rather sadly, Temperance shook her head. "No."

Slowly nodding his head, Ray smiled. "Mavis and me are having a party tomorrow night and we wanted to invite you, but not if you were going to the Prom. I'm glad you aren't so now you can come to our party. We're going to have cake and them hors d'oeuvres and punch and probably some finger sandwiches and anyway, Mavis and me want you to come if you want to. Course you don't have to, we just wanted you there because you're going to graduate real soon and then when you get out of here we don't want you to come back and well we want to say good-bye with a party."

Shocked, Brennan's eyes filled with film of tears. "Thank you, Mr. Buxley. Of course, I'll come."

"Good, I'll come pick you up from that house you live in tomorrow night at six." Pleased that she was coming, Ray grinned. "Mavis is looking forward to meeting you."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

On the night of the Prom, Temperance stood in front of the house at ten 'til six and waited patiently. Her foster parents hadn't questioned where she was going and that was fine with her. They never seemed to care what she was up to and at the end of the school year she'd be moving out. They hadn't been the worse foster parents she'd had. Temperance had preferred the indifference to the abuse of previous homes.

At exactly six, Ray pulled up and waited patiently for Brennan to enter his truck. After they arrived at the house he shared with his sister, Ray led her into the house and introduced her to Mavis.

"Oh Honey, I am so glad to finally meet you." Mavis saw the beautiful teenager in front of her and just shook her head in puzzlement that anyone would mistreat someone like Temperance.

Nervously, Temperance noticed the long formal dress Mavis wore as well the formal clothes the guests wore in the in the living room. "I think I'm under dressed."

Amused, Mavis hooked her arm around Temperance's arm. "My dear, come with me." After they arrived in Mavis' bedroom, she showed the young woman a dress lying on the bed. "This is for you. It's a graduation present from me and Ray."

Shocked, Temperance stared in wonder at the dress and after Mavis insisted it was really hers, she put it on. With a few pins in her hair, Mavis stared in wonder at the beautiful woman standing before her. "You are going to make someone a lovely bride someday."

"Oh, I'm never getting married." If there was thing Temperance Brennan knew, love was too risky and she would never be hurt by anyone in her life ever again. Never.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Irritated, Booth rummaged through the closet, trying to find his tuxedo for the party next week. He needed to take it to the dry cleaners, but he couldn't find it. Pulling out a long bag, he opened it and found a long formal dress he'd never seen before. The deep plum color was attractive and he wondered why'd he'd never seen Brennan wear it.

Unaware that Booth was in the room, Brennan entered the bedroom and stopped. "Booth, what are you doing in my closet? You have your own closet you know."

Stepping back from the closet, he held up the opened garment bag. "Hey Bones, this is real pretty. How come I've never seen you wear it?"

Her eyes on the dress, Brennan cheeks became warm with a rosy color. "It's . . . it's an old dress Booth. I've only ever worn it once."

Not sure why she was reacting like that, Booth thought he'd embarrassed her and that was not what he'd intended. Quickly, he zipped the bag back up and placed it back in the closet. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . . yeah, I'm looking for my tux and I thought maybe you put in here and um . . . what's wrong?"

Memories flooding her, Brennan moved over to the bed and sat down. "Nothing is wrong. I haven't looked at the dress for a very long time . . . It was the first formal dress I ever owned."

Their personal relationship fairly new, Booth didn't want to cross lines that he shouldn't, but when he thought about it he wasn't really sure what the lines were with his girlfriend. Booth sat down next to her and placed his hand on her thigh. "Do you want to talk about it? It seems to have a sentimental meaning or you wouldn't have kept it."

Brennan didn't like to talk about her past, but this was one of the few happy memories she had and why not talk to Booth about it? If anyone would understand it would be him. "I told you that I didn't go to the Prom at my high school."

Carefully keeping a neutral face, Booth knew that sharing her past was hard for Brennan. "Yeah."

"Mr. Buxley and his sister had a party on Prom night and invited me." Those were sad times in her life and Mr. Buxley and his sister were the one bright spot she had in her life at that time. "Mavis bought me that dress and everyone at the party dressed formally. It was a wonderful party. Everyone was very kind to me and all of the male guests danced with me at least once and I actually had a very nice time. I . . . It was a graduation present."

His chest felt tight and this was one of those time where he wished he could confront those horrible class mates of hers and beat the shit out of them. "I'm glad you had a friend in school, Bones. I'm glad Mr. Buxley was so kind to you."

As she leaned against Booth, Brennan gripped his hand. "It was long time ago and I rarely think about it anymore, but yes . . . Mr. Buxley and his sister were very kind to me and they encouraged me to study hard. Mr. Buxley told me that he knew I would be important someday and he did everything he could to help me study . . . he was . . . he was a wonderful friend."

His arm around her, Booth pulled her against him. "Well, I'm your best friend now along with Angela and we're a family. The past is the past and we can't live there. You and me, we're the future . . . I love you Bones."

"I love you too, Booth."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

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