Sweets stood at the window of his office and watched the crime-solving duo walk down the sidewalk. As they turned toward each other, he noticed the look of panic on Brennan's face. C'mon, Temperance, just allow yourself to feel. He thought to himself as he continued to watch them speak. He wished he could hear what they were saying, but knew that this needed to be said between the two of them. As if in slow motion, Booth pulled his partner toward him and laid his lips on hers. He watched as Brennan stiffened, placing her palms against his chest, Sweets was nervous that she would push away, but after a couple beats, her hands snuck around Booth's neck. She pulled herself closer to him. Booth smiled against the kiss and his hand snaked behind Temperance's head. They pulled away and stared at each other, there was a certain level of relief in their faces.
Brennan felt like her mind was racing. So many bad things could happen, but the idea of having Booth on a different level seemed to trump out everything. They had just spent hours talking to Sweets about their first case, about their first kiss. Back then they were different. They had spent years by each other's sides now. They had survived shootings, kidnappings, near-death experiences, and through it all, Brennan just needed Booth to be okay to survive. She didn't know if that was love, but she knew that kissing him caused something to click. Like he was her source of oxygen. She could hear her mother's voice. Sometimes, Tempe, you use that head a little too much, and that heart a little too little. My sweet girl, use that heart of yours.
"I'm scared." She murmured, it was just above a whisper and Booth looked alarmed. He never wanted to scare her.
"This is exciting, not scary." He replied. His voice was warm, full of love and compassion.
"But our partnership, everything we built-" Brennan started.
"It will all be okay, we will be okay. Our partnership, everything." Booth murmured, pulling her in again and sealing their fate with a kiss. Bones sighed into the feeling.
-BB-
"Pausing our partnership?" Booth asked Director Cullen for the 10th time. He had just spent the weekend with Bones, loving her on every surface of their apartments, and came in to work, ready to take on any obstacle. Instead he was met with an email regarding his partnership with the Jeffersonian from Cullen with Sweets cc'd.
"Well the new development in your romantic relationship means that we have to understand that this might change the dynamic in the field. We have to observe this change with careful consideration." Cullen stated, it had clearly been rehearsed, which pissed Booth off.
"Nothing has changed, we work amazing together. Plus how can you 'observe' when you're separating us?" Booth put air quotes around the word observe as he spoke. He wasn't trying to get angry at his boss, but this felt very backwards. He could feel his phone buzz and knew that it was a message from Bones without even thinking. He had promised her that everything would be okay and the next work day, everything had changed.
-BB-
Brennan had walked into work on Monday, Angela stood on the platform with a large grin. She had called her best friend when Booth had left to grab take out on Saturday. Her and Angela had talked through the recent developments and to say her best friend was excited was an understatement.
"Hello, Dr. Feelgood!" Angela shouted and the interns stopped working to look at Brennan, who bristled.
"Angela, facial reconstruction." Cam mumbled, but Angela was already running toward her friend.
"So how was he?" Angela asked, but Brennan was distraught. "Honey, what is going on? You were so happy on Saturday, what did he do?"
"They ended our partnership." Brennan replied and Angela's face dropped. Showing her friend the phone, she saw an email from the Jeffersonian, it mentioned that a romantic relationship had formed between the partners and there was a break period that needed to be completed before they decided on whether to permanently terminate.
"Sweetie, this … how? We have an amazing solve rate, clearly they can't separate you two." Angela watched as panic had taken over her friend's face. "This has to be a mistake." She grabbed the phone, Cam had been cc'd on the email. Angela turned her head to look at their boss, Cam glanced up quickly and looked upset, sad even, before looking back at the decomposed corpse.
Cam had been informed by the FBI and Dr. Sweets that Seeley and Temperance had begun a romantic relationship and she had let out a sigh of relief. The two had danced around each other for years. She even saw it when she and Seeley dated. He would drop anything for Brennan. It was partially why their relationship was so easy to get over, he never felt like hers, at least not completely. Then Cullen mentioned protocol. She thought back to her emergency meeting with Sweets and Cullen.
"Wait, you're telling me that you prompted Seeley to reveal his feelings to Dr. Brennan, she reciprocates, and you're now punishing them?" Cam put her hands on her hips. They had been called in on a Saturday to talk over the new development and she was ready to lose her mind on Director Cullen. "I have watched those two work in the field, their love is nothing new to my team, it's simply just open now." She continued.
"We understand that they both shared strong feelings, but they had never acted on their romantic interests." Cullen responded. Sweets' shoulders drooped. He thought he could talk to Cullen, get him on board, explain that their partnership was probably the strongest it had ever been. Instead, Cullen brought out the protocol policy booklet.
"It requires a 90 day pause on their partnership. This allows for their romantic endeavor to either fizzle-" Cullen began.
"Which won't happen." Sweets interjected. Cullen rolled his eyes, the young psychiatrist was incredibly eager to let his opinion be known.
