Everyone, THANK YOU again for the reviews. Honestly, your honest reactions put a huge smile on my face. So thanks again!

-Gret

Chapter 8

Dr. Lance Sweets was having a very stressful morning. He spent years fascinated by the interactions between Dr. Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth. He had never cared about two patients this way ever. He wrote a book on these two; they took up that much of his thoughts in his free time.

And now – they were falling apart. He always knew their love would do this. That before they could ever figure out their hearts and find love that they'd suffer. Big time. They'd punish themselves and each other. They'd put up walls. They'd fight their feelings until the bitter end. Until they could not anymore.

He always feared it would happen; always knew it would happen. And now? He was on the verge of a nervous breakdown!

A voicemail from Booth that came in after midnight. That's never a good sign. Booth's voice was abnormal. The normally forceful, authoritative tone was replaced by something incredibly vulnerable. He was saying words that clearly killed him to say.

Over the years, if Sweets even mentioned the idea of breaking up their partnership, it shut the "cocky" agent up instantly. Jokes died on his tongue, he practically visibly paled – and he did whatever it was he was supposed to do. Anything to keep the partnership together.

Until now.

It was 7:25am. Dr. Brennan would be here any second. She was another distraught mess. Realizing she loved her partner when the timing couldn't have been more wrong. Getting herself pregnant with his baby when the timing couldn't have been more wrong. Still holding back her feelings from Booth – her real feelings – when she finally told him about the baby… when the timing couldn't have been more wrong.

Sweets put his head in his hands and groaned. These two were going to be the death of him. He was sure of it!

He was the same as Angela. The very same. Angela called him this morning and gave him a little bit of a scoop. She was just concerned for her friend, not interfering. And he'd never tell Dr. Brennan Angela had called. During their brief conversation he realized that they both really were wanting the same thing.

They both wanted these two to just wake up already. To stop dancing around what everyone else could see clear as day.

"Here I am, Sweets. Right on time," Dr. Brennan said, popping her head in. "Let's keep this quick. I have remains to identify."

She took a seat; the same one as the day before and removed her coat. She looked at him impatiently.

"If you're not going to ask me any questions, I could just go—" she offered, eagerly.

"No, no. Sorry," he said quickly. "Just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

"I didn't either. I… I slept at Angela and Hodgins'."

"Why didn't you sleep at home?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I didn't feel like it. I did happen to tell Booth everything yesterday, you'll be happy to know."

"You did? That's great. I think that was a step in the right direction."

She shrugged again. "I'm not sure he was too excited about the news actually. I mean, not that I thought he'd be excited," she amended. "I just wasn't expecting such a… cold reaction."

"Why was it cold?"

She closed her eyes slowly and then opened them, a look of resolve painted on her features. "Sweets, you told me that I had to come here every morning during this case to talk to you about the case. Not about me and Booth. So… I should tell you that I am still okay examining the remains of a pregnant woman."

Sweets was silenced for a moment. Maybe it was his time away from her or maybe it was the absence of Booth, but he'd never realized before how abrasive Dr. Brennan could be.

"Don't you look at me like that too," she pleaded, genuine pain creeping into her voice.

"Look at you how?"

"Like I'm cold and heartless. Like I don't care about things. Like… like Booth did." As she finished, tears definitely sprung to her eyes.

"I'm sure that was difficult," he said gently. "Seeing a different… look… from Booth."

She nodded. "I felt like he hated me. I didn't like it."

He nodded sympathetically. "I don't think he hates you. In fact, I can promise you that."

She looked confused. "I don't think you can share your personal opinion with me, Sweets, in our sessions. I think you're supposed to ask me questions and then I answer and you pretend that it helps me somehow."

He smiled, ignorning the jibe at his profession. "I was speaking as your friend."

"Sweets, I'm getting very confused. You keep switching from my friend to my psychologist. Without any warning. Who are you now?"

"I… I don't know," he said slowly.

"And this session is supposed to help me? You don't even know who you are right now." Her words were light, but she was getting up and putting her coat back on.

"How about from now on when I switch gears on you, I announce it?" he offered, walking to the door with her.

She thought about that and smiled. "I like that."

"Okay. So as your friend, please call me anytime to talk."

"Thanks. I will."

