The Devil before Dawn.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, or any of the characters from the show. They belong to Fox Television.

Set after 06x09 'The doctor in the photo'.

For the first time in her life, Brennan believed that the heart was more than just a muscle. Usually, situations like these would cause her to rationalise and compartmentalize everything, but the realisation that she had been wrong to turn down Booth had hit her so hard last night that it had sucked the air right out of her chest.

Booth had dropped her off at her place, telling her good night and I'll see you tomorrow. She'd just nodded and gone straight to bed, but she hadn't slept a minute. Three days was all it would take, she'd told herself in the car. But she realised it would take so much longer. Booth was with Hannah, and he wouldn't leave her just because she had decided to claim him hers. Had she really thought it would be that easy? How stupid was she?

The next morning, Brennan dragged herself back to the Jeffersonian. She was supposed to have breakfast with Booth first but she'd texted him not to expect her. He had not answered her so she supposed he didn't want to talk to her.

When she entered the Jeffersonian, Angela approached her. 'Hey, where were you last night?' She stopped dead. 'Sweetie, what's wrong?'

Brennan looked at her, tears brimming in her eyes.

'Ange, I'm fine.'

'No you're not. And this time, you're telling.'

Brennan saw in her best friends eyes that there was no arguing.

She sighed and walked into her office, Angela right behind her. 'Booth went to find you last night you know.'

'Yeah, I know. He found me all right.'

'What happened? Where were you?'

'I was solving the case.' Brennan avoided looking into Angela's eyes, knowing she'd burst into tears if she did.

'Brennan, you have to talk to someone about this, you know. You can't just keep everything to yourself.'

Brennan sighed. Should she tell Angela what had happened before the team had split up? How much did she already know, and how much should she know? She had never been good at this stuff, and she still wasn't, Brennan realised. 'Just drop it Ange. I'll tell you later. Right now I need something to work on.' She stood and walked out of her office, towards the lab platform, not noticing the figure she was walking straight into.

'Bones!'

Brennan stopped. 'Booth.' She met his eyes for no more than half a second, and before he could say anything else, she passed him and walked up the stairs to the platform. Booth followed her with his eyes, then met Angela's eyes, shook his head and followed Brennan.

Angela stood speechless. What had she just witnessed? Something was very wrong between those two, and it was more than the usual tension that had been between them ever since Hannah had come into the frame.

'Bones, we have a case. A man was found dead this morning at the abandoned trainstation, let's go check it out.' He waited for her answer but all he got was Brennan grabbing her bag and coat and passing him again on her way out. He sighed and followed her. Life had become so much more complicated yesterday evening, and he had no idea how they would ever survive.

When he'd come home yesterday evening after dropping Bones off, Hannah had noticed the change in him immediately. He'd managed to avoid her questions, but he'd been awake most of the night thinking how he would ever choose between these two women. He knew he loved Bones more, but Hannah was so much easier to love. There was so much risk of getting hurt involved with Bones that after she'd turned him down, he'd sworn to himself not to try again. When she was ready to admit to herself how she felt about him, he knew she'd let him know. He hadn't anticipated that it would be when he was getting ready to let another woman take her place in his mind. He was angry with her. Why did she have to decide now? Why couldn't she have decided this a month or two ago? He hadn't told Hannah about his history with Bones yet, but he knew he was going to have to, and he honestly didn't know what to tell her. He wanted Bones next to him more than anything, but he'd settled for working next to her instead of sleeping next to her. Now she'd told him she wanted more, and he was thrown. His head had been spinning like this the entire night, making the dry demeanor she was putting on this morning hard to handle. He hoped she'd be all right, he had never seen her this drawn back before, but he also knew she had to deal with a big part of this on her own.

The whole way to the crime scene Brennan and Booth had been sitting in silence in the car. When they arrived, Brennan got out, put on her gloves and approached the victim. 'Any idea how he ended up here?' Booth asked the deputy, who was busy showing Brennan what had happened. 'No Sir. We think he might have jumped.'

