UGH SORRY ABOUT THE REPOST, ALL PREFIXES (Mr., Dr. etc.) HAD BEEN EATEN UP BY THE SITE AND REFUSED TO REAPPEAR UPON FURTHER EDITING. ANY FIXES, ANYONE?

A/N: Hey, I know it's been a while, but I've been busy writing my new story, Not Seventeen Again. Check it out if you have the time, I'd really love some feedback. In the meanwhile, this is a longish chapter, so I hope you'll forgive me for the wait.

Note: All flashbacks are in italics, read carefully between the line breaks.

The Forward in the Flashbacks

'Don't call me Bones. And I do more than act.' - Temperance Brennan

'She also writes books.' - Seeley Booth

'Fine. She's all yours.' - Tom the Security Guard

[If only, right? - Me]

'I knew you wouldn't make me be a liar.' - Temperance Brennan [adapted]

Hey, so you're afraid that when I look at you in the morning, I'll have regrets?'

'That would never happen.'

'Do you need time and space?'

'No. Just some time.'

'My name is Temperance Brennan', she was saying, in a bored monotone which somehow sounded better than music to his ears. He hadn't heard her voice in too long. 'I've been in London for a month, performing on stage. The passport happens to have been created for a character I was playing. It must have stayed in my bag. I haven't had the time to clean it out yet.'

'Most people in this situation, what they do is they sweat it.'

'Globe theatre? 100,000 strong audience? How are you scary after that?'

'You know who doesn't sweat it? Sociopaths.'

'I'm not a sociopath. I'm an actor.'

'Who works at Fox studios. Which I'd maybe believe if you had ID that did more than allowed you access to the cafeteria.' He paused. 'You are illegally carrying a fake passport, ma'am. And you assaulted a Homeland Security agent.'

'Look, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of your friends, but next time, you should identify yourself before attacking me.'

Brennan turned around, as if sensing he had entered room. Her eyes widened in surprise and then anger as her quick brain processed the reason for his presence. And damn if that fire in her eyes didn't heat him up all over. 'What are you doing here?'

'You're back, baby!' He clapped his hands together, advancing into the room with a smile. 'Ha, ha! You're rehired!'

'But I've moved on.'

'I know, you seem to have been quite busy this last month', Booth held up the book in his hand, sauntering forward.

'I'm surprised you even read.'

Ignoring her, Booth turned to the other occupant in the room, wanting to dismiss him as quickly as possible before Brennan raised a scene.

'Hey – it's Tom, right? Seeley Booth.' He flashed a smile and reached out to shake the slightly awestruck security guard by the hand. 'I'll take it from here. Bones is an actor in one of our new shows at Fox.'

'Don't call me Bones. And I do more than act.'

'She also writes books.' Booth slipped the one in his hand smoothly across the table.

Tom looked between the two of them, eyebrows raised. 'Fine. She's all yours.'

She's all yours. They'd been in a bar, his old favourite spot, in a backroom that was rarely ever used except for VIP groups, and where he had never taken another soul. He couldn't help himself from remembering that kiss.

Leaning forward in his seat with a small smile, he touched his lips to hers. Wow. Holy shit. He'd never felt anything like it before. He hadn't known it was possible. It was like fire. Burning. Bruising. Uncontrollable. Only more intense. The kiss had gotten hot and hard and hungry without his permission, and still it was just a brush of lips. He was cradling the back of her neck and holding her to him as she kissed him back, he realised, when he finally released her bottom lip, painfully slowly, taking a break for some much needed air. She looked up when he opened his eyes and that was when their eyes met. I love you. Wait, what. Well, that should have sounded ridiculous. She looked like he was sure he felt. Dazed, breathless, desperate, and something else. Then she took her lip between her teeth again and his eyes fell to her mouth and he attacked.

'Great. Let's grab your bags, and let's vamoose.'

'What, that's it?' Brennan's jaw dropped in incredulity. '"She's all yours"? Why did you stop me?'

'What does it matter?' Booth interrupted quickly. 'You're free to go. Let's just grab your bags – click, click, cling, cling.'

She turned to him accusatorily, 'you set me up.' She turned to Tom. 'You never got a hold-for-questioning request from the FBI, did you?'

