AN – First time I've done two updates in one day… this will probably serve as tomorrow's update… but if I get inspired, there might be one after work tomorrow. I hope you're still enjoying this story… and even if you're not, I want to know! You know what to do.

Chapter 11 – Man to Man

Booth paced along the hallway outside Cullen's office. After a long discussion with Bones, he'd come to the meeting alone. They'd decided that given her history with Cullen and the sensitivity of the situation with Hacker, it would be best if Booth went to talk to Cullen by himself. Booth felt that without Bones present, he could talk to Cullen man to man.

Sam Cullen was a man he respected, and over Booth's years with the bureau, Cullen had become a sort of mentor to him. Their relationship had grown even closer after Cullen's daughter Amy died. He was more than his boss, he was his friend. Booth knew that they could speak frankly.

It was a few more minutes before he heard the phone chime from Kirsten's desk. The young woman answered, listened for a moment and then turned to Booth as she placed the receiver back on the cradle.

"Director Cullen will see you now, Agent Booth."

"Thanks, Kirsten."

Booth went into the office and closed the door behind him.

"Thank you for seeing me, sir," Booth said, as he entered the room.

"Have a seat, Booth," Cullen replied. "I think we're going to be here a while. Look, it's late and I'm sure we both want to get home, so let's get right to it. I know why you're here. I got a call from Hacker this morning, and I've already met with him."

"So Bones and I can work together."

"No," Cullen answered. "Agent Perotta will be assigned to the Jeffersonian."

"What?" Booth jumped up out of his chair. "Damn it, Sam! He can't do this!"

"Unfortunately, Seeley," Cullen said resignedly, "he can."

"No. I came in here and we sat in this very office and talked with Mitchell on the phone. You both told me that Dr. Brennan and I could not be separated as partners because we became involved in a personal relationship."

Booth paced the office while Cullen sat back down in his chair and rubbed his eyes. This was going to be the toughest meeting he had in quite some time.

"That's true."

"Okay," Booth said, drawing out the word. "Then why are you splitting us up?"

"We're not splitting you up, Booth. We're simply assigning a new liaison to the Jeffersonian."

"Sounds an awful lot like splitting us up to me."

"Agent Perotta and Dr. Edison have been doing a fine job in your absence. They work well together and their solve rate is improving."

"But it's nowhere as good as mine with Dr. Brennan."

"No, but it is comparable to yours in your first year with Dr. Brennan."

"It's been decided that they should be able to continue working together," Cullen said. "Given enough time, they may even end up with the kind of numbers you and Dr. Brennan have achieved."

Booth shook his head. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"Wait a minute," he said. "When I asked for a leave of absence because I was called to serve my country, the Bureau was all for it. I'm sure it was great for P.R. I was assured that I could have my position when I returned."

"And you do, Special Agent in Charge- Major Crimes Division. Booth, having you liaise with the Jeffersonian is not part of your job description. In fact, as an SAIC we probably should have pulled you from that post a long time ago. Quite frankly, the biggest reason we've kept you there is that no one else could work with Dr. Brennan."

Booth plopped down in the chair across from Cullen's desk, spent.

"And now…"

"And now, we're getting good results from Perotta and Dr. Edison. The crime scene techs are happier, and you can be used to your fuller potential in running your department."

"So basically, you've decided you don't need her anymore. You've got Edison, so she's expendable and you don't need me to babysit her. This is bullshit, Sam."

Cullen didn't respond, and Booth just kept shaking his head and went on.

"And it's gonna kill her. I promised her, Sam. You told me you weren't going to split us up."

"And I didn't. I'm sorry, Booth but my hands are tied."

"Your hands are tied? You're the Deputy Director of the goddamned FBI. You could stop this. You CAN stop this."

"Calm down, Booth," Cullen said, with authority. "I'm going to ignore that little rant of both disrespect and insubordination because I know how hard this is for you. You know I've come to think of you like a son, and Dr. Brennan has grown on me. I get that this is difficult for you, but Hacker's done his homework. He's got a solid case, and if you fight it he'll win on merits."

"You know that's not what this is about. This is personal. He's been chasing after Bones ever since he got to DC. She even went out with him a couple of times. He's pissed and his ego's bruised because she chose me. Now, he's trying to punish us both and he's found the perfect way to do it."

"That may very well be the case," Sam agreed. "But he's presented a perfectly plausible case for keeping the status quo regarding the Jeffersonian liaison, and he did it without bringing your personal relationship into it at all."

"Damn it," Booth said again, getting up to pace the office. "What am I gonna do, Sam?"

"Make the best of it, I guess," the older man offered. "A lot of couples couldn't handle working and living together."

"We're not living together," Booth said. "Not yet, anyway."

"No, I just mean that it's very difficult to work with the person you're personally involved with."

"You don't get it," Booth said, dejected at this point. "I promised her. I promised her. Twice. First that we wouldn't get split up, and then that I could fix this. God, this can't be happening."

"Look, give it time. I'm sure she's got a lot of catching up to do at the museum and she's not itching to get out in the field, anyway. You can tell her that your field clearance got held up or something. It will buy some time for me to go to Mitchell and see what we can do."

"I like the idea of you going to Mitchell," Booth said. "But I won't lie to her."

