This is how is should be. Warning...there are spoilers here for upcoming episodes. Read at your own risk.

Redemption

"You know something, Bones? I don't understand you sometimes."

Brennan raised an eyebrow at her partner in confusion, his statement coming completely out of the blue. "I'm fairly certain you don't understand me quite a bit of the time, Booth. What are you referring to specifically?"

Booth settled back into the sofa cushion, getting ready to have what he assumed was going to be the most important conversation of his life so far. "Well, specifically Bones, I don't understand how you sometimes say one thing and then act in the complete opposite way."

"Everyone does that, Booth. It's a character trait that isn't specific to me. Specifically." Brennan smiled lightly, trying to bring some levity to Booth's serious expression.

Booth huffed a breath out his nose and shook his head. "I'm serious here, Temperance."

The use of her first name should have tipped her off to the serious nature of the statement, but his tone of voice was what truly made her aware that what they were going to talk about was nothing to take lightly. "Alright. Then please give me an example of how I contradict myself so I can either explain or apologize."

"Do you have feelings for Hacker?"

Well. That was random. "Uh...he's very pleasing to spend time with, if that's what you mean."

"No. It wasn't." Booth pulled himself off the couch and began pacing in front of her. "What I meant was, I mean...you've said that you wanted to lose yourself in someone, to believe that you could do that. That you believe in love. So, my question about Hacker is...are you with him because you think he might be that guy? The one you can lose yourself in?"

"Why are you asking me this, Booth?" Brennan was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with this discussion, and Booth's inability to stand still was only serving to ramp up her skittishness even more.

Somehow sensing what he was doing to her, Booth forced himself to sit back down. He settled on the coffee table, effectively placing himself knee-to-knee with her. He looked her right in the eye and repeated his question. "Do you have feelings for Andrew?"

"Beyond a fondness for his company, no." Brennan felt that if she was honest with him, Booth might get to the point faster, because the confusion was beginning to unnerve her.

"Do you think it might develop into something more? A more intense feeling?"

"No. I don't see the relationship going beyond what it is now."

"Then why bother?" His eyes bored into hers.

Her tension was palpable, but she would not be cowed by his insolence. "I could ask you the same thing."

"About Catherine? I haven't seen her in weeks."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

"Can I ask why?" Brennan had begun to twist her hands together in her lap.

"Yes. She wasn't the one and I felt like I was wasting a very nice woman's time and energy on something that wasn't going to happen." Booth's complete honesty bowled her over. She didn't have a single retort.

"So, I ask again. Why bother with Hacker?" Booth wasn't going to let her avoid the question, that much was obvious now.

"I need to go. Thanks for dinner, Booth." Brennan stood, sidestepping his long legs as she headed to the kitchen to retrieve her coat from where it hung on one of the tall kitchen chairs.

Booth shook his head and laughed bitterly. "Of course you need to go. What was I thinking?" He remained sitting in the same spot, head hanging slightly, elbows resting on his knees and arms dangling between his legs.

Brennan stopped short by the door, her hand barely ghosting the doorknob. "Excuse me?", she gasped, whipping around and stalking back to the living room.

"You heard me, Bones."

"Are you insinuating that I am leaving because I don't want to answer your pointless questions? Or because I can't?" Brennan took up Booth's previous stance, pacing in front of him, his head still hanging down, not making eye contact with her.

"Both. No insinuation. To be insinuating, I would have to have no evidence in front of me. However, you are leaving a smoking path to my door without answering the question, so I don't suppose I have to insinuate anything. Logically, the proof is right in front of me."

Booth had finally reached his breaking point. He had let everyone around him convince him that either what he felt for Bones was ephemeral, or that it was dangerous and that she wasn't ready for it. He had let everyone else dictate the course of his life for far too long, and he was damn tired of it. He knew that it was his fault, that he always held the power to change the situation...but he'd been so turned around since the brain tumor, and he'd had trouble finding his true self. It got to the point where he began to doubt his abilities as an FBI agent, as a father, as a friend....as a man. He laid awake night after night, playing different scenarios in his head about this very conversation, wondering if it was going to go as badly as the others predicted, or as well as he dreamed. Either way, this was it. It ended, one was or the other right here, right now.

"Booth, this is not the time for a discussion about my relationship with Andrew. I am tired, I am irritated, and I am confused. I think we both need a good night's sleep, and then maybe we can continue this discussion some other time." Brennan began to turn on her heel again, when she felt a steely grip around her forearm. It wasn't painful, but it was solid and brooked no argument.