'I love this book', the guard grinned gamely, picking up the copy Booth had placed on the table.

And then he left, chuckling. Booth turned to Brennan with a grin.

'Come on.'

'That's the best you can do?

'What?'

'Getting Homeland Security to snatch me so you can stage a fake rescue?'

'It's good to see you too, Booth. I hope you've been doing alright. It's been a while. And how have you been?' I've spent the last month in torturous agony obsessing over you, as well. When Brennan simply huffed and turned away, resting her cheek in her hand and childishly refusing to answer, Booth sighed.

'Well, at least I picked you up at the airport, huh?' The silent treatment getting to him now, Booth pressed further. 'Come on, I mean, I went through the appropriate channels, but your assistant there, he stone-walled me.'

'Yeah, well, after the last meeting, I told Zack never, ever to put you through. He's a good assistant. Thank you for recommending him.'

Before he could say anything, she had grabbed her bag and stormed out the open door ahead of him. 'Bones- Bones, no. Please wait.' He managed to catch her just before she stepped through the corridor leading back to the main airport, and grabbing her arm, dragged her back into the room before hastily locking the door shut. He hadn't intended it that way, but the result was that she was pinned between him and the door.

'Look, don't- don't hit me, alright?' Luckily for him, Brennan was too unnerved by his proximity to make a response. Booth continued intently. 'But we step out there together, and there's going to be paparazzi swarming all over the place.' Brennan blew a stray lock of hair out of her eyes, her chest heaving as her breathing seemed to quicken. She hated to admit it, but a part of her was responding to Booth in a way that she found almost disturbing. He smelled divine, masculine and clean and Booth, and it appeared his seemingly perfect good looks hadn't been a product of her imagination. She hadn't imagined the unmatchable intensity of those soulful brown eyes, either. And the way he looked at her…God, she had missed this. Another voice, rational but not at all calm, interrupted the first harshly. Missed him? Brennan, you barely know the man. You hated him when you first met. You spent the last month trying to forget him – unsuccessfully, I might add, the first voice chimed in. This is not healthy. This is not rational. STOP IT.

'Bones?' Booth asked questioningly, his voice a few octaves lower as he fought to control his own response to her.

'I could just leave without you, you know. They wouldn't be interested in me.' Actually, after the past two days, they would be, Booth refrained from saying. But he sensed that she was ready to give in atleast a little, he pushed gently.

'Come on, Bones.'

Brennan didn't know whether to reach up and wrap her arms around his neck and crash her lips onto his, or to punch him.

She set her jaw in that way Booth had realised meant she was thinking things over, and he almost said the words out loud. I've missed you so much.

Finally, she said, 'Where's your car?' And he nearly sighed in relief.

'Just outside, in the lot. We can get out through the side door and drive away and no one will know.'

'Fine.' And she grabbed her bag and stepped out again, this time stopping just outside to let him lead the way.

'You can let me out anywhere along here.'

'All right, listen, Bones, I know you're upset, but atleast agree to meet with the team.'

They were in his black SUV with tinted windows, driving away from the airport.

'If you drive one more block I'm screaming "kidnap" out the window.'

'You know what? I'm trying to mend bridges here', and busting my ass to do it. Booth was slightly irritated now.

'Pull over.' He pulled the cars to a screeching stop by the pavement, tires squealing. 'With a huff, she jumped out of the car. 'I'm going home.

'Great.' Booth muttered, hopping out after her. 'Could we...' he match her long strides with his own. 'Look, could we just skip this part?'

He noticed some stragglers turning their way in confused recognition as she turned to him, eyes blazing.

'I find you very condescending.'

'Me? I'm condescending? I'm not the one who's got to mention that she's got multiple acting awards every five minutes.'

'I am the one with multiple awards.'

'Yeah, well you know what? I'm the one with the box office success and the most recognisable face in the country, huh?' He chased after, pointing an accusatory finger. 'You know, you're not the only actress who wants this part.'

'And yet here you are, trying to get me to come back.'

She was just SO…ARGH. Booth sighed. 'What's it going to take, huh?

'Full participation in the show-making process.'

'Fine.'

'Not just acting – everything.'

'What? You want me to spit in my hand? We're Scully and Mulder.' But we'll do it better.

