Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, but I am obsessed.

Author's Note: You know what is a good word? Penultimate. However, it's a sad word when used in conjunction with this story. There is only one chapter left after this one. The story is kind of a stretch for the word, but it was fun to write Jealous Booth, and I hope that you enjoy it as well.

Chapter Nineteen: Iktsuarpok

Iktsuarpok: Inuit- "To go outside to check if anyone is coming."

Booth glanced at the clock on his dashboard. He was running a few minutes late. But he had stopped for coffee first, so that should make up for the delay. He illegally parked and threw on the lights of the SUV as he smiled to himself. Brennan hated it when he took advantage of his job, and as such, he only abused his power in her presence. He balanced the two cups of coffee as he exited the vehicle and made his way inside of the building.

Booth paused before knocking on her door, adjusting the drinks as well as his tie. He quickly smoothed his hair as well before rapping smartly on the door. However, Booth's stomach fell when he heard a muffled man's voice and Brennan's clear response of "I'll get it." His stomach dropped further as he heard two distinct sets of feet shuffle around the apartment.

He nearly dropped his coffee as his partner opened the door a crack and peeked out at him. Her hair was disheveled and she was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Booth?"

"Who else were you expecting? The Tooth Fairy?"

Brennan stepped out of the apartment and shut the door behind her, blocking whoever was inside from coming out, or perhaps keeping Booth from entering the apartment. Booth swallowed when he realized that Brennan was not yet dressed. She was wearing a silky robe over what he assumed was practically nothing else. He thrust a coffee at her and when his hand was free he glanced at his watch. "You know, we've got a briefing with Caroline and we're running late. You're not even dressed yet."

Brennan took a long drag of the drink, "I'm sorry, I had a late night. I will be ready in five minutes."

Booth shifted on the balls of his feet. "Great, I'll wait in the car. And you can be the one to explain to Caroline why we're behind schedule. You're already on her bad side, you don't need to drag me down with you."

Brennan's brow furrowed, "You sound like you are angry with me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm usually very punctual. It won't happen again."

Booth turned on his heel and marched to the elevator. "Good. Fine. I'll see you in five minutes. Enjoy the coffee."

Brennan let herself back into her apartment, confusion still written on her face. She shrugged as she sipped her coffee again. Her partner was just so strange sometimes. A man peeked his head out of the kitchen, where he was busy flipping pancakes. "Who was at the door?"

"Just Booth. He brought me coffee."

The man nodded, "That was nice of him."

Brennan's agreed, a small smile slipping into a frown. "Yes, but I think that he's angry with me."

"Why, honey?"

"I have no idea." Brennan continued to drink her coffee even as she hurried into her room in order to make herself presentable. She emerged four minutes later, looking impeccable.

The man smiled. "You look beautiful." Brennan adjusted her jacket as she acknowledged at the compliment. "Breakfast will be ready in five minutes, you must be hungry."

"I'm sorry, I can't stay. That was why Booth was here. We have to meet with the federal prosecutor."

The man handed Brennan a stack of pancakes wrapped in a paper towel. "Well then, tell Caroline I said hello. And eat those. They're delicious. I threw in a couple for Booth too."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate them. Thank you." She pecked the man on the cheek as she was hurrying out the door. "Lock the door on your way out."

"Sure thing, Tempe. Have a good day. I'll see you later." The only response was the door shutting loudly behind her.

Booth glanced again at his watch. He had walked out of her apartment eight minutes ago. Sixty more seconds and he'd call her to hurry her up. He took a disgruntled drag of his coffee. She knew that he was going to pick her up this morning. She should have been ready, not wasting both of their time. With thirty seconds to go, Brennan breezed into the SUV. "I'm sorry that I took so long."

Booth started the ignition without comment and pulled out, barely noticing the traffic. A horn honked loudly behind them. Booth yelled out of his open window as the driver passed him. "FBI, buddy. Deal with it."

Brennan held out a pancake. "Here. Take this. You get cranky when you are hungry."

Booth eyed the food warily, but took a large bite. "Pretty good. I didn't know you made pancakes."

"I don't." Realizing that Brennan's mystery man had made her breakfast, Booth choked on his bite and tossed the rest of the pancake out the window.

"Booth!"

"What? I'm not hungry." They rode the rest of the way to the Hoover in silence, Brennan quietly finishing her pancakes, and Booth scowling.

Caroline Julian was already waiting in the conference room when Booth and Brennan marched in, both slightly out of breath. "You're late, cher. And my time is very valuable."

Brennan stepped up to the lawyer. "I'm sorry, Caroline. It's my fault. I was running late this morning."

Caroline pulled a face. "You, Dr. Brennan were running late?"

A slight flush appeared on Brennan's cheek. "I had company last night and our meeting slipped my mind. Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience."

Booth continued to scowl. "Nevermind, let's get down to business. I've got the Velasquez file here. And as you say, Caroline, your time is very valuable."

