Chapter 10 – The Man in the Mud

Brennan and Booth were in their session with Sweets, talking not about their partnership but their case. Brennan told him, "We're not sure about time of death yet."

Booth added, "It was definitely a murder."

Sweets for his part could not look more bored. He kept moving around in his chair, willing himself not to fall asleep. He tried to stifle a yawn as Brennan nodded in agreement with Booth's statement. "Definitely. Probably by two assailants."

Booth chuckled slightly as he said, "What a shock for that couple, huh? You know, they slide naked, into the hot mud bath...and a skeleton hand pokes her in the, you know."

Brennan saw that he wasn't going to finish his statement, so she finished it for him amused, "Anus."

Booth wasn't shocked per se but he was slightly thrown by her using it. "Bones."

Brennan would have laughed at his exclamation, but instead told him, "What? It's a clinical term for that part of the body, Booth."

Sweets couldn't take it anymore and shook his head as he stopped any further talk. "Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth. Would it be fair to say that you use work to avoid confronting personal issues?"

Booth was starting to get uncomfortable with having this conversation in front of Sweets. "Oh, what, because I don't want to talk about..."

Brennan didn't understand why Booth was so…censored in front of people. Because he wasn't like that at home. Although he didn't use the clinical terms. However she could help but supply, "The anus."

Booth shot her a look as he said, "You really like that word, don't you?"

Sweets sighed internally. He was going nowhere fast with these two. "Do you two ever discuss anything that's not attached to work?"

Booth shrugged as he didn't really answer the question, "Well, it's better than talking about, ya know..."

Sweets supplied this time, "The anus?"

Really, Booth didn't get it. Why did these two just want to talk about that! "What is it with you two?"

Brennan pursed her lips as she thought about what Sweets' had said. Maybe if he saw that they could still work together even with an outside relationship – not physical mind you – maybe then the FBI wouldn't have so much of an issue with their marriage. That is of course, after Booth caught the man that made them hide their marriage in the first place. "Well, Sweets could be right; I mean, we talk a lot about work." She mentally added to herself, here.

Booth looked at his wife skeptically, but saw her communicating silently to go along with her. He decided to put in something that they talked openly about, "I talk about my kid."

Sweets took that one out immediately, "Because he was almost kidnapped during a case."

Brennan liked what Booth was trying to do and tried it herself. "Ah, my father. We talk a lot about him."

Sweets shot that one down flat, "Because Agent Booth arrested him for murder."

Booth and Brennan looked at each for a second before Booth looked back at Sweets and gave up trying to do whatever Brennan had been planning. "Okay, what are you trying to get at here?"

Sweets said exasperatedly, "Your inability to share your personal lives. I thought that was obvious."

Booth narrowed his eyes as he told Sweets – slightly in a deadly tone, "Okay, that was snotty. I don't respond well to snotty."

Brennan placed a soothing hand on his arm as she tried to diffuse the situation. "After a case, sometimes, we have a drink, or coffee, Booth has pie. I don't...like pie."

Booth still didn't get that. He had never seen her once in their whole relationship even eat it. "You really should just give it a chance."

Brennan shrugged, "I find it too sweet."

Booth smiled at Sweets as he tried to get out of whatever he knew the kid was thinking. "Okay, there. We talked about pie. Nothin' to do with work."

Brennan had been thinking about their conversations. And while it was true that they talked about other things, they did discuss their work more so than anything else. Well, except when they had Parker or were having sex or well, maybe it was about even. "It…is better when we discuss murder."

Sweets watched as Booth nodded his head in agreement. He didn't care what the two thought about what he was going to say next. "I'd like to see you guys in a social situation. A situation where work is a taboo subject."

Booth joked, "What, are you gonna send us to a restaurant and watch us through a one-way mirror?"

Brennan couldn't help but clarify, "I'm still not having pie." She really didn't like pie, at all.

Sweets said nonchalantly, "No, an evening out with my girlfriend and me."

Booth laughed at that absurd idea and joked to Brennan, "They need someone to buy them beer."

