Well this might be my fastest update ever, which I realize isn't saying much. So here's to the sleepless night, the two cigarettes (and the guy who I'm sure never missed them), and the three Corona's. Even without lime, they were quite nice.

Once again, thanks for all the reviews. You guys rock!

--

Booth stood in the entryway unable to move, his brain having trouble processing all the information. What the hell was Bones doing here? What the hell was he doing sleeping with a Danish supermodel? Why had he been cursed with a weakness for blondes and forensic anthropologists? Katja shut the front door and turned toward him, a questioning look on her face.

"Who was she?" She asked with obvious trepidation in her voice.

Booth put his hands out and shrugged. He didn't know what to tell her. He thought back to earlier than night, trying to recall how things had gotten to this point.

He fumed as he stalked out of the Jeffersonian. Booth had been looking forward to seeing her all day, not getting as much accomplished as he should. He couldn't wait to walk into the lab and see her deep in thought analyzing something, or giving Zach a lesson, her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail. He would walk up to her, touch her shoulder or perhaps her back, they could go to her office … where she would tell him she would rather spend the evening with David.

He slammed the door to his truck and jabbed the key into the ignition. He could feel the anger building up inside and he knew he needed to calm down. Booth took a deep breath before he put the car into motion. Was that really what had just happened? Why had she suddenly brought up David? She hadn't mentioned him all week. Should he have let her explain? No, he knew what she was going to say. He'd been waiting for her to say it ever since they had woken up together, and he didn't think he could handle standing there while Bones clinically listed a million completely logical reasons that they couldn't be together.

Booth spotted a bar and pulled into the parking lot. He thought about going to Wong Foo's, but he was a mess and wasn't ready for his friends' honesty. The bar was completely different than the one he and Bones had ended up in a few nights ago. This one was much more preppy and white collar. He sat down at the end of the bar and ordered a beer. When it came, Booth raised it to his lips to drink, but couldn't. He set the beer back on the table, sighing and staring blankly at it. It reminded him of Bones.

Why hadn't pressed her on where their relationship was going? He figured that she needed time to analyze everything and he wanted to give her that time. He didn't want to scare her off, but he should have asked for more. He had gotten his hopes up that maybe she would unbend enough to give them a chance, especially after she had joked with him in the car and let him kiss her goodnight.

"Hello," a voice said startling him. Booth looked over at an extremely beautiful blonde who had managed to sit down next to him without his noticing. The bartender walked over and the woman ordered a drink.

"Can I get something different for you? You don't seem to like that beer, perhaps a whiskey?" Booth nodded dumbly.

"Yeah, that might be better." Booth said, his brain finally back in the present. He studied the woman next to him. Her accent sounded Swedish he thought, definitely Scandinavian. She had long straight hair that fell all the way to her waist and was so pale, it was almost white, her eyes were a blue so bright he wondered if the color was natural.

"My name is Katja. I'm sorry to interrupt your… brooding, but you were alone and I am tired of getting knocked on by lawyers," she stopped as Booth chuckled.

"Did I say wrong, or are you a lawyer too?" She asked slightly flustered.

"I think you meant to say hit on and no, I'm not a lawyer." Booth took his whiskey down in one shot when the bartender brought it to him. Katja did the same, and then she turned to him and put her hand on his thigh. Booth shifted, but he didn't pull away. He studied her. She was gorgeous, a Scandinavian blonde, and she wanted him. No questions, no baggage. He knew exactly what she wanted and he could give it to her. She wouldn't ask for too much or make him fall in love with her. Simple. Besides, he thought with disgust, Bones is probably with David right now.

"Let's go," he said as he grabbed Katja's hand and lead her out of the bar.

"So, she was the one you were trying to forget?" Katja asked, pulling Booth out of his memory. He looked up, slightly shocked that she knew.

"Don't look so surprised. You weren't the only one trying to forget something tonight." She sounded sad. "Would you please call a cab while I get dressed?"

When she reappeared in the living room wearing her own clothes, Booth opened his mouth to speak, but he had no idea what to say. He wasn't really a one-night stand kind of guy and she seemed to be a little deeper and more perceptive than he had thought in the bar. Anyway, it wasn't her fault. She started towards the door and he followed her, escorting her to the street.

"I'm sorry," he said when he saw the cab pull up.

"I am not the one you should apologize to." She started to walk away, but turned around and came back to face Booth. Katja stood close to him, her shocking blue eyes at the same height as his.

"Tell her that you love her, that you are an idiot, and then start begging." She kissed him on the cheek and walked towards the cab, not looking back.

