A/N: Sorry for the long wait. School just started for me, and I'm already stressed out. Sorry if this one seems rushed, but I wanted this one to be done so I can start on another one. There's going to be a third chapter, and it's going to be the last one. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own BONES!
Booth's POV
"Bones! Where the hell are you? This is the fifth time I've called you, and I'm getting worried here. I checked your office, and your things are gone. Did you quit? Call me, please," I said after I swiped my ID card to get up at the platform. No need to have the rest of the squints worry about some intruder.
As soon as I was up at the platform, I could see Cam, bent over some remains, that was partially decomposed, doing whatever it is that she always does. Clark and Hodgins are nowhere to be seen, and I don't even want to know what they're doing. Angela is probably in her office working on her art work. However, I didn't drive all the way to the Jeffersonian Institute to talk to them. I'm looking for Bones, who has not answered any of my calls, and whose office is empty.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before I approached Cam. She looked up at me once I was finally standing in front of her.
"What do you want, Seeley?" she asked. She used my first name in a very serious tone, which is never a good sign.
"Where's Bones? Where did all her things go?" I asked as I started pacing in front of her.
"Seeley..." she said as she took off her white gloves without looking at me, and left them beside the body.
"What happened, Cam? Is she hurt?" I asked as I put both my hands on her shoulders. I was tempted to shake the answers out of her, but I willed myself to calm down.
"No, she's not hurt. It's just that I don't think it's my place to tell you," she said as she tried to get my hands off of her shoulders.
"Tell me what?" I asked as I looked at her quizzically. She motioned for me to sit in one of the empty chairs on the platform, but I didn't listen. I remained standing as I waited for her to tell me whatever it is that she needed to tell me regarding Bones.
"Seeley, Dr. Brennan no longer works for us," she said, and I felt my eyes widen at what I had just heard. It felt like time had stopped, and all the memories I had with Bones played in my head: our first case together, our late night dinners, and our usually short appointments with Sweets. For Bones to leave just like that, it's like she doesn't even care.
"Wha-What? What do you mean?" I asked as I finally got a hold of myself.
Cam gave me an empathetic look. "I'm sorry, but she handed her letter of resignation yesterday."
"And you accepted it?" I asked in disbelief. She knows how much Bones means to me, and she let her go. How could she?
"Well...yes. She was offered a job, and she already accepted," she said.
"Why didn't she tell me? She and I were partners. We share everything," I said as I ran my right hand through my hair, and let out an irritated sigh.
"My best guess would be because she's running away," she said as she turned to get another pair of plastic gloves.
"From what?" I asked.
"From you," she said, and she snapped her gloves on. She proceeded to look at the decomposing remain on the steel table as if she was ignoring my very presence.
"Why would she run away from me?" I asked as I walked towards her.
She paused for a moment. She took a deep breath, and her shoulders became more tense."I told you Booth. I told you that you have to be certain about your feelings for her before actually telling her."
"I was certain. I asked her to give us a chance. I told her about how I felt about her, but it took her less than thirty seconds to reject me," I said as the memory of the night in front of the Hoover building came into my mind. I felt a tug in my heart at the thought, but I pushed it aside because it doesn't matter. I have Hannah, my fiance, now.
Cam looked up to me, and for an entire minute, we just stood there without saying a word, but when the silence became too loud to bear, I finally spoke up.
"I told Bones that if she can't love me, then I have to move on because I need someone who's going to love me for the next thirty, forty, or fifty years, and that's where Hannah comes in," I said as I closed my eyes.
"And you expected Dr. Brennan to be happy for you?" Cam asked in disbelief, and she shook her head in disappointment.
"Yeah. I mean, she said she wanted me to move on," I said, and she gave me this look. Almost as if she was angry.
She took a deep breath, and she stared at me for a minute before she started talking again.
"Booth, you, of all people, should know that Dr. Brennan is a very private person. Heck, everyone in this lab knows that. She doesn't always show her true feelings; sometimes she may appear happy, but she's actually angry on the inside," she paused as if she was trying to think about what she was going to say next.
"And that dig, up in the Maluku Islands, that was her way of thinking things through. She thought about giving the both of you a chance, and she was ready. She was ready to give in into love, something she doesn't really believe in, but you broke her heart by telling her that you're getting married to some blond journalist you met while in Afghanistan. Did it even occur to you that maybe she was scared?" she continued, and I looked at her in surprise.
Scared? What was Bones scared of?
"No. She-" she interrupted before I could even finish what I was about to say.
