Fruedian Slip (complete)

He put on a good show, but most of the time, he didn't mind. He'd learned alot about Brennen in their sessions with Sweets. He learned things about her, that she would never have voluntarily offered to him, in their normal conversations.

They had both, just finished lunch at the diner. "You ready to go, Bones?" he glanced at his watch. They still had a few minutes, before their shrink session with Sweets.

"Just finishing up my coffee, Booth."

"We got time." It was no hardship for Booth to spend time with Brennen. In his world, Parker was his priority, and then Bones, came next. It had been like that for some time. Other than with his son, there was no place he'd rather be, than beside her. Work or personal, it made no difference to him.

He hadn't seriously dated anybody in some time. He'd had few dinners, here and there, but he discovered, that when he was with another woman, he constantly compared them to Bones. They weren't as pretty, they weren't as smart, they weren't as funny, they just didn't stack up, in comparison, in anyway.

He gave a little sigh, causing Brennnen to look up.

"Something wrong, Booth?" as she finished up her coffee.

"Nahhh, Boness." Yes, Bones.

"Ready when you are, Booth." He stood, and gave her a hand up. She took his hand, with a smile. She had become accustomed to having Booth's assistance. He slipped his hand to her back, gentle guiding her around their table, and towards the door.

His hand slid away from her back, as he ushered her into his vehicle. She didn't notice him touching her anymore, in fact she noticed when he didn't. His hand on her back, giving her his arm, or even the occasionally hand holding they did, seemed so right, and natural to her.

She looked over to Booth, as he climbed in, beside her. "Your in a good mood."

He grinned at her, "I'm always in a good mood, Bones. Your the one that gets grumpy."

"Booth, I don't do grumpy."

"Trust me, Bones, yes you do."

"Incorrect, Booth, your the one who gets grumpy." she looked at him.

He loved to bicker with her, in fact they filled in alot of their alone time, with their pretend bicker, back and forth. Most people were intimidated by her, he was not, he was facinated by her, and he agged her on.

"Hey, don't take your grumpiness out on me, Bones, save it for Sweets." he said with a grin, and pulled out into traffic.

"I told you, I don't do grumpy." making Booth grin, as he manuevered in traffic.

Booth reached out, and pushed the up button.

They were waiting for the elevator, "Hey Charlie," Booth greeted his friend, as he walked up to the elevator.

"Booth, Dr. Brennen." he nodded to them.

"How's it going?" Booth looked at him.

"Doing good, you two?" he looked at Booth.

"We're good, on the way up, to see Sweets." Booth rolled his eyes, causing Charlie to smirk at him.

"Better you than me." He noticed, as always, they were standing close to each other, touching each other, without literally touching each other.

The elevator opened, and they all stepped thru the doors. Booth, gave Dr. Brennnen his arm, causing Charlie to wonder, for the upteenth time, if they were together. Booth always said they were just partners, but he known Booth too long, to believe that.

"Loved your last book, Dr. Brennen."

"Thanks Charlie." the elevator dinged, the doors slid open, Charlie stepped off.

"Talk to ya' later, Booth, Dr. Brennen." and with a wave he was gone, leaving them alone on the elevator.

"You know, Bones, everybody here, thinks Andy is me." he was referring to her book.

"That's absurd Booth, Andy is a fictional character, completely made up."

"Come on, Bones, you can tell me."

"Booth, I told you, he is a product of my imagination."

"Uh, huh, Bones, what ever you say." No way, would he ever believe that.

The elevator dinged, she was saved by the bell. The doors slid open,and with his hand on her back, guided her out of the elevator, and down the hall to Sweet's office.

Sweets looked up, as they walked thru his door. As always, they entered together, her on his arm, but as soon as they crossed the threshold to his office, they seperated.

"Sweets." Booth acknowledged him, with a nod.

"Booth, Dr. Brennnen," he stood up behind his desk.

Brennnen walked over to the couch, and took her usual spot, making herself comfortable.

