Disclaimer: They're not mine; I'm just borrowing them for a little bit.

A/N: It's been a loooong time since I wrote and even longer since I posted anything. I had pretty much gotten over Bones, I haven't watched regularly since season 3, but I tuned in for the last bit of this season and darn it, if I didn't fall for it all over again. And like a lot of you out there, I was inspired to start writing again. This takes place the morning after VNM is killed. This wasn't what I first came to my mind about the after effects of that night (I actually have another story in the works) but every time this song came on my mp3, the beginning of this scene would flash on my mind and I found that couldn't get rid of it so I decided to write it out. Like I said, I haven't really watched seasons 4 or 5 and I've only watched the last six or so episodes of season 6; what I know about what happened then comes from fics I've read, the spoilers I've caught or what my friends told me, so if there are mistakes about cannon, I hope you can let it go and enjoy the fic for what it is. The song's called "Nada Fue Un Error" sang by Coti, Paulina Rubio and Julieta Venegas; it's a really good song, you guys should check it out. One more thing, RL for my regular beta has gotten very complicated, as such this hasn't been betaed by anyone other than me. I tried my best but mistakes might have gotten by me, if so, please excuse them.

The sunlight crept slowly across the room until it reached the bed and the two bodies that lay intertwined in it. The sun falling on her face disrupted her sleep and she scrunched her nose and tried to bury her face into the pillow. While Dr. Temperance Brennan was usually an early riser, there were times when she liked sleeping in and for that reason, her bed was as far away from the bedroom window as it could be and her blinds were always closed. In her more asleep than awake state, she couldn't understand why the sun was on her face and the scrunched up nose was as much due to the confusion over that fact as her desire not to wake up. She wasn't sure why but somewhere in her subconscious she knew she didn't want to wake up and face the day.

When she felt the heavy arm across her midsection, the hairy legs tangled with hers and the solid chest all along her back, however, sleep fled and she was wide awake. It had been a long time since she'd woken up with anyone in her bed and even longer since she'd woken up in someone else's bed and for a moment, panic threatened to take over. And then she remembered: Mr. Nigel-Murray was dead, Broadsky was still at large and in the early hours of the morning, she'd gotten into bed with Booth. The last recollection had her freezing up as her flight response fought with her much newer determination not to run from emotionally laden situations.

Though her determination not to run from Booth again won and the tension slowly left her, she stayed still so as not to wake up Booth since she wanted a little time to herself to process the events of the early morning. She didn't regret what had happened, as Angela would say, it had been a long time coming, but she did wish it could have happened under different, better circumstances. As it was, she didn't know where they stood; she didn't know whether he was still angry or not or how he felt about her. As much as she disliked talking about feelings, she wished they had talked about what making love would mean to them before making love, maybe if they had she wouldn't feel as uncertain as she did at the moment.

"Hey," she heard Booth say from behind her and she knew that, though it hadn't been long enough, the moment to herself was over. Booth kissed that spot behind her ear that made her shiver before he shifted them so that she was on her back and he was on his side, looking down at her.

She felt so unsure of herself that it took her a moment before she could look up into his eyes and even then, the look on her face wasn't the relaxed, smiley one that one would expect after the experienced they'd shared. And, though Booth was usually great at reading her and could almost always know what was going on in her head (sometimes before she knew herself), this one time his Bones sixth sense completely failed him and instead of seeing uncertainty and self-doubt, he saw regret and even shame. It was more than likely due to his own insecurity and fear, and he would later kick himself for it, but at that moment he reacted to what he most dreaded to see instead of what was actually there.

Tengo una mala noticia/ I have bad news
No fue de casualidad/ it wasn't accidental
Yo queria que nos pasara... y tu, y tu/ I wanted it to happen to us … and you, and you
Lo dejaste pasar/ let it happen

"No," he denied, shaking his head, before she could say anything. "No, Bones, I won't accept it."

"What? Booth, I don't …" she started to speak, the uncertain look on her face changing into a confused frown as she didn't really know what it was that he was denying. Whatever it was that she had expected of the first morning after with Booth, hearing him say 'no' first thing, hadn't been it.

