Takes place right after the judge gives Russ a lighter sentence due to Booth's interference. Some dialogue is used from the show, but most is my own.

Thanks for Reading!!

Special Agent Seeley Booth walked out of Judge Watkin's chambers, studiously avoiding his partner's eyes that were burning a hole into the nape of his neck. As it was, he didn't see the slap coming till it hit his arm, still bruised from the explosion.

"Ouch!"

More affronted than actually hurt, he rubbed his arm, and eyed Caroline warily.

She threw up her arms in exasperation. "I want you to consider what side you're on. Bishops and Psychiatrists and bleeding heart parole officers."

He opened his mouth to protest, but the southern lawyer just barreled straight through him.

"That's what's wrong with the justice system in this country." Giving him a baleful look, she bustled off, leaving him standing in the middle of the corridor.

Spinning around, he clapped his hands together. "Okay, Russ, you gotta go with the Marshall-" And promptly cut himself off at the feel of a hand wrapping firmly around his forearm, spinning him around and pulling him down the hall.

"Wha-, Bones? What are you doing?"

His partner said nothing, just dragged him faster down the corridor with an iron grip, practically running as Booth was forced to adjust his pace to keep up with her.

Chuckling slightly, he lengthened out his strides. "C'mon Bones, let a man breathe a little, what's this about?"

When she remained steadfastly mute, he took a glance at her face and promptly shut his mouth. She looked furious, her jaw tight and eyebrows furrowed, even her nostrils flared dangerously. Settling down, he admitted to himself that when she got like this, it was best just to go along with it and hope that when she imploded, there were no eyewitnesses.

Their clipped footsteps echoed down a quieter hall as she guided him adamantly down an offshoot of the main corridor. When they got to the end of the hallway, she held open a door and shoved him inside before following him in and letting the door slam shut behind her.

Stumbling slightly, Booth looked around to find himself in a small stairwell, obviously not often used, thankfully quiet and devoid of people. He spun around and faced his partner, who was standing in front of the exit, arms crossed and eyes narrowed, looking exactly like the squint he had named her. His eyes quickly skimmed over her face, avoiding the tape on her forehead and the bruise blossoming on her cheek, as once again regret washed through him.

Nervously shifting his weight from side to side, he tucked his thumbs in his belt, tackling the issue straight off the bat. "Look- Bones, I'm sorry I didn't speak up for Russ in the Judge's office, but you see why I couldn't. It wouldn't be right."

She didn't respond, only lifting her chin mulishly, clear blue eyes hard.

"What is this about?" He asked, beginning to get frustrated by her silence. "Is it about arresting Russ? That's my job. He showed up at my place of work, I couldn't just let him walk!"

When again she said nothing, he threw up his hands.

"Seriously, Bones, you drag me back here, the least you could do is actually speak to me."

Annoyed, he tried to brush past her to leave, but she stepped in front of him, mouth drawn into an angry line, body tight, rage draped into every crevice of her being.

"Did you?"

"What-" he snapped. "Did I, what? Arrest Russ? You should know, you were there!"

She stepped closer to him, invading his space, far more aggressively than she would have normally done. "That's not what I was asking."

Refusing to back down, he leaned closer to her, their faces inches apart, frustration lining his voice. "I can't read your mind, you're gonna have to ask me with real people words."

"Did you talk to the Archbishop, Dr. Sweets, and the parole officer about my brother?"

Startled, he reeled back, turning away from his partner and running a hand through his hair as he paced a few steps away. That was what this was all about? Pausing, he turned to look at her, hands on his hips. She stood where he had left her, stubbornly situated in front of the doorway, blocking his exit, arms crossed, her eyes flashing. She looked awfully angry at him for helping out her brother.

"You're mad about that?"

"You didn't answer my question."

Sighing, Booth pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay- yeah, I may have asked Sweets to vouch for him, and I also may have paid a visit to the Archbishop for a confession and ask if he would be willing. But the parole officer, I didn't do that! She went to bat for Russ all on her own."

"Why did you do that?" She demanded, stepping closer.

"Why?"

"Yes, why? There's no logical reasoning for you to help out a known criminal, I want to know why."

Turning back towards her, he fixed her with an incredulous stare. "Wh- Bones! He's your brother!"

"I am aware of that fact."

Cursing under his breath, Booth turned away from his partner and paced the few short steps of the stairwell. Was she really going to make him say it? God, couldn't she see it? At this point, even a blind man could.

Finally, he spun on his heel and faced her, clapping his hands aggressively. "Look- he's your brother, and you love him, so I decided to help out and pull a few strings so he would get off with a lighter sentence, that's all."

