Disclaimer: I don't own any characters here.

My stories are continuous parts of the same tale. If you'd like to start at the beginning please visit my author profile for an ordered listing. Sorry it's taking me a bit longer to update between chapters, very busy! But this is far from forgotten.

This story is naturally extending itself, too many cute scenes popping into my head. I promise more BB fluff to come :)...Hope you enjoy! Please review.

Seeley sat down heavily, eyes casually watching Temperance thread her way to the bathroom. Unblinking until the door clicked behind her, he turned to Sweets and affected a sly smile. Almost immediately Sweets began to squirm, cutting his eyes left and right, stammering lightly. This is just too easy, thought Seeley. And I've missed it. Too slow to stamp that thought out, his smile faded.

"Something wrong, Agent Booth?"

"Naw, Sweets. Just wondering..." He stopped as Temperance returned and took a moment to collect his thoughts as he rose to allow her access to the window chair.

"So, Dr. Sweets. Why here? Why not back at your office again?"

"Direct, as always, Dr. Brennan." Sweets smiled, with only a fleeting touch of discomfort. "I felt it necessary to remove us from the FBI's zone of influence..."

"You mean the entire United States, Sweets?"

Giving Booth an exasperated glance, he continued. "I, what I'm about to say doesn't exactly fall in line with my duty as an employee of the FBI. You asked me what you should do so I did some checking."

"Discreetly, I hope?" asked Temperance.

"Like, totally. The general idea is that if the FBI finds out about a relationship change like yours the Special Agent would be disciplined, possible severely, and the relationship between the agent and the Jeffersonian would likely be over. Forever."

"Well, that sucks." He glanced at Temperance, his brow furrowed. "What do you want to do, babe?"

"Dr. Brennan..." Sweets attempted to cut in.

"Seeley, we can't hide it. Pretty soon you'd have to hide me to hide it."

"Agent Booth..."

"Well I sure don't want to get disciplined. They can't take my wheels again." Seeley's furrow deepened.

Sweets slammed his hand on the table, with more force than intended, causing both to turn and stare at him. "Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth...stop doing that! You asked me for a solution and you stopped me at the problem." Pausing, he slid his eyes between them to assure himself of their quiet compliance before continuing. "What I think you should do instead, Dr. Brennan, is take yourself completely off the FBI's radar. Say that you no longer have the time and that, at least for now, Agent Booth will take Dr. Addy with him into the field when a first hand evaluation is necessary. As far as the FBI is concerned, Dr. Addy should be Agent Booth's partner, at least for now."

"I accept your logic, Dr. Sweets. That makes sense. If I'm no longer Booth's partner then the FBI shouldn't care about me at all, right? I will be of no concern. So we can have our child, get married, do whatever we want and they have no rights to care, correct?"

"But, Bones...I see what you're saying Sweets, I do...but Zack? All the time? I mean I know we talked about it Temp...but still..." he finished plaintively, staring between them. He knew they were right, that this was the only way but the thought of countless crime scenes with Zack and the long evenings compiling notes, with Zack, filled him with a little discomfort and a lot of squirming.

"This is the only way, Agent Booth. You don't necessarily have to tell the FBI anything more than that, at this time. It leaves your future options open."

"Okay," he conceded. "But what about our marriage? What about the future? Can we ever be partners again?"

"Well. I doubt they would let you return to the field together but you could make a request, after a suitable amount of time..."

Seeley and Temperance turned to stare at each other. Sweets smiled, watching the communication flow though no words were spoken. Eventually Seeley nodded and Temperance turned back to Sweets. "We'll do it your way Dr. Sweets."

Zack shuffled from foot to foot, unsure of what to do. It was his first crime scene since Dr. Brennan stepped aside. He'd been to countless crime scenes, but never as the expert in charge. And while Dr. Saroyan was going to be there as well to assist, and supervise, his actions and observations now carried unaccustomed weight, which was not lost on him.

Dr. Brennan had given him continual tips while he prepped. She'd talked with a speed and incessant stream which was very unnatural for her and confused him. Did she doubt his work? Did she not have confidence in his abilities?

Zack didn't yet have his own Jeffersonian cell-phone. Dr. Brennan had called Agent Booth's cell phone four times while they drove to the crime scene. Agent Booth had allowed her to talk to Zack the first three times but now was locked in a heated argument with her, fiercely whispering.

"No, Bones. No. I will not let you talk to him again. Just, no, B..., will you...no...I'm going to..."

Seeley thrust the phone at Zack with a vengeance. "Here, talk to her. But I'm not answering the next call! You hear that, Bones!" His voice rose markedly at the end for the benefit of Dr. Brennan.

"Zack, there's one more thing I need to tell you."

"Yes, Dr. Brennan?"

Zack listened intently and with a quiet, "Yes, Dr. Brennan." he closed the phone, dropping it nervously into his bag.

Seeley stared at him, opening and closing his mouth. Recovering his voice after a moment, he burst out, "Oh you did not just do that, Zack. Give me my phone. Give me my damn..." he said as he reached for Zack's bag, the vehicle swerving wildly.

"I'm sorry, Agent Booth, but Dr. Brennan was quite insistent. And, as she is my superior, I must do as she says." Zack announced this in the simple manner he uses to announce test results, or the damnably logical, irrefutable answer to a question.

"Zack. I am the one with the gun."

"She said you'd say that."

"Oh yeah? What else did she say?"

"To refuse to comply." Zack replied, matter-of-factly.

"That's it?" Seeley wasn't sure what to make of that response. What game is Temperance playing here? He changed course to give himself time to think.

"So, uh, Zack, what do you do when you're not at the lab?"

Taken aback by the suddenness of the question, Zack stammered, "Uh, the usual things."

"Like what, Zack?" This is very much like pulling teeth.

"Um, building model airplanes, robots..."

"Those are not 'usual things', Zack." He paused to glare at Zack. "Ever go dancing, or go on a date?"

"I've been told that I look like a marionette in a wind-tunnel when dancing, Agent Booth. It doesn't seem like an advisable pursuit."

"Do you, I don't know...read? Watch TV? go to the movies?"

"The only TV shows that interest me are the crime and science shows by they invariably get the science wrong." Zack sighed in disapproval and shook his head. "I don't go the movies, Agent Booth. If you knew what was on the seats..."

Seeley threw up a quick hand to stop him. "That's okay Zack, spare me."

Zack brightened. "I am currently reading something, Agent Booth. Dr. Brennan gave me a copy of the latest issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. In it is a fascinating study on the..."

Jeez, thought Seeley, as Zack continued excitedly. No wonder we never talked. He noticed Zack had lapsed back into silence and decided to return to the original topic.

"So, Dr. Brennan told you to keep my phone and not give it back. Did she say why she wanted you to keep it?"

Zack reached into his bag and pulled out the phone, handing it to Seeley. "No, Agent Booth. But she said to give it back to you when you 'got around' to asking that specific question."

Seeley palmed the phone, rubbing his thumb over the display. She spends entirely too much time with Angela and Cam, he thought wryly. I wonder which of them thought this little trick up.