"And as your psychologist… see you tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes at that and opened the door, revealing Agent Booth standing on the other side of it, ready to knock. When he saw Dr. Brennan, his mouth fell open. They just stood there staring at each other.

It was only 8am. This was going to be a long day.

"Bones, what are you doing here? Did I miss a session?" he asked.

"Dr. Brennan and I just had a small matter to discuss," Sweets said smoothly.

"Actually, Sweets wants me to meet with him every morning until this case is over," Brennan stated, shrugging like she thought it was all very silly. "Because of the pregnant woman."

Booth blinked a couple of times as he clearly thought about it, about the case. With everything else that had been presented to him, he had clearly forgot about the details of the case. "Oh my god," he muttered. Then he looked up at her. "You can't work this case. It's… no. No. Bones, you're off this case," he said.

She looked insulted. But only for a moment. "Well I would say that you can't either then."

"Really? And why's that?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Because it's about a woman who was pregnant. Expecting a baby. And your partner, whether you want to accept it or not, whether it fits into your life right now or not, whether you planned it or not – is pregnant with your baby."

Sweets smiled. "She's right." He laughed.

They both shot him a murderous look at that.

"What?" he raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying that she has a point, Agent Booth."

"I can handle this case," he said, annoyance seeping into his tone.

"Well, I can, too," she said. Then she looked at him confused. "Why are you here so early? And without me?"

"That's none of your business," he said impatiently.

"I told you why I was here," she pointed out.

Booth smiled sadly for a moment; perhaps enjoying the familiar banter, despite how much things had changed for them in the space of a day.

"Yes, you did," he admitted. He looked at Sweets for help.

Sweets said nothing. What could he say?

Dr. Brennan's phone rang, breaking the silence.

"Brennan… yes… okay, great. I'll be right there."

She turned to leave.

"Whoa, Bones – where you off to now?"

She looked at Booth. "It was Angela. She was able to do a reconstruction. We have a face and a name."

"Okay," Booth said, softly. "Look, I'll be over at the Jeffersonian in a half hour, okay?"

Brennan looked from Sweets to Booth a little nervously, before muttering a "sure" and leaving.

Booth turned to Sweets, his hands on his hips. He was not happy.

"What?" Sweets asked, turning to walk back into the office.

"So you know everything," Booth said.

"I do," Sweets said. "And I'm here if you need to talk – as a psychologist or a friend."

"I'll keep that in mind when I finally move past the shock phase," Booth muttered. He sat down in his usual chair.

"It is very shocking," Sweets agreed. "And it'll take time for you to process it all."

"That's just it. How can I process it with us just going on, working, like nothing happened? My partner is carrying my baby. The rules say federal agents aren't to fraternize with consultants or fellow agents, people they work with. They didn't exactly mention babies, but I'm pretty sure that it's implied that when your partner is carrying your child, it becomes too complicated to keep going," he said. "You're our psychologist, Sweets. Do you think it's in our best interest to continue like this right now?"

Sweets thought about it. It was complicated. But… he had no idea what could happen if they walked away from each other. Booth was looking to him for help. He was in pain. She was in pain. Even he was in pain, the friend and the witness.

Pulling them apart could make this pain permanent. He was almost certain of it.

If they had distance, on the other hand, maybe they'd go so stir crazy they'd finally admit their feelings.

But… this was Booth and Brennan.

She made a living out of creating walls between herself and the world around her. She pushed love so far away she barely recognized it when it was dangling in front of her.

And Booth had his pride and a big heart. He put it all on the line for the woman he loves – and he got rejected. His love would win over; Sweets was convinced of it because he'd never seen something so true in his life. But… his pride and what he believed to be the truth right now… that could damage their chances beyond repair.

"Agent Booth," Sweets said carefully. "Do you want to break up your partnership?"

Booth put a hand through his hair. "I don't know," he said, staring at the ground. "She's the best partner I've ever had. But… I had feelings for her. That was tough enough. And I got strong again, strong enough to move on. This is too much. She's pregnant with my baby."

"It's a lot. I agree."

He sat back in his chair and thought about it. "This is easy to fix," Sweets said, trying… trying… not to smirk.

"Great, Sweets! I like the sound of that. What've you got?"

