A/N: Jenny1701 challenged me to write something about how the people at the FBI, including Hacker and Caroline, discover B&B are more than "just" partners. Here's what gurgled up from my mind in the midst of last minute holiday shopping and holiday feasts with family & friends. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, I couldn't keep my mind totally out of the gutter when imagining the early B&B relationship that never made it onto the TV screen so I'm calling this one M for later chapters. I started with Angela, primarily as an introduction and to set up the background story for the remaining characters, even though her discovery of B&B's change in status was partially explained in S6x23. Planning for this to be 5 chapters. Hope it ultimately satisfies Jenny1701's request …

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing Bones related except my imagination.

When Booth and Brennan finally let go of all their fears, excuses, and misguided intentions and allowed themselves to be together, intimately, Angela was the first to know. Well, technically, Angela was the third to know as Booth and Brennan were the first two to know. It was the morning after intern Vincent Nigel-Murray had been brutally murdered while working right beside Brennan on the forensics platform in the Jeffersonian. The whole team had come back in to work that morning more determined than ever to harness their collective reasoning skills and help Booth, and the FBI, to locate and capture Jacob Broadsky, the rogue sniper responsible for multiple deaths, including poor Vincent's.

Angela had been subtly watching Brennan all morning. Her good friend seemed completely distracted and Angela was worried that Brennan was struggling with compartmentalizing her emotions, something the anthropologist typically excelled at to a fault.

Angela decided it was probably time to check up on her friend, who had been holed up in one of the bone examination rooms most of the morning. As Angela entered the room, she could see Brennan leaning on the examination table, holding Matt Lysinger's skull in front of her. Over the years they'd been working together, there had been many occasions where Angela had watched Brennan study a set of bones. It was a beautiful thing to see in its own way. The level of concentration and the reverence for the bones could clearly be seen on Brennan's face and she touched and held the bones as though they were treasured artifacts, worthy of respect. But, none of that was present this morning. Brennan stood there, staring at Lysinger's skull, but looking right through it. Her mind was obviously elsewhere.

Angela decided it was time to prod a little and see if she could help Brennan process whatever emotions she appeared to be struggling with. "Hey. You've been staring at Lysinger's skull for a really long time. You trying to get that thing to talk to you?" she asked in a joking manner from the doorway.

Brennan looked up at her confused "Are you being metaphoric?"

"No, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Didn't work."

"The mastoid process is generally not a target in close quarter combat. Perhaps I should examine it microscopically."

Approaching the examination table, Angela responded "You told me that an hour ago. What is going on?" she asked, figuring maybe the direct approach would be best this time. "Um, is this about Vincent?"

"Yes." Brennan responded, with a gentle nod of her head.

"Yeah."

"And … " she paused, hesitating, as though she was considering her words, then took a deep breath and looked up at Angela "I got in to bed with Booth last night" she confessed.

Of all the possible things Angela might have anticipated coming out of Brennan's mouth, that was nowhere on the list. She was stunned and felt helpless to prevent her mouth from dropping open as she stared at Brennan, dumbfounded. She felt like a vacuum had just sucked the ability to understand language right out of her mind. Was Brennan really saying what it sounded like she was saying?

Unnerved by Angela's silence, Brennan questioned "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because … I don't want to yell Hallelujah so close to losing Vincent." Angela responded, feeling flustered.

"I think I did it because of Vincent."

"Wait … whoa, huh" With anyone else, there wouldn't be any doubt what was meant by 'getting in to bed with' another person. But, since this was Brennan, literal to a fault, Angela needed her to be clear on exactly what she meant. After watching Booth and Brennan circle each other for so many years, she didn't think it was beyond the realm of possibility that they'd crawl in to bed together and just go to sleep, no hanky-panky. God, she hoped there was hanky-panky. "What, what exactly happened after you … after you crawled in to bed with Booth?"

For just a brief moment, Brennan looked like she was recalling an unhappy memory, but then, she smiled, the kind of smile that indicated she was recollecting something very pleasurable and she'd like to experience it again. Her whole face was transformed with a look of joy that Angela had rarely seen on her friend's face, but had been hoping to see for years.

Before Brennan could respond, Hodgins came rushing in to the room "I got the GC mass spec results back on the bullet that killed Vincent" quickly rolling off his tongue.

"Honey, no, not right now. I'm sorry. I love you, but go tell Cam." Angela cut off her husband sharply. There was no way, no way in hell, she was going to let work interfere with this monumental revelation. Yes, Vincent was important, but as far as she was concerned, so was Brennan and Brennan seemed to need to talk about what happened with Booth in order to be able to process it and refocus. It was girl talk time, damn it. When Hodgins hesitated, looking a little stunned and rejected, Angela spoke to him more forcefully. "Go. Away." Hodgins started to leave, but turned back, until Angela yelled at him again "Awaay."

Not wanting any more interruptions, Angela immediately marched over to the exit from the room, closed the door, and locked it before turning back to Brennan to continue where they'd left off. Brennan was looking at Angela a little uncertainly, slightly overwhelmed by Angela's ejection of Hodgins from the room.

