When Sweets arrived at Dean's motel for the evening meeting, everyone was there. Dean and Booth were outside. The hood of the Impala was up and Dean was pointing something out to Booth, knowledgably in reverent tones about pistons and horsepower. Booth was leaning in, examining the engine and being suitably admiring. Sweets was going to have to talk to Dean about his attachment to that car. Just not yet, because it would not be fair to tell him he needed time away from his brother, his best friend and his car, all in one day. Inside, Sam and Hodgins were in animated conversation about... explosives. Awesome. Maybe that one hadn't been that good an idea after all. Dr Brennan, Angela and Castiel were crowded around the table, looking out the window. No, staring out the window. At Booth. It was both amusing and slightly alarming.

"So, when are you going to tell him?" Angela asked.

"When the case is over. I think it would distract him if I broached the subject with him before then."

Brennan had finally admitted to her feelings for Booth! Wow, this was an incredible breakthrough. Maybe Brennan's protective shell was finally breaking and she was letting people in. Sweet's would have liked to think he was at least partly responsible for that, but he was pretty sure that it had more to do with the upheaval of her entire belief system and repeated exposure to life threatening events.

"It would be prudent to reveal your feelings soon. Before he finds someone else." Sweets thought Castiel might be glaring at Booth, just a little bit. It was hard to tell.

"Don't worry, Sweetie. He's not out to steal your man," Angela reassured him.

"I am not in love with Dean."

Sweets could have argued with that, but it seemed like Angela was doing a pretty good job.

Behind him, he heard Hodgins say incredulously: "The angel's in love with your brother?"

"Everyone's in love with my brother."

"So which plants are most commonly used in spell work? I should really know in case it comes up..."

Well done, Hodgins.

Through the gap between Angela and Dr Brennan's heads, Sweets saw Dean shut the hood of the Impala. Brennan, Angela and Castiel repositioned themselves to look like they hadn't been watching Dean and Booth look at the car.

Booth was telling a story about a '65 Chevy owned by an army buddy of his as he and Dean entered the room. He and Dean both had their sleeves rolled up, streaks of oil on their hands and faces. Sweets kind of got why people were so fascinated by them. Maybe if he phrased it right he could ask Booth how to be a bit manlier without sounding like a total dork. He wouldn't ask Dean, though. He could just imagine the freaked-out stare.

"So what have we got?" Dean asked the group. They were crowded onto the beds and chairs, wherever they could find a seat.

Sam made a mutinous face, commonly seen among younger siblings, right before they said "Who died and made you King of the World?"

"The child is safe. He is back with his mother."

"Sam? Hodgins?"

Hodgins leapt into an enthusiastic explanations of his and Sam's 'small, timed incendiary devices'.

"Bombs?" Booth exclaimed, "You want to set off explosions at 22 sites, some of which are indoors?"

"They aren't bombs!" Hodgins defended his creation. "They light a controlled fire in response to a timer. It is easily enough to burn both the tooth and the symbol before being extinguished by the sprinkler system or a fire extinguisher. We tested it thoroughly!"

"And," Sam added, "They will hardly disturb the ghost at all. Look, man, there's no way we can get around that many sites before she kills again if we have to fight the spirit at all of them. This is more efficient."

"I could," said Castiel, "If I took on my true form."

Sam glared at him. "How many eyes would you burn out?"

"Your way sounds more fun."

"Cool. We have to talk to some people at a preschool tomorrow," Dean said, "You guys split up and set those out. We'll have to watch out for police, though. That much arson in one day..."

It sounded so much worse when you called it arson.

It was also slightly concerning that Dean was not worried about arson per se, just about the police investigation into multiple arson events. He'd been entranced by the fire earlier, when Sweets had been asking about the nightmares. Maybe early trauma involving fire and subsequent learning of the value of fire in fighting the supernatural had brought about pyromania, or a joy in seeing destruction of the same kind as what had destroyed his life. Or maybe it was a side effect of hell – Sam seemed to have it too. He was disturbingly enthusiastic about explosives.

"Cam called earlier," Booth told the group (they should really have a name, Sweets thought – Scoobies? No, that was taken), "The kid had a substance in his stomach that she didn't recognise. Testing didn't show it to be any known substance."

"Probably demon goo," Sam said.

"Maybe something they're using to make the kids easier to brainwash? Or help the spirit identify its victims?" Dean suggested.

OK, this was so turning into a Buffy/Doctor Who crossover. Sweets was going to need serious psychotherapy after this. Only there was no-one who could give it to him.

"We'll keep an eye out when we go to the pre-school and back to the school tomorrow. You guys look for anything that seems likely at any of the sites the spirit is bound to."

"You're going back? I'm coming too," Dr Brennan announced firmly.

Sweets knew that tone. There was no point in arguing. It was the tone she had used to get when denying the possibility of God's existence, or saying she wasn't in love with Booth. Brennan was going with Dean and Booth whether they liked it or not.

It could be a good thing, actually. Brennan could spend some time with Booth after admitting her feelings to herself, with Dean there as a buffer so she wouldn't have to tell Booth until she had sorted out her emotions. Brennan's presence would stop Dean becoming too attached to Booth. Sweets would take her place in the group, which would work out well. He and Angela could subtly gang up on Castiel until he confronted his feelings for Dean.

As they dispersed, and Sweets headed home to bed, he thought the future was looking up.