Sweets was sitting in his chair reading though notes on a case he was going to testify on next week when she walked in, "Dr. Brennan, nice of you to come by." He spoke with some excitement in his voice as he was always interested in the cases she and Booth worked on.
Brennan sat down across from Sweets her arms folded with a frustrated expression on her face, "While I don't put much value in your methods which may undermine the usefulness of our sessions, I requested that before Booth and I go out on our next case that we come talk to you."
Lance was very interested yet concerned with the way she had opened the session, "You said that you asked Agent Booth to come as well?" He had noted that she had walked in alone as where normally Booth held the door and followed her in.
She sighed in an annoyed way, "Booth is here. He's just not in here, yet. My partner decided that he needed to go speak with his boss before he fixed our partnership issues."
Sweets could see by her body language and hints of sarcasm in her voice that she was distressed about her partnership. He also noted that generally Agent Booth would avoid seeing any of his bosses unless it was critical to a case. Sweets began to realize that both partners were acting out of their normal interpersonal behaviors and he was curious to find out why.
*******************************
Kera sat reading a case file that had just been closed and was waiting for the final sign off. The file was the tenth one she'd read though the day and the words started to blur on the page.
She sighed heavily as she stood up and walked to her window watching the cars drive by. She smiled a little remembering the good times in the military. Even though they were deployed and often in the middle of nowhere they always found ways to amuse themselves. When they did have combat vehicles, which wasn't often for the unit they would race them across the open desert to pass the time.
Booth waved at Kera's receptionist as he turned the doorknob and entered her office. "DeWinter," he spoke curtly as he closed the door behind him.
She turned to Booth and cleared her voice to return back to her business tone. "Booth, how can I help you? Did you find out anything on your case?"
Booth nodded not wanting to tell her anything about the case, knowing that as soon as he told her she'd want to join the case, "I am actually only here on personal business. When do the twins get out of school? I know we talked about what days I'd take them to the nanny but I realized I didn't know what time to pick them up."
Kera smiled knowing he was avoiding the reporting on his case like he always did, but she decided to humor him, "They get out at 3:00. They go to the nanny until 6:30 and one of us should make arrangements to be home by then. Though, I think we need to make the effort to both be home until the issue with Bryan gets closed. "
Booth sighed as he nodded, "I agree. Bryan as I remember probably has some high priced lawyer following your ever move. And Bryan would not be happy seeing me."
Kera put her hands on her hips and gave him an annoyed stare, "Yeah I remember. You punched him. But then I told both of you to get out of my operating room. I outranked both of you and so you jumped. Couldn't see combat but I could make all the men around me jump. " She paused looking amused at her line of thought, "Come to think of it I'm still telling men how high to jump."
Booth mused at her comments because she was right about being the person in charge, he cleared his voice to avoid laughing, "Alright, I gotta go or Dr. Sweets will probably call you to ask why I was here and I really don't want my personal life impacting my working life." He realized he spoke very quickly as if to dismiss that his working life and his personal life were actually overlapping at the moment.
Kera nodded resisting the urge to laugh at the whole complex agreement, "Go. And thanks for helping me Seeley." She said honestly and sincerely as she took a seat back in her chair.
Booth opened the door, "Your welcome, Kera," he said with a slight smile on his lips, as he exited her office and walked briskly down the hallway toward the elevator.
*****
Sweets looked at his clock and shook his head as he stared at his now empty office. He was used to Agent Booth showing up really late but showing up late was different than not showing up at all. Sweets sighed as he read his email to the Deputy Director, really it was Dr. Brennan's request he send it at all. Somehow he felt as if he'd failed them in counseling and he hoped that his suggestion would allow them to see what everyone else already saw.
Anyone who was close to the Booth and Brennan saw the silent words that were spoken between them. The two partners were at a standstill, hesitant to move forward out of what seemed to be professional respect but unwilling to retreat because it was as if they knew something wasn't being said. Everything between them was like the ocean. Their emotions ran up to the crest of the wave and washed over them like the white foam that raced toward the beach, but they didn't see it which was entirely frustrating to those around them.
Booth looked at his watch as he ran down the hall and opened Sweets' door. He expected to see his partner and their baby duck. Generally, he really hated these session with Sweets. Sweets liked to poke and prod, trying to get him to open up. Sweets also tried to break down Brennan and her complex emotion issues too. He never would admit it to Sweets face but he knew on some level that Sweets was making a difference. Booth knew that enough session, as broken up and non-consistent as both he and Bones were trying to make them would eventually give Sweets a complete picture of who they really were.
He looked around and noticed the empty room with Sweets sitting behind his desk, "Where's Bones? I left her on your floor to meet you." Booth waved his hand as if to accent each of his words.
Sweets cleared his voice as he looked up at Booth hesitant to deliver what Dr. Brennan had requested. "Agent Booth, I think you should have a seat." Extending his hand toward a chair that was adjacent to where he was sitting.
