Just another post-Con Man in the Meth Lab. I did actually write this once upon the date that the episode aired, but my procrastination got the better of me and it is only now that I have come to posting. Mostly dialogue (just the way I like it). Mostly clichéd (just the way I like it). Hope you like it too : )

"...and when he kissed me -"

"Agent Booth's brother kissed you?"

"You kissed my brother?"

Special Agent Seeley Booth and Dr. Temperance Brennan were seated in their usual positions across from Dr. Lance Sweets. So far, the therapy session had brought little insight to Dr. Sweets' mind. Booth and Brennan weren't angry or annoyed with him, so he couldn't even be entertained by their usual camaraderie against him. That was when Jared – Booth's brother – came up in conversation.

Brennan shot a glance at Booth and stated evenly, "It was nothing, Booth."

"Well, obviously it was something Bones!"

There was a brief pause.

"I mean. You kissed my brother," Booth choked out with an odd look on his face.

"I don't see why it is such a surprise to you Booth. We were on a date – you knew that. I find him physically attracti-"

"You said his face was symmetrical," Booth cut in dubiously.

There was another brief pause.

"He simply kissed me in order to validate his opinion. It meant nothing." She crossed her arms and turned to face Dr. Sweets.

"Validate his opinion, Bones?"

Brennan searched for another phrase, "To prove a point," she said simply.

"Prove what point?" Booth and Sweets asked together. Booth, with his eyebrows raised suspiciously and Sweets, leaning forward in his chair like an excited schoolboy.

Brennan gave an exasperated sigh, "We were... talking about you," she said facing Booth as she uncrossed her arms.

Booth stared as he waited for her to continue.

"He was merely informing me of your fear of success – he told me that you don't like to step out of your comfort zone and therefore don't take the risks necessary in order to achieve."

Booth started, and then stopped, then, "What does that have to do with you kissing my brother?"

"No, no, first of all he kissed me Booth. And second, I was getting to that. He kissed me because I asked for an example."

"An example of what?"

"Of a risk you refused to take because you were afraid it would alter your comfort zone," she stated, it as if it were blatantly obvious.

"And that's when he kissed you?"

"Yes."

"And what did you say to that, Dr. Brennan?" Sweets had, by now, dropped his clipboard and pen and was listening intently.

"I confirmed to him that Booth hadn't ever taken that risk," she calmly told Dr. Sweets.

"Hey, we've kissed!"

"Booth!"

A pause.

"It hardly counts anyway," Brennan continued, "and, even if it did, it was I who kissed you, so bringing up the matter is only showing your vulnerability on the subject."

"Vulnerable? Me?"

"Yes."

"What, you think I'm scared of kissing you?"

"Well, according to Jared..."

"Well, according to Jared," Booth mocked.

"Look, it doesn't matter, we are completely off topic and I'm sure Dr. Sweets would appreciate it if we could get back to his questions."

"Oh no, please Dr. Brennan, continue. This is an extremely interesting development in - "

Booth held up a hand to silence the psychologist, and said, with his eyes on Brennan, "I'm not afraid, you know."

"I know Booth. You're not afraid of anything." She said it without conjecture or reluctance.

He rolled his eyes, "But, you know, I'm just saying that, if it were to come to that, I wouldn't be scared."

"You're not making sense."

"Think about it Bones."

She did, then answered slowly, "Well, if we speak hypothetically and insert a situation into this 'fear of success' premise, we can evaluate the basis of its appeal."

Booth rolled his eyes again.

"If this 'situation' was – hypothetically – you kissing me, than it would follow that the 'risk' would be the kiss and that the 'success' would be what is gained from the kiss."

"Do you see where the fear comes into that?" he asked quietly.

Brennan answered oblivious to his insinuation, "Yes, anthropologically speaking if something like – a kiss for instance – were to change the foundations of one's standing with another, it would be something to be feared, or at least, debated upon."

"Why is the change feared?" Booth fuelled Brennan's thoughts.

"Because the participant does not know whether the change will sway in his or her favour – it is common ground for confusion because the participant cannot discover the outcome without first taking the risk."

"Hence the reason it is a risk," Booth charm-smiled.

After a beat he continued, "So, hypothetically speaking, if say, I were to kiss you, how would you react?"

"I cannot possibly answer something like that without having experienced the aforementioned experience."

Booth rolled his eyes, then slowly tilted his head and leant forward. He stopped an inch from her mouth. She looked back at him, revealing nothing.

He whispered, "I'm not afraid."

She stayed silent for a moment and then, "Prove it."

Thanks for reading, care for a review? I know I would!