Brennan wasn't sure if she understood what the boy was saying. Because what it sounded like couldn't be right. Right? "You want us to go on a double date?"

Booth panicked a little at that thought. Because if they were going to go on a date, then that might me that one of them might slip up and that was not a good thing. "Why don't you go on the internet like all the rest of the kids?"

Sweets offered, "Okay, if it goes well, I'll withdraw my concern. I'll release you back into your environment."

Booth was still not okay with this. "What are we, brook trout?"

Brennan thought about it for a few seconds before she smiled as she thought of something. This could definitely be a way for Sweets to see that they were perfectly fine working together even with an outside relationship. "Fine."

Booth sighed heavily as Sweets smiled at Brennan. He didn't like the sound of this. Sweets said a little smugly, "Agent Booth? Unless, you think that's too much to prove."

Booth looked at him funnily before he sighed and gave in. "Fine. I'll show 'em I have nothing to prove. Bring it on, Sweets. "

~BONES~

Brennan was riding up to Booth's office with him, in the elevator as she answered Sweets' question on the cell phone. "Yes. Okay, Dr. Sweets, yeah, I'll ask him." She then turned to Booth and asked, "How's Wednesday night, are you free?"

Booth scrunched his face in a look of pain as he said, "Oh, what, to have our big double date with our psychiatrist?"

They stepped out of the elevator as Brennan told him her thoughts finally. "Just one more evening, and maybe we won't have to see him anymore."

Booth told her, a little sarcastically, "Fine. Wednesday's FINE, I can't wait, does he want me to get you a corsage?"

Brennan rolled her eyes slightly at her husband's attitude. "Wednesday's fine. We'll meet you there. Yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting her." Booth pushed opened his office door as she finished her conversation with him, "Okay. Bye." She then told Booth, slightly excited, "This might be fun. His girlfriend works with tropical fish."

Booth still didn't get it. "Tropical fish?"

Brennan smiled at him. "Yeah."

Booth sighed. He could see how much his wife was looking forward to this. And he wasn't going to disappoint her by figuring out a way to get out of it. He said resignedly, "This is just weird. Where are we meeting?"

Brennan told him, "At their ceramics class."

Booth wanted to hang his head in despair at that idea. "What? No, you're kidding."

Brennan was very confused by that question. "Why would I be kidding? He said it would be a good idea to have a common activity."

Booth couldn't even stand that idea. "Ceramics? I thought the whole point of therapy was to give us peace of mind, not drive us crazy." He then noticed that Angela was trying to video chat with them. Thank goodness they had their case to distract him for a bit

~BONES~

Booth and Brennan were back in Sweets office. Booth looked less than happy to be visiting again. Brennan started to say something, but then decided against it. The awkward silence continued until finally Booth broke down. "I hate when you do this."

Sweets asked innocently, "Do what?"

Booth gave him a look. "You don't talk."

Sweets almost laughed at that. "Sometimes you hate when I talk, so it's a double-edged sword."

Booth began to state, but then made sure to ask as he said, "Bones doesn't mind sitting in silence, do ya?"

Brennan shook her head, "Mm-mmm."

Booth pointed to himself as he said, "I hate it."

Sweets raised a brow and asked, "Why do you think that is?"

Brennan answered immediately, since she knew him so well. 'He gets bored."

Booth nodded, "You're right, I do. I get bored."

Brennan smiled as she thought about something amusing. "You should see him on stakeouts; he talks and talks and…" Booth gave her a pointed look. She stopped and told him, "Well, it's very interesting!"

Sweets as the million dollar question. "Is it always about work?"

Brennan thought about it. The last time it had been. Of course the last time had been when Booth might have gotten into a fight with someone at work in the locker room. Which might have been because said person made a passing joke about his wife's "rack". Which led to an argument about Booth being overly-protective of her. People were going to talk about her figure and he couldn't snap each time someone did, especially if they didn't want to reveal something. "Mmm...no."

Sweets cocked his head as he looked at her. "You're lying!"

