Disclaimer: Fox owns all things 'Bones' and I own nothing except for my Muses.

Author's Note: I had to write this after that little scene between Sully and Booth at the beginning of 'Man in the Mansion.' Booth was just too obvious and I was getting annoyed. It should be clear that I rather like Sully—but not with Brennan—so I decided to 'fix' the problem. It may be a little OOC but, honestly, I can't believe that Booth is in quite as much denial as he seems to be. Plus, I can't resist the happy endings.

Something About Bones

Sully looked in at Booth's office and knocked quickly before coming in.

"Hey."

Booth gave him a nod of greeting. "Hey. How are things going with the case?"

"We just closed the file," Sully answered, sitting down. He paused and then said, conversationally, "Dr. Brennan is very… unusual, isn't she?"

He watched as Booth's entire expression changed, softened a little, at the mention of his partner's name. Sully narrowed his eyes. Interesting… He'd heard some vague rumors, scuttlebutt, about Booth and his partner but had never really listened, not being interested, but he wasn't deaf so he had heard some tales. Like how Booth had nearly been killed from a bomb in Dr. Brennan's apartment but then had gotten up, in spite of several broken ribs and barely being able to stand, and insisted on accompanying the team that had raided the abandoned warehouse after Dr. Brennan had been kidnapped. Like how Booth had inexplicably taken a sick day when Dr. Brennan had been on vacation and it was later heard that she'd gotten into some trouble and he'd flown down to New Orleans to help her.

So he'd heard rumors and now, he'd thought he might test the waters a little, so to speak, and at the very least, get some advice since Booth obviously knew Dr. Brennan better than Sully did.

"Unusual?" Booth snorted. "That's the understatement of the century. Bones is nothing if not unusual."

"You call Dr. Brennan Bones?"

"Yeah." Booth paused, a slight smile crossing his face. "She doesn't like it, though."

Hmph. She didn't like it but she obviously let Booth call her by the nickname anyway and if he knew anything at all about Dr. Brennan after these couple days, it was that she was not at all shy about expressing her opinions. Very interesting…

"She comes off as rather off-putting at first, though," Sully went on.

"Let's just say that she's not a people person," Booth quipped.

Sully returned Booth's grin but then wondered if Booth realized that he sounded… proud… of her when he said it, as if it was an endearing thing.

"I could see that. She doesn't seem to care if she offends people with her abrasiveness." Sully had found it rather refreshing but he wasn't about to mention that.

Booth's gaze became absent, focused on some spot on the wall, and when he spoke, it was almost as if he had forgotten Sully was there, was just talking to himself. "She does care, though. I've seen tears in her eyes when she hugged a crying child, seen her defend children and seen her mourn for her parents…" His words drifted off and there was a moment of silence before he blinked and seemed to remember himself, straightening up in his chair. "She's complicated," he said simply in a normal tone of voice. Quite as if he had never thought further on the subject and hadn't just drifted into a reverie about her.

This was getting to be an even more revealing conversation than Sully had expected.

"Is she really as out of the loop when it comes to modern slang as she seems or is that just some weird act she puts on?"

Booth looked surprised. "Act? Bones? Bones is the most forthright person I've ever met. What you see is what you get."

"And what you see is not bad at all," Sully inserted, giving Booth a man-to-man sort of smile. "She's quite an attractive woman, Dr. Brennan."

Booth snorted softly. "More like beautiful. She's pretty enough in her lab coat but you should see her when she's dressed up to go to a party. Then, she's… something else…"

Sully suppressed a smirk. Oh, Booth really had it bad. Dr. Brennan was interesting and attractive and Sully had liked her—but clearly, if he actually started anything, he'd be intruding. It was lucky he hadn't acted on his interest.

"You like her, don't you." It wasn't a question.

Booth almost started, staring. "She's my partner and my friend. Of course I like her."

Sully rolled his eyes. This was getting pathetic. "Fine, I'll rephrase that. You're in love with your partner."

Booth's eyes widened. "What! No, no, no, of course not. Don't be ridiculous. She's my partner, that's all. If you want to ask her out, feel free, although I should warn you, she's trained in at least three different kinds of martial arts and has a tendency to be violent." He cracked a grin.

Sully got up and headed out the door. "Thanks but no thanks." He paused, just before he opened the door to Booth's office and looked back. "I don't poach and anyway, I don't like dating women who have feelings for other men."

With that last shot, Sully walked out, leaving Booth to stare.

Feelings… for other men? Bones? And Sully thought he was in love with Bones…

Booth let out a sound that was half a muffled groan and half a laugh. He'd always thought Sully was one of the smarter agents around.

And he thought Bones had feelings for another man—for him?

Booth knew he probably looked like an idiot but he couldn't help the grin he felt on his face.

Maybe, after all, it really was time to stop lying to himself.

Maybe, after all, it was time to take a risk and cross the line—stupid idea that it had been since even Booth was aware that the very existence of a line implied a desire to cross it.

He picked up the phone and pushed the speed dial for Bones; she was the first person on his speed dial.

"Bones, it's me. Do you want to have dinner with me?"

"Is there a case to talk over?"

"No, Bones, no. I meant…" he paused, letting out his breath. This was it. "I meant, like a date."

And then he waited, not even daring to breathe. Please…

"What about the line?"

At least, it wasn't a no and she hadn't hung up on him. Damn that line anyway. That had not been one of his better ideas. "Lines are there to be crossed."

He sensed her slight smile—when had it gotten so he could sense her smile?—before he heard it in her tone. "I'll make sure I pack an eraser in my bag."

"Is that a yes, Bones?" He was grinning like an idiot now, he knew it, but couldn't help it for the life of him. God, he loved it when she teased him.

He really could sense her smile, could picture her expression… "Yes."

"Okay. I'll, um, pick you up at 7 at your place?"

"Better make it the lab. I've got some Limbo cases to work on."

"Of course you do, Bones." He grinned into the phone. He gave her a hard time for it but he loved her dedication and he knew just what it meant to have her identifying unknown soldiers.

"Bye, Booth."

"See you at 7, Bones."

He ended the call and then just sat there for a moment, staring at it.

He had a date with Bones.

He had a date with Bones! His Bones.

Booth forced himself to return to the case file he was looking over but couldn't quite keep the smile from returning to his lips at times.

He really should thank Sully, he reflected. He'd always thought Sully was a good guy.

And in the meantime, he, Booth, had a date with Bones.

Yeah, he thought to himself, he was only going to keep repeating that thought to himself a couple thousand times more. That was all. Really.

And Seeley Booth kept on smiling.

~The End~

A/N 2: Thanks for reading and please review; I always love to know what people think of my writing!