A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long- it's just that I love writing this fic and don't want to force it when it doesn't feel right. So many chunks are already written and there is so much I want to include in between that it doesn't always work out so easily. I promise more regular updates in the future, though! Thank you all for your kind words and support; four reviews short of a 100 now- let's go all the way!

THANK YOU to the guest reviewer who pointed out the double-paste. It's been rectified!

The Slap in the Face

-That Made Its Way into the Papers

She had handled the press statement with a dignity and poise that took his breath away and made him feel strangely proud. And then she announced that she would be the new female protagonist on the TV series, Bones, and the gathered crowd of reporters went wild as she stepped down from the dais, turning towards him with a confident smile where he stood on the sidelines – he had made a point to be invisible, because he didn't want to distract their attention from what she had to say. His speech had been short and to the point, only to introduce her- he had answered one unscripted question yelled at him at the end that pertained to her, and the studio's controversial hiring decision in the midst of all this publicity, on his way down the steps, but otherwise stuck to a policy of no-questions- 'Ms. Brennan is an excellent actress and I could not be more pleased with their choice. I look forward to working with her. Any questions bout me can be directed to my press agent. Goodnight.' But Brennan's speech, while anything but short, had been inspiring. Without giving any names, she expressed and incited sympathy for the other victims of Hasty's advances who unlike herself had not been so lucky in getting away. She spoke in a cool, collected tone about the unjust practices of sexual harassment at the workplace which many women in Hollywood had come to accept as an expected part of the environment. Perhaps too cool and collected for some, it turned out the next day.

The next day...

'SEELEY BOOTH!'

Booth gulped. He had been munching on a donut which he held in one hand and balancing a coffee cup in the other, and waiting for her to arrive. That voice, that angry tone could only belong to one person – Caroline Julian. Not Temperance Brennan. He chewed and swallowed quickly, gulped down some of his coffee to clear his dry throat, then turned slowly to face the lawyer on a rampage heading towards him with a huge smile.

'Caroline'.

'Oh, don't you even think of charming your way out of this one, Mr. Movie Star-'

'Caroline…maybe you should tell me what happened, huh?'

'What happened? I'll show you what happened.' And she thrust something into his chest. He looked down. A rolled up wad of newspapers. That was never good. This time he had a feeling it was worse.

Calmly, he opened the first one, and frowned instantly.

'Temperance Brennan…seemingly eloquent but almost unfeeling… disturbingly calm given the ordeal she went through… rather a cold fish…'

What the fuck? That was surprising. Were they blind? Unfeeling his - But it wasn't the end of the world. He read on.

'Seeley Booth, looking rugged and handsome as usual, hair spiky and wet as if he had just stepped out of the shower-' he had, much to the dismay of his make-up artist Cora who was hardly ever allowed to touch him before public appearances. He frowned as he came to the next line.

'...the action star turned vampirish heartthrob referred to his soon-to-be leading lady only by her last name in an uncharacteristic display of formality and gravitas, leading reporters to wonder whether there might be some ice between the two that has yet to thaw. The ever-friendly and affable Booth seemed less than forthcoming on this particular occasion and...'

Jesus. He'd said only one line about her and it had been all praise, and this is what they'd gotten out of it? Something wasn't right about this. The press had seemed to lap up everything she had to say afterward. But never mind, he could always set the record straight... No use getting worked up about this- and he wondered why Caroline was, when she was usually the voice of reason about these things.

'So they thought she was cold, so what? This is just – oh.'

He opened the newspaper and there was a picture of them, right there on the front page, glaring atop article that took up the rest of it. A picture of them in the parking lot.

'Yeah, OH.'

A picture of her slapping him in the parking lot. He winced.

Well, that explained everything. They hated her- and because she had hit him.

'Mr. Booth. Ms. Julian.' Dr. Goodman appeared in the corridor just outside his office, his deep voice even and sombre. 'It appears there have been some new- developments with the press.'

