Thanks for everyone's patience. I have several open stories that I am attempting to finish in between the extra shifts I picked up and my health issues that are cropping up. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I don't know about you all, but I am having serious Bones withdrawal right now. The new season can't come fast enough.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, but being part of a DB and TJT sandwich would be nice right now with a tall glass of Leininkeugel Summer Shandy.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

"You broke into the NBC database?" Hannah said to Angela. "That is a federal offense. I will be notifying my editor and supervisors as soon as I leave here. Your pregnant ass is going to jail, bitch. You, your dork husband, and everyone else here"

Angela, currently awash in pregnancy hormones, ran to attack Hannah but was held back by her husband and Brennan.

"Angie, they are not worth it" Hodgins turned to Hannah. "Little Bo Peep, you won't go to your supervisors because we have your ass over a barrel. Besides, don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone when they are talking?" He turned back to Brennan. "Continue Doctor B"

Brennan turned to Booth. "Booth, can you take over please? I need a moment"

Seeing the drained look in his partner's eyes, he moved in quickly to help keep her dignity. "Anything for you, Bones"

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

Booth was attempting to watch the game, but he was worried. He needed to talk to Bones but she hasn't returned any of his messages. He was about to call Angela again when he heard the door knock. Quickly hitting the DVR, Booth got up and looked in the Judas hole. When he saw it was Bones, he quickly opened the door. When he saw her tear stained face, he was crushed.

"Bones, what happened?"

Brennan came into the room and sat down before starting her verbal diarrhea. "My phone was dead and I didn't know until a short time ago that you've been trying to find me. I know Hannah isn't here because Angela is tracking her computer use at the NBC bureau. I don't know how much longer she will be so I will keep it brief. Hannah asked me to...to….."

Booth saw her hesitation and knew it must have been bad. "Bones, please tell me"

Brennan wiped a solitary tear that fell. "She asked me to be in a ménage à trois with you two. She said it was your idea and that you wanted me because I was the only one you could trust since I was your best friend"

Booth was dumbfounded but he knew. He knew that had to be what Hannah was plotting with Hacker. It was the only thing that made sense and would benefit them both. He knew Hannah was his girlfriend, but Bones would never lie. He realized the reporter's motivation and felt sick to his stomach. Sucking up his discomfort, he directed his attention to the woman in front of him. "That was the cruelest thing anyone could do to you, Bones. It's my fault"

"Angela told me she felt Hannah was lying. I now suspect she was because you would never intentionally hurt me, Booth. Angela thinks it because you told Hannah about my regrets. Is she correct?"

He knew it would upset her, but he had to be honest. "I'm so sorry, Bones. Hannah is the woman I am involved with. To not tell her and have her find out some other way would have been deceitful"

Brennan was stunned. "Why, Booth? I told you the hardest thing I ever told someone"

Booth wanted to back down, but he knew that he did the right thing. "Bones, she was my girlfriend. Part of being a couple is honesty. There are a lot of things you've told me that I've never told anyone, but this was something I had to do. Can you understand that?"

Brennan felt betrayed, but she remembered first what Angela said to her and then when she counseled Hannah about Booth's intentions. She remembered telling the other woman that when Booth was in a relationship that he would give their relationship his all.

'Damn it, things were easier when they weren't friends' she thought to herself. She knew what she needed to do as she turned around and faced her best friend.

"I don't like it, Booth. It hurt that you had to tell her, but I understand why. Do you think that's why she is doing this?"

Booth couldn't lie. "Yes"

Brennan was perplexed. "Why?"

Booth gave the only reason he knew. "To win" He saw her confused face. "Hannah is good at her job, Bones. She has to be the best, to always win. It's what's gotten her so far in her career. Probably what attracted me in the first place in Afghanistan."

Brennan wanted to hear more, but ever she sensed Booth wasn't ready to talk about it. "Booth, was this why you were trying to reach me all day?"

Booth walked her over to his couch and sat her down. He quickly got them two beers, opened them, and handed one to her. He needed a drink and something in his hand.

