Created April 2013 - I don't own the characters or the words made famous by the TV show, Bones. Love them anyway. All the rest that follows is my feeble attempt to keep time in between broadcasts and Razztaztic, Threesquares, and Covalent Bond postings.

A/N: 05/08/2016 – Happy Mother's Day to all! Yes, I know, it's been a while! Unfortunately, I have the time to write this b/c Mom's dealing with some medical issues, so I've had long periods of hanging out in hospital rooms and rehab facilities with which to write. I've missed you all, and really appreciate all the writers out there, keeping us fic'ed up.

So much time has passed. Let's just get into it shall we?

Unable to resist, Sully gawked at the display of Tempe's rear as she leaned into the refrigerator to retrieve the orange juice. So distracted was he by his libidinous thoughts, he was briefly unaware of the scowl he earned when she turned back toward him.

"Whoops!" he laughed sheepishly. "Can't fault a guy from admiring…"

Pouring the juice into the glasses, she shook her head with a chuckle and a sigh. Peering up at him, she asked, "Booth has invited us out for dinner to a place called 'Founding Fathers'. Do you have an interest in attending?"

He tried to read her expression to determine if she wanted him to answer "yes" or "no", but she offered no indication. "Uh yeah, sure?"

Right answer. Brennan's smile confirmed he had answered correctly. He smiled back.

"It's been ages since I've grabbed a bite with Seeley. It'll be great to catch up."

"Excellent." She sighed. "It's important to me that our…situation not impede upon pre-existing friendships."

"Sure, of course." Sully cleared his throat. "So um, you and Booth, you two seem solid."

The familiar dip in her forehead appeared. "'Solid' represents one of the four states of matter. I'm assuming you're being figurative?"

Sully smiled at her patiently, accepting the glass of orange juice she had passed to him. "Thanks. Yes."

Brennan mulled his question as she returned the container to the refrigerator. "A substance is defined as a 'solid' when its molecules are fixed and cannot migrate to other positions in the substance."

With a mouth full of juice, he shook his head to the negative. She continued to consider his meaning. "It can also mean having fixed volume… a uniformly close and coherent shape…you think that Booth and I – together – have a fixed shape? You believe that we are a well-formed unit?"

He grinned broadly at her, laughing a bit at her confusion when he pointed at her while touching his nose with his other hand. "Well?"

Brennan ruminated. "Well, despite our philosophical, intellectual and monetary differences, we do share a mutual respect and admiration for each other, as well as a strong sense of justice and purpose in pursuit of the truth. I have come to appreciate our differences and recognize that they are complementary. In that sense, the tenets of our relationship are – metaphorically – solid." She smiled thoughtfully, before quickly adding, "Although I do believe one could make an argument that our partnership is 'liquid'. 'Liquid' of course being defined by matter that exists in which its atoms or molecules move about freely while remaining in contact with one another. That metaphor more clearly articulates the dichotomous independence of our two areas of expertise that synergistically work together…"

He chugged his juice, watching as she fell silently into deep thought about how to best describe her partnership. He couldn't help but chuckle again, knocking her out of her distraction.

"What?" she fidgeted self-consciously.

"You. The Doctor Temperance Brennan. A super genius's super genius. You are struggling to define the metaphorical state of your relationship with Seeley Booth. I think it's cute." He stood up from the stool and rounded the counter towards the sink with his glass. "Especially since you didn't even take a breath to define our relationship as 'just a fling'."

A panicked look crossed Brennan's face as she recalled that moment that she may have inadvertently hurt his feelings. "Are you envious of what I have with Booth?"

Brennan watched as Sully rinsed out his glass and placed it in the dishwasher. "You know, I am a little jealous about it, honestly. Jealous of what the two of you have. I miss that. And totally jealous that thinking about him makes you short circuit."

She scoffed. "What? No, that's silly. Human beings can't short circuit, Sully."

She does that. He thought to himself. She sneaks behind the literal when she wants to evade a conversation topic. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the counter, watching her squirm. "You're avoiding my observation."

"I'm not avoiding your observation" she sniffed. "You asked a specific question related to which state of matter is analogous to me and Booth. I was simply trying to…successfully offer a response that's in the spirit of how your question was posed." She crossed her arms, defiantly, if not petulantly. "You elected to elaborate with non-quantifiable observations!"

He threw his arms up. "Okay, okay! It's my fault that I… elaborated poorly. Forget that I brought it up in the first place."

"Fine." She mumbled. "I would like that." She bit her lip. "And for the record, in hindsight…classifying our relationship as 'just a fling' was inaccurate."

"Yeah?" he smirked.

