Booth chuckled to himself as he saw the subdued looks on the faces of the men joining him in the back courtyard.

Hodgins caught his eye and nodded, and Booth nodded in return.

"How are those steaks coming?" Hodgins asked, and Booth flipped one in the air.

"Perfect" Booth grinned. "They are almost ready."

Hodgins smiled and walked over toward the house, pressing a button. Almost immediately, a wait staff arrived with covered dishes and tables and chairs.

The squints watched in fascination as an outdoor dining room was set up in a matter of minutes.

"Have a seat, gentlemen" Hodgins smiled.

Booth chuckled again as he turned back toward the grill. It was pretty damn impressive.

"Hey, uh…"

Booth turned to see Sweets standing near him.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"Hmmm" Booth looked around him and saw a man standing by, "Sure."

He handed the grilling fork off and then followed Sweets a few feet away. "What's up, Sweets?"

Sweets swallowed and then nodded, "There's something I need to confess."

--b&b—

"Ookay…" Booth crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Like what?"

Sweets took a deep breath. "Well, please don't, I don't know, punch me in the face or anything, but…do you remember this morning when you were talking about not deliberately hurting Dr. Brennan?"

Booth's eyebrows rose. "Yes…" He shifted his stance to an even more aggressive one. "What's this about?"

"Yeah…" Sweets nodded. "Well, you see…remember last year or so, when I may or may not have withheld the information that you were actually alive from Dr. Brennan?"

"May or may not?" Booth growled.

"Okay, okay!" Sweets admitted. "I withheld it. But uh…well, I did it on purpose. Not…" he cleared his throat. "Not because I thought it was a matter of national security, but because…because I wanted to see how Dr. Brennan would react."

Sweets waited as Booth's eyes darkened with the rage he knew was barely suppressed. He supposed he deserved whatever Booth's reaction was, but he really, really, really hoped it wasn't death.

"I see" Booth nodded and pressed his tongue to the inside of his mouth.

"I'm really, really sorry" Sweets nodded. "I swear. And…I don't know, I didn't know Dr. Brennan that well then. I shouldn't have done it in the first place, but, now that I know her a little better, and you…well, I know I really shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry."

Booth looked at his feet for a few moments, then looked at Sweets. "Okay. I accept your apology. On one condition."

"Name it" Sweets promised.

"I don't want Bones to know about this. Just…don't tell her, okay? She doesn't need to know."

Sweets chuckled. "Well, that's kind of hard to do, because…she already knows."

"She does? You told her?" Booth asked.

"No, man. She figured it out. That first day. And she totally called me on it right then."

Booth's eyebrows rose. "She knows?"

"Yes"

"And she told you?"

"Yes" Sweets repeated. "She said she knew I'd done it as an experiment and that I should cut it out. And that I was lucky you didn't know, because then you would…"

"I would what?' Booth wanted to know.

"Beat me up." Sweets admitted.

Booth laughed and shook his head. "Unbelievable." He shook his head again. "She's unbelievable, you know?"

Sweets just nodded. "Sure…so, uh…are you going to beat me up?"

Booth looked back toward the rest of the group. "Nah, if Bones didn't punch you in the face, why should I, right?"

"Right" Sweets gave a nervous laugh. "Right."

Booth just patted him on the arm and started walking toward the group.

"That's when she forgave you, you know." Sweets' words made him pause.

Booth didn't turn around, but just nodded slightly and continued walking.

--b&b--

The next morning…

Brennan stood on the forensic platform with her arms crossed, one foot tapping impatiently.

"Bren, they'll be here soon. Just relax." Angela encouraged her, "Besides, you don't want Booth to think you've been waiting for them this whole time, do you?"

Brennan paused. "I haven't been waiting. And I am relaxed."

Angela's lips curled in a small smile. "Sure, sweetie. My mistake."

Brennan turned to prove just how relaxed she was when she heard the sound of laughter from behind her.

"You're wrong, dude!"

She whirled around in time to see Wendell shove Vasiri in the arm as they joked about something. And just in time to see Booth bound up the steps, scanning his card and then stand right beside her.

"Heya Bones, miss me?"

"Hardly" she snorted, and ignored Angela's slight cough. "Did you enjoy your completely irrelevant playtime?"

Booth shook his head, and didn't answer, but just turned to rest his back against the empty forensic table. He cleared his throat then, and it became quiet in the lab.

Brennan turned as well and watched as all of her students came to stand at the foot of the steps.

"Good morning, Dr. Brennan" they each greeted her, one by one, before moving over to their work stations.

As the last one filed away, Brennan turned to look at Booth. "What exactly did you do on this trip?"

"Nope, Bones. Can't tell you" he smiled and held up two fingers. "It's a guy thing."

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Oh really. I suppose you trust them with your life now, or something like that."

Booth smiled and pushed off from the table. "Yep…" he walked down the steps, and then turned to look at her. "And yours…"

Brennan kept her gaze locked with his as he walked backward out of the lab before reaching the exit.

After realizing she'd been staring in the same direction for moments after he was gone, she cleared her throat and turned around.

Standing up straight, she clapped her hands twice. "Students! Come here, please. There is something interesting I'd like to show you."

She watched as all of them walked toward her, and felt a warmth in her stomach at the way they listened attentively to what she had to say.

"In conclusion" she completed her hands on lecture around the table. "I hope you'll take this knowledge and apply it to a future case you might work on."

Each man nodded and smiled as they left the platform.

Brennan was surprised when she heard Clark laugh. "King of the Lab!" he shouted.

Nigel Murray shook his head beside him. "For now, but I'm going to get the next one right. Then I'll be king."

Brennan gasped a bit and looked to her right.

Hodgins was at his work station, and he met her eyes and nodded with a slight smile.

--b&b--

The end!

Let me know what you think!