Disclaimer: I don't own them

Author's Note: "The terror is not in the bang, but in the anticipation of the bang" –Alfred Hitchcock (wink). Thanks for all the reviews!


Temperance and Brian broke from their kiss in the hallway of Temperance's building. A small smile tugged at Temperance's lips. She couldn't lie; the kiss had been, well, nice. This idea surprised her. Normally, it was hard for her to get close to other people quickly, but with Brian somehow it had just happened. She ignored the fact that right before he had leaned into kiss her, she had been thinking about Booth, out God knows where with one of her best friends. However, she also had to acknowledge the fact that, although she had been thinking about Booth before the kiss, her thoughts had been entirely on Brian while the kiss was happening.

Behind her she heard what sounded like a muffled cough. She turned her head and instantly felt her stomach contract with a feeling of—guilt? Standing at the end of the hallway was Booth, staring at her and Brian, who still had his hands resting on her waist. He had a strange look on his face, a look which Temperance couldn't quite define.

Her guilty feeling was short lived, however, when she noticed Meg's fingers laced through Booth's. Her stomach lurched at the sight. Slowly, she removed herself from Brian's hands as Booth and Meg walked towards them. Booth's eyes never left Temperance's until he and Meg reached the doorway.

He gave Brian a nod of greeting before he spoke. "Well, imagine finding you guys here." His eyes left Temperance's and settled on Brian.

"Booth, Meg," was Brian's simple response.

The two men stood staring at one another for a moment as Temperance looked back and forth between the two. They seemed to be sizing one another up, challenging in some silent fashion. As if in response to this, Brian reached out for Temperance's hand; she took it without thinking.

"Hey, guys," Meg spoke up, apparently oblivious to the silent male feud that was happening in front of her. She smiled warmly at Temperance. Temperance sudden had the feeling that something more than hand holding had happened between the two.

The four exchanged the usual pleasantries before Brian turned his attention back to Temperance.

He leaned down and gave her a kiss that wasn't entirely chaste before saying, "I had a great time, Tempe. I'll see you tomorrow."

Temperance, who was slightly stunned, just nodded in response. Brian gave Booth a tight smile, though there was an air of victory in his eyes somehow, before turning and heading back down the hallway.

Booth turned and looked at Temperance, who averted her eyes from his gaze. Something intense was going on and she knew it, but at the same time it wasn't something she was sure she wanted to be engaged in.

Booth quickly returned his attention to Meg, drawing her in close before kissing her deeply. Temperance watched in some sort of masochistic fascination. It was like witnessing a car accident—she didn't want to see it, but at the same time, she couldn't look away.

When they finally broke from the kiss, Meg looked slightly dazed. Booth just smiled at her before smoothly walking away, though as he passed, his eyes did connect with Temperance's for one last, far too intense, moment.

Temperance and Meg entered the apartment in silence. They didn't need to say anything. Meg walked immediately to kitchen, opened the fridge, and extracted two cans of diet coke, while Temperance kicked off her shoes and dropped onto the couch. This was their ritual—for years, when they had been living together in college, there had been nights when they had both had dates, and for years, they did the same thing afterwards. Provided the date didn't turn into an all night event, they would wait for one another to get home. Then, once they were back, they would stay up, drinking cokes—or beers, if they had been particularly bad dates—and going over the finer details. However, although it was a system that Temperance had greatly enjoyed while in college, she was notably less enthusiastic about it tonight.

Booth and Meg. Meg and Booth. The words and images ran through her brain. He kissed her. They kissed each other. Oh God—this relationship between them is really happening. They are really going to be a couple. She shook her head as if to dislodge the thoughts. What the hell had been happening in the hallway? The tension between her and Booth had been palpable. His eyes had challenged Brian almost manically. However, when it was all said and done, he was sticking his tongue down Meg's throat. She hated to admit that the sight had nearly made her sick.

Meg returned with the drinks and dropped down across from her on the couch. Temperance gave her a slight smile, silently wishing Meg would announce she was tired so that she, Temperance, would not have to hear all the details about Booth. She wasn't sure she could handle it.

Meg, of course, had no idea that this thought was going through Temperance's mind. "Okay, go ahead. Tell me about Brian," she said, as she popped the top of her drink.

Temperance gave a mental sigh. So much for being tired. "We had a really great time. After we left you all, we just walked around for a while. It was…nice."

Meg nodded. "He works with you, right?"

"Yeah, well, no, not with me, but he works at the Jeffersonian."

"Oh, I see," Meg responded. "So, that's it? He was just nice. No fireworks, no magic?"

