Brennan yawned and stretched, slowly regaining consciousness, feeling wonderful. She was warm, comfortable and more relaxed than she could remember being in a long time. She snuggled into the hard chest against her back and felt a chuckle rumble through it.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Booth greeted in a husky but cheerful voice. Brennan rolled over in his arms and smiled, rubbing her hands slowly over his chest.
"Good morning, handsome." At the words, her face took on a look of horror and she sat straight up in bed covering her face with her hands. "Oh, God," she moaned. Now she knew why she felt so relaxed. She always felt great after Tempe had let loose. Until she started to remember what all she had done and then the feeling great usually morphed into embarrassment and horror at her actions. The images of everything she had done last night filled her mind and she moaned again. Booth sat up and tried to pull her hands away so he could see her face but she was too embarrassed to look at him right now and wouldn't let him. Instead of struggling with her, he scooted back to prop his back against the headboard and pulled her into the v of his spread thighs, dropping his chin to her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist. Angela had warned him to expect all kinds of self recriminations from Brennan this morning. But he honestly didn't think that anything she had done last night had been that bad, no worse than anyone who'd had a little too much to drink. Sure, she had outed them in front of the squints and Sweets, but so what? It wasn't like they were ashamed of being involved. They weren't trying to hide their new relationsip, it was just that nobody had noticed. He was pretty sure they had noticed last night.
"Come on, Bones, it can't be that bad." Her head whipped around and she looked at him in horror.
"How can you say that, Booth? I practically sexually harassed one of my interns last night," she hung her head in shame.
"What?" he roared before he could stop himself, pushing away from the headboard and turning her to face him. She wouldn't meet his eyes, but she softly recounted the story of Angela offering her the choices of Wendell or Clark and her actions on the dance floor. He reached out and cupped her face in his palms, tilting her head and giving her a soft smile.
"Bones, that is not sexual harassment, not even close. I'm sure that Wendell was flattered. If you feel that you have to, you can always apologize on Monday, but he's probably already forgotten all about it." She looked at him hopefully.
"Do you really think so?" Well, no, he didn't really think so, but if it made her feel better, he was willing to tell her a little white lie on this one.
"Sure, Baby. He probably won't remember a thing by Monday." Booth would make sure of that. He would have a little chat with Wendell before Brennan had a chance to. She smiled up at him for a second and then her eyes widened and her face fell again.
"I'm pretty sure that Sweets won't forget what I said to him by Monday." Or ever, she thought. Booth tenderly stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. He had been curious about what she had said to Sweets and now that she had brought it up, he saw no reason to not appease that curiosity.
"What did you say to Sweets?" She could feel herself flushing. She had been angry that Sweets was asking about something that was none of his business, angrier still that he was upsetting Angela. She had leaned over and purred in his ear.
"We lived together for 3 ½ years during our college days, Sweets. What do you think? And, Sweets, I really, really don't like for Angela to be upset, so you might want to back off there before you make me angry." Booth had to choke back his laughter. He had seen the look on Sweets face and even though Brennan hadn't directly threatened him, Sweets had taken her seriously. No, he wouldn't be forgetting her words anytime soon and, unfortunately, Booth couldn't threaten or bribe him. So, they would deal with it he thought with a mental shrug. He leaned down until their foreheads touched.
"We can deal with Sweets," he insisted. She was beginning to look hopeful, but glanced at him shyly. "What?" he asked. He was fascinated by the deep flush that covered her chest, neck and face. Oh, this must be good. She hid her face against his chest and mumbled her answer.
"You, Booth. I pushed you up against a wall and..." Her face was pressed so tightly to his chest that her words were unintelligible.
"And had your wicked way with me?" he tilted her head up and asked with an eyebrow wiggle and a grin. She nodded. "Yeah, and it was great. I'm at your service any time you want to repeat the experience." Her eyes lit up.
"Really?" she purred rising to her knees and wrapping her arms around his neck, her naked chest pressed against his. "I don't have any brick walls available," she whispered, nibbling on his lips.
"Oh, I think we can come up with something," he returned deepening the kiss. "After all, you are a genius," he reminded her sinking down into the sheets and pulling her with him.
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They had a wonderful, lazy weekend, lounging in bed as late as they wanted, making love wherever and whenever they wanted. They dragged themselves out of the apartment late Sunday afternoon to have dinner with Angela and Jack at his place. Brennan apologized profusely for ruining their celebration of their engagement at the club and was surprised and touched when they both laughed it off. Angela said that she was happy to have Tempe with her to celebrate. Jack said that he was honored to finally meet the person that he had heard so much about. They both did add that Brennan should always order her own drinks from now on. They spent several enjoyable hours with the other couple and returned to her apartment to fall into bed.
