Everything Happens Eventually

Summary: All relationships are based on balance. But unexpected and surprising incidents can suddenly create a bumpy road ahead, making that balance difficult to maintain. "Incidents" such as open-minded FBI agents with yachts and sausage and pepper sandwiches. [post 2.17

Genre: Romance/Angst

Author's Note: A huge, mind twisting WB has been plaguing me for at least the past months. Several of my stories are put on hiatus and some, I will probably never finish. But my mind never rests; I have a few new ideas. Most of them are just small, tiny fragments with no real plot. But this one was developed enough. So sit back, enjoy and drop off a review. Thanks!


Part 1 – Under Reconstruction

Temperance Brennan glanced back over her shoulder, spotting her best friend talking animatedly with Dr Wyatt, as she herself exited the Royal Diner. She waited patiently by the curb until she spotted the familiar black SUV come around the corner. The vehicle came to an abrupt halt and she immediately stepped forward, climbing in. Booth fired a warm smile at her before steering out back in traffic again. Brennan relaxed in her seat, leaning back and admitting that now she didn't mind if Booth was driving. "Was that Angela talking to Wyatt?" he asked surprised. Temperance turned her head slightly to look at him. "Yeah. She came to me and told me that Hodgins is bugging her about moving in together. She doesn't know what to do, so I told her to go see Wyatt." "I thought you said you hated psychology? That it is an unreliable science that shouldn't even be classified as a scientific method?" he said, mocking her slightly.

"I do. But Angela doesn't." she replied with a shrug.

Booth laughed. "You liked him, didn't you? Admit that his theories made sense." Brennan felt a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, and bit her lip.

"He was…good at what he does, I guess. Some of it made sense." She admitted, emphasizing the "some".

"Whoa! You, miss I-really-hate-psychology, admits that you believe in what he said?" "Maybe. A little bit. He used real facts and situations for his diagnosis. Many psychologists don't."

"But didn't you say that you didn't believe in the whole interpretation part of psychology?"

She sighed. True, she had said that. But Wyatt had asked very specific questions, based on their particular case, taking into consideration specific events and people and using them as facts. It was the generalizing part that she hated the most, psychology was unreliable in that way because human minds are different. Every case is unique.

"Booth, can't you just enjoy your victory or something? I thought making me believe in psychology and gut feelings was one of your main goals in life" she teased.

"Haha, very funny" he muttered and took a sharp left. Brennan hid a smile, his way of trying to get control of the situation again. Geez, all this psychology stuff is getting to me.

Booth clenched his fingers around the steering wheel. Sure, he was glad that Brennan had accepted Wyatt's theory and that their partnership was at least heading in the right direction again. But a few parts of the theory were still bothering him. Of course, Wyatt had a point about Bones, not liking the thought of a purposeless life. But then he'd said that Booth was worried he'd made a huge impact on someone else's destiny. That part bothered him. Okay, so he had wondered why the hell he'd told Brennan to actually go. Away for a year, with Sully. Of course his opinion would affect Brennan's decision, she valued his opinion, even if she would never admit it. So wasn't it only natural that he would be feeling uncomfortable about her asking such a question? Had he been honest? Did he really think it was best for her if she went? But he had told her to go. It was since then things had been messed up.

And now, it was at least starting to go back to normal. But Booth felt that Wyatt's theory wasn't on the spot, something was missing. Misinterpreted.

--

Not too much later, Booth pulled up outside her apartment. It gave him a comforting feeling that at least a small part of their "old" relationship was back; putting together notes for the prosecutor (in this case Caroline Julian) and then unwind with some takeout, usually Thai food. Their little habit had come to a halt when Sully came into the picture.

They made it inside, now going through the routine that had been created long before Sully came along. Brennan spread files and notes on the coffee table and then headed off to change into more comfortable clothes, while Booth kicked off his shoes, shed his tie and fetched drinks from the kitchen. Then they met up in the living room, sinking down on the couch. Booth hid a smile. It felt good. Familiar.

"So, where do we start?" he asked as he unbuttoned the two top buttons of his dress shirt and rolled up his sleeves. Brennan silently passed him a file and then tossed a pen at him.

"With work" she said firmly, but with a glint in her eye. He always asked that, and she knew that it really meant "food or work first?". She noticed his slight disappointment as he gripped the pen with a sigh and flipped open the file which presented several photos and analyses made by the squint squad.

It didn't take them too long to finish, though and Booth soon skipped off to order the food. Also a part of their old routine. He always ordered the food. Brennan neatly put the files in a pile, the one that should be presented to Caroline, on top.

"Food will be here in a half hour." Booth announced as he returned. They sat in silence for a moment before he spoke again. Even if he knew he probably shouldn't; he had to ask.

"So…you think Wyatt was right on…everything?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Do we have to talk about this again?"

"Come on, Bones. Remember, he said how we needed to you know…communicate"

Brennan rolled her eyes, but she did recall their very first session with Wyatt and her reluctance to take part of the process.