Booth scoffed as he walked to Sweets desk and slammed his hands down looking eye to eye with the young doctor. He could see that Sweets was trying to stay calm under intense pressure from him but he decided to push for information, "Where is my partner, Sweets?" Booth put his hands in his pockets, pushing his coat back to reveal his gun.
Sweets jumped back in his chair knowing that Booth had a history of pulling his gun to feel superior when things were out of his control. "Okay, Okay, Okay…Dr. Brennan left after you took like forever with the Deputy Director. But before she left, she made me write an email to your boss about your partnership. I totally didn't want to but she made a pretty compelling argument about why I should send the email."
Booth's eyes got wide and angry as he turned on heel as he opened the door to Sweets office. He paused and turned back to Sweets, "If anything happens to my partnership…" He warned as he slammed the door.
*********
Booth sighed as he walked down the top floor slowly toward Kera's office. As he got closer to the door his annoyance and anger started to defuse causing him to stop and lean against the wall. He closed his eyes for a moment and reflected on why Brennan and the Squints were mad at him. Booth knew somewhere inside, in a place that he didn't even want to think about that he had more than just feelings of partnership towards Bones.
He also remembered the relationship he'd had with Kera, before the twins and after the first time Bryan had left her. Booth remembered that Bryan had come into her operating room; drunk and treating. She'd called him to help because she was scared and he'd come running, eventually he decked Bryan which caused her to toss them both out. That night as she came home to the apartment they shared, and she fell into his arms tears rolling down her face. He'd made her a promise that no matter what happen between them that he'd been there.
Kera hadn't asked for his help with the twins, he'd offered. He couldn't deny to himself that he missed being with the Squint Squad. It was a basic fact – he missed them. At the same time he couldn't go back on his agreement with Kera. Booth swallowed as he opened his eyes and started walking back down the hallway. Regardless of what Sweets email said, he knew what he choice was and it was the right choice. He opened the door to Kera's office and walked in, "We need to talk."
Kera sighed as she turned towards him. While she knew that she could handle whatever he wanted to talk about, she didn't know how she would explain it to the girls. Booth had been great to them. He'd been the Dad the girls should have had. Booth had been in the house now for four days and the girls were already enjoying the extra attention. For that matter, she was enjoying having intelligent conversations about sports with him after girls went to sleep, "Yes, Agent Booth. What do we need to talk about?" She spoke as professional as possible to him.
Booth looked at her knowing that this was the only solution to make everything work. "Kera, I agreed to move in you and girls. I'm happy reading them stories every night and talking sports with you. But what I've come to realize is I'm not doing the job I committed to do. I have a case in which I haven't even gone over thoroughly because I've been trying to fix all my relationships with everyone. I need to be available to the girls and I can't do it being in the field." He knew his eyes were treating to start watering and he was emotional but he took his promise to Kera's girls seriously. Booth thought back to the promise he'd made to Kera years ago. He always kept his promises and this one wasn't going to be any different.
Kera felt her heart racing in her chest as what she thought he planned to say and what he'd said ended up being two completely different things. "You have no idea how much it means that you decided to step in for the girls, for me." She took a deep breath and cleared her voice to regain her professional tone. She clicked around on the computer for a few minutes before looking up. "I can reassign you to Quantico. They need a new instructor for some of the new agent courses," she explained.
Booth looked down at his belt buckle and back up to Kera knowing he had to ask but inside his heart was breaking because he knew the answer. "What about Dr. Brennan and my Squint Squad? If I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth Instructor at Quantico they aren't going to be my team anymore." Booth had spoken what would be his new title in a firm yet slightly hesitant voice. He didn't think Kera would have picked up on the hesitation, at least he'd hope she hadn't.
Kera knew that even though Booth had verbalized his question that he already knew the answer. She again returned to her computer to get him an answer. "I'll assign her to Special Agent Ryan. Luke is a good guy and he'll take care of Dr. Brennan and her team. And, you trained him so you would know that he's at least almost as good as you."
Booth never realized how hard it would be to hear that Brennan, Bones, his partner, and the squints would be given to another agent. At least he knew Ryan and could check up on the cases if he missed the field. Live vicariously though Ryan and Brennan's cases. He mentally knew that would happen when he came to DeWinter's office. He would lose his partnership. Somehow, though, he knew that as much as his actions hurt, this was the right thing to do.
He cleared his voice to regain composure, "Let me tell her," he didn't even need to say her name. "I know you need to talk to Cam and to Ryan but give me today before you go over to the Jeffersonian and introduce my replacement."
Kera nodded at her long time friend and the man who was quickly becoming her hero, "Just let me know when. I won't make any moves or calls until you give me the go ahead." Kera knew that the feelings were starting to come back. She didn't want to go though those emotions again. They had broken up because Bryan came back promising the world. Had she had any sense she would have slammed the door in his face. But, she didn't. Booth had walked away from the relationship gracefully, respecting her decision. But all these years later, when her world was falling apart and things looked bleak Booth was right back at her side with no doubts in his mind or at least that he showed her.
Booth turned and walked to the door and whispered softly as he opened it, "Thanks Kera." Turning and walking out as he took a deep breath and headed to talk to Brennan.