A Few Days Later

Lance Sweets stood at his desk, shuffling through a pile of papers. It had been pretty quiet around the Bureau, with no cases for him to consult on and none of the Jeffersonian team or Booth bursting into his office unannounced to solicit advice that they ultimately would dismiss. He had been able to focus on his other patients for the first time in almost three years, and while he loved working murders, it was nice to be able to help people who would actually listen to him.

The morning felt peaceful. He had no appointments and had scheduled time to just finish up paperwork. An easy, relaxing day at the office by anyone's definition. That assumption was mistake number one.

He set the paper down, picked up his mug of coffee, and took a big gulp. This would soon prove to be mistake number two.

His office door burst open, startling the psychologist who simultaneously did a spit take and splashed his still hot coffee down his shirt.

"Sweets, hey! Do you have a minute?"Booth asked, ushering Brennan into the room before Sweets could even respond.

Sweets sighed. So much for his quiet morning.

"Would it matter if I didn't have a minute?" Sweet asked, deadpanned.

Booth and Brennan shared one of their looks, as though they were considering it, but then responded simultaneously.

"Nah."

"No, not really."

The psychologist rolled his eyes, dabbing at his shirt with a napkin. "Then by all means. Have a seat."

"Great!"

The partners sat on the little couch across from Sweet's chair as he settled into it.

"Okay, so what can I help you both with?"

"We wanted to inform you of a slight alteration in our partnership," Brennan informed him.

Sweet's grew alarmed at this, his fist tightening around the napkin in his hand.

"Oh?"

"Yes, I will be taking a step back from fieldwork."

"You're severing your partnership?" Sweet's asked, panic making his voice go up an octave.

"Hey, simmer down there, Sweets. We are still going to be partners, Bones just isn't going to be involved in the police work side of things as much."

"But why?" Surely things could not be that bad between the two? He knew they had been struggling lately with Brennan's confession but they had been working through it…right?

"Well seeing as I'll soon be taking care of a child, I thought it prudent to free up some of my time."

"You are pregnant?" His voice was practically a falsetto at that point.

The partners shared a look again, grins on both of their faces.

"Should we tell him?"

"Ah, I don't know, Bones. The kid seems pretty stressed…maybe we should just go?" Booth suggested a playful twinkle in his eyes.

"No!" Sweets said firmly. " No, You are both going to sit there and explain to me what the hell is going on…please."

Both partners sobered at his response.

"Okay, geez, kid. You are acting like your parents are divorcing or something."

"Booth, stop teasing him. You know he's….sensitive." Brennan said, whispering the last word.

"Alright well…Rebecca got a job in London, and she's taking it. She's uh…gonna let Parker stay with me full time."

Sweets' brow furrowed. "Okay, well that is great news but what does that have to do with not going into the field anymore?"

"I'm going to help Booth take care of Parker. Since he has a very demanding job, and my part in the investigation side is entirely voluntary, it just makes sense that I help out."

"What about Hannah?"

"We broke up but that's all I'm going to say about that, okay Sweets? It's none of your business."

It didn't take a genius to figure out why Hannah was gone and that it probably had to do with this whole situation but Sweets knew where to pick his battles…for the most part.

"Okay, so you two are going to co-parent then?"

"Yup, that's our plan." Booth drawled, grinning ear to ear.

"And you told me this…willingly?" Sweets was suspicious. They came to him of their own volition, without him having to hear their life-changing news from someone else.

"Well, we figured the FBI will probably want us to start regular partner's therapy up again, what with this new development in our…relationship."

"I mean probably not. You two were already acting as a surrogate couple to one another, and that extended to Parker as well so unless you are together…" Lance's voice trailed off as he looked at the partner's shared guilty expressions. "Please tell me you are joking."

"We're working on it. Again, something that is none of your damn business." Booth asserted.

Sweets began to laugh hysterically. He placed his face in his hands as he chuckled, sounding. every bit as unhinged as he felt.

"What is so funny?" Brennan asked, confused.

"You two, who have barely been able to be in the same room for over a year, are going to co-parent Agent Booth's ten-year-old son and work on your relationship…just like that? Just overnight? The next thing you are going to tell me is that you are moving in together!"

Booth laughed. "Ha, no we aren't uh-" he looked to Brennan, who now had a guilty expression all her own on her face. "We aren't right, Bones? That's not even on the table yet, is it?"

"I wasn't going to discuss this with you in front of Sweets but since it's been brought up…" She began.

"What? Bones' that is insane!"

"He's right." Sweets agreed, eagerly. God, would these two ever do anything the normal way?

"It makes the most sense, Booth, for Parker. He'd have one house, with just one room that is his. He wouldn't have to be shuffled back and forth every few days between both of our apartments, either. You and I could have our own rooms until we are ready to co-habitat."

Booth looked like someone has hit him over the head. "Where would we even find a house that quickly, Bones? The DC Housing market is a mess right now-"

"I already have one." She told him.

"You what?" Both the Agent and the Psychologist echoed each other. Sweets was sure he was about to have a stroke.

"I didn't just buy it if that's what you are worried about," Brennan explained. "I bought it when I got back from my sabbatical and I've been renovating it."

"You bought a house? And it's being renovated… were you just going to move to it and not tell anyone?"Booth asked.

"No, I've been doing the renovations in my spare time, kind of working one room at a time. If I keep working at my current pace, it should be done in a few months…less if I decided to hire someone to finish the job. The plan was to rent it out but it's perfect for us, Booth."

The agent straightened in his chair. There was that "us" again. Parker is going to live with us. The house is perfect for us.

"What's it like?" He asked, softening as he stared at his partner.

Brennan smiled, almost shyly. "It's wonderful, Booth. A colonial, in a historic neighborhood. An amazing lawn, and a big backyard with a pool. There are five bedrooms, two large enough to be master bedrooms. It's even in Parker's school district, I checked. We can go see it tonight if you'd like?"

Booth nodded, his eyes shimmering with adoration for his partner. "It sounds perfect, Bones. Yeah, I'd love to go see it." He told her, reaching for her hand and holding it in his own.

She squeezed his hand, feeling as though everything was falling into place.

"You two are unbelievable, you know that? Like this is absolute- you both get how crazy this is right?" Sweets said, pulling at his hair in frustration. This was his final mistake of the morning, the proverbial nail in the coffin of his perfect, quiet day.

"You know, Bones, we should go get some breakfast before I drop you off at the lab. Diner?" Booth said, ignoring what Sweets said as he stood.

"Sure. I could eat." His partner replied with a shrug, hopping to her feet as well.

They each walked around the back of the couch as their psychologist protested.

"Wait, no come on guys. Please, just sit back down-"

Booth placed a hand on Brennan's lower back., guiding her out the door. "You hear something, Bones?"

Brennan hummed, contemplatively. "No…must just be the wind." She answered, stepping out of the office.

And just as quickly as the pair had barged into his office, they were gone.

Sweets threw his hands up in the air.

"Okay yeah, real mature, you guys!" He yelled after them, throwing the coffee-soiled napkin in the direction of where they had just been sitting. He watched it float to the ground at his feet, and prayed for the end of the day to come quickly.

—-

A/N: Okie Dokie! Chapter 7. I told you it would be filler and it's pretty short. I love stressing Sweets out almost as much as I love getting rid of Hannah! I wanted to get this out because my current hyper fixation is Stranger Things and I'm going absolutely nuts waiting on July 1st! I know once Volume 2 comes out I'll be a MESS and unable to think about anything but ST. I hope to update Catalyst and Consequences at least once a week until they are finished!

As always, let me know what you think!