Author's Note: I had this story idea around for a long time after seeing Episode 100 the first time, but I never got around to writing it. Then when so many others had written about this episode, I wondered if I could really add anything to what was already being said. But now on the eve of a new season, I found that I still couldn't get this idea out of my head, so I decided to post it after all. And like so many other works of mine in the past, what originally was going to be a one-shot fic turned into a two-chapter story.

I do not own Bones or any of its characters. I just love writing about them is all. :)

Thank you to everyone who reads/follows/reviews this. It's always appreciated.

The Fold in the Gamble—part one

It was almost midnight in Washington DC, a cold, clear night where the sky covered the city like a blanket and the buildings sparkled with their artificial lights. Even though he had just spent a grueling day at work that included a therapy session that had lasted hours with his two favorite patients, Doctor Lance Sweets was sitting wide-awake in his front room, restless and tense. He had tried to put the events of the day behind him when he got home, but found it impossible.

Impossible because he knew that he had set something in motion this evening between Special Agent Seeley Booth and Doctor Temperance Brennan, but he had no idea how it was going to turn out. And that terrified him.

Earlier that day, Booth and Brennan had called him asking for an appointment so that they could go over some "issues" that they had with the book he had written about them. Sweets had been careful to get all of his profiling work done for day before they showed up and canceled any other appointments he had so that he could take as long as he needed to with them.

The psychologist was not shocked that they had wanted to go over it with him and had fully welcomed it. Sweets had spent months previously agonizing over whether or not to publish his book in the first place, even discussing the matter with Booth's ex-therapist, Chef Wyatt. After giving it even more careful thought, Sweets made his final revisions and gave both Booth and Brennan a copy of his manuscript so that they could see the final product before he submitted it to be published.

At first, Sweets' biggest concerns were the sorts of reactions he would receive from the two of them. Doctor Brennan was sure to find issues with his methods and the conclusions that he drew from them. Sweets knew that the anthropologist tended to use her vast intelligence and rationality as shields against any strong emotions or painful memories. The psychologist figured that she would openly dismiss his belief that she and Booth were in love with each other.

Booth, on the other hand, was sure to breeze right past most of the technical passages and aim straight for the idea that was central to the book: that he was in love with his own partner. While Sweets was sure that Booth did not completely dismiss his talents, insights, and his entire discipline the way Brennan did, he was worried about Booth's reaction to such a direct declaration of what Sweets felt was his true feelings.

That all led to the appointment Sweets had with them that afternoon to go over his book. Sweets had carefully prepared for this moment, knowing that there would be complicated feelings and issues to sort through. He braced himself for what he was sure would be a breakthrough in Booth and Brennan's partnership.

Instead he was shocked to find out that they weren't there to discuss the conclusions of his book, but to make corrections. At least that's how Brennan explained it. Specifically, she nonchalantly pointed out that they had worked together on a case before the Cleo Eller murder, and she and Booth were ready to leave it at that.

Sweets responded to this revelation by slumping back in his chair, frustrated.

'They knew that I was working on this book about them, and yet they gave me no indication that there was a case that they had worked on before the Eller case,' he thought to himself. For a moment, the psychologist was irritated at the way Booth and Brennan continued to hinder not only his research for this book, but his attempts to guide them through the therapeutic process in general.

But Sweets quickly swallowed down any negative feelings he had after watching Booth's reactions to Brennan's statements during this conversation. The therapist had noted Booth's somber and agitated demeanor ever since he walked into his office and had become concerned about it.

'There's something he wants to say…no needs to say, but he's not saying it. Why?' Sweets had wondered.

The psychologist's thoughts had raced as he tried to process what he had just learned from Brennan. While he may have been somewhat resentful for not finding out before now about this missing case, Sweets knew that he had to find out about it. The therapist figured that it probably seemed like a frivolous detail to them, but it meant a great deal to him. Even at the young age of twenty-five, Sweets had written many articles that appeared in respected psychological journals as well as the book that helped him get this position with the Bureau. He was aware of how it would look if he left out important information out of his research and had drawn faulty conclusions as a result. Sweets did have his professional reputation to consider.

But whether he wanted to admit it or not, Sweets had another question on his mind: if he was wrong about this, how wrong was he about the two of them in general?