Her lip curled in reaction to his delight. "Yes." She chuckled. "I was remiss in acknowledging the emotional elements that accompanied the physical aspects. I am sorry for being…dismissive in that moment."

Sully laughed. "How about that? I'm marking this day on the calendar. I may even play the lottery tonight!"

"Why?" she asked, perplexed.

He pushed off of the counter. "Because, today - on this date – you, The Doctor Temperance Brennan admit to getting it wrong! Twice!" he cheered, raising his fists in the air in victory.

"What?" she stammered, watching him sway his hips in a ridiculous victory dance. "Twice? That's not correct! Although I admit I was inaccurate in characterizing our relationship, that is the only instance that I recall being…not correct."

"The day is still young." He grinned as he approached her. "And I will personally prove to you that people can short circuit."

"Ridiculous." She sneered, standing her ground as he crowded her, taking her glass of juice and placing it on the counter behind him.

Just as quickly as he placed the glass, he turned back to her. In one motion, he scooped her onto the island counter and tugged open her robe.

"Sully!" she cried out, giggling.

"Patience, my sweet Temperance. I will prove you wrong, yet again…"

As I recall it, what happened next was more than a bit x-rated, heh, heh! Suffice it to say, her concession speech to my short circuit theory was very throaty, lusty, and moany, if I remember correctly. Heh! Good fun with my incredible, naughty girl, my Temperance Brennan.

Sigh!

His Temperance Brennan, now I suppose.

I think of that lovely morning juxtaposed to right now, where I'm sitting on the opposite side of the counter to Booth as he knuckle-drums the "Wipe Out" drum solo on it. It's like he knows what happened on it and is trying to ward off any evil and hedonistic spirits from our past together. I wouldn't put it past Tempe telling him everything that happened between us. I'm wondering if I should fear for my safety right now, Booth's temper can be a bit unpredictable...

"So. Um, Bones tells me that you're in town to open up two new locations?"

And so the interrogation begins.

"Ah, uh. Not yet. Just checking on the build out progress and meeting the new staffs who are getting trained for the openings. We're not scheduled to open until next quarter. My implementation team has really worked our opening schedule into a science. According to the project plan, this is the point where I go in, shake the hands of the new staff, talk about the concept of the shop, how they play a role and you know, rally everyone behind the business concept and mission."

Seeley laughed. "Whoa! Who are you and what have you done with Tim Sullivan? Fiscal quarters? Implementation? Schedule? Project plan?"

I can't help but laugh as well. "I know, right? Don't worry, I'm still as flaky as ever, Seel, trust me. It's just that when Tempe offered to invest in the sandwich shop, she had conditions…"

"Heh! That sounds like Bones. Conditions?"

"Yeah. She made me meet with her financial adviser to work on a business plan and she hired a friend of yours as my business manager…"

"A friend of mine?"

"Yeah, Carol Grant?"

"Carol? She and he spouse adopted a little boy whose Mom was killed on a case that Bones and I closed. My little man, Baby Andy!"

"Well, he's not so much a baby any more. Hold on take a look." I pull out my phone to pull up a photo of Jim, Carol and Andy I had taken a few months ago. Seeley's got one hand on the counter and the other on my shoulder. I can't help but brace in the instance he decided to slam my head into the counter.

But he doesn't. "Look at how big he is! That's great. I know that Bones has stayed better in touch than I have, I haven't seen them since before I left for Afghanistan. They look really happy." He pats me on my back. "So Carol's your business manager?"

"For now. She and Jim are happy in West Virginny and she's only working with me because Tempe said I was a special project…"

"Ha! 'Special Project'."

"Yep. So she signed a two-year contract to help make my dream come alive and put the right folks in place to keep it moving. It's been great."

"That's great Sull. Really."

"Thanks. I tell ya, if I left it up to Tempe and Carol, I have 250 store fronts in 10 years. I don't know if I want that, but we'll see. The best part is that as big as we get, I still run the original shop down in Huntington Beach, South Carolina. I have a good crew handling things for when their boss takes off for events like these, or when I just want to disappear on the water for a few weeks."

He eyed me before reaching to grab four pint glasses from the cabinet. "So you still have the boat, huh?" The Temperance?"

Here we go.

"Sure do. She's still a beauty."

"Uh yeah, from what I remember of it. The outside, I mean. It's not like you invited me on the boat."

I laughed. "I didn't, did I? Heh! Well, I did just buy it for me and…you know."

"Yeah, I remember." He could barely hide his discomfort. Well, he's the one who asked…

"I still make the effort to take her out three or four times a year. Just me and her, on the water for days on end. It's amazing. Peaceful. I take care of her, she takes care of me. Together, we are one with the Universe."