The director paused only a moment before settling on the word. In truth, he was slightly nervous- though he hid it completely, of course. This could spell bad things if the whole issue wasn't resolved quickly.

'Damn right there have been some new developments-'

'Ms. Julian, please. We are all rational – and might I remind you, resourceful – adults, I'm sure we can reach a quick resolution that will adequately satisfy all involved with this…situation.'

'What situation?' Booth had looked up the moment she entered, and the other two turned to face the owner of that husky voice he loved so much as she spoke, too.

'Morning, Bones.'

He smiled at her – he couldn't help himself – in spite of the warning glare from Caroline that the action prompted.

She blinked at them once before Booth greeted her, then turned the most beautiful smile on him.

'Good morning.'

His heart, which had stopped, started beating again at a dangerously furious pace.

The other two stared - somewhat incredulously - at the exchange. Booth and Brennan stared at each other. It was civil-but-charged, but undoubtedly civil. Even Goodman was slightly taken aback, but he could have been overcome by silent relief at that point, knowing it was fully behind them- whatever the hell it was this time.

Caroline raised a sardonic brow. 'What, you two don't wanna exchange any blows this time? Throw some punches?' she gestured magnanimously. 'Don't stop on our account.'

Brennan's brow furrowed, and she automatically turned to Booth for an explanation, nose wrinkling cutely in confusion.

'Blows?'

'Oh, yes', the lawyer trilled sarcastically. 'I hear you have quite the right hook. Everyone's talking about it, and I'd love to have the chance to see it in action for real this time. Personally, I would prefer it if you could get it out of the way now, so we don't have to worry about the assault charges later. Where there are no witnesses.'

'What is she talking about?' Brennan questioned confusedly.

Booth rolled his eyes at Caroline's dramantics (a word he had come up with inside his head to describe her drama + antics).

'Nothing.'

When Brennan continued to look confusedly curious, he showed her the newspaper all the same before Caroline could break the headlines in a still more unpleasant way. They all paused for a beat as she looked at the paper in his hand which she automatically reached for, and then she raised her eyes to his before she opened it.

'Is this very bad?'

'No', Booth replied instantly, licking his lips and leaning closer to intently convey his meaning and reassurance.

'YES!'

'No.' He moved closer to her and took her elbow gently. Luckily, Caroline didn't make any remarks about potential assault charges.

'Look, don't listen to Caroline, alright? These things happen, and they blow over all the time. There's no need-'

He was interrupted by a surprisingly - and lethally- calm, 'Why don't you open the paper and see for yourself, Cher?'

Biting her lip, Brennan unrolled the paper as Booth handed it to her with a sigh. She opened it right onto the photograph of them – the large, granulated black and white photograph, but undoubtedly a photograph of them, that covered most of the top. The photograph of her slapping him across the face. She looked up at him, an almost sheepish unreadable look in her eyes, lip caught between her teeth, and then he chuckled slightly as she cracked a small smile, and the amusement in the situation caught up with them. They started to laugh.

'Have you two gone crazy?! You're laughing about this? This could end your career, and you're laughing.'

'Caroline-'

'Ms. Julian-'

'I don't know you, but-'

'That's right, and nobody knows you either. Keep this up and nobody ever will. You, your career's barely begun. And you, boy, this could end the career of your fine ass.'

'Is that true, Booth?'

'No.' He raised a hand to his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'That's just how she talks sometimes.'

He rolled his eyes at Caroline again- this time she caught it.

'Don't you sass me, young man.'

'What happened to all publicity is good publicity?' Brennan piped up, lightly waving the newspaper that hung limply in her hand. 'I thought people loved this sort of thing in Hollywood'.

Caroline redirected her ire on this new subject.