Booth scoffed. "Aw, c'mon. How do you know that?"

Sweets answered honestly, "I have special training in how to tell when people are lying."

Brennan asked skeptically, "Is that true?"

Sweets smiled at her. "See, if you were me, you'd know." Brennan narrowed her eyes at him as Booth just stared unimpressed. Sweet sighed as he explained, "You're lying to protect your partner. I understand that. But let's agree amongst ourselves, that this is a truth zone." Booth groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose at that. He did not want to be there. Sweets saw that and asked, "Is something bothering you?"

He sighed as he said slowly, "It's this whole…going on a date thing."

Brennan and Sweets said at the same time, "No, it's not a date!" Of course, Brennan said it to alleviate any worries about slipping up and Sweets said it to alleviate any tension that might come from them confronting their 'unknown' feelings for each other.

Sweets went on, "It's a social outing for the purpose of professional evaluation."

Booth still didn't like where they were going. He stood up as he exclaimed, "Come on. Ceramics? I'm not that kind of a guy, alright? What do you say we go, y'know, bowling or to a firing range or climbing a wall?" He would really like to see Brennan's ass above him in a tight pair of her yoga pants.

Sweets jumped on that. "Oh, right. Something you're good at."

Booth ignored him as he offered, "A movie! Or dinner. Dinner and a movie. Somewhere that I don't have to make something."

Brennan exhaled loudly at his wording, "Oooohhh..."

Booth looked at her confused, "What? What oooh?"

Brennan explained as Booth sat down again, "Well, what Sweets would do in this situation is he'd jump on word usage. He's going to ask you why you're resistant to making."

Sweets didn't like her word usage either. "I JUMP on the semantics? That's a really aggressive turn of phrase."

Booth smiled as he leaned back in the chair, "Ha. Thanks for pulling focus, there, Bones." Sweets started to shake his head as Booth looked at him and joked, "Pulling. Is that an aggressive word too?"

Sweets couldn't believe that these two were ganging up on him. "Okay, what, did you two plan this?"

Booth began to joke again, "Paranoia. That is paranoia."

Brennan decided to join in on the fun and said seriously, "Since this is a truth zone, I will tell you the truth. We didn't plan anything."

Sweets looked at her through narrowed eyes. "You're telling the truth."

Booth joked, "He's guessing, Bones."

Sweets decided he was going to get in the last word. For once. "We're going to a ceramics class, and we're all going to MAKE something. Time's up."

~BONES~

Brennan, Booth, Sweets, and his girlfriend, April Presa, were doing ceramics. Brennan smiled as the pot she was had begun to make took shape. She looked at Booth and said, "I'm enjoying this. The last time I threw pots I was in Colombia with the Auroco Indians."

Booth smiled at that. He remembered that trip. Her first trip away when they were married. Which also was his first bout of celibacy in return. Let's just say that when she returned, he didn't let her leave the whole weekend. Booth snorted though as he looked down at what he was doing, "Last time I did something like this, I was in nursery school."

April laughed with Sweets before she said, "Well, we love it. Don't we, Lance?"

Sweets smiled, a little forcedly as he said, "Yes."

Booth mumbled, "Well, I love my work, but I'm not going to talk about that right now, even though we think a paraplegic killed Tripp Goddard."

April was immediately intrigued by that. "That sounds fascinating."

Sweets warned, "April."

April smiled sheepishly and giggled, "Oopsie!"

Brennan decided that a subject change was needed. "Dr. Sweets says that you work with tropical fish."

April smiled as she said, "Yes, I love fish. They're just like people."

Brennan took that a little too literally. "No, no they're not, actually. People can't breathe underwater."

April thought that she was joking and said, "She's funny."

Booth laughed at that and Brennan looked at him slightly confused. "I am? What? Why is that funny?"

Booth smiled at her as he said amused, "I don't think she meant that literally, Bones."

Brennan frowned slightly at that. "Oh."

April started to explain what she meant at first, "It's their eyes. You can tell so much from eyes."

