My list of thank yous as usual before we get on with the story. horseninja, wazo29, SeeleyDeanDinozzo (lol catifight, I don't think so), angeleyes46, SouthunLady (hope this chapter is interesting enough to keep you reading), mendenbar (lol-ed so hard when I read you review, and as usual exepct my PMs!), Blackbeltrules13, Tango Mike Charlie, omslagspapper, nertooold54, Ger (yup Veronica is as much a BB shipper as we are!), satisfiedsquint (you're right about what you said, I miss when Brennan was Booth's number one priority), MMWillow13, khalek-aeryn (well her name's ok but her appearing on screen yeah makes me cringe too, well sometimes).

Ok you guys deep breath, here we go chapter 4.

Brennan stood at the foot of Booth's bed, a basin of water in one hand and razor in the other.

"You heard Veronica. Can't do this myself." Booth said, his foam covered lips still managing to curve into a small smile.

Brennan moved to place the basin on the bedside table. Turning to Booth she said, "I'm afraid I might hurt you."

"You won't." He replied, his voice demonstrating his absolute trust in her.

He felt her take in a deep breath as she moved closer to him, the razor in her hand.

He watched as she set to work, her brow furrowed in concentration. For a moment he felt like a piece of bone she would examine with great care. He felt the slide of the razor blade slowly across his right cheek, the stroke steady and firm.

"Piece of cake Bones."

"Don't talk. I might cut you!"

Booth smirked but obeyed, shutting his mouth. She was so close he could smell her familiar scent of lavender again. His gaze traveled from her face, down her neck , his eyes stopping briefly at her cleavage which was now exposed as she leaned over him, then dragging over to her hip. The hospital bed obscured the view of her legs but he had watched them move so many times before he knew what they would look like if his eyes were able to continue their journey studying her body.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, the scent of her that he had come to associate with love, happiness, comfort and most of all home, filled his nostrils. Despite the dull ache in his chest that inhaling deeply caused him, he grinned ever so slightly to himself. It was good to be home, circumstances notwithstanding.

When he left for Afghanistan, he had hoped that he would be able to forget her. He knew for his own sanity he had to. He had hoped that their one year apart would dilute the sting of rejection and the almost masochistic longing that constantly ate at him.

He had been wrong.

His days were filled with activity but the nights he was alone in his bunk bed, he worried about her. His mind had churned over the events of that faithful night when she had broke his heart. That scene replayed itself over and over again in his head, as he compulsively thought of what he would have done differently to make her say yes.

He remembered his lips pressed to hers, him pulling her as close to him as possible, and the pain of her hands on his chest, her hands pushing him away, her voice telling him no.

Then by chance, he had met Hannah. She had trespassed, walking right into a gunfight, looking for a story. He had done what was his nature to do, save her. She had shown her gratitude in a way he hadn't expected, offering herself to him. He wasn't proud of himself but he had accepted.

That first sexual encounter became two, and soon they were seeing each other. They met up as much as her busy schedule and his duties allowed. He had convinced himself he was in love with Hannah but three months into their relationship he realized he had been fooling himself.

It was one hot and dusty afternoon that the sound of helicopter blades had transported Booth back to the moment on the doomed Navy ship the Gravedigger had put him on, when Brennan came in a helicopter to save him that made him remember. Remember Teddy's words to him, remember how it felt to throw himself into her welcoming arms, feeling like he was alive again.

He realized it didn't feel the same in the arms of Hannah. That even when they were making love it never felt like the way he felt when Brennan offered him a simple touch or hug. That was when he knew he could never move on, never get over Brennan. The day after his epiphany, when he had met up with Hannah, he had inexplicably did the opposite of what he knew he should have done. He had tried to solidify his relationship with Hannah by asking if she was thinking about them in the long run. He had said that he needed a serious commitment from her. When she said she wasn't the type to commit, he realized that there hadn't been and wasn't going to be a point. He knew that even if he was with any other woman besides his Bones, there would be absolutely no point.

He laughed at himself mentally then, realizing that Brennan had ruined it for him with other women. He had bitterly thought then that he was caught in a hopeless situation, doomed to be lonely for the rest of his life. He did have the clarity of mind then to take the opportunity to tell Hannah that he had someone else he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and that they wouldn't work out.

They broke up that day and that was the day before Hannah had left Kabul on a story. A couple of weeks later he and his team were ambushed and that had earned him his right to come home.

…

Brennan could feel the intensity of Booth's gaze burn in to her. He felt his deep intake of breath. There was something intimate about what she was doing, sliding a sharp razor to Booth's face then his neck, all the while her heart aching the good kind of ache she had when she thought of him. In Maluku she had come to terms with what Booth meant to her, and had concluded that the feelings she had for him was love. She had wished their one year apart would speed up, and it somehow did in the form of Booth's being injured and coming back stateside.

On her flight home, aside from the paralyzing fear she had for his life, she had a brief moment to resolve to at least talk to him about her feelings, and to see what would happen after. But the appearance of Hannah had derailed her.

Now she wasn't sure of what to do, except that she wanted Booth to recover and for him to be happy. If that meant that he was happy with Hannah then she would have to resign herself to it. She knew the extent of Booth's injuries and knew the road to recovery would be long and arduous. She fervently hoped that whatever happened he would be well taken care of. She hoped it would be her taking care of him, but if Booth chose Hannah, she was going to have to live with it.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she finished shaving him and wiped off the remnants of the shaving cream with a towel. She held up a mirror for Booth to see.

"Whaddya know? Great job Bones."