Yep, he definitely winced. I watch him quickly push away from his lean on the opposite counter.

"Yuengling?" he asked leaning into the refrigerator.

"Heck yeah! Tempe let you stock Yuengling? This thing between you is serious!"

He grinned, handing me the glass and the beer. "Hey Bones, you want a beer?" he hollered out to her from the bedroom.

"There's only that Pennsylvania beer, right?"

"Nah, there's some Sam Adams in there too. And Guinness."

"…No. Actually I'd prefer some ice water." She called back. "I'll be out in a sec."

Booth shook his head. "She refuses to appreciate a good beer."

"Still drinking the weird Moroccan stuff?"

"Yup. That shit is nasty, right?" He laughed, pouring into his own pint.

"No question. Here's to non-Moroccan beer, Seeley!"

"…and living the dream, Sull, congrats."

We clinked glasses and took a draw from our beers in silence.

Kindred spirits we were not, but we understood each other. We both had been in love with the same woman, just at different junctures of our lives. And, she was at the center of making both of our lives a fuckload better than they could ever be without her.

I watched as he switched the pint glass out the cabinet for a tumbler for Tempe's water.

I look at him, you know – really look at him. He hasn't changed much since our Quantico days. Sure, we're both older, our hair's thinner and maybe a little grayer…well, mine is. I've bulked up a bit since Tempe and I were together, but physically…comparatively, Booth's still mostly the same: larger than life, a cranky superhero. Like Batman.

But his cloud's gone. So now he's Captain America. Fantastic.

He'd always been a bit removed from the rest of us – his Bureau buddies. Sure, he was one of the guys: fun loving, occasionally wild, and always up for a good time, but at the same time, there was something about him – a guardedness – that made it impossible to really get to know him. And although the profiler in me always wanted to dig deeper, I fell in line with everyone else who shrugged their shoulders and just accepted Booth being "Booth", because when you hang out with a guy who looks like Seeley Booth, the cases were more interesting, the caliber of ladies you attracted was always more impressive, the booze was always stronger and the meals always tasted better.

He's that guy. So what if he was occasionally a total dick?

Stole my partner's new girl. And as I recalled it, my partner didn't even mind even though we all knew Dick Seeley did it just for the sport of it. Why didn't he mind? Because he knew that another one would be right around the corner. And sure enough, the next one was his wife. That was the thing: hang with Seeley, find your wife.

Yup, shamelessly stole Amy away and for just one night, I hear. Now he's stolen my girl.

Hmph. My girl.

Man, I never thought we'd be chasing the same girl. Tempe's so…out of my league, but she's out of Seeley's league, too…. Right?

We all thought that eventually, Booth would settle down with Rebecca for the explicit fact that she's his kid's mom. He was never happier than when he talked about Parker and by default, her. We figured they'd get together, maybe have a couple more kids, probably divorce eventually, but at least Rebecca would take him off the market for a bit. It just seemed inevitable, despite his mad game with the ladies, we all figured that there was no way anyone else was gonna knock Booth on his ass more than the mother of his kid.

Not even Cam could compete. Not that she tried. She really didn't want to have anything to do with doing the family thing with Seeley. I wonder why.

Where is she, by the way?

Yup, we all thought Rebecca Stinson was where Seeley met his match. But then again, none of us saw Tempe coming.

I really thought that she was the "one", my "one". When she let up on me on our first case, relaxed and flashed me that goofy grin of hers, I thought I saw it – my whole future. I just knew that Tempe Brennan was the woman who I could start my life with, and I had a disinterested Seeley Booth to thank.

And then, when she said "yes" to a date with me? And then another, and another. I could feel it: I. Had. Her.

The beautiful, unsinkable Dr. Temperance Brennan was in my heart, in my arms, in my bed and on my boat. I had her. And she had fallen in love with me. This unique, exhilarating and occasionally exhausting woman had fallen crazy-in-love with me. She was mine to sail away with and chase unexpected adventures.

Or so I told myself.

Ironically, she found sitting as a passenger in Seeley's truck more adventurous and appealing than being my partner on the open water.

Heh, fucking Seeley.

I didn't stand a chance. Clearly, I see it now. Brennan wasn't crazy in love with me. She was doing as scientists do: experimenting. For her, I was a test relationship. I was a controlled…controllable subject that allowed Tempe to validate her assumptions about falling for good-hearted, smart and handsome (if I say so myself) FBI guy.

She loved me, maybe. But she never gave herself to me, not completely. With me, she was distracted and distractible; and when he was around? Forget it! I was always second priority.

I thought I was rescuing her. She thought I was pulling focus.

