Story: Tattoo

Summary: [Slash]"It's your life, your body," he evened out. "And your death when Booth finds out." [est. Zack/Booth]

Author's Note: So, this is a story in snippets. And I'm writing this one my new MAC! Yes, I have turned! Anyway, hope you enjoyed.

Zack frowned into his mug of hot tea. True, it was keeping him warm, but he didn't understand why he was feeling so cold anyway. It was odd. His body temperature was normal, the room wasn't cold, but still he felt cold. It didn't make any sense to him.

Taking a sip of his tea, he let the hot liquid burn a path down his throat. He was sitting in the lounge of the Jeffersonian, taking his break. Agent Booth had taken Dr. Brennan off to look at some body and he wasn't needed. Hodgins was watching a few larvae hatching, and Zack had turned down the opportunity to watch that in action. Angela had made a "ssh"-ing noise as she walked out of the building with a tall, muscular man. She said it was her lunch break, despite that it was still simply minutes after breakfast.

Was the cold feeling from being lonely? Was this feeling from being left behind by Dr. Brennan? Because he was useless?

"Zack," Dr. Brennan's voice called out to him from bellow. Zack stood up and looked over the railing to see that his mentor was back with Agent Booth trailing behind. "I need you down here."

He smiled as he ignored his tea and quickly made his way downstairs to Dr. Brennan. When he reached her, his smile grew wider. "You called?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I wanted to see you," Agent Booth announced as he stepped over to the smaller male. Stooping down, he kissed Zack on the lips for a short moment. "Just wanted to give you that."

Zack smiled up at Agent Booth and nodded. "You didn't kiss me when you left with Dr. Brennan this morning," he stated. "I missed it."

"Are you sure you want to go on with this?" Hodgins asked. "If not, you can always pull back and not go on. Nothing wrong with a little chickening out here and there."

"I'm not going to 'chicken-out'," Zack grumbled. "I'm going through with this. It will be successful and you will deem me King of the Lab once I'm finished."

Hodgins nodded as he stepped back from the smaller boy. "It's your life, your body," he evened out. "And your death when Booth finds out."

"He won't find out," Zack pouted. "Remember, he broke up with me, he has no say in my life anymore." The depressing sinking feeling sank back in his chest as he heaved a sigh. "Maybe if I do get it, there's a chance he'll want me..." Zack trailed off as he looked into the window of the shop. "Maybe I won't be so disappointing in his eyes if I get this."

"Or maybe he'll hate you even more," Hodgins added. "Either way, you have nothing to lose."

"Yeah, nothing to lose."

"Where did you guys go to?" Angela asked upon their return. "You both were gone for the whole lunch break."

Zack took in the crowd that had gathered. Dr. Brennan and Dr. Saroyan were looking at a corpse on the raised center. Angela was standing off to the side with her sketch book while Agent Booth was standing near the back, but close enough to Dr. Brennan to hear her whispers.

"We went to a tattoo parlor. Really nice and clean. Almost thought about getting one myself," Hodgins replied, forcing a grin. He knew that this would end badly for Zack, either way, so he stepped to the side.

"Does that mean Zack got a tattoo?" Angela asked. "Cool, I want to see it!"

Zack stepped up on the dias and swiped his card, Hodgins following. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Zack, may I speak with you?" Agent Booth asked. "Privately?" The dreading feeling returned to Zack's stomach as he nodded. Agent Booth grabbed his hand and—in all sense of the word—dragged him away.

"Nothing to lose," Zack repeated to himself mentally.

"Zack, what do you mean you got a tattoo?" Agent Booth asked.

"Why should you care?" Zack asked. "I don't understand why you're so upset with this. Is this how you would react if Hodgins had gotten a tattoo? Or if Angela showed you hers?"

Agent Booth made a growling noise in the back of his throat. Zack couldn't help but to stare at those lips. The same lips that had kissed him the day before, that got him so excited in just a matter of seconds. The same lips that had told him to leave last night. The same lips that had told him that their relationship was through.

The dreading feeling in his chest was replaced with a clenching feeling. Like he couldn't breath.

"Because, damnit, Zack, I still care about you! I didn't confess my heart to Angela, and I didn't fuck Hodgins every night for the past five months." Agent Booth seemed to have had gotten himself in a rush. His eyes were dilated and his breathing was rushed.

"And they are not the ones that you broke up with, either," Zack reasoned, ignoring the smaller points of Agent Booth that he was starting to notice. "You didn't break their hearts, so I don't see how you are worrying about me." Zack turned around and headed back towards the group.

"Don't you dare," Seeley growled. His hand snapped out to grab Zack's own hand, keeping him in place. This wasn't supposed to go this way! "I made a mistake, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Zack asked. "You broke up with me. Told me you didn't think we should meet anymore. I think you were straight forward."

"So, are you saying that breaking up with you wasn't a mistake?" Seeley asked. The boy was fidgeting in his grasp. Not trying to get away, but trying to make himself smaller. The agent knew that Zack would react this way. "Because, I think it was a big mistake. That I should have kept you last night. Kept you in my arms and let you make fun of me."

Seeley couldn't forget how he had broken the boy's heart. It had all started with a stab at the agent's pride made by the scientist.

"You're always so protective of me. Is it because you're afraid that I'll find someone better than you?"

Those words had stung him, and there was no denying that.

"Are you saying you could do better than me?"

Even now, Seeley knew he shouldn't have responded that way. Rather, he should have stayed silent.

"I could obviously do better than you."

Seeley winced and looked at the boy in his arms, hair disheveled from the previous activity. It hurt to know that the boy that little of him.

"You can try," he countered.

"And if I do?"

"We might have a problem, then."

"I didn't mean it," Zack mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Agent Booth asked.

"I could never find anyone better than you. You're the only one for me." Saying it now made his cheeks redden. He was glad that he wasn't facing the agent, but even with the simple hand around his, he was sure Agent Booth knew how red he was.

"Good, because you're all I want."

"Maybe if you think that you can do better than me, you shouldn't be here. Maybe you should be out there, finding someone else to be with." Agent Booth had pulled back and Zack turned around to look at him.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You heard me, maybe you should leave. You obviously know that you can do better than me, so why not go on and do so. We can break up and you can have as many people as you want."

"But..."

Seeley pulled the boy to his chest and wrapped his arms around him. "I'd rather have you here and now. Forever."

"I like it here. With you."

"Good, because that's never going to change."

"Are you really breaking up with me?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'."

"So, now that I've established that you are still mine to worry about, I'd like to inform you that you are not allowed to get tattoos."

"Okay."

"Wait, what? Didn't you get one earlier?" Seeley asked.

"No, Hodgins and I just checked the place out. It was a pretty nice place, too. But I didn't get anything," Zack said with a shrug.

Seeley's embrace tightened as he hugged the boy. "Good," he muttered. Pulling back, he kissed the boy on this lips. "Nothing happens to that body of mine."

Hope you enjoyed! Please review and tell me what you thought of it!