Brennan shook her head. 'Not enough broken bones to suggest suicide by train,' she said. 'Pelvic bone indicates male, approximately thirty-five years old.' Booth took a few notes. 'Is it possible he was dumped here to make it look like a suicide?' Brennan didn't answer. She examined the skull, in pretty bad shape. 'I estimate he has been out here for at least two nights judging by the damage done by the wildlife, but Hodgins will have to confirm'. Booth nodded. 'Ok, let's get him back to the Jeffersonian.' The deputy approached Brennan. 'So, you don't think it was suicide? I knew it!' 'Then why did you need me?' she snapped. The deputy looked stunned and walked away briskly. Brennan lowered her head and walked towards the car, knowing Booth would follow her without asking questions. She was grateful for the distance he had taken, she needed it.

'So, any inkling as to what happened yet?' Booth asked Brennan. They had gone to lunch with Sweets, who had been happy to join them, feeling there had been a change in their dynamic. 'He suffered a cranial injury of approximately ten centimeters in diameter,' Bones said. 'So he was hit on the head,' Booth stated.

'Or he fell, or he got struck by an object by accident. You should not jump to conclusions like that.' Bones took another bite of her salad. 'But it would seem likely that he was struck,' she added, admitting to herself that she was hard on Booth.

'Do any of you want to talk about what's going on here?' Sweets interrupted. They had almost forgotten he was there.

'No', they answered, a bit too fast and a bit too simultaneous.

'Ok,' Sweets said. He knew when to stop, he would talk to Brennan later and he was sure he would be able to help her. Little did he know about how she'd broken every code in her own book the evening before.

They ate the rest of their lunch quietly, and when Brennan said it was time to go back to the lab, Booth offered to drive her. 'That won't be necessary,' she said. She didn't meet his eyes, and he didn't push. 'All right, call me when you find anything.' She nodded and Booth left.

'Sure you don't want to talk about it? I'm not working you know.' Sweets tried. He saw his friends were in trouble and he wanted nothing more than to help them save their relationship.

'I'm sure.' Brennan wasn't about to open up again, to anyone.

'You know I consider you one of my closest friends. You can talk to me about anything, Dr. Brennan. I can see that something has changed the relationship between you and agent Booth, and I want to help.' He hoped it was enough.

He was stunned when he saw the rational scientist in front of him burst into tears.

'I made a mistake Sweets. Such a mistake.' She pulled herself together, wiping the tears from her cheeks. 'I'm sorry.'

'What kind of mistake?'

Brennan didn't know how much Sweets knew about his role in all this. After all, it had been him who told Booth to break the ice before she was ready. She decided to tell him only what he needed to know.

'You were right about me over-identifying with that doctor, but she taught me something. She taught me not to have regrets. I turned Booth down before the team broke up. I think you know that much,' she said.

Sweets nodded.

'And now he's back with Hannah and you realize your mistake,' he finished for her.

Brennan nodded, tears surfacing again.

'Did you tell him how you feel?' Sweets asked carefully.

Brennan nodded again, looking at her empty plate.

'You know that agent Booth is a very good man, Dr. Brennan. You can hardly expect him to switch roles immediately.'

'But why not? I mean, rationally, I'm the better choice. He has shown his interest in me on several occasions, and I never acted upon it, but I think I showed him the extent of my feelings for him,' she said, trying to analyze Booths reaction.

'He has a committed relationship with Hannah, dr. Brennan. You know that. He isn't likely to leave her now, they're too close for that. You'll have to wait and see what happens, or you have to move on. That's up to you. The important part of this is that you allowed your human, emotional side to surface. That will only help you in the future.'

'But it destroyed my future, Sweets. I'm not doing that again. I don't see the benefit of showing emotion when it only brings pain.'

'You don't know that. You can't predict the future, dr. Brennan. I am pretty sure you are not the only one afraid of your feelings.'

Brennan frowned. 'I'm not afraid.'

