So, I want to thank everyone for the reviews. I know a lot of you were expecting Booth to remember her, but since when has Brennan ever had anything that easy? But I promise a fairly happy ending. :)

And I'm sorry this is a fairly short chapter. But I'll update tomorrow as an apology.

Anyway, I don't own Bones. It belongs to the producers and writers.

Brennan ran straight to her car, not even bothering to think about how many agents had seen her tear-filled flee from the building. It was not like any of them knew who she was, anyway. She just got in her car and drove off, not quite sure where she was going. She drove around letting the salty droplets fall to her lap as she went.

On habit she fled first to the lab, only to remember how it was no longer her sanctuary. That the friends who she thought would almost always being willing to help her, no longer knew she was. She continued her pattern by moving towards her other comfort zone, until she realized that it was Booth she was running from. She immediately set out for her own apartment, needing a place to fall apart.

But when she pulled up into in her complex's parking lot, she saw that people were moving within her home and there was an apartment available for rent. She let out a deep sigh; that would explain why her alarm had not gone off that morning and her apartment seemed different. It belong to this universe, not hers. It also meant she had nowhere to go. At least, not while the apartment was showing. She might be able to sneak into it later.

Brennan decided to go somewhere else, and as if she was a plane on autopilot she drove towards the park, hoping that she would be able to control the tears by then. She couldn't.

But it did give her a chance to walk around some. And though tears were still dripping from her face, it was not as extreme as it had been right after she left the Hoover building.

She wandered aimlessly through the park that she so often ran through, let her thoughts envelop her. This is why I don't let many people in; no matter how wonderful they are, they can always hurt you. When you love someone, you open yourself up to suffering. That's the sad truth. I've known that for years. They leave you. First Mom and Dad, and then Russ. Now, everyone else seems to have forgotten me. Maybe it's better this way. I can be completely independent again. Become impenetrable again.

Oh come on, Tempe, stop it! You're stronger than this. These people aren't your friends. They are some imitation of them that exist in an alternate universe- a theory I now put a lot of credence in. Dad, Russ, Sweets, Cam, Hodgins, Angela, Booth, they won't forget you. Whatever is going on in reality- your reality, they are all probably worried about you. Booth probably has the entire bureau on high alert looking for any signs of you.

But they won't find me. They might find Joy Keenan; that would be a shock to everybody.

I need to stop all of this self-pity! I created a name for myself before; I can do it again. And this time I have the experience to do it. I know which choices to make and which ones to turn down. And Cam said that I could replace Michael at the lab. It would be just like I'm used to. It will be the same.

Who am I kidding? No it won't. We won't be the same people. We won't be a family. The tragedies and joys that have brought us closer over the past seven years aren't there anymore. It would be artificial. I could try to believe that these were the people I cared for, but with seven years of alternative memories, they are different people.

Brennan finally gave up on walking through her problems and sat down, clearing the last remaining trails of the cascades of tears that had stopped. She knew rationally that she had to accept that she lost everyone she cared about. They weren't the same people; and they either had different memories than she or none of her whatsoever. She had to accept it; she had to compartmentalize. But for the first time since she was a child, she couldn't do that. And then she realized that she was going to have to move on from her friends. It was hard enough moving on from one of them; how was she supposed to do it for all of them? The teardrops she had fought so hard to get rid of began to return.

She was so lost in her own little word that she didn't notice the person coming up to her until he put his arms around. His voice brought comfort as he said, "Don't cry, Bones. It will be okay. I promise."

Have I mentioned I like ending chapters with cliffhangers? Please don't kill me for it...

But what did you guys think of the story?