'I don't know what that means.'

'It's an olive branch.' Booth shot back quickly, casting a slightly worried glance at the passersby who were not-so-discreetly trying to get a better look. He recognised the familiar telltale signs of uncontrollable excitement that followed a moment of bewildered wondering in their faces – and spelled doom for him. 'Get back in the car', he pleaded.

Brennan looked at him for one more moment, her jaw set, and as their eyes met, he saw the exact instant she made up her mind and climbed back into the SUV, feeling an uncontrollable surge of happiness and relief as he climbed in his own side and drove them away.

'Okay, writing can wait. So, let's go.' No response. 'What's the matter? Get your bags. Chop-chop.' Still no response. Is something wrong?'

'I find I'm annoyed with you.' Brennan finally turned to face him, and Booth walked closer to where she was sitting. 'Why, because I fired you and hired you back? It's the network!'

'No, because you got me drunk to fire me, and then have sex with me.'

WHAT?

'Whoa. No, I got myself drunk so I could fire you, and you decided not to have sex with me, which I accepted gracefully.' He paused, tugging on his collar and forcing himself to focus on the task at hand, which was getting her out of here, and not the memories and possibilities that were threatening to assault him at the mere mention of the word 'sex' from her lips. If she said it again, he was quite sure he was going to kiss her. Again. Unable to help it, he hedged, 'So, you're regretting that decision?'

'No. I'm not. It was a very good decision. I stand by it.' Liar. Her cheeks flushed with a telltale hue.

'What's going on, Bones?'

'Do not call me Bones.'

'Do you think the show will air before the fall sweeps? Because if we're targeting viewers in the demographic-'

'No, Bones. Let's just stop talking about the case, just for one moment, all right?' he leaned closer and smouldered at her, and she instantly shut up, at a loss for words. That was strange. Temperance Brennan was never at a loss for words.

He stepped closer to her and dropped his voice. 'Hey, listen, if you don't want to do this now-'

'I've already assented to do this, Booth. I would not have accompanied you here if I had no intention on following through with our agreement.'

'Alright, so…the network heads are in there, we're out here, what's the problem?'

'Nothing. I find I am…inadequately prepared for this moment.'

'Inadequately prepared, how?'

'I know that my skills and reputation should be enough to ensure that I get the part, even with any rumours or scandal that may have ensued after I punched Hasty, but-'

'He doesn't work here anymore.'

'I-What?'

'The board, they, uh, held a unanimous vote, and he doesn't work here anymore.'

'Why?'

'Why what?'

'Why did they decide to fire him?'

'You mean, aside from the fact that he's an unethical slimeball with no redeeming qualities?' who came on to you with a lewd proposition, which pisses me off more than anything?

'Wasn't the decision a bit…sudden?'

She squinted up at him under the glare of the sun, scrunching her nose adorably as they stood outside the studio lot.

Booth sighed and stepped closer to her, invading her space and blocking out the sun. No use putting this off any longer.

'Look', he dropped his voice so that no one could hear them, even though the few stragglers wandering around the studio in the heat of the California sun were nowhere near them. 'You're not the first woman Hasty's tried to…take advantage of.'

'Oh?', Brennan asked, hardly surprised.

'Yeah, and over the past couple of weeks, a lot of the women on the receiving end of his advances have come out of the woodwork. And in most cases, it didn't stop at just lewd suggestions, if you get my drift.' He forced himself not to evade the issue by talking around it, knowing she was too smart not to make the connection herself. 'And the reason that they've been coming forward is that I, uh, outed him to the press.'

'Does this mean you anonymously shared your information with them, or you publically denounced him in person?'

Booth winced. Why was she so smart?

'Uh, the second one, mostly. But I had a friend do some digging, and there's enough evidence to make sure the charges stick. But, uh…'

'What is it?'

'Well, it's sort of hard to explain, really…'

Suddenly, Brennan was struck with a thought. 'Did you have anyone else back up your claims?'

'…No', Booth replied. 'See, that's the thing. All the women who have come forward against Hasty – you know, the ones with credible evidence in their cases who aren't just looking for their fifteen minutes of shame – they're willing to testify in a court of law, but they want to remain anonymous to maintain their privacy, which I totally get.'

'I'll do it.'

