This story is set after Hero in the Hold, but before the Jared goes to India story line. It's alternate universe, I guess? I don't really know what that means. Just that it's not episodic? Meh…let me know what you think!

--b&b--

Booth stood on one side of the doorway as his brother waited for him to speak.

"So…"

"So…"

Booth shifted his weight from one foot to the other. This was the one thing he'd been dreading, although, after being captured by a serial killer and almost blown up by the Navy… he smirked.

"Thanks for not letting the Navy blow me up."

Jared chuckled then. "Yeah, the squid saving the ranger. Gotta love it."

"Yeah" Booth laughed softly, "but seriously, J, I mean…I don't know what to say. I mean, your job…"

Jared smiled and nodded. "Well, you'd do the same for me, right?"

Booth pressed his tongue to the inside of his mouth. Would he? Would he have given up his job for his brother? His chest tightened once again at the idea of being separated from her, for good. "Yeah, I would have done it" and died a little.

Jared didn't challenge his answer and instead just smiled a bit. "Well, it looks like that won't ever be a problem."

"How'd you make bail?" Booth wanted to know.

Jared laughed. "I'll give you one guess."

"Dad?" Booth shook his head. "I can't believe that."

"No, dummy. Tempe."

Booth's eyes went wide. "Bones? Bones paid your bail?"

Jared nodded. "She said it was the least she could do, since she forced me to steal from the FBI in the first place."

Booth's brow furrowed as he pondered all of this. "Huh….Bones." He hadn't really gotten all the details from her. In fact, it seemed they'd both agreed to just let it go.

Blinking a couple of times, he stepped back into the hallway off his brother's high rise apartment. "Well, I'll make it up to you" he promised.

Jared just smiled and waved. "Careful, or I might hold you to that."

Booth chuckled but pointed at him. "I'm serious."

"Okay" Jared nodded as he closed the door, "See you, Seeley."

A few weeks later…..

"Booth…be serious" Brennan laughed, trying to school her features as her partner made another funny face.

"Oh, I'm serious, Bones.' He nodded earnestly. "Come on, you have to admit that that lawyer today in court was like…a cartoon, he was so ridiculous."

Brennan pursed her lips. "While I don't like labeling people, I will say that it was highly satisfactory to defeat him" she conceded.

"Defeat him" Booth scoffed. "We destroyed him!" His grin grew larger as he leaned back in his chair at the diner.

"We?" she raised an eyebrow, and Booth leaned forward quickly, his smile changing to his quiet one for times like these.

"Okay, okay" he looked down, fiddling with the napkin resting on the table. "I guess you were technically the only one who took the stand against him" he met her eyes and saw she was smiling. "But…I was there."

Brennan leaned forward a bit as well. "Yes, you were there."

Their eyes held, and for a moment, Booth wondered if she was going to mention that it was possible that he couldn't have been there.

But instead she just picked the napkin from his fingers and wiped her lips, leaning back for the last time and pulling out her purse. "What are you doing this weekend?" she asked casually.

He pulled out his wallet as well and threw a few bills on the table. "Nothing, I hope" shrugged. "Parker's gone for the weekend, and I'm really, really hoping to just sit on my butt and watch TV. Maybe get a haircut. " He stood up and helped her with her coat. "I'm keeping my options open. How about you?"

Brennan flipped her hair out from under her coat and turned to face him. "Angela and I are taking our yearly trip to New York."

"Ah, sounds fun." He smiled genuinely as they walked outside. "I'll see you on Monday?" He turned and walked backwards toward his SUV.

Brennan nodded and raised a hand in a wave. "I'll see you on Monday."

7 hours later…

Booth woke up to the sound of pounding on his front door. What the hell? He ran his hand over his face and looked at his alarm clock. 2:54? What? Why was someone knocking on his door? His thoughts first moved to Parker, and that something could be wrong with him, so he swung his legs over the side of the bed, wincing when his stiff feet hit the cold floor. Not taking the time to find his slippers to protect his scarred feet, he hobbled to the front door, opening it quickly.

"Jared?"

His brother had a black eye and a busted lip, not to mention rips in his clothes. "I think I'll take you up on that favor now." He answered.

Booth stepped aside and let his brother inside, then checked outside to see if he'd been followed.

"Don't worry" Jared sighed, "I'm alone."

Booth turned around after closing the door and looked his brother over. "What happened?" he finally asked. "What…did you do?" he asked, then winced.

Jared chuckled, then winced himself as his lip split open again. "I suppose I deserve that. But, this…this was fairly innocent, but…uh, and Seeley…I swear I'll tell you everything, if you just let me sit down for a minute."

"Yeah, yeah, of course, man." Booth motioned to the couch as he walked to the kitchen to grab a paper towel and a steak from the freezer. He tossed both in the direction of his brother, then walked back to his room to get some socks. He paused as he pulled them out, examining the stripes. He knew that a lot of people gave him grief about them, but, he loved them. After he'd gotten back from the war, he'd had to see a specialist, and the doctor had told him he'd probably have problems the rest of his life with his feet, but that the best thing he could do was to try to keep them as warm as possible at all times. So he indulged in socks. He deserved that much, he thought.

He held the pair up again, and caught his reflection in the mirror. "Why are you thinking about that right now?" he wondered.

"What'd you say, Seel?" Jared asked from the living room.

"I said…"Booth reentered the living room. "I said, what do you need?"

Jared turned from his position on the couch and looked at his brother with his good eye. "I need a place to stay for awhile."

Booth didn't say anything, but just sat down in his recliner, resting his head on the back.

He looked over to his brother and saw that the younger man actually looked sober, although with Jared, like their dad, you never could tell. But what the hell, it was 3 AM, he was just going to ask.

"Are you drunk?"