I am an idiot. Booth agreed as he walked back into his apartment. Bones wouldn't answer her cell phone, her home phone, or the one at her lab. Booth walked into his room to get dressed. He would see if he could find her. The sight of the messy bed and his old Quantico t-shirt tossed on top made him feel guilty. Why had Bones come over? The investigator in him took over. She was wearing different clothes than she had been earlier at the lab. Had she changed for David or for him? He knew Bones and she wouldn't date two guys at once. If she had seen both David and him tonight, it meant that she made a choice. A choice he had assumed he knew the answer to, but what if he had been wrong? She had surprised him in the past. Whatever she wanted to tell him, it fucking sucked that Katja had been the one to open the door.

What happened with Katja had been a mistake and the consequences scared him. Booth said a short prayer as he started his car. He needed to find her. Her car wasn't at her place, the lab, or Angela's house. Booth was starting to loose hope. What could he say when he found her anyway? He couldn't take back what he had done.

He turned on the radio as he drove towards the last place he could think to look for her, David's apartment. As the song started playing he groaned. Smokey Robinson, You Really Got a Hold on Me. Of course the radio was conspiring against him. Why wouldn't it be? He sighed and listened to Smokey's husky voice sing, "I don't like you, but I love you. Seems that I'm always thinking of you. Though you treat me badly …" Booth reached forward and shut off the radio. If he wasn't careful he would be listening to country music before the night was out.

"Silence is the best policy for driving," he reaffirmed, speaking out loud to the darkness.

To his great relief, he realized, Brennan's car wasn't at David's apartment. Booth had done a complete background check on David when he had found out they were dating. The guy was clean, squeaky clean. MBA from an Ivy League school, high paying job at a prestigious financial firm, no arrests and only one traffic ticket. Booth doubted he would have like anyone who dated Bones, but this guy bugged him.

Booth gave up and started for his apartment. Not that he was going to sleep tonight, but he didn't know where else to look for her. As he drove, he tried to figure out what it was about David that bothered him. He just wasn't enough for her. Bones needed a man that could at least keep up with her and there's no way David could do that. The little prick. Booth hated to think about him touching her. When she let it slip that she was meeting David, it had pissed him off.

He had realized sometime after the gang leader and Kenton that he had feelings for Bones, serious feelings that went beyond the attraction he had always felt towards her. It took the threat of losing her to make him confront his feelings, and he was a little surprised how strong they were. That's why he had taken off to New Orleans as soon as he had found out she was hurt. And then the thing with her parents. Fuck. He hated seeing her hurt and now he was the one who had hurt her. He had made her cry and now he couldn't find her.

--

Booth was relieved when he woke up on Monday morning. The weekend had passed excruciatingly slowly. He hadn't talked to Bones, or seen her or her car anywhere. He had considered calling Angela, but he didn't. He made himself wait for today. She would be at the lab and he could finally see her and talk to her, and probably end up begging for forgiveness. He had run a million different scenarios through his head over the weekend, while he was trying to finish some paperwork, working out at the gym, and even squeezing off a few rounds at the range. An alarmingly few number of the scenarios ended well for him.

He went to his office first. He was there by 7:30 and the thought of seeing Bones made him unable to concentrate. By 9:00 he was in his car heading towards the Jeffersonian. As he walked through the parking lot he noticed that her usual parking spot was empty. Well, she didn't always drive herself to work and if she were out for a meeting or something, he would wait. She had to be here, she was always here, and she was supposed to give Goodman her decision today. He winced again at the timing. He wanted to talk to her before she gave Goodman her answer. Assure her that despite what happened between them personally, that they were a good investigative team. That she made a difference.

As he walked into the lab, his eyes immediately swept the area for her. When he didn't see her he headed towards her office. He stopped when he got there. The lights were off and the door was closed. He tried the knob; it was locked. Where the hell was she? Booth let out a breath and turned around; looking to see who else was in the lab.

Angela was the first person he saw. She was crossing the lab, head down focusing on the drawing in her hands. Just as he opened his mouth to say her name, she looked up and saw him, shot him a look of extreme disgust, and stalked off in the opposite direction.

"Ok, obviously she has talked to Bones." He muttered under his breath. Booth thought about following her, but decided to see if he could find Hodgins or Zach, maybe they would still speak to him out of some sort of fraternal instinct. He wished he had made more of an effort to bond with them and made a mental note to do just that if this whole mess worked out.