Phew. But…

'I kind of already said that you would.'

'Oh.'

'You're not mad?'

'No. Why would I be mad? Because you made a commitment on my behalf without checking to see if I would be available or in fact amenable to keeping it?'

'Uh…yeah.'

'Well, I am.'

'So you'll do it, then?'

'Yes.'

'Thanks, Bones.' Booth smiled.

'For what?'

'I know you're not doing this only because I said you would, but because-'

'Hasty's an unethical slimebum with no redeeming qualities?'

'Slimeball.'

'What?'

'It's slimeball', Booth grinned.

'Oh.'

'But thank you, Temperance. I knew you wouldn't make be a liar.'

Once again, the use of her first name on his lips made her shiver. It was thoroughly illogical, but also seemingly unavoidable…she couldn't help it. 'It appears as if I should be the one thanking you.'

'Why?'

'Why did you really do this, Booth?'

'Do what?', he stalled.

'Take such an interest in this case.'

'You mean aside from the fact that Hasty's-'

'A…a slimeball…yes.' She tested the word out.

'Honestly? Because I don't want him to get away with this. It's the right thing to do. And…'

'And?'

He looked into her eyes and decided to go with the truth. 'And I really want to work with you on this.'

Brennan looked down at her feet in a display of uncharacteristic shyness. 'I find that despite our differences, I would really like to work with you too.'

Booth smiled. 'Yeah?'

'Yeah.'

'Then let's go get 'em, Bones.' He opened the door to the studio and waited for her to step inside.

'I-I need a moment to gather my thoughts.'

'You OK?'

'Yes. I'm just feeling a little light-headed. I suppose it's the heat.' Closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, she raised a hand to her head.

He leaned in even closer and gave her a soft half-smile. 'Is that your way of saying you have butterflies, Bones?'

'No… I do however have one condition for working on the show.' She paused and then frowned slightly. 'You can quite clearly see that I do not havebutterflies. How is it possible-?'

'Expression, Bones', Booth interrupted. 'So what is it?'

'What is what?'

'Your one condition. What is it?'

'That we revert to the original title, Bones.'

'Done.' Booth grinned. 'Anything else?'

'Okay. Check this out. Huh?' He lifted his tie so she could look at the inside. 'Okay, I... am declaring my individuality. I am going rogue.'

'You have gone rogue.' She laughed. 'You're squeely-clean personality has taken a hit.'

'Squeaky clean.'

'No. Squeeley. Like Seeley, get it?'

'Okay, right. Ha ha. Very funny.'

He poured her another drink. 'Okay, here.' She tossed it down and he found his own throat was suddenly dry and it had nothing to do with the alcohol. 'You can handle your liquor very well.' And I suddenly find that a very attractive quality in a woman.

'Well, this stuff is nothing compared to the bang I had to drink as a grad student in India. It's made of fermented cannabis.'

'Here's to bang.'

'To bang.'

'To bang.' *

'Mmm.'

Before Brennan could respond, a set of doors adjacent to the ones they were standing in front of flew open, and a thoroughly disgruntled looking blonde emerged, followed by a small posse of devotees bristling with admiration and platitudes. She threw a dirty glance back at the studio guards standing by the doors, and then spotting Booth, batted her eyelashes flirtatiously before walking away with an exaggerated flip of her hair and an exaggerated sway of her hips.

'Is that…?'

'The girl they'd picked when they thought they couldn't get you? Yeah.'

'She doesn't seem too upset with you for your part in having her fired. Surely she knows you played a role in the decision making process…'

'Yeah, well.'

'She's quite pretty.'

'Yeah, I guess some people would say so', Booth shrugged.

'And Angela informs me she's gained a… credible reputation for herself in the television industry.'

'Yeah.'

'Why did you not want to work with her?'

Booth scratched the back of his head. 'I didn't not want to work with her.' I want to work with you.

Brennan blinked up at him confusedly. 'I don't understand. Why did you have her fired then?'

He could have said it didn't matter, he could have said the decision wasn't his in the end, he could have said there were people waiting for them inside who really shouldn't be kept waiting. But something about Bones made him honest. She deserved the truth.

