Title: Baring It All
Author: Tom's gg
Chapter: 22/?
Chapter Title: Stop Whispering
Characters: Brennan/ Booth
Rating: M - Strong Sexual Content
Spoilers: None

I do not own the characters- that distinction belongs to FOX… but God I wish I did!

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Morning after convo of a different sort.

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"So?" Booth said. He eyed her over the café table. He'd made the decision last night that this was a conversation they needed to have with all their clothes on.

"Yeah," she smiled. "This coffee is pretty good. We definitely need to get some to go."

Booth scowled. Was she being coy? Did Temperance Brennan do coy? Was that even possible?

"Ummm, about last night."

"Oh," she mumbled. "Don't worry about it Booth. Two is enough… we were both tired."

"What?" Booth's head snapped up and he checked the surrounding booth's to see if anyone heard her. "No… I wasn't… what do you mean two-"

The smile that spread across her face stopped him cold.

"You! You were- I can't…" he'd have been mad if he wasn't so surprised by her ability to deceive him. When had she become such a good actress?

Booth cleared his throat and decided to try again. "I thought maybe we could talk about what happened last night."

He looked at her expectantly; she went back to enjoying her coffee.

Booth's patience began to wear thin as he realized she was not going to jump right in; she was going to force him to direct the conversation.

"About what you said," maybe just a bit of prodding would do the trick…

She looked up at him with a slight crease in her brow. "I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific Booth. We talked about a variety of things last night."

"I was talking about what you said…" he hissed, taking another furtive look around. "You know while we were…

(His eyebrows wagged at her.)

"You said you loved me," he proclaimed defiantly, as though he were just waiting for her to deny it. He was leaned over the table in order to keep his voice as low as possible.

"Oh that," she smiled; a faint blush spirited across her cheeks. Brennan pushed her coffee mug away and folded her hands. She cleared her throat.

"In any relationship… it's important to let the other person know you appreciate them so that you don't create barriers that delay any hope for reciprocation.

"Objectively speaking… I mean when I look at the evidence, and using the theory of Occam's razor-"

"Occam's Razor?"

"Yes. Well, simply stated, it's that given any phenomenon, all things being equal, the simplest explanation is probably the correct one."

"I see," Booth had to stifle a laugh.

"Yes. So… given the absolutely illogical way I feel about you, and the fact that I have definitely ruled out a strictly chemical response mechanism, the only logical conclusion… objectively, is that I love you."

"Okay," Booth leaned back and cleared his throat. "So then, we're agreed that this thing between us is not simply some biological inevitability?"

"Well, naturally there is something to be said for initial attraction and you're obviously a prime candidate-" The cloud that slid across his face caused her to stop mid-sentence.

"We're agreed."

Booth contemplated her expression for a moment. Anyone walking up on them at the moment would never know that they were discussing such a personal issue.

"Reciprocation…" Booth mused. "you said delay any hope of reciprocation. I've already told you that I love you… so… what does that mean?"

Brennan reached for her coffee again and took a slow sip. Partially in deference to the temperature of the drink, but Booth also suspected it had quite a bit to do with buying herself some time.

She looked up into his eyes again, finally holding his gaze. "I meant that I don't want my not saying it to become an obstacle, since you've already said it, and I've started to believe it… feel it. (she shrugged.) I'm not really sure what the right word is. I hate to say know… it's not really something you can know… Is it?"

Booth reached across the table and covered her hands with his. "I know Bones. I know that I love you. This thing we're doing here -- me, you -- I just want you to know- I'm in. I am all in, Temperance. I know I love you.

(Booth carefully watched her reaction,)

"Does that, uh -- are you scared?"

Her phone rang at that moment, and she quickly scrambled to answer it barely able to breathe much less speak.

"Hey."

"Dr. Brennan?" The male voice on the line sounded concerned. "Is everything alright?"

"Wha? Yes. Who-?" Brennan was rattled by the look in Booth's eye and the unfamiliar male voice on the phone.

"It's Andrew. Agent Romero. Are you sure everything is okay? You sound strange."

Brennan literally had to shake her head to clear it. "Andrew. No… really… I'm fine. I was just in the middle of taking a sip of some very hot coffee. How are you? Where are you?"

Booth's eyebrow popped up at the mention of Romero's name. He tried to reach across the table and grab her phone from her.

Andy laughed on the other end of the line when she began to sound more like herself.

"I'm in New York. They had me working on the drug angle that your partner spun, but you and I both know there's nothing to be found there," Romero waited to see if she'd deny it.

"I thought I'd help you out by seeing what I could find out about your bones."

Brennan swatted at Booth's hand as he continued to try to reach for the phone. "You really didn't need to do that Andrew. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble or anything."

Andy laughed again. "You mean you wouldn't want me to step on your partner's toes… don't you. I came to New York to track a lead, then asked a couple of Agents to go by the Post with me and reinterview some of the people there who knew Charlotte.

"We mostly got the same info as before. She was working on something big, expected to win a Pulitzer and get her name above the fold in the Times.

"I did get one interesting new lead though." Another pause.

"Really?" Brennan asked as she continued to stare Booth down across the table. She could tell he was starting to get really agitated now, but putting Andrew on speaker in the middle of a crowded café wasn't an option, and she didn't trust Booth to talk to him. Not politely anyway.

"Her boss told me that Charlotte had an informant inside Mexico; a man, he thought maybe the guy worked for the government. He helped expedite some paperwork for Charlotte.

(another long pause.)

"I thought I might go back to Mexico City and see if I could track down her source."

"Andrew, No." Brennan didn't hesitate. "I don't think that's a good idea right now."

Brennan looked around to see if anyone else was listening. "It's only been a few days since someone tried to kill us. Remember?" she hissed.

"Okay… okay," a satisfied sigh. "I have one person I trust back home. I'm going to get him working on it. I'll play nice- for now."

They spent another few minutes with friendly banter before Brennan terminated the call.

When they hung up Booth launched himself from the table. Throwing down some money, he reached for her elbow. "Let's go."

They were in the car and back on the highway before either of them spoke.

"You know that trust thing we talked about in Mexico," she huffed. "It should be getting better, not worse."

"I don't trust him," Booth growled, "and I don't understand why you do either… given what we know."

"What do we know, Booth?" Brennan replied calmly. "We know that he took me to the exact locations that I asked him to in Mexico and provided a fairly detailed biography of both. Something that someone trying to keep a secret probably wouldn't do.

"We know that he was almost blown up along side us, he took a bullet for me, and he helped us get out of Mexico in one piece."

"We know that his dear granddaddy's name is all over the dead girls notes, which makes him part of the investigation," Booth asserted.

"Yeah, Booth. Andrew's grandfather… not Andrew," Brennan countered. "You know I don't have conversations with my gastrointestinal tract, Booth, but I'm telling you that I don't believe Andy is involved in this. He's an honest cop, and so far we haven't seen anything that's going to make me believe differently."

She sat back in her seat with her arms crossed at her chest. She turned to stare out the window. Why did this man have to be so insufferable? She knew she was right, and he was wrong. When was he ever going to stop thinking with his emotions?

Booth sighed. Here we go again.

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You didn't honestly expect it to be peaches and cream with these two… did you? Tsk… tsk. When will you people ever learn? Jealous/ Angsty Booth= GOOD. Pissed off Bones= GOOD.

IT'S ALL GOOD! And- make up sex is so much fun. Now tell me you're not waiting for that.

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Radiohead - Stop Whispering