Throughout the process of writing this book, Sweets had learned much about his two favorite patients. Even though Booth and Brennan may not have realized it, their relationship was unfolding in front of the psychologist with every glance, every spat of playful bickering, and with every affectionate gesture they shared. Occasionally, Sweets couldn't help but feel like an obtrusive voyeur, but during those times he reminded himself of the therapeutic role he was playing in their lives. It was not unusual at all for deeply personal moments to come out of the normal course of therapy, and Sweets did his best to remain clinical during those moments.

Thinking back on what he had learned, Sweets was sure that he instinctively knew that Booth and Brennan were in love with each other all along. It had taken Wyatt's insight to realize that the two of them were also aware of their attraction for each other, and after that Sweets could see clear signs of their struggle to handle those feelings.

Sitting on the couch in his apartment, late at night, Sweets pondered a disturbing thought.

'Is it possible that I misread them? That I was completely wrong about their feelings after all?'

The thought made the therapist squirm. He had become used to the idea that he could sense things about others. Even as a child, Sweets could almost always get a read on a person's basic nature after being around them for a short while. As he got older and received more schooling and training in the field of psychology, his observations grew more sophisticated, but at the core of it all was an innate talent for gaining insights into others.

Sweets was more than a little unnerved at the idea that he may have been completely off the mark about Booth and Brennan.

But during that session, Booth's subdued behavior had bothered him just as much, and Sweets had racked his brain for a way to draw out what was bothering the agent.

'He was waiting for the right opportunity to speak from his mind,' he thought. 'The right moment to open up about what was inside him.'

The psychologist slumped down into the cushions as he thought about his actions in response to these developments.

"Please, tell me all about that real first case to see if my conclusions are still valid," Sweets had begged them.

He watched as the two of them shared a look with each other and was sure that there would be resistance. But to Sweets' surprise, Booth and Brennan sat down and began to tell him all about their work on the Judge Hasty murder case. Sweets vaguely remembered hearing about it in the news while he was still finishing up his studies as a Rhodes Scholar in England, but he had no idea that it was the two of them who had solved it.

He listed with great interest as he heard about their initial reactions to each other and gained some idea of how the team at the Jeffersonian had first been brought together. But when they told him about how they kissed each other after some rounds of tequila, he had been shocked at how open the two of them had been with budding attraction for each other.

'All those ideas I had about them sublimating their feelings for each other from the beginning were totally off,' the psychologist thought to himself. 'Wyatt was even more right than he could have realized when he said that there were not only aware of their feelings but were struggling with them. And he had a lot less to work with than I did.'

"My book is crap," he said out loud. He barely heard Booth and Brennan's assurances that they were just trying to spare him from embarrassment.

Back in his apartment, Sweets got up and walked over to the window so that he could stare into the blackness that matched his feelings right now.

'It would have been better if Wyatt had remained Booth's therapist, and I had never gotten involved,' he berated himself. 'How many more missteps did I make over the course of my treatment of them?'

Sweets swallowed down a lump that was forming in his throat.

'Booth was right the first time when he met me…I'm too young, too inexperienced, too…I'm not cut out to handle a case as complicated as this. Who knows how many ways I've bungled their chances for a true resolution to their problems.'

He remembered how Booth had tried to reassure him during the course of this session, but his words could not stop Sweets from diving into the self-doubt and self-flagellation that he had been prone to his whole life. And it didn't stop when the session was over either.

Sweets leaned his head against the glass and thought back to the rest of the evening.

Brennan and Booth had gone on to tell him about the rest of the case, and Sweets dark mood only worsened.

'I've failed them. Completely and utterly as their therapist…But they also failed each other. They're so wrapped up in their old wounds, fears, and defenses; they won't give each other a chance…But it was my job…it was more than just my job…to help them through all that.'

By the time they had finally finished with the conclusion of the case and how it led to the two of them not working together for over a year, Sweets was overwhelmed by all the revelations he had gone through.

'After all that…and after all that's happened since…they still haven't moved forward. What is it going to take for them to admit what they are feeling for each other?'

But that thought had only distracted him for a moment and was quickly dashed aside as he watched Booth's reactions to Brennan's continued assertion that they were not in love. Just then, Sweets knew what it was that had been on the tip of the agent's tongue this whole time.