"I think it made sense, yes. I wondered a bit about the part with a purposeless life, though. Did seem a bit farfetched but I guess it makes sense as well, when you give it further thought" she shrugged.

"You know, what he said about me being afraid of affecting your destiny…I don't really get that" he said thoughtfully, now voicing what had been bothering him about Wyatt's final theory.

"What are you talking about?"

"See, I told you to go, didn't I? And you decided against it, so why would I have been affecting your destiny or however he put it?"

"Don't ask me. You're the psychology type" she said. Then, after hesitating slightly. "Did you mean it when you said I should go?"

"Well, yes. Sully is a good guy, Bones. A year away from death and decomposing bodies…I mean. Most people would gladly accept it and enjoy it. But…of course, I don't protest against you staying. We make a good team, you know and I really don't want Cullen to assign Zack as the forensic anthropologist"

"Zack is a very accomplished anthropologist. I bet you would have done just fine"

"Hmpf, yeah right!"

They fell silent again, almost awkwardly this time. "Did you believe that you stayed because of me?" Booth suddenly asked.

"What!"

"I mean, did you stay because of...Wyatt's theory or because…of our theory?"

"Our theory?"

"You know…that you stayed…ehm.. because of me?" he said quietly, almost shyly, not looking at her. Brennan eyed him intently, wondering where this was really heading. Hadn't they been through all this already? She honestly was reluctant to go deeper into this discussion. She felt uncomfortable, why couldn't they just put it all behind them? But after all, it was Booth. Maybe it was even worse not to talk about it…

"I don't know" she answered finally, after giving it a bit of though. Because she didn't know. Had she stayed because of Booth? After all, he had told her to go, just like everyone else. But she wasn't sure if he'd been completely honest. He had given her mixed signals, really. First he had told her that Sully was a great guy but then he'd mocked him, saying that he would probably end up talking to a football. Had she been unconsciously aware of that Booth didn't really mean it when he told her to leave?

"I mean…because I did tell you to go"

She nodded slowly. Then she smiled almost knowingly, glancing at him as she spoke. I shouldn't go there…

"But it was obvious that you preferred that I decided to stay" as she had expected, Booth immediately turned away his face and she noticed his cheeks go slightly red, an almost frustrated expression on his face.

"Ehm…right…Angela asked me about…that"

"She did, huh?" Brennan wasn't that surprised; Angela could sense such things. Things that wasn't really her business. At all.

"Yep, when we went to church to show McCourt's picture to the parish"

"Did you tell her?"

"No! We were in church. In the middle of a prayer. I mean, what should I've said; "Oh yes, we did sleep together actually. Six hours after Bones said her tearful goodbyes to Sully". "

Brennan laughed, blushing as she recalled what they had done, only a few hours after leaving the pier. "Don't say it like that. It makes me…us… sound… bad"

"It was just once, and we agreed that it won't happen again." Booth said softly, his kind eyes directed at her.

"I know. It would only… ruin what Wyatt built up" she replied, equally soft. This should be awkward, she thought. Strangely enough, it wasn't.

But it had freaked her out for a moment. When everything had caught up with her and she had realized that she'd actually slept with Booth, her partner. Not long after her boyfriend sailed off. And being Temperance Brennan, it had freaked her out and she knew that it had been one of the reasons to why hers and Booth's relationship had been more weird than usual. And then after a few awkward and rather tough days, Wyatt had managed to mend it without really knowing the whole truth and she knew they had to be careful. It wasn't back to normal just yet. It was still under reconstruction, rather fragile, brittle. One wrong move… They sat silent for a long while, just looking at each other.

Then the delivery guy knocked on the door, breaking the slight moment. When Booth had payed the young boy and returned to the couch, their usual banter picked up again, their recent issue put away once again. While they ate, he watched her, smiling at something he'd said, eyes sparkling. But he knew a part of her guard was back up again, after what had happened. Seeing Wyatt had been good for them, it had helped to restore the balance, if only for a little bit. Despite that, Booth knew deep down, some things were still not as they had been. Some things were still to be sorted out.

Brennan picked up a piece of mushroom from her carton, unaware of her partner's intense stare. She kept talking, laughing. Finally, Booth tore his eyes away from her, focusing on his own food. Maybe it would go back to normal, to something maybe even better than before? Maybe all they needed was some time. Didn't they say that time heals? He decided to shrug it off for now, because after all, he'd said it himself:

Everything happens eventually. You just have to be ready for it. And right now, maybe they weren't.


Author's Note: Well, first chapter done. I'm thinking about continuing this, but I'm still not sure what I want to do with this story. Maybe you have some ideas. I'm not planning on bringing Sully back, he was in for far too many episodes than necessary, and I believe all BB fans are pretty tired of him. So, I'll have to figure something out. Please drop off a review, maybe you have some ideas you wanna share. But for now, this is a oneshot.

Thanks for reading.