Disclaimer - Bones and all its lovely characters belong to someone else

A/N - Thanks for reading and reviewing. (Just to warn you that I'm a UK viewer so have not had the 'pleasure' of seeing Rebecca onscreen - this story is set post-series one, but doesn't reflect series two plotlines, so apologies if Rebecca is out of character for series two.)

Booth was watching the door expectantly as it swung open. He felt a rush a pleasure as he saw his partner framed in the doorway.

For a moment he just drank in the sight of her, before slowly realising that she hadn't moved into the room and was looking uncomfortably at his other visitor.

"You coming in Bones or just decorating the threshold?" He said, deciding that teasing her was the best way to break the ice.

Bones turned her attention from the other visitor and stared at her partner. A moment after she encountered his brown eyes she was across the room and by his bedside, but the hand that was reaching out to touch his arm froze in mid-air as a pair of curious brown eyes looked up from a video game and stared at her silently from under a mop of tousled blonde hair.

"Hello Parker." She said quietly.

"Hello." The little boy continued to regard her seriously before breaking into a smile that was achingly familiar, "I remember you from Uncle Sid's at Christmas. Daddy says you help him catch the bad guys."

She nodded slowly, surprised that Booth had talked to his son about her.

"How're you gonna catch the bad guys if Daddy's in hospital?" Parker asked, putting his game down on the edge of the bed.

Bones closed her eyes for a moment, unprepared for the sting of tears that simple question caused.

She swallowed and forced a smile.

"Well, we're doing lots of tests at the lab, seeing what we can find out. Then, when your Dad's better, he can arrest the bad guys."

Her answer seemed to satisfy Parker, who nodded and picked up his game again.

Bones stood, lost in her own thoughts, until she felt something brush against her hand. She looked down to find Booth's right hand closing around hers.

Her gaze shot to his face and he smiled back at her, squeezing her hand gently.

Bones felt a swooping sensation in her chest as she looked into Booth's eyes. The moment was shattered as the door opened and a woman walked in, calling Parker's name.

"Time to go Parker, honey." The blonde woman said, kneeling down to pick up his bag ignoring Booth and Bones.

Bones gently disengaged her hand, feeling an almost physical wrench as she did so. She risked a quick glance at Booth, who was looking sadly at Parker.

After a moment, Booth gathered himself and addressed his ex-girlfriend.

"You're off now, Rebecca?" He queried, his voice studiously neutral.

"Yes." She didn't look at him, but she had finally noticed Bones and her eyes narrowed, assessing, "Who's this?"

Rebecca's tone was rude and Bones recognised the belligerent frown settling across Booth's features. Without stopping to think beyond her conviction that Booth was still too ill to get over-excited and that the last thing that Parker needed was to see was his parents arguing, she extended her hand. "I'm Dr Temperance Brennan. I work with Agent Booth. Just popped in to see how he was doing on my way home from work."

Rebecca eyed her suspiciously, but took her hand, "Rebecca. Parker's Mom."

Bones nodded politely and turned to Booth, "I'm going to pop out and grab a coffee. I'll be back in ten minutes."

She smiled at Parker, "Good to see you again Parker." He smiled back at her.

Finally she nodded to the other woman, "Nice to meet you, Rebecca." Then she walked out of the room giving Booth some privacy to say goodnight to his son.

Bones was lurking in the now familiar waiting room, sipping a vile tasting coffee.

She glanced at her watch again deciding to leave it a little longer before going back to Booth's room.

She had seen Rebecca leave a few minutes before, but she wanted to give Booth a bit of time to himself before barging in again.

She glared at the plastic cup, knowing that she wasn't being entirely honest with herself and that a good part of the reason that she was still sitting in the anonymous waiting areas was that she wasn't ready to face Booth yet.

She was trying to understand how, over the course of the last 24 hours, her feelings for her partner had undergone such a radical change and developed such a frightening intensity.

She leant back into the hard plastic of the chair, closing her eyes and wondered if anything had actually changed or if it was just that events had simply forced her to acknowledge feelings that had always been there.

Worrying about him last night at the warehouse, in the ambulance and then the interminable wait in this very chair had been awful - far worse than it would have been if she hadn't cared about him a lot more than a co-worker should - and she'd known that she had enjoyed the intimacy of holding his hand - the sense of being there for him - but she hadn't put it all together. It had all come crashing in when she'd opened the door to his room this evening and he'd smiled his welcome and all she could think was how very much she cared about him. The realisation had been cemented when he'd taken her hand, telling her without words how much her presence meant and that it he was happy for his son to know about it.

She took a deep breath and sat forward, bowing her head. Then she ran a hand distractedly through her hair, before reaching out to put the half-empty cup on a table.

Standing up abruptly she walked back towards Booth's room.

Booth had settled back on his pillows.

Parker had clambered up onto the edge of the bed to give him a goodbye hug. His son's enthusiastic grip had hurt like hell, but he'd just smiled and hugged back through the pain.

Booth had seen the flash impatience in Rebecca's eyes when Parker had made her promise that he could visit him again tomorrow. She'd had to say yes, but had done so saying that she was sure that his father would be able to arrange something.

Booth rubbed his eyes tiredly. He couldn't understand why Rebecca had to make everything such a battle. Sure, their break-up had been grim, but why could she never put their son first? That old pain was replaced with a new irritation as he remembered how she had reacted to Bones.

He shook his head angrily, then grinned unexpectedly. If he'd ever wondered how to the two women compared, he now had an answer. When Bones had reached out to shake Rebecca's hand he'd realised that his partner was acid etched on his heart; whereas Rebecca was little more than a hazy, regretful memory. Parker was their only bond now. Booth vowed to himself that he was going to make her realise that - she couldn't keep cradling old resentments forever.

And Bones? Booth's eyes drifted shut as he pictured her beautiful features, her fearsome intelligence and the gentle, often deeply hidden, compassion. He'd somehow been aware of her presence at the warehouse, in the ambulance and then at his bedside even when he'd been unconscious. Last night he'd wondered briefly if the inappropriate feelings that he'd suddenly acknowledged were an unexpected side-effect of the medication but when she'd leant across and kissed him as she'd bid him goodnight, the tingle on his cheek and the suddenly constriction of his breathing had forced him to accept how he felt about her.

His attention was drawn to a tentative knock at the door.

"Come in." He instructed.

He smiled widely as Bones poked her head around the door.

"Come on in Bones, the coast is clear." He gestured towards the chair by his bed.

She smiled at him and sat on the chair that Parker had been occupying when she had come in earlier. She set her bag down on the floor and then looked across at Booth.

Neither spoke but as they gazed at one and other, but their hands unconsciously reached out and linked together.