"When you two were away doing your else-worldly duties, the Jeffersonian had a forensic anthropologist and new FBI agent to work the cases that came in."

"Yeah, Cam's new boyfriend," Booth said, keeping up.

"Well, for your case, you need to work with a forensic anthropologist. Dr. Braden is a fantastic guy. Nearly top of his field."

Booth chuckled. "Nearly because Bones protects that title with everything she's got. And she lets everyone know she's the best."

"And Agent Cahill can work with Dr. Brennan on the case he just picked up. I believe it had to do with the remains of a college poetry professor."

Booth sat forward. "Wait, wait, wait. You want to swap the four of us, mix our partnerships all up?"

"I guess you could work alone. But you'd need to drop your current case. You'd need to work a case that doesn't require forensic expertise."

"Why does Bones have to work with Agent Cahill? Can't she just stay in the lab and do her actual, original job?"

Sweets shook his head. "She wants to work."

Booth thought about it and then finally looked at Sweets, shaking his head. "No way. No way is Bones going out into the field with another agent. They don't know her. She runs headfirst into trouble every chance she gets. She has gun envy and bad gut instincts. I know her. I am the best person to keep her safe. If she insists on going out into the field, especially in her condition, she needs extra protection. No way can Agent Cahill do it. No way."

Sweets nodded, looking as serious as he could manage. "So… bad plan?"

"Terrible plan, Sweets."

"Do you still want to talk about possibly dissolving your partnership?"

"No. Not right now. You're right. It's all very new. And I need to process it more. If it gets too complicated, I will let you know."

"Great, well you know I'm—"

"—Great, Sweets, that's all I needed," Booth said, standing up and leaving quickly.

"… here for you."

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"She was a ballerina on her way to Paris to practice. She was only seven weeks along with the baby. She had no idea," Angela said, staring at a photograph, talking to Brennan.

Brennan looked at the beautiful girl and ignored the tug at something inside. A familiar warm feeling that suddenly chilled her to the core. Someone might've killed her because they did have an idea about her baby.

"Thanks, Ange," Brennan muttered, taking the file. "Booth will be here in a little while, and then I'll work with him on the Booth stuff."

"The Booth stuff?" Angela asked, smirking in interest.

"The who, what, where, why, what her life was like, what everyone else in her life was like… you know… the Booth stuff."

Angela nodded. "Ah. Speaking of Booth's stuff," she said, quickly.

"Angela—"

"Okay, okay, sorry. But… will you please take my advice and tell him about the love."

"The love…"

"Yes – the reason you decided to have his baby? Because you thought he died and in total anguish made a heartfelt decision to have his baby, and honor him, keeping him alive in a sense and tied to you forever. The love!"

Brennan smiled embarrassed. She wasn't used to telling people such exact emotional feelings. Normally, she shared the whole truth with Booth. About family. About insecurities. All of it. Now… Angela, Hodgins and Sweets knew the truest, most emotional core of her. It was strange.

And, oddly enough, it felt kind of nice.

Especially since Angela insisted on taunting her today with her inside knowledge.

"I told you, Angela. He is trying to make his relationship work. Logically, I am not sure that confessing that I love him – especially since I'm not sure that he still loves me at all –is wise. It could either ruin his relationship or just our friendship in general. And at the very least, this baby deserves to have him in its life. We need to stay in each other's lives at least as friends. It's not the time for love."

"Just do me a favor," Angela said. "Look into his eyes. Search them. See what you find. And then promise me that if you see that old Booth look again in there, that you'll tell him all about it."

Brennan opened her mouth, but Angela stopped her with a knowing look. She groaned. "I promise to think about it. How's that?"

Angela smiled. "For now, that's fine."

"I'm going to call Booth, see where he is," Brennan said. She walked off the platform and headed toward her office when someone stepped in front of her.

It took her one startled moment to place her. Then she knew. "Hannah."

"Dr. Brennan," Hannah said. She looked nervous. "I… I am really sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation just now."

Brennan looked toward the platform and then back at Hannah. "Actually that could have been helped," she pointed out. "You could've walked away, or covered your ears, or just not listened."

Hannah nodded and then looked at Dr. Brennan, her brown eyes teary and pleading. "Um… can I just have one moment of your time?" she asked.

Brennan nodded uncertainly. "We can talk in my office."