(After 'The Change in the Game')

Thank you for your continued interest in my stories. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Careful to make sure his tie was straight, he smoothed it down his chest with his right hand before he pulled his jacket on. His suit the best one he owned, Booth nodded his head and then frowned at his image in the full length mirror. He wished he'd stopped and got a haircut the previous evening, but he had wanted to help Brennan move some of her books over to his apartment since she needed them for research for her new novel and some magazine article she was writing for some old bones magazine. Now it was too late. Oh well, it's not like a haircut is going to save the situation if it goes bad.

Amused, Brennan stood in the doorway and noticed the almost compulsive hand movements Booth was making through his hair. "I'm sure your hair looks fine."

A faint blush on his cheeks, Booth turned and flashed her a smile. "I need a haircut . . . I don't want this to go wrong." His smile was gone. "I just want this to be okay."

She moved into the room and placed her hands on his lower arms. "No matter what they decide, we are still partners . . . I would miss working with you, but I will still see you every night."

He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. "You're damn right. If those jackasses break up our partnership, then they'll only have themselves to blame when the solve rate in Homicide drops. I'll still do my job, but without my partner there are going to be cases that I can't solve."

"I thought you were going to follow the letter of your job description if they break up our partnership." Brennan would rather he didn't give up investigating murders since he was so good at it, but she would back whatever option he chose.

"Yeah, I will, but sometimes I'll have to go in the field for the tougher cases." Booth kissed her. "I think we're putting the cart before the horse. Let's see what the higher-ups say then I'll make my decision."

Brennan returned his kiss. "Yes, perhaps they will not cut off their proboscis to wound their countenance."

Puzzled, Booth stared at Brennan and decided that whatever she had said was probably witty, but too witty for him. Either that or she had butchered a popular saying again. "Yeah." He kissed her instead of asking her to explain what she had said. "I have to go. I'll call you when I hear the verdict." Anxiously, he kissed her once more then released her. "I love you, Bones. We're going to be okay."

"I know we will." Brennan was worried too, but she wanted to imbue her partner with confidence. Once he was gone and she had the apartment to herself, she sat down on the bed and stared at the slight bump in her stomach. "We're fine." She felt foolish talking to a fetus, but her boyfriend did it all of the time and it couldn't actually hurt anything especially since there was no one there to see or hear her. "Booth and I will be fine and so will you."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Early for his appointment, Booth paced around the office, annoying the Assistant Deputy Director's assistant. "Would you like some coffee, Agent Booth?" Not that she thought he needed a stimulate, but she hoped if he held a cup of hot coffee in his hand it would make him less fidgety.

"No thank you, Alice." Booth sat down and crossed his legs. He knew he was bothering Hacker's assistant, but he didn't know how to calm down. His foot bobbing up and down, his ankle resting on his knee, Booth pulled out his poker chip and rolled it through his fingers.

The phone rang and Booth became still while Alice answered the phone. The call was quick and Alice pointed at the door leading into Hacker's office. "He's ready to see you."

Nervously, Booth stood up, slipped the poker chip in his jacket pocket and marched over to the door. Licking his bottom lip, he opened the door and entered the room. "Thank you for seeing me."

Pleased to see his favorite agent, Hacker waved Booth over to the chair in front of his desk. "Come in. So, are you here to talk to me about the Evans Case? You got him, right?"

Booth sat down and leaned forward. "No. Actually I'm here to tell you about a change in my partnership. Bones and I are . . ."

"Whoa!" Hacker shook his head. "I thought this was about the Evans case. I really am busy Booth, so if this is about something personal then I'm going to have to ask you to make an appointment for that . . . Maybe next week."

"But it will only take a minute to tell you . . ." Booth thought Hacker was being an ass, but he needed the man to listen to him.