'Oh, scandal sells baby, but the commodity has got to already exist – and Booth, Booth is lining shelves all over the country. You, on the other hand-'

Booth interjected once more. 'Caroline, it's really not a big deal, I'll just talk to a few more reporters-' he spat the word distastefully- 'and I'm sure the whole thing will just get sorted ou-'

Now you listen here, you're not talking to anyone without my-'

'Ms. Julian', Goodman interjected smoothly. 'If you would come this way, please, so we can all confer in private.' He placed a hand on her shoulder to steer her in the opposite direction, trusting his actors would follow.

The moment they had some privacy, Booth turned to her. 'Hi', he said softly.

'Hi', she smiled right back, breathtakingly beautiful, and he couldn't look away.

You look beautiful.A booming voice from down the corridor interrupted them, making Booth flush before he could get out the next sentence. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

'If you two are done making gooey eyes at each other, would you follow me and the good director so we can get this business sorted, please. You heard the man. We're going to go someplace else so I can yell at you in private.'

Brennan sighed, and Booth turned to follow her down the corridor, one hand resting on the small of her back to guide them forward in the right direction.

'We're just waiting for the security guard to bring us the tape from downstairs', Goodman announced as they entered the empty room, bare of any furnishings or decoration save for the large flatscreen mounted on the far wall.

'Is he the one who leaked the tape?' Brennan questioned.

'No', Goodman responded. 'But we managed to identify the perpetrator, and he has been let go.'

'Did he have to be fired?' Booth winced. He knew how hard it could be to work a 9-5 job with no decent payment or appreciation, surrounded by successful snobbish bastards (like you, his mind reminded him painfully) who couldn't give a shit about all the little men walking around without any claim to fame or status. He knew how tempting it could be to be offered a large sum of money to share an inconsequential detail about the lives of these people, most of whom thought you weren't worth a moment of their time or even a second glance. Hell, the offer of a large sum of money had been what got him into acting in the first place, hadn't it? Ofcourse, he'd never have ratted someone out or shared intimate details of celebrities' personal lives for money, no matter how foul or despicable their personalities, but he'd become one of them instead. Sold his soul, in effect, and wasn't that worse? He felt like he would be able to confide all these things to Bones, for some strange reason – not today, perhaps- it wasn't the right moment – and maybe not in the immediate future, but over time. He felt like she would understand.

A security guard entered the room only moments after them, snapping Booth's attention back to his surroundings (and away from Bones), and the young man made a valiant effort not to look around at them all, but failed not to cast an awe-filled gaze around the room quickly, before turning to address the director.

'Uh, Mr. Goodman, sir, here's the tape you requested.'

'Ah, yes. And just in time. Thank you, Charlie.'

Charlie nodded and scurried off, resisting the impulse to take another look around the room. His gaze flickered helplessly to Brennan, though, staring at the wall with her arms crossed and an intense look of concentration on her face. Booth rolled his eyes but kept from saying anything else. Temperance Brennan really was something. He could hardly blame the guy for being hopelessly drawn to her when he felt the same way. He exhaled heavily inspite of himself, causing Charlie to look at him- he glared quietly without realising it and raised an eyebrow coolly, and the guard coloured and quickened his pace. Brennan turned to look at him at the sound, though, and their eyes locked. God. Neither of them noticed or atleast registered his exit.

'Right, then. Shall we begin?'

Their eyes snapped to Goodman who moved briskly towards the screen in front of them, and Caroline simply harrumphed silently in a corner, not saying a word. Booth registered somewhere in the back of his mind that this could only mean bad things for the rest of them, but Goodman had popped the tape in and as the screen in front of them came to life, Booth moved automatically closer to Brennan.

'What are we watching again?'

Goodman answered her, stepping back from the screen to watch with them.

'The security footage that was leaked to the press, Ms. Brennan. Thankfully, they weren't able to detect any audio from this, and I doubt we will either.' Caroline remained silent in her corner of the room. Booth wondered if someone looked closely enough, they could see her emitting fumes.

