(Season 10)

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Once more she was standing in Booth's office and once more she was reminded that all decisions have repercussions. Some more serious than others. "I haven't heard from you."

"It's been two days." Booth didn't like the idea that his former girlfriend had the ability to just walk into his office unannounced. He planned to have a very serious talk with security after she left. "I didn't give Angela the material until yesterday morning. She said she would research it, but she has a case she's helping with. When she finds something I'll let you know."

"I heard you and Temperance broke up." Hannah still had contacts within the Hoover and she'd used them the previous day.

Furious that someone was talking about him to Hannah, Booth stood up and leaned against his desk. "My private life is private. Who I'm living with, who I'm not living with is none of your business." If he could find out who was talking about him he would, but he knew that Hannah would never give up her source. "I told you we're looking into the information you gave me and I'll get back to you. Why aren't you in New York doing your job?"

"I'm following up a couple of leads on a story I'm working on." She hadn't meant to make him angry, but she found it interesting that her former lover was having marital problems and was separated from Temperance. "Are you two going to get back together or is this a permanent breakup?"

Since she didn't seem to care about his privacy, Booth decided that Hannah needed to leave. Moving around his desk, he moved around the reporter, marched over to his door and pointed at the partially occupied bull pen. "You can leave on your own or I'll have you escorted out, your choice."

She knew she had stepped over a line, but she had had a point when she brought up his separation from his wife. "I told you when you broke up with me that we weren't through. If you and Temperance are going to separate permanently, then I would like to know what my chances are getting back with you."

"How about never?" Booth was so angry he was having trouble controlling his temper, but he knew he had to keep as calm as possible. The last thing he wanted was to escalate the situation. Hannah was the past and she had to stay in the past. "Look, I love Bones and she loves me. You don't mean anything to me. Nothing . . . I'll contact you when I hear something. Don't come back."

His words had a finality to them that she couldn't overlook. He didn't love her anymore even if she still loved him. "I'll be in town for the next two days then I'll be back in New York. I would appreciate it if you would let me know what you find out."

With nothing left to say, Booth watched his former lover leave his office and he closed the door once she was gone. Standing in front of his door, his back to the bullpen, he tried to regain some level of calm, but was having trouble achieving that goal. Pulling the blinds down, he locked his door, walked over to his desk and sat down. He knew that his gambling had caused Brennan to stop trusting him, but he wouldn't do anything else to risk keeping her from trusting him further.

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He found her in Bones Storage, examining the bones of a young person or a really small adult. "Can I talk to you?"

Surprised to see him, Brennan glanced at him then returned her attention back to the skeleton laying on the table before her. "You may."

Grateful that she was talking to him, Booth entered the room, but remained near the door. He wanted to keep some distance between them, so he could talk to her as rationally as he could. He was afraid if he moved closer he might touch her and he knew that would be a mistake. "Hannah came to me the other day with some information about a serial killer that she suspects is killing kids. I took the information and asked Angela to look into it for me."

She had wondered when he would mention Hannah or if he planned to do so at all. "I know, Angela told me."

"Well, I didn't want you to think I was keeping secrets from you." Booth should have realized that Angela would run to Brennan and tell her as soon as she could. "I didn't think it was important to tell you about her until she asked about us today when she came back by my office. Someone told her about us living apart right now."

"Is she expecting you and her to get back together?" Brennan felt her heart beat increase. She knew that Booth loved her, but she had kicked him out of their house and she was worried that he didn't understand that she did it out of love.

He stepped further into the room and shook his head. "I don't know what her expectations are, but I told her that I don't have any feelings for her and she means nothing to me. I love you Temperance, not Hannah, not Rebecca or anyone else from my past. You can trust me not to cheat on you. I'm working on fixing my problem for me, for us. I just wanted you to know that Hannah is in town and why."

"I see." Her heart rate had returned to normal and she knew her fears were groundless. When she had heard from Angela that Booth's former lover was back in town, she had worried that Booth would take their separation as permanent and move on. That was her biggest fear. That he would accept the separation and not fight for them. "I know you are going to your meetings and that you are doing well . . . I am glad that you are taking the effort to fix your gambling problem . . . and I'm glad you told me about Hannah. Thank you."

Booth knew that Brennan had lost her trust in him after Jimmy had turned up at their house and threatened her. What he had done was inexcusable and all he could do was try to make her see that she could trust him again, if not at that moment then soon. "I know this is a trust issue. I know that you aren't sure if you can trust me, but I love you, Bones. I love you and I would die for you. I don't want anyone else in my life but you . . . Just because you kicked me out of the house doesn't mean I'm going to run back to Hannah. That's not going to happen. Even if you never take me back, I will never go back to Hannah, never . . . When I get this thing fixed, when you can trust me again . . . I'm working on it and I'm not going to give up."

"Alright." She wanted to trust him so much, but trust had always been an issue in her life. Booth had made a serious error in judgement and he was working to fix that, she knew that, but he had to earn her trust. Telling her about Hannah helped. It helped more than he knew. "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

"Yeah, of course." Booth hoped he had got through to Brennan. Everyone gossiped and he knew that he had to keep her informed about what was going on in his life. He had to win her back and that meant he had to be honest with her every step of the way. Every step. "I have a meeting, but I'll see you around 7 at the Diner if that's where you want to go." Her smile was faint, but Booth saw one and was glad to see it. "I'll go see if Angela has anything on the clown business."

"Booth!"

"Yeah." He turned back to face her.

"If there is a clown out there killing children, you can count on me to back you up." She knew he was afraid of clowns even if he couldn't admit it.

"Thanks." He really hated clowns and it helped to know that Brennan was on his side.

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He stood staring at the large monitor on the wall and waited for Angela to start her presentation. Angela was certain she had found something.

"Alright, I wrote an algorithm that included unsolved murders of children in the last five years, clown sightings in the area where the bodies were found, all the children under the age of eleven . . . . Since the girls approached in New York State were eleven, I thought that might be a good cutoff for now." Angela picked up her tablet and quickly hit a few keys opening the link to the monitor . . . It's weird that Hannah gave you this information. How did it feel talking to her again?"

"It didn't feel like anything." Booth didn't want to talk about Hannah, not with Angela, not with anyone.

"Um, okay." His voice was surly and a surly Booth could be an unpleasant Booth. "Here you go. . . . In the last four years there have been eleven children murdered fitting our parameters. They have been murdered in six states, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Connecticut. A clown with green hair was reportedly seen in the area just before each body was found. The children that were murdered were a diverse demographic, six Caucasian, three African American, one Chinese American and one child of mixed race. They were all under the age of twelve, seven were nine years old, three were ten years old and one was eleven years old. Usually there's a pattern of some kind, but these murders appear to be random, at least so far. I'm still trying to figure out if there is a common denominator."

Booth studied the screen, made notes on some cards and placed the cards in his jacket pocket. "Okay, thanks Ange."

Before he could leave, Angela placed her hand on his arm to stop him. "Would you like to come to dinner at our house tonight? You're more than welcome."

He appreciated the offer, so reluctantly turned it down. "Thanks, but I'm having dinner with Bones tonight. I appreciate the offer."

"Sure, that's great." Angela was glad to hear that happy little tidbit of news. "Anytime you want some company come by. We'll do a movie and popcorn or we can play cards or something."

Booth patted her hand and stepped away. "Thanks. I'm good, but . . . thank you."

Once he was gone, Angela sat down and thought about what it meant for Hannah to be back. Booth was vulnerable and he could be easy prey for the reporter. "Over my dead body. She'd better not try anything . . . I'll . . . I'll do something if she does."

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