A/N: Hello, all. It's been a long time since I've written last, and it was in a fandom very far from this one. Either way, hope you like this fic. It's short, and dramatic, and is meant to be a one-shot. It's based on a song by U2, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, which- even though I don't particularly like- just fits their relationship. Just read the lyrics, if you're curious. Thanks. Read and review, please!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones. Just the order of the words herein.

When I Don't Pick Up The Phone

"I hope you're ready to hear a long and magical tale.

Are you ready to trust me?"

-Il Mare

"Where do you really want to be, Bones?"

She really hated it when it got to her like this.

She couldn't focus on her work, her novel or anything else that was even remotely important.

But the main reason why it irked her so badly was the fact that she couldn't pin it down, name it, categorize it, and then allow it to leave her memory- which, she was sure- was what all good problems should do.

Not this one. Mostly when this particular problem came to the fore, all she could do was hang on, fighting all the way, while it took her anywhere and everywhere at all. And this- this uncertainty when it came to the final destination- was what bothered her the most.

And of course, the fact the she refused to face it.

How can you face the problem if the problem is your face?

Endorphins, adrenaline and caffeine waged a formidable war in her mind as she gazed down at the reflection she made on her computer monitor. Bright eyes lined with fatigue stared back at her, but for all the incredulity they displayed, she couldn't see them. All she could think of was the fact that he would surely tease her when he realized that she had decided to work herself to sleep after the day's disappointment. He would laugh at her expense as they would drink at their usual meeting place after hours. And then she remembered.

She remembered the bitter question he had asked her as she had gotten off his car earlier that day. He had dropped her off at her lab; the terse movements of his arm had been a hallmark of his agitation. Little bits of sand had clung to her shoes, like little babies wrapping their arms around their mother's placenta before they were aborted.

She had scraped them off against the side of someone's car furiously.

Where?

He was being perfectly astute when he had asked her, of course. He had seen her reluctance to assist him in his cases since day one. And her short, biting comments the whole day had showed her disapproval of working with him better than strapping on a big sign saying so would have.

True, they always fought. That's one of the main reasons why she looked with a mixture of dread and excitement every time they were given a chance to talk. But even she could admit that she might have crossed the line today. She had mentioned Parker-

She jumped at the sound. Looking around, her eyes soon met with the shattered pieces of her coffee mug in a sticky mess on the floor. Her erratic movements with the keyboard explained the occurrence, her ever present scientific mind concluded.

No, that was wrong. It wasn't always there. It went on vacation whenever she looked too far into his eyes. It's amazing how someone could lose themselves in the depths of another person's eyes.

He had brought her that mug. When they had gone to California and he complained that he didn't even get to see Sunset Boulevard. As a compromise, they had stopped at a roadside shop and brought each other souvenirs.

Adrenaline, having seen one of his opponents making a mess on the floor, got a second wind and made her realize that she was being way too sentimental for her tastes.

She was her own woman, wasn't she? Why should she get all riled up about a cheap tourist trinket just because he was the one who gave it to her? Her hands had already started gathering the remains of the mug and throwing them into the bin, when she satisfied herself with her conclusion that she didn't need him around that much, and therefore she shouldn't need to think about how upset he was because of her anymore. She was angry with him, in fact. How dare he make her challenge her own independence!

Do you know what's the only problem with anger? It's a bully. And like all bullies, it's a coward.

As quickly as it came to her, the self-righteous anger left. Leaving her with his words bouncing hollowly in her head and spilled coffee stuck to her shoe.

He was right.

It galled her to admit it, but he had been right. Sometimes, she couldn't make it on her own. He had never said it that way, but that was the truth. He had offered her comfort and security after such a trying day, and all she did was snappishly ask why he was taking so long to get her to the Jeffersonian.

And now, she was torturing herself.

She missed him. And now, with exhaustion and caffeine the only friends she had with her, she finally admitted to herself that he had become a part of her life. And she didn't want to lose him.

Where did she really want to be? With him.

She sighed and reached for the phone- or at least, that's what she planned to do, before it rang and tore a hole through the silence of the night at the lab.

She reached for it, anyway.

"Brennan"

"Hello Bones." She fidgeted.

"Uh… look… before you say anything, I have to say tha-"

"Wait- I just called to make sure you're okay… and to say that I'm so-"

"Me too… I shouldn't have acted like I did. And I shouldn't have mentioned Par-"

"It's okay. I know."

"Look Booth… I know that this may sound really out of context, but I want you to know that you were right- I really do need you, and that even though I act like I can handle everything by myse-"

A sigh.

Fidget. Fidget. Fidget.

"Alright… I get where you're coming from… You're just upset because we weren't able to catch that maniac in time… I wish we had caught him before he had gotten to the kids, too, Bones. I'll never forget that scene in my entire life."

Fidget. Fidget.

"I'll just see you tomorrow, okay? Goodni-"

"Wait! What about what I said?"

"What about it? Like I said, you're just upset because-"

Anger reared its big head again, and she couldn't believe how dense this man could be!

"No. I mean, yes," Incredulity was really rampant tonight. "I am upset about that, but I really did mean what I said. I just wanted you to know."

A cough.

A fidget.

"So where does this leave us, Bones? I mean, can we make this work? We have nothing in common; we fight all the time-"

"You have to admit, Booth… we wouldn't fight so much if weren't so alike-"

"Either way… are you sure? I can't play this game, Bones. I've invested too much."

Fidget all around.

"Me too."

A cough.

Then a chuckle.

A sigh, relieved.

"Where do we go from here, Bones? Where do you really want to be?"

"With you, Booth. Where do we go from here, but nowhere?"

"Nah, Bones. Anywhere, And everywhere."

"Goodnight, Booth."

"No way. I'm coming to pick you up. You are definitely not spending the night at the lab-"

"I can take care of myself, thank you. I don't need you acting like you're some knight in FBI standard-issue body armor-" Indignant.

"Body armor, huh? Let me guess- Angela?" She could practically hear his eyebrow quirk upwards.

"Nevertheless, I don't need you to come here and protect me from whatever imagined things that go bump in the night."

"Just indulge me, okay, Tempe? Let me take some punches for you tonight. Because unlike you evolved females, that's how we primitive males show we care."

"Oh."

"Ok then. See you in a bit."

She put down the cordless phone and smiled to herself.

She always hated it when it got to her like this.

She couldn't pin the feeling down. She couldn't name it, categorize it, and put it away for future reference.

And most of all, she had no idea where it was taking her.

But then again, because of it, she didn't have to face life all alone anymore. Life, and all it's problems. Whether they came in little sand babies or exhausted coffee stains.

Where will they go from here, but nowhere?

Not nowhere, but anywhere and everywhere.

Just as long as she's with him.

And there wasn't anywhere else Dr. Temperance Brennan would rather be.

A/N: Short? If you think that it's left more questions than answers, that's okay, because you can always fill in the gaps, right?