'Yes you are. Afraid of being vulnerable, and afraid of getting hurt. You put your heart on the line and you got hurt, and not by just anyone, by Booth. That did some damage, but it also helped. You've been through the worst of it, it'll only get better from now on.'

Brennan shook her head. 'I hate psychology.'

Hannah knew Seeley was troubled by something and it bothered her that he wouldn't share it with her.

'Seeley, come on. I deserve to know, I think.'

'I want to tell you Hannah, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea.'

'About what?' Now Booth was scaring her.

Booth sighed, walked towards Hannah and sat down on the couch with her. He decided to let her in on a little history and see how she'd react. 'Just promise me you'll hear me out before you say anything, ok?'

Hannah nodded. 'Ok.' Sitting opposite of him, she could see he was trying to figure out how to start. It wasn't like him to get nervous, and it made her just as anxious about what he was going to say.

'You know that Bones and I have been partners for over five years now, right?' He started. Hannah nodded. If she knew where this was going she did a good job of hiding it.

'We knew each other before we became partners. We had one case where Bones was the expert witness working for the FBI.' Hannah stayed quiet, keeping her promise to hear him out first.

'You must have noticed that we're pretty close,' Booth said, not wanting to dive straight into the messy parts. Hannah nodded again.

'Well, during that first case.. Let's just say it's because of Bones we didn't become a couple back then.'

'But that was what, six years ago?' Hannah said. 'I don't think that's still important, Seeley.'

'It is.'

Booth took Hannah's hands. 'I want you to listen to me. I love you, and I don't want to loose you. I just want you to know the truth.' Hannah softly squeezed his hands. 'Thank you for wanting to tell me. I won't run.'

He smiled at her, feeling lucky to have two such brilliant and beautiful women in his life. It gave him courage, and he knew telling Hannah everything was the best way to proceed. He told her everything, about how he and Bones had kissed but had never gone beyond that. How he'd saved her life more than once, and how she'd done the same for him. How he had helped her in the search for her parents and with that, in her search for herself. How he had discovered that her icy, rational side was just an armor for a beautiful, compassionate, vulnerable heart that had been hurt one too many times. How he had caught her when she'd fallen after several bad choices of boyfriends, and how she'd come to know she could always rely on him. How he'd wanted it to be that way, and how she had always been there for him, even if she didn't always know what she did for him. How he'd dreamed of them being married. How he'd fallen deeply in love with his Bones after his brain surgery. Finally, he came to the part where they had come to terms with their feelings in front of the Hoover building after their conversation with Sweets.

'Hannah, I told her I wanted to give it a shot. I was ready for Bones and I to be together forever. I never wanted to be without her at that point. She had been the standard for so long, all I could think about at night was her.' Hannah rolled her eyes jokingly. 'All right, I get the point,' she said. Booth smiled with her. 'Sorry. I just want you to know how I felt.' Hannah nodded again, Booth continued. 'She turned me down without any valid reason, but she made it clear that she didn't want me. My heart was crushed. I thought she meant she didn't love me. It never occurred to me that she might just be afraid, until last night. She opened up to me, Hannah. She told me she got the signal. That she made a mistake and she didn't want to have any regrets.'

Hannah was looking at him with open mouth. 'She what? That doesn't sound like Temperance.'

'It was her, Hannah. The true Temperance. And I crushed it.' Booth let go of her hands and raked them through his hair. 'I'm afraid I destroyed her.'

'What do you mean?' Hannah asked.

'When I recovered from my brain tumor, I wanted to tell Bones how I felt. Cam told me to be absolutely 200% sure of my feelings before I told Bones, because if I backed out, she'd die of loneliness before she'd ever trust anyone again. I think I did that to her yesterday.'

Hannah nodded slowly. 'But it wasn't your fault.'

'I know, but Bones never opened up to me like that. She tried it because she hoped it would help her, but instead I crushed her heart without a second thought. I know it was the right thing, I told her I love you, but I just hope she knows I still love her as well.'

Hannah's next words would show Booth just how lucky he was with her.

'Maybe you should tell her.'