Temperance thought for a minute. Had there been fireworks? She had to admit that kissing Brian hadn't been unpleasant—actually, it was more than not unpleasant, it was downright enjoyable. He was a nice guy, he hadn't tried to push or pressure her—it was refreshing. She smiled and gave Meg a slight shrug. "I don't know. I guess maybe it's still too soon to tell."

The response seemed to satisfy Meg, and the two sat quietly for a moment. Temperance knew that it was her turn to ask now. With another mental sigh, she spoke. "So, you and Booth. How did it go?"

The smile that instantly erupted across Meg's face made Temperance feel as though she had been slapped. "He's amazing," she said, her eyes sparkling as she spoke.

Temperance just gave a slight nod and took a large swallow of her drink in response. She felt the liquid spill down her now dry throat.

Meg noticed her lack of response. Her face fell slightly. She sighed. "Okay, seriously, Tempe, I don't want to do anything if it's going to make things weird for you." She watched her friend for a reaction. When she received none, she continued. "I know that you and Booth have to see each other a lot, and I know that if something happened with us and it didn't work out, that could make things awkward. Hey, I even understand if maybe you just don't want to know that much or be that connected to his personal life. So, if you want me too, I'll tell him that I can't see him anymore. No hard feelings, really. He's a great guy, but going out with him isn't worth making your work situation a mess."

Temperance glanced at her friend and was touched by the sincerity with which she had made her statement. She knew that Meg would back off if she asked her too. And, in her mind, she was thinking, 'Yes. Tell him you can't see him anymore. I don't want you to date him. I don't want ANYONE to date him.' And yet, even as this thought ran through her head, she pushed it away.

"No," she answered. "It's fine with me if you date him." It was a flat out lie, and she knew it, but at the same time she couldn't think of any reason to objecting to Meg's dating Booth. She couldn't claim that she didn't want Meg to date him because she had feelings for him—she was technically seeing Brian now. She had no past history with Booth on which to base awkward feelings…she had nothing. "Seriously, I guess it was just a little weird seeing him out with someone. I'm used to seeing him with suspects."

The two exchanged a light laugh at that. They then finished their drinks while talking back and forth, and finally decided to call it a night. As Temperance changed for bed, her thoughts ran back over the conversation she had just finished with Meg. 'Maybe this is okay,' she thought. 'Maybe this is even good for me. He's just a work partner and friend. If he has a chance to be happy, I'm happy for him. And if he can be happy with one of my best friends, I guess that's even better.' She ignored the nagging part of her brain that told her this was all a lie as she fell asleep.


Temperance was in her office, working at her computer, when she had her first visitor of the day. Angela walked in and flopped onto her couch, simply saying, "Okay, what happened?" as she did so.

"Good morning to you too, Ange," Temperance replied. "And nothing happened."

Angela looked at her disbelievingly. "Nothing at all?"

"Nothing. One kiss at the doorstep, that's all."

"YOU KISSED HIM?" Angela exclaimed.

The tone of her voice brought Temperance fully back into the conversation, as she realized that she hadn't been thinking of Brian when she answered the question. She had been thinking of Booth and Meg. "Uh, yeah, we kissed," she answered.

"Please, oh please, tell me it was just one kiss!"

"Um…"

"OH. MY. GOD. I don't believe this! Alright, tell me everything."

Temperance sighed, but when she realized that she wasn't going to be able to get out of the conversation, she proceeded to recount the evening's events. Angela listened in silent, open-mouthed shock.

"So, Booth and Meg were standing there both times you kissed him?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess they were." Temperance's cheeks flushed slightly.

It was then that the door to Tempe's office was opened with a bit more force than was probably necessary, and a very agitated looking Booth stalked in. He gave no indication if he noticed Angela, but stared at Temperance as he walked into the room.

Temperance just stared back at him, unsure of what was going on or what she was supposed to say. Luckily, she was saved as at that moment the phone rang.

"Brennan."

"Hey, Temperance, it's me," Brian's voice said through the phone line.

"Oh—hi, Brian," Temperance responded. Booth's eyes flashed and his jaw tightened. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to get together later tonight. Maybe see a movie or something?"

Temperance glanced at Booth. He was still staring at her, his gaze intense, challenging. Something about his look made her feel rebellious. "Sure," she said, almost forcefully. "A movie tonight would be great."

Angela watched Booth ball his hands into fists, his knuckles white with anger as Tempe and Brian worked out the details of their night together on the phone. She felt fairly certain that Booth would combust in a matter of moments.

