Chapter 1- The Evening in the Call
Hacker laughed, and Temperance smiled, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. See, she thought. This is what moving on is. He'd been calling her for days after she had gotten back from Maluku, but she only agreed to go out with him the day after her talk with Micah, the day after she'd found cause of death, the day after she'd confessed to Booth… Who was proving harder to forget then she thought he would. He'd moved on, she needed to too. She also needed to follow what Hacker was saying, and tried to focus in after scolding herself.
"What were you saying?" He repeated his statement, and she forced a laugh although, she did not understand what was so funny about it. Dropping her gaze, she played with her napkin, unable to look at him without recalling her conversation with Booth –her confession.
Footsteps in the crowed but nearly noiseless restaurant (Hacker had chosen well), then a voice. "Hey, Bones! What are you doing here?" She looked up, straight into his eyes.
"Hi, Booth, Hi, Hannah," Hannah returned her forced smile with one of her own, before announcing she was getting a table and fleeing. Temperance tried to reign in the hurt she felt, compartmentalizing it for later.
"So, what're you two doing?" Booth learned over, looking concerned about Hannah. Temperance tried to hold in her sigh, it was just another reminder that she would never come first in his life anymore. He looked nice though, so she looked away.
Hacker answered, and she could tell he was irritated with Booth, she couldn't remember (for the death of her) why though. Was he in the middle of something important? Booth made small talk for a few minutes, then left. He gave her a searching look before he departed, but she couldn't hold his gaze. She couldn't cry in front of him, not now, not anymore. That was one mistake she'd never make again.
"You too seem to be off."
"What do you mean?" she was thrown by Hacker's comment. What did he know?
"You two… You two just always seemed to be close, in sync… You aren't any more." He shrugged and even she could tell he was uncomfortable with the situation.
"Well, sometimes I think we might be at the end of out partnership…" She didn't really know why she said that, she just couldn't control much that came out of her mouth anymore.
"Do you want me to reassign him?" He smiled, trying to make her feel better. For some reason, his support did. Maybe, even with Booth in the room, tonight she could forget.
"No," she laughed. "Not… Right now. Maybe someday, but for now we'll manage." She reached over and touched his hand, but jumped when her phone rang. Distantly, she heard the echo of another ring, but ignored it.
"Brennan," she had a case. After giving Hacker her regrets and goodbyes, she walked out to see Booth waiting for her. She took her coat, and looked at him. "Can I get a ride to the crime scene? Andrew drove us here."
He paused, pursing his lips. Was she not supposed to ask him for this now? Was he angry at her? Why the hell could she not read him as well as she once could? She got the answer for the latter instantly, she could only read Booth when he telegraphed himself to her, not when he stood there, immobile except for him lips.
"Sure, Bones. What else are you going to do, walk there?"