AN: It's been a while since I posted anything and I'd hate for you to forget about me. ;-) This story is a two-shot songfic and my first songfic ever. The song is Open Your Eyes (To Love) by LNMT. I am working on the sequel to Wounded and Scarred. I finished writing chapter 6 today and I think I'm about half way done. I'll start posting it when it's done. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this bit of fluff.

The problem with men, Brennan thought, was that most of them seemed only interested in looks. She wasn't completely unaware of the effect she had on men, but once they learned how smart she was most of them turned tail and fled. The ones that weren't intimidated by her intelligence couldn't seem to handle her job. At first, they'd think it was exciting. Until she called letting them know she'd be late for a date and then showed up smelling a bit like the corpses she worked with, or when she had to leave in the middle of a date to examine some remains.

As she reflected she came to the conclusion that what she really wanted was someone who wasn't intimidated by her brilliance and who could handle her job. Unfortunately, that person didn't seem to exist, or if he did, she had yet to find him. Some men handled it better than others, but when her intimacy issues became apparent, nobody seemed to think she was worth the time and effort. It was disappointing really. She knew she could be hard to get along with and hard to understand, but there must be someone out there who would think she was worth the effort.

Brennan shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. 'I can't let a dry spell in my dating life distract me from work.' She bent back over the skeleton on the table in front of her. Soon Booth would be here and she needed to have something for him. She worked systematically through the rest of the bones.

When Booth arrived, she put down the bone she was reexamining and began briefing him. "Blunt force trauma to the tibia and fibula of both legs caused extensive fracturing. Blood pooling indicates the fractures were perimortem. There are kerf marks on T7, T8, and T9."

"So somebody whacked Sandra Keene in the shins with a bat, breaking both her legs, and then stabbed her in the back?" Booth asked.

"We haven't narrowed down the weapon used to break the victim's legs, but it could be something like a bat," Brennan said.

In her office, Angela was inputting the data Brennan had given her about the body in preparation for running some scenarios. The song on her jukebox changed and the words caught her attention. She switched programs to see what was playing: Open Your Eyes (To Love) by LMNT. She pulled the lyrics up on the Internet:

You've been searching the world to find true love
Looking in all the wrong places
When all of the time you've been blind to love
As plain as the nose on your faces

(Chorus)
It's here, it's now. Open your eyes and see it.
Right here, right now. Open your eyes to love.

You've been down on yourself thinking something's wrong
Wondering why love has never found you
Don't you know it's been right here all along
If only you'd look around you

It's here, it's now. Open your eyes and see it.
Right here, right now. Open your eyes to love.

(Bridge)
Love has been right by your side oh so, close that you couldn't see.
If love could speak it would shout to the sky, "I've always been here, I always will be."

I'm here, I'm now. Open your eyes and see.
Right here, right now. Open your eyes to love.

Open your eyes...
Open your mind to love
Open your heart to love.

The song described Booth and Brennan so perfectly, but none of her subtle or less-than-subtle hints seemed to make any difference. She sighed, amazed at just how blind two people could be.

As if on cue, the voices of her favorite non-couple came floating through the door. 'Another argument,' she thought.

"Booth, I'm not finished examining Sandra Keene and you want to drag me out of the lab for another case?" she demanded in frustration. How were they supposed to solve existing cases when he was always dragging her out for new ones?

"Bones, you said you wanted full participation in the cases," he retorted. "You tried to blackmail me into it, as I recall. This is what full participation means. Get your kit and coat so we can get out of here."

He followed the command with his devilishly alluring charm smile and she found herself giving in. 'He can be so annoying. And I can't believe that smile of his still works on me. He could probably suggest we drown ourselves and if he smiled I'd go along! Argh.'

Brennan returned two hours later, told Zach that their latest remains should be arriving in about an hour, and went to her office. A few minutes later, Angela followed her.

"Hey, sweetie, I have the facial reconstruction done on Sandra Keene and I'm ready to run scenarios when you are," Angela said.

"Thanks, Ange," the anthropologist replied.

"I can't believe we have another new case," the artist said. "This makes four this week, right?"

"Yeah," Brennan answered tersely.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Angela asked.

"The new case is a kid," she replied.

Knowing how they all felt about working with the remains on children, the artist decided to change the topic.

"So, how was your date with Steve last night?" she queried.

"What date?" Brennan answered almost bitterly. "He called and cancelled. I tried to reschedule but apparently he isn't interested."

"Um…" Angela wasn't sure exactly what to say.

"And why is it that I can't find a decent guy? I'm not looking for a long-term commitment, just somebody who will be around for more than two or three dates," complained the anthropologist.

"Did Steve say why?" the artist asked.

"Yeah. He muttered something about my job and partner under his breath, but I didn't quite catch it all," she said. "I don't think I'm that picky. I just want someone who isn't threatened by my intelligence and won't freak out about my job."

'This is the perfect opening,' Angela thought.

"Bren, you already have someone like that in your life," she said.

The anthropologist looked up hopefully. "I do?"

"Uh huh," Angela affirmed.

Brennan thought for a minute and then looked at Angela.

'How can she be so blind?' she thought.

"It's Booth," the artist answered.

"Ange, not that old saw again," the anthropologist objected.

"No, this time you're not getting away so easily," Angela said. "I don't understand why you refuse to consider him. He's intelligent and not intimidated by you, and he works the same cases you do. He meets your two criteria! In addition, he's your friend and he's consistently demonstrated that he cares about you. And the attraction between you is so strong that everyone notices it."

Brennan leaned back in her chair and listened thoughtfully. She couldn't deny any of the things her friend said.

Angela hesitated for a moment, uncertain about whether or not to say what she was thinking.

Her friend caught the pause and said, "And?"

"And I think you're in love with him already and you don't realize it," the artist finished.

"What!?!" Brennan exclaimed.

"Before you deny it, stop and think about it for a minute," Angela interrupted. "Or, pay attention to how you feel the next time he's around. Don't try and rationalize or deny it, just experience it."

"Like an experiment," she said thoughtfully.

"Exactly, sweetie," Angela responded. "It's one of the reasons those guys never stayed around. I think they sensed your heart was already spoken for."

Brennan, however, was still thinking about the experiment and hardly heard Angela's last statement. 'Could Ange be right? Am I really in love with him? I guess there's one way to find out.'