(After The Hole in the Heart)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

After the intense search for Brodsky was over, Booth and Brennan announced that they were going on vacation. They had both been under enormous pressure and after both had witnessed Vincent Nigel-Murray's death they had been caught up in the desperate search for Jacob Brodsky. Their investigation eventually lead to a very deadly cat and mouse game between Booth and Brodsky leading to the capture of Vincent's murderer. The partners were on edge and no one could blame the pair for wanting some peace and quiet afterward.

Since they worked together as partners, it wasn't unusual for Booth's vacation to occur at the same time as Brennan's vacation. That she had several weeks of vacation time each year at her disposal meant there were also a few weeks that Brennan took off and left Booth behind to work on his own. Everyone that worked with the couple were used to their habits and thought nothing of it when they had both announced they'd be gone for two weeks. Maybe their friends should have.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Booth came back from vacation first and settled in to his office. The man hunt for Jacob Brodsky had taken him away from his other duties as head of Major Crimes and once he was back he felt liked he was buried under the paper work that needed to be completed by him. Add to that his need to hold meetings to catch up with other cases that were ongoing in his division and he was working 12 hour days.

Glad to see Booth back, Sweets waited three days before he entered his friend's office. He knew that Booth could be quite the ogre when he came back from vacation and no one in their right mind wanted to deal with the man until he'd at least had some time to go through his emails and started on reports. Those unlucky to have meetings with Booth during his reentry into work mode were usually careful to be ready and professional.

Cautiously, the psychiatrist stood in Booth's office doorway and observed the agent writing on something in a folder in front of him. Instead of the grim demeanor that the younger man expected, Booth actually had a slight smile on his face which surprised Sweets very much.

"Um, Agent Booth, welcome back." Sweets was poised to leave just in case Booth turned surly. "Looks like you didn't get much of a tan. I thought you were going to the Virgin Islands."

Not really surprised to see Sweets standing in his doorway, Booth placed his pen down, leaned against the back of his chair and smiled. "Oh I went to the Virgin Islands, but I didn't stay outdoors too much. I mostly stayed in bed . . . I was tired you know and I needed the rest."

"Gosh, that seems kind of a waste." Sweets had expected Booth to be tanned and ready with tales of mai tais on the beach and maybe swimming with dolphins. "You might as well have stayed home and saved your money."

Amused, Booth chuckled. "Nah, I got out at least once every day for a swim. Usually in the late afternoon though. I just needed someplace quiet and I knew if I stayed in town, somehow I'd get called back in to work. Me being in the Virgin Islands kept that from happening."

Sweets saw the logic in what he'd said and agreed with Booth. "Yeah you've got a point." Since Booth was in a good mood, the younger man moved across the room and sat down on the chair in front of Booth's desk. "So when is Dr. Brennan coming back from her vacation?"

Booth shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the bullpen outside of his office. "She might already be back . . . not at work though. She told me when she left for vacation that she was taking three weeks off."

Ever curious, Sweets crossed his legs and proceeded to ask questions. "Do you know where she went on vacation? Is she going to go see her brother? She did last year."

Relaxed, Booth placed his hands on the arm rests of his chair and turned gaze back towards his friend. "She mentioned the Caribbean before she left."

"Ah, okay." Sweets nodded his head. "I bet she went to Granada to look into the petroglyphs there. She mentioned them a few months ago to me. She thought she might make a trip to Grenada or St. Vincent this summer. I'm surprised she only went for a couple of weeks though. She made it sound like she might be gone for a month or two when she told me about it."

Puzzled, Booth leaned forward and rested his arms on his desk. "When did she talk to you about that?"

"Oh, when you and Hannah were living together so I guess around Christmas." Sweets missed the flinch of Booth's shoulders. "She told me she wasn't interested in long term digs like Maluku, but short excursions might be worth her time."

"Well, she's got a lot of vacation time she hardly ever uses, plus the Jeffersonian would back her plans if she wanted to take a month off to work on something important." Booth wondered why Brennan hadn't mentioned it to him and decided to talk to her about it the next time he saw her.

Surprised, Sweets uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. "You mean you wouldn't care if she was gone for a month at some dig?"

A few seconds of thought and Booth shook his head. "Nah. She loves stuff like that. If she wanted to go on a dig for a month that'd be okay with me. She needs to relax and have fun and studying ancient shit is her thing."

Puzzled, Sweets stared at Booth for a few seconds and tried to figure out what was going on. Booth was definitely acting very strangely as far as he was concerned. "Oh my God, you've met someone didn't you? You're happy, calm, you don't care if Dr. Brennan is out of town. Booth what have you done? I thought you and Dr. Brennan were getting closer . . ."

"Stop." His smile gone, Booth's nostrils flared as he glared at his young friend. "What the hell is the matter with you? I'm happy so that means I've hooked up with someone? I'm happy because I had a great vacation and it put me in a good mood. Now you're in my office speaking shit like usual and ruining my mood. Fuck you Sweets. Get the hell out of my office."

Alarmed, Sweets held up his hands. "Wait . . . I didn't mean to make you mad. It's just the last time you were this happy . . ."

"Just stop." Booth stood up and leaned on his desk. "I don't want you shrinking me. I'm tired of it. You want to be my friend, then be my friend and be happy that I'm happy. Stop with the shrinky crap."

His cheeks a bright red, Sweets stood up. "I'm glad you're happy Booth and I am your friend."

"Then why don't you act like it?" A little calmer, Booth shook his head and sat down. "I haven't met anyone new. I had a relaxing time in the Virgin Islands. I didn't have to look at disgusting bodies and listen to people's horror stories. I got to sleep late every day and I enjoyed it. Now, go away. I have work to do. I want to keep my good mood and you aren't helping."

