(After The Blackout in the Blizzard)

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The exposed elevator was cold and Brennan was grateful for her coat and hat. It had been a long morning and she still couldn't believe she'd become trapped in the elevator with Booth with no way out until the electricity returned. Logic told her that they should have left the stadium seats in the hallway with a note, but her partner had been afraid someone would steal them and wanted to take them up to his apartment. She should have insisted, but his pleading had made her push aside her concerns and she knew that was one of the things about her friendship that she found perplexing.

Logic didn't seem to triumph in their relationship very often. Logically their friendship didn't make sense at all. She was a scientist and a pragmatist, logical all the way and her partner was ruled by his heart and not nearly pragmatic enough. And yet, they were the best of friends. They seemed to balance each other's weaknesses out and their strengths seem to be amplified when they were together working as a team.

Realistically, they shouldn't be able to stand each other, but that was so far from the truth that it made Brennan wonder sometimes. She was socially inept. Often times Booth assured her that she was just awkward. Surprisingly, from a man who could be quite impatient, he accepted that about her and as their relationship grew and she learned to understand some social situations, her ineptness seemed to diminish, at least a little bit.

Booth was an expert when it came to human motivation. He could read people like they were a book. Brennan admired that gift and wished she could do that, but being the pragmatist that she was she knew that was one of her weaknesses and that it was never likely to improve or at least not very much.

Contemplating what it was that made them such good friends, Brennan was left with more questions than answers, but she persisted. She studied her partner and tried to understand what made him Booth and why his weaknesses didn't seem to bother her very much when those same weaknesses in others did.

They had their ups and down like many friends do. Things that should have destroyed their friendship, but didn't left Brennan even more confused. Why was it that she could turn him down outside the Hoover and yet he still wanted to be her friend, her partner? Why did she still want to work with him when he came back from Afghanistan with a girlfriend and seemed to have less time for her? Perhaps it was the fact that they truly loved each other. Not sexually, but never the less what they had between them was real love.

Sometimes she still believed that love wasn't real and other times it seemed that love was very real and was the answer to her questions. Perhaps there was more to love than science could explain. She had been suspicious of that particular emotion for a long time. Some people seemed to fall in and out of love very easily. Angela came to mind. Since Brennan had known her, she had seen Angela fall in love with Hodgins, fall out of love with him, fall in love with Roxie and then fall back into love with Hodgins. It seemed an erratic way to live.

Brennan had asked Angela about it once, but the artist's reasoning made no sense. She had told Brennan that she had never fallen out of love with Hodgins, that she had just fallen out of like. With Roxie, Angela had loved her since she was a young woman and when they broke up once more after an intense affair she still claimed to love her. How could Angela love both Hodgins and Roxie? It was a puzzle that Brennan didn't feel was solvable, at least not by her. It was confusing and messy like her relationship with Booth.

Ever since he had entered her life, Booth had upset her proverbial apple wagon. He was temperamental letting his emotions get the better of him. He had a lot of ideas about what love was, but they all seemed to be idyllic not pragmatic. Of course he said that was the point, love was not supposed to have anything to do with pragmatism and yet how was she supposed to understand what love was if she didn't understand the rules of love and what made love real?

She could accept that she might actually love Booth, but was it enough for her? Was his love strong enough to last the 40 or 50 years that he claimed could happen? Like Angela, she knew that Booth seemed to be able to fall in and out of love too. Perhaps that was normal, but it was so risky. She had a lot to think about and she knew that Booth did too. Were they both strong enough to love each other in a sexual manner and keep their friendship intact if that sexual relationship failed? She wasn't sure and it frightened her.

It was a gamble and wasn't gambling the heart of Booth's problem?

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"Love is a gamble." They were sitting in the Royal Diner enjoying a cup of coffee and for some reason that was completely inexplicable to Brennan she had blurted that statement out. No forethought, just 'Love is a gamble'.

"Um, yeah, it is." Booth wasn't sure what was going on inside Brennan's head, but then again, he rarely did. "But so is life. So is anything you do really. You either succeed or you fail. It's up to you to decide how much you're willing to gamble to get what you want."

Her bottom lip caught between her teeth, Brennan stared at Booth and debated about whether or not to continue. His silence told her he was giving her time to think and she appreciated that courtesy. "Gambling has caused you nothing but trouble and so has love. You . . . you tried to have a relationship with Rebecca and it failed. Also with Tessa, with Catherine and with Hannah and those are just the ones I know about."

For just a moment, Booth was angry. It seemed like his partner was calling him a loser, but he quickly calmed down. Brennan was his friend and he had never known her to be cruel on purpose. "I've had a lot of relationships in my life and yeah they didn't end like I thought they would, but at least I tried. Sure things didn't work out with Rebecca, but it wasn't a complete failure." Booth smiled and thought about his son. "I got Parker out of that relationship, so how can that be a failure?"

Brennan had seen the quick flash of anger on her partner's face moments before and then it seemed to melt instantly away. She knew that she had said something wrong, but she wasn't sure what it was. It always seemed like that happened at moments when she was trying to understand an emotional situation and she didn't know why.

