A friend of mine asked me to write a short epilogue to this story in order to let everyone know what happened to Hacker after he had to face Cullen without the updates that he was so insistent on getting from Booth. This is what I came up with. For any who might like the Hacker character, I apologize in advance. I hope you all enjoy this short humorous conclusion. Gregg.
Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Booth walked into the bullpen just outside his office at the Hoover Building. He hadn't been here in nearly four weeks. He last three of those weeks had been spent on a secluded beach in the Polynesian Islands living in a bungalow with Bones. The first week had been spent in a nearly nonstop sexfest with Bones at her apartment after calling Cullen and taking a months personal time as he had nearly a year accrued. Cullen had been more than agreeable and then the fun had began. OH MY GOD! Bones was incredible! He was no prude, despite the image he projected at times when around Bones, yet she had shown him some things he'd never even heard of!
"Hey, Booth!" Charlie said with smile as he rose to welcome his Supervising Agent back after a month long absence.
"What's up, Charlie?" Booth asked, desperately trying not to strut like a proud rooster.
"What happened, Man? One minute you're storming out of here and the next minute Cullen's telling us that you're on a months personal leave," Charlie said, noticing the deep tan and the spring to Booth's step. If that man hadn't gotten laid six ways from Sunday, then Charlie didn't deserve to be an FBI Agent.
"Bones and me spent three weeks on a beach in the Polynesian Islands," Booth shrugged, acting nonchalant.
Charlie's eyes popped out, or nearly so. "You and the Doc?" he asked, a grin coming into play.
"Yep!" Booth said, not even trying to hide the wide "I'm da Man!" grin. "Private beach, private bungalow, and nothing but sun, fun, and leisurely living!"
"Did you hear the news about Hacker?" Charlie asked.
"Now why'd you have to bring up that waste of skin?" Booth asked derisively. Four weeks he hadn't thought of that pansy, and now his first day back and Charlie brings him up almost first thing.
"He's outta here!" Charlie crowed.
"What?" Booth said, trying not to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming.
"Cullen sent him packing to Gnome, Alaska," Charlie said with a wicked grin.
"Gnome?" Booth asked. "We only have three Agents in Gnome."
"And guess who's now number three on the totem pole up there?" Charlie grinned wider.
"What brought that on?" Booth asked. He'd been expecting to get his ass chewed for his harsh words to Hacker a month before, but this was like a gift from God himself!
"When Hacker had to go to Cullen ill prepared that day, Cullen got seriously pissed and did some digging into Hacker's work," Charlie explained. "He found that Hacker had been foisting most of his work on his underlings, and spent a lot of time trying to get laid by any good looking gal to come along by bragging about what a big fish in a little pond he is. That was enough for Cullen, but when he found out that he had also tried to do the same with the Doc, that was it for Hacker's sorry ass. He was on reassignment with a serious demotion the next day."
This day just couldn't get any better in Booth's opinion. He told Charlie that he'd talk with him later, but that he had to go to his office and get caught up. Walking into the office he was surprised to see that Cullen was in there waiting for him.
"Sir," Booth said formally, though stopping just short of his former military life and standing to attention.
"Well, I see that the month was good to you, Booth," Sam Cullen said with a half grin, half smirk.
"Very good, Sir," Booth said, not even trying to hide it. What would be the point? Cullen was as sharp as they came, and a damn good Agent in his day.
"Hacker's been transferred to a more suitable assignment," Cullen got right to the point.
"That's what Charlie said," Booth replied, though he kept any hint of satisfaction out of his voice. It wouldn't look good to be seen gloating. Even if it was over such a pathetic waste like Hacker.
"You're his replacement," Cullen told Booth.
Booth's bubble burst. "Huh?" he said inarticulately.
"You've earned a promotion, and this will not be a standard promotion," Cullen explained. He'd spent the last month working on this as he was not about to mess up such a spectacular partnership as was found with Booth and Dr. Brennan. The Director had signed off on it just the day before.
"Bones is going to kill me," Booth groaned.
"For being promoted?" Cullen asked, though he knew exactly what was being hinted at. He wasn't stupid, and he knew from a variety of sources that Booth and his partner had finally gotten their heads out of their asses and got together. One of the things he'd been seriously pissed at Hacker about was the mans attempts to add Dr. Brennan as a notch on his bed post. That would have led to either Hacker being shot and killed by Booth, or Booth eliminating his partnership with the good Doctor. Neither option was acceptable.
