A REASON TO STAY

Booth has a girlfriend and an incident between him and Brennan a few months ago has left things awkward between them. When she is offered a six month trip to Africa, it could seem like the perfect chance to get away. But will Booth realise what he feels in time and give her a reason to stay? BB, angsty and romantic. Please review!

This one is dedicated to my saviour and favourite person in the world right now, Ronata21, for putting season 3 of Bones on Youtube for me!!!! You rule!

Italics is flashback.

She was sat on the steps of the Jeffersonian, her heart thudding in her chest. The words echoing in her head seemed to make it more real. I love Hannah. He really loved Hannah. After everything, he loved Hannah now. She put her head down on her knees. What had she expected, really? She'd driven him to confess his feelings for her and then pushed him away. She'd stopped letting him in, put boundaries even on their friendship for the fear of feeling too hard. And whilst she'd been stuck in limbo like her bones, he'd been moving on. He'd found someone else. Someone with a daughter, with a troubled past, but still open to his love. Someone he could settle down with, with kids and a dog and a white picket fence. Someone the complete opposite of her.

"You ok?" said a voice, and she looked up to see Cam. She smiled.

"Sure. I'm having a personal crisis right now." She said, and Cam's eyebrows raised halfway to heaven.

"You want to talk about it?" she said, sitting down next to her, "I mean, I know you usually talk to Angela about these things, but I'm listening if you want."

Brennan didn't say anything for a long moment.

"How long did it take you to get over Booth?" she said, her eyes closed.

Cam froze for a second, and then put an awkward hand on Brennan's shoulder. Brennan stiffened, but didn't move.

"Until I met Jason. And then suddenly Booth didn't seem to matter anymore. I had met someone else. I could move on."

Brennan said nothing. Talking to Cam like this was awkward. Brennan and Cam had had a mutual agreement to dislike each other almost from day one. She took a deep breath.

"Can I ask you something, Dr Saroyan?"

"Sure."

"I've been offered a place on a dig to Libya for six months. Leaving next month."

Cam nodded.

"I would like to go." Brennan said, "But I was wondering if my job would still be here when I come back."

Cam didn't even hesitate. "Of course it would." She said. "Dr Brennan, you are one of the best forensic anthropologists in the world. The job will be wide open for you."

"Zack can do my work. He's good enough." Brennan said, "And after six months I'll be back and everything will be back to normal."

Cam looked at her. "You know what? I think this dig will be exactly what you need." She said. "Go on it. Don't let anything hold you back."

Brennan nodded. Then, as quietly as she had come, Cam got up and left.

"Close the case." Brennan said coldly.

"What?" Booth asked.

"Close Sara Riches' case. We're not going to find any more."

Booth looked at her incredulously and tried to figure out whether she really meant it.

"I thought you didn't want to let it go cold."

"It already went cold. Everything we've got leads to a dead end. Close it."

Booth looked at her. "Are you ok?"

"Fine. Honestly. I want to get a look at some of my limbo cases. Give me a ring the next time the FBI need me, ok?" she said.

"Was that a thinly veiled order to leave?" Booth asked, smiling ironically.

She just looked at him, and then turned and walked away. He sighed, and wondered again what she'd heard him say when he was talking to Angela. But Angela had made him promise not to talk to her about it again. Said Brennan needed some time alone. Said he'd already done enough damage. And now she was sending him away.

She never sent him away from the Jeffersonian. It had never mattered before whether they had an open case or not, he was still always hanging around. Genuinely interested in what she was doing, trying his best to understand the anthropological babble that came out of her mouth when he asked questions. Smiling and laughing with her over Wong Foos. Anything, just being with her. And now she was shutting him out. He lifted the FBI laptop and the case file on Sara Riches and walked out of the Jeffersonian, his heart heavy and his eyes full.

The rest of the week passed slowly. Booth spent his time in the office, and at home with Hannah and Poppy. He took Hannah, Poppy and Parker to a theme park on Friday, and spent the whole time wondering what Brennan and the squints were doing in the Jeffersonian, and whether Brennan had found anything on the old bones yet.

But as each day passed and he didn't see her, the pain of knowing that he was losing her began to lessen. He got on really well with Hannah, and Poppy and Parker had struck up an instant strong friendship. He began to think that maybe he was looking too hard. Maybe he was wishing too hard for something that he and his Bones could never have had anyway. Maybe it would never have worked between them. After all, they were always arguing, bickering quietly, throwing each other death stares and disagreeing. Maybe they weren't really as compatible as he had been telling himself they were.

He asked Hannah to the Jeffersonian Ball on Saturday, and he paid for her dress. Every time he thought about it he tried not to think about how Brennan would react on seeing him with Hannah. He couldn't let her rule his heart anymore. He couldn't let this insane attraction he felt to her control his life.

So Brennan's reacting in the only way she knows how, and shutting him out. And Booth is trying desperately to do the right thing by Hannah, but he loves Brennan and we all know it!!!!! R&R! You know you want to...