A/N: So I might be in the minority on this one, but I enjoyed the end scene of the finale. I thought the rest of the episode was just okay, but I think that this year apart could be the catalyst for Booth and Brennan's final coming together. I was so tired of the holding pattern they were in that I was happy for the change. This is my summer project so the updates will be scattered throughout until the season premiere and will alternate between Booth and Brennan as they spend their year apart from each other. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 1

May 20, 2010

She was gone. I didn't see her plane take off but I knew that she was gone. I could feel it.

I hurried through the airport, knowing that there was going to be hell to pay for sneaking off the base. Going AWOL was something the Army didn't approve of, especially when they already denied my request. Getting told when I could sleep, eat, and piss after being out of the armed forces for several years was going to take some getting used to. But when I told Bones this was the best thing for me right now, I wasn't lying. I needed the change of scenery and pace as much as she did.

Hailing a cab once outside the airport, I realized the other reason why I got out of the airport so fast was to avoid seeing the squint squad. Without her, my partner, I felt like an awkward third wheel to the squint dynamic. Bones had always served as the mediator between me and the squints and it was like I didn't know how to act around them without her being there as well.

The cab pulled up in front of Fort McNair, where I am currently going through the standard physicals and de-briefings required before being deployed oversees. Tomorrow, I would be heading to Fort Benning in Georgia, the official headquarters of the unit I was a part of, the Army Rangers, for final de-briefings before heading to Afghanistan for a 12 month deployment. I was just happy to be near Parker for as long as I could. The kid loved seeing me in my uniform; he really thought his old man was a bonafide hero.

The second I left the cab and walked onto base, I was greeted by two MPs who both looked like they could play linebacker for the Redskins.

"Sergeant Major Booth?" one of them asked, like they didn't know who I was.

"That's me," I replied, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

"Captain Perry wants to see you immediately."

Great, I thought, as I nodded to the MPs who started walking with me to his office. Captain Steven Perry was the commander of unit and he was not too happy to see me. To hear that his superiors felt that he was doing such a bad job of training his own men that they were bringing in an ex-sniper who was currently an FBI Agent, well, let's just say that my arrival did not please him. Nobody liked to be told that they were not doing their job correctly but to a pompous officer like Perry, bringing in an NCO that had been a civilian a week ago was a slap in the face.

We arrived at the Captain's office and the MPs opened the door for me, leaving me no choice but to head inside and face the music.

I walked up to the front of his desk where I saw him working and stood at attention, back straight and arms glued to my sides, my gaze pinned to the wall just behind his desk. The bastard didn't even look up from his paperwork. "Sergeant Major Booth reporting as ordered, sir," I intoned.

Silence came over the office and the expected 'at ease' command never came. I had to stop the glare that threatened to take over my face as I was forced to continue to stand at attention for several minutes while it seemed that my commander had no time for me even though he called me to talk to him.

"Sergeant Major Booth, your behavior today will not be tolerated, is that understood?" Captain Perry said, still not looking up from his paperwork or telling me to go to parade rest.

The history on the captain was something I learned from the younger men in my unit the instant I stepped on base. Turns out the man graduated from West Point Military Academy and was 6th generation Army but unlike his relatives before him, he did not have the smarts or the guts to join the Rangers and dropped out of training on his first try. Only a call from daddy to the Secretary of Defense had ensured his son's place within the Special Forces unit. In the 10 years since his graduation, he had only advanced one rank and rumor had it that this was his last assignment. So, as one might imagine, him and I were not the best of friends.

"Sir, I-"

"Sergeant Major Booth!" he interrupted, finally looking up from his paperwork, now standing behind his desk with his fists on the table. "That question did not require an answer that is anything other than 'yes, sir.' I will not have behavior like that in my unit and as an example to the other men, you must be reprimanded. Is that understood, Sergeant Major Booth? And if your answer is anything other than 'yes, sir,' I will make sure you regret it."

"Yes, sir," I answered, too furious to say anything else. I ground my teeth together to ensure I wouldn't say anything else and silently thanked whoever was listening that the young men I was going to train were reason enough for my re-enlistment.

I waited, as Captain Perry seemed to give me the once over. I refused to flinch under his scrutiny and when he was satisfied, he sat down at his desk and returned to his paperwork, still leaving me standing at attention.

"I realize, Sergeant Major Booth that right now, since you do not live on base, I do not have any control over what you do after 5 pm. But tomorrow, when we go to Fort Benning, that all changes. Effective the second you walk onto that base, if you are not in a de-briefing or other required function for deployment; you will be confined to your quarters until we depart for Afghanistan. Is that understood, Sergeant Major Booth?"

I was really starting to get tired of that question, especially since it seemed there was only one appropriate answer. "Yes, sir."

"Good. You are dismissed Sergeant Major Booth. The MPs will see that you get back to your apartment." I did an about face and began to walk out of the office when I heard him call me back.

"Oh, and Sergeant Major Booth?" I turned around and stood at attention once again. "I suggest you think about how hard you want this next year to be for you. My superiors are convinced you are the right man for the job but my superiors will not be in the middle of the Afghani countryside with us. Do we understand each other, Sergeant Major Booth?"

"Yes, sir," I replied, ready to get out of the office and back to my apartment.

"Dismissed."

Not giving him another opportunity to call me back, I threw open the door and grimaced as the two MPs followed me out of the building and had a car waiting to take me home. The FBI had taken mine back when I took a leave of absence so while I needed a ride whenever I went off base; this was not the way I wanted to leave.

As I sat in the back seat of the SUV, I couldn't help but think about my partner, somewhere over the United States headed to Indonesia and I started thinking that a year in the grand scheme of things could be a long damned time.

But I needed to be away from her, needed some space. I was heart-crushed when she told me that she couldn't change and rejected me as a lover. Then, not 2 months later, after I tried and tried to be a good partner and not let my feelings get in the way and she goes and decides to leave me for a year, rejecting me as a partner as well. It was clear that my worst fears had been confirmed and she clearly thought I wasn't good enough for her. That afternoon, I went to Colonel Pelant's office and signed the re-enlistment papers.

That is when the nightmares started again and my feet constantly ached. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the desert that I had vowed never to go back to and saw the young men I would be training to go and face those exact same horrors. It was no surprise that I was pretty tired.

But no matter what, I couldn't blame Bones for her decision. I told Sweets once that you can't push her and that is exactly what I did after Gordon Gordon told me to be patient.

Before she left, she had helped me set up a Skype account that I could use to talk to Parker and to her when I had computer access. I was so happy that technology had advanced to the point where I could physically see my son during the long year I would be in Afghanistan.

I squinted my eyes as the headache that I got whenever I thought about the convoluted relationship with my partner got worse. What I really needed to do was move on; find a woman that would love me. Bones may be the standard but she wasn't the only woman in the world. I was an attractive, nice guy. I should be able to find someone. This is why I needed some time away from her; I needed to clear my head and find a new place in the world, a place where me and Bones were not the center and she wasn't the first thing I thought about when I got up and the last thing I thought about when I went to sleep. This year apart was exactly what we needed.

Right?