Author's Explanation: Though I didn't originally plan to have two stories be so closely linked, this story (Absolute Faith) is very much a continuation of one of my previous stories (Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity). You don't need to read that other story first but if you do, it gives this story more depth.

Meanwhile, this story comes out of three driving needs on my part. The first, as you will ironically note when you begin reading this and see the POV where it begins, is to explore Brennan's leap of faith in the Secret in the Proposal. The second need was to write something relaxing and angst-free this week. The third, was to savor that kiss in the FBI bull pen because, well ... Booth will explain. This begins with Booth, but only because you'll be seeing the End in the Beginning. ;)

~Q~

Parity:

1: the quality or state of being equal or equivalent

6: the symmetry of behavior in an interaction of a physical entity (as a subatomic particle) with that of its mirror image

~Q~

We're coming out of the interrogation room and Bones is telling me she thinks Pelant is framing Flynn. And it's not rational.

I mean, even I know it's not because there is actual evidence of guilt. The evidence against Flynn is circumstantial, but it's about the same quality and kind as the evidence she found convincing enough to believe that her father killed Directer Kirby. She never doubted that, but she doubts Flynn's guilt. Bones is always rational except not now and this doesn't make sense to me.

It's a little bit scary, actually.

We start to argue about it. This is nothing new: when we're talking, I can pretty much guarantee we are also arguing. She never agrees with me about anything.

Except for this.

She believes Pelant framed Flynn because that's what I believe.

I stop walking.

I can't help it — everything has stopped, the world has gone mad, Temperance Brennan is not arguing with me about my gut instincts. Even when she's trusted it in the past, there has always been some nugget of evidence to back her up but there's nothing this time. Nothing but circumstances lining up against Flynn vs instincts I can't explain, and she's all about evidence and fact. I'm always the one willing to take the leap, so it's no surprise that I'm believing in Flynn because my gut tells me he's innocent and I'm never wrong when it speaks to me. I wasn't wrong about Brennan not having skewered a doctor Voodoo-style way back in New Orleans, right? Right. So I'm trusting my gut but I know it's not rational except for a damn fine track record which is all I'm going on and she's ... standing there telling me that's all she needs.

Absolute faith.

In me.

In my 'gut' and what it tells me.

She said that a couple of weeks ago and aside from being relieved I didn't really think much about it. I thought maybe it meant she was reserving judgement or waiting for more facts before making a decision. The only reason we didn't break up (I've thought) was because she waits for evidence before she makes up her mind. I know I spent three months trying to tell her that I loved her but in hindsight, I really screwed up the physical evidence part.

What I got out of that conversation in our kitchen was that she decided to trust me.

But as this current argument between us unfolds I realize that I didn't get anything out of her kitchen confession.

I missed it entirely.

I tell her again that it's not rational for her to believe in Flynn's innocence just because I do.

She gets fierce. She demands to know why I don't hesitate and trust her about the science even when it appears she's made a mistake. I almost want to laugh. The last time I questioned her about bones, I think it was three years ago. A facial reconstruction matched the driving record of a 28 year old man, and Bones insisted the victim couldn't be over 20 years old. We argued.

She won.

Of course she won. She's all about bones, you know? I named her that for a reason!

That's it, I'm done. I mean, she's the expert, she's the genius. I know she's smarter than me (I've always known that), and when it comes to stuff she does in her lab it might as well be Voodoo as far as I can comprehend any of it. So that incident three years ago was the last time I ever questioned her expertise in the lab, 'cause she's just going to prove that she's right. (She's got a damn fine track record herself.)

So, here we are three years later, arguing in the bull pen with my genius poking me in the chest and reminding me that she has earned my undying trust when it comes to bone things because she's proven herself to me over and over until I just take it on faith that she's right. She's mad at me for not realizing she's done the same thing. That I've done the same thing.

She's just a little bit angry that Seeley Booth, man of faith, doesn't see her faith in me for what it is.

I'm an idiot...

(See what I mean? She 1000 times smarter than me.)

What she's telling me is that I've won battle after battle, proved myself to her and ... I won the war.

She believes in me with absolute faith.

