A/N: So here we are again. Sorry it took so long. I needed a weekend to recover from my antics last weekend. I get leery about getting smutty in the earlier seasons, it just seems strange to me for some reason (although I'm fairly certain I gave you people smut in a season 1 tag, but I digress). I will say this one is mildly smutty and moderately angsty. As always, read and review. I really, really, REALLY love reviews, so leave me some love and I'll deliver some more smut. I apologize for any grammar or spelling issues. This one was written and posted in the same night. My proofreading skills are much better when there's a day or two in between writing and editing.

This episode comes to you courtesy of love2read2much.

As always, I own nothing. Unfortunately.

Tag for The Verdict in the Story 3x13

Brennan: I have a way to lodge reasonable doubt in the jury.

Booth: We can't talk about this.

Brennan: Please? You're the person I talk to about things like this.

After Brennan had had a chance to reunite with her brother and father she stopped at Founding Fathers to meet Booth for their usual post-case drink. They sat in comfortable silence for quite awhile before Brennan spoke up.

"Thank you, Booth." She said more to her beer than to him.

"For what?" He turned to look at her.

"For being the person that I talk to about things even when I'm not supposed to talk to you about things." She replied still concentrating on her beer.

"Bones, hey." He nudged her chin with his finger and guided her face up to look at him. "You don't have to thank me for that. It's what I do, ya know? We're partners."

She seemed to take this at face value and didn't say anything more. They finished their beers and Booth put down enough to pay for their drinks and leave a tip. "Come on, Bones. Let's get you home." He placed his hand at the small of her back and guided her out of the bar.

Booth walked Brennan to her car, but when they got there she'd had a change of heart. "I think I'm just going to go for a walk, Booth. My father is at my apartment and I'm just not quite ready to go back yet. You should go home though, you appear to be tired."

"I'm not going anywhere, Bones. And you're not going for a walk in D.C. alone in the dark."

"Booth, I have adequate martial arts training to protect myself. You're tired and I don't need an escort." She retorted.

"Bones. Tired or not, martial arts training or not, I'm not letting you wander around D.C. alone at night. If you want to go on a walk I'll come with you." He wasn't giving this fight up easily.

"Fine." She sighed.

Brennan walked away from her car with Booth in tow. Continuing the apparent theme of the night the partners walked in silence with Brennan leading the way. She wasn't ready to talk, she just needed time to think and this quiet walk with Booth was allowing her that luxury. He was content to follow her on this silent journey as long as it meant he could keep an eye on her.

Unexpectedly—and totally out of character as far as he was concerned—Brennan grabbed Booth's hand. Unsure what he should do he simply gave her hand a soft squeeze.

The pair came to a park bench and sat down still hand in hand. Booth really wasn't sure what was going on here and he wasn't sure he could go much longer without knowing. The feelings he'd become even more acutely aware of during their Christmas kiss were threatening to boil over.

"Bones…"

She dropped his hand suddenly as if the sound of her name on his lips reminded her of the intimate contact.

Booth studied his hand before setting it back atop hers. "Hey…It's okay." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and she turned her hand in his and wove her fingers between his.

"I know you don't agree with what you did for me today. I know it was too much like lying… That it was lying. I understand what it cost you to do that for me and I want you to know that I…that it meant a lot to me." She looked up at him, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"It's fine, Bones. I didn't lie, not really anyway. Different interpretation of the facts…I believe that's what you called it." His eyes met hers and he gave her a weak smile.

"I don't want you to feel as though I made you be dishonest, Booth. I understand that you pride yourself on your integrity. I feel I may have compromised that by asking you to…interpret the facts in a different manner, if that's the euphemism we're going with."

"Bones, you should know that there is very little I wouldn't do for you. I think we should just leave it at that." He really didn't want to continue this conversation. Truth be told, he did feel like he'd lied. He knew Max Keenan had killed Kirby. Hell, his own daughter knew he'd done it. He also understood what it would have meant for Brennan to lose her father again. In all honesty, when faced with the decision to actively help put Max in prison or passively possibly prevent his imprisonment he was definitely going to go with the option that would hurt Brennan the least. He wished he could tell her how he really felt without the fear that she'd run off.

Brennan watched Booth as he spoke. He never looked up at her, but watched their hands as his free hand traced patterns on hers. It was a decidedly intimate act as far as the partners were concerned, but not one that frightened Brennan—much to her surprise.

"Booth." Brennan spoke, not much louder than a whisper.

His head shot up as if she'd surprised him. Their eyes met and each knew what they needed in that moment.

Brennan felt as though she'd been fighting this battle for years. The sudden intimacy between the two combined with her desire to repeat their Christmas kiss was making this battle a losing one. In no way had that kiss reminded her of kissing her brother. Since that night she'd been able to think of little else besides kissing him whenever he was in close proximity. His words just then and the small act of holding her hand propelled that desire over the edge and she no longer had control over her body.

Brennan, eyes still locked on her partner, pressed her lips to his gently. Booth was surprised but recovered quickly and deepened the kiss. His hand came to her cheek to stroke her gently. In contrast, her hand came to his neck to pull him in closer to her in a less than gentle manner. Her tongue traced his lower lip and he granted her access. Their tongues explored gently until air once again became a necessity and they broke apart. Both panting they pulled apart only inches to ensure that they could continue as soon they caught their breath.