"Temperance." One word. Three syllables. Five years worth of emotion. It stopped her cold.

She turned and looked into his eyes. And for the first time in their entire partnership, those eyes were begging. Begging her. And she could deny him nothing.

"He is not the one, either." The confession, instead of breaking her like she expected, freed her.

"And who is?" Booth placed a finger under her chin, keeping her locked into his mesmerizing stare.

It was unbearable. "Booth...please don't make me..." She broke off, eyes becoming glassy with un-shed tears. "Everything...all we worked for, all...it's all..."

"Bones. Nothing is more important than this." Booth released her arm, taking her hand instead and leading her back to the sofa. She sat down boneless, allowing him to settle beside her. "If you'd prefer, I can go first."

"Booth...we shouldn't...."

"Yes, Bones. We should. And a long damn time ago." He took her hand in both of his, chafing it lightly as he gathered his own courage. "First of all, I need to apologize. I lied to you."

"A-about what?" Brennan gave up trying to stop the tears from coming, and she just let them course down her cheeks unbidden.

"When I told you, after our first case back, that I loved you in a professional way. I don't."

She gasped and tried to pull her hand away. Obviously she had misinterpreted the nature of this talk and all she wanted to do was flee. Until he finished his thought and stole her resolve and her breath.

"I just love you. Period, end of discussion. No qualifiers. I probably always have." He scooted back away from her, leaning back into the other side of the sofa as if he were either waiting for her to hit him or flee.

She found her voice, and it sounded very much like a scared, abandoned fifteen year old girl. "How? Why me?" She closed her eyes and waited for the answers she dreaded.

Booth sat up in amazement. "Why? Are you serious?"

Brennan's hands were shaking as she gripped her thighs. "Of course I am, Booth. You're...funny, and sweet and brave and honorable. You believe in God and marriage and the white picket fence and intangibles I will never understand. We have absolutely nothing in common. How could you possibly-"

"Temperance Brennan. Stop. Just...stop it. And let me tell you where you're wrong." Booth slid closer to her, one knee sliding between hers, hands on either side of her face. "You're amazing. You have such a capacity for love and caring, it humbles me. You're intelligent, you're fun, you're beautiful. Knee-knockingly, breath-stealingly, goosebump-inducingly gorgeous. You're generous, dedicated, brave and honorable. You're my best friend. The best friend I've ever had. And yes, we may not have as much in common as most couples, but we have enough. We complement each other, remember? Brain and heart, Bones. Two sides of the same coin. Two halves of a whole. Yin and yang. I only ever feel complete when you're around. I. Love. You. Am in love with you. Is that clear enough?"

It was as if Booth were watching a dam break. Her eyes had been locked on his, never wavering as he spoke. But as soon as he finished, she looked away. Not a good sign, he thought.

It was several minutes before she looked back at him. What he saw there in her face, in her eyes, gave him hope tinged with a small amount of panic. "Booth..."

"It's okay, Bones. You can tell me whatever you're thinking. I'm not going anywhere and I'm not changing how I feel." He rubbed her knuckles with his thumb, trying to console himself as much as her.

"I think...I know I need to go home and think. Alone." She absorbed his chagrined look and hurried to reassure him. "I am not running! I just...I need some time to take all this in. That's all. I-I feel a little overwhelmed...but in a good way, I promise." Her eyes begged him to understand.

Booth knew deep down that this was the best case scenario that he could have expected. She wasn't freaking out, she wasn't packing for Timbucktu....she was accepting and adjusting. She just needed time and space. And of all the sacrifices he had ever made for her, he knew that this was the most important of all. So he nodded, and let her go.

Brennan stood and gathered her coat, walking backward towards his door as if she were loathed to turn away from him. He followed, slowly, so he didn't spook her. When her back hit the door, she began to turn and then seemed to think better of it. What she did next rocked Booth to his core and gave him the first real peace of mind he had had since he was told he had a brain tumor all those months ago.

She leaned forward, sliding one hand along his cheek and against his neck, pulling him to her slowly but with purpose. Both sets of eyes instinctively slid closed as two sets of lips met...softly and carefully at first, but then with more purpose and attention. They didn't push for more than a touch, but it was enough. When they finally parted, she smiled softly and turned the knob to leave. She never broke eye contact as she eased out the door.

"Thank you, Seeley." She thought that his given name would sound strange on her lips, but it just felt...right.

"Good night, Temperance. I'll see you soon." He watched as she walked down the stairs from his apartment, waiting until she was out of sight before shutting the door. He leaned against it, releasing a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding...and smiled brightly. Things were definitely looking up.