(The year is 1999.)

This story idea hit me, while I was watching a new show on CBS. I sure miss not having any new Bones shows to look forward to. Warning: this story is rated T for violence.

I don't own Bones.

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Their mission was simple. The political situation in Guatemala was tense and the fact that there was an archaeological dig in progress in the country that had been sponsored by The Jeffersonian Institute in Washington D.C. didn't help matters. There were suspicions that the scientists had been sent to identify the remains of civilians that had been murdered by the military and that made certain people very nervous.

The CIA had found out that certain rogue elements in the country had plans to kill the scientists at the dig. The group in question was leery of American interference and they felt that the Americans should be forced to leave the country by any means necessary. Since the United States had no right to send American soldiers into another country without permission, the CIA started to formulate a plan to keep the members of the dig safe until they could find the leader of the anti-American group and make him change his mind, one way or the other.

Master Sergeant Seeley Booth, along with three other U.S Army Rangers were assigned the task of helping the CIA keep the Jeffersonian group safe while the search was on for Ricardo Conedera, the leader of the group that had threatened to kill the Americans. Since Dr. Burnsides, the camp coordinator was relying upon the Guatemalan soldiers assigned to guard their camp to protect them and Booth and his men were in the country illegally, they would have to do their jobs without anyone in the camp knowing they were there.

Corporal John Green, found the situation amusing. "Master Sergeant, those squints will never know we're here."

"Squints?" Booth had never heard that term before. "What's a squint?"

The corporal felt pity for Booth's lack of education. "My brother James works for the FBI at the New York field office. He calls all scientists squints. He says it's because they squint at everything when they're on the job. He says unless something is right under their noses, they don't really pay attention to what's going on around them."

"That seems a little condescending. They can't all be that way." At least I hope not. Booth had never worked with scientists so he had no idea how they behaved. "We'll have to set up our camp about a mile from their camp. Two of us will watch the camp during the day and two will watch at night. Let's keep in mind that there are soldiers at the camp too not just squints. We're not here to start a war or to get involved in a fire fight with the Guatemalan Army. We're only going to stay until Ricardo Conedera has been taken care of. We don't want to piss off the Guatemalan government which will happen if they find out we're here. Also, from what I hear, Dr. Burnsides can be a real prick, so it'd be better if he doesn't know we're here either."

"We'll be careful, Master Sergeant." Green looked at Corporal Higgins and frowned. "You have company." Green brushed his hand across his friend's shoulder and knocked a large spider off. "I like deserts. Too many creepy crawlies in a jungle."

Stomping on the spider, Corporal Higgins cursed softly. "At least it wasn't a fucking snake."

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Booth decided to take the day shift. He was very careful how he moved around the camp and made sure that no one knew he was there. The camp was set up about 500 yards from the actual dig which consisted of three stone and mortar structures. None of the buildings were shaped like a pyramid, but he knew that not all Mayan buildings were. In this case, each building appeared to be a four-walled building with no roof. All three of them were mostly covered in vines and other plant life. After a little reconnoitering, he found that the scientists were digging up the floors of each building. He also spotted one of the squints digging in an area roughly twenty feet from the buildings. Curious about what was so special about that spot, he moved into position and watched the scientist digging very carefully. He couldn't really see what she was excavating, so decided to study her instead. She was wearing a cream colored sleeveless shirt, a broad hat that hid most of her face from him, canvas shorts and sturdy work boots. It was hard to judge how she looked, but he could tell she appeared to be healthy and probably young.

Not willing to stay in one place for long, he moved around the camp once every thirty minutes, checking with Green who was situated on the opposite side of the camp to see if there was anything he needed to know. Once that was done, he would make his way back to the lady digging in the dirt and watch her. He wasn't sure why he found her fascinating, but she was. Around noon, a young man came by carrying a canvas bag and gave it to her. She removed her hat, wiped her forehead, face and hands with a handkerchief and smiled at the young man.

For a moment, Booth forgot to breathe. She was beautiful. Once she was standing, he could see she had a classic curvy body, chestnut hair, dark green eyes, skin like peaches and such a beautiful smile. He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.

"Enjoy your lunch, Temperance." Oh, so that's her name.

Once the young man was gone, she moved over to a semi-rotten log and sat down on it. Rummaging in the bag, she pulled out a bottle of water. Once the cap was cracked, she twisted it off and drank the entire bottle of water. A look of satisfaction on her face, she removed a sandwich from the bag, unwrapped it and ate it. Her movements were methodical and none were wasted.

He couldn't help, but stare at her. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and he wanted to know more about her, but of course, she didn't know he was there and it had to be that way. Booth watched her open another wrapped sandwich and he admired that she ate that one too. He loved a woman with a hearty appetite. None of that fake dainty shit. Give me a woman who loves food.

Hungry, he opened the knapsack he had with him, removed three trail mix bars, a bottle of water from the bag and took care of lunch. While he watched her finish eating, he removed a candy bar from the bag and glared at it. He wanted a chocolate bar, but he knew the heat would just melt it. Instead he had a Payday bar which was okay, but it wasn't chocolate.

Her lunch complete, the lady squint placed the trash in the bag carried it over to where she had been excavating and dropped the bag on the edge. Once more on her knees, she picked up a trowel and continued to dig.

Unaware of the passage of time, Corporal Green soon showed up and tapped Booth on the shoulder. Startled, Booth reacted by throwing the corporal over his shoulder and pressed his gun against the man's forehead. "Shit!" He hissed at Green. "What the hell are you doing over here?"

Alarmed at Booth's reaction, the corporal glared at the man. "You missed your rendezvous. I wanted to see why." His voice was low, but Booth could hear the anger. "You know if I was one of the bad guys, I would have slit your throat. I wouldn't have tapped you on the shoulder, you idiot."

Not apologetic at all, Booth holstered his weapon, checked to make sure that Temperance hadn't heard them and turned back to his friend. "Go back to your position and I'll make my rounds."

Green glanced over at the person squatting over an open trench and smiled. "She is kinda pretty, Master Sergeant. I can see why you lost track of time."

"Fuck off." Booth was furious that Green had crept up on him and he hadn't heard him. That was the kind of mistake that could get a man killed and he was better than that. "Go back to your position and make sure you swing by the camp and see what the soldiers are doing. The last time I looked they were playing cards."

"They're taking their job seriously I see." Smith sighed. "I hope they catch Conedera soon."

Booth agreed. "Yeah." Once the corporal was gone, Booth moved further back and made sure a tree was at his back. He could still see the squint, but he was far enough away to obscure some of her assets. "Damn it! Get your act together. Shit!" He was furious that he had let himself be mesmerized by the beautiful scientist. He had a job to do, but he couldn't do it if he was dead or sitting in a Guatemalan prison.

Moving away from the scientist, he checked on the other squints, the camp and the soldiers. Everything was quiet and he hoped it stayed that way. He hadn't been the one assigned to track down Conedera, but he knew that the man with that assignment was one of the best in the field. Almost as good as he was. Jacob Brodsky would do his job and hopefully they'd be back in the States in a few days. In the meantime, he would act professionally and not let his fascination with Temperance get in the way. Of course, once his job was done, he might find out just who Temperance was and find a way to meet her. Damn she is so hot!

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Interesting?