Title: Smile
Author: [A]stra
Summary: Zack grinned and Parker gaped a little. "You look really pretty when you smile, Zack!" [Booth/Zack]
Author's note: So, I haven't posted anything in a while, and I saw the latest episode of Bones. I could help but love that Parker was in this one, so I thought of how Zack would have like Parker. Or not. Set in season three, before Gormagon. Warning, not beta'd. Slight slash. not your cuppa? Don't read it.
Attempting to make himself look smaller than he actually was, Zack pulled his knees to his chest and ducked his head in. It obviously worked because the man he was hiding from simply walked by the small alcove. Zack dared not let a breath of air out as he waited and counted to twenty. He finally let out a breath when he reached the twenty mark and let a small smile flit onto his face.
"Found you."
Zack jumped from his spot and looked up at Hodgins. He frowned as he stood up and pushed the other scientist away. "How did you know where I was?" he asked in his stoic voice.
"Dude, I can hear you breathing. It's not that hard." Jack smiled at his friend as he followed him towards the lab. It was their lunch break and both had decided that they could forgo lunch and instead play a child's game of hide and seek.
"Did you find Angela and Parker?" Zack asked as he scanned his card in.
"Not yet, you were the first. Want to help me find them?" Jack had somehow roped both Angela and Parker to play with them. Parker had a day off from school and because his mother wasn't watching him, Booth had offered to bring him into the lab.
Zack moved to one of the lab tables and crouched down on the ground. There, at eye level, was a small blonde boy holding his knees much the same way Zack had been doing earlier.
"I found you," Zack said, voice monotone.
"You're not it! You can't find me!" the smaller boy complained. Hodgins' face appeared at that moment in Parker's view.
"Found you." Zack grinned and Parker gaped a little.
"You look really pretty when you smile, Zack!"
The smile dropped from Zack's face immediately and a blush crept over his cheeks. He stood up quickly and rushed over to what he had been working at before the break. He busied his hands and kept his eyes focused on his work.
"Oh, Zack, I think you have an admirer," Hodgins taunted.
"Just leave and go find Angela. Take Parker with you," Zack muttered, eyes still down on his work.
"No, I think I'll leave the kid here." With that, Hodgins left the lab, leaving Parker to look after Zack. Not the other way around.
"How did you know where I was?" Parker asked as he moved closer to the scientist. "You were like a psychic. Are you psychic? Do you have powers that let you see into the future?" The questions seemed childish, just like Parker.
Just like Booth, Zack thought in his head. The thought of the older FBI agent made another blush creep onto Zack's face.
"You're blushing! Dad says when you think about something you like, you blush! What are you thinking about?" Zack looked down to his side and saw the small boy staring up at him with an evil grin, one that looked very much like that of the boy's father.
"I was thinking about a person." Zack surprised that telling the boy wouldn't hurt. What damage could the kid do? He would probably forget about it the next day. If he really wanted to find out something about children's memory, he could always ask Dr. Sweets later.
"Who is it? Do I know them?" Parker asked, starting to get excited. He loved to play games, and he simply saw this as a game.
"You do. You know them very well," Zack replied deceptively.
"Is it a girl?"
"No."
"Then, is it Dr. Hodgins?" Zack let himself chuckle as he smiled.
"No. Guess again. You've only got one more guess left."
"Aw! Come one! That's not fair! You have to give me more than one guess!" Parker complained. "I need more to go on!"
"Eliminate all of the prospects and you'll get the answer," Zack replied, worried that the boy wouldn't know what 'eliminate' meant.
"You mean, like, get rid all the stupid choices?" Parker asked, child innocence lacing his every word.
"No—actually, yeah, like that." Zack thought about it. It wasn't exactly stupid people, but in a child's term, he guessed it could work. The boy was like his father in many ways, Zack saw now. He was headstrong and not much for any brain smarts. He guessed that's how Booth's were. But the older Booth was Zack's personal favorite. He wasn't sure what it was, but when he had talked to Dr. Sweets about it, the man had said it was a man crush. After, he had come back to Zack saying that maybe it was more than a simple crush.
Whatever it was, it affected him. Like now, while he was trying to talk to Parker.
"Come on! Why can't you just tell me!"
"Because that'd be boring and you would have lost. Do you want to lose?" Zack asked. It was on of Booth's weaknesses, why not Parker's?
"What is Parker losing? It'd better not be one of those smart games you and Hodgins play."
Zack looked at the entrance of the lab and saw the very object of his thoughts standing there, Dr. Brennan standing a little ways ahead.
"Dad!" Parker ran up to his dad and Zack couldn't help but smile when he jumped into his father's waiting arms. Who would ruin a family moment like that?
"I found Angela."
Hodgins, of course.
He and Angela walked up the steps as they each flashed their own cards.