She's mine. My Bones, my partner, my soul mate, mine. I've always felt like she was, always tried to hold back those little surges of protective ownership because she would insist it's some sort of primitive, alpha male dominance or something. I know that a person can't own another person, that she would object to my use of a possessive to her object (she is not my object to possess). She is free and independent, a rational scientist who looks for proof and when it comes to me, she has so much proof gathered up that she doesn't need any more.

Now she's mine ... because she gave herself to me. All of her love, her trust, her reason, her faith, it's mine. She's in my care, in my keeping. She believes me, believes in me, trusts me, knows me, loves me, has faith.

I finally get it.

My heart swells until I want to cry, except that I also want to laugh. I want to crush her to me and growl out a victory roar. I want to dance. I want to sing. (Who am I kidding, I can't sing. But I want to.) What I feel is too big for words and I don't know how to tell her what I want her to know: how much I love her, how honored I am, how much I cherish everything she's given me. I can't even think anymore, I'm just feeling...

When I pull her to me, when I kiss her, it's for her. It's all for her, all of my love, my total adoration. It's tender, it's gentle, it's love. Worshiping her. We've been lovers for over two years but I've never kissed her like this. I'm making love to her, fully connected 100%. The two become one. I am one with her, we are one and it's pure joy and nearly divine bliss to love and be loved like this. I can never give her back enough but I'm trying by giving her everything I am right now.

She can feel the difference, I can feel it working in her, feel her feeling my love.

Our mouths move tenderly. I pour my love into her right here in the bull pen where it's gotten suspiciously quiet and I know there's an audience but I don't care.

I move my hand gently to her back, cradling her with care, telling her with my body and heart what my head has no words to say. I love her. I love her so much, so beautiful, so perfect, so precious, so gentle and strong, so brilliant and naïve, so maddening and passionate. My Bones, so much a part of me that I'm only complete when I'm with her. I never imagined I could feel this way, I never knew it was possible.

I want to be inside of her, I want her inside of me. I want to cherish and protect; I want to exalt and elevate and honor her.

The world disappears. There's only us, making love.

When I finally know she understands me, I draw away slowly. Though it only lasted a few seconds, this kiss is the best kiss of our lives, eclipsing even our first kiss (which was cataclysmic and passionate and erotic). This kiss is all the more powerful because it is none of that. Making love has nothing to do with sex and this moment is when I finally, truly experience it and come to realize she's known this all along. She's been waiting for me to catch up. I understand what she means when she talks about parity. I understand what she means when she says commitment is not about a piece of paper. I understand now what she proposed when she asked me to marry her, what she was sacrificing for me. I understand her language at last. She has taught me how to love her.

She is stunned, stammering, blushing, just as deeply affected by our kiss as I am. "We ah ... agreed," she begins breathlessly, "to avoid public displays of affection at the FBI." And she laughs a little, amazed, buzzed, a little bit love drunk as my message sinks in.

"To hell with the FBI," I growl. I'm hers, too. I know she doesn't care where we kiss. That has always been my issue and another epiphany is hitting me: that over the last two years she has been willing to kiss me in her office, yes, but also at crime scenes and even in her sacred lab ... because she loves me with an equally overpowering intensity that can't be expressed in words so she kisses me with abandon whenever she feels it. And I'm only catching up to her now. But I'm here, FINALLY, right beside her, just as in love with her as I'm realizing she's been with me for a long time. We've reached parity, her word, which I once dismissed as merely meaning a state of equality.

But there's another definition, a very scientific one that Bones probably had in mind when she talked about needing parity in a relationship. Scientific parity is not equal (which implies different): scientific parity means two entities that are exactly the same but mirror images of each other. I look at Bones and I see my love reflecting back at me.

It is with no small amount of pride that I find I've rendered my genius partner nearly speechless. "I have to go ..." For a second she struggles to recover her wits and has to close her eyes and block me out, but in the end she prevails. "... do ..." (I smirk. Heh, she only partially prevails. Only I have this effect on her.) "... scientific things, to catch a serial killer."

'Scientific things.' Ha! I've reduced her to a third grade vocabulary but her eyes are shining. She knows what that kiss really meant. Our love has reached parity.

Author's Note: There's another chapter (maybe two) from Brennan's POV coming that I hope to post within the next several days. Meanwhile, thank you for reading this one. :D