Booth, walked over to the opposite side of the couch, far away from Brennen, as the couch would allow. The shrink in Sweets, always found that behavior facinating. Normally, he would go out of his way to touch her, yet, in these intimate sessions between them, he went out of his way not too.

As always, Sweets came forward and seated himself in the arm chair, opposite the couch. He sat, and watched them for a minute. He liked seeing them figet, waiting for someone to talk. He glanced between the two of them. He noticed, they would look at each other occassionally, as if they were reading each other's mind, waiting for the other to begin.

"So, anything you two want to discuss, before we get started." he looked from one to the other.

"Actually, there is, Sweets."

Wow, this was a first, "What is it you would like to discuss, Agent Booth?"

Booth turned his head, and looked at Brennen.

She looked at him, clearly curious as to what he was going to say.

"I would like Bones to admit, her character Andy is me. Or at least, based on me."

"Dr. Brennen, " Sweets looked at her. "Do you have anything to say?"

A deep sigh, "We've already been over this, Andy is not Booth."

"Dr. Brennen," he paused, "Can you understand, why Agent Booth would think that about your character of Andy?"

"Not really, Sweets, Andy and Booth, have very little in common."

"How can you say that, Bones?"

"Let's think about this for a minute." Sweets continued," Agent Booth, what about Andy compares to you?"

"He's an FBI agent."

"Yes."

"He has a woman partner."

"Yes."

"She is a scientist."

"Yes."

"They are best friends."

"Those are all valid observations, except for the last one." Sweets chimed in.

"He's right Booth." Brennen backed Sweets up. "Andy and Cathy, aren't best friends, they are lovers."

"They're both, Bones." he paused. "Best friends and lovers."

Brennen looked up, straight into Booth's eyes. "Sweets," she said, though she was looking at Booth, "would you please define the term fiction for Booth."

"Sweets tell Dr. Brennen, I already know what fiction means."

"Sweets, tell Booth, he does not know what fiction means, if he did, he would know that Andy is a fictional person, does not really exist, hence the word fiction."

"Sweets, tell Dr. Brennen, that just cause she says it, doesn't make it true."

"Sweets, tell Booth, that I always tell the truth."

"Sweets, tell Dr. Brenn......"

"Enough!!" Sweets was looking from one to the other.

"You two, are unbelieveable." he shook his head, looking from one, to the other. "Let's try this excercise."

"Is that a good idea, Sweets last time, we did something like that, Bones, wanted my sperm."

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennen, I need you to take this seriously."

"Can't we just look at ink blobs, Sweets. "

Sweets gave Booth, his annoyed look, "I guess I could go tell the FBI, that you two aren't getting along,.."

"Okay, okay, Sweets." he wouldn't let anything break up their partnership, especially Sweets.

"I'm going to ask you a question, I want you to say the first person, or thing, it makes you think of."

"Dr. Brennen, you go first."

"Who's the funniest person you know."

"Booth." she answered, and Booth smiled.

"Good, now to you Booth, same question."

"Bones." Brennen looked at him.

"Really, Booth? You think I'm funny?" Humor was never her thing, but since Booth, she was making an effort.

He grinned at her, "Bones, sometimes, you are the funniest person I know."

Sweets smiled, watching them smile at each other. This could work.

"Who's the smartest person you know?"

"That's easy, Bones." Booth answered first.

"Now your answer Dr. Brennen."

"It's Booth."

"Really, Bones?" he voice doubtful.

She turned to him, "Sometimes, Booth, you are way smarter than I am, and I'm a genius." she had realized long ago, being smart sometimes didn't have anything to do with a persons I.Q.

"Thanks, Bones, that's one of the nicest things, you've ever said about me." he grinned at her, causeing her heart to thump, erratically.

"Your welcome." and gave him a smile.

"On to the next question." Sweets was looking pleased with himself.

Sweets looked from one to the other, they were both smiling, "Next question, Dr. Brennen, who's the person you trust the most?"