"Or it allows for the 'honeymoon' period to soften, that way they won't be interjecting their romantic endeavors at crime scenes." Cullen continued. He had been at this job long enough and seen enough couples develop even with the protocols. His own wife was a former FBI agent that he met at a crime scene, but all agents knew that romance could just be a symptom of the adrenaline and close quarters they had with other agents.
"Director Cullen, I promise you, Dr. Brennan would never allow for anything to come in the way of her professionalism, especially at a crime scene." Cam stuck her neck out for her world-renowned anthropologist.
"Her second case with Agent Booth, she shot the suspect." Cullen replied dryly and now it was Cam's turn to roll her eyes. She knew the case.
"Last I checked, Agent Booth arrested her." Cam responded. "He didn't try to stage a cover-up. Everything was by the book."
"Regardless, they are being placed on pause for the 90 day period." Cullen stated like a judge with a gavel. Cam felt her entire body tense. This was going to make for a difficult Monday.
She now stood on the platform and the anger she suspected from Dr. Brennan wasn't there, just sadness and fear. She saw the droop of Brennan's shoulders and her eyes seemed to well with tears. Now she just wanted to punch Cullen, her resident forensic anthropologist was depressed and this might cause an issue in her work that she had not foreseen.
Angela followed Brennan to her office and Cam looked at the interns standing around the decomposed remains.
"Please continue to observe the x-rays and move forward with cataloging the injuries." She then left the platform and followed the two women to Brennan's office.
"Dr. Brennan, I am so sorry, I promise I tried to tell them that a pause in your partnership with Seeley would not be helpful or beneficial." Cam began, but she saw the glaze over Brennan's gaze. She compartmentalizing, shit. Cam thought to herself.
"You are only doing your job, it is the FBI's protocol, Booth and I should not have been so foolish as to think they would make an exception for us." She responded, her tone was professional and cold. Cam flinched, she hadn't heard that tone outside Brennan's findings of skeletons since she started. She didn't want her relationship with Brennan to suffer because of this. "But Dr. Saroyen, I do have a request." Cam looked at Brennan expectantly. "Booth cannot come to the Jeffersonian Medico-Lab during this break, he must commit, so we will deactivate his credentials to be allowed in."
Cam felt her jaw slack. Did Brennan just request that her new boyfriend be forbidden from seeing her at work? Her boyfriend who would burn the world down to save her?
"Uhm, well, that …" Cam looked at Angela with a glance, silently stating HELP ME!
"Sweetie, maybe that's a bit rash." Angela murmured and Brennan looked at her.
"I do not want anything prohibiting the FBI from allowing our partnership to move forward, if they find out that Booth is stopping by, checking in, like he usually does, they might use that to elongate the pause." Brennan made a point and Angela looked at Cam with a shrug.
"Oh okay, well I'll go deactivate his pass." Cam said, leaving the office and grabbing her phone. Dialing Booth's number, he picked up on the third ring.
"Booth." His tone was clipped. This day just keeps getting better. Cam thought to herself as she took a deep breath.
"Seeley, due to your pause in your liasoning for the FBI, we are deactivating your pass to the Medico-Lab." She mumbled.
"WHAT? Camille, that's absurd! Did Cullen tell you to do this?" He huffed, Cam cringed at his outburst.
"Well, no." Cam replied.
"Then, why are you doing this?" Booth sounded desperate. He ran a hand through his hair. This was NOT going okay.
"Dr. Brennan made a good point that if you continue to drop by the lab during this break in your partnership, that it might cause the FBI to lengthen the pause or for them to terminate." Cam responded and Booth's breathing hitched. His own girlfriend made the suggestion. He knew she was acting rational and that it was not an easy request, but he hated this.
"Cam, please, I can't do three months without working with Bones, she's got to understand that I just want to make sure she's okay." He whispered. He felt his heart racing. This was never the plan, they were happy, they just spent the weekend together. They were supposed to be together right now.
"Seeley, this is just for a few months. You'll still see her outside of work and we will make sure she's safe. We know you'd kill us otherwise." She chuckled, but Booth didn't smile. He just sighed. It was no use.
"Okay, well, I guess thanks for telling me." He mumbled before ending the call. He received a ping, letting him know a new case had come in.
Agent Booth,
You will be kept on the e-mail chains for Jeffersonian related casework. We understand the close relationship you have built and do not wish to compromise. Agent Harvey Whitford will be working as main contact, he is cc'd on this e-mail, and Dr. Sweets will be helping the transition, he is also cc'd on this e-mail. Hopefully this can be as painless as possible.
Director Cullen
Booth knew Agent Whitford, he was a good guy, nothing to write home about, but stayed late and followed all proper protocol. Following the announcement, facts regarding the matter followed. Booth read through the email quickly and sent Bones a text.
Lunch at Royal Diner, 12pm?
He waited a beat before sending another text.
Love you.
He felt his phone buzz a couple minutes later.
I can't, I'm meeting with Agent Whitford, he wants to 'build rapport.' I love you too.
Booth ran a hand through his hair. And so it begins, Whitford is already taking her away. But he couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips. But she loves me.
