A/N: Warning—this could be construed as an "M" rated chapter because of Brennan's comments in the letter. I'd say it's pretty minor stuff, but you can never be too careful.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The letter under the door caught Booth's attention as soon as he walked into the kitchen on Saturday morning. Yawning, he retrieved the envelope and slit it open. The sight of Brennan's familiar handwriting acted like a jolt of caffeine. He sat down without bothering to start a pot of coffee and began to read.

Dear Booth,

I've chosen to write this letter to you, rather than confronting you directly about the situation, due to my comfort level with the written word. I'm much more eloquent on paper than I am orally. Had I written you a letter earlier about the favor, perhaps I would have expressed myself better, thus avoiding the scenario we now find ourselves in.

You said we'd speak the day after I came to your office, and yet you've been avoiding my calls all week. I'm concerned about the ramifications of my actions upon our partnership. Furthermore, I wish to express my apologies for my lack of sensitivity. I was aware of your feelings for me, and yet, I did not consider that asking you for such a favor was the equivalent of disregarding your beliefs about committed sexual relationships. In my own experience, I've had many satisfactory relationships that retained a sexual basis as their sole foundation, however, I know this is contrary to your personal ideals.

After analyzing the behavioral pattern that led me to your office on Monday night, I realized that I chose you as my experimental candidate for more than one reason. I feel safe around you, Booth. You accept me, as Angela would say, 'warts and all.' (Personally, I see no direct correlation between verruca vulgaris and social ineptitude.) Because of this elevated comfort level, I occasionally take our relationship for granted.

Please don't take this to mean that I do not value our relationship. I do, on a variety of levels. That is part of why I have been so reluctant to move beyond a platonic relationship with you. There are relatively few individuals in my life that I can rely upon in the manner I do with you. Working with you has been a distinct privilege and I hope that my actions have not irreparably damaged our partnership or friendship, if you still consider me a friend.

I also sought you out as a candidate because I believed we would both enjoy the sexual experience. You've repeatedly mentioned that you find me physically attractive, and your image plays a regular role in my fantasies when I am self-manipulating, even when I have to fill in some of the details on speculation. I will confess that, through this experiment, I had somewhat hoped to find out whether my conjecture of those details has been accurate or not.

I have one final admission prior to closing this letter. Another reason I asked you to join me on the experimental vacation was because in your presence I find myself experiencing the same physical sensations that are recently lacking in my relationships with other men. To put that in what you would call plain English: I am confused as to why kissing potential sexual partners suddenly fails to arouse me, when merely being near you, and not even physically touching, is extremely stimulating. I was hoping that time spent with you interacting physically would help answer that question.

Again, I'm sorry for my actions earlier in the week. I hope that we can eventually repair our partnership and move forward with our work together. I have made good progress on the Hawthorne case and will be sending a letter by carrier containing details pertinent to the investigation.

~Temperance Brennan