Lessons Learned

Dmitri Vladov was stunned. He had never before met a man such as this. Sure, there had been many men who had thought themselves equal or better than him, but he had set them all straight with very little effort. This was not such a man. This man had something in him. Something that set him apart. Something that Vladov had not seen in another man since he was a small boy in Russia, when he watched the soldiers invade his home and tear apart his family. This man with the cold stare and commanding stance was just as 'cocky' as his belt buckle proclaimed, but Vladov just couldn't bring himself to accept that he had been bested. No one had ever spoken to him as this man had and not paid the price for it. *He dared to ask me to come down here to this office. Well, I was bored and I came here to humor him and 'answer' his questions. He knows I am lying when I deny all of his accusations. I think if any man could manage to find evidence against me and my 'business' dealings, it would be him. He is very smart, this man. Surely he is smart enough to see that I have done a favor for him by coming here. Why doesn't he understand that he owes me a favor in return? This is how these things work. The other man understood. Hacker understood. I will just have to make this Agent Booth understand.* Vladov decided right then and there that maybe it was time to use one of the old methods. Maybe it was time to reach out to one of this man's loved ones to help him 'understand' the way things worked in this world…it was time to teach this cocky young man a lesson.

Later that week…

Booth had just dropped his date off at her door, waved goodnight to the doorman and was hurrying back to his car. He couldn't get away fast enough. It wasn't that he hadn't had a good time on their date, but he just felt so guilty for leading her on. He couldn't do it again. His heart belonged to someone else and it just wasn't fair to Dr. Catherine Bryar that he was constantly comparing her to Dr. Temperance Brennan. Especially since she seemed to fall short in every way, at least in Booth's eyes anyway. He was wrong. There was no way he would be able to move on. He would be alone for the rest of his life, it seemed, because he knew that there was no way he would ever not love his Bones. His date tonight had felt too much like an affair and he had never cheated on a woman in his life and he definitely wasn't going to start now. Not when his heart was so completely taken.

Booth now sat in his SUV deliberating on going to Bones apartment and telling her the truth. That he could never move on. That it didn't matter how much pain it caused him or how lonely he would be, he would always be hers even if she wouldn't have him that way. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he failed to notice the men in the black sedan that was parked across the street. The car had been following Booth and his date all evening. Normally this was something the Special Agent would have picked up on immediately and with ease. Unfortunately he was so torn by his guilt and had made such an effort to overcompensate for this feeling to make sure his date didn't see it, that he just hadn't been as alert as he usually would have been. His sniper training had taken a backseat to his catholic guilt. It didn't take notice of the two men that got out of the vehicle and stepped into the shadows of Catherine's building. It didn't take notice of Catherine's body as it was tossed out of her 5th story apartment window with a note attached to her dress. A note addressed to one Special Agent Seeley Booth. A note letting the agent know that this was done as retribution for an unappreciated favor given.

B*B*B*B*B*B

Across town Dr. Temperance Brennan was in her bathroom, taking her third shower of the day. From the way she was scrubbing at her skin you would think she had once again gotten into something incredibly noxious. Well, that wasn't the case. No, she had just returned from her date with Deputy Director Andrew Hacker. He had been subtly touching her all evening. Her hands. Her arms. Her shoulders. Everywhere skin showed. She had managed to hide the way each touch had made her skin crawl. The final straw came when he had walked her to her door. He had placed his hand at the small of her back to guide her out of the elevator and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She had quickly and tersely bid him goodnight and shut the door in his face. That had been fifteen minutes ago. She had been in the shower now for fourteen minutes and every place he had touched was now red from the harsh treatment of her shower loofah.

Finally, she felt that she had removed every trace of his touch and she stepped out of the shower. As she did, she heard someone knocking on her front door. She knew that knock. It had been a few weeks since she had heard it on her door, but it was one that she would always recognize, no matter how much time had passed. It was the knock of the man she loved. Yes, she could now admit it to herself. Now that it was too late. She was in love with her partner and best friend, but he had found someone else. Someone that was seemingly perfect for him. Brennan held back the sob that wanted to escape and pulled on her thick, terry cloth robe. The light blue one that Booth had given her for her birthday. The one that matched the color of her eyes, he said, whenever he showed up with a new set of bones for her to study. The only one she ever used anymore, even though she had several other, more expensive and more luxurious ones. Somehow this one had become her favorite.