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Monday morning, they had a scheduled appointment with Dr Lance Sweets. Brennan wanted Booth to reschedule but he refused, telling her that it was best to just get it over with. She finally agreed and they were sitting in the waiting room at his office.
"Booth, what will we tell him if he asks about us?" she had been shooting questions at him for the last ten minutes, and he was maintaining his patience remarkably well. Turning his head, he gave her a puzzled look.
"What about us?" She rolled her eyes.
"You know, about us." She sucked at innuendo, but he got her meaning. He grinned.
"You mean about you kissing me like you never wanted to stop and crawling into my lap at the club?" She gave him a disgruntled look and a nod. He took her hand, intertwining their fingers.
"What do you want to tell him about us?" he asked gently, curious about her answer. She snorted.
"Nothing. It's none of his business." But she knew they couldn't get away with that. They were going to have to tell him something and she only saw two options. Come clean about the new developments in their relationship or treat the incidents in the club as anomalies brought on by alcohol consumption, in effect lying about and hiding their relationship. Brennan immediately dismissed the last option. She wasn't ashamed of being involved with Booth and she refused to hide it. She heaved a huge sigh. "We're going to have to tell him the truth aren't we?" Booth lifted their twined hands to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand.
"Yeah, but look on the bright side, maybe, he won't ask." Brennan rolled her eyes. Neither held out much hope for that miracle. The door to the inner office opened and they got up and entered as cheerfully as someone trudging to the gallows. Seating themselves side by side but not touching on the love seat they finally looked up to find Sweets seated in his usual chair, fingers steepled under his chin gazing at them thoughtfully. They looked at each other then back at Sweets.
"Good morning, Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth." He finally offered his customary greeting and they both returned it a little suspiciously. Sweets smiled and sat forward in his chair.
"Did you have a pleasant weekend, Dr. Brennan?" Her eyes narrowed. What was he up to? Why didn't he just ask about her and Booth?
"Yes." Seeing that she was finished, Booth broke in a little too jovially.
"Me, too, Sweets, thanks for asking." Sweets turned to Booth and smiled.
"Is there anything that you and Dr. Brennan would like to discuss this morning?" Booth and Brennan exchanged one of their famous looks and both turned back to Sweets. Booth answered for them.
"Nope, Sweets. Not a thing." Booth was jiggling his leg up and down and fidgeting until Brennan reached over and laid her hand on his thigh. He instantly stilled and shot her a smile.
"So, neither of you thinks we should talk about what happened at the club Friday night?" Booth chuckled nervously and started to dismiss the question. Brennan leaned forward and met Sweets' gaze levelly.
"What is it you want to discuss, Dr. Sweets?" She asked in a voice that would have made all her grad students run for cover. Sweets didn't flinch, but continued to hold her gaze.
"Your behavior, Dr. Brennan," he returned steadily. Brennan was getting tense and Booth didn't like where this was heading so, as usual, he jumped in to rescue her.
"Hey, Sweets, she had a little too much to drink and got a little silly. Give her a break, would ya?" Booth winced and prayed that Brennan wouldn't kill him for the silly remark. She and Sweets never broke eye contact.
"But it was more than that wasn't it, Dr. Brennan?" Sweets insisted. Calmly, Brennan sat back and crossed her arms.
"What, exactly, is it that you're trying to say, Dr. Sweets?" His posture and facial expression didn't change.
"Dr. Brennan, there is a phenomenon termed disintegrated personality where someone has very deep seated issues in their everyday life and are unable to adequately express themselves. When they consume alcohol, their inhibitions are lowered and their behavior gets wilder than anyone would have ever imagined for that person." Brennan snorted at his assessment, but Booth listened thoughtfully.
"You know I don't put much stock in psychology," she scoffed. "And I deal with my issues just fine, Sweets." Sweets snorted at that. So did Booth, but his was silent. After all, he didn't want to die today. Brennan shot Booth a glare that let him know she had heard that snort, silent or not and tuned a cold stare on Sweets. Booth tried to salvage the situation before Brennan just decimated the kid.
"Sweets, what is it that she did that makes you think that she has this personality thingy?" Sweets turned his attention to Booth and gave him a thanks for asking smile.
"The seductive dancing for one thing. It's designed to draw notice." Booth and Brennan both gasped at the comment. Yes, Booth considered her dancing very seductive, but knowing her history and training he also knew that was just the way she moved, no seduction intended. He was offended on her behalf at Sweets' attitude. Glancing at her, he saw that he didn't need to be offended on her behalf, she was plenty offended on her own.
"That's the way I dance," she insisted, loudly. Sweets snorted.