Hacker shook his head and held up his hand. "Really Booth. I have to prepare for a meeting with the Director and I only met with you because I thought you had good news about the Evans Case." The Assistant Deputy Director was desperate for Booth to stop talking. "Now if that is still an ongoing case then I'm going to have to ask you to leave and continue to investigate. This meeting is cancelled."

"But . . . " Booth was surprised when his Boss abruptly stood up and waved him towards the door. Not sure what Hacker was up to, he stood up and left the office. Once in the hallway, he called Brennan. "Hey, Hacker threw me out of his office when I tried to tell him about us. He wouldn't listen to me . . . He's such an ass."

When you say threw out, you don't mean you were fired do you?

"No. He said he has a meeting he has to prepare for with the Director and he asked me to leave. I'm not fired." Booth glared at a tech who was trying to listen to his conversation. The man realized he had been caught and slinked down the hallway. "I'm going to approach the Deputy Director in a few minutes."

Alright. Let me know what he says.

"I will." The call ended, Booth moved down the hallway and entered the outer office of the Deputy Director. "Connie, can I see the Boss?"

Cullen's assistant placed her phone down on the desk and shook her head. "I'm sorry Agent Booth. The Deputy Director is preparing to meet with the Director for a very important meeting. Perhaps you can wait until next week. He may have a time opening for a meeting then."

Frustrated, Booth shook his head. "A week? Since when does it take me a week to get to see the Boss?"

Connie shrugged her shoulders. "He is a very busy man, Agent Booth. Call me and I'll see if I can schedule you an appointment."

As calmly as he could, Booth turned on his heels and left the office. Marching down to his office, anyone that came upon the angry Agent either slipped into an office or turned around and fled the area. No one wanted to deal with an angry Booth. It just wasn't the wise thing to do.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Frustrated, Booth sat at his desk and glowered at the agents sitting outside his office. Gradually the bull pen emptied as each agent realized that he was the focus of their boss. Whatever he was angry about, no one was going to stick around and find out what it was.

Once the office was empty and there was no one left to glare at, Booth turned to face his PC. As usual, he had more emails than he cared to answer. As he moved down the page, he checked the From list and found he had an email from the Director of the FBI. Since those were few and far between, he opened it.

Booth,

Please refrain from seeing your supervisors about your personal problems. We are well aware of what is going on between your partner and you. I need to remind you about the non-fraternization rule at the FBI and the fact that that rule is there for a reason.

I am ordering you to refrain from telling anyone about your personal affairs. We aren't interested. Think of it as 'Don't ask Don't tell'. I hope I am clear.

As long as you maintain a professional relationship between you and Dr. Brennan while you are working together, then your supervisor will not need to be involved in your personal life.

Director Darouse

Shocked, Booth reread the email three times and then once more just to make sure. "Well, I'll be damned." Here he had been worrying about his partnership and the higherups had already taken care of the problem. Pleased, he made a phone call.

Brennan.

"Hey, I just called to let you know our partnership is safe." Booth was happy and he wanted to spread that happiness around. "I got an email from the Director. They know about us and they don't care. We just have to be professional at work. He's implementing a 'Don't ask, Don't tell policy."

I don't know what that means.

"It means Bones, as long as we don't mention our relationship to anyone higher up in the food chain then they'll leave our partnership alone."

So, in this case, truth is something which depends upon a person's perspective and experience. They don't wish to have our relationship confirmed therefore our relationship hasn't changed and therefore we are not breaking any FBI rules when it comes to personal relationships.

"Um, yeah sure . . . So, don't talk about our relationship with anyone. Just assume everyone knows and that's that." Booth was relieved, He had been worried for weeks that he was going to lose his partnership with Brennan and now he could relax. "I think we should celebrate, Bones. Let's go out tonight. Maybe a little dancing, some fine dining . . . How about it?"

I think that is a fine idea, Booth and if we meet anyone we know from the Hoover we will act like ourselves and they can assume what they want. That could be very entertaining.

"Yeah, entertaining." Booth smiled. Sometimes Brennan's sense of humor just made him laugh.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

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