Booth had been strange at work today, his mood had irritated her but since he'd spent the weekend with Parker she had simply dismissed his demeanour, believing it due to another confrontation with Rebecca and Drew. Either way, his mood had stayed pretty consistent throughout the day and she had made an excuse to escape to her office and away from his stormy glare.

Sitting here now, facing a younger, less weathered version of her partner she feels at ease. Jared is like his brother in countless ways and she finds herself continuously comparing them both physically and through personality. Something about Jared had caught her attention, and she likes that.

"Temperance?"

She snaps her eyes up to meet his and blushes slightly. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to remember if I turned my oven off." She silently curses herself for the lame excuse.

"So tell me what it's like working with my big brother?" He smiles warmly and lifts his beer to his lips. She settles back in her chair and nods, a pensive expression casting over her features.

"It's…. it's… exciting, wonderful, aggravating… annoying… Do you realise how annoying your brother really is?"

Jared laughs heartily and nods. "Yeah, yeah I do. He used to drive mom and dad crazy, always has to be right."

She points a finger at Jared and matches his grin. "Yes! He does doesn't he? And he's so moody, he denies it… but he's like a woman sometimes."

Jared smiles. "And what about you Temperance?"

"What about me?"

"Well, tell me about you." She smiles gently and shrugs lifting the beer to her lips again.

"What do you want to know?"

Jared slumps back in his chair, the air in the bar is stale with smoke and the smell of booze, her nostrils flare as a waitress passes behind her with a plate of freshly cooked food. "Well, Booth has already told me a bit about you." She suddenly looks doubtful.

"Should I be worried?"

He chuckles and shakes his head. "He said that you're the best in your field. Brilliant, I think if I am quoting him correctly.. He told me that he's never met anyone who was so intuitive, intelligent and creative, yet socially handicapped in his life."

She is taken aback slightly by the final quote from her partner, but Jared reaches out across the table and squeezes her hand in reassurance. "Don't worry Temperance, he was right about one thing… You are beautiful, even if you don't know it yet." She squeezes his hand back and smiles bashfully.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Booth walks into the lab and spots Brennan exiting her office, she smiles in his direction and he waves a manilla folder at her. Coming to a halt in front of her she smiles expectantly.

"Another case?"

He smiles gently and shakes his head. "Nope, I just wanted you to sign off this report before I hand it in to Cullen. He wanted some changes made to it."

"Oh, okay." She takes the folder ad walks over to a workbench, grabbing a pen from her lab coat pocket she flicks through the file. Booth leans against the workbench and tosses his keys into the air, catching them again deftly.

"So, how did your date go?" She glances at him from the corner of her eye without lifting her head to fully look at him.

"It went well, your brother is great… We went out, had some drinks and just talked." She signs her pages and hands the folder back to Booth who takes it whilst nodding. "So, are you sticking around?"

"Um, no… I have another case that I need to concentrate on right now." He scans her pages almost as though he is checking that she has spelt her name correctly, a habit that she will never cease to be annoyed by before closing the file. "We've got a case involving illegal bomb manufacture right now, it's using up most of the bureau's resources.. but we're close."

She nods, disappointed that her expertise is not required in this case, but understanding that she isn't an official agent, no matter how much she sometimes believes she would like to be. He glances at his watch and refuses to meet her eyes again instead focussing on the file in his hands.

"Well, I'll see you around Bones. Tell my brother I said hey."

She nods and watches him walk away, an unfamiliar feeling stirring in her abdomen as he disappears out of sight. Looking across at the lab area she sees Zack scrutinising some skeletal remains and after closing her eyes for the briefest of seconds to restore calm within herself she goes to join him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Looking up from her desk Brennan is greeted by the enigmatic smile of her best friend. Angela breezes into the office as only she can and flops onto the sofa. Brennan has avoided telling Angela about dating Booth's brother up until now, but she knows that she will need to disclose the fact soon.. Angela hearing the news from Booth will cause more hassle than she has the patience for at the moment.

"So sweetie…. I bumped into Booth as I was coming back from lunch…He might have just mentioned that you had a date last night? I refuted his claim, said no way.. If my Bren had a date, she'd surely tell her best friend.. But now that I think about it.. You left here before six, and conveniently accidentally turned off your cell. So what gives."

Brennan closes the lid of her notebook and folds her hands atop of it, the gossip-induced-hunger in Angela's eyes is almost too much to bear and she sighs. "I had a date."

Angela is up form the sofa and leaning across Brennan's desk before she is able to process the movement, her friend's chin resting in her hands. "So who is he? Was it Booth? Did you guys do the naked tango?"

Brennan smirks "How many times do I have to tell you that Booth and I are friends, work partners? Actually…my date was with…" She wracks her brain furiously trying to find a tactful way to relay her information, Angela raises her eyebrows to encourage her to continue and she sighs dejectedly "With Booth's brother."

Angela's pre-prepared grin falls immediately, her mouth forming a surprised 'o'. "'m sorry sweetie, run that one past me again, obviously too much punch last night. I thought you said Booth's brother."

Brennan pushes up from her desk and goes to her filing cabinet pretending to be looking for a file. "I did."

Angela watches her carefully, trying desperately to form a coherent, non-insulting sentence. "Um, Bren… I think it's great and all that you are dating someone, but his brother? Really?"

"He's nice, you'd like him. We went out for drinks, that's all."

"But sweetie… there are just certain things that you don't do. One of them being, dating the brother of the guy that has a major thing for you."

Brennan spins on her heel and folds her arms over her chest. "Will you lay off the Booth having feelings for me thing, play another vinyl."

Angela rolls her eyes. "It's play another record sweetie. I just think you should be careful.. Booth is a sensitive guy, and if things don't work out with you and Booth junior, then how do you think he'll feel stuck in the middle?"

Brennan shakes her head. "It was just drinks Angela. I'm not planning a long term relationship here, just a couple of drinks and some good company."

Angela watches her friend warily before holding up her hands and retreating to the sofa, her expression doubtful, her mind worrying about Booth and his reaction to this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So? Keep it going? Stop here? The case that Booth is working on is about to kick in, so R&R to let me know if this should go anywhere.