"Bones" He breathed. "That…What?" He didn't even know what he was trying to ask and before he could form a complete thought he found his lips locked to hers once more. Now accustomed to the sensation of their entangled lips their hands began to roam. His hands smoothed up and down her sides carefully avoiding her breasts by mere centimeters. Her hands traced the hard lines of his chest that were still palpable even with his shirt still on. Finally her hands settled at his waist and her fingers traced along the edges of his jeans before making their way to the buttons. Booth sucked in a breath at the new kind of contact and Brennan pulled her hands away, suddenly remembering they were in public.

"Booth….I…" Her hands rested on his chest and her forehead rested on his.

"I know," he replied. "Not here, Bones. Come on."

He took her hand and pulled her gently off the park bench. They were a 5 minute walk away from his apartment and he started in that direction. It took Brennan mere seconds to realize where they were going. She was pleasantly surprised that the idea of going back to Booth's apartment and potentially engaging in sexual intercourse did not bother her in the least.

By the time they reached Booth's apartment neither could keep their hands off of each other. In the elevator he backed her into the corner and he placed soft kisses along her neck and shoulder. They broke apart long enough to get off the elevator and make it to the door. Brennan was impatient and he seemed to be having difficulty locating his house keys. She pressed him up against the door and her lips crashed into his. She reached into his pocket—the sensation nearly caused him to come right there—and fished out the set of keys he was looking for. Brennan found the key that seemed most likely to open the door and put it in the lock and turned. The door flew open and the partners went stumbling in still connected at the lips.

Booth kicked the door shut and pushed Brennan up against it. He could no longer control himself and his hands went to her breasts. He brushed his thumbs over her nipples causing her to shiver. She broke their kiss and traced the line of his jaw with her tongue. She kissed along his neck and pulled the collar of his shirt aside to kiss along his collar bone. When she came to the end of the line she decided the shirt needed to go and pulled it off of him. Booth groaned at the feeling of her hands on his bare chest.

His fingers worked at the buttons on Brennan's shirt. He quickly became frustrated when his large fingers couldn't undo the delicate buttons. Brennan chuckled and finally gave Booth some much desired assistance. When she'd undone the last button Booth smoothed the shirt over her shoulders exposing the treasure beneath. Booth wasted no time in freeing her breasts from her bra.

"So beautiful, Bones."

She moaned at the feeling of his mouth on her nipple. His hand worked at the breast not currently being attended to by his mouth.

Brennan's hands moved back to the waist of Booth's jeans. She made quick work of the first button, but was quickly irritated when she encountered more buttons.

"Boooooth." It almost came out as a whine.

He chuckled against her breasts and his hands made their way down to his jeans to make quick work of the rest of the buttons. "I wasn't really planning on this tonight or I might have worn something a little more accessible."

Booth felt her delicate hands pull his jeans off his hips then cup his already raging erection with almost no warning. His hips shot into her hand of their own volition. "Unnnh…Bones…" he moaned against her chest.

"Need…you…now…Booth." She moaned as she nipped along his neck and chest.

"Patience…" He whispered into her ear. Although in reality his own patience was wearing thin.

Booth's hands deftly unfastened the button and zipper of Brennan's jeans and his fingers began tracing her folds through her soaked cotton panties.

"Jesus, Bones. You're soaked." He rasped.

"Booth." Her voice had a warning tone to it now.

He looked up into her eyes to be sure this is what she wanted. What they both needed. Booth caught his partner's eye and without words she made him understand that this was it.

Booth's fingers moved Brennan's panties aside and he slid two fingers along her slick folds. His thumb came to rest at her clit and began to trace small circles there.

"BOOTH." More warning.

"Okay. Okay." He smiled against her neck.

Brennan pulled her panties off while Booth rid himself of his jeans and boxers. She hitched one leg up over Booth's hip and pulled him in closer to her. She used one hand to line him up at her center and the other to pull his hips into her.

Booth let out a long breath and she pulled him into her burying him to the hilt. He didn't want to move. He just wanted to stay this way forever, but she had other ideas. When Booth wouldn't move Brennan began rocking into him creating the most pleasurable kind of friction he'd ever experienced. Content to let her set the rhythm he just followed her lead.

"Booth." She moaned against his chest. Her lips found his nipple and she traced circles with her tongue causing Booth's body to be wracked by shudders. A new wave of pleasure attacked Booth's body and he could no longer control himself.

Booth finally began to thrust into her, her teasing having had the desired effect.

"Faster." She moaned into him, "harder."

He could do nothing but comply with her demands. When he could feel her getting close he finally let his own build up begin. It wouldn't take long.

"Aaahh! Booth! Oh! Uh! So…good! BOOTH!" She yelled as she came all around him. As soon as her release came he let his own orgasm overcome him.

"Bones. Bones. Bones. Bones…" Her murmured into her hair as he spilled into her.

The feeling of Booth's release set off a new wave in Brennan and she shuddered all around him.

"Bones…That was…"

"Yeah…" She replied.

As soon as Booth's legs were working again he led Brennan to his bedroom. While Booth had been worried that she would leave they seemed to have an unspoken agreement that she would stay with him that night. She didn't seem to be ready to go back to her apartment. Her father was still there.

Booth laid down in his normal spot, but quickly realized he'd likely need to move over in order to make room for his partner. Much to his surprise she stopped his movement and settled into his arms seemingly trying to maintain as much skin on skin contact as possible. They fell into a sated sleep thoughts of what they would inevitably need to deal with tomorrow pushed aside by enjoyment of this new closeness.