'Because she's not you.' His reply, honest and to the point, seemed to take her by surprise, but she simply looked at him and nodded as though she understood. Because I met you first, and you're special. And no one but you will ever do.

Ooh!' He laughed, and with the smile still on his face, 'you're fired'

'What?! Why? Because I drank bang? But that was in pursuit of scholarly research.'

He chuckled. No, baby. But wisely decided not to say anything out loud.

She pouted at him, and he literally felt his heart stop. 'Why am I fired?'

They were snapped out of their moment when Brennan sneezed softly.

'Bones, really, you just got off a long flight. If you need to rest before the audition, we can reschedule...'

'You're fired because you assaulted a network executive.'

'No. You thought that was hot.'

'I did. I did. It was very hot', immediately. 'Okay? Cheers.'

'Mmm.' She downed another drink and he watched in fascination

'Hey. Yeah. If we don't work together anymore, then... we could have sex.'

'I'll call a cab.' Oh, wait. He was Seeley Booth. He didn't call cabs. 'I'll call a car.'

A car and a driver had pulled round back and were waiting outside when they stepped out.

'I just need some time to structure my approach before we go inside. Feel free to proceed without me; I'll be right behind you', she raised a hand to her head and closed her eyes.

'Do you need time and space?' He stepped closer to her. He wanted to tell her it had been weeks that they'd postponed the shooting, and one more day wouldn't hurt but somehow he knew not to press the issue.

She shook her head. 'No. Just some time.'

'Then I'm staying.'

'Oh, hold on. Hold on. Hold on, listen. Hold that cab.' Right, not yellow. Not a cab. Doesn't matter. I'm so drunk. She's so beautiful. The rain was falling heavily around them, and the force between them was as impossibly irresistible as ever as he leaned down. 'Listen, I got something to confess.'

She nodded, not saying anything as she took a deep, calming breath. He had to physically restrain himself from wrapping an arm around her for support – and also because he just wanted to wrap his arms around her, but knowing she wouldn't welcome that he simply stayed close, just in case he had to steady her.

'Well, is it the fact that you're a direct descendant of John Wilkes Booth? I already know that.'

'Wait. Wait a second. How do you know that?'

'From your family history records. I played a princess in Jordan once, and I became quite close to some high-ranking members of the actual monarchy. My agent now has all coworkers screened. I have a very high security clearance.'

'J-Just keep that, um, under your hat, okay, for now, all right? Okay.'

'What I wanted to confess was…' She's so beautiful. So beautiful… 'See, I have a gambling problem, but I'm dealing with it.'

Booth looked her up and down, belatedly realising how dangerous that could be but not able to care. She looked slightly thinner than when he had last seen her, and just a little too pale. The change was barely noticeable to the casual observer, but his interest in her was not casual, by any stretch of the imagination. He hadn't forgotten a single thing about her. I can't forget. 'When was the last time you ate?' He asked softly.

'I…I think I ate something before getting on the flight.'

'Bren-' he stopped himself as he realised he was going to call her Brennan in his exasperation rather than Bones. 'That must have been atleast fourteen hours ago. You've got to eat.'

'Possibly. But I'm not a child, Booth. I don't require constant nourishment to boost my energy levels every few hours. I have a healthy metabolism.'

'Well, I don't care how spectacular your-' he raked his eyes up and down her form and unconsciously licked his lips, 'metabolism is, once we're done here, you and me are going to blow this joint and I'm going to take you to eat the best damn meal you've ever had.' *

'Why did you feel you had to tell me that?' Every word was bringing them closer together, the distance between them disappearing with each breath.

'I don't know.' I know. 'I just feel like, um, this is going somewhere.' He leaned closer still, and she leaned up to meet him. He had to get closer.

'Why did you feel like this is going somewhere?' Her lips were a breath away.

He breathed almost onto her lips. 'I just... I feel like I'm gonna kiss you.' And then he did. Perfect.

...And that was when the metaphorical shit hit the fan.

'Wow'.

We are not spending the night together.'

Anything she said. Wait, what?

'Ofcourse we aren't. Why?

'Tequila.'

'Hey, hold-hold... Hold on. Hold on.' He'd run after her, rain-soaked and desperate. 'Hey, so you're afraid that when I look at you in the morning, I'll have regrets?'