Brennan, again, took that literally. She agreed, "The retinal scan is as specific as a fingerprint."

April tried to explain again. "No, no. Their souls. You can see their little souls."

Brennan looked at Booth as she tried to understand her. "I don't understand. You believe that fish have souls?"

April nodded, "Yes. You can see it in their coloring; it's a reflection of who they are."

Brennan was still confused, "Their coloring has developed over millennia as a way to deal with predators."

Sweets tried to explain it to Booth and Brennan, "April just means they're beautiful."

April almost snapped, "Don't tell me what I mean, Lance. I mean they have souls."

Sweets laughed nervously before he said, "Ah, okay."

Booth finally began to see what he was making. He proudly spread his arms to reveal his in-progress horse. "Hey, look what I'm makin'!"

Brennan looked at it with shock. She never knew he could do this! "You've done this before."

Booth began to work again and said modestly, "Nah..."

Brennan nodded and said earnestly, "You have."

Booth smiled at her and asked happily, "You really think that's good?"

Brennan nodded again as she said – with pride in her voice, "Yes, very."

Sweets tried to get on his girlfriend's good side again. "Yours is good too, April."

April glared at him. "I'm not talking to you." Sweets laughed nervously as he looked at anxiously around. April snapped a little, "You think that's funny."

Brennan whispered to Booth, "Are they fighting?"

Booth had been watching with wide eyes, but then snapped out of it and whispered back, "Just focus on your pot there."

Sweets tried to diffuse whatever was going on between him and April. "I'm with patients, April."

Booth shook his head as he continued to work on his horse. "Nope, no patients tonight. Just us people makin' pots."

April wasn't going to let it go though. "You can't apologize for me, Lance."

Sweets sighed and asked, "Can we please just move on?"

April shook her head. "No. It just…" She then turned to Brennan, "I meant that, I believe that all creatures, people, fish, dogs, we're all connected. We all share the same stuff that makes life so beautiful and precious."

Brennan nodded, "On a quantum level, that's true, although the word stuff is not accurate."

April smiled sweetly at Brennan then turned a snide smile to Sweets, "See?"

Sweets defended himself, "What? I have great respect for your fish. Admittedly, I might relate to other things more."

April let out her other frustrations as she told the group, "He kills about a thousand people a night."

Sweets was beginning to regret this idea. "Yeah, in a video game, April. They're not real."

Booth looked up and saw that Sweets' pot had begun to lean. "Hey, Sweets, your thing there's droopy." Sweets looked at it then April and sighed in dismay. Booth however for his part had just finished his 'ceramic' and smiled as he lifted it up for display, "Look at my horse!"

April was very impressed. "Wow."

Sweets was stunned, to say the least. "That's amazing, Agent Booth."

Booth started to make galloping sounds as Brennan looked at his work. "Very impressive."

Booth picked a stray piece of clay off the back of the horse as he said, "Yes, it is." He then flicked it at Brennan, but misaimed and it accidently hit her above her breast. She gasped and Booth apologized immediately, "Bones, I'm sorry." Brennan, for her part, was having none of it and she retaliated in like form by grabbing some of her clay and flung it back at Booth. He dodged as he grabbed another piece of clay. "Ooh! Jeez!" Booth threw back a lump of clay but it destroyed the top part of Brennan's pot. She pouted at him as she watched it go around. Booth kept at it though as he and Brennan continued to through clay at each other, "Hey, Sweets, I apologize. This whole ceramics thing is great!"

Sweets broke off a piece of clay and lightly tossed it at April, thinking she would join in playfully. She, in turn however, grabbed a handful of slip and threw it in Sweet's face, even getting some on his teeth. Sweets tried to play it off with a nonchalant laugh. "Yeah, this is fun."

Brennan and Booth looked at each other and grimaced. She then turned to look at Sweets, knowing that he was going to be in the metaphorical 'dog house' tonight.

