The Past in the Sum of the Whole

(The unaired ending to the Parts in the Sum of the Whole)

As Booth and Brennan walked out of the butcher shop it felt as though the world was about to shift, a sudden change of events, something that will transform there lives forever. They begun there walk down the desolate lane leading to his black SUV as Booth had decided earlier that it was illogical to drive home separately for reasons that escaped her but she thought it would be futile to ask. Booth was a gentleman, a knight in FBI standard issue body armour as Angela, her closest companion other than Booth, would say. He found it his role as the male in there partnership to look out for her, in his own words he was her gun. She however found his alpha male tendencies aggravating but over the past five years she'd grown to like them it was 'Boothy' as she referred to them. As was his 'Cocky' belt buckle which subconsciously directed the eyes to his groin, flamboyant ties and bright socks but she had especially become quite attached at his moniker for her, Bones. It was a reference to her career as the finest Forensic Anthropologist in the world but that was not why she liked it, she liked it because it made her feel as if she were his, and she was his Bones, through and through. They were work partners, yes but there was a much deeper connection between the pair that frightened her, she would have run already if he wasn't so charming, he was like a drug to her and she was selfish enough to yearn for more. Nevertheless she would never voice these feelings, she did not deserve him he was a man of heart and she was a scientist, she kept it as a secret and unknown to her, he had secrets of his own. She glanced up at his face searching for his eyes, he appeared to be deep in thought but as he turned to look at her he seemed to make a decision and began to pull away.

He cleared his throat breaking the silence, "I'm the vam... I mean gambler." His statement caught her by suprise and all she could manage was a meek "huh." Booth took a step towards her "I believe in giving this a shot. I want to give this a shot." Realisation began to wash over her face, he was stepping over the line, the line between partners and lovers, the one he had drawn all those years ago when they were just starting out as partners but she needed evidence, she was a scientist after all.

"You mean us?" He could see the fear in her eyes and hated himself for causing it, he gave a slight nod he needed to explain to her and fast "Temperance…" She shivered at the sound of her first name coming from his lips, he never used her first name, he continued cautiously "From the first moment I saw you at that university I knew, I knew."

"No, the FBI won't let us work together." She tried to reason with him, he walked towards her closing the gap.

"Don't say that, there is no reason why…" but his rant was silenced as he crushed his mouth against hers, drawing her closer then he thought physically possible. A jolt of excitement travelled through his body when he felt her respond with equal enthusiasm, giving back as much emotion as he was putting in. He gently nibbled on her bottom lip seeking entrance to her mouth which she granted almost instantaneously, he explored her mouth with is tongue and battled for power over the kiss but then as abruptly as it had started it ended, she pulled back using her hands that had just been tangled up in his hair to forcefully push him back. Her tear filled voice brought him back to reality.

"No, no… look Booth, Angel whoever you are, Buffy called me."

The all too familiar name surprised him, as if it were from another life "Buffy…" it rolled off his tongue naturally.

"She called me a few days ago looking for you, but she referred to you as Angel, so it took me a while to make the connection."

"What did she tell you?"

"She was talking about a curse being lifted, but I don't know what that means, curses don't exist, it's illogical to believe that…" But he interrupted her before she could finish knowing it would lead to another one of her anthropology lesson which he usually did not mind.

"OK, ok, did she say anything else?"

"Just that she was really eager to see you and she seemed very interested in the status of our relationship."

"What did you tell her?"

"I said that we were just partners, was I supposed to say something else? I wasn't familiar with that social situation… Booth who is she?"

This question caught him off guard, what was he supposed to tell her, if she discovered he had been lying to her from day one, he had no doubt in his mind that she would run away.

"She's ah… an old friend." That should do. "Did she mention anything about meeting up with me?"

"She said she'd just pop in."

"Oh, ok" Hope rushed through his veins, maybe there was a chance they could be together, finally, after all they'd been through.

"I'm really sorry Booth." She noticed the perplexity in his eyes and continued. "About before, I'm a scientist, I can't change, I don't know how." Her voice broke on the last word he moved forward wrapping an arm loosely around her waist reassuring her.

"Look Bones, I have to try and move on ok?" He looked down at her, she had gone stiff, eyes focused on something unknown, he followed her eye line, hand subconsciously moving to his gun. It was then that he noticed what had caught her attention; a figure was standing casually on the roof of one of the shops.

"FBI, show yourself."

The figure somersaulted off the roof and landed perfectly on the ground disguised by the shadows of the building, Bones gawked, that shop had to be at least twenty metres high. Booth however seemed taken back a gentle smile tugged at the edges of his lips.

"Show yourself, really Angel?"

"Buffy…"

The figure stepped out of the shadows; she was petite, beautiful blonde hair fell to her chest in sweet ringlets that framed her face perfectly. Her bright eyes shone stunningly in the soft moonlight and the perfect curves of her lips were turned up in a friendly smile. She was dressed in a tight, figure hugging dress that ended at mid thigh and a large silver cross lay on her chest. This girl was absolutely gorgeous.