Caroline huffed as she grabbed papers out of Booth's hands. "Don't you get snippy with me, Seeley Booth. Respect your elders. Now give me the Reader's Digest version, no words bigger than three syllables. Poor me, I forgot my dictionary at home this morning." She smirked at Booth as she opened the files and settled into work mode.

The group was elbow deep in case files, going over testimonies and affidavits when Booth's phone rang. He excused himself gruffly and exited the conference room.

The moment that Booth had stepped out, Caroline's head peeked out of her various folders and stared at the anthropologist. "What's got Booth's panties in a bunch? What did you do?"

Brennan looked up from her own files, confused. "I don't think that I did anything."

"Mmm-hmm. Cherie, I've learned that anything to do with Booth also has to do with you."

"I don't know, Booth brought me coffee this morning, and he's barely spoken to me since then."

The feisty lawyer shrugged. "Well, try and cheer him up. I don't want a grumpy agent on court day."

Brennan nodded and went back to her share of the papers. "I'll see what I can do. By the way, my father says hello."

Caroline's eyebrow raised at the comment. "Oh, how is our favorite deviant?"

Further conversation was cut off by Booth's re-entry. "Sorry, Caroline, I've got to pull Bones. We've got a case. Skeleton found on a playground, by a bunch of kindergartners digging for 'buried treasure.' We've got some freaked out parents contaminating the scene even as we speak."

Brennan quickly gathered her things. "Did you tell the authorities to keep them away from my crime scene?"

"They're doing their best, but we might want to hurry." Booth's hand found his spot on Brennan's back and ushered her out of the room.

Caroline gathered up her files and shook her head. How rude, they hadn't even said good-bye.

Exhausted from a long day of investigating, Brennan and Booth sat on her sofa and each sipped a glass of water. Booth would have preferred several fingers of scotch, but he wanted to keep his wits about him. He hadn't wanted to come here, but she had used her infallible logic on him. And he'd rather be with Brennan than home alone. So Booth had allowed her to persuade him to come back to her apartment and have dinner as they reviewed the files of their latest case.

Of course, Booth couldn't help but notice that she ordered more than their usual when she called for Thai food, and had pulled out three sets of dishes in preparation for the food to arrive. Booth also noticed that Brennan kept glancing at her watch and worrying her lip. He saw her check her phone repeatedly looking for a text. And Booth caught himself staring at a man's jacket that had been haphazardly left over a chair. Clearly, there was someone new in Brennan's life, and he wasn't a fan. "So, where's your friend?"

"My friend?"

Booth's voice rose slightly as he spoke. "You know, the man you set out the extra plate for. The man who is clearly running late, as you keep checking your watch. You know, the man whose coat was left here."

A spark appeared in Brennan's eye. "Is that why you were mad at me this morning? Because a man spent the night at my house?"

"A man that made you pancakes, and saw you wearing nothing but a robe. A man who kept you up all night long."

Brennan's jaw dropped. "Booth, what are you talking about?"

Booth's frustration grew. "I'm a grown man, Temperance. I know what I saw."

"You didn't see anything! You were in the hallway this morning." Brennan's brow crinkled in confusion.

"Well, I could observe the evidence from there."

Brennan's own voice became angrier. "Your evidence is circumstantial and wrong."

"So you didn't have a man spend the night here?" Booth smirked, he could use logic when he wanted to.

"Well, yes."

"And said man made you breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Then I don't see how I could be wrong."

Brennan huffed. "You are so exasperating. So what if I had a man spend the night? So what if I stayed up all night long? And so what if I invited him over for dinner tonight? Why do you care?"

"Why do I care? Why do I care! God, how are you so blind, Bones?"

Brennan's phone vibrated at that moment and she saved herself from further yelling by reading the text message. It served to only increase Booth's frustration that she was so willing to drop him for her mystery caller. "Well, he's on his way upstairs, now. Perhaps you can greet him while I heat up his dinner."

Booth crossed his arms. "Why on Earth would I do that?" All Booth wanted to do was the punch the guy who was moving in on his territory. No way he was going to open the door and graciously invite the interloper inside.

"Because I said so." She left no room for objection as she stalked off to the kitchen. Booth could hear her rattling around angrily as he wrenched open the apartment door. Fine, whatever. Booth could do as she asked. When this guy stepped off the elevator, Booth would have a little chat. Whoever this putz was, he was going to treat Brennan right, or he was going to pay. Booth waited in the hallway for the elevator to climb the few floors to Brennan's level. The elevator dinged as the doors opened. Booth's scowl came back full force until...

"Booth?"

"Max? What are you doing here?"

The older man gave a cheerful smile. "Didn't Tempe tell you that I was spending the week with her? I've been out of town so much, that I invited myself over for some father/daughter bonding time. We had a Clara Bow movie marathon last night. Tonight's going to be Chaney. Are you sticking around? I brought popcorn." Max rattled a large bag of popped kernels.