Before he left the office, Sweets tried to fix his mistake. "I'm sorry if I jumped to conclusions Booth. I just . . . I have an appointment in a few minutes, so I'll go now." As he moved over to the doorway, Sweets thought of something else and paused. "You didn't say where Dr. Brennan went for vacation."

Ignoring his friend, Booth turned and faced his PC. After a few seconds he had his office to himself and he was fine with it.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Brennan found time after a busy morning and called Angela. "Hi, it's me. I'm calling to see if you'd like to go to lunch with me."

Oh, Bren, I didn't realize you were back in town. Of course, I'd like to go to lunch with you. How about the Founding Fathers?

"That's fine." Brennan unlocked the trunk of her car, placed her shopping bags in the available space and closed the trunk. "I'll meet you there at noon."

Great. I'll meet you there.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Glad to see her friend, Angela hugged Brennan as soon as she was close enough then sat down across from her. "Sweetie, when did you get back from vacation?"

"Two days ago." Brennan looked over the menu and spotted a few new dishes under the vegetarian section. "I had a few things I needed to do and now I find that I have some free time available for you."

Amused, Angela flasher her a smile. "Thank you. So where did you go on vacation?"

"The Virgin Islands." Brennan gave her order to the waitress and waited for Angela to do the same. "It was very relaxing. I stayed in bed most of the time. It was probably the best vacation I've ever had . . . I don't really have quantifiable proof you understand. That is just a personal observation."

Angela waved her hand, "No, that's okay. Personal observations are fine. So who did you stay in bed with? Some hot cabana boy or maybe a surf bum."

A slight wrinkle appearing between her eyes, Brennan shook her head. "I don't know what a surf bum is . . . . but I suppose it isn't necessary for me to know that since I didn't meet anyone new while I was on vacation. I mostly stayed in my room although I did manage to go swimming in the late afternoon. It was quite refreshing and it wasn't very hot at that time of the day."

Disappointed, Angela sighed. "It seems to me you wasted perfectly good money if you went to a tropical paradise and just stayed in your room most of the time. I was kidding about the cabana boy, you should have taken Booth with you. Maybe you and he could have had fun together. I mean I thought you and he were finally together, but taking separate vacations is hardly a couples thing to do."

Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "Booth and I have not made our relationship formal yet. We are friends and we are partners, but we haven't decided to further our relationship any further at least not yet."

Exasperated, Angela crossed her arms and glared at her friend. "Bren for God's sake you slept together after Vincent died. You're a couple and you both need to act like it. If you're not careful you could end up losing your chance to be together . . . come on, you told me when you got into bed with Booth that you and he had great sex. I knew you would and now you're just back to where you were? That's just crazy. You should have gone on vacation together and had sex 24/7."

"While Booth is virile and strong and I am in excellent health, I'm certain we couldn't have sex 24 hours a day 7 days a week." Brennan took the glass of tea from the waitress and sipped some of the cool liquid. "Don't push our relationship, Angela. Booth and I will be together when we're ready and not before."

Filled with despair, Angela sighed deeply. "Bren . . . I just hope you don't lose your ticket on the Booth ride."

"I don't know what that means." Brennan hated that her friend was disappointed in her, but she and Booth were still exploring their relationship and they didn't want a gallery critiquing them.

"Yes you do." Angela sipped her glass of wine and placed the glass back down. "But it's your life. Just . . . just don't take too long."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Her frustration at its peak, Angela drove over to the Hoover and dropped in on Sweets. Barging into his office, Angela sat down on the couch and threw her fists into the air. "What are we going to do with those two? Just tell me that."

Irritated, Sweets turned around in his chair, glanced at his watch and protested her presence. "You know I do have office hours, Angela."

"Yeah, I know." Leaning forward she placed her hands on her knees. "Brennan and Booth took separate vacations . . . separate vacations. It's ridiculous. They belong together and they're still acting like they don't care about each other. I could strangle both of them."

"Unfortunately, nothing we say matters to those two, Angela." Sweets glanced at his watch again. "I know about the separate vacations. Booth says he went to the Virgin Islands and stayed in bed most of the time. If it wasn't for the fact that he appeared happy, I would have said he was depressed, but . . ."

"Wait, wait, wait." Angela stared at the younger man in total shock. "Brennan went to the Virgin Islands and she told me she stayed in her room most of the time, except when she went swimming in the evening."

"Oh my God, Booth said he swam in the evening too." Sweets' frown grew into a sly grin. "Those liars. They lied to us."

Her eyes twinkling, Angela slapped her hands together. "They were on vacation together. They were in their hotel room and barely left it. Oh . . . oh they are so bad."

Sweets pursed his lips and nodded his head. "I think they're hiding their relationship from us. I wonder why. We're their friends."

Unable to stop herself, Angela snorted. "We meddle in their lives all the time. They probably aren't telling us so we'll leave them alone . . . We have to wait for them to tell us that they're a couple Sweets. We don't want to mess this up and believe me it could happen if we say or do something wrong. You know how messed up they are . . . Oh my gosh this is so adorable." Angela clasped her hands and placed them under her chin. "This is so romantic I could just cry. My best friend has finally fallen in love. I can't believe it."

As he watched Angela cry happy tears, Sweets felt a little tearful himself. "Booth and Brennan so deserve to try this out. They really belong together. I've known it for a long time. They've been best friends for a really long time. They just needed to take that final step, but they were too afraid to do it. I guess since Hannah left, they started to move towards each other in a positive way. I'm really happy for them."

"Oh me too." Angela sighed. "I am so happy for them." She wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I just thought . . . I hoped they'd do it, but it took so long and now . . . now . . . I am so happy."

"Me too." Sweets thought about his friends and the hard road they had taken to get where they were. "Maybe now they can both heal."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

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