Booth and Buffy stared at each other for what seemed like hours as Bones shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"I'm Dr Temperance Brennan" Bones interjected. "Forensic Anthropologist, best selling author and Special Agent Seeley Booth's partner; I believe we spoke on the phone."

This introduction brought both out of the trance finally acknowledging Bones' presence. Buffy was the first to speak "Ah, Buffy Summers, the rest is kind of complicated."

Booth seemed to find this funny and let out an uncomfortable laugh, Bones glared at him and he realised that there was an important question that he needed to ask Buffy. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you that Willow lifted the curse, we don't have to stay away from each other anymore." Buffy smiled from ear to ear and Booth returned her smile.

"When?"

"Last week, I would have come sooner but you made yourself pretty much impossible to find."

"Wait, you're saying we can finally be together?"

Bones finally caught onto what was happening and found that this infuriated her. "Booth! I understood when you said that you had to try and move on, but really it's been five minutes, your actions are completely irrational!"

"Oh my gosh, I interrupted something didn't I?"

"Buffy its fine, Bones I'm really sorry but I really didn't expect Buffy to show up. We have a lot of history."

"Angel, let me get this straight, you just professed your love to Dr Brennan and what was it? Five minutes later you're over her and ready to move on with me?"

"Buffy, when you say it like that it sounds bad but truth is, Its always been you, from the first moment I saw you in that alley way, I knew, I knew."

Bones stepped in between them.

"You just used that same line on me."

Buffy moved to stand beside the Doctor, choosing her side against her former lover.

"Is that true Angel?" He didn't answer. "Are you happy with her?"

He looked up, a mischievous grin had taken over his lips "Well obviously I'm not as happy I could be, because well you know what happens when I'm truly happy"

Even though the statement bewildered her, Bones could not help but raise he voice. "This is ridiculous! I thought you were better than this Booth. You promised you would never hurt me."

"Bones I never meant to hurt you." His words were sincere.

"Look its fine Seeley." The use of his first name was strange and he could see the walls that she hid behind already going up as he gazed into her eyes. "She's obviously your type she's young, blonde and beautiful, have a nice life." She stormed off into the opposite direction towards her car, but a small hand pulled her back. Bones tried to take back her hand from Buffy but the girl was deceivingly strong.

"Dr Brennan wait, you have him, me and Angel missed our moment, it's your time now, we chose to go our separate ways a while ago and in that time he has built a life with you."

"That's really nice of you Miss Summers but I didn't want him 10 minutes ago and after this incident I am quite certain I will not change my mind."

"Please call me Buffy."

"And you may call me Tempe, I hope you two are very happy together and Buffy look out for yourself, I find that he is not who he seems to be."

Buffy laughed to herself "Don't worry; I know Angel's secrets better than you do."

Booth walked up to the girls and placed a tender hand on Bones' shoulder which she instinctively shrugged off.

"Bones I'm really sorry about all this, I really care about you and I hope we can still be friends and partners."

His ignorance enraged her "Do you really think I'm going to just forget about this and everything's just going to go back to normal. Tomorrow morning I am withdrawing my services to the FBI and if you ever step one foot into the Jeffersonian, I'll cut your balls off."

"Bones your being irrational, can you please just calm down for a minute."

"I'm being irrational, no Booth I believe I am being incredibly rational considering the circumstances, and no I will not calm down! You are a selfish, arrogant man and I hope I never see you again!"

Buffy didn't know what to do, so decided to just go with her instincts "You tell him girl." The death glares from both Booth and Bones told her that her instincts were wrong this time.

"Bones I said I'm sorry, I hope in time you'll be able to forgive me, you know how much I cherish our friendship."

"I don't want to here this, I'm leaving."

Buffy made an abrupt decision that she knew was the right one this time "You know what, do you mind dropping me off at a hotel, I've had just about enough of this."

"Wait, what?" Booth was shocked at Buffy's hasty choice. "I thought we were going to finally going to be together."

"You've changed Angel; you're not the same man I used to know."

"Love makes you do crazy things; you both should know that better than anyone else."

It was Bones' turn to ask a question "And which one of us do you love?"

"I…uhhh…" Booth was lost for words as he looked between the two women that he loved more than anything, who he would die for and who he had died for.

Buffy was fed up with this and wanted to forget about this man as soon as possible "Don't bother calling Angel, lets go Tempe."

The two girls began walking away from the man that they had once loved but managed to break both their hearts.

"Don't worry about a hotel Buffy, you can crash at my place, I'm thinking wine and chocolate?"

"You read my mind Tempe; I can see this becoming a beautiful friendship."

"No that's unfeasible; you can't read or see into the future."

"I beg to differ."

"I don't know what that means." Tempe admitted.

"Don't worry about it Tempe, lets go get drunk." Buffy slung a friendly arm around her new companion and new that this was just the start of a new adventure in DC.

The End