Booth stared incredulously, "You were the one that made her pancakes?"

Max shrugged. "Least I could do after she let me invite myself over for the week." Max ushered Booth back into the apartment, where Brennan was setting a heated plate on her dining table. Max greeted his daughter with a kiss and he sat down to eat. Brennan then glared at Booth and returned to the kitchen. Max slurped up his Pad Thai and turned in his chair to face his favorite special agent. "What were you doing out in the hallway, anyway?"

"Waiting for Brennan's date."

Max paused in his eating, his fork suspended in mid air. "You thought that she had a date tonight? But I thought that you two..."

Booth shook his head. "I thought... I thought that she had a new man in her life. I didn't realize that the new man was... was..."

"Me?" Max finished the sentence with far too much glee in his voice, as he shoved his forkful of noodles into his mouth.

"Yeah."

"Well, anyway. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your evening. Just wanted to spend some time with my daughter."

Booth waved away the concern. "We were just going over files. We just got a new case and we have a court appearance in a couple days. Just business as usual."

Max's mouth twisted. "Didn't look like business as usual. I know my Tempe, she's mad about something. You might want to do take care of that."

Booth nodded, "Right, yeah. I'm just going to go in there." He pointed to the kitchen area and stepped away without waiting for a response from the reformed criminal.

Booth entered the kitchen and watched Brennan for a moment before speaking. "Look, Bones. I'm sorry."

She was scrubbing plates in the kitchen and refused to look at him. "Sorry for what?"

"For being an ass. I didn't know it was your Dad staying with you. You didn't say anything."

"You didn't ask."

Booth nodded, "Fair enough. I assumed things. I could have just asked you."

"But you didn't."

Booth let out a sharp breath. "I'm trying to apologize here."

Brennan released the dish that she had been scrubbing back into the soapy water and turned to her partner.

"Why were you so angry that my father was here?"

"It wasn't about Max. Not at all."

Brennan's eyes met Booth's "I just don't understand your reaction."

Booth took a step toward his partner. "Yes, you do." Brennan said nothing, just took a step back, where she was trapped by the edge of her counter. Booth walked forward. Soon, his body was close to hers, his arms resting on the counter, caging her in. "I was jealous. There, I said it. I came upstairs to see you, and I thought that you had spent the night with some guy who wasn't me."

"Booth, that's ridiculous." Her response was a soft breath, and her pupils were wide as she met his eyes.

"It isn't. I know that you are an attractive woman who can spend time with whoever doing whatever you want. I just wanted that whoever to finally be me."

"Booth." His name was a soft exhalation.

"Just listen to me. OK, I was jealous. Bones, you and me, we've always been going somewhere. I've always thought that we were going somewhere together. We've taken it slow, and made a hundred wrong turns, but maybe, maybe we are finally at that somewhere. Tell me that I'm not wrong." His face was now hovering inches in front of hers and his hands had shuffled in closer to her body, locking her in even tighter.

There were a thousand questions running through Brennan's mind, and Booth could read every one of them on her face. "Booth... I..."

A new voice piped up in the kitchen. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

There was a quiet "no" from Brennan as Booth answered with a resounding "yes."

Max grabbed for a carton on the counter top beside Booth and Brennan. "Don't mind me. I just wanted another spring roll. They're delicious. Carry on." He made a quick exit, taking a large bite of his roll as he walked out of the room.

Booth returned his focus to his partner. They were both somber as Booth rested his forehead against hers.

When Booth trusted his voice again, he spoke. "So, Bones."

"Yes?"

"You didn't answer me before."

"What do you want me to say?"

"The truth. Do you feel like this is going somewhere?"

She was still for a long moment before she nodded shyly. "Do you feel like this is going somewhere?"

"Yes, and I feel like I am going to kiss you." When she didn't object, but instead moved to close the small gap between their lips, Booth sighed and leaned in the rest of the way. It was every bit as wonderful as he remembered. This time, he wasn't going to let her go.

After an eternity, they separated. Booth caught his breath as he smiled, "You know, Bones, I like your Dad and all, but I kind of wish that we were alone right now."

"Do you want me to ask him to leave?"

Booth gave a soft chuckle. "No, of course not. OK, kind of, yeah. But I can wait. What's a few more days?" He gave her a gentle squeeze. "Come on, let's go out there and hang out with your Dad. I sense an awkward conversation about my intentions in the near future."

Brennan wrinkled her nose in disapproval as she allowed Booth to lead her out of the room. Max looked up from the remnants of his dinner as the partners exited the kitchen, unable to hide their matching grins. "So lover's quarrel over? Did you kiss and make up?"

There was a simultaneous warning of "Dad" and "Max" and the man chuckled. "Just kidding. Just glad that it's all worked out." Max waggled an eyebrow, "So, Tempe, are we expecting any other guests tonight?"

Brennan's smile widened as Booth looped his arm around her waist. "No, it's just us."