'He wanted to tell her the truth,' Sweets told himself while still staring out his front room window. 'That he was in love with her…and had been for a long time.'

Ever since Booth's surgery to remove his brain tumor, the therapist had been watching him grapple with his feelings for Brennan, which had been brought to the front of his mind during the coma dream.

At first Sweets believed that delaying Booth's declaration of his feelings was the right decision and had helped it along by showing Booth those brain scans and by being careful to avoid directly addressing those romantic feelings. Wyatt had agreed with Sweets' instincts and had mentioned that Booth knew in his heart that revealing his feelings would be akin to an assault to Brennan. Thus, Sweets focused on slowly helping the anthropologist through her convoluted issues so that she could accept Booth's love when the time was right. The psychologist couldn't help but marvel at how Booth continued to push down and hide his feelings for his partner despite the obvious toll that it was taking on him. He was sure that Booth was going to try to wait for however long it took so that Brennan could reach a place where it would be safe to open up his heart at last. No matter what the cost was to him.

But during this last session it had become abundantly clear to Sweets that while Brennan had certainly grown as a person, she was determined to deny her feelings for Booth out of fear of disrupting the status quo.

However, Booth was having his soul eaten away bit by bit, and this sort of life, being unable to share his heart with the woman he loved, was unbearable to him.

Sweets had watched as the spark in the agent's eyes dimmed a little more during the course of this session, and had found it painful to behold. Booth had been desperate to finally tell the truth about his feelings and now there didn't seem to be any chance for it.

Even now, hours later, Sweets felt his eyes water up when he remembered that look on Booth's face. Over the years, he had come to see the agent as far more than a patient; he considered him a close friend. And he couldn't bear to watch his friend suffer any more, even if it meant that Brennan, who he also considered a friend, would be forced to confront the intense emotions she had fought so hard to ward off.

The therapist sighed when he remembered the fateful moment when he decided to take direct action at last.

"One of you has to have the courage to break this stalemate," Sweets had told them. The psychologist's eyes flickered back and forth between them before finally settling on Booth.

"You…it has to be you because you're the gambler," Sweets said, leaning toward the agent. The therapist noticed that, for a second, Booth became defensive over his choice of words, but that defensiveness swiftly melted away when he saw the concern in Sweets' eyes.

"For once, make that work for you," the psychologist said gently.

From the outside, it seemed like Booth had no reaction to the therapist's words, but Sweets knew better. He could tell that Booth was communicating his feelings to him silently and he knew what it was the agent was saying behind his neutral expression.

'I can't continue on this way…but I don't know if I can tell her the truth.'

Sweets gave a look in response which he was sure Booth would understand due to his enormous skill at reading the unspoken cues of others.

'You shouldn't have to live like this…You need to tell her the truth…Have faith in her.'

Predictably, Booth broke off their wordless conversation with a casual remark about wanting to get something to eat. Again, Sweets found himself momentarily annoyed at the flippant way his book and much of his work had been completely dismantled.

Sweets finally moved away from the window and began to pace around his apartment. Truthfully he was already over the loss of his book. While it was true that it represented a lot of lost time and energy, Sweets had known on an instinctive level that there had always been a chance that his book would never be published.

In some ways, it had been doomed from the start since it had initially been a way for Sweets to continue therapy for Booth and Brennan when he was faced with the possibility that they would stop having any official reason to continue seeing him.

Sweets sighed again when he remembered how Booth had figured out from the moment the book had been proposed that it had less to do with psychological research and more to do with Sweets' desire to not lose contact with the people he had grown close to as a therapist and as a friend. The psychologist had been frustrated with himself at first for being so transparent, but after a while he realized that Booth simply had a great talent for reading him in particular.

But while he was sure that he would get over the loss of this book, Sweets was unsure that he would be able to get over the consequences of his actions if they resulted in things going terribly wrong between Booth and Brennan.

Suddenly a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Sweets glanced over at the clock and his brow furrowed; it was much too late at night for a mere social call.

He walked over to the door and looked out the peephole to see Booth standing outside his door by himself. That fact alone made Sweets uneasy. He quickly undid the locks and opened the door.

"Agent Booth…can I…"

"I did it…I gambled, Sweets…I gambled, and I lost."