(A Man on Death Row)

This story is AU.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Before she got the chance to talk to Angela about Booth, they were all pulled into a situation that left everyone exhausted and disappointed.

A defense attorney by the name of Amy Morton managed to talk Booth into taking a final look at Howard Epps' case before he was executed. The man had been convicted of murder and Amy had made Booth doubt the case against the man. Worried that there was a remote possibility that an innocent man could die by the hands of the state, the Agent had talked Brennan and the rest of the Squints into helping him look into the situation.

While they spent the weekend tracking down evidence, Brennan found herself just a little annoyed with her partner. Amy was very attractive and a lawyer like Tessa. Deep down she wasn't so sure that Booth hadn't decided to help Epps because of his interest in Amy. She was pretty sure that if Epps' lawyer had been an older man, Booth would have sent the lawyer away.

Once they had found the bodies in the swamp they hadn't had a choice but to report it. Epps had his stay of execution, but not for the reason Amy had hoped for. It was apparent to all of them that not only was Epps a killer, he was a serial killer.

Booth was pretty certain that Amy's trust had been broken and she might be more wary in the future about getting involved in death penalty cases. He thought that was a shame since she was a fine lawyer and a fine human being. She did great work and Epps had used her like he had used everyone else.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Very tired, Brennan entered the Lab Monday afternoon determined to get something positive done before going back home. She was still disgusted that she had helped a murderer escape justice even if it was temporary. She didn't really blame Booth for it either. Her partner had allowed Amy Morton to make him doubt a case he'd been sure of and he was just as upset as everyone else that Epps had made a fool out of the justice system.

Removing her sunglasses, she moved towards her office and was surprised when she noticed Angela moving around in her office. Since she really wanted to talk to Angela about Booth, she decided to detour over to her friend's office. "Angela, I thought you were going to take the day off."

Feeling a little lethargic, Angela looked up from her PC. "I was, but I was just too restless. I slept for about five hours and decided to come in. I need something to take my mind off of that creep Epps. It just makes me so mad that he's used the system to get what he wanted."

Brennan sat down on Angela's couch and placed her bag on the coffee table. "He will still be executed, just not today."

Grimly, Angela nodded her head. "Well, that's what makes this whole mess more bearable . . . How are you doing? Did you get any sleep?"

"Yes, I slept for four hours. It's sufficient for now." Not sure if she was ready for a serious conversation with her friend, Brennan glanced at the empty hallway and sighed. "Booth isn't dating Tessa anymore."

Alert to Brennan's change in tone, Angela stood up and moved over the couch where she sat down next to her. "I knew that relationship wouldn't last. Tessa was too insecure."

Since Brennan didn't trust her own judgement when it came to personal motives, she accepted Angela's statement and moved on. "Booth told me that his personal relationships usually don't last very long."

Intrigued, Angela shifted on the couch so she could look straight at her friend. "Did he say why?"

Slowly, Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "He did mention he gets dumped a lot."

A little shocked, Angela stared in wonder at her friend. "I wonder why . . . maybe he's attracted to the wrong type. That can happen. You think someone is your type when they aren't at all. I've had that happen to me."

"I really don't know what you're talking about Angela." Brennan was getting frustrated with her friend. She needed clearer information. "What do you think Booth's type is?"

Angela knew Brennan was anxious and she wasn't really sure why, unless she was interested in Booth. Hmm. "Well, Honey, I don't really know. We've only seen Tessa, so we don't know if she is his type or if he was just dating her thinking that she was his type."

Thoroughly confused, Brennan decided that this was just too hard to deal with and stood up. "I need to go to work. I have things I need to take care of."

"Bren are you interested in dating Booth?" Angela stood up and placed her hand on her friend's arm.

Brennan stared at the hand instead of the face of her friend feeling it was safer that way. "If Booth and I date we can't work together, I told you that. The FBI would break up our partnership . . . We danced at last week's fund raiser. He is a very good dancer and he mentioned that we should go out dancing together. I don't know if he's asking me out or not. I don't know what any of this means. It's very confusing. Is he asking me to dance with him as a friend or is he interested in a sexual relationship with me? Does that mean he doesn't really value our partnership or he does? I just don't understand what's going on."

"Honey, I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself." Angela felt sorry for Brennan and she really hated Max and Christine Keenan for making Brennan distrust love and relationships so much. "Instead of talking to me, you need to talk to Booth. I can only guess what's going on and I could guess wrong. Ask him to explain what's going on."

Brennan nodded her head. "Yes, you're right. Speculation is useless. I need to talk to Booth." Another nod of her head and she grabbed her bag from the coffee table. "I'm going to talk to Booth as soon as possible."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

At five that evening, Brennan called Booth and asked him to meet her at the Royal Diner for dinner. Arriving at the diner, Brennan exited her car and stared at the light crowd in the restaurant. She was actually glad she had chosen the diner for a meeting place. It seemed like a neutral place and gave neither her nor Booth an advantage over the other. She'd occasionally been to the diner to get coffee or a salad to go, but this was the first time she was going to meet her partner here.