"Dr. Brennan, nobody dances or even moves like that without the express purpose of drawing attention to themselves," Sweets insisted. Booth wanted to yell at Sweets to just shut up, he could see how much this was upsetting Brennan, but knew that the young man had his teeth sunk into this and wouldn't just let it go without an explanation. His eyes told Brennan as much.
"They do if they were trained as a ballerina," she told him furiously. Sweets laughed until Brennan left the couch and marched toward the door with Booth right behind her.
"Wait," yelled Sweets. "You're serious?" he whispered noting the furious look on Booth's face and Brennan's rigid posture. "I'm sorry, Dr. Brennan. Please sit back down," he pleaded. Booth's hand smoothed up and down Brennan's back, soothing her temper and relaxing her, but he left the choice of going or staying up to her. She slowly returned to her previous seat and glared at Sweets. "I apologize Dr. Brennan. You being trained as a classical ballerina provides a perfectly reasonable explanation for your dancing." Brennan's face softened slightly, until he continued. "But that doesn't explain the rest of your behavior." Booth hadn't thought it would be that easy to derail Sweets but he could always have hope.
"What other behavior are you talking about, Sweets?" Booth was fairly certain that he knew, but, hey, why not just get it all out into the open?
"I'm talking about the sexual advances that Dr. Brennan made toward you on Friday night, Agent Booth? Obviously they indicate a subconscious desire on Dr. Brennan's part to deepen your relationship from its current level. How do you feel about that? Are you interested in developing a more intimate relationship with Dr. Brennan? If you do become more intimate, how will it affect your partnership?" The questions were coming fast and furious and the only thing that Booth focused on was that Sweets didn't know that they were a couple. How could he not have figured that out? He turned to Brennan and saw that she was embarrassed to have her behavior trotted out by Sweets but she had also realized that he didn't know about them. His smile asked a question. The sparkle in her eyes gave an answer. Excellent. Game on. Booth turned back to Sweets and held up a hand for silence. Sweets shut up.
"Sweets, haven't you ever had a few drinks and done something in public that you wouldn't normally do?" Booth saw by the flush invading Sweets' face that he had. "Well, that was what happened Friday night. Thanks for your concern but Bones and I are good." Brennan nodded her agreement. Sweets' jaw dropped disbelievingly.
"Dr. Brennan, can you honestly tell me that you don't want your relationship with Agent Booth to become more intimate than it is now?" Brennan dropped her head to hide a smile. Raising her head, she met Sweets' eyes, face impassive.
"Yes. I am perfectly happy with my current relationship with Booth." Sweets saw the honesty in her eyes and knew that she was telling the truth. He turned to Booth.
"What about you, Agent Booth? Are you happy with the current status of this partnership?" Booth nodded and Sweets continued. "Because, I've got to tell you that after seeing your reaction to Dr. Brennan's advances, I'm finding that a little hard to believe." Booth threw him a Why, whatever could you mean by that? look. Sweets rolled his eyes. "You kissed her back, Agent Booth." He paused, his silence demanding an actual answer. Booth thought frantically for a moment for something to say other than Of course, I kissed her back and I kiss her and a lot more every chance I get. That would give Sweets just a little too much information.
"Well, of course, I kissed her back, Sweets. Pushing her away would have embarrassed her. She may have been acting out of character but she's still my partner and partners have each other's backs." Booth was proud of himself for coming up with this and not having to actually lie. Brennan's glance told him that she was also impressed. Sweets' eyes narrowed.
"And you don't feel uncomfortable with each other after having your tongues down each other's throats?" Booth and Brennan were a little startled by the phrasing, but after sharing a quick glance, they both shook their heads. Sweets could see just by looking at them that they were perfectly comfortable with each other. He scratched his head getting the nagging feeling that he was missing something. Booth jumped in before he could ask another question.
"Sweets, Bones and I have worked all this out. There is no need for you to be concerned." Booth gave him a reassuring smile. Sweets stared back suspiciously. These two had worked something that huge out on their own? Without any poking, prodding or nagging from him? Not possible.
"When?" Then a memory from Friday night flitted through his mind. "Were you working it out when you two disappeared from the club Friday night?" Booth fought the blush he could feel rising in his cheeks and determinedly didn't look at Brennan.
"Yeah, Sweets, we worked it out at the club." And they had. Booth just hadn't specified exactly which "it" they had worked out when he had Brennan pinned to the wall outside the nightclub. Sweets considered this. Booth and Brennan had disappeared for about half an hour and when they came back, they were both much more relaxed with each other and everyone else. With a sigh, Sweets decided to move on. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together, thumbs forming a steeple.
"Dr. Brennan, I think we need to talk about your relationship with Angela," he said gently. Brennan's mouth tightened and Booth looked at her in concern.