"No, you can't - you're not allowed to take it back. I asked you … I asked you if you were sure. I told you that you had to be a 100% certain you wanted it because there was no going back – once that line is crossed, you can't uncrossed it. I asked and you said you were sure. So, no," he repeated, shifting to sit up properly. "You can't take it back; you can't claim that it was the heat of the moment or that it was one of those things and that you didn't know what you were doing. It wasn't an accident; it wasn't a mistake and you sure as hell can't take it back."

"Booth," she started to say again but he talked over her once more.

"No, Bones. We were both here. We both wanted it; it wasn't just me. And yes, okay, it probably wasn't the ideal time. It sure wasn't how I'd imagine it happening and yes, maybe some people would say that I took advantage of you at a time when you were emotionally vulnerable. But that's why I asked you; that's why I wanted you to be sure of what you were doing and you assured me you were. You told me you were sure and that you wouldn't regret it. You promised, Temperance; and you can't take it back now. You were right there with me – every step of the way. You let it happen because you wanted it as much as me…"

"Booth," she said again, this time loud enough that he stopped talking. "Booth, I…" she trailed off because she wasn't sure what to say. Well, she knew that she had to reassure him but she wasn't sure how to go about it. She was still confused about all the different things she was feeling and having heard his panic hadn't really helped her. It was usually Booth who helped her navigate the emotional minefields and she wasn't sure how to do it without him or how to help him navigate an emotionally uncertain situation. It was because of all that confusion that what finally came out of her mouth wasn't exactly the most appropriate or most comforting thing she could have said, "I'm … sorry, Booth. I just …"

No quiero que me perdones/ I don't want you to forgive me
Y no me pidas perdon/ or to ask for forgiveness
No me niegues que me buscaste/ don't deny that you came looking for me
Nada nada de esto/ nothing of this
Nada de esto fue un error/nothing of this was a mistake
Nada fue un error/ nothing was a mistake
Nada de esto fue un error/ nothing of this was a mistake

"God, Bones!" Booth exclaimed as he threw the covers aside and stood up. "I don't want you to apologize!" he said as he picked up his sweatpants and jerked them on. "I really don't want to hear you're sorry that we made love because I'm not and I'm sure as hell not about to apologize for it!"

"No, Booth, that's not …" she tried to explain but, as had been the norm that morning, he ignored her and kept on speaking.

"You came to me, Temperance," he pointed out. "You came into my bedroom in the middle of the night because you needed someone to hug you, because you needed a shoulder to cry on – because you needed me." He took a step away from the bed when she leaned down to pick up the sweatshirt she'd discarded earlier, slipped it on and stood up right in front of him. "You needed me, Bones," he repeated in a lower but no less firm voice. "You needed me and for once, you acted on it; you can't deny it now. I won't let you deny it …"

"Stop, Booth," she said, placing two fingers on his lips to silence him. "That's enough; it's my turn, alright?" He nodded and took another step back, crossing his arms across his chest; Brennan knew that meant that though he'd keep quiet, he wasn't really in a receptive mood. "I …" she wasn't sure what to say but she knew she had to say something soon. She might not be good at reading other people or situations but even she could tell that the situation was rapidly careening out of control. It was almost like watching a train go off the track and if she didn't explain herself properly, the resulting crash would leave them both gravely wounded. Since she didn't think Booth would appreciate a logical, reasonable explanation and her mind wasn't clear enough to offer one anyway, she allowed her heart to speak, for once.

"I'm not sorry, Booth," she told him, linking her fingers in front of her. "I don't regret making love with you – I don't regret one moment spent with you." At that declaration, Booth's whole demeanor changed and his posture relaxed.

"Why did you say you were sorry, then?" He asked in a softer voice as his arms came down.

