The ringing phone startled Booth out of his thoughts.

"Booth," he said answering it.

"Agent Booth, there's someone here to see you," the downstairs secretary said.

"Did they have an appointment?" he asked in surprise. I thought I had a free schedule today…

"No, they don't have an appointment. They said they're a friend of D. Brennan's…"

Oh no! Not Angela. I should have known that she'd want to talk to me after last week. But I really didn't think she'd tell her about it…

"Is it Angela?" he asked nervously.

That would be just what I need today, to get yelled at by an angry, pregnant artist. Great.

"No, not Angela. It's a man…"

"A man? Who? What was his name?" he asked angrily.

A man! So she's moved on already? Why does that bother me? Whoa…I should be relieved that she's moved on, I know that, but…

"Chris, he said…"

Chris…Chris…why does that sound familiar…Chris…has she mentioned him before?

"Um…yeah. That's fine. I have a few minutes." He had control of his tone again and was calm and collected.

"Ok. I'll send him up."

Chris…why does that name sound so familiar?

Booth began to feel uneasy, but he was unsure as to why. Just because this Chris was a friend of Bones' it didn't mean he was here to talk about her. For all he knew, Chris had just used Bones' name to get in without an appointment. There was a knock on his door and before he had spoken to grant entrance, the door was opened to reveal a tall, bald man that Booth recognized immediately.

"Chris Markham? From the Lauren Eames case, right? What do you need? Anything I can help you with?" He was relieved, undeniably so, that it was him. He couldn't be in a…relationship with her. But Booth was still curious as to why he would say that he was a friend of Bones'.

"I don't think so Agent Booth. It's more a matter of how I can help you. You see, you and I are very similar, too similar for my liking. I wanted to offer you a perspective that you may not have considered before."

Okaaaay…? Booth thought. Aloud he said,

"What are you…never mind. Could you explain how you know my partner? Other than the case we just worked. Were you acquainted with her before the case? I know Bones wouldn't approve of someone who barely knows her saying that they're her friend."

"I can honestly say, Agent Booth, that I know her better than anyone," Chris replied in an even tone.

Booth bristled a little at this statement and wondered at its underlying meanings.

"So you've known her for…how long, exactly?" he asked hesitantly.

"I have known the good doctor for exactly three weeks," he stated cheerily.

Booth was surprised and relieved. He laughed.

"Then you don't know her," he said. "There is so much to her that you can't possibly know her in three weeks' time. She's much too complicated." There was an edge of bitterness in his tone.

"I know her better than you do, if I may say so. I don't think she's all that complex."

Now Booth was shocked. Who was this man to talk about his partner like that?

"Look Agent Booth, I didn't come here to insult you," Chris continued when he say Booth's face. "I just…I feel like I owe her so much. I know I can never repay her for what she did—what she put herself through—but I sure intend to try. I thought that coming here to at least let you know what's going on would be the kindest thing I could do for her."

"Lauren?" Booth asked confused.

Chris smiled, shook his head, and chuckled a little.

"No, not Lauren, but someone very similar to her." He looked up and met Booth's curious eyes. "Dr. Brennan. I owe her so much."

"Look," Booth said, "that's nice and all, but why don't you just send her some flowers, or a nice thank you note? She's really not all that fond of contact with a victim's…family after a case is closed."

"Again, how little you know her."

Who does this guy think he is? Booth wondered. He was getting angry.

"Listen, Chris," he began.

"No. I know what I'm talking about," Chris said. "I'm sorry for how this is coming out, Agent Booth, but Lauren was always the logic and strategy of our partnership. I was always the passion. I don't really plan things through before I do them." Booth smiled a little. That sounds familiar, he thought. "This afternoon, she came and visited me. She wanted to let me know that you'd closed the case and that Lauren…" he struggled for a moment, "that she'd been hit by a car. Agent Booth, I have never seen a more broken woman. She was convinced that she was Lauren. I mean, she knew logically that she's not. But she kept saying 'we didn't know' and she was crying and…"

Booth tried to digest everything the man was saying, and for a moment, it was silent in his office.

Bones is still over identifying with the victim. But she was crying in front of a stranger?

His thoughts were interrupted by Chris's voice again.

"She told me about your relationship," he said softly and Booth looked up at him startled. "She told me that she knows that Lauren regretted not giving me a chance because she has the same regrets. I saw it in her eyes, Agent Booth, that she'd found the strength to believe in love. She had it. You did what I never could. Why are you throwing that away?"

Booth didn't know what to say. He'd never seen a more broken man, and Chris wasn't even trying.

"She said that, in a way, she was glad she missed her chance." Booth still couldn't believe his ears. "She said that she said no because she was afraid of love; she didn't believe that it could last the way you said it did."

"I tried to prove it to her," Booth argued. "I showed her for six years. Six years! She never wanted it—she never accepted it. What was I suppose to do? Wait for her for 30 or 40 or 50 years?"

"Isn't that what you promised her?" Chris asked quietly. Booth fell silent. "Listen, I loved Lauren, just like you love Dr. Brennan. I knew her for thirteen years, and do you know how many women I dated in that time? Zero. Do you know how many men she dated? Zero. She didn't believe in love, and I dedicated my life to proving her wrong. I never got what I wanted most, but I don't regret a second that I spent with her. Just friendship with her was better than a romantic relationship with anyone else." He continued softly, "She came back from wherever it was that she went ready to risk giving you her heart. She believed in love and she was ready to face her fears. In her words she 'ran into' what she was avoiding in the first place."

"That love didn't last and she'd…she'd taken a risk on something that wasn't—something that wasn't real?"

"Yes. And you know what the worst part is? She doesn't blame you," Chris said. "She sincerely wants you to be happy even if it literally kills her."

Booth couldn't think of anything to say.

"I'm sorry if I came across a little harsh, Agent Booth. I'm the passion, you'll remember. I just wanted you to see that you have what I always wanted. I don't want to see you throw that away." He moved toward the door. "Thank you for your time Agent Booth."

And he was gone. Booth fell back into his chair, now left alone with his thoughts, and a nagging feeling of loneliness.