A/N: I hope you don't find this terribly out of character…but after all the angst, I thought we deserved a little fluff. Your feedback, as always, is much appreciated!

Chapter Five: Passages

"OK, I've given you two hours to work…now spill the dirt!" Angela lowered herself into the chair with a sigh.

Brennan looked up from the article that she was editing for The International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. "Ange, you know Hodgins doesn't like it when you say 'dirt'."

"Yeah, well, Hodgins isn't here!" the pregnant woman snapped. "Sorry, sweetie—not real dirt—ow! God, I feel like I'm gonna crack open…move your foot, you tiny alien!" She pressed two fingers into her rib cage.

"That's ridiculous. You've seen the ultrasound…you know you're carrying a human child."

Angela slapped her hand down on the desk. "Enough about dirt and alien babies, Bren! What the hell happened with you and Booth last night?"

Brennan recoiled, just a little. Intellectually, she understood the source of Angela's short temper, of course, but it was still startling to have it directed at her. She said carefully, "We went to the parking garage."

"Oh, my God—you couldn't wait, could you? You did it right there in the car?" Ange squealed.

"What? No, of course not! Achieving sexual congress in a car, while possible, is physiologically challenging…not to mention unhygienic."

"No…right." A pink flush climbed up Angela's cheeks. "Anyway…then what?"

"Well…I don't really know. Booth said I should face my feelings, and then I mentioned Dr. Sweets, and then he hugged me and we both left."

The other woman shook her head. "Oh, Bren—did you tell Booth he sounded like Sweets?"

"Is that bad?"

"Honey…he doesn't want to be your shrink, he wants to be your boyfriend—"

"'Boyfriend' is such a juvenile term—"

Angela's voice raised again. "OK, lover, partner, sex god, whatever! The point is, he wants to move this forward…do you?"

Now Brennan felt herself blush. "Yes, I do."

Just then, the door opened and Booth stuck his head in. "Morning, ladies. Angela, you're as glowing as ever—"

"Oh, save it for when I'm a sweaty mess after delivery." She heaved herself up and smiled back at Brennan. "Now's your chance, honey!"

"Your chance to what?" Booth asked, with a slightly dubious glance at Angela's retreating form.

Brennan held his eyes for a long moment, thinking about how she'd felt when she learned he'd gotten Broadsky. She'd spent a lot of years ignoring Angela's advice when it came to Booth…perhaps now it was time to listen.

Pushing back from her desk, she headed out of her office. "Come with me," she told Booth.

"Where are we going?" She could hear his footsteps hurrying behind her as she strode across the forensics platform. "Hey—this isn't one of Angie's new-agey schemes, is it? We're not going to honor Vincent's spirit with crystals and incense or anything?"

"No."

Around the corner from the Ookey Room, she turned into a short hallway, dim by comparison to the clinically-bright lab, in which hulks of shrouded equipment marched up to a bright red emergency-exit door.

"Bones! Don't go through there—you'll set off the—"

But she had stopped just short of the door and turned around. Grabbing his lapels, she kissed him, hard.

She felt his surprise as he backpedaled, just for a millisecond. Then he was pressing his body against hers, one hand slipping underneath her jacket in a caress that made her gasp.

"So—" she breathed, some time later. "Angela said I should…communicate to you…that I was ready to take the next step."

"I love Angela." His lips found the curve of her jaw, and Brennan reluctantly remembered where they were.

"Maybe we should…go somewhere…"

"Yeah," Booth said, into her neck. Then: "Wait—you mean now?"

"Don't you want to?"

"Yes, I want to! You have no idea how much I want to!"

"Well, I do have some idea." She grinned saucily, one finger trailing down his shirt buttons. "We are standing very close together."

Booth groaned, trapping the exploratory finger against his chest. "Holy Christ." He breathed in through his nose sharply; Brennan thought he might be counting.

"I don't normally condone playing hockey at work, but…" She kissed him, slowly, savoring the growl that came up from the back of his throat. "…maybe in this case I should make an exception."

"It's hooky, Bones—playing hooky from work." Smoothing her jacket, he tucked one wayward tail of her blouse back in. "And as good as that sounds, we are not gonna grab a nooner at some hotel—"

"What's a nooner?"

"It's—not important right now!" Booth put his hands on her shoulders and took a deliberate step back. "Now, listen, Bones. We've waited a long time for this…and we're going to do it right."

"Which means?"

"Which means…I'll pick you up at 7:30. Wear something…nice." Kissing her gently, he turned and walked quickly back down the hallway.

"Where are you going now?" she called after him.

"To take a very cold shower."

TO BE CONTINUED

So the next chapter is going to be pretty important...might take me awhile. Hope you'll bear with me! :)