"Because," she answered, "I am sorry about whatever it was I did, though I'm not sure what that was, that upset you this much. I am sorry that …" she hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath before continuing. "And I am very sorry that my past behavior has made it so hard to believe me when I say I'm sure that I want to be with you but so easy to believe I would regret it and want to forget it. I'm sorry that I hurt you so badly that day on the steps of the Hoover Building that you can't trust …"

"No, no, Bones," Booth interrupted her before she could finish, frantically shaking his head. "I do trust you – I do; it's just … this is so new and I …" he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "That night … that night is in the past; can't we just leave it there? It's over and done with, Bones, let's just forget it, huh?"

Los errores no se eligen/ mistakes aren't chosen
Para bien o para mal/ for good or bad
No falle cuando viniste... y tu, y tu/ I didn't fail when you came … and you, and you
No quisiste fallar/ didn't want to fail

"But that's just it, Booth, don't you see?" she asked him. "The past may be over but we're never really done with it. It leaves a mark on us; it lives in us. It shapes who we are – it molds us. If we ignore it; if we discard it and dismiss it as irrelevant, how can we learn from it? If we don't at least try and understand it, how can we keep from making the same mistakes?"

"Bones, what …?" Booth frowned and she could see the confusion on his face.

"I'm good at my job, Booth," She told him, which didn't really clear up the confusion. "I rarely if ever make mistakes when I'm working. When it comes to personal relationships, however, well, I've made more than a few. But none I regret more than hurting you."

"Bones, that's …" he was going to say 'the past' but given what she'd just said about the past, he just trailed off.

"But while I regret hurting you," she continued, "I don't think my mistake was in telling you no, it was in how I said it – because how I said it hurt you."

"I thought that night was your biggest regret?" Booth wasn't sure why he said it, he hadn't meant to. He wasn't sure he wanted to have this conversation – not at that moment, not just a few hours after first making love and not just a few hours before he resumed the hunt for Broasdky. But for some reason, he couldn't just let that comment go.

"My biggest regret's how much I hurt you," she answered. "And how, for a time at least, it seemed like my actions had destroyed any hope of ever being more than just partners. But I wasn't ready for more back then, Booth. Part of me wanted it but a bigger part of me was scared – scared that I wouldn't be able to give you what you needed and you'd eventually leave, scared that we'd lose what we had, trading it for something ephemeral, scared that I would lose myself, scared that we couldn't keep working together if it didn't work …"

"I get it, Bones," he said with a soft smile to take the sting out of the interruption, "you were scared."

"Yes, I was," she nodded. "I just wasn't ready but that's not an excuse for letting you down."

"No, Bones," Booth denied, "You didn't let me down. If you weren't ready, you weren't ready. If anything, I let you down by asking for more than you were ready to give."

"Perhaps," she allowed because she had felt let down; he was supposed to know her better than anyone else, better than she knew herself sometimes and for him to basically give her an ultimatum had been disappointing. And yet, "I let you down too, Booth," she insisted. "I let you and myself down when instead of just telling you I wasn't ready, I chose to hide behind my logical, rational persona and claim I couldn't change, that you were the gambler and that I was happy with us just being partners. I think if I had been honest about not feeling ready for such a change, things would have been very different."

"Bones," she could tell he wanted to argue with her so she just looked him in the eye and asked him.

"Can you honestly tell me that you'd have tried to move on if I hadn't resolutely denied even the possibility of there ever being more between us?"

"I…" he started to say before he sighed deeply and gave in. "No, I can't. If you had left open the possibility for more – if you had acknowledged that that was something you'd like in the future, no, I wouldn't have tried to move on. I might not even have gone to Afghanistan."

"I don't know if I wouldn't have gone to Maluku," she admitted. "My reasons for going weren't just related to you and our partnership. Five years of working cases had taken its toll and I needed a break. But if things hadn't been left like we left them, I probably would have kept in touch with you during that time – I should have kept in touch with you during that time."

He thought about admitting that if she had, chances were very good he might not have taken up with Hannah but decided there was no reason to bring that up.

"Things would have been different," he stated, "but what's done is done, Bones. There's no use speculating about what would have changed if we'd done this or say that. We said what we said and did what we did and the reality we have now is what we have to deal with."