"Booth." in less than a second.

"Agent Booth?"

"Definately, Bones." he replied.

"Good, glad to see you two, are in the spirit of things." he continued on. "Dr. Brennen, what is your greatest accomplishment in life?"

Brennen thought about it, "Must be my work with the FBI."

Booth sat straight up, turned at looked at her, "Really Bones? I would have thought it would have been getting all those fancy doctorates, you love to talk about."

She turned and looked at him. "They're pieces of paper, Booth, what I do with the FBI, is so much more important. Helping you bring murderers to justice, is my greatest accomplishment."

"Agent Booth, what's yours?" Sweets asked, then was has a idea. "Wait, Agent Booth, I would like Dr. Brennen to answer the question for you." he turned to Brennen. "Dr. Brennen, what do you think is Agent Booth's greatest accomplishment?"

Booth turned to her, clearly curious as to what she'd say. She looked back to him, "Knowing Booth, as I do," she was smiling, "I would say, his greatest accomplishment, would be, being a dad to Parker."

Sweets turned to Booth, "Agent Booth, is Dr. Brennen correct?"

"She is." Booth slid down off the arm of the couch, seating himself next to her, with a grin.

Sweets gave a little nod,"Agent Booth, its your turn. How would you descsribe Dr. Brennen's relationship with you?"

"We're best friends, partners..."

"Not what I mean, Agent Booth." he'd try again. "That's what you are, I want to know, what you think, she thinks of you."

"Well, she knows that I'm there for her, if she needs something."

"Dr. Brennen, you trust Agent Booth implicitly?"

"Yes."

"So, if he told you something, you would believe it?"

"I trust in Booth, Dr. Sweets."

"So that's a yes, you would believe him." she nodded her affirmative.

"Agent Booth, do you feel like you could tell Dr. Brennen, anything?"

"Mostly, yea." he loosened his tie, a bit, his collar was getting a little tight.

Mostly? Brennnen looked over at him. She would make a point to ask him about that, when they were alone, not in front of Sweets.

Sweets noticed the tension had risen slightly with the last question, they were finally making progress.

Should I keep posting? I have several chapters that I haven't posted yet.

dawn

hell yes keep going im intrigued

yes definitely keep going!! i love this story

You've got me hooked! I even registered for a username just so I could beg you to keep posting

Sweets knew, from experience, he needed to diffuse the tenseness, he was finally making progress, and didn't want to lose it.

"Dr. Brennen, how do you describe your relationship, to Agent
Booth, to other people."

"I don't, everyone I associate with, already knows Booth." he
knew she kept her circle small.

"How about you, Agent Booth?"

"I don't really discuss Dr. Brennen, with my co workers, Sweets."

Brennen cleared her throat, "Dr. Brennen, do you want to say
something?"

Booth looked at her, curious, "Booth, the other day, you were on the phone, with Charlie, and you referred to yourself as my Mulder, what did you mean?"

Ah, a pop culture reference, this could be his ticket.

"Dr. Brennen, you've never seen an episode of the X files?" Sweets wasn't surprised.

"Since, Booth, and I have been partners, I've heard several people make references to the X files, but I never knew what that meant." she took a breath, "so I watched a few episodes."

"When was this, Bones?" Booth asked her.

"A few months, ago."

"You bought the DVD's?" he asked.

"Borrowed them from Hodgins." it figured.

"What did you think?"

"It was entertaining, but I didn't get the references to us. I see no comparison to what we do, to investigating UFO's, or unexplained phenomenon."

"Dr. Brennen, doesn't the fact that Mulder is a FBI agent, and Scully is a doctor, and they work together, seem similar to you, and agent Booth."

"That part yea, but that's it."

"How many episodes did you watch, Bones."

"Two."

"Two, that's it?"

"The pilot episode, and the first show."

"Ahhhhhhhhh, Dr. Brennen, you didn't watch enough." Sweets said.

"How many episodes of X files were there?" she was curious.

"Years worth."