As Brennan opened the door to Booth, she was surprised to see the tears streaming down his face. He shouldn't be here. He was supposed to be out on a date. Instead here he was, crying on her doorstep. She hurriedly pulled him in and closed the door behind him.

"Booth! What is it? Why are you crying? Has something happened to Parker? Why aren't you on your date?"

Booth began pacing her livingroom floor. "I can't do it, Bones. I thought I could. I thought I could make myself do it, but I can't! I'm sorry, Bones, but I just can't!" At this he flopped onto her couch and buried his tear streaked face in his hands.

"Booth, what are you talking about? What is it that you can't do?" She was really getting worried about him. She knew it took a lot to bring this strong man to his knees this way and she hated seeing him cry. She only hoped that this time it wouldn't be her fault. That she wasn't the one to make him cry again. She wanted to be the one to dry his tears and fix whatever had felled this man that she loved enough to let go.

Booth looked into her eyes and saw the worry there. He thought he saw love as well, but he didn't have the strength in him anymore to hold onto that kind of hope. He lost that strength weeks ago. That night. That awful night when he had gambled and lost the most precious prize he had ever tried to reach for. Love. Her love. "I'm sorry, Bones. I tried to move on. I really did. But apparently I can't even do that. I know you don't want this. I know I told you I had to find someone else. It seems, though, that I am not strong enough to walk away. I am not strong enough to save myself." He saw the shock and confusion in her eyes as he spoke. She had already made it clear to him that she didn't want him. That she couldn't love him. He knew this was unfair. He shouldn't be placing this burden at her feet. Again. And he hated himself all the more because he couldn't make himself stay away. He couldn't make himself get up and walk out her door to save her the trouble of throwing him out. He tore his eyes away, no longer able to look at her. He was too ashamed of himself.

Booth was right. He had seen shock in Temperance Brennan's eyes as he spoke. But if he had only looked a little deeper, he would also have seen the faint light of hope. Hope that maybe she still had a chance. Maybe it wasn't too late. Then, as he had done to her so many times in the past, she touched his chin softly and pulled his face up so that she could look in his eyes. His beautiful, chocolate colored eyes. Eyes that she had felt herself drowning in more times than even her genius brain could count. Eyes that were now so full of pain that it made her physically ache to look in them, knowing that, once again, she was at the heart of his pain. But maybe this time she could fix it. This time she would have the courage to do what they both needed her to do. "Booth. Please don't apologize to me. You have done nothing to be sorry for. Nothing to be ashamed of. I made you do this. I made you go against your heart. I made you walk away. And I have been regretting that decision since the moment I made it."

Booth's eyes widened at this. He didn't dare hope. It hurt too much. But what was she saying? God help him, but he could feel that painful tide of hope rising within him. He tried to tamp it down, because he knew his heart couldn't take her rejection again. Her eyes, though…her eyes were pulling that hope out of him. Making it stronger.

"Booth, I know I no longer have the right to ask this of you. I don't expect you to do this and I would completely and totally understand if you hated me for asking this of you…but is it possible? Please. Could I maybe have another chance? Could you help me learn how to trust my heart and not my brain? I know I said I couldn't change, but I know that with your help, I could…adapt…or evolve. I could learn from you. You have helped me to change in the past. You have helped me in so many ways, Booth. Please tell me I'm not too late! Tell me you still love me, because…because…I love you, Booth. I love you." She was sobbing almost uncontrollably by this time. They were both crying and grasping onto one another's hands so tightly that their fingers were starting to go numb, but neither one noticed.

Booth couldn't believe his ears. He had dreamt of her saying those three words to him countless times in the past 5 years, but in the last three weeks those dreams had only brought him immeasurable pain when he woke. Now here she was. Telling him she loved him and asking for another chance. Booth did the only thing he could thing of. He grabbed her and pulled her to him, letting his kiss tell her everything that was in his heart. When he finally pulled away he could only repeat those words back to her, over and over, for several minutes, kissing her tears away in between each kiss. "I love you. I love you. I love you. I'll always love you!" When he could finally get his brain to form another thought, he told her "I had given up hope of ever hearing those words from you. It was never too late, Bones. I would never turn you away! If you want me to teach you to listen and trust what your heart is telling you, I will gladly do so, but Bones, I never wanted you to change who you are or to stop being the scientist. I fell in love with the scientist."

That night the scientist learned the greatest lesson she had ever been taught. She learned that love, when trusted, conquers all and that sometimes, the heart knows more than the brain.