"I happened to overhear them together in the back courtyard today. Nothing specific was mentioned, but they were helping each other somehow. Her tone when she spoke about you was a one eighty than when she's around me. Hacker mentioned something about how what she had planned was to help him get you in bed. Apparently you were frustrating him"

"I'm so sorry, Booth for all this. Hacker could ruin your career and it would be my fault."

He put his hands on her upper arms to turn her to face him. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You want to know what we're going to do, Bones? If they want to play games with us, we are going to play right back."

"You want me to ask Hannah to participate in a sexual act with Andrew and myself?"

Booth spit the beer he was drinking. "No! No! I mean we are, you know what? Think of this as undercover"

Brennan lit up like a Christmas tree. "I LOVE UNDERCOVER! Are we going to be Buck and Wanda? Tony and Roxie?"

"Nope. We're just going to be Booth and Bones. However, we need help…the help only our friends can provide"

Brennan felt a buzz in her pocket and looked at her phone to see a text from Angela.

blond bitch shut computer down NBC. better wrap things up

"Booth, Angela said Hannah may be leaving. What do you want to do?"

"Go home, Bones. We'll talk more about this tomorrow, but don't let on that you know that Hacker and Hannah are full of shit, okay?"

"Booth, a person cannot be filled with excrement unless...oh, you mean because she lied?" Booth nodded patiently. "Okay, I will see you tomorrow, Booth"

Before she could open the door, he came and took his friend in a bear hug. "I'm so sorry for what Hannah and Hacker are putting you through"

"You had nothing to do with this, Booth. No" she said when she saw him open to protest. "Yes, Hannah was upset that I still have feelings for you and Andrew is unhappy that I haven't engaged in coitus with him. However, that doesn't change the fact that you did not force them to engage in this fraud with us. We'll get them, Booth. You're my partner"

Booth felt his heart get a bit bigger. "We're always going to be partners, Bones. Go home and get some sleep. We have our biggest undercover case to prepare for tomorrow morning"

Brennan had barely turned when a thought came to Booth. "Don't be surprised if Hacker comes over tonight" Booth said.

"Why, Booth? He would be possibly giving himself away"

"Yeah, but Hacker isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, Bones. He may be too horny to use common sense"

Brennan was skeptical. "I think you're wrong, but okay. Good night, Booth" Brennan said before she opened the door. He watched her take the back stairs to out front. He went to the window and watched her until her Prius pulled away.

Booth returned to his chair and rewound his game from the beginning so he could quickly watch it up to live when Hannah came home.

"It's on Burley. No one hurts Bones and gets away with it"

The next morning, Booth woke up in Parker's bed after being locked out of his own room the night before. He grabbed his phone and saw it was six in the morning. He moved quickly when he saw there was a text from Bones stating she was going in early to look at the remains again. After giving her a quick reply, he got up.

When he came out, he noticed his bedroom door closed. Knowing Hannah slept like a rock, he grabbed his coat and keys. He was almost out the door before he went back to leave his girlfriend a quick note. He then grabbed his service pistol from the gun safe and left.

He arrived at his destination a short time later. Wanting to be careful, he walked in the back way and up a few floors of stairs until he got to Brennan's apartment. He knocked on the door and was greeted quickly by Brennan drinking coffee as she let him in.

"I have to shower and dress here. Hannah locked me out of the bedroom last night because I wouldn't have sex with her. Did he come over last night?"

"He did Booth. He said some things that make me believe you were correct about Andrew"

"What did he say?"

"When he asked me what was wrong, I said that Hannah asked me to engage in that sex act. Andrew responded that anyone who asks his girlfriend to do something like that had something wrong with him. I never mentioned that you were involved"

Booth chuckled. "Nice Bones. Did he say anything else?"

Brennan's eyes got dark, something that didn't miss Booth. "No" She said before turning to her kitchen. "Want some coffee?"

