Author's Note: This chapter is kind of short, and it takes place after the events from The Yanks in the UK.
I do not own Bones or any of its characters. It's just a hobby, guys...;)
Thank you again to everyone who is reading/following/reviewing this.
Amandafriend: Glad you are enjoying my work. Hopefully future chapters will not disappoint. ;)
TimeWitch16: I don't know if it's so much jealousy as regret for what happened to him and longing on Sweets' part for what Zack had. ;) Thanks, as always, for the reviews.
Buttercups3: Thank you again for your review! :D I try to stay somewhat objective of Sweets because even if he's my favorite, I don't want to be a fawning fan-girl...As for the show, I was already a fan while watching Seasons One and Two in repeats, but Sweets quickly became my favorite once he was introduced on Bones. I hated that they got rid of Zack, but I would have been really upset if Sweets had been Gormogon's apprentice....I wish they could have found some other out there...And I agree with you, Sweets still has some growing up to do at this point. ;)
Aysel Maha: And yet here I went and took a couple days off from updating. :( Sorry about that....I hope you enjoy all the updates for the next couple of days. :D Oh and I couldn't resist working in the speed dial reference. I loved that bit with Cam in the Passenger in the Oven episode. ;)
206: I'm surprised that more people don't make that connection as to why Booth tries to include and befriend Sweets so much. As for the dropping in on him unannounced, I suspect it's another "little brother" thing, like sticking him with the check. ;)
Mitchellhp: Well I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I'm not doing Zack's therapy sessions in this story. :( The good news is that there will be more Sweets/Booth friendship moments. :) Hope you enjoy it anyway...And I'm with you, I doubt that they will set up appointments anytime soon. ;P Look at how Cam dropped in on him in the latest episode (loved that scene BTW). Sweets strikes me as the forgiving type, thus why he wants to help people despite what he's been through...
Phosphorescent: Thank you! :) And yes, so many issues, so much denial....Sweets has his hands full even without appointments, so maybe it's just as well. ;)
Frustrating Confusion—part 1
Doctor Lance Sweets leaned back in his chair and rested his head on his hand while he watched his two favorite, but most frustrating, patients in the world sit on the couch across from him. The room was silent as everyone waited for someone else to speak first. Sweets worked hard to stifle the urge to roll his eyes; he knew that their not talking was a kind of a power struggle with him. The sad thing was he was trying to do the same thing to them and it wasn't working.
It was their first session since Booth and Brennan had been to England and all the drama surrounding Angela's long lost husband had happened at the lab. Sweets was anxious to see what their perspectives were on all of this, but they were still giving him the silent treatment. Well, sort of...
He sighed inwardly. He hated to be the first to talk; he knew that it relinquished some of the control he had over the session, but it didn't appear that he had any choice in the matter.
"So…how was England?"
"Fine," Brennan nodded.
"Great," Booth chimed in. "It was a lot of fun. I got a bobble-head Bobby."
"Ah…that's nice," Sweets nodded.
"Well it wasn't entirely fun for Booth. At least not at first," Brennan added.
"What do you mean, Bones? I had a lot of fun. We solved not one but two murders. I got knighted, and I got that great bobble-head Bobby. What's not to love there?"
"You should have seen how frustrated he was trying to drive that rental car into traffic," Brennan said turning toward Sweets. "He just kept making so many errors that…"
"Ok, point made, Bones," Booth interrupted. "Maybe they do have some silly rules when it comes to driving, but there's so much else to enjoy: the castles, the 'good morning mate', and of course, the knighthood thing…"
"It must have been difficult for you, Agent Booth, to be put in a situation where you felt out of touch and ignorant of the rules dictating those around you," Sweets nodded.
"That's what you decide to focus on?" Booth asked. "No questions about the murders or my knighthood? You just want to talk about my driving?"
"Since Doctor Brennan felt it necessary to bring it up, I feel that perhaps there may be an issue there that needs to be examined."
"I only brought it up to counter the notion that the journey was as perfect as Booth was implying," Brennan commented. "It was not meant to disregard everything else that was said."
"But why bring it up at all?" Booth said. "It doesn't really mean anything, like you said. So why get him involved?"
"It's never good to ignore flaws, no matter how tempting it may be to do so," Brennan answered.
"Why do you see Agent Booth's unfamiliarity with British traffic laws as a flaw on his part?"