"I told you it is my turn with the remains." Booth smiled as he heard a young, petulant voice and headed towards the back of the lab. Zach and Hodgins noticed Booth and immediately quit arguing over the bones and fell into an awkward silence.

"Hey," Booth said his nervousness and exhaustion apparent in his voice. He directed his gaze at Hodgins, figuring they had bonded a bit more and he might find more sympathy there. Zach cleared his throat apprehensively watching Booth and Hodgins.

"So where is Bones?" Booth finally asked when it became apparent that neither Zack nor Hodgins was going to offer any pleasantries, or volunteer any information without being prodded.

"Look man," Hodgins said as he peered past Booth's shoulder. "I understand, I've spent plenty of time in the doghouse, but this is Brennan."

Booth started to explain, but Hodgins cut him off.

"I don't know what happened with you two," he said in a low voice, "but if Ange sees me talking to you I am pretty sure it will destroy any chance I have with her." Hodgins shrugged his shoulders, giving Booth a semi-sympathetic look and walked off.

Zach looked quickly around the lab and realized that he was completely alone with Booth.

"I…uh…." Zach began to stutter as he slowly walked backwards, eyeing the safety of his office from the corner of his eye.

"I have some work to do; we are looking at the remains of what appears to be an ancient adolescent male recently discovered in Bandolier National Monument. The remains are unusual because the dates of inhabitation in that area are widely accepted to be…"

Booth advanced towards Zach and put a hand on his should, gripping the boy firmly and staring into his eyes. Zach shifted his eyes to the ground.

"I don't know and besides, it's Dr. Brennan."

Booth released Zach and sighed as the boy hurried toward his office. He walked over to the nearest chair and sat down, dropping his head into his hands. This was really bad. He had envisioned Bones yelling at him and probably kicking his ass, all of which he deserved, but this? Where the hell was she? Brennan never missed a day of work and now she was gone and he couldn't explain, couldn't tell her how sorry he was. He had to find her and would rather not have to use FBI resources. That left Angela. If he wanted to find Bones, he would have to go through Angela.

Talking to the fiery artist was not going to be much easier than talking to Bones. At least he wouldn't be in any physical danger, but she would definitely let him know exactly how badly he had messed up. He stood up and hesitantly crossed the lab, towards Angela's office. The door was open and she was sitting at her desk.

"I fucked up." Booth announced as he walked inside her office.

"Yes. I am aware of that," Angela replied her voice flat. She grabbed a stack of papers and rifled through them furiously, making it a point to not look at Booth, who had crossed the room and was standing in front of her desk.

"Where is she?" Booth asked getting right to the point. When Angela didn't answer, he continued. "I've got to find her, Ange." Booth insisted. "I've got to explain to her that it wasn't what it looked like," he paused and took a deep breath in an unsuccessful attempt to steady his voice, "well it was … but it wasn't, I didn't know, I thought she. Would you please look at me?"

"Fine." Angela said angrily, she looked up at Booth and tried to get a handle on the situation. She didn't know exactly what had happened between the two of them. Brennan had called her on Sunday and told her that she was going to take a few days off and not to expect her back at the lab until Tuesday or Wednesday. Angela could tell than her friend was upset, really upset, by the cold and shaky quality of her voice. When she had tried to press her over what had happened, Brennan completely closed up, refusing to discuss it.

"Was it Booth?" Angela had asked. The silence over the cell phones was filled with crackles.

"I misread the situation, and I need a few days to reevaluate. I'll be fine." Brennan said slowly as if she was trying to convince herself as well as her friend.

"Ok. Sweetie, where are you?" Angela asked growing concerned about her friend.

"I'm just driving; I'm not really sure where I am heading." The phone crackled and Angela missed part of what she said next " … call you Monday night. Bye."

What had bothered Angela most about the conversation with her friend was the fact that Brennan was just driving without a plan. She was not the type of person to just take off without a plan. In fact, usually when she was upset Bren buried herself in her work. That's what she had done when she had broken up with Pete and gone to Guatemala, and when she had found her mother's bones she had focused on finding all the evidence. Now she was driving around god knows where with no plan. She left here with a plan to break up with David and then go talk to Booth. What had gone wrong?

Angela studied Booth and noticed that he looked exhausted. The shadowy circles under his eyes caused his already dark eyes to look even more opaque. He was pacing around the room like a caged zoo animal. Booth definitely looked like a man on edge.

"What did it look like?" Angela asked suddenly. At Booth's blank stare she continued, "You know … you want to tell Brennan it wasn't what it looked like?"