"Please" Jared scoffed. "I wish."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Booth sat up and looked over harshly.

Jared chuckled ,or tried to. "It means then maybe my face wouldn't hurt so bad."

Booth bit his lip for a moment, and pressed his hand together. "What happened?"

"Well…I got kicked out of my apartment."

Booth's eyebrows rose. "Then someone beat you up? I don't get it?"

"Not quite. You see" Jared continued. "I got kicked out of my apartment…two weeks ago."

"Where…where have you been?" Booth demanded, and Jared turned away.

"Here and there" he answered vaguely, and Booth stood up.

"Jared…where."

Booth's fists clenched in the silence, and Jared sat up and noticed.

"Relax. I haven't been living on the streets or anything."

"Did you…" Booth cracked his jaw on his palm, "did you go home?"

Jared raised an eyebrow. "With no job and a dishonorable discharge? I don't think so."

Booth huffed in agreement and sat down again. "True." He pressed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. "I'm too tired for games…just tell me everything."

Jared relaxed again on the couch. "Her name is Elizabeth."

Booth groaned and chuckled at the same time. "Elizabeth…"

"Got a beer?" Jared asked and Booth stood up.

"Sure, hang on." He pulled out two for each of them and carried them in his fingers back to the living room.

"Thanks, man." Jared took a deep swig and then another before setting his down. "She's married."

Booth sputtered on his beer, the liquid running down his bare chest. "Jared…what? Dude…no…"

"I know, I know…and you HAVE to believe me when I say I had no idea."

"Keep talking" was all Booth would concede.

Jared nodded. "Okay, I met her a few weeks ago, and we shared a few drinks, but nothing came of it. We met up again about three weeks ago at Foster's, you know, that back table?"

Booth squinted his eyes. "Yeah, I know it."

"Well, I was at the bar, and I looked around the room, and she was over there, by herself, which doesn't seem right, so I carried her a scotch, and one for myself, and next thing I knew, we were back at my place. And it was great, I mean, really…"

"Spare me the details" Booth groused. "Seriously."

"Yeah, okay" Jared cracked his second beer. "But in the morning, she was gone, right? No note, nothing. I shrugged it off as nothing, but then, a couple of weeks ago, I got…evicted, for not paying on my rent, and well…I was at the bar, trying to figure out what to do."

"Why didn't you ask me for money?" Booth asked.

Jared snorted. "No offense, dude, but you could not afford that apartment."

Booth gritted his teeth, but didn't comment, instead carried his empty bottle to the kitchen, leaning for a moment against the sink, the cool metal nice against his warm palms. He heard Jared come in behind him, and he turned, leaning his back against the counter. "Then what happened?"

Jared sat at the table and leaned his head against the wall. "She invited me back to her place. And I told her that it was sure nice of her, because my apartment was being fumigated, so I was going to have to stay in a hotel." Jared admitted. "And she just smiled and said 'Welcome to the Elizabeth Hilton."

Booth smirked a bit, but sobered up with a sigh. "So the husband?"

"Came home today, and I swear, I had no idea. Seel, they have separate homes, even when he is in town. He was just stopping by to bring her some fancy scarf she requested from Paris, or something."

"What did you do?" Booth tossed some ice into a glass and poured himself a glass of water.

"I thought he was an intruder, and I jumped on him. He punched me in the face a couple of times, and then Elizabeth told us to stop."

"And?"

"And I stood up and asked her if she knew this guy. She said she did, that he was her husband. And so I got the hell out of there."

"And came straight here?"

Jared didn't answer, but nodded.

"Jared…" Booth's tone left no room for debate. "Tell me the truth, or get out of here."

Jared pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek. "I went back to Fosters for a few. But…you know?"

Booth watched as pain crossed his brother's face. "Yeah…"

"So then I came here."

"You can stay here" Booth pushed off from the sink and sat down as well. "On one condition"

Jared tensed but shrugged. "What?"

Booth bit his lip. "That you let me help you. Rehab, money, everything."

Jared stood then and moved to the sink, pouring the rest of his beer down the drain. "Okay." He pressed his hands against the counter and his shoulders slumped.

Booth felt a small victory, but knew the battle was just beginning. "Okay…well, I have another condition."

Jared chuckled. "I see." He turned around and raised his eyebrows.

"Parker never sees you drinking, or hears anything about this married woman."

"Deal" Jared agreed immediately. "On one condition."

Booth scoffed. "You are in no position to be adding conditions…"

Jared opened his palms, "Hear me out, now. I'll stay here, and agree to all your mother hen demands if you let me help you make your move on your partner, once and for all."

Booth flushed and stood, then sat again. "I do NOT need help with that." Wait…what was he saying? There wasn't even a THAT, was there? "I mean, there isn't even…uh…"

"Spare me" Jared shook his head. "I'm serious. You should see the look on her face when she's talking about you."

"Sappy?" Booth chuckled. "That doesn't sound like Bones."

Jared laughed too. "No, not sappy. It's the fiercest, most intense look I've ever seen."

Booth swallowed. "That doesn't mean it's love."

The room was silent for a moment, till Jared clinked his empty beer bottle against Booth's.

"Well, it means something" Jared answered, sitting at the table again.

Booth inhaled threw his nose, and got up to pace the kitchen. "No…I don't need help" he insisted.

"Are you in love with her?" Jared asked.

Booth didn't answer.

"She's in love with you" Jared spoke up, and Booth met his eyes.

"She doesn't believe in love" he answered, and Jared stood up.

"First of all, yes she does, and you know it. And you're going to prove it. Because she believes in you" Jared stretched his arms above his head. "And I'm going to help you." He smiled as he left the kitchen for the spare room.

"I liked you better when you were miserable and needy" Booth growled after him.