He stepped closer to Brennan, invading her personal space now.

The security footage played out- granulated and fuzzy- ending with a resounding slap that they couldn't really hear but seemed to echo through the room anyway. The audio was choppy and full of white noise, but they could imagine every word as if it had just happeed.

'Let go of me!'

'I will if you would just-'

'Ow! What the hell?!'

'You are a bully! You- you grab my arm just like Hasty, you use your looks and your status to intimidate people!'

'Really? The way you use your theatrical background and acting chops to make people around you feel stupid!'

'Well you are a stupid man! I hate you!'

'Oh, you hate me? What are you ten years old? I'm not your dad!'

'I will never work with you again!'

'Who asked you?!'

The video paused.

Booth and Brennan fought and lost the impulse to look at each other. They looked away quickly, facing forwards. Brennan pursed her lips and covered her mouth and Booth desperately tried to force his lips not to twitch upwards by thinking of press junkets and taxes and any other boring thing he could think of.

'Well?' Goodman turned to his stars, remote raised in one hand as hit the pause button. 'Is there anything either of you would like to say about the incident?

They looked at him, back at each other, and then back to him again- then shook their heads in coordination.

'Very well, then', Goodman continued. 'I think we can all agree that another press conference is in order. It will be made clear that the issue has been resolved. You will both announce that there is no lingering animosity between the two of you and-'

'VERY WELL?' Caroline finally explode- spoke. 'VERY WELL? THAT'S ALL?'

'Is there a problem?' Goodman's eyebrows shot up.

'You're damn right there's a problem.' Caroline stepped forward, even more formidable than usual in all her wrath. 'She-' here she pointed a finger at Brennan. 'Punched him'- indicating Booth. 'In the face, seemingly unprovoked. Her second charge of instigated violence in two days, might I add. My client could sue her for assault.'

'Uh, Caroline, I think you'd need my cooperation for that', Booth was forced to pitch in.

'Well, Ms. Julian, surely there can be no need for Mr. Booth and Ms. Brennan to disclose any details that may be private-' Goodman cut in. He was an intensely private man, and the epitome of professionalism, and Booth respected that- but Caroline cut him off and rounded on Booth instead.

'Ohhh, I'm not done with you boy.'

He raised his hands in supplication, and Goodman's eyebrows rose once again. Though his expression remained neutral as ever, Booth thought he saw a glint of something- could that be amusement?- in the stoic director's eye as he snapped the disc case shut where he stood in the doorway.

'Very well then', Goodman spoke. 'Since you obviously have things to discuss, I will leave you with my actors. Ms. Brennan, Mr. Booth'.

Booth thought he saw the same flicker in the diretor's eyes for just a moment- and just like that, he was gone.

Caroline's attempts to extract any sort of explanation or chastise the two young actors into feeling ashamed for their behaviour and spilling the beans were to no avail. They both presented a united front and remained frustratingly tight-lipped. Finally, she huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose to stave of an oncoming headache.

'I think we can all agree it would be in his interests-' she jerked a thumb at Booth- 'and yours, and my own, that I represent the mutual interests of the both of you', Caroline huffed out finally. 'I have this strange feeling you're going to get yourselves in all kind of scrapes that you'll have to be dug out of together, and it's no use dealing with either of you alone. Lord knows no other human being deserves to be subjected to these sorts of lameass explanations twice over.' She hmphed and looked them up and down. 'Why I'm volunteering for the position, I don't know.' She pointed at one, then the other. 'This had better be good.'

And with that she left them standing alone in the room once more.

A/N: Welll? Let us know what you think by sounding off in the comments below. Also, I have recently taken to Twitter, so I will be posting all information on new fics and new chapters of old fics on the account. If you'd like to have a say in what gets updated next, or you want the DL on upcoming fics and updates, or you just feel like striking up a conversation and sharing some Bones love, feel free to follow me boothaddict77!

Take care and be well!