I know it was rash and abrupt, and in reflection, she probably interpreted my invitation to sail away as the equivalent to me-the-villain tying her-the-damsel to a railroad track, heh heh! Maybe it was my way of conducting my own experiment to see if she would choose me over Seeley-Do-Right. Or moreover, to see if he'd fess up to how he felt about her and put a stop to us altogether. But he didn't rescue her. He let her untie herself and walk back into his arms of her own volition.

Literally. I saw it.

That morning that I shoved off, I turned back to the dock and saw him watching her. I watched her "return" to him, Seeley standing there like a dad watching his kid ride a bike with training wheels. I hoped that she would see him and slug him, or at least shove him for once again invading her personal space – our last moments together. But instead she curled right into his arm, and back to their lives together.

Those first few days on the water were not easy. I couldn't let go of the anger, the hurt that I felt. How could Tempe possibly want to be handcuffed to their partnership instead of being free with me? And just for just one fucking year! I would have given her the world!

But over a few days, I remembered three things: first, Seeley Booth could be a dick when it came to women and secondly, he always got the girl.

The third thing was, that I too, was a dick. It was my escape plan, not hers. I didn't even factor in that Tempe may want something other than what I was offering. 'With me, away from him' was my entire plan. I knew that if we were together, around Booth, that we'd never be truly together. Well, that and I loved the idea of being the man that helped her escape from all the death and darkness; the man who gave her a happily-ever-after. The man who gave her peace, protection and many new adventures.

But they were to be my adventures. Not hers. She didn't want to escape, she wanted to get neck deep in the death and darkness. With Seeley by her side.

That's how Seeley got her. He pushed, but he wasn't trying to change her. He chased, but only to tag her and have her chase him. He helped her escape, but not from what she had created, he helped escape things that I never took the time to learn about. Things I wouldn't know about until her Dad shared them with me years later. But Seeley knew. And he took his time with her. Like pruning a fucking bonsai.

That son-of-a-bitch.

I've always known how good a poker player Booth is, but how he won Tempe's heart? It's the ultimate long play. As much as it pains me to say it, this smooth, moody, cranky, any-girl-getting, scoundrel of a mother-fucker is a genius. He's known how incredible she is, since day one. He risked her chasing other guys and being chased, and from what I hear, did some chasing himself. But at the end of the day, he is hers and she is his.

I may smart at being a mere minor character in their story, but I haven't really lost either, have I? I have a very dear friend for life. A woman who believes in me enough to help me pursue my dream, even though she's not a part of that dream. A woman who – I know – will always be there for me.

And I'll always be there for her, too. Not that she needs me since she decided to fall for this big lummox in front of me.

He's a good guy.

He better not fuck things up with her though. Dick.

As I look at him now, I've never seen Seeley Booth more…unburdened. Whatever it is, whatever has been between them, none of us will ever know all of it, but God bless 'em. He's never seemed looser, and she's never seemed so relaxed.

And they both seem happy. And comfortable being themselves… in love.

Fuckers. They're in love.

I can't begrudge them for that. There's not enough love in the world.

Here goes nothing.

"Uh, y'know Seeley, when Tempe invited me to stay at her place, I didn't know that you two were together now."

"Yeah, I know. Bones likes to leave those details out, doesn't she?"

He controlled his smile.

Was he worried?

"Look, so, you brought it up Sully, so I'll ask. Are you still in love with Bones?"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry, man! No. Seeley, I am not, nor have I ever been in love with her, with 'Bones'."

Yeah, he ain't buying it.

"Look, I fell for a girl who never was, man. I was in love with a girl who I wanted to be a certain way with me, but what I wanted and what she wanted were two very different things."

He sighed. "I've been there."

I wonder who…Rebecca? Nah, the pain on his face is too…recent. Hmm.

"Now don't get me wrong. That woman in there? I love her. She means the world to me. She has let me live my dream."

Booth shifted. "Yeah, I get that…"

"But I can't be anything but happy for the two of you. She seems really happy that you guys are doing this thing, and quite frankly, I've never seen you more…un-intense?"

"Un-intense?"

I chuckle. "Yeah, Dickhead: un-intense, relaxed…chill. You're a pretty intense guy, all the time. But today? Right now? You seem on top of the world!"

He grinned. The fucker. "Thanks man."

Again we clinked glasses. "Cheers Seeley, don't fuck this up. I'll kill you if you hurt her." Who am I kidding? Her dad will kill him.

"Heh, If I fuck this up, Max will kill me." He laughed.

I take a big gulp. Yuengling. Beer nectar from PA. Yum. "So, really. What took you two so long?"

Hmph! The always cocksure charm boy seems a bit off his game. Is he nervous?