Bones stalked rigidly towards him, her eyes flaring dangerously as her voice rose, echoing down the stairs. "You're still not answering my question. I know that he's my brother and I do care about him, but I fail to see the logic in helping Russ out." She stopped directly in front of him, and glared up into his eyes, poking one finger into his chest. "Why did you help him?"

Glaring right back at her, he crossed his arms, his ire rising. "You can't see one logical leap of faith from what I just told you?"

"No, I can't," she retorted sharply. "There's absolutely nothing logical about it, Russ is my brother, not yours! You have no reason to help him!"

"No reaso- Nothing logical?" Furious, he stormed the two steps to the wall and then back to her, anger heating his skin and making it hard to think as he rubbed a hand heavily down his face.

Annoyed, his partner put her hands on her hips. "Just tell me Booth, it can't be that hard."

Abruptly he turned back to her and stepped closer, intending to intimidate her with the pressure of his body, but she stayed firm, glowering at him darkly. "You want to know why I did all that for Russ?"

She glared at him, a challenge clear in her eyes as she inclined her head slightly.

The answer burst from him in an impassioned rush, furious, and longing, and honest.

"It's because I care for you!"

They stood there for a moment, chests heaving from the emotion of their argument, before Booth deflated, exhaling, exhausted from the pressure of their fight and what he was forced to reveal. Backing away, he rubbed his chin awkwardly, eager to leave the situation. But his partner was staring at him, tension still coiled in her body, an inscrutable look on her face.

That made him cautious. Bones was rarely hard to get a read on, usually wearing all of her emotions on her face, or at least in her body language, but right now, he had no idea what was going on in her head.

Intending to move around her and get back to the main courthouse, he had barely made half a step forward before her eyes hardened and she was moving towards him swiftly. It looked like she was ready to attack him.

Alarmed, he backed up a step, but bumped into the brick wall behind him. "Bones," he said, as she reached for his chest, shoving him roughly back against the wall. Wincing from the impact, he looked nervously down at her as she gripped his suit lapels. "What are you- mmph!"

Hauling down his head, she lifted her neck and crashed her mouth into his hungrily.

Booth stood unmoving as his partner kissed him. Every thought he'd ever had about why this would be a bad idea, about lines crossed, about professional relationships, they all fled from his head at the feel of her body against his own. His mind went blank till all that was left was her. She was just, so- alive. And he couldn't think of one reason why they hadn't done this before.

Registering the feeling of her warmth against him, his hands flexed where they floundered emptily on either side of his partner's body, finally settling on her hips, feeling the curves of her body beneath his fingers, tugging her a little closer as he began to kiss her back.

Her lips were setting fire to his brain, each drugging caress of her mouth against his clouded his mind further. It would be so easy to become addicted to this, he knew. But he also knew that he had long since thrown his gambling addiction, replaced all of it with her. The way her brain moved too fast, how she stopped and explained things to him in words he could understand, the little secret smiles she shot him, her laughter, and the way she always wanted to be good at everything. It was already too late for him. Her kisses would only be another facet of his obsession.

She smelled like cloves, like he knew she would, from brushing by, from leaning too close, by following in her wake, because he would follow her anywhere. He was used to those little hints of her, the ones that made his chest clench with longing, and his heart ache to be near her. Even then, he knew where they stood. He was her partner, nothing more.

But it was different when he was surrounded by her scent, when all he wanted to do was bury his face into the crook of her neck, to find where it was strongest and mark her there; with teeth and lips and tongue, to lay a claim on her, to make her his own.

The cold brick dug into his back as she pressed him further against the wall, trapping him to her warmth, even though he was hers to take. Her hands detached from his collar, one trailing up to rest against his chest, where his heart was beating wildly, the other finding its way to the nape of his neck, where she scratched his hairline lightly with her fingernails, causing sparks to spiral from his neck and his face to flush alarmingly.

Drawing back, she panted a little, still firmly entrenched in his space, breathing hot and heavy against his face. He swallowed unsteadily, hands trembling at her hips as he peeked at her face.

"Bones-"

That was all he had time to get out before she pulled him firmly back into her. He gasped into her mouth, and he could feel her smile smugly against his lips, engaging him in a bruising kiss once more. Wet tongue pressed against his mouth, and when he didn't allow her access immediately, his partner sucked his lower lip into her mouth and bit down roughly. Pleasure shot through his body as he whimpered, his knees weakening, and he opened up his mouth. She was leading here, and they both knew it, taking what she wanted from him as their tongues slid against each other again and again.

Desire clogged his brain, until he could only think of the heat of her mouth, the delicious pressure of her body against his, and the softness of her skin under his thumbs. Sliding his hands up even further underneath her shirt, his palms smoothed over her skin as it burned underneath his touch.

