Booth had seemed distracted at dinner but when she had asked him he'd shrugged it off as shop talk and having no place in their evening. She'd let it go but she could see that it was still taking its toll on his mood. Now here they were outside of her apartment door again and facing the same nervous goodnight as the night before, this time however she had plans of her own.

"You wanna come in and have a coffee?" The expression on her face appears innocent and innuendo free. Booth looks at her and then at the elevator at the end of her hallway as if torn in his decision. Brennan follows his gaze to the elevator and her face falls momentarily in disappointment. "Hey, it's ok. If you wanna just go, I understand." Booth nods and places a quick peck on her cheek.

"Goodnight Bones." With that he heads down the hall and she quickly turns into her apartment. Closing the door and turning on the small table lamp she throws her keys down. She is confused and her stomach churns anxiously. What had happened? He'd been so keen, now it seemed that he couldn't wait to escape her company. She tries to think back to this evening, had she missed something? He hadn't tried to take her hand, accidentally brush his leg against hers… It was almost as if he had been somewhere else this evening. She walks into the bedroom and strips off her shirt and trousers, suddenly she is grateful that she had kept her secret to herself. Somewhere along the way she had misread his intentions and maybe he had misunderstood his feelings. She pulls a tee over her head and slides under her covers. This thing between them could never work, she was constantly second guessing herself and trying so hard to put these feelings into order, perhaps they were better locked away in that box at the back of her head. She had plenty of time to deal with them later.

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Booth takes a sip of his beer and rubs a hand over his tired features. He's wired and his mind is in over drive. He hadn't missed the look of disappointment on her face this evening, but at the same time he wanted to be able to give her his full attention. He is pretty sure that he has hurt her feelings and he mentally curses himself for being so insensitive. This case is keeping them apart again and he wants nothing more than to just wrap it up so that he can go on living his life… living their lives. Looking at the beer left in his bottle he decides that he hasn't had so much that he can't drive and he places it on the table and gets up grabbing his keys off the table in the same instant.

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Booth walks towards Brennan's building pocketing his car keys, as he goes to cross the street he sees a familiar figure entering her apartment complex, David. His face crumples in confusion and he looks up to her window. After a few minutes a light in her bedroom goes on. Booth looks down at his feet and shakes his head angrily before turning to retreat back to his vehicle.

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Brennan opens her door and smiles softly at David. He smiles apologetically and enters at her gesture.

"I'm sorry Tempe.. I completely forgot about the presentation tomorrow." He follows her to the table and she picks up a computer disc and hands it to him.

"Don't worry about it. I was awake anyway. How are you?" She looks at him with genuine concern and he puts a gentle hand on her shoulder in reassurance.

"I'm doing good. Work has been hectic so, not to sound like a complete ogre, it's been kinda nice to be able to get stuck into it without feeling guilty about neglecting anyone… What about you?"

She nods mutely and forces a smile. He nods and smiles in understanding, he can tell from the sad expression and stiff posture that she isn't up to talking about it. Holding the disc up he smiles at her.

"I should really get going, I need to get some rest before tomorrow… Once we are both free, we should meet up, have some drinks.." She nods politely and follows him to the door. The bid each other goodnight and he leaves quietly. Neither aware of the confused FBI agent's intentions to mend some bridges earlier. Brennan locks up her door and returns to her room.

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Brennan looks up from her desk and smiles at Zack who is looking at her nervously. She raises an eyebrow and takes the manila file that he is extending towards her. "Everything ok Zack?" He nods and clears his throat.

"Booth wanted me to give this to you, said it's his notes from yesterday, he said that should review them and let him know what you think when you have time."

"Why didn't he come and give this to me himself?" Zack shrugs and Brennan frowns and nods at Zack allowing him to leave her alone once again. She sighs and nods slowly to no one. This was just another step towards confirming that he was losing his interest in her. She is so thankful that she hadn't allowed herself to indulge in fickle female fantasies and allow her heart to rule her mind during their brief encounter, their working relationship is more important than anything that either of them felt. Even as she thinks the words, a sickening feeling in her stomach creates immediate doubt in her mind. Opening her file and scanning over the few pages she sighs and closes her eyes.

