A/N: Just a little something I've been cooking up for some months, but I never got around to finishing it until tonight. Inspired by 'Closing Time' by Semisonic
Closing Time
.
"Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
Yeah, I know who I want to take me home."
The entire night, Booth had been distracted by his lovely girlfriend as they whirled and twirled on the dance floor, her in a lovely flowing red dress, and he dressed up in a far too expensive tux. But now that the Annual Jeffersonian Donors Ball was coming to a close, and Hannah had run off on him for an emergency Press conference at the White House, Booth was left all on his own, with nothing but a glass of scotch and his thoughts.
It hadn't taken him long to figure out that he and Hannah were simply running on sex. There was no emotional side for them, nothing deeper than lust or simple caring. It actually hardly surprised him anymore that he'd wake up alone most mornings, or that she'd be gone from his, ahem their apartment not twenty minutes after their last go round.
"Hey, Studly, where's the missus?" a friendly, happy-drunk Angela quipped, taking a seat with Booth at the bar. She was almost six months pregnant by this point, and her belly seemed to be a growing by the day.
Booth gave a half-hearted smile at Angela before he sipped from his scotch. "Emergency Press conference or something of the sort. She got called away half an hour ago. Why do you ask, Ange? And where's that lovely bug-man husband of yours?"
"He's off schmoozing with the best of them, trying to pull more donations so he can keep doing his dangerous experiments with the interns." Angela remained quiet for a little while, her mind ticking over as she stirred the glass of lime water in front of her with a straw. "I don't mean to pry, Booth, but..."
"Then don't." He cut her off before she could even finish her sentence, but Booth knew Angela a little too well, so he was prepared for the onslaught of questions that were to follow.
"Bren's my best friend, and far be it from me to meddle into your personal life, but I know that something's not sitting right between the two of you, we've all noticed it."
"Bones and me... we're fine, everything's fine." Booth's voice raised an octave in pitch as he made his declaration, but the quirking of Angela's eyebrow told him that she wasn't buying it.
"Alright then, what's going on with you and Hannah? She pops in with you, but every time, you leave wherever it is on your own. Are you sure that everything is fine between you and her?"
Booth sighed. Angela wasn't his usual confidante, but she would have to do. "Promise me you won't tell Bones any of what I'm about to tell you. In fact, you can't tell anyone." Angela gave a quick nod and Booth continued.
Booth sighed, taking a long sip from his beer, building up the courage to continue with the conversation. "There's just... a lot of stuff floating around in the air between me and Hannah. There's a lot of stuff she doesn't know about me, and I'm sure I don't even know half of her story."
"Like what? I mean, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't just be open about your sniper past and those sorts of things with Hannah, at least not this early on, but what other stuff doesn't she know?"
"The stuff between me and Bones. She doesn't know any of it, just that she and I are good friends. But the way I've treated Bones lately..."
"I get it, G-man" sympathised Angela, her hand gently rubbing against Booth's well defined bicep. A smile quirked on her face and she relaxed a bit. "I get that there are things that you probably don't want to share with Hannah, at least not right now. We all have baggage that could potentially ruin a relationship if we let the cat out of the bag too soon. But we've been back for months, Booth. And I know you haven't been around that much lately, so you probably haven't noticed... Bren's not the same person she was when she went to the Maluku Islands. She's evolved, and we all see that she struggles with you being with Hannah every single day. Now I probably shouldn't have told you that little tid bit, but I need to make a point. Either you and Hannah are serious enough that you can now tell her about you and Brennan and she won't up and leave; or you need to break it off, because she won't stick around too much longer if you keep things from her, and Bren won't wait forever either."
Angela stood to leave the table, but before she could get more than three steps away, Booth's hand was on her shoulder spinning her around. Booth pulled her into a tight hug, whispering a quick thanks into her ear before kissing her on the cheek. Angela walked back to her husband, completely dumfounded by what just transpired between her and Booth.
oOo
Brennan had watched the exchange between Booth and Angela from across the room, and she was curious as to what they had discussed in her absence. Deciding against making a scene, Brennan excused herself from the two elderly donors that she was currently engaging in a not-so-riveting conversation with, and moved across the room to Booth's table, placing a hand on his shoulder before sitting down.
"What did Angela approach you about to discuss?" she asked almost nonchalantly, although as Booth watched Brennan's expression as she sipped her champagne, he could tell that Brennan was quite curious.
"Just, uh... she wondered where Hannah was, why she wasn't sitting here with me. And then she just gave me some advice, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it just yet."
Brennan nodded. At the mention of Hannah, she'd almost regretted even asking the question in the first place. She'd noticed that Hannah would often slip away from functions and gatherings to chase a story, and she could see that quite often Booth was hurt by the fact that she chose her work over him. But then again, hadn't she done that to Booth in the first place anyway?
"Well," Brennan reached across and placed her hand on top of Booth's, squeezing gently as she looked into his eyes. "Just remember that I'm always here to talk to, no matter what Booth. I care about you." And with that she stood and left the table to mingle with another group of donors.
oOo
He felt almost empty at Brennan's departure, something he usually didn't feel when Hannah left. Looking into his almost-empty scotch, Booth thought about the past year. After asking Brennan to give them a shot, and being turned down, things had been rocky between them. Their dynamic had shifted, and Booth tried his best to keep Brennan at arm's length as he attempted to heal his wounded heart, first by giving himself a bit of time, and then by dating a marine biologist.
After both of those attempts failed, and Brennan accepted the post in Maluku, he'd returned to the army, hoping physical distance could help both he and Brennan realise what they both truly needed. He knew that his love for Brennan was undying, but in the throes of a war zone, in the middle of a desert, love or at least lust, called to him, and he was helpless to resist as he fell under Hannah's Siren spell.
Booth realised that, even though he would deny it verbally, Hannah was a sort of consolation prize. His love for her was real, and he wasn't settling for the next woman he could find, but he was settling for someone who nowhere near measured up to what he truly yearned for. No one could ever measure up to Temperance Brennan.
oOo
"Hey there Soldier," called a familiar, perky voice, startling Booth from his reverie.
"Hannah" he breathed out. She'd come back. Obviously whatever White House Press meeting had been called ran shorter than either of them had thought it would. "I didn't expect to see you back here."
Hannah looked down at Booth, then across to the still almost-empty glass of scotch. Plucking it from his grasp, she grabbed his hand and yanked him upwards. "Please don't tell me you've been nursing that one glass of scotch since I left," she chastised. When Booth didn't answer, she noticed the faraway look in his eyes. "What do you say we get out of here, Seeley? I'm sure there are much more interesting things we can do at home."
As Hannah dragged him from the ballroom, Booth looked back over his shoulder to see Brennan smiling as she mingled with the donors. But as her gaze caught hold of his, her expression changed and Booth's heart skipped a beat.
Yeah, he knew who he wanted to take him home.