The night after Zach punched Jack things were tense between them on the car ride home. Zach kept apologizing at random intervals for making Jack's nose bleed.

"You know, if you keep it up I'll make your nose bleed." Jack said, hitting the brakes with a bit more force than nessecary in the driveway. He turned to glare at Zack.

"Sorry," Zach said again, shrinking into the door.

"And there you go again, you scrawny twit. You just don't know when to stop saying sorry!" Jack finished pulling into the garage and shut off the car, still ranting. He got out and slammed the door, Zack scrambling to follow him.

"I do know when not to say sorry," Zack countered.

"No, you don't, because you keep saying it when all it does is annoy me even more!"

"Rationally saying sorry should make you less annoyed."

"Since when were emotions rational?" Jack shouted, turning around to get up in Zack's face. The youth took a step back. His brilliant mind began to race, searching for an answer.

"They are nearly never rational, but-,"

"Exactly!" Jack said, flinging his arms out. "Emotions aren't rational!"

"So, if emotions aren't rational," Zack was quickly making connections in his mind.

"Where are you going with this Zack? There isn't any connection to make!" Jack shouted.

"Yes there is." Zack stepped forward and pressed jack against the wall with a kiss.

"Woah." Jack said when Zack backed up.

"You said that emotions weren't rational."

"yeah, but, I didn't, dude, this is different."

Zack screwed his face up in concentration for a moment, his lips red and swollen from the kiss. "How is this different?"

"Because, well, because being angry with you is something really different Zack."

"I am not understanding, Hodgins."

"Oh, for christ's sake!" Jack said, grabbing the younger boy's face between his hands and kissing him again. Zack's breathing was ragged when he and jack separated the second time.

"The difference is because I like you too, Zack."

"Oh." Zack said, screwing up his face to think again. "Does that mean we can keep kissing?"

"Sure, Buddy, but let's move inside, huh?"

Zack nodded and followed Jack up to the main house.

"Zack, is that eye going to impair your ability to work?" Brennan said the next morning, being the first to comment on Zack's beat up state.

"No, Dr. Brennan, I still retain full optics."

Angela caught up with jack after they started in on the body, probing him for answers that Zack hadn't given.

"So, how'd you get all beat up?" she asked, leaning against his work station.

"Oh, this and that," Jack said, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

"Then what was this and what was that?" Angela said, pointing at Zack.

"Hey, we can't be rational 24/7." Jack smiled up at Angela before running off to follow Zack. Nobody say them for twenty minutes, but when they came back there was obvious swelling to Zack's lips and a new set of marks on Jack's neck.

"Well, sweetie, good luck getting them to focus if we leave them alone." Angela said to Brennan.

"I have to agree." Cam said, peering around Angela to watch Jack and Zack. "They do make a cute couple though."

"I would have to agree, though from an anthropological stance-,"

"Sweetie, drop it, you're stuck with them." Angela said.

"Zack and Jack are an item. Let them be happy for a while." Cam added.

"As long as it doesn't affect their work." Brennan shrugged.

"Hey! You two! One sneak off every two hours, got it?" Cam shouted.

"That works for me!" Jack shouted as Zack promptly blushed. "What? Did you think we could hide it?"

"I was hoping that they would all just assume we had a fight."

"Bite marks." Brennan called out.

"Shoot." Zack said, eyeing Jack's neck.

A/N: thank you for tuning in for the first instalement of my latest story!

this is from Season 2 Episode 8 The Woman int he Sand

(Yes, these will likely be out of order.)