Tempe hung up the phone and the two stared at one another silently. An extremely tense moment passed, and Angela, sensing that nothing would be accomplished if she stayed in the room, decided to excuse herself. Her words seemed to go unheard, and she shut the door behind her when she left.

"You're seeing him again?" Booth was rigid with adrenaline.

Temperance looked back at him defiantly. "Yes, I am. Why, do you have a problem with that?"

Booth leaned forward and placed his hands on her desk, looking down at her as she remained seated in her chair. "Why do you want to see him again? He's a loser."

Temperance stood up then. "He is not a loser. He is a very nice guy who I want to see again because he happens to be someone I am very attracted to. Why is this any business of yours?" Okay, so she wasn't very attracted to him, but what was one lie going to hurt? Besides, Booth was being a jerk.

"It's my business because you are my partner. It's my job to look out for you."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Besides, you weren't too concerned about me last night when you were fondling my old roommate."

Booth almost growled at her response. "Oh, you're upset about that? Funny, I didn't think you would be considering you told her it was fine if she wanted to go out with me."

Temperance felt a momentary shock at his words. "How do you know about that?" Her voice was a touch quieter.

"She told me," he answered, his voice still eerily calm and menacing as he walked around her desk, approaching her. "She told me that you said you didn't care if we saw each other…socially. So, you can see why I'm a little confused."

Temperance stood up a little straighter. "If you're so happy with Meg, why are you so upset about my seeing Brian?"

"I'm not upset that you're dating that scientist loser, but after the scene you two made in the hallway…"

Temperance cut off his line of thought, as she felt the anger inside her grow to a dangerously fevered pitch. "WHOA. What? Scientist loser? Need I remind you, Agent Booth, that I also am a scientist, and your partner. I would therefore thank you not to degrade my work or the other people who do it. Also, my personal life is no business of yours. I am free to see who want, kiss who I want, and sleep with who I want. And as far as scenes go, I feel it is more than a bit disingenuous of you to refer to my actions as a spectacle while you stood in the very same hallway and practically checked Meg's tonsils with your tongue!"

Booth was enraged now. "Excuse me for kissing the girl you set me up with! I mean, for God's sake, Bones…"

Temperance cut him off again. "Do not call me 'Bones'! Bones is not my name, it is not my nickname, and in fact the only purpose it serves is to give you the misguided idea that you have some form of control or ownership over me! I am not yours, Booth. I have a name, and I would thank you to…"

Now it was Booth's turn to cut her off. "Fine, Dr. Brennan. Excuse me for trying to find a way of identifying you that made you seem human! But no, I should have known better, Dr. Brennan isn't like everyone else! She does have feelings!" Booth stopped to catch his breath, staring deeply into her eyes. It was only then that he noticed that in the heat of their argument, they had come to be standing very close to one another.

His words stung her terribly. "I have feelings," she answered him, though her voice was not as strong as she wanted it to be. He was standing very close to her now, and she could feel the tears pooling behind her eyes. 'This isn't the time,' she thought as she quickly tried to will them away.

Her dampened eyes did not escape his notice. Almost without thought, he reached up wiped away the single tear that had escaped down her cheek. "What do you have feelings for?" His voice was low now, not at all accusatory. He stared deeply into her eyes, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. His gaze shifted to her lips, which were parted slightly, and he noticed that her breathing, like his own, was hitched and uneven.

They both continued to stand still, lost in the intensity of the moment. Their gazes shifted between each other's eyes and lips, and a few moments later, as if being pulled by some unseen and uncontrollable force, Booth leaned in closer to her.

Her body responded as if by instinct. Her eyes fluttered and closed as she leaned toward him, slowly. She could feel his warm breath on her mouth; just his proximity made her heart race.

Booth saw her eyes close, just as he felt his do the same. The awareness he had learned in the military seemed to kick in as he noted how far apart they were. Their lips were almost touching. 'To far apart,' his brain seemed to say. 'Get closer."

However, before their lips connected, the phone on Temperance's desk screamed, shattering the silence in the office. Temperance and Booth flew apart, their eyes jumping open as they did so.

"Brennan," Temperance answered as she picked up the phone.

Booth stared at his shoes as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. 'What just happened?' his brain was screaming. 'What WAS that?' He ignored his mind when he heard it answer, 'that was almost heaven.'

"Oh, hey, Brian."

At the sound of her voice, Booth's head snapped back up. Brian? He glared into Bones' eyes, who quickly dropped her gaze to her desk. Anger rose once again in Booth's chest, as he quickly stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him as he did so.


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