This is a very emotional chapter, even for me. I promise you the will be an update as soon as possible for those of you who WILL be mad at me.

P.S. Song is "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon.

Chapter Ten:

The lights of Washington DC often went unappreciated in the last few hours of twilight before nightfall. It was Brennan's favorite time to sit on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and let her thoughts drift wherever they wanted to go. She took a sip of the smoothie that'd been ignored for awhile, thinking of only one man and wishing he was here with her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a familiar voice asked as a head rested on her shoulder.

Brennan didn't react, she didn't have to, she already knew who it was. "This place and time has always been relaxing for me."

"I'll take that as a yes, then." an arm wrapped around her shoulders and a nose nuzzled itself into her hair, enjoying the clean smell of coconut it found there. The warm feeling of that arm around her sent shivers down her spine.

"I love you, Booth."

* * *

1:30 a.m.

Brennan jolted upright on the couch, giving herself a head-rush as the blanket twisted around her face, blocking her vision of the rest of the world. She tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes; her bare hand coming into contact with the soft cloth. Just a dream, she realized.

"Having pleasant dreams, Bones?" she heard Booth ask. She turned her head and plucked the blanket off her face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Booth was in the chair upside down. His knees held him up over the chair and his head dangled off the seat.

"Watching you. You talk in your sleep." he said it so she knew he was amused.

"No, I don't." she groaned.

"Yes, you do." he countered.

"What did I say?" Brennan remembered her dream and hoped that she didn't reveal anything that could potentially put their partnership in immediate danger. After all, it was just a dream, right?

"The first part was 'get back here' and you mumbled the rest. It sounded like 'get back here with Marfo's mummy' but I don't think that's right." he sat up like a normal person instead of a primate now.

"No idea what that pertains to." she shook her head, thanking whoever was in charge of her subconscious that she hadn't slipped up.

"What were you dreaming about?" Booth asked with intense curiosity.

Damn, so close, she thought. "What makes you think I was dreaming?"

"Well, there was Marfo's mummy, but your eyes were practically fluttering open. Means that someone's dreaming." Booth smiled at his knowledge of something scientific.

Brennan quickly wracked her brain for a sufficient answer, "I don't even know."

Booth knew she was lying. She remembered everything that ever happened to her. He let it drop though. He didn't feel like prodding her.

* * *

"She's lying." Sweets felt it prudent to point out.

"I know, it's written all over her face." Angela agreed.

"Yeah, but why doesn't Booth say anything? He's like a human polygraph." Cam asked rhetorically.

"Booth told me once that you couldn't rush Dr. Brennan into something. She needs time to process things." Sweets stated quietly, apparently sucked into the scene unfolding.

"That's true." Angela nodded.

"Did anybody even figure out what happened earlier?" Hodgins asked.

"No, we should've recorded it." Cam sent a dirty look Angela's way.

"I'm sorry if I won't take the chance of getting caught by Security for infiltrating the network. You couldn't protect me either, so don't throw that in my face." Angela held up her finger so her boss wouldn't point out the obvious.

"Fine." Cam mumbled.

* * *

"Dance with me?" Booth asked out of the blue.

"What?" she gave him an exhausted smile.

"Please?" he held his hand out to her, asking silently for a partner.

Brennan rolled her eyes and accepted his invitation just as quietly. Booth had butterflies rising in his stomach. He could only hope that his quickly conceived plan would work and not scare her off. He took a small remote from his back pocket and pointed it at the stereo.

"You already had it set up?" she asked.

"Well, call me a boy scout." he replied.

"I don't know what that means."

"Always be prepared, Bones." he whispered as a too familiar song entered Brennan's ears. It was the same song that taunted her every time she turned on the radio.

I can't fight this feeling any longer

And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow

What started out as friendship has grown stronger

I only wish I had the strength to let it show

"Booth?" the deep meaning of the song unsettled her nerves as she tried to meet Booth's eyes.

"Yeah, it's what you think I mean." his eyes told her. The warm brown intruded into her soul and refused to come out.

* * *

"Hee hee, pay up Angela!" Cam laughed at her subordinate's misfortune.

"Hey, she still gets a chance remember. She can confess by 2:30 still. Don't go counting out your new lab tools just yet." Angela snorted.

Sweets wanted to say something, but thought against it between the two competitive females.

* * *

And even as I wander

I'm keeping you in sight

You're a candle in the window

On a cold, dark winter's night

And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might

"I'm sorry." Brennan whispered and practically ran out of her office at top speed, leaving a crushed Booth in her wake.

None of you can kill me, 'cause then you'll never know how the rest plays out. Please review, keep bad thoughts at a minimal, and I promise a new chapter by tomorrow night at the latest.