He laughs. Guardedly (surprise!) "It took the time that it took, Sul. Bones and me. We've always been in different places. Now is our time."

Is he kidding?

"Oh pah-lease! I seem to recall you in her face every chance you had when we were going out!"

"We were working! On cases! She's my partner."

"Really, dude? You're going to defend the indefensible? You guys may have been 'in different places', but don't sell that line to me! That wasn't partnering, that was making sure nobody got too close to Brennan until she was ready. You were in love with her back then, and she was into you. Just like I said!"

"Look, I may have had feelings of affection for her, or she for me, but it was never more than…"

"Seriously? You really think I'm gonna believe that shit?"

"Look…"

"Is everything OK out there?"

"We're fine!" we yelled back in unison. Thank God it struck the both of us as funny.

"C'mon, admit it Seeley. You had fallen for Brennan way before I came into the picture. You just hadn't figured out how to untie the partner knot without freaking her out."

"He'll never admit to that." Cam offered, seemingly appearing out of nowhere to grab Booth's pint glass. I couldn't tell if he was more agitated about her comment or that she snuck up on us. "Falling for Dr. Brennan scared the shit out of him."

Definitely the sneak up.

"What the fuck? How did you get in here?"

"Well, it was an unusual route, Seeley. It's called a 'door'." She smirked at him before turning to me. "Trust me Sully, it doesn't matter how obvious and inevitable these two were. We all saw it, and we all knew it. Even when Seeley and I were dating, I told him I saw this coming. I even gave him my blessing to chase her."

"Really, now?" I exclaimed. In Camille Saroyan, I would have a cohort to poke Seeley into admission. Tonight may be fun after all! Man he hates the light of interrogation. Look at him, he's getting squirrely.

"What!?" Booth frowned at Cam before shaking his finger at me. "I am faithful to every woman I've ever been with. I have never…"

Cam ignored him. "From my deathbed, Sully. My deathbed! I was this close to dying and I told him that he needed to tell her how he felt about her. And still – nothing! I was on my deathbed!"

"Are you dead?" he snapped, turning to pull another beer out of the refrigerator. "You don't look dead to me! Hmph, deathbed."

Cam gave him the side-eye roll. "Didn't admit it to me until years after, and still…"

I couldn't help but laugh at how agitated Seeley had become. "Okay, just stop, will ya? What's wrong with you? Walking into people's home and stealing beers out of the hands of people?"

"Changing the subject Big Guy?"

Cam has the cutest dimples! I never noticed before!

She crossed her arms, still holding the pint glass, putting it in Booth's range. "Is anything that I'm saying untrue?"

"But that's not the point that I'm…" he growled at Cam. Heh! Growled.

"Bones!" he hollered. "You left the front door unlocked?!"

Whispering to me, Cam said "This is him, engaging her to change the subject". She shook her head and laughed as he unsuccessfully tried to snatch back his beer.

"Don't you recall saying to me, like five or six years ago, 'I'm with Bones, all the way'?" You don't remember that?" she giggled, successfully maintaining possession of his, well, now her beer.

"Five or six years ago? Huh, that sounds pre-me," I add.

"Ugh!" he groaned, finally forfeiting his beer to Cam, and pouring the new bottle into another glass.

Responding to Booth, Tempe chimed in from the bedroom, "Well…Cam's expected! My doorman knows her, and I assumed that safety wasn't an issue given that I have two FBI-trained agents in my home."

"It wasn't just you Seeley. Dr. Brennan's always had a thing for you as well. Maybe she wasn't ready…" She turned toward me. "You know, you two kind of look alike. Especially now that you've bulked up Sully…"

Booth's head fell as he muttered to himself while preparing a glass of ice water for Tempe. I couldn't help but join in on Cam's fun. "Are you saying that Tempe dated me because I reminded her of him? I have had that thought…"

"Will you two just stop it?" he scowled, looking still to change the subject. "Bones! People had been killed in this apartment! An FBI agent in fact. And, a serial killer!"

"She went on a date with his brother, too, you know." Cam hid a wide grin as she sipped her beer.

"Technically, Howard Epps died outside the apartment, not in it…"

Cam persisted. "'Seeley". "Sully'. Even your names are similar…."

"Ha!" I clinked glasses with Cam.

"Simmer down!" Booth had obviously had enough. His argument with Tempe was his escape plan. He gave the two of us a warning glare and headed out of the kitchen.

"You know what I'm saying Bones, you can't be too careful! You're supposed to keep your door locked! Sweets has a theory that Broadsky may not have been acting alone!"

"You mean, the murderer that you found sitting in your locked apartment less than two months ago? It makes your argument about safety moot, Booth."