"No." Sweets waited for her to continue, but that was all she had to say on the matter. Sweets sighed but he wasn't willing to let this one go. Brennan glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest
"Dr Brennan, I couldn't help but notice that you and Angela exhibit behaviors of a codependent relationship, and these are never healthy for either party." Brennan was on her feet instantly, leaning over Sweets until they were nose to nose, her face an icy mask and her eyes as cold as the arctic circle.
"Angela and I are none of your business, Sweets. Now back off," she spat through clenched teeth. There was a stongly implied Or else at the end of her statement. Turning to Booth, her face and voice softened somewhat. "I'm done here." Booth was right behind her as she headed for the door.
"Dr Brennan, as your therapist anything that might affect your ability to do your job is my business." Brennan paused with her hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn.
"Sweets, your questions about Angela have nothing to do with my job performance. You just want to satisfy your own sick curiosity." She pulled the door open and they were gone leaving Sweets to ponder her parting shot.
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An hour later, after coffee and pie at the diner, they returned to the lab. Brennan was still irate at Sweets and headed off to Limbo. Booth rounded up the junior squints that had been present for the show Friday night and ushered them into a conference room. They went reluctantly but were too intimidated by him for outright refusal. The interns seated themselves around the conference table, but Booth remained standing at the head of the table.
"So," he said, rubbing his hands together and giving them a congenial smile, "I just wanted to talk to all of you about Friday night." They looked back blankly. "Bones' behavior was a little out of the ordinary, but I think that it would be better for everyone if we all just forgot about that and didn't mention it to her." He was giving them all a stern look as he finished speaking. Translation: It doesn't matter what Bones did, if any of you give her even one second of embarrassment or grief over it, you will answer to me. The interns glanced at each other, easily understanding the translation of Booth's actual statement and quickly nodded their agreement to his "suggestion". He gave them a smile of approval and motioned them back into their seats when they started to rise. "One more thing," he began congenially, leaning forward and bracing his hands on the conference table. "Which one of you actually gave her that first drink?" Four pairs of eyes were suddenly studiously avoiding his. He just stood there and looked at them one by one. He interrogated hardened criminals for a living, he didn't think it would take him long to break this bunch. It didn't. After only a couple of minutes of the oppressive silence, Clark jumped to his feet. His arms were gesticulating wildly as he was almost shouting.
"Me. It was me, Ok? I did it. I ordered her that drink." He slapped his own chest with both open palms for emphasis then ran his hand across his head and began to pace in agitation. "You know, you people are completely inappropriate in the workplace, but I thought that maybe, just maybe, in a social setting that you all might be semi normal. But no, take you out of the lab and you just get more inappropriate and a hell of a lot weirder. This has got to be the strangest group of people on the face of the planet." Finished with his rant, he planted his hands on his hips and paused to look at Booth. "Don't worry, Agent Booth, I won't say anything to Dr. Brennan," he sighed tiredly as if just being around these people exhausted him. Booth could actually understand and identify with that. He nodded at Clark and indicated with a wave of his hand that they could go.
"Wendell, can I see you alone for a minute?" Wendell flinched, less than five feet from escape, but turned back to Booth.
"Yes, Agent Booth?" He tried to paste a look of polite interest on his face but didn't quite make it. Booth smiled at the grimace he did manage. Booth walked over to him.
"Wendell, Bones told me about dancing with you Friday night and I…," Booth was interrupted by a very nervous Wendell. Crap, he had been afraid that dancing with Dr. Brennan would piss Booth off. He just hoped that Booth wouldn't resort to physical violence. He could at least tell his side of the story before he got punched, he decided.
"Booth, I'm sorry. I didn't want to dance with her. Angela made me." Puzzled by Wendell's anxiety as well as his words, Booth nodded and continued, placing his hand on Wendell's shoulder.
"Look, Wendell, I know that Bones was acting a little strange," Wendell's eyes widened. A little strange? How about the pod people are in town and they've already paid Dr. Brennan a visit strange? Oblivious to Wendell's thoughts, Booth went on, "and she's afraid that she might have given you the wrong impression Friday night. She's going to talk to you about it today and I would appreciate it if you just don't make that talk hard for her." Wendell translated these words as "She's going to talk to you and it would be better for your continued good health to act like you saw nothing on Friday night. And he didn't have a problem with that. It had actually been a little funny to see the ever so controlled Dr. Brennan let loose and now that he knew that Booth wasn't going to kill him for dancing with his woman, he was relieved enough to agree to almost anything.
"Sure thing, Booth." Booth patted his shoulder and walked out the room whistling. Wendell followed thinking that Clark was right and this place and these people got stranger every day.