A/N: I haven't forgotten about the list. Bones is just annoying me this season and I had this little plot bunny that wanted to be written. I hope you enjoy it. It's mainly from Hannah's POV but there is a little bit in italics from Brennan's POV
Thank You to Caffeine-Faerie who edited this and made it into a more enjoyable and less confusing story.
I knew they were friends. But I didn't think they were as close as they were. I mean, he barely mentioned her when we were in Afghanistan. Now I leave Afghanistan and Iraq to be with him and find there is another woman in his life. Someone that he is a lot closer to. It didn't bother me at first, I wasn't jealous. But then I got curious as to why he didn't mention her to me. They're obviously incredibly close. They seem to share everything with only look. Tonight though was the night I seriously wondered if the was nothing going on between them before he went to Afghanistan.
"Hey Hannah, are you meeting Booth here?"
"Hey Angela. Yeah we're going out for dinner."
"You may as well sit down. We've been waiting for like half an hour for him and Dr B to get here. Something about picking Sweets up." I know I'm new and all, but even when they're being nice I still feel as though they don't really like me.
"Thanks Hodgins. I thought Sweets worked at the Hoover. Why are they running late?"
"He does work at the Hoover. Maybe Sweets has decided to suck them back into partner's therapy." Hodgins responded with a smile on his face.
"Partner's Therapy?" I was confused. Why would they have to go to therapy? Go back? Why were they there before?
It was Cam that answered this time. "Yeah, after Booth arrested her father she stopped going into the field and almost stopped working with him completely. They had to go into therapy."
"I didn't know he arrested her father." Do I know anything personal about him at all?
"Yes he did. The trial was horrible, us on one side, her on the other. I refused to testify. None of us thought he would get out of it." They all look really distressed about that. They must be a close-knit group.
"The funny thing is though... Dr B's anger had nothing to do with him arresting her father." If she wasn't angry about that, why was she angry with him? This conversation is leaving me with more questions that I don't think I will ever know the answer to.
"Oh, but I guess if they weren't working well together it made sense to put them into therapy. But why this time? They seem to be working well together." My suggestion is met with knowing looks. Seeley and Temperance are closer than most people that work together. They don't fight, and as far as I know, he hasn't arrested any of her family lately.
"You're all right. They do have to see Dr Sweets again. Cherie, you weren't here before. Something changed a few months before they decided to run to different corners of the world." Caroline, whom I had only met a few times when I would visit Seeley at work, confirmed the partner's delay. I was actually shocked when I saw an amused grin on her face.
"But they seem to be working fine now, they act so close... I doubt they were much closer. It probably just because they both changed in 7 months." I didn't like the pleading tone that started to bleed into my voice.
"Dr Brennan and Agent Booth asked me to apologise, they will be here soon. They went to go get Thai." Sweets arrived at the group, and collapsed onto the nearest stool, looking a little harried.
"But Seeley and I are going to go have dinner." It's not like him to forget our plans like that.
"Yes." The psychologist nods slowly at me. "But it turns out that even with them struggling to remain the centre, some things don't change. And that includes getting up to go to dinner halfway through our session when they have decided they have had enough." Centre? Ok now I really want to know whats going on here.
"What do you mean the centre and how have they changed?"
Cam shot me a sympathetic look. "Hannah, I've known Booth for years I dated him. But we were never as close as he and Dr Brennan are, and the stuff they have been through together over the five years they have worked together brought them close."
I expected Angela or even Sweets to confirm that. I didn't expect Caroline to. However, she was the next to speak. "Cherie whatever happened between them was pretty big. They always catch the killer. Even if they can't charge for murder, they still charge on something. They've worked cases that should have been impossible to solve, but they always managed in the end. The second-last case they worked together was the Gravedigger trial, which was emotionally draining for everyone involved. It was also the first time Dr Brennan openly said she wanted a break. The next case they caught, Booth got asked to go back to the army and she got asked to go to the Maluku Islands. For the first time the case didn't matter. Even when they hated each other, they still managed to close a case. But this time they were running."
"Sorry we're late, I was hungry." The couple in question finally arrived at the table.
"You know Bones, you wouldn't of been hungry if you had of eaten today." I started to get a twisting sensation in my stomach.
"I had a bagel this morning last time I checked that was food Booth."
"You need to eat more than a bagel a day. How..." She's his best friend that why he's concerned, I tell myself.
"I'm fine Booth."
"Sure Bones. Hey Hannah, the squints and Caroline weren't gossiping about me, were they?"
"No. You were only mentioned when I asked why you were running late." And boy were you mentioned.
"You know I still don't understand why we have to go back into therapy with the kid." I glance over at Sweets, who is staring at the ceiling with a look of endless patience on his face.
"Are you serious Booth?" Why is Temperance looking at him like he's an idiot?
"Yeah why, do you know Bones?"
"…" Now would be a perfect time for her to be her blunt herself, I find it odd that she can't find the words.
"What Bones, why do we have to see the kid?" I'm not sure if I like the edge of hysteria in his voice.
She just kind of looked at him then but he seemed to get it because his reply was just as cryptic.
"But, that's stupid. No they wouldn't, you have to be wrong Bones! Sweets just probably missed us." Are these people workmates or a family?
"Do you really believe that?"
Their interaction leads me to believe that maybe she is more than the partner. I guess I will just have to do what I do best and uncover the story.
"Nothing's changed between us. Things are exactly the same as they were this time last year." Why is Seeley so defensive?
How can things be exactly the same? He's dating Hannah. He's not in love with me anymore, he's moved on. That caused us to change. We're not always together anymore. He doesn't just come visit the lab for any reason anymore. He has to realise that having another woman in his life is the change. We may still be close, but he can't just turn up at my apartment at a late hour with food when we're working a particularly hard case. "Things aren't exactly the same as they were a year ago Booth. We both knew things would be different when we got back."
What does she mean they both knew things would be different between them? Why would things be different? I voiced this question I had to know.
"How did you know things would change?"
I expected a scientific response about evolution, but instead Temperance just replied.
"They had to change between us."
"No they didn't Bones, you're the one who wanted them to change."
"I didn't want things to change Booth. Look, can we please not have this conversation right now? Especially in front of everyone." She actually looked human and vulnerable when she said that.
Maybe they were something more than partners before they left. Maybe their personal relationship had ended badly and that why things had to change. That's why Seeley didn't like to mention her. No... If they dated, he would have told me. Temperance is a scientist. She probably just means being apart for seven months would cause things to naturally change between them. I do know one thing though: I definitely want to find out exactly how close they were, and what caused them to run like their friends say they did.