"It's not so much a flaw as a misinterpretation of the facts. My statement was only an attempt to portray the situation in a more accurate, balanced way."
Sweets quickly saw that this line of conversation would lead to nowhere but more bickering, so he decided to change gears.
"You said that there were some murders? How was it for the two of you working with your counterparts from England?" Sweets asked.
"Fine," Brennan nodded again. "The first murder was solved very expediently with the help of Doctor Wexler and Inspector Pritchard. The second murder did not run so smoothly with the loss of Ian's invaluable assistance, but we managed."
"That must have been difficult for you, Doctor Brennan," Sweets said leaning forward again. "Investigating the death of someone you had been involved with earlier in the week."
"Like I told Booth, I did not take Ian up on his offer for sexual intercourse," Brennan sighed.
"Whoa…what?" Sweets said, shifting in his chair. He had been talking about her being professionally involved with Wexler, but now the conversation had just become a lot more interesting.
"It's not that big a deal," Brennan said, rolling her eyes. "Ian offered, but after talking it over with Booth, I realized that the quality of Booth's partnership is more important to me."
"So you're saying that you turned down having a sexual relationship with a colleague who you were attracted to because you were worried about how it would affect your relationship with Agent Booth?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Wow, that's interesting….and why was that exactly?"
"You just keep focusing on the wrong things here, Sweets," Booth growled while he reached over to pick up the squishy sumo that was sitting on the stand next to him. He began to squeeze it in his grip.
"Agent Booth, I think it's important that Doctor Brennan realizes the significance that a sexual relationship with others can bring to your unique work dynamic."
"I suppose you mean like the one Cam created when she slept with Angela's ex-husband?" Brennan mused.
"No…that's not the same thing," Sweets said shaking his head. "Angela was not in a relationship with Cam, she was in one with Hodgins."
"Yes, but now Angela is no longer engaged to Hodgins," Brennan noted. "It's a reasonable supposition that that might have had something to do with it."
"No, Angela's break-up with Hodgins had much deeper roots than that," Sweets argued. "Doctor Saroyan's indiscretion held little weight in that situation."
"Ok…I'm a genius, but now I'm confused," Brennan said furrowing her eyebrows. "You just said that Cam's sleeping with a co-worker's ex-husband held little significance, but you also imply that my sleeping with Ian would have held great importance?" She leaned back and narrowed her eyes at him a little.
"Is this another one of your experiments?" she asked him.
"Bones, what does that even mean?" Booth wondered. "Why do you keep saying that around him?" Sweets cleared his throat loudly to distract both of them into looking back at him.
"Doctor Brennan, the fissures that existed in Angela's and Hodgins' relationship were already there when Angela's ex came back into her life. His presence just exasperated the problems that were already there. Thus, Doctor Saroyan's actions, while misguided, did little to affect their relationship either way," Sweets said. He then straightened himself upward in his chair and leaned back, crossing his legs as he did so.
"However, Agent Booth, Doctor Brennan, I think that this is also the perfect opportunity to examine what the expectations are for this partnership." Sweets turned to look Booth in the eye.
"Now, Agent Booth when you told Doctor Brennan that the quality of your partnership would be affected by her sleeping with Doctor Wexler, was it because you were concerned about any professional complications or was it because you…"
Sweets was cut off by the sounds of both Booth's and Brennan's cell phones ringing. They reached into their pockets for them and Sweets gave a frustrated huff.
"So many times, I've said something about cell phones during therapy, "Sweets muttered. "And yet so many times, I've been ignored."
Booth ignored him and glanced at his cell phone, sharing a nod with Brennan. The two of them then got up from the couch.
"Sorry Sweets, but duty calls," Booth said with what Sweets considered to be a half-hearted attempt at regret. "Let's go Bones."
They then swiftly left the office, closing the door behind them. Sweets sank down in his chair, frustrated.
'For once, I had them on a really compelling and revealing topic…and I had the perfect lead to a real pertinent discussion,' Sweets thought, glumly. 'But of course, another murder comes up. How am I ever going to be able to write this book if I can get any real insights from them?'
Sweets began to scan through his notes from the session when a new, disturbing thought came to him.
'Is it always going to be like this? Am I never going to make any sort of progress with them?' Sweets swallowed hard.
'Are they never going to trust me again because of what I did?'