She glances at her watch impatiently and then back to Booth, he shrugs in apology and looks around the fire station for what feels like the hundredth time since they arrived. She sees his face soften into a smile and follows his gaze to the man approaching them from behind a pumper truck. Crossing her arms over her chest she smiles when the two men hug fiercely and then engage in some playful sparring. After a moment, Booth pats the younger man's back. Brennan takes in the younger man's appearance appreciatively and watches the exchange with curiosity.

"Good to see you little brother."

"Yeah Seeley, it's great to be home again." Making a pointed glance over his big brother's shoulder he flashes a dangerously charming smile at Brennan who feels her cheeks flame instantly. "And, who have we got here?"

Booth blushes at his lack of manners before steering his brother over to Brennan, he gestures between them both. "Jared, this is my partner, Dr Temperance Brennan. Bones, this is my little brother Jared."

Jared reaches for her hand and they shake gently, his eyes never leaving hers as he smiles inquisitively. "Bones?"

"Please, call me Temperance… it's your brother's excuse for an endearment." She rolls her eyes to illustrate her disapproval and gives him a lopsided grin.

"Nice to meet you. He said you were pretty… he didn't mention beautiful." Booth watches the exchange curiously and is taken aback by the blush that creeps further up her face. He also notices a familiar interest in his brother's expression and uses this as his cue to interrupt the exchange.

"So, Jared… we're just about to head for lunch. Just thought we'd pop by and see how you are settling in. Always on dangerous ground when I keep Bones away from her food."

Brennan looks at Booth quickly and then back to Jared smiling. "Come with us? You can tell me all about Booth when he was a kid. It'd be great to hear anything that I can use as ammunition against Booth somewhere along the line."

Booth's face drops as his brother smiles widely. "I'd love to… And I've got plenty of stories to share… Let me just go tell the guys that I'm heading off early." Jared walks away from them both and Brennan smirks self consciously. Booth watches her closely.

"He can just leave?"

"Yeah, Jared's the fire chief. He's pretty much always on call, he's responsible for these guys."

"So he's transferred here permanently?"

Booth turns his focus back to her but hers is completely attuned to his younger brother who is quickly approaching. He frowns and shoves his hands into his pocket. Jared holds out his arm for Brennan and she takes it without hesitation, Booth waits for them to pass and then follows behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She smiles serenely listening to Jared recounting tales of his childhood with Booth. The resemblance between the brothers is almost uncanny, same warm brown eyes, muscular olive tone body, that same 'charm' smile that she expects must run throughout his family. There was no doubt that the Booth family had good genes. Jared was a couple of years younger than Booth and his features remained youthful. She had felt an instant attraction and the way that his warm gaze settled on her every now and then she was fairly sure that he had felt it too. She has never been one to be able to recognise immediate 'chemistry' but with Jared, he oozes confidence and charm. Booth had remained fairly quiet throughout lunch, only occasionally rebuffing Jared's accusations of memories that had played out a lifetime ago.

Jared settles back into his chair and takes a sip of his iced tea, the ice chinking off of the side of the glass. He regards Brennan slowly and then a slow smile spreads across his lips. She cocks her eyebrow in question. "You know something See? It just struck me, doesn't Temperance look more than just a little like Sara Maxwell?"

"Jared…" Booth's warning tone sounded across the table making Jared's smile widen. She knows this tone, but she's never once seen anyone rebel against it. Normally she would be about to drop whatever subject he was warning her from, but in Jared's presence her courage soars.

"Who's Sara?"

Jared leans across the table conspiratorially. Booth sighs in defeat as Brennan leans into his younger brother, enticed. "Sara Maxwell was Seeley's first love.. He chased after her all the way through high school. She didn't even know he existed."

"Booth.. I always had you figured as a charmer."

Booth shakes his head and takes a sip of his drink. "Apparently, Jared's always been the charmer… He knew that I liked her, but he dated her.. I never had the courage."

"Seeley and I always went for the same girls. I guess after a while he learned to be smarter and started to develop an interest in an entirely different type of female… Tall, leggy, blonde. I however am happy to admit that I've stayed true to brunettes with brains."

She blushes furiously at his insinuation and Booth groans silently. The rest of the afternoon is spent sharing pleasant conversation and childhood stories. The competitive rivalry between the two brothers still painfully evident to her.

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Right guys, let me know what you think so far, am going to develop this into a case but just wanna know what you are thinking so far? Continue? End it? I know it's short at the moment, I promise if the consensus is to continue then I'll post again soon.

If you are trying to picture Booth's brother paste this link into your browser to see my inspiration.. Grrr

http/images.