"Tessa was nice, but she didn't want a serious relationship with me." Booth had always thought it was strange that they had planned a vacation together and then for some reason he still didn't understand, she dumped him. "She's still single you know. Her career has really taken off and Caroline told me that it looks like Tessa might become a partner in her law firm pretty soon. I guess she doesn't have time for a family yet."

Her coffee cup now empty, Brennan signaled for a waitress to refill her cup. "Angela says Tessa was insecure in her relationship with you."

He thought about it for a second, but he really couldn't see it. Tessa had been a very confident young woman with grand plans. "I don't think so, but who knows?" He didn't really care about Tessa, so he decided to move the conversation along. "I dated Catherine a couple of time, but we didn't click. I didn't love her, but I did like her. She was nice."

After the waitress refilled both of their coffee cups, Brennan sipped some of it and placed the cup down on the table. Being truthful with herself, Brennan knew that she had been jealous of Catherine. The scientist had been pretty and very intelligent and it had surprised her when Booth broke off things with Catherine. She had also been glad, but she didn't want to think about that at that moment. "You loved Hannah."

They were now speaking about his most recent try at love and it made Booth uncomfortable. "Yeah." He wasn't sure what he wanted to say about the reporter. That affair still confused him. "I did love her and she said she loved me, but we were too different. She wanted the freedom to come and go as she pleased and that was fine, I knew she had a job to do, but I guess I didn't want to admit to myself that there was no way she was ever going to agree to have more with me. She told me that she was a nomad and she didn't believe in marriage when we started out our relationship, but I thought she'd changed her mind when she moved back to the states. I thought she might eventually want to get married, but I got that all wrong . . . really wrong." It hurt that he had allowed himself to enter into a relationship with someone that didn't think he was worth it. "I guess I took a gamble and I lost . . . it hurt, but rejection always hurts."

The Hoover popped into her mind and she knew that rejection did hurt. He had asked her to take a chance on them the year before, but because she was afraid she couldn't give him what he needed, she had rejected him. She hadn't known what else she could do at the time. After a lot of self-reflection, she now knew that she was doing more than that. That plea from Booth had taken her by surprise and she knew that she needed to protect not just her partner but herself too. Love seemed too fleeting and when someone loved you and then abandoned you, the pain was almost unbearable. Her parents had taught her that. She hadn't wanted to hurt Booth because she knew she wasn't very demonstrative, but she also didn't want to be hurt when he eventually left her because of that lack of empathy. The irony of the situation was not lost on her. Her rejection had hurt both of them and left them both confused and conflicted. "Yes it does."

They were both sad now and Booth he knew that it was his fault. He never could get his partner to understand that love was more than chemicals and he regretted that he couldn't get through to her. "Look, I'm a gambler and I know that taking a gamble on something can cause you to lose everything, but sometimes you win too. Sometimes you win big and that's what make people like me take the risk. It's why I have to fight with myself about gambling every day. Sure I can lose everything gambling, I know that, but I can also win that dream pot. I guess that's why I'm willing to risk my future for love. I know that if I find that certain someone, someone that loves me not just for my strengths, but also in spite of my weaknesses, I'll win the biggest gamble of my life. It's worth that to me Bones . . . I can't gamble with money anymore I know that . . . I can't play pool or poker or make bets on games because they could ruin me, but gambling on love? That's different . . . I'm gambling with my heart, with my life, but to find someone that loves me, that wants to be with me? . . . It's worth the pain if I find that special someone . . . it's worth it, it has to be."

His words were heart felt and Brennan felt them resonate within her. She wanted to be brave enough to take the risk that Booth wanted to take and she felt that someday she would, but at that moment, she cherished the friendship that she had with him. Brennan had never had someone care for her like Booth cared for her and that made her think that she could someday give him what he wanted. It was a gamble and it was a matter of trust, but she trusted him more than anyone else in the world. She loved him and someday, when they were both ready, Brennan felt that they would make that final connection. Reaching out, she placed her hand over his hand. "I think you're special, Booth and I think you will get what you want someday . . . someday soon perhaps. We did write dates on paper and then burned them for the universe to . . . I'm not certain what the universe is supposed to do about the dates, but none the less we did write down dates."

Booth glanced at her hand covering his hand and he felt his heart begin to race. When they had burned those pieces of paper in his apartment it had been a whimsical moment, something they rarely showed and yet they did it and it seemed like she had taken those offerings to the universe seriously. "Yeah, we did and the universe knows it too. It won't forget and neither will I. Neither will you."

"No, we won't." Brennan removed her hand and picked up her cup of coffee. "Perhaps when I get itchy and I need to gamble Booth . . . will you be there if that happens?"

He smiled at her and realized that she was telling him what he had hoped to hear outside the Hoover. She was being as plain as she could be about the situation and he heard her loud and clear. "Of course I will. Just like you're there for me when I get the itch, but maybe when you get itchy I won't stop you from taking that particular gamble . . . I mean . . . well . . . it wouldn't really be a gamble Bones. I promise it won't be. It will be our moment . . . our date with Fate."

"I think so too." Brennan smiled at Booth and felt a sense of relief. They knew that someday they would be more than partners, but there was no rush. They were secure in their friendship and she knew that their moment would come.

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This is the last chapter of this story. Let me know what you think of it. Thank you.