Disclaimer: Bones and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement. All characters and places are meant to be fictional.

Author's Notes: Special thanks to jmbatt for pointing out that I should describe places that haven't been seen on the show.

Responses to your reviews are at the end.

Sweets' Plan for the Truth

Chapters 37: Still Hot

"It's not rational. Love is not rational."

"Everything is not a science. Despite the uncertainty of life and all of its risks, I know that you will not be risking your friendship and partnership with Booth."

"You can't know that."

"Can't I? Seeley and I are still friends. We still love each other, just not romantically. We'll always be friends. Think about it."

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Cam and Brennan were so wrapped up in their conversation about Booth that they didn't see him walk into the diner.

"Think about what?" he asked.

"Just girl talk, Seeley. Nothing for you to worry about."

"Coming from you, that means I missed something important. But Bones, we gotta go."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to pick up Travis Sherwood," he answered.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Joe moused out his brother?"

"It's ratted out, Bones. And no, Joe didn't rat out his brother. We got a tip."

"From who?"

"I'll explain on the way." As he started to guide her away from the table with his hand at the small of her back, Booth looked over his shoulder at Cam. "Sorry to run out on you, Cam."

"Go! I'll see you back at the lab."

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Booth was grateful that they had immediate case work to discuss and that there wasn't a feeling of awkwardness between them as they began their short trip out of the city.

"So the tip came to you personally and no one else at the Bureau knows about it?"

"No. It's just you and me, Bones. Of course, I'll call back-up if we need it."

"Can I have a gun?"

"No."

"Why not? He's considered dangerous."

He's dangerous? You are, too! "The answer is still no. I'll be there to protect you."

"I don't need protecting, Booth. Do you think you need to protect me?"

He saw the dare in her expression. He would have liked to have said "yes." Instead, he attempted to change the topic.

"The tip came from Hannah," he stated flatly.

Her eyebrows rose in obvious surprise. "How does she know where Travis is?"

"She's a journalist. She has no fear when it comes to getting a story."

"She was stalking him?"

Booth nodded while still looking at the road. "Yeah."

"Does she have a gun?"

So much for redirecting her thoughts! "I don't know. I didn't ask. My attention was on the information she was giving me that could break this case wide open. Okay?" Please let it be okay, Bones. Just let it go, he willed.

After a few minutes of silence, he dared to glance at his partner at a red light. He had expected some more arguing. He wasn't sure what was worse, her stubbornness or her silence. He couldn't know what she was thinking in that big brain if she wasn't talking. How mad is she?

He probably would have been surprised to know that her thoughts had quickly drifted away from her adamant request for independence. Instead, her thoughts were of Booth protecting Hannah… of Booth being a hero. Was he attracted to the damsel in distress? He did have a "white knight" mentality. I hate psychology. If I look at the evidence, Hannah is not helpless. If she was, she wouldn't have been in a war zone. She had simply been in the crossfire. I tried to convince her not to take any unnecessary risks for Booth's sake. She claimed that he liked that she was adventurous. Was that really true? Regardless, Booth was protective. That would lead him to be a hero whether he wanted to or not.

The women she knew he'd dated were intelligent, independent and successful. Maybe I'm more his type than I realized. It seemed to contradict his desire to protect. Maybe it was just an irrational fear of losing people he cared about. Is he; was he, just as afraid as I am of losing our partnership and friendship?

"Bones?" Booth broke into her thoughts. "We're here." Brennan looked up to find them parked on the side of a neighborhood road. Booth pointed to an old brick house across the street that had been converted into apartments. The street was spotted with parked cars and other large brick homes.

Booth knocked on the door that Travis was presumably occupying but didn't get a response. He knocked louder and announced himself. "Travis Sherwood, this is Special Agent Seeley Booth. We have a warrant. If you're in there, make it easier on yourself and open the door." Still no answer.

"Okay, Bones, stay behind me." Annoyed, Brennan grabbed the door handle. He pulled her hand away just in time to stop her. "Hey! I told you to stay behind me! Can't you just do what I say at least once?" he whispered in an exasperated way. She rolled her eyes at him in response, but he ignored it and instead opened the unlocked door with his gun drawn. That was too easy.

The apartment was dimly lit and cluttered. A closet door suddenly swung open.