"what about it compares to us, then, Booth?"

"Well, Mulder was definitely a heart person, and Scully was definitely the disbeliever, and believed everything had a rational explanation."

"She sounds smart to me." Bones said.

"In the end, Mulder made her believe in more, than just clinical science Bones."

"They were partners?"

"Yes, for many years,"

"What was their relationship like?" she asked.

"Well, they were partners, so they took turns saving each others lives. They depended and relied on each other. They were there for each other personally as well."

"Personally. You mean they were more than partners."

"Not at first, but eventually, they came together."

"Were they happy, together."

Booth looked at Brennen. "I believe, that Mulder loved Scully for
many years, but their partnership prevented them from having a
relationship. I also think Scully loved Mulder, but she wouldn't let herself, for whatever reason, trust in their friendship, relationship, or whatever you want to call it. She didn't believe that it could work."

"So they didn't get together?" Brennen was looking at him.

"You mean, did they run off into the sunset and live happily ever after?" she nodded.

"No." Booth seemed a little sad.

"But they loved each other?" she asked Booth.

"Without a doubt, Bones."

Brennen had turned to Booth, and he had turned to her, neither said a word for a minute.

"I find that sad, Booth." She turned back to Sweets.

Silence was all the sudden very loud.

Sweets was thrilled with the session. This was clearly the best
session he'd ever had with the both of them, together, maybe he
could open their eyes after all.

"Dr. Brennen," she looked up at Sweets. "How are your other relationships, outside of Booth?"

"Fine, Sweets." her friends were good.

Sweets looked from one to the other. "Agent Booth, are you currently dating anybody?"

Brennen lifted her head, curiosity getting to her, "Not currently."
Booth answered.

"What about you, Dr. Brennen, are you seeing anybody?"

"No." she was direct.

"Really, Bones, what about Hacker?" Booth was looking at her.

"I only went to dinner with him, Booth."

"What, no satisfying your biological urges, Bones?" he said it in
a joking manner, but it was no joke to him.

"I'm not currently sexually active, and haven't been for a while, Booth."

"Is there a reason for your sexual abstinence Dr. Brennen?"

"I don't understand the question, Sweets." Booth was oddly silent.

"Why?"she thought about it, "I've decided, "she paused, and turned her eyes to look at Booth, "that I need more than just sex in a relationship."

"What else do you need, Dr. Brennen?" Sweets gave her another nudge. She remained silent. Okay, he had an idea.

"Darn it." Sweets stood up, and stuck his hand in his pocket, and pulled out his phone. Guess, I forgot to turn off my phone," He glanced at it. "You two will be okay for a few minutes, I need to take this." and walked quickly out of his office closing the door softly behind him.

Booth sat on one end of the couch, and Brennen sat on the other, without saying a word. After a few minutes, Booth couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Bones." she looked at him, but didn't say anything.

"You okay?"

"No, I don't think so."

He reached out with one his hands, and picked up hers. She curled her fingers around his, and slid a little closer to him.

"You can tell me anything."

"Apparently not, Booth, isn't that what you said." she looked at him.

"That's not what I said."

"Okay, when Sweets asked you, if you could talk to me about anything, you said, most anything."

"Are you sure that's what I said, cause........"

"I have a photographic memory Booth. You said it."she paused, "I can talk to you about anything, but you can't talk to me?" she sounded disappointed.

"Geeez Bones, a guy's gotta have some secrets."

"I don't have any secrets from you."

"None?"

"Nope, I tell you everything." mostly.

"That's not true. You didn't tell me, you weren't seeing Hacker anymore."

"I just assumed you knew."

"Why?"

She looked at him questioningly. "Why aren't you seeing Hacker, anymore?"

"He was........" she was searching for the correct word, "annoying."

*ding ding ding* That's the word for Hacker... and a few other words that are less appropriate to air in public

oh sweets! i'm surprised booth didn't call him out on his "phone-call-to-get-out-of-an-awkward-situation"