"OK, Sweetie. Spill."

"I'm not sure what you want me to say."

"I want you to tell me exactly what happened last night." Angela said with a naughty smile on her face and a waggle of her eyebrows. "Details are permitted. Was it amazing?"

"What happened?" Brennan took a deep breath, thinking for a moment, before letting it out. "I was upset about Vincent's death and I felt like he thought I was somehow responsible based on his final words. I couldn't sleep. I just kept hearing his voice in my head asking me over and over why I made him leave. Eventually, I gave up trying to figure it out on my own and I went to Booth's room to talk to him, even though it was the middle of the night. I needed to talk, to understand. Booth listened to my concerns and he helped me accept that Vincent wasn't blaming me. In the end, we laid down together and he held me until we both fell asleep." then her face softened and her expression became a little dreamy "but, this morning … Oh, Ange, this morning was … it was wonderful. Booth's alarm woke us both, but he just shut it off, then pulled me back into his arms and it felt so, so right. Neither one of us wanted to get out of the bed or break our connection. I'm not entirely sure who ultimately made the first move or exactly how we went from just lying there, cuddling, to making love, but we did and it was the most incredible thing I've ever experienced. There wasn't enough time for it to be slow and leisurely, but neither was it frantic or desperate. Hmmm, I guess the best word to describe the experience would be to call it intense. Every look and every touch seemed to carry with it so much emotion, so much meaning. As impossible as it seems, I felt my chest swelling with feelings and when my release came, it seemed to transcend simple physical pleasure. It was just so much more than any past sexual encounter I've had."

"Oh, Bren. I'm so happy for you" Angela expressed sincerely as she reached out and gave Brennan a warm hug. "So, what does this mean?"

"I'm not … I don't know exactly. I assume that Booth and I are entering into a romantic relationship, but I, well, I don't know exactly what that means or what's expected now. We didn't really have time to talk afterwards and now, well, now I'm finding it challenging to understand or control my emotions."

"Bren, what you're feeling is normal, alright. This … whatever it is … this is a BIG change and it will take a little time to get your bearings and, Sweetie, that's okay. It's acceptable for you to be feeling confused or overwhelmed or even a little scared right now. It will be that way for Booth too, so keep that in mind. The most important thing right now is whether you're happy. Are you?"

Brennan looked at Angela, a serious mien to her face while she considered how to respond, then she looked back down at the skull, still clasped loosely in her hands "I seem to be feeling many different things right now and I'm finding it difficult isolate any one particular feeling. I don't regret what happened between us and I want it to happen again. Frequently, if I have any say in the matter. Just the thought of seeing Booth again fills me with a, a joy I can't begin to describe, but, right now, mostly I'm feeling extremely anxious. I'm worried about Booth being out there, facing off with Broadsky, and possibly getting hurt. I'm worried that I'll say or do something wrong and ruin not just our chance at a romantic relationship, but the partnership we've maintained for so many years. I'm worried how Booth's superiors at the FBI will react to our new relationship status. I'm worried that I won't be able to make him happy and Booth deserves to be happy."

"Listen, Bren. I love you and you know that I've thought you should jump Booth for years so I'm thrilled you guys finally did the dirty-deed. Every one of us here, at the Jeffersonian, is going to do everything we can to help him get that bastard, Broadsky, so he can come home to you at night. As for your other concerns, Booth's known you for seven years Sweetie. He knows who you are and what he's getting into. He knows you speak your mind but, that it comes from the heart. He knows some people think you're cold and stand-offish but that really, you're a very warm person who's just trying to protect herself from getting hurt. He knows that you can sometimes be a little arrogant, or a little abrupt or a lot pig-headed. But he loves you because he also knows you're intelligent, hard-working, honest, and loyal. He knows you'll defend those who can't defend themselves and that you'll fight passionately in the pursuit of justice. He knows you can be socially awkward and he knows your odd sense of humor. He knows your past and your scars and he accepts them, the same way you know and accept his past and his scars. Booth knows what I've known for years – that despite the fact that you can be difficult at times, being the recipient of a love as fierce and true as yours is an amazing honor. So, my advice to you is to trust him, Bren. Trust him and trust yourself. As for his superiors, they've got a good thing going with you two and they'd be fools to mess with that so don't let that hold you back."

Brennan grabbed Angela and gave her another hug. "Thanks, Ange. I'm not sure what I ever did to earn your friendship, but I am very grateful for it. I love you too you know."

"Yeah, I know."

Brennan turned back to the examination table and held up Lysinger's skull again. "You know, there's something odd about the two bruises on the mastoid process here. I need to take a closer look at these as there's something important here that my brain is just not grasping yet."

And with that, Angela recognized that, for now, girl talk time was over. "OK, Sweetie. I'm going to go find Jack and make up for shooing him away earlier. Just remember, I'm here for you if you need to talk about anything again." Then, she turned and left the room.