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A rap on the front door, Booth walked out of the kitchen and across the living room to the front door. After he opened it he found Caroline impatiently waiting on the other side. Stepping aside, he motioned for her to come in. "I didn't expect to see you here."
Smirking, the prosecutor entered the apartment and looked around. "Is Dr. Brennan here?"
"Yeah, she's in the bedroom changing." Striding over to the bedroom door, Booth leaned through the doorway and called out, "Hey Bones, Caroline is here."
Surprised, Brennan pulled her knit top on and made sure the hem was past her waist. "Why?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Booth watched his girlfriend run her fingers through her hair to straighten it a little. "I have no idea."
Worried about their unexpected visitor, Brennan stepped into some flats, moved over to the doorway and passed Booth into the living room. Caroline, sitting on the chair near the couch, watched the couple move to the couch and sit down.
"I found a loophole for your hypothetical friend Booth." Moving her purse so that it was now resting on the floor next to her feet, Caroline settled onto the chair.
Aware that Caroline was using stalling tactics, Booth suddenly became nervous and gripped Brennan's hand. "What's the loophole?"
Staring at Brennan, Caroline carefully explained the situation. "Dr. Brennan's contract with the FBI is up in three and half months. So until that time, she has to abide by the rules of personal conduct that the FBI have. She cannot work with you if you and she are in a personal relationship."
Grimly, Brennan shook her head. "I want to work with, Booth. If I can't do that I won't work for the FBI at all . . . Are you saying that once my contract is up I'll have to quit my association with the FBI and not sign a new contract?"
Irritated, Caroline clasped her hands across her stomach. "No, that isn't what I'm saying, Cher'. I said I found a loophole and I did. I found a way for you to continue to work with your partner in about four months when you sign a new contract. I'm just not sure you'll like the loophole."
Cautiously, Booth leaned forward. "What's the loophole, Caroline?"
Turning her gaze towards Booth, Caroline focused her attention on him. "Once the contract is up, if you and Dr. Brennan get married, she will be signing the contract as a consultant for the FBI as Mrs. Seeley Booth. You can negotiate your contract so that you can still continue to work with your husband and if the FBI refuses then you can refuse to sign the contract."
Confused, Brennan shook her head. "Why can't I just say that anyway? Why do we have to get married?"
Staring at Brennan, Caroline shook her head. "You don't have to get married. I'm just telling you that if the FBI wants to sign a new contract with you as a consultant and you're already married to your partner, then they will have to accept the relationship. We've hired spouses in the past as consultants and the 'no fraternization rule' wasn't evoked because the couple was already married before the contracts were signed."
Not daring to look at Brennan, Booth squeezed her hand. "That's the only loophole you could find?"
Gravely nodding her head, Caroline answered him. "Yea, Cher'. I consulted with my boss and he agreed that this was the only way around the non-fraternization rule right now. The other way would be get the rule re-written."
Clearing his throat, Booth finally nodded his head. "Okay, thanks Caroline." Aware that Brennan was tense, Booth released her hand and stood up. "Would you like to stay for dinner? Bones picked up some Chinese takeout. We have enough for three."
Caroline knew that the couple needed to talk and they couldn't do it with her there. Reaching down, she picked up her purse and stood up. "No thank you. I'm having dinner with my daughter in about an hour. Let me know what you plan to do Cher'."
As he followed Caroline to the door, Booth expressed his thanks again. "Thanks Caroline. I, uh . . . Thanks."
Waving her hand, she opened the door and exited the apartment. Closing the door behind her, a smile erupted on her face. "Don't mess with Tante Caroline, Cher'. Je n'ai pas toujours besoin de gui mon ami."
After the door closed, Booth turned and looked at his girlfriend. Brennan weighing her future options, stared at the coffee table, thinking. Not sure how Brennan felt about Caroline's advice, Booth walked into the kitchen, filled two plates with some of the takeout and carried the plates with forks into the dining area. After placing the plates on the table, he returned to the kitchen and retrieved two glasses of wine and carried them into the dining room. Once he was seated, Booth called out to Brennan. "Come on, Bones. We don't have to make any decisions right now and you need to eat."