Christ, they really were perfect for each other.

"Listen. I thought we had an agreement…" Was the last thing Cam and I heard as Booth stormed back toward Tempe's room with her water.

Cam settled onto the stool next to me. "They're just getting started." She warned.

"Deathbed?" I asked her. "What happened?"

She took a deep breath. "That guy who Dr. Brennan just mentioned? Howard Epps. He poisoned me."

"What?"

"He was a serial killer. He became fixated on Dr. Brennan and tried to kill all of her friends and then her. He broke into the apartment to kill her. Seeley got here just in time to save the day and somehow, I don't know, Booth was trying to pull him from falling off the balcony, and he slipped from his grasp and …splat!"

"Golly."

Cam watched me. "All of this happened right before she met you. Neither of them ever mentioned it?"

I shook my head.

Cam continued. "Yeah, ostensibly, dealing with it is why Seeley shot the clown head, and why he had to see the FBI psychiatrist, Dr. Wyatt. That's when you were called up to work that case with Dr. Brennan. In hindsight, maybe it was also to deal with the prospect of losing people he loved, too. Me, Dr. Brennan. You know the realization that the job can be really dangerous. Icarus flying too close to the sun, you know? Maybe that's why he told her to go with you. If you love somebody, set them free, blah blah, blah."

"Yeah, but she didn't come with me, did she?"

Cam nodded. "Also telling."

"Still, she remains an important part of my life."

"And Seeley is to me. One of my best friends. Still."

I sighed. "It is annoying being side characters in their monster of a love story, though, isn't it?"

She giggled, nodding. "At least you get the juicy plot lines in her novels! I'm an uptight bureaucrat who keeps her from doing what she wants."

"Nah, you've gotta think of your character as the hard-ass police captain from every awesome movie from the 1980s."

Cam laughed. "Oh, I love it!"

A moment of silence passed between up us as we chuckled listening to Tempe and Booth bickering in the hallway.

A thought crossed my mind. "Huh. So you mean to tell me that I have a serial killer to thank for my relationship with Tempe?"

"Yup." Cam took a sip of her beer and then paused in her own sudden realization. She sighed heavily, and sadly added. "So does Seeley."

"Ah! Home sweet home!" Booth chucked his keys onto the side table.

Brennan scoffed as she entered Booth's living room. "I still don't understand why you couldn't have stayed my apartment tonight. That was a waste of gasoline. And the additional emissions don't help the environment." She turned back toward him with crossed arms.

Booth smiled as he sauntered toward her. "Because, Bones. It would be impolite to subject your houseguest to all of that noisy screaming and moaning you do when I handle my business tonight." He jerked his fisted right arm back to punctuate his meaning.

Brennan snickered, having become familiar with Booth's gesture of accomplishment and victory as he frequently leveraged it at his and Parker's sporting events. She pressed her hands to his chest as he swallowed her into his arms. "Even with such limited experience in the area, I would argue that it is you who is, by far, noisier when it comes to our episodes of sexual congress."

"Me!?" he questioned in mirth, pecking her lips.

"Absolutely." She said breathily. "You make many delightful grunts and gasps and howls and mewls…." She slipped her hands under his t-shirt, slowly dragging her nails across his back

"Mewls? What am I, a cat?"

Brennan laughed. "No, Booth. A mewl is akin to a whimper-"

"Oh, I do not whimper!" he protested.

"Hmph. I'm really in no mood to argue about it." She replied, though her eyes darkened in consideration of what she heard as a challenge. She tugged at his shirt, encouraging to pull him off. Once removed, she took a brief moment to admire his bare chest before planting kisses against his sternum, continuing up the left side of his neck where she nipped and sucked at his salty, stubbly flesh.

Simultaneously, she made quick work of his belt and unzipped his jeans. Deftly, her hand slipped into his boxer briefs. Slowly, deliberately, her fingers stroked him as she whispered in his ear "I am going to move you toward your recliner now. I'm going to vigorously fellate you, and then I'm going to mount you and fuck you senseless. Would you like that?"

Booth's body warmed at the feel of her hand against him and the heat of her breath against his neck and ear. With her free hand, Brennan guided his mouth to hers and rewarded her partner with a languid kiss. Slightly disoriented by her provocation, he stumbled back toward the chair and mumbled "Yes, please."

Brennan chuckled to herself as she pulled down his jeans before pushing him into the chair. Booth waited patiently as she knelt down to pull them off along with his shoes. Placing her hands on his warm thighs, she pulled herself up between his legs, pressing her still-clothed body firmly against his burgeoning arousal.

Booth groaned throatily. "Oh God, Bones."

