Chapter 26: Who Wears the Pants?

It turned out that Temperance was more tired than Sadie. One minute she was halfway on Seeley's lap, waiting for Sadie to fall asleep, after they'd assured her that she would not be sent away once she started Kindergarten, and the next she was being set gently on their bed.

"How long was I asleep?" she yawned.

"Twenty minutes tops," he shrugged, "I thought Sadie was never gonna get to sleep for a while there."

She nodded as silence dropped like a curtain between them. Simultaneously, they were transported back in time three and a half years. The ink had barely had time to dry on their marriage license when they'd been thrust into hiding with Parker and the three Lane children. Cut off from the majority of the world for the better part of a month, the six of them had bonded in a way that Dr. Temperance Brennan could never have conceived beforehand and couldn't deny afterward.

When the danger had passed, however, the couple had been left with a difficult decision: Find a way to retain custody of the Lane children or release them to foster care. Neither one of them was willing to release custody, but at the time they were newlyweds without a house and whose work ethics would not mesh with taking on three children; nor did they have the proper resources to help the older two through all of the changes that had taken place in their young lives.

The solution, then, was to enroll the older two in the Milton Hershey School, where their physical and emotional needs could be cared for and to adopt Sadie as their own, since she was far too young for school and would otherwise be forever separated from her siblings. During the summers and holiday breaks, Maddie and Joey would live with the Booths.

The first summer had been stressful as they all tried to figure out what their roles in the household were and some days the only thing that saved the marriage end of their relationship was their partnership at work. In the end, cases were solved and the children survived, but a huge sigh of relief was breathed by all when school went back in session.

The second summer, the tension lessened, with everyone much more cognizant of their rolls with in the household, but there was still a feeling of reprieve when fall came. This past summer had been the most relaxing yet and many tears had been shed when Maddie and Joey had to return to Hershey. Given Maddie's recent odd behavior, along with Sadie's loaded bedtime question, it was no small wonder that doubt as to how they were handling the situation had crept in.

"I believe it's time we addressed the pachyderm in our midst," she broke the silence.

"You mean the elephant in the room?" he chuckled.

"I believe I said that."

"Look, we do," she sensed a caveat, "and we will. But right now, we're both tired, plus we've got something more immediate to figure out."

She lifted a singular, questioning eyebrow at him and awaited elucidation.

"The Lily Hairston case- and all of the other people we found in the mailroom," he said, "Cullen turned it all over to Perotta when you went missing because I was too close to be objective at the time."

"That's a simple issue to address," she scoffed, standing up to change into her sleepwear, "We'll just inform him that your objectivity is no longer in question and that the Jeffersonian will not be aiding in the investigation until we're reinstated."

"Blackmail Cullen?" He sounded incredulous, "My boss? Doesn't sound like too swift a career move for me."

"Blackmailing the FBI has worked in the past," she smiled demurely, "Just let me do the talking."

"You, huh?" a smile played around his lips as she went to remove her dress, "He won't have a snowball's chance in- HELLO? That is not your underwear!"

Another demure smile followed by an innocent shrug, "I told you I didn't have any of my own."

"So you decided to wear mine? To Mass no less!" he was on his feet, staring her down now.

"It's not as if they held an inspection and you were the one who told me I couldn't go Gestapo," she intentionally misspoke and poked him in the chest, rubbing her cartoon-clad midsection against his in the process.

"Commando," he murmured automatically, though he was far from objecting at this point.

"Whatever," she shrugged lightly, pulling back and moving to climb into bed, "Either way I don't see where there's a problem. Are you coming to bed?"

She watched his eyes travel up and down the length of her legs and smirked at his involuntary shiver. Oh yes, he was coming.

******

Six o'clock came as early as it always did, though Seeley complained just the same. Breakfast was a simple affair with cereal for Sadie and Seeley and whole wheat toast with fresh fruit for Temperance. To no one's surprise, Sadie resisted the idea of going back to school and only relented after hearing the persuasive arguments from both of her parents.

"That," Seeley said as they pulled out of the school parking lot, "was just a warm-up to facing down Cullen."

She nodded absentmindedly, focusing her attention on where she was driving. Beside her, Seeley fidgeted nervously, no doubt anxious about the upcoming meeting with Cullen, coupled with his irritation at not having his government-issued vehicle.

"Stop," she told him as he continued pushing the numerous buttons in the car to pass the time, "we'll be there soon."

"The belt's chafing my neck," he whined, "and I'm bored."

"You're impatient," she corrected, "and you are acting worse than the four children combined."

"Do you have any idea how much paperwork I'm in for to get another car?" he shook his head, blowing air out of his lips in a rush, "A lot. I'm lucky there's no formal inquiry either because that would be no picnic, lemme tell you! Either way, it's not going to be pretty."

"It's not as if you could have done anything to prevent it," she pointed out, "And the man responsible is in custody."

"Yeah, but you're a civilian; a civilian under my protection," he was taking this personally, "Uncle Sam isn't too happy when their best assets get kidnapped right under an agent's nose."

"Is an asset a step above a citizen or below?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Ha ha."

"You don't sound amused."

"I'm not."

"It wasn't your fault," she reiterated.

"But to a certain extent it was, Bones," he shook his head, "And now it's time to face the music."

"I've never understood that figure of speech," she shook her head.

Seeley ignored her and began incessantly tapping on the passenger door's arm rest. Shaking her head, she pulled up to the FBI parking garage and was waved in when Booth flashed his ID.

"When do I get one of those?" she asked as they stepped on the elevator.

"One of whats?" he asked, "A gun? Never."

"So you say," she rolled her eyes, "But I was referring to your FBI identification card. One would think after seven years that I rank slightly higher than a visitor's pass."

"You don't need a badge, Bones, you've got me," he grinned, leaning over to peck her.

She dodged the kiss, slipping into the waiting elevator car, "So now you're my gun and my badge?"

"Always have been, always will," he crowed triumphantly.

She decided not to justify that statement with a response as they rode up to Cullen's office.

"Booth," she smirked as she stepped out ahead of him, "just let me do the talking and try and keep up, okay?"