She was hungry and Booth was right. Standing, Brennan walked over to the dining room table and sat down. She picked up her wine glass, sipped the red liquid and then placed the glass down.
Booth, snaking his hand across the table, placed his hand on to of her hand. "Bones, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. The end of our work partnership won't be the end of us. I won't let it . . . You're too important to me. I love you."
Staring at his hand on hers, Brennan finally looked up. "Do you want to get married?"
Worried that he might make matters worse, Booth withdrew his hand and picked up his wine. "I . . . I don't want you to think I cooked this up with Caroline because I didn't . . . yes, I do believe in marriage, but I don't want you to think you have to get married. I'm not going to force you to get married to me Bones, no way. I respect you and I know you think marriage is antiquated . . . I don't, but this isn't just about me. We just started a relationship and I don't want to rush you into anything. We have three and half months to decide what to do . . . My doctor says he wants me to wait a couple more weeks before I go back to work so when I do go back and if we don't announce we're in a relationship we can keep working together for a least a little while . . . I'm going to assume that Caroline won't do anything about us unless we say something. She likes our work and our solve rate is too high to want to separate us right now."
Staring intently at her partner, Brennan tried to smile and failed. "I don't want to lose you, Booth. Not now."
He knew she was scared and so was he. Shaking his head, Booth leaned on his arms. "Bones, I'm not going anywhere. Just don't worry about this right now. We have time to decide what we want to do. I'm still going to move in with you . . . I don't think we should use our friends to do it though and I don't think we should tell them about us. If they guess . . . well, we just won't confirm it yet. I don't want to force the FBI or Caroline to officially notice what we're up to. I'll hire a moving company to pack up my stuff and move it to storage, alright?"
Smiling sadly, Brennan picked up her fork. "Yes, of course. That does seem like a good plan."
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Entering her office, Angela was surprised to find her best friend sitting in her office waiting for her. "Sweetie, I'm sorry, I'm late. I had a little morning sickness this morning and it took awhile for me to get going."
Brennan stood up and crossed her arms against her breasts. "If the Jeffersonian told you that you could no longer work here because you were in a relationship with Hodgins what would you do?"
A cold chill running down her spine, Angela asked breathlessly, "Am I being fired?"
Aware that she'd panicked her friend, Brennan shook her head. "No, of course not. I was merely asking a hypothetical question. I was just trying to ascertain your reaction to a scenario. You are not being fired, Angela. The Jeffersonian doesn't have rules against spouses working together."
Relieved, Angela walked over to her desk and dumped her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk. "Whew, Sweetie, don't scare me like that."
Unhappy with her situation, Brennan prodded her friend. "What would you do if you couldn't work here because of Jack?"
Shrugging her shoulders, the artist smiled. "I'd be unhappy of course, but I could definitely find other things to do. I could become a consultant to the Metro police or Homeland Security. I'm sure I wouldn't have any trouble finding a job . . . I'm really not being fired, right?"
Brennan shook her head and dropped her arms to her sides. "No of course not. You're too valuable to fire."
Sighing with relief, Angela sat down next to her desk. "I think so too, but you never know what people higher up the food chain are up to."
"Well, I have work to do," Moving towards the doorway, Brennan was stopped by Angela.
"Wait Honey, what's going on?" Staring at her friend, Angela observed the sad look on Brennan's face.
Shaking her head, Brennan replied, "It was just a hypothetical question, Angela." Leaving the room, Brennan returned to her office.
Angela stared at the empty door and thought about Brennan's question. Insight hitting her, Angela placed her hand over her mouth. "Oh my God."
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A/N: Je n'ai pas toujours besoin de gui mon ami - translates to "I do not always need mistletoe my friend."