Two figures lay in a bed, entwined. There was a light layer of sweat on their skin, their breath came in quick, short, gasps, and their hearts thrummed. But their hearts thrummed together. He brought his hand up to meet hers, gripping it tightly. She held on just as tight. Their skin looked almost magical in the dim light. Her new ring sparkled modestly on her hand.

He was lost in the look on her face, the look that was aimed at him. Her eyes sparkled, and her smile was bright. It was a look that told him that she loved him. He knew his own look was telling her the same. And he knew that their love would last for a very long time, because they were cut from the same cloth, and when put together, they completed one another.

She switched off all the lights in her office and gathered up her things. She was down in the parking lot, when she almost ran into him, heading back into the lab. He looked frantic.

"Forget something?" She teased, although her voice was not as light as it had once been around him. Now it held something sad, the sorrow of her lost love.

"Yeah," he answered. His face looked heavier now, weighed by the dreams of what could have, should have, been.

"Something important?" She knew she should leave. It was late, her feet hurt from standing in heels all day, it was cold in parking lot, and she felt exhausted from entertaining the Japanese reporter, but she wasn't thinking about that. She was thinking about him.

"Yeah, real important." He admitted, not able to drag his eyes from hers.

"I could help you look," she offered, despite her body yelling at her to go home to bed. She was a woman who followed her heart, and her heart was crying 'stay! Stay!'

"You don't need to do that." He shook his head. She didn't need to do anything for him anymore, and yet he still wanted her too, just like he wanted to do everything for her.

"I want too." The words spilled from her lips. She wanted to. She wanted to do everything that they had planned. Children, living life free as the wind, growing old together. She knew it might be a little late for them, but she would never be able to stop hoping.

A bubble of hope welled within him at her words, but he tried to shake it off. She was just trying to be a good friend, that was all. "You really don't need too," he insisted.

"I really do." She replied. "Just tell me what you lost."

He didn't hesitate. "You. I lost you." His voice grew thick, and he was surprised at the tears he felt coming.

She drew in a breath. His face, his voice, everything about him was pure emotion. She could see how much they had truly hurt each other in that moment. She put her hand out and touched his arm. "And now you've found me."

His eyes met hers, and found the truth there, though he hardly dared believe it. There hadn't been any hope for so long, and now, in one night, he could have her. He instantly wanted to embrace the idea, although the cynical part of him insisted that it was just that: an idea. Nothing more.

She could see his hesitation, and understand it. Their love had been deep, and powerful, but the hurt that had followed had left scars still trying to heal. She wanted the love back. They didn't need to hurt anymore. She threw herself into his arms, and felt him hold her closer. A piece she had been missing fell into place. She was complete again. They were complete again.

He quickly downed the drink she had put before him. "I don't believe in the two heads thing, but I believe in soul mates."

She disagreed, but it was nothing that he hadn't been expecting. "No one can keep one person happy throughout their entire lifetime. And the idea that two people are made for each other is crazy." She used the word carefully, but assumed she had used it correctly, as he made no move to rebuke her, carried on. "There are billions of people in the world."

"That's the beauty of it. And the sad part, too. You know they're out there, but you don't know if you'll ever find them." He couldn't help but look at her as he said it, and let the thought like I found you run through his mind for a split second.

She shrugged. "I don't believe it, but it is a nice story. The idea, I mean. It's got all the sappy, romance in it that people seem to like these days."

He moved so that he was sitting beside her and said, seriously, "romance is a good thing. It gives people something to wish for: a love that fuels everything."

"Love doesn't actually exist." She pointed out.

"Yes it does. It's what started people dreaming, believing we could reach the stars. It's what makes everything worthwhile."

"I don't love you and you don't love me." Both felt a little sting at the words, and both pretended they didn't feel it. "Does that mean our time together is worthless?"

He had a feeling she wasn't talking about the time they spent at work, but the situations like right now. "There are different kinds of love. There's the love between a parent and a child."

"You and Parker."

He nodded. "There's the love between siblings. Like me and Jared, you and Russ. There's even a love between two exes."

"You and Rebecca," she supplied helpfully.

"Yeah, but it's more of a friendly love. You love Angela in a way, right?" Seeing her skepticism start kicking in, he quickly moved on. "I mean, you care about her well-being. You want her to be safe and happy." She seemed to accept this. "And then there's the great love between two people. A love that makes them want to hold each other tight, and never let go."

"What about the 'great love' that fails? Like Angela and Hodgins?" She asked.

"If their love is truly the great love, then it won't be long before everything corrects itself. They'll be together, happy, like Sweets and Daisy."

"I thought they were having problems?"

"No. I don't think so." He shook his head softly, then looked her in the eye. "So, you see Bones, there all kinds of love in the world."

"Like you and me: the love between friends." She made the connection and looked to him for approval.

"Maybe." He hadn't meant to say it, but it came bursting out.

"Maybe? What else could there be?" She frowned, confusion sweeping over her delicate face as she tried to understand.

He wanted to brush it off, bring up a new type of love between partners that also applied to them, but he couldn't do it. He wanted her to know that he loved her. That he felt the 'great love' for her. "There's the great love," he whispered quietly, almost ashamed.

A 'but' leapt onto her lips, but she couldn't force it out. She couldn't make herself say anything, although her mind hummed. Could he be suggesting that, after all this time, he felt something for her? Maybe the same something that made her react to his soft voice, his strong hand on the small of her back? The something that made her feel warm all over?

"I don't know how you feel," he started, voice still low, "but I love you. I don't know how or when it happened, but it did. And it's beautiful. It's magical. Amazing." He took her hands. "There's something between us, Bones, and I don't want to ignore it, push it away, for any longer."

His hands were warm, encasing hers, and she couldn't help but stare at them. She didn't know what to say, how to express what she was feeling. But she could feel his eyes on her, waiting, hoping, for her answer. "If I didn't know for a fact that love doesn't actually exist," she began, her voice getting stronger, "than I would have to say that I love you too."

He met her eyes, and, feeling confident, leaned over and kissed her. This wasn't a showy, steamy kiss like the one they did for Caroline. This was passionate, personal. It was the kiss that made them realize how incomplete they had felt before, compared to how complete they were now.

So, I had a weird thought: do characters in a show read fanfiction written about their show? Because it makes me real nervous to think about David or Emily reading this . . . just saying.

I don't own Bones.

~DI4MGZ~