A series of stories with Booth and Brennan revealing secrets to each other.

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"I have a secret," he said into the darkness. He could almost see the words against the inky blackness that was their ceiling, as they dropped into the comfortable silence. For a moment, he regretted saying them, hesitant to break the fragile peace that had finally come over them.

It had been weeks since he'd felt that they were finding their way back to normal or a new normal and Booth was afraid that simple sentence would push that feeling away again.

"Mmmmm," she hummed, her heart rate picking up again after it had just begun to slow. Turning to her side, her breath tickled his cheek. Secrets weren't always good, and she feared her husband was about to tell her something upsetting. "What kind of secret?"

"Not a bad secret," he was quick to reassure her. His bare shoulders slid smoothly against the sheets as he shrugged. "At least, I don't think it is. It's just…something I think you might like to hear, after everything that's happened."

The breath on his skin was heavier as she sighed. "Another secret involving my father?" she asked. Her voice, tinged with sadness, made him regret ever thinking it was a good idea to tell her.

Booth remained on his back. but reached over to pull her closer to him, relishing the feel of her naked skin against his. The room was so dark, neither could see the other, but both could feel the tension. "I'm okay, Booth," Brennan said. Her hand, warm despite the lateness of the hour, pressed against his chest over his heart. "It makes me sad to think about what I've lost, but I don't want to forget the time I had with him. I'd like to hear a story about my father I've never heard. I'm sure he had so many stories he never got the chance to tell me."

"It involves me, too," Booth warned her. "It involves me," he hesitated, chuckling a little at the memory he had yet to share with her. "Well, it involves me being the alpha-male you used to accuse me of being."

"You'll always be an alpha-male," Brennan replied. "I love you because it makes you you."

"That's a very unscientific answer," he teased, turning his head to press a kiss to the top of her head. "And you used the word you twice."

"I blame the late hour and the fact that your attention just a few minutes ago, has turned my brain to metaphorical mush. But despite those facts, I would still like to hear this secret you and my father kept from me. Clearly you were afraid of my reaction."

"You've scared me quite a few times, Bones, but I've never been afraid of you. Now, let me think for a second." He forced his mind back, past the loss of friends, and even the loss of Bones for a time. Back to when their relationship was relatively new, and at times, still so tenuous, at least to him. Maybe, his very brilliant wife had been right when she said they'd been afraid of her reaction.

"It was the night after the trial had finished. Only a couple of hours later, in fact. You scared the shit out of me that day, Bones. I can admit that now. I'd known a lot of brave people in my life, but damn," he stopped to press his lips together. "The risk you took that day…still scares the shit out of me." He pulled her closer and tried to relax as the memory brought back the tension that their casual joking only minutes before had chased away.

Feeling his heartbeat increase beneath her palm, she patted his chest gently. "I knew what I was doing, Booth."

"No. You didn't. But you did it anyway. I said then that it took a lot of heart and I still believe that. But that's not the point of this story," he said, giving himself a mental shake. "This is about what happened after we left the courthouse that day."

"I went with my father," she remembered. "And you watched me walk away with him."

Booth's eyes narrowed. Despite the fact they couldn't see each other, some reactions just seemed to come naturally. "You didn't turn around as you walked away," he said. "I know because I was afraid if you did, you'd be able to see how angry I was that you took the risk and I didn't want to dampen your happiness."

"There was a time, not long after we met, that I discovered I could always tell when you were watching me, despite the lack of a scientific explanation for the feeling." She would have shrugged, but Booth held her so tightly, that movement was almost impossible and Brennan was loathe to break that connection. "And I knew you were angry with me. Just as I knew you'd forgive me."

"Yeah, I forgave you. Probably before you were out of the parking lot." He ran his fingers up the bare skin of her arm. "I can't say I did the same thing for your father."

Brennan had a sudden flash of knowledge. "How long did you wait before you paid him a visit?"

If Booth was surprised she guessed, he didn't let on. "I'm surprised you didn't see me knocking on the front door as you pulled away."

"Open the door, Max," Booth yelled as his fist make contact with the wood. "If you don't answer this damn door, I'll shoot it open."

"I'm surprised he let you in," Brennan admitted.

"I threatened to shoot the door in if he didn't. And considering it wasn't too long after the clown incident, it was probably not the best threat to make. But that man, who loved you enough to stay and face a possible death sentence, opened the door with two drinks in his hands. Didn't even seem surprised to see me."

Reaching up, Booth turned on a light near the bed, so he could better see his wife. He wanted to make sure the story wasn't upsetting her and that was hard to do in darkness. When he glanced down, he saw blue eyes filled with both grief and amusement.

"Dad loved you, Booth. And respected you, I think," she said, biting her lip, unsure of her assessment. "I think, he might have been disappointed if you hadn't paid him a visit."

"Have a drink, Booth," Max said, handing him the glass. He left the door open behind him as he walked back toward the main part of the house, giving Booth permission to enter. "My daughter has a tendency to make men want to drink."

"I think you're right, Bones," Booth said, pleased to see her face relax at the correct reading of other people's emotions.

"Clearly you entered the apartment. Did you take one of the drinks in his hand?" Brennan asked.

Booth took the drink from Max's hand and downed half of it in one swallow. "Did you have any idea what the hell she was about to do? How could you let her take a chance like that?"

"Of course, I took the drink. I needed it after I watched you attempt to implicate yourself on the stand. And I demanded to know if he knew what you were about to do."

