'Reassigned'

"Bones we have to talk" called Booth as he stepped in through the front door of their apartment, undoing his tie and shucking off his jacket. It was the fourth night in a row that Booth had come home after 11, after starting work at some ungodly hour in the morning.

Brennan emerged from the kitchen, dressed in sweats, a tank top, with an apron tied around her waist. She held in her right hand a glass of red wine and a beer for Booth in her right. As soon as she looked up to Booth, she could see the tension rippling through him, and Brennan was nervous to continue. "Take a seat Booth and relax" she said, handing him his beer and gesturing to the couch.

Booth kicked off his shoes and sat down, taking a sip from his beer. "Temperance, I got called into Cullen's office this afternoon... He... uh... he wanted to talk about... reassigning me." Booth was waiting for Brennan to explode about this, but all he saw from her was calm patience.

Brennan crossed her arms over her chest. "What did Cullen say?" She was trying her best to keep it together, but she knew that it would only be a matter of time after they told the FBI they were together before they tried to separate them.

Booth took Brennan's hands in his, turning to her and looking her in the eyes. "Bones..." sighing, Booth built up the courage to tell her the truth, "Cullen said he'd spent the last few weeks reviewing our situation, trying to find a loophole in the system. There's no way around it, Bones. Cullen said he'd have to split us up if he couldn't find a solution soon."

The tears began to well in Brennan's eyes as realisation hit her. If Cullen couldn't find a way around the rules, she and Booth would have to stop working together.

It had dawned on her when she and Booth first started dating that they would eventually have to cross this bridge, but some part of her truly wished that the FBI would have a loophole for them. It had taken her and Booth almost eight years to figure out how they felt about each other, admit it and finally get together. And now all of their hard work - their countless cases and years of devotion to capturing the bad guys - was going to go to waste, all because of a new love and a few stupid rules. To Brennan, she and Booth had suffered enough through the years, and she thought that her life was finally turning around because of Booth. And because she allowed herself to be happy, the other shoe had dropped, and Brennan was worried she was about to lose it all... again.

"He found the loophole, Bones, but I'm not sure if you'll like it..."

"Just say it, Booth. Please?" Brennan was on the verge of her tears breaking out as she expected to hear Booth say something like 'I'm being moved to New York' or 'Cullen is severing the partnership with the Jeffersonian'. But Booth's response shocked her more than she imagined. It was something so unexpected that she could have fainted.

"Bones... Temperance... Meet the new Assistant Deputy Director of the FBI." Booth's charm smile could've lit up the whole of DC, and as Brennan realised what he had just said to her, she threw herself on Booth, kissing him and holding him as though the world were ending.

"Really?" she asked, unable to accept what he'd just said.

"Yeah, Bones. Cullen figured Hacker was single. So he could easily take up the post of ADD in Los Angeles, instead of me. And when Hacker accepted the LA post, Cullen offered me the ADD job here, and I... I want to take it Bones... if it's alright with you?"

Brennan was caught off guard by Booth's declaration. "You mean you haven't accepted yet?" When Booth's head shook from side to side, Brennan continued. "I figured you would've jumped at it the first chance you got. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't just come to tell me you'd already taken it."

"Bones, you should know I would never do anything like this without first making sure you're okay with it. I mean, we're partners and we're living together now..." Booth knew that Brennan didn't like to put a label on their relationship. "You're opinion has always mattered, and that doesn't change because we're in a relationship. I just need you to know, though Bones, if I do take this position... we won't get to work together in the field anymore. Are you okay with that?"

Brennan nodded again as she attacked Booth's lips. "I'm fine with it Booth. Now please... Call Cullen and take the job, so I can take you and be the first to congratulate you on your promotion." She said this with a lusty smile as she dragged Booth to the bedroom. "Congratulations on being reassigned Assistant Deputy Director Booth."