1

"Bren, sweetie, you OK?"

Temperance Brennan startled and almost spilled the scotch she was holding in her hand. "Trying to give me a heart-attack, aren't you, Angela?"

"I'm sorry I scared you Brennan but... we've been here for a while now and you... well… – she paused - you've been so quiet tonight and you've barely touched your drink."

"I'm fine, Ange. Thanks."

"Actually Dr Brennan – Sweets started leaning forward – your being so quiet and unwilling to participate in the conversation shows you're still trying to process the amount of stress you had to undergo over the past week and…"

"Back off Sweets – snapped Booth - can't you just leave her alone?"

"And the way you, Agent Booth, intervene to protect her shows how deep your feelings are towards your partner even if…"

"Zip it Sweets or I'll shoot you right now! This is not one of your damn sessions and we are not your lab rats!"

Temperance looked at her partner sitting next to her - "It's OK, Booth, I'm fine." - she told him holding his gaze, her hand resting on his forearm. Through the soft cotton of his sleeve she could feel his skin hot and tense under her touch.

Everybody was well aware of the tension suddenly building up, like a storm approaching the group.

"Lancelot, honey. Isn't it a beautiful song their playing now? I'd love to dance, wouldn't you? Daisy didn't wait for Sweets's answer and just dragged him towards the dance floor.

Angela turned round and looked at her husband – "care to join them, hon?"

"With pleasure sweetheart." – Hodgins replied pulling her up.

Temperance put down her glass and sighed. She just wasn't in the right mood for drinking, she thought. She retrieved her hand from Booth's arm and he stiffened at the loss. Then she leaned back on her seat and they were both lost in their thoughts again.

Only last week...

The images started to form before her eyes like the scenes of a movie she had played over and over again in her mind for the past seven days. Vincent had died right in front of her and right in the middle of the platform where she spent so many hours every day, a place she had always considered the safest place in her life.

And everything had been so fast: the sound of the glass shuttering above their heads, Booth asking her if she was okay, Vincent lying at their feet, a large pool of blood spreading under his chest, the sound of his voice, scared and pleading – "Don't make me go"... "Don't make me leave" – as he was begging her to hold him there, and finally the sense of helplessness overcoming them as they had realised nothing could be done to save him.

That was the only evidence.

She had tried to pull herself together, to be the cold and rational Dr. Brennan everybody knew at the Jeffersonian but that night when she was alone in Booth's living room lying awake in his couch she simply couldn't take it any more. She felt the dam break as Vincent's words kept lingering in her mind. She couldn't stop the tears falling down her cheeks, the sobs shattering her body until she was unable to lie there any more. So she had turned to the only person in her life that could help her through this nightmare and she had entered his bedroom...

Could you just...? she had asked him.

Sure...come here... yeah, I know... hard...

And he had wrapped his strong arms around her slowly lowering back on his bed, holding her tight, rubbing her shoulders, drawing little circles on her skin with his thumbs while the sobs shuttered her whole body. He had let her cry whispering sweet soothing words in her ears until she had finally cried herself to sleep.

Overwhelmed by the feeling of actually holding his partner in his arms Booth had been unable to sleep. They had hugged so many times during the last six years each time pretending they were "guy hugs", a thing partners did. He knew damn well there was no such thing as a guy hug between them because all he had ever wanted to do was to hold her in his arms, in his bed and show her what a man and a woman could do to become "one". However he would have never taken advantage of the weakness she had shown, it could have been oh so easy and he was pretty sure that if he had moved his hands over her back the way he wanted to she would have never said no. So he had kept still no matter how aroused he was, listening to the thundering sound of her heartbeat on his chest, until she had relaxed in his arms. The warmth of his grip lulling her slowly to sleep.

Catching Broadsky was not a piece of cake. Not only because he was a damn psycho murderer on the run but also because he was one of the best snipers Booth had ever known. While he was hunting him at Wilmington Port he thought that revenge could never be enough for what the killer had done. He had always known that taking a bullet was just one of the odds of his duty but making the call on innocent people was one thing Booth could not bear.

The boy you put down was a good guy, Broadsky.

Collateral damage Booth. They had shouted at each other.

But Brennan. He could have hit Brennan. He could have taken her life just like that right beside him. Booth considered himself a tough guy, he had been kidnapped, beaten, tortured but the thought of losing her was unbearable. It had made him sick and full of anger. And he knew just how much he was scared of his anger.

No time for celebration though, 'cause the very same day a new case had come up. No way the team at the Jeffersonian could slow things down or leave work at night when children were involved. By the end of the week they were all worn out.

Booth and Brennan had once again risked their lives in the field during a shooting and Booth had managed to pull Brennan down and shield her with his body when the bullets had started to pour down on them.

The terrified look in her eyes was something he was sure he would never forget.

Temperance didn't know how long she had allowed her mind to drift away from the room as she was suddenly stirred back by a change in the rhythm of the music. It was slower and somewhat familiar. When she realised what the band was playing she turned to her partner and she smiled. Booth smiled back and without hesitation he reached for her hand, pulled Brennan up and led her to the dance floor, his strong hand resting on the small of her back. He stopped right in the middle, finding some space among the other couples. However Temperance continued to move taking him to the far end of the dance floor to what seemed to be a more private spot. There she stopped and still holding his hand she looked right into his eyes. He held her gaze gently putting her hand on his chest and the wild beat of his heart sent a shiver through her spine. Then he pulled her body closing the space between them, their intertwined fingers pressing tight on his chest. She leaned her head on his shoulder and drank in his unique masculine scent. She felt melting away in his arms and only Booth's strong hold on her prevented her body from falling down.

Booth gently lowered his hand to the small of her back once again and pulled even closer. Every time he had held her so close he had been ashamed of his physical reaction to her proximity. Right now he didn't feel ashamed, his desire flowing from his body to her partner's. She clang to him and softly moaned, tightening the grip of her hand while the other roamed on his shoulder. They moved slowly to the song, the same song of Temperance's high school reunion. He lowered his head on his side and let it rest on hers. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated on his partner's body fused with his. He wasn't angry any more and he was ready to love again.

When the music came to an end they simply stood still and looked into each other's eyes. They held their gaze for an indefinite length of time until they were the only couple on the dance floor. It was then that the rest of the team saw them. Angela looked at them in astonishment, a huge smile starting to form on her face. Daisy stopped talking ad turned to Sweets. The shrink suddenly realising he had to revise everything he had written about the two, knowing that this time denying each other's feelings would be simply impossible. Hodgins felt so happy that hugged his wife. Cam couldn't help but smile.

"Let's go home Booth" - Brennan whispered in his ear.

And they were gone.