AN: This is just a short one shot (another one) based on the ep 'woman in the sand' and also 'double trouble in the panhandle' anyway have fun reading and then pretty please review... don't be lazy

Loopholes

"Tony!" Brennan greeted loudly as her partner opened the door to his apartment. She pressed her body hard to his as she imagined Roxie would do if Roxie and Tony really existed of course.

Booth was slow to react, not quite sure what to make of his socially incompetent partner on his doorstep at eleven pm wearing nothing but a tiny black dress and four inch heels that she could barely walk in. When she planted a quick kiss on his lips and brushed past him into his apartment he was shocked.

"Bones, what's going on here?" he finally asked when she returned from his kitchen a beer in hand.

"Tony, I thought it was obvious, I'm coming to see my man" she told him, Vegas accent in place as she pressed a hand to his chest letting it slide down to his stomach before going back to rest at her side.

"Seriously Bones, just explain this... please" Booth begged slightly confused.

"Don't you ever just wonder?" she asked her Vegas accent no longer present "if we were together, you know like Tony and Roxie"

Memories of every night from the last few months came into his head. Every dream he'd had since they'd returned from Vegas. Bones in that dress, Bones in his bed, in his shower, his kitchen, him punching out Sully and taking her as his own. Had he thought about been with Bones? Hell yes, even when he was with Cam.

"No Bones, I don't" Booth denied tiredly.

"Hmm, since your pants are just a little tighter than normal and you won't look at me when you say that, I find that very hard to believe" Brennan replied chuckling. When Booth didn't respond she continued "Anyway, you made it very clear that there could never be a relationship between us because of our working relationship" Brennan paused and Booth knew where her argument was headed and he silently begged her not to say it.

"But what about Tony and Roxie?" she asked smugly, sure that she had found a loophole. Booth still didn't respond, so Brennan continued awkwardly "So what do you say?" Booth wished she wasn't wearing the damn Vegas dress "You and me, Tony and Roxie but nothing Tony and Roxie do affects Bones and Booth" She added even using Booth's nickname for her and he knew he could deny her nothing.

"Roxie, I've missed you babe, come here" Booth said grinning animatedly and inviting his partner into his arms.

"Well Tony" she whispered her Vegas accent back "I think you'd better prove that" she challenged grazing her teeth over his earlobe and pressing her body seductively against his. He'd trailed his hand over her body then barely touching her breast through the material and then his lips were pressing hungrily to hers and her legs were wrapped around his waist. He hadn't even gotten the dress off of her that night, just pushed the soft material up her thighs exposing the creamy expanse of skin and pushed her tiny black thong to the side before taking her right against the wall. Seeley Booth would never have done that, but Booth knew that was a good thing the less he thought of Tony's actions as his own the better.

Roxie continued to appear on his doorstep and each time would begin with some silly conversation in their assumed roles and end with him pumping into her trying desperately not to call out his partner's name when he came. Roxie and Tony were wild and they explored every part of his apartment and every idea that they could, so long as they never did what they would do as Temperance and Seeley. They would always be at his apartment, they would use hers when they were Booth and Bones, or Temperance and Seeley, but never as Roxie and Tony and they never used his for anything else. The separation was the most important thing, the only thing holding their unusual relationship in balance. When she came to his door she would always be wearing a tight, little dress with fuck me heels, the kind Temperance Brennan would never wear and he was sure she had gone and bought a whole new wardrobe just for Roxie.

They continued that way until one day Roxie and Tony were replaced by Wanda and Buck who were less wild in some ways but more in others. And then one day it was just Temperance at his door, clunky necklace, jacket, shirt and jeans; Temperance. She'd brushed past him shyly and waited until he offered her a drink. She hadn't explained her sudden appearance as neither Roxie nor Wanda but Booth knew what it meant. It meant she was ready. No more facades, no more pretending. She was putting herself out there and he would accept happily.

And then they were on his bed, fumbling like two teenagers awkwardly pulling clothes off and kissing. Booth was gentle like he'd never been with Roxie and Wanda and he was exploring slowly pressing his lips and fingers to every exposed part of flesh. They'd been sleeping together for almost three years and yet everything was different that night. And as he caressed her and nipped at her skin he was finally able to observe what Temperance liked, he was finally able to think of her as the woman he loved and he was finally able to let her name tumble from his lips when he spilled himself inside her as he had done a hundred times before. To Seeley Booth though, it felt like the first time all over again and he didn't mind at all. And for the first time the next morning when Seeley Booth awoke she was still there, cradled against him and he smiled, Roxie and Wanda had nothing on Temperance Brennan.