After she entered the diner, she grabbed a table at the back of the room near the picture window. It made her feel a little less hemmed in and she needed that if she was going to have a serious conversation with her partner. She ordered a glass of iced tea and waited for Booth to arrive.

Booth was hungry and he breezed into the diner shortly after Brennan sat down. Spying her at the back of the diner, he moved down the aisle and sat down across from her. "Hey, this was a good idea. I like the pie here. You need to try the apple pie. It's full of big pieces of fruit and the crust is so flaky."

A little nervous, Brennan nodded her head. "I don't eat pie, but their menu is excellent and contains many nutritional items."

"You don't eat pie? Really?" Booth was surprised at her declaration. He'd never met anyone that didn't like pie. "You should try it here. It's great."

Brennan shook her head. "I don't like cooked fruit." Picking up her menu, she scanned it quickly and made up her mind. "I think I will order the grilled chicken salad."

His stomach rumbling, Booth looked at the menu and found what he wanted. "This is a pretty good menu. I've only been in here for coffee and pie. Thanks for recommending it. I should have looked at the menu the couple of times I've been here."

After the waitress brought Brennan her iced tea and took their orders she left, leaving Brennan the opportunity to talk to Booth. "I wish to broach a serious subject with you . . . Have you started dating anyone in the last week?"

"No, I haven't had time to do anything but work lately." Booth moved back against his chair as the waitress returned with a milkshake. Once she left, he sipped some, staring at Brennan over the rim of the glass.

Slowly, Brennan breathed in and out, trying to relax. "While we were at the fundraiser you mentioned that we should go out dancing."

Booth lowered his glass and reached his hand across the table to place it over her hand. "I'm sorry, Bones. I know we were supposed to go out this weekend, but Amy talked me into looking into Epps' case and well . . ."

"No Booth, don't apologize." Brennan shook her head. "That is not what I wanted to talk about."

Curious, Booth nodded his head. "Okay, sorry. Go ahead. What do you want to talk about?"

Her gaze now upon Booth's hand covering her hand. Brennan spoke softly, barely loud enough for him to hear her. "Do you wish to go on dates with me as a friend or would you like to consider a sexual relationship with me? I know you said our partnership would be severed if we dated, so I'm confused. Do you wish to quit working with me or is this just part of being friends with you? . . . the dancing not having sex . . . I don't wish to misconstrue anything, but I am not sure what you expect from me and I need you to tell me."

Slowly moving his hand away from her, Booth stared at his partner and wondered what he should say.

Afraid to make a mistake, Booth glanced around the diner and thought the conversation Brennan wanted to have should be in a less public place. "Hey why don't we get our meals to go and go someplace quieter to talk?"

Quickly, Brennan shook her head. "No, I would rather remain here."

Surprised at her refusal, Booth leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Alright . . . I've already told you that if we date then we can't work together. I like working with you. You and the squints are great. You've been able to help me close cases that were tricky and I really want to keep working with you. This is why I got into the FBI. I want to make a difference. I want to get justice for people that don't have a voice. It's important to me to help where I can. To make evil people pay for what they've done."

"So you weren't asking me out on a date?" Brennan was disappointed. "You were merely being a friend when you asked me to go dancing with you."

Booth nodded his head. "I like you Bones. I've never met anyone like you. You're a genius and you're brave and you believe in helping to right wrongs. You're really great at what you do. You and me, we've got something special going on here. We're making a difference. We're helping to put away people that have done something horrible and they thought they were going to get away with it, but with your help they didn't. I never thought that I would get to do something like this and now that I am, I don't want to give that up. We're already breaking records for solve rates in this district."

Brennan nodded her head. "Yes, Dr. Goodman told me. He said the Director of the FBI is quite pleased with our progress."

Glad she understood, Booth smiled. "You and me, I think we're becoming really good friends and I really value that part of our partnership. I think it would be nice to hang out together like friends do, but if it will make you uncomfortable then you need to let me know. I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable or to hurt you. I just . . . well friends do things together for fun, but if you don't want to then that's fine. Really." Booth hoped that he'd made Brennan more comfortable. He had never meant to upset her when he had mentioned dancing to her.

"Thank you for explaining this to me, Booth." Brennan now felt she knew what the rules were with her friendship with Booth and she could handle that. Since he didn't appear to want a sexual relationship with her she wouldn't press him. She loved her friendship and she would do nothing to damage it. Since she didn't believe in love, this was probably the best outcome she could hope for. Why jeopardize her friendship unnecessarily? "I would like to hang out with you. It sounds like fun."

His smile bright, Booth leaned back against his chair. "That's great. We can go to hockey games and ball games and we could go dancing and watch movies together and things that you think is interesting and stuff like that."

"That sounds like fun." Brennan liked the idea of someone wanting her to be with them to do fun things. Angela tried to get her to go on double dates or out to bars to pick up guys, but Booth's idea of friendship and fun seemed to be more in tune with her ideals of friendship. "Thank you."

Booth smiled. "You don't have to thank me, Bones. This is what friends do. We're honest with each other, we back each other up. You can talk about anything with me. I'm here for you."

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Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.

A/N: Okay don't fuss at me. I have a plan.