"Booth!" She tried to warn him of their suspect in the closet. Her yell startled Travis giving her the advantage. In two seconds flat, she had him on the floor. He groaned loudly in pain.

"Nice job, Bones!" Booth turned his attention to Travis Sherwood. "Sherwood, you thought it was a good idea to add assaulting a federal agent to your list of charges?" he asked loudly in a snarky tone.

Travis narrowed his eyes on Brennan not paying any attention to Booth. Without taking his eyes from her, he asked, "what is she doing here?'

"She's my partner. But you already knew that. What? Aren't you glad to be reacquainted?" he asked as he hauled him up off the floor and cuffed him.

Booth pulled him up to stand and forcefully pushed him to the small table and chairs in the small dining area. Booth stayed standing to tower over him in order to intimidate the middle aged, short and slightly overweight man with sandy blonde hair and a scruffy beard.

"We've got your brother in custody," began Booth. "Why don't you tell me why you weren't with him last night at the lab? What was so important that you would miss a drug transaction?"

"I'm not telling you nothin'," growled their suspect.

"Get up so we can get your sorry ass to the bureau." Booth had gone too many years without solving the case. He wasn't interested in playing nice.

After reading Travis his rights, Brennan held the SUV door open for the suspect and slammed it shut.

"Blowing off a little steam there, Bones?"

"I don't know…" Brennan started to say.

"…what that means," he finished for her which earned him a glare. But it only made him laugh. "Did the adrenaline rush relieve some stress?"

"I wasn't feeling stressed," she said. "But I admit it does increase adrenaline."

"Thanks back there, Bones. I'm glad you listened to me this time." He charmed her with his smile.

"I'll always have your back, Booth. You know that."

"Yeah, I do." Then he smirked. "And you're still hot when you take someone down like that."

She chuckled as he opened the door for her.

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Thank you for your reviews! I had a blast reading them! So much fun!

OOPS… Why do I always forget Booth's office has a glass door? When I picture Booth's office in my head, I see his desk and everything behind it. When I picture an office door, I picture Sweets door. Maybe it's because we have so many scenes (in past seasons) with it and B&B? Don't know. Thanks for pointing out my mistake, Gally619. I'm just not sure how to fix it at this point. At least I can laugh at myself for it. I'm guessing it was overlooked by others, too, and wonder if they'll laugh after reading this. I'm guessing Bernie, mendenbar and Aching Bones will be some of them because they loved the kiss. Maybe it was so hot in people's imaginations that they forgot about the door? LOL

NCISaddict77 – Thank you for always encouraging me after reading a chapter!

Bernie, SouthunLady, Aching Bones & EowynGoldberry – I've been waiting for far too long to have Cam talk to Brennan about the truth!

Aching Bones – I love it when readers show me lines they especially liked! I'm thrilled it was one of your favorite chapters. It's one of mine, too. I agree that Booth needs to know how she feels. It's coming soon. There are only about 5 chapters left. (But I thought that a few chapters ago. LOL! Good thing I've started outlining a sequel. I'll miss this story.)

SouthunLady - I'm thrilled to hear that Booth was in character :)

Mendenbar – Canning… lots of work, but the benefits are awesome! I haven't done that in years. Mold, mildew, and fungus… LOL! Poor Chase! At least he has a one-up on Sweets. I really hope that the show's writers are better to his character this season as well as Cam's. She has become so boring to me and she is very smart where Booth is concerned. I think Brennan would be more likely to listen to her than Angela because it's not like her to offer advice to Brennan. I like the title of "Wise Woman of the Year." Brennan would probably scoff at that since it's based on psychology. So, you think Brennan should take the next step?

A note about chapter 37 & Cam – I believe Cam and Angela knew about the rejection in the Rocker in the Rinse Cycle. (One of those annoying off camera things?)

Author's Notes:

Thank you for your continued support of this story. I love reading reviews! (Especially after a tough chapter like this one... and the next which is partly written.) Your reviews keep me motivated to write. The immediate feedback makes it so worthwhile to get in print instead of staying in my head. I have 235 readers who have put this story on alert and hundreds read it every day. I do accept anonymous reviews so you don't need an account. So please review! I have lots of stories to finish up before I can start sequels.