Chapter 4

"Hey, Don" shouted Booth as he waltzed in through the doors of the bureau, gently jogging after the agent in question. When he finally caught up, Booth continued "Sorry I missed your call Friday night."

The agent, Don, quickly handed Booth a folder. "It's okay, Boss, it wasn't too important."

Booth stopped at the elevator, pressing the button and waiting with Don. "If it wasn't important, why were you calling me on a Friday night after hours?"

Don looked at his feet, nervously burying his hands in his jacket pockets. "Well, Booth, you're always here, regardless of the day or time. You like to be kept updated on everything, and Johnson found our original suspect heading for the Canada border. Just thought you'd like to have known."

As the elevator doors slid shut once they were inside, Booth turned to Don, looking almost upset. "I'm not here all the time, am I?"

Don just nodded. He'd worked with Booth ever since he arrived in Philadelphia suddenly three years before. He was a trained analyst with the CIA for almost fifteen years, and was almost as good at reading people as Booth was. Almost. From the first case they worked together, Don figured out that something must have freaked Booth in Washington that made him flee, but he could never pinpoint what exactly the reason was. He was familiar with Booth's partnership with 'The Doctor', but once he learned that she was alive and well, Don concluded that her death or injury was definitely not the reason for Booth's departure. But being a wise old man, Don knew better than to pry into Booth's personal life. Whatever reason he left, it had to have been good.

"Look, Boss. Everyone here knows that you start early, leave late and work out at the gym at ridiculous hours. If you're not here, there or at the shooting range, then you're at your place doing god only knows what. Since I've known you, you've never strayed from that routine, nor have you left the city on any non-business related terms." As they approached Booth's office, Don closed the door behind him, slowly making his way closer to Booth. "Tollways report you were headed southbound Friday night. Look, I don't care about the who, what, when, where or why you were going that way, all I care about is that you, Seeley Booth, a man of strict routine, went on a whimsical adventure for no apparent reason."

Booth took his seat behind his desk, swinging around in the chair for a few moments. "She hasn't changed, you know. She's exactly the same as I remember her" he stated, gazing off into space, attention focussed out the window of his office.

Don took one of the seats in front of the desk, a quizzical look pasted across his face. "Her who?"

"Bones. I don't know why I even went back to DC, I just kind of started driving, and I ended up at her apartment building. Of course, I didn't expect her to be home."

Don was taken aback by Booth's admission – he rarely shared details of his personal life, especially without prodding. "Um, well, people's habits change over time, Booth. If you don't mind me asking, what happened when you were there? I mean, you didn't even come into the office on Saturday or Sunday. Something must've happened" pointed out Don, quite suggestively.

Booth shot him a glare. "Actually, nothing happened, Don. I knocked on her door, she hugged me, and then I went inside and we... talked. And then she wouldn't let me leave – she said it was too dangerous to take the three hour drive back to Philly at 11 at night."

"Obviously she doesn't know the new you, Booth" interjected Don, half jokingly, as he slid forward in his seat. "I don't know much of your history with the Doc, but I do know that ever since you arrived here, you've barely slept five hours a night, you work yourself crazy and hit the gym for ridiculous workouts. If you had a girlfriend, I'm sure she'd appreciate your workout routine, but you don't... in fact, when was the last time you went on a date?"

Booth remembered back to his last date, almost three and a half years ago, relaying the account to Don. His journalist girlfriend from Afghanistan, Hannah, had come into his office late one night and sat down to have a talk with him. She'd explained to Booth that she'd notice his change in attitude since arriving back in America, and how he'd slowly closed himself off from her more every day. 'Something happened between you two, Seeley, and there's no use denying it. I don't know if it happened before you went to the war, before I came to Washington, or after, but you... you aren't the same man you were in Afghanistan – I finally got you to open up to me, but here, back in the States, you're closing off from me, Seeley.'

"And then she walked out of my office. When I got home that night, her stuff was gone, and her key was on the counter next to a note. Hannah was a smart woman; I should've known she'd eventually figure out what happened between me and Bones."

"Look, Booth, far be it from me to get into your personal life, but everything happens for a reason. Life throws us curveballs to test us. I've never personally met the Doc, but it's clear that there's unfinished business between the two of you. Now's probably not the right time for you guys to work through it though. If it were, you wouldn't be sitting in that chair right now; you'd be back in DC working through your issues – together. I can tell that she's the source of all your problems, but something still draws you to her, like a moth to a flame. So, my advice" finished Don, as he stood up and turned to Booths office door, "is give it time. Be patient, and you'll get through it all."