"Well … um," Booth stopped pacing and stood in the center of the room. He tugged at his hair before dropping his hands to his side and sighing. Booth couldn't look at Angela as he told her.

"It looked like a half naked Danish model answering my door wearing an old FBI t-shirt."

When Booth could finally bring himself to look at Angela, she was staring at him with a stunned expression on her face. "Get out," she said furiously.

"I know Ange … look. " Booth feebly began, but Angela cut him off, jumping up from her desk she yelled, "Get the hell out of here!"

"Angela, please" Booth begged, and he slowly walked closer to her, his hands raised in a 'hold on' gesture, but Angela wasn't having any of it.

"No Booth!" She yelled, not caring who could hear her. "What the hell is wrong with you? While Brennan was breaking up with a perfectly nice guy to be with you, you were …. screwing some Scandinavian slut!" Angela dropped back into her chair and turned her attention from the FBI agent back to her monitor. She was enraged and wanted him to leave. Booth collapsed into a nearby chair, feeling suddenly shaky as the meaning of Angela's words sunk in.

"She met David to break up with him?" He asked feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet.

"Yes." Angela said not really understanding why Booth didn't realize this. "I was in her office when you called Friday morning. We talked and she had decided that she was going to break up with David and hopefully be with you, but you didn't know that?"

"No. She was trying to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. I heard her say that she was meeting David and I lost it." Booth had been so sure that she was going to flinch. That she would be the reason they weren't together. But she hadn't flinched, he had.

"Oh, Booth." Angela said quietly as the full situation was laid out for her. "How could you?" Angela asked, not expecting a reply.

"Where is she? If I don't talk to her soon, I could loose her before I ever really have her." Desperation was starting to creep into his voice, but he couldn't help it. He had seriously expected her to be at work today.

"I don't know. She wasn't sure where she was going and I haven't talked to her since Saturday. I tried to call, but she wouldn't answer. She said something about calling me tonight, but it was a bad connection."

Booth stood up, "If she calls?"

"I'll find out where she is and I'll call you, but Booth," She said pausing momentarily to heighten the impact of her words, "I thought you were a better guy than this."

--

Booth had gone back to his office and made a miserable attempt at getting through some of the rapidly multiplying paperwork on his desk. At 4:30 he gave up and headed to Wong Foo's to wait for Angela's call. On the way over he decided to call Russ, maybe she had gone to stay with him.

"Hi Russ, it's Seeley Booth."

"Hey, is Tempe ok?" Russ asked obviously wondering why he was calling.

"Yea, she's ok. I think. I'm not calling about anything work related."

"What are you talking about Booth?" Russ asked.

"We had a fight and she took off and I need to …." Russ cut him off, his voice full of anger.

"Was it your fault? Cause if you hurt my sister I'm gonna kick your ass. I don't care if you are a federal agent."

"If she calls would you," Russ cut him off again.

"Probably not, it depends what you did. It took her more than a decade to forgive me, so good luck, asshole." Russ said and he hung up.

Booth stared at the phone for a second, feeling like he had been on the wrong end of the interrogation. It was easy to see that Bones and her brother were related. Pissing off either of the Brennan children was a bad idea.

"You look like shit, man." Sid said as Booth sat down at the bar. Sid poured a cup of coffee and set it on the counter in front of his friend.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Booth shook his head.

"No." Booth was tired of talking. There was only one person he wanted to talk to about any of this.

"I'll let it go, for now." Sid said giving Booth a concerned look before he walked away to help another customer.

Booth took his phone out of his pocket, checked the time, and set it on the counter. He wondered again what Bones had told Goodman about the job. He should have asked Angela. Despite the fact that she had gotten off to a rough start in the field, she was a very quick learner. She didn't really know anything about investigative procedure, interrogation techniques, or tactical techniques, but she was brilliant. Plus, she brought a completely different viewpoint to the investigations, aside from her scientific wizardry, and she always challenged him. They were becoming a very good team. There were times when they were close to cracking a case that they completely clicked, their actions and thoughts becoming unconsciously connected.

"Do you want to eat?" Sid asked, reappearing in front of Booth.

"Yeah, it will probably be a late night."

"Hold that thought," Sid said pointing at Booth and walked off to give his order. Before Sid returned to question him, Booth's cell phone rang. Angela!

"Hey," Booth said after he flipped open the phone. He pulled a pen and a small notebook out of his pocket.

"Where is she?" Booth asked. He had a tight smile on his face as he wrote down what Angela told him.

--

Should she forgive him? I am toying with deviating from my plan, hmm…