Halloween Challenge

Standard disclaimers--don’t own, don’t sue, etc, etc… This is a little piece o’ fluff for the Halloween Challenge--if you missed the initial call to arms, all it had to be was one of the characters (any character who has ever graced the screen on Bones) as a kid at Halloween. I thought about going obscure, but there is a reason Brennan and Booth are the main characters, after all.

I trust using mixed POVs was OK; I really wanted her perspective in there!

And oh yeah--First!

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“Hey, Bones? I don’t remember seeing this picture before,” Booth said, holding out an old Polaroid. She set the beers she was carrying down on the coffee table before taking it from him long enough to identify it.

“Oh, that’s one of the pictures my dad brought over. He and Mom took a few with them when they left and he thought I’d like to see them, maybe make copies.” She looked at it again before handing it back. “This is one of the ones I thought I’d have copied, in fact. Russ might like one, too.”


“Well, Tempe, what do you want to be for Halloween?” Christine Brennan asked, smiling. “A ghost? Witch? Gypsy?”

Tempe shook her head. She pivoted slowly, looking at the costumes in the store. There was a skeleton that tempted her briefly, but she shook her head again and kept looking. Her mother waited, patient and amused. Her nine-year-old daughter was always like this, careful and deliberate, most unchildlike. She didn’t usually take this long, though. But then, some decisions were simpler than the perfect Halloween costume.

She had been a mummy last year, and a cowgirl the year before. She wanted something different.

“What’s Russ going as?” she asked, fingering the gauzy skirts of a princess gown. The color was nice…

“I think he said something about Batman. He wanted to go as the Devil, but you know how your father and I feel about that.”

Tempe nodded. They might not be a very religious family, but there were limits. She sometimes thought it was more her mother than her father, but they agreed when in front of her and Russ.

“That’s a superhero, right?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Then I want to be a superhero, too.” She went digging through the costumes with a will, now that she had a direction. A few minutes later, she had extracted four outfits. “What do you think, Mom?”

Christine studied each one carefully. She only recognized one of them, despite having a teenage son. “I like this one, Tempe,” she said finally, tapping it. Tempe studied it, taking in the bold red and blue and gold, and finally nodded too. “Then I’ll take that one.”

“You’ll need some sort of body suit to help keep you warm,” Christine added. A warm Halloween around Chicago usually meant 60 degrees (F) or so, and this wasn’t going to be of the freakishly almost hot ones where the temperature soared above 70. At least this wasn’t the original leotard version, plus it had a little cape. But she also knew both kids would be reluctant to cover their costumes with coats--even without capes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Now remember, Russ, just because you’re wearing a cape doesn’t mean you can fly,” Matthew was teasing in the living room when Christine and Tempe came out of the bathroom, the latter’s admittedly minimal makeup successfully applied.

“Daaa-aaad!”

“Ruu-uussss,” Matthew replied, imitating his aggravated tone perfectly.

“Stop it, both of you,” Christine said. “I thought I had only two children, not three.” She lightly planted a kiss on her husband’s cheek.

“You know I revert on Halloween and other major holidays, honey,” Matthew chuckled, catching her about the waist. “So where’s Tempe? Want to see her costume, so I know exactly who I’m escorting this year…wouldn’t want me to bring home the wrong girl, after all.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Russ said. “I might like a new sister--one who acts more like a girl would be nice.”

Both parents opened their mouths, ready to scold, but Tempe ran into the room before they could and punched him in the stomach. Hard.

“Ow!”

“Take it back!” she demanded, one hand on the “lasso” at her hip and the other still in a fist.

“Easy there, Wonder Woman,” Matthew said, catching her by the shoulders. “He didn’t mean it--did you, Russ?” he added, giving his son a dangerous look, and the boy crumbled.

“No,” he mumbled. “Sorry, Tempe.”

She stared at him fiercely, still doubting.

“If that were really Wonder Woman’s lasso,” Christine interjected, “you could make sure he was telling the truth--at least if I remember right. Matt?”

“Absolutely. But she doesn’t need to do that, does she?”

“No, dad. I really am sorry, Tempe,” he said earnestly and a small triumphant smile curled her mouth.

“Okay.” And to show there were no hard feelings (especially since she had won), she gave him a quick hug.

“Now that we have that settled, I want to take a picture, you two. Come on, pose for me,” Matthew said. “And then I can take you guys out.”

They scrambled out to the porch, playfully pushing each other out of the way.

“That’s not how Wonder Woman stands, Tempe--you gotta be…bolder.”

“Try this, sweetheart,” Christine advised, demonstrating Lynda Carter’s classic pose and Tempe happily copied her as Russ stood next to her, hamming it up as Batman for all he was worth.

They watched the picture come into focus. “Good shot,” Matthew said, handing camera and picture to Christine. “Ready to go, guys?”

‘Yeah!” they chorused.

“You have your mask on right, don’t you, Russ?” Christine asked, double-checking to make sure his eyes were properly visible though the holes.

“Yes, Mom.”

She tweaked his cape before turning her attention to Tempe. “You warm enough, sweetheart?””

“Yes, Mom,” Tempe said, in perfect echo of her brother.

“Don’t eat any of that candy until you bring it back home for your father and I to check over,” she continued.

“Yes, Mom,” they said together, grinning, and she laughed. She did say that every year, after all--by now they knew the drill.

“All right, all right--I give. Go on, then have fun!”

Matthew leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before following the kids off the porch. “Be careful?” he murmured.

“Always. You too,” she added. As she stepped back inside, she could hear Tempe demanding to know more about Wonder Woman…


Booth studied the picture, but Brennan knew what he was seeing. Tempe and Russ, posing heroically as Wonder Woman and Batman on the front porch, Trick or Treat buckets tucked out of sight. Her mother had written The Brennan League of Justice on the bottom, probably at their father’s instigation.

“This explains a lot," he teased. "But you two look…sweet. Which isn’t anything I thought I’d ever be saying about your brother.” He looked up at her, a crooked smile firmly in place. “Was it a good day?”

Her eyes rested on the picture for a long moment before meeting his again.

“It was…a very good day,” Brennan finally said, a soft smile on her face.

Yay!! You are first and I loved it. It was very sweet. The family dynamic that you created them in is soo very real and very warm. The mimicing, the "say you're sorry"s, the "be careful"s, they all read just like they would in most any home.

It gives you hope that even though Brennan isolated herself for her own protection, she really does have a stable model of what to build toward when the time is right!

Awwww... I loveee it
~Sunnie~

My Queen that was simply wonderful. I love young Tempe and I can totally see her poundint Russ.

RM

That? Was really great. I love reading stories that go back to their childhood, and it's nice to remember that before it all changed Bren did have a nice childhood sometimes. Great job!