Booth knew Bones' methods of avoidance to a T. He walked into her kitchen. "Sure, Bones. Then you can tell me what that slime ball did and don't deny it"

"He kissed me and groped my breasts twice. I had to yell at him to stop"

Booth's eyes grew black with anger as he came around to Brennan. "Bones, did he hurt you? If he did, I—"

"Booth, I'm fine, okay? Really I am. It was just hard to play along with him knowing what I know now. Right now all we have is speculation. We can't go in cannons blazing or else he could destroy your career. I won't allow that"

Booth ignored her mistake with the saying as he came over and hugged his best friend. "Okay, Bones. First, we'll get proof. After that, we will screw up their partnership like they tried to screw with ours"

When Brennan got to work, she was waylaid by Angela, who dragged her by the arm while waddling to her office. "Bren, spill. What happened after you left here? I was right about Booth, wasn't I?"

When Angela saw her friend's hesitation, she moved as quickly as a pregnant woman could go and shut her office door. Brennan visibly relaxed and started.

"Booth was trying to get a hold of me. He overheard Hannah and Andrew discussing something. Booth said that his supervisor made a comment about how I was frustrating him sexually and Hannah had some sort of plan. We agree that what she said to me must have been it."

Angela waited before she probed. "Did you two talk about how you feel about each other?"

"Angela!"

"Well, he obviously has feelings for you if he went behind his girlfriend's back to help you. If you didn't have strong feelings for him in return, that stunt Hannah pulled wouldn't have bothered you at all"

"It is not appropriate to discuss, Angela. Besides, I have to determine whether I will go with Andrew to see Faust this weekend. He wants to go"

"Sweetie" Angela stated softly. "That play is—"

"I know about it, Angela. I saw it while overseas. It's not my cup of coffee, but Booth is right and we need to go undercover to expose the two of them. This may be part of it. I just don't know if I can go that far"

"I'll support you with whatever you need, Honey"

Brennan smiled. "Good. Booth says we will need everyone's help here and probably Sweets' soft science as well because Booth said he would know how we could 'mess with their heads'"

"Oh, Bren, that man loves you"

"We're friends, Angela. Now I have to get back to the remains we brought in this morning. We will need you soon"

"Okay, I just need to finish something. Be right there"

"Of course"

When Brennan went to the platform, Angela got on the Angelatron to play out a hunch. When she found what she was looking for, she inquired further until she found what she was looking.

"Let's see what you have been up to, Mr. Assistant Deputy Director" She scrolled down and laughed. She saw a credit card purchase for two tickets to the National Theater for Friday. Cross referencing something, she saw what was playing. Suddenly she got a smile on her face. "I know how to stick it to that FBI asshole"

Moving as quickly as she can, she moved to the Ookey Room and was glad when she saw her husband still there.

"Honey, the Cantilever Group still has a box at the National Theater, right?"

"Yeah, eight seats, why?"

"Because I think we need to go see Faust on Friday. I think we need to take in a play with Bren and that asshole Hacker. He bought tickets for the two of them already, but a group thing would be more fun, don't you think?"

Hodgins laughed as he knew what his wife was doing. "You have such a dark mind, Angie" He walked up closer. "God, it has always made me hot"

The couple made out for a minute before reluctantly stopping. "We have to get to the platform, Angie. How about I text Booth and invite him and Hannah? This could be a good way for us to have a little fun and mess with Hacker and Hannah?"

"How Hannah?"

Hodgins smiled. "Angie, letting Hannah and Hacker think they are winning is perfect strategy, plus they may trip themselves up somehow if we all are together. You might want to check to see if Doctor B is okay with it. Faust might hit a little close to home you know"

"I considered that, but after seeing her last night, Honey, I think she'll do whatever to get those two back. Hannah and Hacker's plan has to be the cruelest thing to do to Bren and Booth. God I hate that bitch! If I weren't pregnant I would kick her ass"

Hodgins took her into his arms for a sec. "We'll get her Angie. Don't worry" Hodgins looked out and saw Cam's face as everyone waited for them. "Okay, let's get down there"

Angela grabbed her camera and the couple walked to the platform.