Brennan smiled.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"You look more like the Booth I remember now."

"It wasn't that long ago that you last saw me."

"Seven months is a long time."

"Yeah I guess it is. I missed you."

Brennan held her tongue. There was the elephant in the room, the elephant that was Hannah that was standing metaphorically between them and she wanted to tackle this issue first. She also knew that he was tired. He had just woken and would need his rest in order to recover. She knew his morphine was wearing off, and his small grimaces of pain hadn't escaped her watchful eyes. She would have to broach the issue later.

"Bones? You spaced out."

"It's… I'm sorry, nothing. I was just thinking about…. nothing."

"You? Think about nothing? Are pigs flying?"

Brennan rolled her eyes.

"Aren't you tired? You should rest. You just woke from a coma and extensive surgery."

"I am a little sleepy but I like having you here. Stay a little longer?"

"I wasn't implying I was leaving, merely that you need your rest."

"I'll have lotsa time for that. I haven't seen you in the longest time. Did you find what you were lookin' for in Makapoopoo? Did you find the meaning to life?"

"It's Maluku Booth. You always do that on purpose!"

Brennan wanted to blurt out everything. That she did find something, her admitted feelings for him, but her meeting with Hannah had cast doubts in her mind. The illogical feeling of jealousy surfaced again, and she evaded his question.

"Hannah came by."

"What?"

"You know Hannah, your girlfriend form Afghanistan."

"What? No. Ex-girlfriend."

"She seemed very worried about you. She made me promise to call her once you woke up. In fact she's due here any minute now."

"What?"

"I kept my word, she told me to call her."

"Bones, wait, she's here?"

"Yes you must be very excited to see her – "

"No, not really."

Veronica appeared. "You have a visitor Seeley. You seem very popular with the ladies." She offered him a wink.

"Yeah umm, sure."

"Not too long a visit though. You've just woken up, and I need to change your IV bag of painkillers. You can't be feeling too comfortable now can you?"

Booth wanted to reply that the pain, he could handle but having his recent ex and the woman he loved in the same room was exactly the thing that was making him uncomfortable.

Veronica left and Hannah appeared, rushing to his side.

"Seeley. I was so worried."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine, look at you!" Hannah took his hand gently in hers. Looking over his injuries.

"Err Hannah you met my partner, Dr Brennan."

"Yes. We met."

Brennan felt awkward as she watched this woman lavish attention on Booth, her heart feeling pangs of jealousy. She felt as if she was intruding. She felt her innate response kick in and felt the immense need to leave.

"I'll leave you two to talk." Brennan started to take steps backwards towards the door.

"No, Bones wait."

"I'll come by again later. I'll keep my promise to stay with you." That is if you still want me to.

"Bones just – " Don't leave me.

"I'll stay with him Dr Brennan, you have nothing to worry about." Hannah offered a smile.

"Thanks."

And with that Brennan escaped from Booth's room. She felt his gaze burn into her back.

Hannah watched that moment when the other two occupants of the room lock eyes. She promising to return, him looking as if by her leaving she was taking away his air. She watched her ex-boyfriend's gaze follow his so-called partner out the door, his eyes refusing to meet hers. And she knew, his partner, this Dr Brennan was this other woman he had mentioned. She was the someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. This woman whose place she could never hope to take. Even when they were dating, he could never stop talking about her, and she knew she would be fighting a losing battle. But she had to try.

"Seeley."

He turned his head to look at her.

"I thought… when I heard what happened to you, it occurred to me that I made a mistake. I want you, I want us. For the long haul, like you asked me, when we were in Afghanistan. I wasn't ready then but I'm ready now. I'll give it all up for you, to be with you. I'm ready now."

Booth ran a hand through his hair with great effort, his body and mind beginning to feel the effects of his injuries. He winced as he blew out a breath.

"Are you in pain, should I get the nurse?"

"No, Hannah, listen. What we had, it was good but I just, I can't. Not with you. I mean look at me."

"I can stay, help you recover."

"I just, that's not just it. I mean there's someone else. What I could have with her…." It's gonna be amazing.

"It's Dr Brennan, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Booth felt a weight lift. It had always been her. Bones.

"You know I had to come here, I had to try."

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on. Back then I really thought we could've made a life for ourselves together."

"I should've said yes when you asked huh?"

Booth kept quiet. Inside he was glad she hadn't. Hannah voiced his thoughts for him.

"But it wouldn't have worked out anyway. Not when your heart belongs to her."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok." She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

"You take care of yourself. I'll be going back to Kabul in the next couple of days."

"You take care of yourself too."

"I will."

Booth watched her leave then closed his eyes with a groan, lying back onto the pillows he had been propped up on, wondering when Brennan would return, if she came back to him at all.

"You really need your rest." It was Veronica.

"No, I wanna wait for Bones. I mean Temperance."

Veronica smiled. "Bones, that's cute. On account she works with bones." She moved to remove some of the pillows he was lying on, allowing him to lay back.

"Yeah."

"She'll be back I know she will." Veronica replied as she changed Booth's IV bag.

Within minutes, Booth felt the pain ease up and his eyelids grew heavy. The last thing he remembered was Veronica telling him to have a good sleep.

Sorry to disappoint, there were a number of you wanting Hannah to walk in on the shaving scene but I preferred the flow of this chapter this way. I'm sorry to say, our much disliked H would probably have to make one last appearance in the next chapter, but like this chapter it'll be one you all should like. Well except for those of you who didn't like her appearing in the first place.

Next chapter, we would be heading towards finally getting somewhere we all want, with BB.