-BB-
Agent Whitford seemed eager when he walked into the lab. Looking around at all of the equipment, he had to be told more than once to not touch anything.
"Who would've thought you guys would be so touchy about the machines." Whitford mumbled.
"Agent Whitford, that machine cost $1.6 million dollars. If anything happens to the machine that isn't basic wear and tear, the Jeffersonian places the individual that caused the damage on a payment plan to help repair the machine." Brennan replied, her tone terse. She didn't want to babysit anyone while at work.
"Shit!" His hand went up, like he had been burned by the equipment. "I'm good at my job, but I'm not making $1.6 mill." He muttered. He had heard things about Dr. Temperance Brennan, she was blunt, abrasive, cold, but also oddly charming. Based off her looks, he wasn't surprised that Booth had been attracted to her, but from what he had seen so far, he wasn't sure what Booth saw outside the bedroom. He made a mental note to ask around. Then he saw something that intrigued him.
Brennan was observing the skeletal remains, which had been cleaned. Her dark blue lab coat indicated that she was a doctor, while all non-doctorate holding employees wore light gray lab coats. Her gloved hands worked expertly as they touched the bone, her eyes flickered at the tiniest knick. Placing a rib under a microscope camera, which projected the image onto a larger monitor, she ran a finger over the reconstructed fracture. Grabbing a pen, she jotted something down on a legal pad. She then delicately placed the bone back in anatomical order.
Whitford watched as she held reverence to the bones of the victim. She began rattling off different facts.
"Our victim was either a gymnast or dancer, based on the stress fractures of the spine, and the various stress fractures around the joints. She was in her mid-twenties, and the pelvic widening makes me believe that she was about eight weeks pregnant." Her tone heightened when she brought up the pregnancy, like this idea hurt her. "The knicks on the various ribs indicate stabbing, causing her to bleed out. Ms. Montenegro will be able to give you various scenarios regarding the stabbing and type of weapon used. Dr. Hodgins is reviewing the particulates found embedded in the right ulna."
Whitford nodded. "Sounds good, I will come by afterwards to talk over theory with you."
"That won't be necessary, I'm simply one of the scientists here." Brennan responded, continuing to look at the bones.
"Doesn't Agent Booth usually work theory with you?" He asked, feeling slightly rejected.
"Yes, well Booth and I built a friendship where working theories seemed natural, I do not hold those same feelings toward you at the moment." She responded, causing Whitford to bristle.
"I guess those things just take time and effort." He responded and turned on his heels. For some reason he wanted to stay near her, like she had drawn him in, so he promised himself that he would put in the effort.
-BB-
"Hey ya, Bones!" Booth called out as his beautiful girlfriend walked towards her car in the Jeffersonian parking lot. She jumped and felt her heart race. "Shit, Bones, sorry, I shouldn't have jumped out at you in the parking garage of all places." Booth mumbled, he was so excited to see her that he didn't think about her own memories of being attacked.
"All good, Booth." She smiled as he pulled her close, placing a tender kiss on her cheek, then another on her other cheek, before finally descending on her lips. It was a chaste kiss, but they both sighed.
"Dinner? We can go to Wong Fu's." Booth asked as he leaned his forehead against Brennan's, a flash of exhaustion passed through her eyes. "Or hear me out, maybe we just grab some takeout and head back to my place." Really, he just wanted to spend the night with Bones, talking to her, being near her, he missed her.
"Takeout would be nice." She murmured, her eyes heavy. They got into their respective cars and drove to Booth's apartment, they ordered their dinner, and sat on the couch. Booth wrapped his arms around Brennan.
"So, how's everything at the lab?" Booth asked, he wanted to talk about deactivating his credentials and the separated partnership, but knew that they just needed some time together.
"Good, we were able to identify the victim and determine cause of death." Brennan replied as she melted into Booth's embrace. "I'm hoping that this is a fast case. Agent Whitford is nice, but he hovers." She murmured. Booth stiffened at the sound of her new partner's name.
"I hover." He breathed as he kissed the top of her head.
"I like your hovering." She replied, causing his heart to race. "You're more curious, I fear he's judging me." This made Booth irrationally angry. No one, especially not anyone in the bureau should have the gall to judge Brennan's work. She was top of her class, best in her field, and her solve rate for casework was through the roof.
"Well, if he ever oversteps, let me know." Booth murmured against her temple, placing another kiss against her head. She sighed.
"I don't want you to intervene. I just want to get through the next 3 months and then we can move forward as partners again." Her tone was sad and slightly frustrated. He knew the feeling. He wanted to tear up the protocols in front of Cullen, but that would just earn him an eye roll from his boss. Brennan turned in his embrace and pressed her lips against his. The feeling was still so new that they both paused before deepening the kiss. A knock at the door interrupted them and they sheepishly separated. Placing the food on the coffee table, they continued to swap stories about their days, exchanging brief kisses here and there. Booth felt this pang in his chest. This was supposed to be the start to their newest adventure, but he feared it was the end of their partnership.