"Mr. Addy, what do you make of that?" Dr. Brennan was standing over the examination table, pointing at a section of the remains currently occupying it. There was a strange texture to the surface of the bone and she wanted to see what he came up with. There were a number of possibilities, but there was one in particular that made the most sense. He had seemed distracted recently and Dr. Brennan wanted to test him. They had encountered this abnormality on a case before, and she knew if he got it incorrect that there truly was something wrong.

Zack took a moment to examine the anomaly in close detail. He seemed to take an unusually long time to deliberate with himself, but he finally gave his answer. He was wrong.

"Zack, what is going on with you?" Temperance took a step back and set down the clipboard she was holding, taking on a posture more conducive to a concerned friend rather than a reprimanding teacher. "You have been losing your focus and are constantly forgetting things. Not to mention getting fairly easy questions incorrect." She placed a gloved hand on his shoulder and lightly squeezed, slightly creasing the fabric of his blue lab coat.

"I'm not sure what you are insinuating, Dr. Brennan. I have been perf-" The end of his sentence trailed off, something behind Temperance catching his eye quite suddenly. Whatever it was, he followed it with his eyes for a while before snapping his attention back to Dr. Brennan.

"That is exactly what I am talking about, Zack."

The chirping of the forensics platform security pass caught both of their attention, and they turned to see Angela climbing the steps. "It sounds to me like our young Mr. Addy has found himself a filthy lover in the night." She said it in whispered, conspiratorial tones, as though it were a huge scandal lying in wait to break free.

"What makes you think his lover is filthy?" asked Dr. Brennan in her typical oblivious manner. "Zack, is your lover particularly lacking in hygiene as Angela suggests?" Angela's eye roll went unnoticed.

"No." Zack shook his head a bit like a puppy. "Most times we have engaged in coitus, he has been quite clean when we began. Unless you are posing the word 'filthy' as a figure of speech regarding the quality of our sexual liaisons, in which case, yes, he is very filthy." An almost disturbingly lecherous smile spread across Zack's face, eyes drifting into space. Coming back to reality, Zack noticed the shell shocked faces of the two women in front of him. "Is something wrong?"

Shaking herself slightly, Angela laughed nervously. "Sorry, Sweetie. I'm still stuck on the word 'He'."

"Oh, so you're officially coming out now, are you?" Hodgins entered the forensics platform carrying a tray of bone fragments he had been testing for particulates. He set the tray down and smiled at the three of them. "I wondered when you would start telling everyone."

"Telling everyone what?" Dr. Saroyan and Agent Booth joined the four on the platform, Camille raising her eyebrows and smiling in that way that says 'you had better tell me the newest hot gossip.' Booth just crossed his arms and leaned his hip against the edge of the outer raining of the platform, saying nothing.

"Zack is finally admitting that he's gay," stated Hodgins primly.

"I am still unclear as to how you already knew I was sleeping with a man." Zack finally spoke up again, cutting quick glances at Booth.

"I hate to break it to you, Zack, but it's kinda obvious you're wearing another guy's clothes when they're about three sizes too big."

"Three sizes?" asked Angela incredulously. "Jeez, how big is this guy?" Her eyes lit up at her joke and a lecherous grin spread across her face. The twinkle died a little when it became obvious that Zack had missed the innuendo, proclaiming his secret lover to be a few inches taller and distinctly wider, but in a muscular way, not a fat way. No one missed the loud snort from Booth.

Almost as one, all four squints turned towards him abruptly and proceeded to berate him for being a homophobic Neanderthal, an insensitive cretin, a brainwashed government pig, and a jerk, depending on which one you focused on. Angela was visibly gearing herself up for a major tirade on showing their support for Zack's life choices when Zack broke the building tension.

"Seeley, we should just tell them." Their heads turned so fast that Booth was a little surprised he wasn't staring at four cases of whiplash.

Brennan was the first to recover, her eyebrows returning to their original placement on her forehead. "'Seeley?'" she parroted, incredulous at her assistant's use of the Agent's first name. "Zack, would you please explain to us what is going on?"

Without answering, Zack maneuvered around the examination table and wove between his friends to stand beside Booth. The Agent gave him a fond smile and draped his arm across the shorter man's shoulders, silently staking his claim.

Dr. Brennan's eyebrows quickly scurried back up her forehead to rest astonishingly close to her hairline. "Huh."

"I gotta hand it to you, Sweetie," Angela laughed. "You make an adorable couple. And Zack, can I just say 'congratulations on turning one of the hunkiest guys in DC gay.' The sex must be amazing." Angela mused to herself for a moment longer before wandering off the platform, fanning herself with a file folder and shaking her head.

Hodgins just kept staring at the two of them before bolting after Angela, too shocked for words. Dr. Saroyan gave the two men an awkward but encouraging smile, happy for them but no doubt thinking back on her short lived relationship with Booth. With a friendly pat on Zack's shoulder, she disappeared into her office.

"Bones, you okay with this?" Zack, Booth, and Dr. Brennan were the only ones left on the forensics platform, the two lovers twined together and Brennan still staring at them with her vacationing eyebrows and her slack jaw. "Zack, I'm sorry, but I think we broke her." With a nervous glance at his silent boss, Zack threaded his fingers with Booth's and pulled him from the platform. The couple decided to take the opportunity to pay a visit to the Egyptian exhibit in storage while everyone was otherwise occupied.

In their absence, Brennan returned to her assessment of the skeleton, but it took a long while for those eyebrows to descend once more.

AN: Not my best work, but I thought that enough of you enjoyed the first chapter to post this one. I'm not sure if I'll bother continuing this story any further. But who knows? I may suddenly discover more inspiration for this and continue it. Hope you enjoyed it and please review.