"She made me promise that our new understanding wouldn't screw up our partnership," Booth told his boss.
"And this promotion won't end your partnership," Cullen told him.
"Huh? It's a hell of a lot more work and it's almost all office work!" Booth protested. What did the man expect? A 24/7 employee with no life?
"Not the way it's been revamped," Cullen explained. "You'll be supervising the two departments that Hacker was, but the day to day will be handled by the section heads. That will leave you free to handle field work with Dr. Brennan and those will be the only cases you will be working on in the field. You shouldn't have to put in any more hours than you already do, though the first few weeks as you learn your new responsibilities will be a bit of a drain."
Booth made a mental note to let Bones know that for a little while the sex marathon would have to be reduced to a small lap around the track each night so he could actually be awake and able to function the next day.
Cullen spent a few more minutes going over some other, minor, changes. "Take today to go and get up to speed in the two sections with the section heads and then come by my office tomorrow morning and we'll go over anything you can think of," Cullen directed. Then he left.
"Quite a promotion, huh?" Charlie said with a smile as he poked his head into Booth's office.
"You knew!" Booth said with an accusatory smile.
"Everybody knows, Booth," Charlie told him.
"Get Wilkerson and Harkens on the horn and tell them to get down here," Booth ordered. "If I'm going to be their supervisor, then they can come to me for a change."
"Yes, SIR!" Charlie snapped out with a mock salute and grin.
Booth laughed and then pulled out his cell phone. He punched in one on the speed dial and waited a moment until he heard his favorite voice.
"Hey, Sexy," Bones said in a very lust filled sexy purr.
Booth sank down in his chair, a hard on almost instantly coming to life upon hearing that voice. God what that woman could do to him! "Hey, Bones," he said, slightly nervous about what her reaction may be to this new development.
"I've arranged an extra long lunch, Boothy," she continued in the sexy purr. "And I know exactly what I'm hungry for."
Boothy? He hoped that no one ever heard her call him that or he would never live it down. "Lunch will have to happen some other time, Bones," he told her, wincing a bit at the pinched look she would no doubt have.
"But Booth, I want you, and I'm not wearing any panties," she told him.
Booth swallowed hard, squelching the images flying through his head when she said that. "Hacker's been transferred to the wastelands of Alaska and I'm his replacement," he said quickly. Maybe not the wastelands, but close enough. Personally he felt the putz should have to live in some frozen hellhole in an igloo. Let him cuddle up to a polar bear for a thrill.
That did it. Silence on the other end.
"What about out partnership?" Bones asked, a deadly serious tone replacing the sexy purr of before.
"Still intact," Booth assured her. "Listen. I'll explain it all when I get to your place for dinner. Say about 7?"
"Okay, but this explanation better be a damn good one," Bones told him.
"It will be, Bones," he assured her. "And, if you're still in the mood, I'll even submit to interrogation tonight with you being Wonder Woman with the magic lasso."
Bones laughed over the phone. "I think this interrogation will be one you'll agree that I do a very good job on," she told him.
"I'll see you at 7, Bones," Booth hurriedly got off the phone before he embarrassed himself right in his office. He looked at his desk and sighed. This was going to a be a rough few weeks learning this new job if all this paperwork was anything to go by.
Gnome, Alaska That Evening
Agent Andrew Hacker was sitting in his lonely one bedroom apartment drinking his fifth beer of the night. His whole world had come crashing down in one fell swoop. One moment he'd been an Associate Director of the FBI based at the Hoover Building in Washington, DC, and now he was an ordinary third level Agent based in one of the worst duty stations in the entire FBI. Just as he thought it couldn't get any worse he heard a loud thud, thud, thud against his living room wall.
"Crap!" he said out loud. His next door neighbor had obviously brought him some barfly and was getting some serious attention while he himself was sitting alone wallowing in self pity. "Why me?" he said as he looked up at the ceiling.
A/N: Nothing spectacular, but a bit of fun seeing what became of Hacker, and also the positive change for Booth and Bones. I hope you all enjoyed it. Gregg.