Angela entering the room is a welcome diversion and she forces a bright smile for her best friend. "Bren sweetie, you have a fall out with Booth? No puppy dog eyes, drool…. Intense, hot gazing?" Brennan shrugs and then shakes her head.

"Can we talk about something else?"

Angela takes the seat in front of her desk and puts her chin in her hands. "Only if we can talk about this after we've talked about that something else?.. You ok?" Brennan lets out a steady breath and looks at the file in front of her nodding.

"It's just this case, Mandy Thomson was a product of rape. Her mother never told her who her father was because she didn't want her daughter to suffer the shame of coming from a loveless union. And now… the family who caused her mother so much pain after her rape, may well be the same family to break her once again."

Angela takes the file from Brennan and flicks through it. "You think the father did it?" Brennan shakes her head.

"I think it was the father's other daughter. I assume that Booth is preparing to call her in… Not that I would know."

Angela slides the folder onto the table again. "You're not going to argue to go with him?" Brennan shakes her head and gets up from her desk.

"Squints belong in the lab, remember?.. And it's exactly where I am going to be from now on." Angela takes her hand and looks at her sympathetically.

"I'm here for you, you know that? If you need to talk about anything, not just Booth… I guess you both just need some time to figure this thing between you out." Brennan shakes her head slowly and smiles

"I'm fine Angela, and there is nothing to figure out. We both know exactly where we stand now." At that Brennan picks up her coat from the back of her chair and exits.

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Booth hesitates before lifting his hand to knock on her apartment door, after a moment the door opens and she seems startled to see him, a dish cloth slung carelessly over her shoulder. The idea of her expecting to see someone else on the other side of the door angers him but he reigns his emotions in tightly. She steps aside to let him in and he does so without greeting or gesture. Once inside she closes the door behind him and wordlessly makes her way over to the kitchen and continues peeling the vegetables, he follows her and shoves his hands into his pockets.

"I won't stay, I just came to let you know that I arrested Susan Warner for the murder of Mandy Thomson. She gave a full confession this afternoon. I just thought you should know."

He goes to turn to walk away, without turning to face him she sighs. "Is that it Booth?.. Back to where we started.. Are we just forgetting anything ever happened between us?" He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. She braces her hands on the counter, holding herself and the emotional storm inside her upright.

"You've made it perfectly clear Bones that your interests lie elsewhere.. I'm not one for making a fool of myself. This was never going to work, I guess it just took some time to work that out."

She turns now, her eyes flashing angrily at him. "So you just try to brush it aside? Don't I at least deserve an explanation as to what I've done wrong?" His anger rises at this and his voice is raised in answer to her protested innocence.

"What you've done wrong!... Bones I was away from here for barely an hour last night before you call David over! .. I was stupid, I thought for a second, it was a short second, but I thought that you might actually have feeling inside you, that you aren't just bones and ice… Guess I was wrong."

The tears threaten to spill as she meets his cold gaze and she nods slowly. "Had you stayed more than a minute after watching him enter the building you would have seen him exit too, but you know what, you're right, this is much better…. All work, nothing else, you've saved me from wasting my time trying to sort through something that I can never have answers to." He nods bitterly and leaves the kitchen, as he pulls the door open to leave the apartment he hears her "I came to your apartment that night to tell you I love you!" Her words are angry but honest and he knows that they have come out unbidden and unplanned. Regardless they have hit their mark and he pushes the door closed.

Walking back into the kitchen he regards her, her back to the counter, her head hangs in shame of her weak admission and when she eventually looks up to meet his eyes he is caught by the fear and truth in them. Walking quickly to her his hands find themselves tangled in her hair and his mouth hungrily finds her own. Moving his hands to her backside her pulls her legs up and around his waist and seats her on the counter.

Their kisses become gentle but none the less passionate, his hands are tangled in her hair again and he feels as though she is sucking them breath from his lungs while allowing him to breathe at the same time. Pulling back to rest his forehead against her own he meets her eyes, soft and luminous in the light from the kitchen. "I've waited too long to hear you say that Temperance." She nods gently in agreement. "I know how hard that is for you, to admit that. But I love you. I want to make this work."

She smiles wickedly "Then you had better take me to the bedroom, when I get an itch I expect it to be scratched." He smiles and scoops her up in his arms.

"Ma'am my services are at your complete disposal." With that he places a gentle kiss on her nose and carries her to the bedroom.

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