That smile full of mischief, mystery, confidence, and promise that never failed to excite him. 'That would never happen.'

That's true.

And then she'd slipped out the door, out of his life and into the rain, because she could hail cabs without being accosted in the middle of a paparazzi storm in west Hollywood. He would get mobbed out there.
The only thing she would get was wet. God, he wished he could just hold her. If sex want going to be on the cards, now why hadn't she left him that option? Because you don't go home and play lovesick relationship with someone you just met, jackass. He sighed. And then he didn't see her for two days. He hadn't felt the itch since he'd first seen her. He was miserable and he missed her insanely, but he hadn't felt the urge to gamble even once. He'd looked back at the old sign on the pool bar and it was like the decision had been made for him. He felt an altogether different kind of itch, though.*

And it was after their next encounter two days later that Booth wondered if he'd replaced one addiction for another-and one still more unhealthy because it was infinitely more powerful.

She'd come back to the studio offices to see Dr. Goodman . He knew because he'd asked to be notified if she entered the building.

He ran after her and called out her name a few times but she didn't respond, just kept walking down the long corridor in front of them, her back turned to him. 'Bones! Bones! Where have you been? I've been trying to call you-'

'Mr. Booth.' Ouch. So polite. That was not good. She was wearing shades just like the first time he'd seen her that glinted in the light as she turned to him, hair whipping behind her, and he couldn't help the instant librarian fantasy that played in his head. 'Mr. Booth , what's the penalty for an overdue book?'

He tugged at his collar and swallowed as she simply arched a brow. Now was clearly not the time.

'What's the deal, Bones?'

'Don't call me Bones.'

'Listen, I've been racking my brain and going crazy trying to figure out what went wrong, but I'm coming up empty.'

'I don't know what that means.'

Booth sighed again. Alright, then. Still more direct. Before he could open his mouth, she continued.

'If that's all, I'd best be going. I don't have time to talk.' She raised her shades and those eyes left him momentarily speechless.

'Then why are you here?'

'To collect my file from Dr. Goodman. It contains a number of original documents because I know some directors don't accept copies and assumed he was one of them.'

Slowly, Booth raised the file in his hand so she could see it. He had figured, but not hoped as much. He'd known she would come back to get the file. That's why he'd kept it.

'Oh. Thank you.' Again with that cold tone. And she wouldn't meet his eyes. She reached for it, and he closed his hand around hers. She gasped. Her eyes finally raised to look at him.

'Bones', he shuddered out, not immune to the magic of her touch. 'Please-'

A door opened loudly at the other end of the hallway and Booth cursed internally as Brennan snatched her hand away abruptly like she had just snapped out of a trance and realised the position she was in. They were standing right outside the exit to the parking lot. She had the perfect escape strategy to flee, and flee she did, as Booth knew she would. Before she could take another step he grabbed her arm to stop her. Given what happened next, in retrospect, that was probably the turning point that triggered the explosion. And that's when things really went south.

*In the mood for some Gordon Gordon-style counseling, anyone?

**I have it on good authority from old boothaddict77 that it's bhaang and not bang. All those yankees, eh? :P Not that we'd get it much better north of the border.

*** I think one of the beautiful, understated moments of the show was when Booth was left standing in the rain outside the pool bar as Brennan drove off in the cab in Parts in the Sum of the Whole and then she turns back to look at him, a scene which they mirrored later in the fifth season, before, well, things really went south. We notice that he's standing there motionless for a while afterwards, and then he looks at the sign and walks away. There seems to be some sort of significance in this scene, and I know I'm not the only one who saw it. I feel like this might have been the turning point in his gambling addiction. It's symbolic in so many ways. Brennan makes him change for the better, and challenges him, right from the moment they first met.

A/N: Next chapter should come soon, in the meanwhile, let me know what you think! And do check out my new story Not Seventeen Again. Here's a quick summary for those of you who are interested:

'What ever happened to seeing someone across a crowded room,eyes meeting,that old black magic gets you in its spell' ?He knows,right from the beginning. Seeley Booth meets Temperance Brennan and it's magic at first sight-only for him to realise she's still 17. He's...not. Will 10 years be overcome by immortal love, or will age come in the way of destiny?...Do *you* believe in fate?

Have a great weekend! Cheers.