His body rose up to meet her's, hands firm on her hips, holding her tight, pulsing within her until she felt him collapse beneath her. Eyes still closed, he missed the stunning sight of her towering over him, head thrown back in ecstasy. His hands moved, rising along the extreme arch of her back then falling down around the beautiful curve of her hips, drifting low on her thighs. They rested there while he caught his breath, tucked behind her knees, between her thighs and calves.

She laughed in amusement, soft and low, a sound he loved above almost any other.

"What?" Booth huffed out, still slightly breathless.

Freeing his hands, he fiddled with her long graceful fingers before interlacing them with his and tugging lightly, pulling her down onto his chest. She hummed, taking a long satisfied breath before answering.

"Just something Angela said." Smiling, she reached a little to place a soft open kiss at the base of his neck, right where his collarbones met, his pulse still jumping wildly beneath her lips. She settled back down on his chest, momentarily lost in the feel of her body rising and falling with Booth's. Connected, in sync with one another, she'd come to love that feeling.

"Angela?" He prompted.

"Yes."

When she didn't volunteer any more than that, Booth started to get restless. Angela was a great friend to Bones, had been for years, but she liked to meddle and Booth was more than a little leery about her getting in the middle of their relationship.

"So," he offered up slowly. "What did she say?" Clearing her throat, Bones answered.

"Tonight, before we left, she said she's known we were together for awhile now. She said she knew right after we got back from the Queen Anne."

"From the photos." He added definitively.

It was a long established fact that Angela had a gift for reading photos. She saw things that nobody picked up on, well, with the exception of Booth, himself. While Bones chalked it up to the innate ability to read the minutia of body language, Booth knew it was not a science thing at all. Angela was more of a gut person, like him. She was only half squint.

"No." Her own surprise rang through her voice as she answered. "No, before that."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"No...I don't believe it...how?"

"You."

"Me?"

"She said it was your hands that gave it away."

"What? No. Me? My hands?" They worked very hard to keep their secret, conscious of anything that could indicate things changed between them. He couldn't help thinking back over their interactions trying to remember any time he may have slipped. "Nope. I think Angela is just having a hard time accepting we pulled one over on her."

Her low giggle vibrated through Booth's chest and he drew her just a little closer, pressing her body to his as his hands traveled up the long, beautiful curve of her back. Enjoying the simple beauty of the woman in his arms, he let out a long satisfied breath.

"She swears she knew."

"Well, okay, when?"

"It was one afternoon several days after we returned, I was coming out of the bone room as you were coming in and I didn't see you there."

"You ran into me." He remembered. "You stumbled." Off balance, she almost fell.

"Yes, and you caught me." Startled, her heart pounded as papers and files went flying everywhere. "Although, I am normally quite observant and very agile, on that particular day I was very tired. I hadn't slept those first few nights we were back."

"Because you weren't sleeping with me." Gloating, Booth pointed out what had taken some time for Bones to admit. "You always sleep better when you sleep with me." She laughed again, pushing herself up where she sat straddling his torso. Instinctively, his hands went to her waist, steadying her. She was beautiful, so confident and bold, no hesitancy, no reservations or insecurities. "Still, I don't see how that gave it away."

"Apparently, when you let go of my waist your hand kind of drifted down my hip and rested low on the side of my thigh, just for a moment. But, Angela said it was enough, she insists she knew it right then. She said a man doesn't do that unless he has some sort of intimate knowledge and familiarity with a woman, more than colleagues or friends."

"Hmmm." Letting his hand mimic the motion Bones described, he ran his hands back and forth over the smooth skin rounding her hips and thighs, sending a shiver through her body. "She's right about that, it's a pretty intimate gesture."

Lost in the feel of his strong hands, her eyes fell shut and she hummed softly. It was a beautiful kind of intimacy they shared, so much more than the sum of all the parts they played in each other's lives, partners, friends, lovers. They both fell silent, letting the moment linger between them until she laid back down on his chest, allowing herself to slip across his body and tuck herself into his arms, settling on his side. Her fingers drifted in lazy circles across his chest.

