Disclaimer: Bones belongs to Fox and whoever else, not me !
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The papers lay in front of me, beneath the pen I held tight in my fist.
All I had to do was sign.
Sign her away.
Partners just aren't meant to be split, ever. That is NOT how it works.
Partners; a pair, two halves of a whole, y'know.
"The centre." I heard echoing around my head.
If the centre cracks, all else falls apart.
Next to me stood Bones, from her expression I could tell she was feeling the same.
I have to do this, I have no choice.
Cullen is my boss, Cam is Bones', we have no choice but to do what they tell us to do.
So here we were, splitting up a partnership that could never be fixed.
It's not right.
Taking a deep breath and stealing a glance in Bones's direction, I scrawled my name across the line.
Then ran.
Nearly a hour later, I found myself wandering through the Jeffersonian gardens, god knows why. Why I ended up there, I mean, and what the hell I was doing.
I suppose Bones would call it thinking, but right now, I guess it was more like feeling.
A nearby bench creaked as I fell onto it, resting my legs with my head in my hands.
Why do you always figure out all the right stuff at the wrong time?
Again I'd figured it all out too late. Maybe I should consider a new job, maybe- No. I couldn't. Catching bad guys is what I do.
It didn't take long for me to notice the shadow falling across me from behind, hey, I'm an FBI agent! And I didn't need to be a squint to deduce that only one person would know where, let alone bother, to come and find me.
Bones.
She never spoke as I shifted my body to face her, only smiled her sympathetic smile. Struggling for words (My brain appeared to be on vacation, repeating the same words as usual- God my untouchable partner is so perfect.) I smiled back and ushered towards the space I had made on the bench beside me.
"Booth" Her voice was calm and level, but she almost sighed as she spoke. Why does this woman have such an effect on me?
"You know what?" I chuckled, turning to face her once more, "Partnerships are too easy to lose."
Her eyes glazed over as she went to open her mouth, but I cut her off with a finger to her lips. "No. No science, not now."
For a second I though she was going to Kung Foo me to the floor, so a yanked my hand away, but her gaze softened.
"Fine, no science, but no guts either, right?"
"'Kay Bones, we have a truce." I laughed offering my hand to seal the deal. Her fingers slid, effortlessly into my grasp, and then quickly pulled away. Too intimate, I should have realized.
"It could've been us being split up, couldn't it?" She whispered so low it was barely audible and moved towards me, closing the gap between us by leaning her head to my shoulder. She had voiced, as she so often did recently, the exact words I had been thinking.
"But it wasn't Bones, I wouldn't have let you get away that easy." I smiled again, but this time my charm smile.
"Besides," I continued, "unless he hurt you again, I don't think I'd ever shoot your brother. And hey, even if I did, I know an amazing anthropologist who could help us cover it all up." This made her laugh, I'd succeeded.
"Yeah, I suppose that would be correct. But they were so close Booth, best friends and one stupid mistake ruined everything!"
I thought back to the notes we had read on the partners, just today, that we had had to split up today for committing and then attempting to cover up murder. Not only were they apart but in jail too, I don't think I could imagine anything worse than that.
"Shooting your partner's brother is not a stupid mistake, it's murder. And even if she forgives him for it, they both deserve what we had to do to them for not telling the truth. They don't deserve love Bones, not murderers. "
Silence ebbed away for a few minutes before she levelled her eyes with mine.
"I'm still glad it wasn't us being split up."
"I know." I murmured back through her hair, slowly wrapping her arms around me and kissing her on the forehead.
And I did know too, the mass of feelings I'd been fighting all afternoon summed up into a few words by my very own Forensic Anthropologist. Although I know she'd resent the alpha-male implications of my possession, that's what she's always going to be.
My very own brilliant, beautiful, Bones.
"So fancy a coffee, Bones?"
"Coffee?" she looked confused.
"Coffee," I confirmed, "Y'know Bones, it's what we do… we have coffee."
"Right, sure,"She smiled, "Coffee, we have coffee."
The end.
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