"He didn't know, Booth. I made that decision on my own after talking to you. Or trying to talk to you, since you told me we couldn't discuss the case." Her brow furrowed. "I hate when I can't talk to you about things like that. And I really hated it then."

Booth released his hold on her, turning so they both relaxed on their sides, facing each other. "You can always talk to me, Bones. I did the best I could to help you."

"You told me that sometimes it had to be all about heart. And while my heart couldn't talk to me, I knew what my brain wanted."

"Of course, I didn't know, Booth," Max said. He took a much smaller sip of his drink, and watched the FBI agent closely. He wouldn't put it past the man to take a swing or two to release some of the fear riding Booth so closely. It amused Max just a little that his daughter could have that effect on him. "Do you really think I would let my daughter, the woman I was willing to go to jail for just so I could be near her, take the fall for a murder?"

"A murder you committed," Booth said.

"The courts disagreed," Max reminded him.

"Because your daughter tried to take the fall for you," Booth said. His voice rose with each word. He finished the drink in his hand, downing the remaining alcohol with obvious anger.

"Your brain wanted your father in your life again. It wanted a chance to have a relationship, any relationship with the family you'd lost. And I can understand that, Bones. And considering the kind of man he was to you, to us, and to our children, I'm glad we had that chance."

Reaching out, he brushed a strand of hair from Brennan's face. "Max told me he didn't know what you'd planned. And to be honest, Bones, I think if he had known, he might have a made a deal with the prosecution, just to prevent you from taking a chance like that."

Her eyes widened. "He would have taken that chance?"

"He committed a murder for you. Spending the rest of his life in jail wasn't what he wanted, but he would have done it to protect you." Booth gave her a reassuring smile. "But your crazy plan worked and he wasn't faced with that option."

"But you were angry."

Booth nodded. "I was angry at you, at me, at him. I've done some difficult things in this life, but having to say you had time to commit the murder was one of the worst. But I was mostly scared that Caroline would go home that evening and decide to prosecute you instead. She's a good friend."

"Why don't you tell her how you feel?" Max asked, genuinely curious. "Why keep performing this dance? You're going to trip over your own feet if you aren't careful."

Booth set the now empty glass down on a nearby table hard. The glass cracked audibly, but did not shatter. "She's my friend. We're partners," he said. Each word was enunciated clearly, difficult to do as they came from between his clenched jaw.

Max snorted. "You can't con an old con, Booth. But maybe…," he narrowed his eyes as his voice trailed off, considering. "Perhaps it's not only my daughter you won't admit it to, but yourself as well." He shrugged. "It's your loss. My Temperance is a great woman."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Booth took a deep breath. "Yeah," he agreed. "She is a great woman. And you better not force her to make a choice like this again. Because I will kill you."

His voice was flat, and Max had no doubt he meant the words. "Fair enough," he agreed easily.

Inwardly, Booth marveled that a man who barely knew him had seen something so clearly that Booth hadn't been ready to see himself.

"You threatened him, didn't you?" Brennan asked, despite the fact she was already convinced of the answer.

"I threatened to kill him," Booth admitted quietly. "And I would have done it, too." It was wrong to admit that he would have killed a man who had just died protecting his grandchildren. But Booth would have done it to protect the mother of those children. The woman who'd stolen his heart when she wasn't even trying.

Brennan closed her eyes and Booth feared he'd made a mistake. "I'm sorry, Bones, I shouldn't have told you that part."

But to his surprise, she reopened her eyes and smiled into the pale light that bathed her face. "Oh, Booth, I'm not upset with you. This happened years ago, and I was always kind of surprised you didn't do something like this. What did my dad say?"

Now it was Booth's turn to smile. "He barely blinked. But I think he knew I meant it. Maybe even understood it. He protected you, too, Bones."

"It probably won't mean much to tell you that this won't happen again," Max said. "But," he shook his head and finished his own drink, setting his glass down gently next to Booth's. "That means you are going to have to keep her safe. I have to trust you to keep my girl safe."

Hands fiddled with the tokens Booth kept in his pockets. He'd waited outside the door for hours, just to have the opportunity to have this conversation with Max. And now, he wasn't sure it had gone the way he'd wanted it to.

Max's eyes met Booth's and Booth stilled, reading just how serious the older man was. "I'll keep her safe. I won't hurt her. I'd never hurt her," Booth heard himself promise, amazed at how quickly the tide had turned. He'd come to demand promises from Max and instead he was making one of his own.

The nod was so small, Booth almost didn't see it. "Then I suggest you go find her," Max suggested, walking forward to force Booth back toward the door. "She thinks you're mad at her. Is rather worried about it, as a matter of fact. It might be a good idea for you to go talk to her."

"I miss him," Brennan admitted, her blue eyes filling with tears. Several of them escaped down her cheeks only to be quickly wiped away by Booth.

"Me too, Bones. And that was something I never thought I'd say after that day in the courtroom. But I thought you'd like to know what happened. It wasn't really a secret. More of an understanding between two men who loved you."

"You loved me even then?" she asked.

"Sometimes, Bones, when I think about it, I think I've loved you forever. Even after that first case together when you refused to speak to me. There was something about you that haunted me, pushed me to become better than I was."

She inched forward and their hands began to touch in ways that were less about comfort and more about making blood race.

"Will you do me a favor, Booth?" she asked, pushing him over to his back again.

"Anything," he said. With growing desire he watched her rise above him.

"Prove it."