"Angela said she didn't say anything because she figured we needed time to figure it out for ourselves. She didn't want to jinx us by revealing our secret."

"Yeah, well, it's out now." Craning his neck a little to connect, Booth looked down at her. His eyes sparkled and that handsome, charming smile of his filled her heart. "I think it's safe to say everyone knows by now, whether they were there tonight or not." Booth chuckled. Talk about taking a gamble, he'd taken a huge risk with her, with their professional partnership, with everything that made them, well, them. Silently, he thanked God it all worked out.

There was a flurry of excitement, each person rushing to offer their congratulations. Hacker, who'd been schooled by Ms. Julian, dutifully congratulated them both promising his full support. Slapping Booth on the shoulder, he jokingly conceded that the better man won. Sarcasm played to his favor, though Booth could see the pain in his eyes. He knew that pain, had felt it himself over the years, and decided to take it easy on the guy.

Sweets was right there as a witness and agreed wholeheartedly, publicly backing the decision to let their partnership stand despite their obvious personal relationship. Planting a seed with Hacker as he suggested partner's therapy to help them make this adjustment to their professional and personal lives. Booth groaned and protested, though if that was the price they needed to pay to bend the rules, well, he could live with that.

Angela squealed, so many times Booth lost count. They were smothered with congratulatory hugs and handshakes. He thought they'd never get out of there, neither of them did. But eventually the hoopla died down and Cam graciously pulled them aside and freed them to leave the party early.

And then they were home and talking was the last thing on their minds.

It was a champagne and candle light kind of night. Lots to celebrate, as evidenced by the trail of clothes and shoes and accessories strewn from his front door to the foot of his bed. Laugher, sounds of love and pleasure, filled his tiny apartment well into the wee hours of the morning.

That's when his beautiful Bones made another decision, probably the most spontaneous professional decision of her life to date. Booth had his annual vacation coming up, a week he routinely took off before school started. Normally, this time would be spent with Parker but Parker was in England with his mom for some work related trip. Brennan never took her vacations when he did, with Booth gone she had time to focus on bone storage cases, something near and dear to her heart after the discovery of her own mother.

But when she realized he would be leaving town within twenty-four hours the mood darkened quickly, a heaviness filled the room. That's when she did it. Changed her plans abruptly, calling Cam in the middle of the night without even talking to Booth first. Sprawled out across the bed on her tummy, she reached for her phone and dialed, waiting for a sleeping Cam to answer. Rushing to explain, she informed her she would be using some of her accumulated vacation time to spend with Booth.

"Dr. Brennan, can we discuss this on Monday morning?" She paused, her groggy, tired voice didn't hide her annoyance at all, "in the lab." Cam added with emphasis.

"No." Brennan's answer was direct and clear. "I won't be in on Monday. I am taking my vacation starting now. Which is why I am calling now."

She was answered by nothing but an annoyed grunt from Cam's end of the conversation.

Lying in bed, nothing but a sheet wrapped haphazardly around their naked bodies, Booth's hands started to wander, which proved to be a tantalizing distraction. Bones swatted at them half-heartedly as Dr. Camille Saroyan did her best to ignore the sounds of foreplay in the background.

"I felt it only fair to call you and let you know." Unsatisfied, Booth rolled Bones onto her back, his cheek brushing against the swell of her breast as he kissed his way down from her neck. Another disgruntled groan echoed in her ear, this one aimed more at Brennan's barely veiled sounds of pleasure, which left Cam with a pretty vivid mental image of the two partners in bed.

"Maybe I am not making myself clear." It came out breathy and ended with a long moan as Booth teased her with open-mouthed kisses trailing slowly down below her belly button. "Booth and I are going on vacation together."

"I get it, Dr. Brennan." She was quickly losing her ability to think coherently. Wedging the phone between her ear and shoulder she reached for Booth, pulling him and his attention back up to her lips, kissing him soundly.

"We will be in a cabin high up in the Shenandoah National Park where there is no cell service. You won't be able to reach us and I won't be able to call you."