She pecked at his lips before sliding back down his body. Within seconds, Booth's head was thrown back against the chair as he lost himself in the feel of Brennan's oral ministrations.

"So. Good." He grunted, peeking down to witness the spill of her hair in motion between his thighs. Brennan looked up and winked at him. Booth chuckled. Given Brennan's many skills, winking wasn't one of them and it was even funnier when she attempted to do it with her mouth on his cock.

Recognizing why Booth was laughing, Brennan frowned before intensifying the pressure of her actions. Booth's body locked in sheer pleasure at the change in speeds."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!" he choked out. "Bliss…"

Within seconds, Brennan was on her feet, headed toward the bathroom.

"Hey, wait!" Booth was frozen in shock. "Where are you going? What happened? Come back!"

Brennan turned around with a mischievous grin. "That noise you just made? That's a mewl. You know, a whimper? I said I was in no mood to argue, but I did want to prove my point. I'm going to urinate and then I'm going to bed. It's been a long day."

Still catching up to what she was saying, Booth replayed her words in her head, before getting up to chase her. "Bones! That's just wrong! You can't get me all hot and bothered like this and then leave me hanging!" Realizing that his blinds had yet to be closed, and that he was attired only in his striped socks, he looked to the windows to indeed discover that any neighbors across the street were getting a very decent show. Grabbing two pillows from the couch, he bookended his body and continued his chase towards the bedroom.

"Bones! Bones! Get back here!"

Booth stirred, instinctively recognizing that Brennan was no longer by his side in the bed. He sat up, scratching his cheek as he surveyed the room to pull himself out of his slumber. Time: 3:18 AM. Brennan's clothes still strewn against his easy chair. Bathroom light: off.

He rose to search for her in the apartment. Almost immediately, he heard her puttering in the kitchen. He opened his bedroom door, tiptoeing out to the living room to watch her, unannounced. She was softly humming the melody from a song overheard at the Japanese restaurant they had decided upon. On his side table, she had placed a glass of water and she had also retrieved the carton of rocky road ice cream from the freezer. Grabbing a spoon, she hopped on onto the stool, gathering his bulky bathrobe around her.

He watched her thumb through the library book that Parker had left. Booth snorted, his genius partner was reading a book on Pele at three o'clock in the morning.

Hearing him, Brennan looked up to find Booth approaching her. He smiled at her and kissed into her hair before retrieving a spoon from the drawer. He sat down opposite her and dug into the ice cream.

With her guilty smile, she offered apology. "I know that I asked you to buy me the mint chip gelato, but for some reason, I was in the mood for rocky road."

Booth squeezed her knee. "What's mine is yours Bones, you know that." He swallowed a spoonful of ice cream before adding "Plus, it's the chocolate. You want the chocolate because of all the sex we didn't have tonight."

Brennan scoffed.

"No, no, no. I know a thing or two about this." He winked. "Chocolate sends your pleasure-generating neurotransits firing. Eating my rocky road? This is an obvious coping mechanism for lack of sex."

"Neurotransmitters." Brennan corrected with a knowing smile, aware of Booth's teasing. "And we are far from lacking sex, Booth."

"Yeah, but that business of working me up into a lather earlier tonight? Not fair, Bones. A guy can die from stuff like that, you know."

Brennan laughed. "I just assumed you would masturbate to alleviate the pressure of your arousal."

Booth groaned. "I shouldn't have to masturbate when I have a gorgeous, willing partner to help me out."

"Why did you whisper 'masturbate' Booth? We're in your apartment. Alone. At three thirty in the morning."

Booth shifted on the stool. "God's always listening, Bones."

Brennan scoffed again. "Was your God listening when you said that you were going to nail me nine ways to Sunday? Because it's my understanding that your religion frowns upon premarital sex. Any sex, in fact, that is not an exercise toward procreation." Her lip curled. "And it was obvious to me that your intentions were highly motivated toward pleasure seeking."

Booth dropped his spoon on the table. "Bones!"

"Unless the Pope has introduced new standards of tolerance that are more aligned to how twenty-first century humans engage with each other…"

He glared at her. "Enough with the disparaging of my religion, will ya?"

Brennan shrugged, trying to hide her grin.

Booth picked up his spoon, "I promise you, we will never have a Pope with twenty-first century values. That's not how Catholicism works, okay?"

Brennan grinned.

"It was a good redirect though. The way you changed the subject about us not having sex tonight? Well done."

Brennan nodded as she took another spoonful of ice cream. "Thank you. Your efforts this evening were my inspiration."

"My efforts?"