"It doesn't have to be a lie," Cullen said with a grin. "Your paperwork could get lost. Kirsten has had a lot on her plate lately…"

Booth smiled his first genuine smile of the afternoon.

"Thanks, boss," he said. "But like I said, I don't want to be dishonest with her. This is the real deal. You wouldn't skate around the truth with Julia. I'm not going to do it with Temperance. But since I am SAIC, I don't have to go out on any cases that I don't want to, right? It might be a good idea for me to work in the office for a while just to make sure the team's on track."

Cullen looked up at the clock on the wall.

"It's after hours. We're just a couple of guys talking…" he said, walking over to his sideboard and pouring them both a generous pull of Johnnie Walker Gold Label. He handed Booth a glass before he sat down in the club chair next to him and continued. "Between us guys," he said. "Hacker is a pissant who needs to be taken down a peg or two."

"He really needs to grow a set," Booth agreed. "Did you know that as soon as he told me that I wouldn't be working with the Jeffersonian any more, he ran right over there to tell Bones before I got the chance?"

"No," Cullen replied. "I didn't, but that's something we can work with."

"I really hate this," Booth said with a sigh. "Before he set his sights on my partner, I kind of liked the guy. I mean, I thought Hacker was a doofus, but I never thought he was a bad guy. He can't be all bad, Bones actually likes him. Or she did, before today."

"He's a user, Booth. He's the kind of guy who moves up through the ranks on the backs of the hardworking guys around him. He made Assistant Deputy Director without ever working a real major case. He never had a close rate like yours. He's a glory hound, but he's lazy. He needs good agents working under him to make him look good."

"He actually told me that once. Said our solve rate made him look good."

"He's right," Cullen agreed. "It actually does. And that's why I think he's not going to stick to his guns with this. He wants to make you sweat, and maybe make Dr. Brennan suffer a little bit. But he's not going to let it go on long enough to screw with his numbers."

"It's late," Booth said.

"Try to relax. Go pick up your girl and take her to a nice dinner. Let me talk to Mitchell in the morning and we'll see what we can do. I need to talk to Dr. Saroyan and see if he made contact with her before he approached Dr. Brennan."

The men stood, and shook hands.

"Thanks, Sam," Booth said, turning to leave the office.

BnBnBnBnBnBnBnB

"Knock, knock," Booth said as he walked into Brennan's office.

"Hi," she said.

"You ready to go?"

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost seven," he said quietly. "Come on, I'm sure you've got a million things to do but you need to eat and get some rest. I know you didn't eat your lunch."

"No, I'm ready," she said, much to his surprise.

Much to her surprise, she didn't want to talk about Hacker or the meeting with Cullen or whether or not they could work together. She didn't want to go home and hide out alone in the sanctuary of her apartment. She just wanted to be with him.

"Can we go to your place?" she asked.

"Sure," he answered. "If that's what you want."

"It is," she said as she turned off her computer and straightened the files on her desk into neat little piles.

He took her bag and threw it over his shoulder and placing his hand at the small of her back, he followed her out the door.

BnBnBnBnBnBnBnB

She took a folded t-shirt off the laundry basket at the foot of his bed, and slipped it over her head. She felt enveloped by him. Standing here in his bedroom in front of the mirror, she felt safe, and protect, and loved.

The fears and stresses of the past few days still threatened, but she pushed them to the back of her mind. She didn't want to deal with anything tonight except for being with the man she loved. She still felt overwhelmed by all the recent changes in her life, and she was still afraid of what might happen if he hadn't been able to fix things with Cullen. But she wasn't going to dwell on those things tonight. There would be plenty of time for worry later. Tonight, she just wanted to be a normal girl in a normal relationship.

He'd ordered dinner for them while she was in the shower, and she was starving. She stood for a moment at the end of the hallway, watching as he set the table and set out their food.

"Dinner's here," he said when he heard her walk down the hall.

"Smells good," she said.

He was sure he'd never seen anything sexier in his life than the woman he loved standing before him wearing a pair of boy shorts and his favorite Phillies t-shirt, her hair still damp from the shower.

"This is nice," she said, tucking in to her Tom Yum Jae. It no longer surprised her just how well he knew her. The soup was the perfect comfort food for the end of this very long day. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he answered, smiling.

"What are you having?"

"Kai Yang. Want some?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"You know I don't," she answered. "But can I have some of your sticky rice?"

"Of course," he said. "I got veggie spring rolls, too."

"Perfect."

"Yes, you are," he said.

She rolled her eyes.

"You're not going to get all sappy on me now, are you Booth?"

"I don't know, Bones. Maybe. I'm sure there are plenty of guys down at the Hoover who'd say I'm a sap for you."

"Will it always be like this?" she asked quietly.

"I hope so," he answered honestly. He put down his chopsticks and reached across the table to take her hand. "We're gonna have good days and we're gonna have bad days. I hope the good outweigh the bad, but if the bad ones all end up with us commiserating over Thai food and me holding your hand then we're doing all right."

"I can think of something better than you holding my hand," she said, a wicked gleam in her eye.

"I'm completely in agreement, Dr. Brennan," he answered, his smile matching hers. "But you'd better eat up first, because you're going to need your strength for what I have in mind."

This, she thought, was exactly what she needed. She was so glad that she had let Angela talk her into not going home alone. She knew this was exactly where she was supposed to be.