"I understand, thank you." She would say just about anything to get off the phone at this point, but stopped having realized what her chief anthropologist said. "No cell service?"

"Yes, correct, no cell service."

"No way to reach you?" Good for them, she thought to herself, god knows it's the only way they could actually get some uninterrupted time together. If they could be reached one "emergency" or another would cut their time short for sure.

"I am sorry for calling so late." She scolded Booth under her breath as he nuzzled into her neck, just below her ear. "And for the short notice but felt it only fair to warn you."

"Consider me warned."

It was done. And when she turned her attention back to her partner there was a light in her eyes that captivated him, both body and soul. This whimsical, spontaneous Bones was new to him. He loved it, loved her.

"What?" Her eyes dance over his broad smile and sparkling eyes.

"You never cease to amaze me, Bones. Just when I think I have you all figured out you do something unexpected and remarkable and I fall in love with you all over again."

"Well, I am amazing, so that's not so surpri-" Tickling her , he got lost in the sounds of her laughter as he rolled his hips against hers.

"I love you, Temperance Brennan."

"I love you too, Booth."

ooooo0ooooo

A/N: A special thank you goes to snowybones for all her continued support and friendship. She reads and re-reads, and talks me off the ledge, and keeps me from deleting everything I write! She helps keep my insecure, fatalistic muse in check! She is my muse wrangler!

AND thank yous to everyone who's been following this story, reading, reviewing, following and favoriting! You have been a very patient lot! This story took much longer to write and post than I thought when I started it. I suppose I needed something a little lighter and this story certainly filled the bill. It's been a fun journey. I will do my best to catch up on responding to reviews. My health has been a little tricky lately and while it should, in theory, give me more down time, mostly I've been sleeping and trying to let my body catch up. Autoimmune diseases suck.

I'm already a couple chapters into my next piece. I thought I might share the first couple paragraphs here as a teaser. I think I must be a glutton for punishment because I keep coming back to the first half of season six.

Sound of the Sea

Chapter 1

"The roaring seas and many a dark range of mountains lie between us."

― Homer, The Iliad

Leaning forward, Booth rubbed his hands down his face letting his jaw drop as he went. The rough feel of stubble chased by a long exasperated sigh. He collapsed in on himself. Elbows on his knees, head in his hands, he stared down at his coffee table. A bottle of scotch, a tumbler, only the remnants of two fingers resting at the bottom of a glass, his cell phone, all lined up in a row. Another breath, heavy and forced. He looked over towards his bedroom. It wasn't fair. Not to her, or him for that matter, not to any of them. The overwhelming injustice of it all rolled over him in unrelenting waves.

Hannah's silhouette hovered in the doorway between his living room and bedroom, a silent witness to his nightmares. She just stood there, arms crossed protectively across her chest bunching up his oversized Flyers t-shirt, haloed in dim moonlight which crept around her through cracks in the blinds. This happened regularly, often enough for them to develop a routine. Often enough for her to stop asking what she could do to help, tired of his terse answer. "Just give me some space."

This was not the heroic soldier that rescued her, not the one she played with under the shade of fig trees. And while she knew about PTSD, having reported on it numerous times, living it was certainly different. He was different. Her soldier seemed to be getting worse the longer he was stateside, not better. Letting out a loud huff, she retreated back into the bedroom.

He watched her go.

Jaw ticking violently, every muscle taut, he reached for the tumbler but grabbed his phone instead. The punishing light momentarily blinding him as the phone sprung back to life. The keyboard was still up, cursor still flashing where he deleted his latest attempt at a text.

"Now you remember, Shrimp, it's all in there, everything you need to know." Pop's voice echoed in his head, the comforting repetition of advice given over and over through the years. Words of wisdom from the grandfather that saved him, taught him how to be a man, a good man. Booth rubbed the center of his chest, missing the strong tap Pops always placed right over his heart. "You just do what it tells you."

"Do what it tells you." There was an answer in that, had to be.

"Hey," he typed, then closed his eyes and hit send.

…..

So, what do you think of the epilogue...and this new one? I'm always anxious to hear.

Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement

Much love

~DG