~o~ Chapter Three - The Secret's in the Telling ~o~

A little while later, they are nearing Sweets' office when Bones tugs on his arm. "You do most of the talking," she whispers loudly.

"Why?" he whispers back, as they round the corner and the kid's secretary is in sight.

"Because, he's scared of you."

Booth chuckles. "Okay, but you'll back me up, right?"

"Always!" She steps a pace away from him to slug him in the shoulder. "I've got your back – partner." She grins and it's all he can do to keep walking when really he wants to find an unoccupied room around here and…

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan – I don't have you listed for today." They are interrupted by the familiar tones of dear, short-sighted Marjorie, who must be due for retirement any day now, and peers at the book in front of her with some alarm.

"Is he in?" Brennan asks bluntly.

Marjorie blinks up at her from behind ornately-framed spectacles. "Why, yes. But-"

"Alone?" she adds.

"Yes, but-" She sighs, used to fighting a losing battle with this pair. "Go on in."

"Good enough for me," Booth decides, striding past Marjorie's desk and heading for the door to Sweets' room.

"Should we knock?" Brennan wonders.

"Element of surprise, Bones. Element of surprise," Booth murmurs, flinging open the door.

"Sweets!"

Lance Sweets leaps a foot in the air in shock and drops his PlayStation controller on the floor.

Booth smirks. "Does your boss know you play video games on company time?"

Sweets blushes and fumbles with the console to switch it off. "Uh… I'm taking an early lunch."

"Uh-huh." Booth crosses his arms and leans one hip against the back of the couch opposite the therapist, consciously adopting the persona he usually reserves for interrogations. "We have something to tell you."

Sweets is instantly alert, straightening in his chair and reaching for the empty pad and pen resting on the low table between them.

"Off the record," Booth warns and the younger man sits back quickly.

Booth glances at his partner a moment and she nods, every ounce of the conviction he needs to see from her shining in her eyes. He reaches out and takes her hand, threading his fingers through hers, and then turns to face Sweets again, one eyebrow raised.

There is a truly comical moment, where the young kid looks from Booth's face, to their hands, to Brennan's face and back around, his mouth dropping further open by the second and then he presses his palms to his cheeks. "No. Way."

Bones leans in close to Booth. "You didn't say anything yet."

"I didn't need to," Booth says. "Did I, Sweets?"

"Wow," Sweets breathes, looking like he can't decide whether to laugh or cry.

Lance watches as Booth tugs Brennan to the couch by her hand until they sit facing him just as they have at every one of their sessions in the past, except now they're sitting that bit closer, and there's the hand holding and the fact that they just… wow!

Booth interrupts his wandering thoughts by leaning close and speaking in a voice that is deadly calm and clearly intended to scare him – it works. "We are trusting you with something that no-one else knows - which means that if anyone finds out about it-"

Lance nods quickly. "Un-understood. But-"

"But what?" Booth grinds out.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why me? Why tell me? Not that I'm not awesomely flattered-"

"We wish to take a vacation together," Brennan tells him, speaking directly to him for the first time since they burst into his office and deflating his ego all at once. "We wish to do so without arousing suspicion as to the-" she glances at Booth "-change in our status."

"Tell anyone and die painfully," Booth adds. "Simple as that."

Brennan frowns at him, speaking in the hushed tones they adopt when they – subconsciously or otherwise – wish to shut him out. "You shouldn't make threats you won't carry out, it reduces the effectiveness of-"

"Who says I won't?" Booth argues, patting his gun. "Right, Sweets?" The charming grin the man shoots him belies his words, which Lance takes totally seriously, if not literally.

"You guys don't have to worry, I'll be the soul of discretion," he assures them.

Brennan thinks she is reading honesty on the young man's face. His boyish expression is solemn, his eyes even wider than usual.

Evidently Booth agrees with her as he relaxes his position to lean back beside her on the couch and smiles. "So here's the deal," he tells the young psychologist. "Bones has told the squints the FBI is sending us on a partner's retreat."

Lance nods. He sees where they are going with this. "Okay, I see."

He watches with some interest as Dr. Brennan places a hand on her partner's thigh, "And Booth has told Andrew-"

Booth bristles. Also interesting. "Hacker."

"He knows who Andrew is."

Lance raises an eyebrow and nods.

Booth sighs. "I've told Hacker I've gotta go on a forensics convention and training thingy for the Jeffersonian."

Lance nods and sits back, lifting a leg to rest it on his other knee. "So basically you want me to lie."

Booth's mouth is now set in a firm line. "We want you to confirm, if asked, that we have gone where we said we were going."

"What if I am asked by a person from both of your workplaces at the same time?" He looks between the two of them. Dr. Brennan looks like she is considering the validity of his concern and might be about to agree with him, but Booth shakes his head.

"Like that's gonna happen."

"It's possible," Lance insists. "I can imagine a scenario, at the Diner or-"

"So don't go to the Diner," Booth tells him.

Just like that? Lance feels his own hackles start to rise. "But-"

Booth sits forward suddenly, and the look in his eyes makes the younger man feel extremely uncomfortable. "You. Are. Going. To. Do. This."

Dr. Brennan shifts in her seat, her eyes sliding to her partner a moment in barely-concealed appreciation. Lance blows out an unsteady breath, but sees an opportunity open up all the same. "OK," he agrees. "But you have to do something for me in return."

Booth merely tilts his head in reply, while Dr. Brennan's eyes narrow. To be the focus of their undivided attention is always wickedly intimidating.

He swallows. "Um, I want you both to consider the impact this will have on your working relationship-"

Booth groans. "Gimme a break, Sweets. We've been considering that for the past five years. Why do you think it took us so long to get to this point, huh? Just – make nice and do what we say."

Brennan watches Sweets with suspicion as he considers her partner's words. Words she cannot help but agree with. At length the therapist nods and sighs. "OK."

She startles when her partner stands suddenly, but joins him a moment later.

"Remember," Booth adds, as they head out the door. "We'll know."

Sweets is nodding furiously and a smile is spreading on his face. As Booth opens the door he calls out, "Hey, guys – just let me say-"

"What?" Booth asks, tension evident in his broad shoulders. Brennan thinks he could maybe use a massage, which derails her thought processes for a moment.

"I'm truly happy for you," Sweets tells them. "You have my word."

Brennan knows what his word has been worth in the past, but Booth seems to accept this, he even smiles at the kid. She allows her trust in him to buoy her, puts aside any worry and relishes the unexpected rush of joy that replaces it. They have told someone that they're together and somehow it makes it all the more real. Her lips curve in a smile as her partner ushers her through the door, his hand at her back.

TBC…