Aprendi la diferencia entre el juego y el azar/ I learned the difference between a game and chance
Quien te mira y quien se entrega/ who looks at you and who gives himself

"Exactly," Brennan agreed. "And the fact of the matter is that as hard as the last few months had been, maybe it needed to happen. Maybe we needed to go through that to be where we are now; as long as we learn from it, it can be something positive."

"I like the sound of that," Booth nodded.

"But Booth," she said and stopped him before he could kiss her, "I can't think of this, of us being a couple as if it were a game."

"What?" he asked, incredulous. "Why would you do that? Of course us being together isn't a game."

"But, that night outside the Hoover," Brennan frowned at him, "you said you wanted to give us a shot – as if embarking on a romantic relationship was akin to throwing the dice on some game; as if whether we work or not depended on some mysterious outside force. But I don't believe in luck anymore than I believe in fate, Booth. I believe in hard work, in working until I get what I want and I get it right. And if we begin something, I have to know that you'll work at it and won't see it as a game that relies on luck or chance…"

"No, Bones," he said, shaking his head. "Of course I don't think this is a game. I just … I just phrased it wrong. But I do believe in fate, which means that I believe that we're meant to be and the fact that we're here now, having this conversation after everything we've been through, everything we've put each other through, all the hurt of the past year, I think that just proves it. Because God knows, Bones, if we can get through this last year, we can get through anything. If anything, I think we're a sure thing, Bones."

"I don't know that I believe there's any such thing as a 'sure thing', Booth. But," she added before he could argue with her, "I do agree that, given our history, chances are better than good that we can make a romantic relationship between us work. I haven't got many relationships that work …"

"That's not true, Bones," Booth protested. "Your relationship with Angela works and your relationship with the rest of the squints and your relationship with me – they all work."

"That's true," she conceded. "But those are all friendships – well, maybe not our relationship but …" She trailed off and sighed. "I think the reason why my past relationships haven't worked is because I've never really let them in; I was content being with men that were little more than spectators in my life, who didn't demand anything of me and who didn't expect me to become involved in their lives. And if they did want more, it ended faster because I wasn't prepared to give it but I'm pretty sure we won't have that problem because you've always been different. You were never satisfied with being a passive observer; you pushed, and prodded and demanded and you weren't satisfied until you became my best friend, had access to every part of my life, until …," she hesitated because what she was going to say next would be a huge admission for her, "until I no longer want to imagine a life without you, especially now than I know exactly what that would mean."

"I feel the same way, Bones," he said before adding with a grin, "and it's not like you didn't push and prod your way into my life too, is it?"

She opened her mouth to argue but closed it when she realized that she'd be arguing just for the sake of arguing because he was right: she'd been fascinated with him from the start and hadn't hesitated in asking what he'd usually considered inappropriate questions or offering, unsolicited and mostly unheeded, advice (something that, despite her tendency to lecture, she really didn't do for anyone else) and there had been all those times she's stayed with him when she'd known he'd had rather be alone. So, yes, in a way she'd pushed her way into his life too.

"I guess," she said with a half smile, "that we've never been just partners – despite our claims to the contrary."

"No, I guess we haven't," he grinned back at her. "So," he said after a few moments of them standing there, grinning at each other. "We're really doing this?"

"Yes, I think we are," she nodded. "If you're sure you still want …?"

"Of course I do," he said without hesitation, "And I guess from now on, we'll be …"

"partners," they said tighter before she added, "in every sense of the word."

"I like that," he said and pulled her in to hug and kiss her.

"Booth," she said countless moments later when they finally came up for air.

"Umm?" he asked as he buried his face in her neck.

"Nothing we do together could ever be a mistake," she assured him and he grinned as he pulled back to kiss her once more before they separated and went to start getting ready to face the rest of the day.

Nada nada de esto/ nothing of this
Nada de esto fue un error/nothing of this was a mistake
Nada fue un error/ nothing was a mistake
Nada de esto fue un error/ nothing of this was a mistake