"Don't Seeley. These past two weeks had been a living hell for her, and the rest of the team. Everyone could see the pain that she was going through except you. She pretended for you, but you're too blinded to see it because you're too caught up with the idea of being in love with Hannah, when in reality, you're in love with Dr. Brennan," she said as she looked away from me, and toward the remain on the table.
Pain? Pretend? And I've moved on already. And I am in love with Hannah; I'm getting married to her next month, for Pete's sake.
What is Cam saying? Why would Bones pretend for me?
"What-" I was going to ask her about what she meant, but I was interrupted by a very angry Angela.
"You! What are you doing here?" she asked as she gave me a look that could only mean pure hatred.
"I'm looking for Bones," I said in a very calm manner to let the angry artist know that she wasn't getting under my skin.
"Well...you won't find her. Thanks to you," she said as she slowly walked toward me. Her eyes were filled with anger, and it sent shivers down my spine, but I stood still. I'm not going to let her know that she actually scares me.
"I-" Before I could even utter a second word, she silenced me by jabbing her long finger on my chest.
"Because of you, Brennan ran away with a broken heart. She loved you, and she probably still does even though you don't," she said. What? I looked at her, expecting an explanation, but I didn't get any.
"But-" She's not done.
"Ugh! I hate you so much. Because of you, she's probably burried under a deep pile of work at her new job. Because of you...she feels alone and abandoned,"she said, and knowing that she was just going to interrupt me, I kept quiet. She continued to jab her long fingers on my chest, and to be honest, it hurts because she was doing it so hard.
"Did you know that she cries herself to sleep most nights? That she calls for you in her sleep, that is if someone makes sure that she sleep? Do you know how many sleepless nights I had to endure just to make sure she's okay? Do you know how hard it is to hear your best friend's cry in the middle of the night? She hasn't been herself in the past two weeks...No, I guess you wouldn't know all those things because you don't care. Because you're so in love with your fiance Hannah,"she said, and I could see the tears in her eyes. For some reason, what she had said broke my heart? Bones didn't deserve all of that, and it hurts even more because the person who made her like that is me.
"Ang-" Again, I was cut off by her.
"Why are you here? Do you need us to help you solve another case? Do you need us, the squints, to do whatever it is that the FBI can't do? Is that all were good for?" she asked as her tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"You know that's not true," I said as I tried to reach for her, but her right hand met my left cheek before I could even get to her.
"I hate you. I don't ever want to see your face again," she said with venom in her voice. It made my heart, what was left of it, sink to hear her say that, but I understand why she said it.
"I think it's best if you leave for now," with Angela's act, I had forgotten that Cam was in the platform.
"Not until you tell me where my Bones is," I said as as I made it apparent that I wasn't going to leave until she tells me.
Cam took a deep breath as she finally gave up. "She's in California. She took a job in Stanford."
"Thanks," I said as soon as I got what I wanted. Without looking back, I walked away from the platform, and out of the Jeffersonian Institute.
-0-0-0-
I drove away from the Jeffersonian Institute with a lot of things going on in my mind, and there's really only one person who could help me. Dr. Lance Sweets. He may be an annoying guy sometimes, but he knows how to help someone in need, and right now, I really need his help.
As soon as I reached the Hoover building, I parked my SUV in the underground garage, and practically ran toward the elevator. I pressed the button frantically until the doors opened, and I pressed the floor where Sweets' office was on. Once the elevator stopped on the floor that I wanted to be in, I got off, and walked toward the psychologist's office.
"Sweets! I need your help!" I said as I sat myself in front of the young psychologist after I barged into his office.
"Uh...Agent Booth, how may I help you?" he asked as he looked up from the file that he was looking through.
"Look, I know that you're a psychologist and all, but forget that. Right now, I need you to be my friend," I said as I looked at him, hopefully, with pleading eyes.
"Okay. So what is it that you need help with?" he asked as he put the folder in his hands away.
"Do you think I'm doing the right thing by marrying Hannah?" I asked.
"Er...why are you asking?" he asked.
"I was at the Jeffersonian earlier, and Cam told me something," I said.
"And that would be?"
"That I'm not really in love with Hannah." I said, and I looked at him. I could see that he was being hesitant, and I already knew what his answer would be.
"I know that you want me to disagree with Cam, but I'm sorry. I have to agree with her on this one," he said which made me a little angry.
"What?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"Tell me, what is it exactly about Hannah that caught your eyes?" he asked without answering my question. He picked up his yellow notepad, and started to scribble things down.
"What?"