Brennan shook her head. "It was obvious that Sully and Cam enjoyed giving us a hard time about our romantic relationship, but you were rather skillful at changing the subject through the introduction of more inflammatory topics."

"Heh, yeah. Those two. You know, I will never understand what made you think that having dinner with the two of them together was a good idea."

"We have a lovely time!" Brennan protested. "And I thought that since I was having a meal with two men with whom I had engaged in coitus, it would only be fair to have two women present with whom you had coitus."

Booth stared at her.

"And Hannah wasn't available, plus Sully and Cam are already friendly."

Booth laughed. "Wait, were you trying to hook up Cam and Sully?"

Brennan glared at Booth. "They are both smart, successful…good looking single people. Cam and Sully have been attracted to you and I, respectively. Logic suggests…"

Booth shook his head. "No, no, no, Bones. Logic doesn't work when it comes to love. You know that. Look at us! We don't make any sense, right?"

Brennan conceded his point.

"Besides, Cam's dating Paul."

Brennan shook her head, "I don't get the impression that Dr. Saroyan's fully invested in that relationship. Like me, I believe Dr. Saroyan shares an ambivalence to traditional romantic values. She's an evolved woman."

"Well, I don't know about all that…"Brennan reached for another scoop of ice cream, but Booth slammed the carton shut. "Wait a sec. Are you suggesting that one day you'll grow tired of me and kick me to the curb?"

Brennan smirked. "Attraction changes, Booth. Who's to say that one day, your interest in me may wane, and you'll want to seek another love interest?"

"Nope. No, no, no. No more rocky road for you, Sally! If you think that I will wane in my interest for you, you don't deserve my rocky road. There will be no waning."

Brennan finished her water and placed the glass in the sink. "I just saying, I would understand if that was the case. You should keep your options open as well, Booth."

"I'm not looking to keep my options open." He mumbled walking back towards his bedroom.

"Perhaps that's why you and Cam have remained close." She teased, following him. "Perhaps she's the woman that you're destined to be with. You have returned back to each other several times."

"What? He winced, turning back toward her. No, nooooooo! Cam and I always have been and will be friends!" He scratched his head. "We also were – note I said 'were' – sexually compatible."

"Right, at any point in time, you could resume a romantic-"Booth raised a finger at her as she slid back into the bed. "Fine! …sexual relationship with her." She giggled at his groaning.

He spooned his frame up against her, sighing as her hair nuzzled under his neck. "You know what, Bones? I know you're winding me up, but have some mercy on me, huh? It's the middle of the night, I'm tired, undersexed and I was forced to spend the evening having my balls busted by our exes."

"Another reason not to fornicate tonight. Your balls are busted." she snickered.

Although the room was dark, Booth still lifted his head to look at her. "You know what? Tomorrow night, we are staying at your place and I'm gonna withhold sex from you! How do you like them apples?"

Brennan pulled his arm tightly around her. "If you won't have sex with me, I'm sure I can entice Sully. After all, "Seely. Sully."

Booth spun a heartily laughing Brennan onto her back "Oh, you will pay for that Missy!" He began to tickle her all over. "I'll fix you with your 'Seely. Sully.' bullshit! Parker's not here to protect you, huh?"

Through fits of laughter and gasps for air, Brennan cried out "Okay! Okay! I choose you! I want you!"

"You don't want him?" he eased up a little.

"No!"

"Do you want him?" he eased up a little more.

"No!"

"Do you want me?" he slid his hand past the shorts she was wearing to palm her rear.

"Yes!" Brennan forfeited her defenses as she put her arms around him.

"Cause I want you." He kissed her.

"Yeah?" Brennan began to pull and tug at Booth's pajama bottoms.

"Yes, I do."

"I want you too, Booth."

The urgency quickly escalated between them as clothing was dispatched and bodies aligned.

"l love you Bones." He whispered against her mouth as he entered her.

"I love you too, Booth." She gasped.

"For now?" he teased, grunting.

"We'll see." She moaned back.

A/N #2

So, there's a bit of Wendish rationale for the title of this chapter. Prince's death broke my heart, and I've been meandering through his incredible catalog ever since. As I've been listening to the catalog, I'm also thinking about ultimate tribute covers of his songs (think: Cyndi Lauper singing "I Want To Be Your Lover" or Foo Fighters covering "Let's Go Crazy", both would be amazing!).

I was going to add a scene in which Booth sang "The Beautiful Ones" to Brennan, because it occurs to me that falsetto is the only tolerable singing range for DB to sing in, as evidenced by the ear worm that he and ED created: Fan Questions! So while the scene didn't come together in my noggin', I had to acknowledge the ear worm, and pay a small homage to Prince with spicy application of his lyrics.