He startled as she touched him in return, hand dragging down his chest, feeling the ridges of his abdomen as fire caught in her wake. Her hand lingered further down, playing with the buttons of his shirt before untucking it from his pants and slipping her hand underneath. Heart stopping and then restarting at double the speed, he quickly snatched her wrist as her fingers began to dip beneath his belt. Tearing his mouth away from hers, he stared at her flushed cheeks, her kiss-bruised lips, her eyes that gazed ravenously into his own.

"Bones," he rasped.

Her mouth raised into a coy little half smile before she buried her head into his neck, and placed a hot open-mouthed kiss onto the column of his throat. Inhaling sharply, he let his head tip back against the wall as she sucked the skin into her mouth, laving it with her tongue. A groan rumbled in his chest, and he let her wrist go, grasping onto her hips with biting fingers, as if she was his lifeline.

Scraping her teeth delicately against his jugular, his partner worked her way up his neck, till all he could feel was the push and pull of her body, and the dragging, heated sparks of her lips and wet flick of tongue against his skin.

Abruptly she pulled back, leaving him bereft of her presence. His hazy eyes opened slowly, trying to get a glimpse of her, limbs heavy with desire. Then her fingers were at his throat, deftly loosening his tie and opening the top two buttons of his collar before her mouth descended onto his body and bit down on his collarbone sharply.

Lust struck him like a lightning bolt of pleasure and his head thunked back against the wall as his moan echoed throughout the stairwell. He could feel her hum against him as she gave his collarbone a gentle lick in apology. Shifting closer to him, her hand tucked further into his hair, the other grasping his shoulder as she slid her thigh in between his legs.

Freezing, Booth's breath caught in his throat as all the blood in his body began to rush south, causing a dizzying reaction of desire and trepidation. His grip on her hips became punishing, caught either between pulling her closer and pushing her away.

"Bones," he gasped. "Um- what, uhh I mean-"

And then she nipped quickly at his earlobe and sucked lightly on it.

His breathing stuttered, and he could feel her pause and- oh. Somewhere in the back of his befuddled brain, it registered that she liked seeing what reactions she could get from him, could practically hear her cataloging them in a file called: Ways-to-Make-Seeley-Booth-Fall-Apart.

She breathed wet-hot into his ear, and he couldn't stop the full body shiver that wracked his frame. Her lips trailed to just behind his earlobe, and he stiffened, then immediately knew it was a mistake. Her body stilled, sensing his hesitation, before she pushed.

Placing a delicate kiss on the sensitive skin behind his ear, she lingered, breathing quiet and sweet against him. But then she scraped her teeth over that overly sensitive spot, soothing it with her tongue right after, and he whined. It was embarrassing, and needy, and all sorts of desperate, but close to his ear, he could hear her breath hitch and the quiet little noise she made. Then all he wanted was to hear her make that noise again, but she had other plans for him.

It was clear she was making a note of his reactions when she did it again, his legs threatening to buckle underneath him as she sucked his skin into her mouth. Her smile curved into the press of his neck, as his chest filled with affection and frustration. She drew back to his ear and nibbled at it, her hand sliding out of his hair and back down to his shoulder.

Pausing with her lips directly in front of his ear, she blew lightly at it, causing goosebumps to roll down his body.

"Thank you, Booth."

And he shuddered, her throaty voice conjuring visions of bare skin, silk, and rumpled bedsheets. Still he ached for her, for her affection, her smiles, this kiss and thanks only a balm on a much larger wound.

She pressed a soft kiss to his bruised cheek, taking his breath away as she pulled away from him. Adjusting her shirt, she looked up at him, biting her lip and brushing her hair behind her ears.

Booth sagged against the wall, his legs unable to hold himself up as he panted heavily. Holy shit. He had prayed for her attention many times, but now that he had it, all he wanted was more. Addict. Of course.

"Come on, I want to say goodbye to Russ."

Her partner swallowed heavily, and tried to find some coherent words that didn't make him sound like an idiot.

"Uhm, I-uh, huh?"

Well that was embarrassing.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked him up and down, a hint of heat hidden behind her gaze. "What are you talking about?"

Waving a hand haphazardly, he tilted his head back to rest against the wall again, trying to gather up the energy to speak again.

"Um- gonna need a-uh, moment," he managed. "Time, some of it."

She smirked at him knowingly. "Okay, I'll go without you." She turned to walk out of the stairwell, then spun around to face him. "If you don't want people to think we were engaging in sexual activities, you should fix your tie."

"Oh," he said faintly, hand coming up to touch his chest. "Right- thanks."

She smiled at him then, a real smile, one of those she gave him, and only him, before she walked out.

His stomach fluttering with repressed desire, affection, and nerves, Seeley Booth dropped his head in his hands, destroyed and remade by his partner.

"Shit."

He was so in love with her.