"Oh, hey Booth!" Hodgins called out. "Parker, did you ever tell your dad about how pretty Zack looked?" Zack narrowed his eyes at the dirt expert, but didn't say anything as nothing was truly directed at him.
"Parker?" Booth asked the boy. Parker simply smiled at his father, showing just how similar he looked to Booth.
"Daddy! I saw Dr. Zack smiling today! He looked really pretty when he did! You should see it!" The boy's bubbling excitement had gotten to Angela and she walked up to Parker.
"You thought it was pretty too?" she asked, hands on her hips. "I always try to get him to smile more. It's one of my games. You should try playing too."
"Ooh! Daddy, do you want to play with me and Dr. Angela? We can call it the 'Make Zack Smile' game!" Booth shook his head slowly as he slowly but his kid down. Parker frowned and turned to Zack, but froze when he saw the doctor's face. It was the same face from earlier! The one where Zack was blushing!
"I figured it out!" he shouted. "I know who that guy is, Zack!"
Zack froze where he stood and panicked. How was he supposed to handle this? Was he supposed to do anything?
"But you can't tell anyone," Zack said slowly. "If you stay quiet about it, I'll give you a reward later." Kids responded well to rewards, right? "Some candy or something."
"Wait, what is this about?" Booth asked as parker made a "yes!" sound in the background. "Know who what guy is?"
"I-It's just a game Parker and I were playing to pass the break time by, isn't that right?" he felt like he had never spoken so much in front of the agent like this before, and he probably hadn't. But recently, he had gotten fidgety whenever he got near Booth.
"And my son won?" Booth asked. Zack nodded hesitantly and Booth grinned. "Woo! That's right, my kid won something against a dweeb! I'm proud of you, Parker!"
Zack sat in a chair in the waiting room of the Smithsonian. He was waiting for Hodgins to finish up his flirting with Angela, but Zack was toying with the idea of taking the bus back to his rented apartment atop of the Hodgins garage. He might be out here for a while.
"Dad! Can I talk to Zack?"
Zack looked up to see the small, blonde headed boy running towards him.
"Not that I can't stop you, rocket, but yeah, sure." Booth came walking up behind his son.
"Can I talk to him alone?" Parker asked. Booth nodded and Parker smiled. "Thanks, dad!" Booth muttered something as he turned back around and headed back towards Bones' office. Once Booth was clear of the hall, Parker turned back towards Zack and sat on the chair next to him. "I know who you were thinking about!"
"Do you?" Zack asked, voice hinting at a slight tremble.
"Yeah, it was my dad, wasn't it?"
Zack sighed in defeat and nodded. "Yeah, it is. But you can't tell anyone. Understand?" Parker nodded but tugged at Zack's shirt.
"You said you would buy me candy!" Parker complained.
"I did, didn't I?" Zack asked. "Why don't we go out now and get you some ice cream?" Zack was feeling partial to ice cream himself. To help him over his little crush.
"Yeah! Let me go tell my dad!" With that, the younger Booth was gone to get his father. Zack stood up with another sigh and shrugged on his bag. There was an ice cream vendor near the street that they could go to.
"So, you're treating my son to some ice cream so that he can't tell me who you're obsessing over?" Zack turned around and saw Booth with a child in his arms.
"Yes."
"Simple."
"I want chocolate! Can I get chocolate, Zack?"
Zack nodded at the boy and smiled. "Get whatever you want, I don't care."
"Cool!"
The boy turned back around and asked the vendor for a chocolate swirl or something similar. Zack wasn't really paying attention to the exact words, just the amount of money he was going to pay.
"And I'd like a vanilla," Zack ordered when the man turned to him.
"You eat ice cream?" Booth asked him.
"Is it wrong?" Zack asked, handing over the perfect amount.
"No, just odd, coming from you." Zack shrugged, simply taking it as an answer. Once the ice cream cones were in their hands, parker moved them over so they could sit on the bench with Parker in the middle.
A moment went by in peaceful silence as Zack continued to eat at his ice cream.
"Dad!" Parker whispered. Booth looked down at his son and frowned. The boy was urging him to come closer so he could hear something that Parker could whisper.
"Really? You want me to?" Booth asked after he heard his son whisper into his ear, slight shock on his face. Parker nodded eagerly. "Well, fine."
Parker jumped off of the bench and ran off with a simple "I'll be back" called over his shoulder.
"What did he want?" Zack asked out of curiosity.
Instead of answering the question, Booth scooted in closer to the other. "Parker was right, you really are pretty when you smile."
Zack turned to look at Booth in confusion, but was caught off guard with a warm pair of lips. Booth pulled back after the small kiss and smiled. "You should smile more."
It's a cute little one shot and I wanted to know how you guys thought of it! Feedback as reviews are greatly appreciated!