Don quickly left Booth's office, leaving Booth to sit in silence and consider the words of advice from his friend. 'Patience' he thought. If anything, Booth had been more than patient with Brennan, waiting a decent five years before introducing the concept of them having a relationship. Sure, he'd probably introduced it in the most illogical way, rushing it and then quickly turning his back on the concept, but Brennan ultimately decided that nothing, nothing could happen between them. Ever.

"So why exactly did you head back to DC?" asked Don, as he and Booth watched from behind the two way mirror, the interrogation going on in the next room.

Booth sipped from his coffee, pulling back in disgust – it was cold. "You remember how Friday was a tough day on the case, right?" Don nodded. "Well, back when Bones was my partner, if ever a case was tough, we'd just stick it out together – be there for each other. Our first year as partners, Bones identified her mother's remains from a limbo case. Her parents disappeared when she was 15, and never knew anything about them. Turns out they were crims, robbing safety deposit boxes in banks back in the 1970s. Anyway, most nights, during that case, I'd bring Bones Chinese, and we'd sit in her apartment, just talking, helping each other through it all."

Booth sighed. "I guess, the habit never really faded, you know. So, Friday, I just hopped in the car and drove, and found myself in DC, outside her apartment. She was always my rock on tough cases, and even though she was hopeless at human interaction, somehow she just always knew what to say or do to make me feel better. And seeing her Friday night, talking to her, hugging her – it made me feel better, it gave me hope that we can crack this case and get the perp locked up for life."

Don stared into the room. An agent was handing the perp a piece of paper to sign – a confession. "You know, Booth, maybe that visit gave you hope of something else" said Don, with a knowing smile, his attention focussed solely on the scene in front of him.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Agent Palmer?" Booth crossed his arms over his chest, taking a defensive stance, readying himself for Don's suggestion.

"Like I've said before, Boss, I don't know your history with the Doc, but from what you've told me about Friday night, she obviously misses you and still cares about you, otherwise she wouldn't have hugged you, and certainly wouldn't have made you stay the night."

"Yeah, well, she may care, but not the way I want her to."

Don smiled. He was breaking through Booth's defences regarding his past. "And what way is that?"

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Booth led Don back to his office, not speaking a word. They stood in the far corner, behind the desk. "I worked with the woman for five years as her partner. I saved her, she saved me. We helped each other with our families. We were best friends, and partners in everything."

Booth paused before continuing. "About five or six years ago" he sighed "I started seeing things. I mean, in the circumstances, you wouldn't know I was hallucinating. First time I was knocked unconscious during a game of hockey. My helmet fell off and I hit my head on the ice. I dreamed of Luc Robitaille. The second time, I was kidnapped by The Gravedigger."

"I remember that one – she buried people alive, right?"

"Yeah, only, she knocked me unconscious and locked me in a toy submarine on a Navy vessel, rigged to explode to make a reef. I breathed in god only knows what, and an old army buddy of mine, Teddy Parker, who died in action, was helping me escape. Those two incidences weren't so obvious." Don winced at the thought of Booth hallucinating, escaping with the help of a dead friend. Something was definitely wrong with him at that time.

"The last one I had before Bones figured something was wrong was a few months later. We were working a case, and she wanted my... stuff to make a baby. I started seeing Stewie, from Family Guy. Anyway, she took me to the hospital and they found a brain tumour. The surgery to remove it was fine, but I reacted badly to the anaesthetic, and was in a coma for four days I think. I dreamed of an alternate universe, where she and I were married, and we didn't solve murders."

"What has this got to do with anything, Booth?"

"Look, I woke up and couldn't discern the dream from reality. I fell in love with her during my coma, and our shrink, Sweets, told me that it would fade away, that they weren't real feelings of love. Problem was, I fell more in love with her, but I kept it hidden – for a while at least. One night, we were outside the Hoover, and I stopped her. Sweets had been writing a book about us, and his conclusion was that we were in love, and that one of us had to break the stalemate. So I told her I wanted to give us a shot. I wanted us to be a couple. We kissed and then she told me that she-"

"Couldn't love you that way" finished a familiar female voice, familiar to Booth at least.

A/N: Cliffhanger... sorry guys, but this chapter is almost 2000 words long as it is, without A/Ns. I figured this chapter needed to introduce to Don, Booth's partner-in-crime in Philly, what happened to Booth. He's worked with the guy for three years and knows zip. This also answered the question of why Booth went back to DC.

I hope you guys enjoyed it and I will hopefully post in the next few days. No promises though, I have a few assignments due this week.

Please review... I love to hear your thoughts.

Kiz :D