"You asked for help, and that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm merely trying to help you, so please, answer my question."
"Okay. Well...for one thing, she's very beautiful. She has these blue eyes that are very hypnotizing. Every time I look in them, I get lost," I said as I pictured Hannah in my head.
"Go on."
"I love the fact that she's not afraid to speak her mind even though sometimes it offends people. She's very intelligent to a point that she sometimes makes me feel stupid. She's independent and brave. She's very stubborn too," I said as my mental image of Hannah morphed to an image of a smiling Temperance Brennan, and I felt myself smile a little.
"Hmmm..."was all Sweets said.
"What do you mean 'hmmm?'" I asked.
"Were you aware that you just described Dr. Brennan?" he asked as an answer to my question.
"What? Pft...I was describing Hannah," I said even though I knew that he was right.
"Yes, you were describing Hannah, but at the same time, you were also describing Dr. Brennan,"
"You're crazy," I said as I tried to deny everything he had just said.
"Agent Booth, that night, I told you to gamble, and you did. You asked Dr. Brennan to give a relationship between the two of you a chance, but she rejected you. You went to Afghanistan, and met Hannah. Since you told Dr. Brennan that you had to move on, you thought that it wouldn't matter, and since Hannah is just like Dr. Brennan, it made it better for you because if you can't have the real Dr. Brennan, at least you have the second best, which is Hannah," Sweets said.
He was looking at me seriously, and I knew that he wasn't the friend that I asked him to be when I got in his office. Instead, he's the annoying psychologist who wanted to observe how Bones and I react to each other. He isn't joking about what he just said.
"Damn," I said as I finally accepted the fact that both he and Cam were right.
"If you'd like-" he started, but I already knew what he was going to say.
"No. That's okay. I'll...I gotta go," I said as I got up from the couch. I walked out the the door as fast as I could to prevent Sweets from saying more.
One thing I realized today; I never really moved on. I thought I love Hannah, but my heart belongs to Bones. No matter how much I tell myself to move on, I'm just going to end up thinking about Bones. I love her; more than she knows. And because of my stupidity, I may never see her again. I can't let that happen though. I have to do something.
-0-0-0-
I drove to my apartment as fast as I could, not wanting to waste time. Cam and Sweets were right. I am still in love with Bones, and I have to make things right between the two of us. I don't care if she hates me now, but I'll wait for her. I'll keep trying to get her to trust me again.
I walked up to my apartment with a lot of things going on in my mind. I love Hannah, but not enough. I know that it's going to be hard for her, but I have to do it. It's the only way.
"Han?" I called for her as soon as I walked in my apartment.
"Hey babe. What are you doing home early?" she asked as she came out of my room wearing one of my dress shirt. She walked up to me, and I gave me a peck on the lips which turned into a full make out session, but then I remembered why I was home early.
"Mmm...Hannah, we need to talk," I said as I pulled away from her. I looked her straight in the eyes, and her blue eyes turned to a shade of grey as she figured out what I was about to say next. She didn't speak, she kept quiet as we both stare into each other's eyes.
"Is it because of her?" she asked emphasizing on the word 'her.' She knows.
"It's not like that? I love you-" I started to say, but she cut me off.
"Then why are you pulling out of our engagement?" she yelled with her eyes bugging out.
"I love you, but Bones and I...we have a connection. We complement each other," I said, and I could see that she got angrier with what I said.
"I don't get it. You said that she was a cold-heartless-bitch. I don't get why you're in love with her. You've got me now," she said, and what she just said about my Bones made me angry.
"I never said that she was cold, heartless, or a bitch!" I yelled at her.
"But you implied it!"
"Get dressed and get out! I want you out of here!"
"You can't throw me out!"
"Yes I can, and I am."
"I have nowhere else to go!"
"I don't care. And oh...I need the ring back," I said. I watched as her face turned red. She threw the ring at me, and ran to my room to get dress. I followed her to make sure that she was actually gathering her stuff, and also to pack an overnight bag.
She was still packing her stuff when I got what I needed.
"I want you gone by the time I get back, and if you ever touch any of my stuff, I can track you down easily," I said as I walked out of the room.
"Great, I lost my man to a whore," she said under her breath, which made me turn around.
"If I hear you say those things about Bones, I won't hesitate to do something," I said as I gave her a death glare.
I walked out of the room, and out of the apartment. There's no time to waste.
-0-0-0-
"Sir, please fasten your seat-belt. The plane is about to take off," the flight attendant said.
I took a deep breath and did as I was told. This is going to be a long flight.