~BONES~

Booth shut the door behind him as Brennan placed her messenger bag by the table. He tossed his keys onto the same table before Brennan finally said, "April seemed very angry."

Booth wrapped his arms around her waist as he shook his head. "No talking about them tonight." He then started to kiss her neck lightly as he whispered gruffly, "Let's just focus on you and me."

Brennan laughed huskily as he led her to their room. She could do that. Definitely.

~BONES~

Booth had just finished listening to Brennan's observations about last night's events. She was right about April though. She had been pissed. "I tell you one thing, Sweets didn't get any last night."

Brennan shook her head. "They're too young to be in a serious relationship. In agrarian societies, young couplings made sense; the partnership was for survival, but today..."

Booth told her, "You know, you can play the field and not plow it."

Brennan looked at him with a slight narrowing of her eyes. "That was distasteful."

Booth shrugged, "What?"

Brennan looked away from him as she told Booth, "I like April, though."

Booth wasn't agreeing with her on this one. "She talks to fish, okay? I'm with Sweets on this one."

Brennan gave him a look, but thankfully he was saved from having been lectured by her when her cell phone rang.

~BONES~

Brennan brought Booth his cup of coffee as she told him, "I'm okay with what you did there."

Booth sighed as he said, "Mmm...yeah, thanks a million, Bones."

Brennan tried to explain, "Don't get mad; I'm just saying that, I just like it better when we catch 'em, and they go to jail."

Booth knew what she meant and he didn't like it either. "Yeah, well, sometimes it can get messy, Bones, but the point is, it gets done."

Brennan sighed herself as she said, "This one started out in a pit of mud and ended in a pit of mud."

Booth laughed a little. She amazed him sometimes. "That's very damned poetic of you."

Sweets then walked up to them looking forlorn. "Oh, hey guys. I didn't know you'd be here."

Booth felt bad for the guy. "Whaddya think, Bones?"

Brennan knew immediately what he was talking about. "He's lying." She then turned to Sweets, "Do you wanna sit down?"

Sweets shook his head, "Not really."

Booth snorted, "Lying again."

Brennan gestured with her head to join them. "C'mon. Sit down."

Sweets didn't give any fight as he nodded and said, "Okay."

Booth knew that look on the boy's face. "April dump you?"

Brennan was surprised that he guessed that. "How did you know that?"

Booth shrugged his shoulders, "He's got that 'dump-ee' look on his face."

Sweets sighed heavily, "I'm a trained psychologist. I mean, I saw this coming; it's not like the signs eluded me. So I prepared myself mentally for it, and…"

Booth knew exactly what the kid needed. "Hey, Sweets...Bones and I, we're going bowling tonight."

Brennan knew that they weren't but decided to play along, knowing that their…friend needed it. "Yes, yes, bowling. You know what, you wanna come? To go bowling with us at the bowling rink?"

Booth corrected, "Alley."

Brennan corrected herself, "Bowling alley. The bowling alley."

Sweets moped, "You know, fish aren't actually sentient. There's a reason people say 'cold as a fish.'" Booth and Brennan nod sympathetically as he went on, "Me? I'm a dog person. I think that has meaning. Don't you?"

Brennan nodded again, "Sure..."

Sweets asked in his lost boy voice, "Do you think April was pretty?"

Brennan looked at Booth for help on that one. She had no clue what to tell him. Booth shook his head no and Brennan tried to lie. "Not at all."

Sweets laughed a little at that. "You're lying, Dr. Brennan. I appreciate the effort; thank you."

Booth grabbed the back of Sweets' chair and said, "Come on, Sweets, whaddya say we go bowling?" He then started to drag him away in the rolling chair as he told Bones, "I got him, c'mon!"

Sweets shook his head dejectedly, "Nah, that's alright..."

Brennan watched with a smile as Booth pulled Sweets away and he said, "C'mon!" She got up to follow them, amazed that Booth knew exactly what to do – yet again – for one of their friends. She loved that about him. Always taking care of others.

A/N: Do you know how easy it is to tell Sweets, but I didn't because want to drag this out.

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