A/N: I was in full fledged writing mode so here's the third chapter. Hope you like it cause my eyes got a little misty writing it. Cheers!

Rain gushed from the thundering sky and lightening cracked angrily overhead. Booth—his military knapsack, draped over his sagging shoulder—stood, rooted, to the sidewalk in front of Brennan's apartment complex. Droplets of water slid from his drenched hair and onto his once-crisp Ranger uniform. The rough material clung to his body, accenting his heaving chest.

Booth shivered involuntarily, letting out a strangled sob. He quietly opened the glass door as the heated air swarmed around him. One cautious step at a time, Booth strode solemnly up the wooden staircase; weary hands gliding tenderly up the rail. Reaching the top, Booth halted his last walk to Brennan's door. He peered down the dimly lit hallway and smiled faintly. Determination was etched in his dreary face, but the swirling panic that subsided in his gut was overwhelming.

I should turn around, walk away . . . no, I want. . . I need to do this. Booth found his way to Brennan's door and rapped his pale knuckles across the warm wood. His breath hitched when the sound of fumbling around and muttering reached his ears.

"Oh God, what am I doing here. I shouldn't even be here." Booth's nervous stuttering stopped mid-sentence as Brennan appeared nonchalantly in the doorway.

Rubbing the hazy sleep from her tired eyes she focused on the sodden man in front of her. Worry clouded Brennan's face when he didn't speak. Booth was fixed in place, lips pursed, aching tears of sadness trapped in his red-rimmed eyes.

"Booth? . . . What's wrong? It's 2:00 in the morning and your soaking wet. Were you standing outside? Booth?" God, she is beautiful. Even in blue p.j.'s and a t-shirt she is a goddess, an angel.

Brennan's smoky auburn locks were bathed in the glow from her small table lamp while the threatening streaks of lightening echoed through her dark apartment. Brennan placed a gentle hand on booth's chest, fingering one of his worn medals, her curiosity peaked.

"Booth, why are you wearing your uniform? Booth . . . say something please," Brennan pleaded. "You're scaring me." The last sentence left her lips in a faint whisper. Her words penetrated through Booth's euphoric daze, tugging at his heart.

"I'm sorry." He managed to choke out. Setting his bag down, Booth took Brennan's shoulders and gently propelled her inside and against the wall. He kicked the door shut as another crack of lightening illuminated their faces, a tear streaming down Booth's cold cheek. Brennan swiped the offending droplet away, on the verge of tears herself.

"Why are you crying? Please, tell me what's wrong!"

"Sshhhh." Booth traced a trembling thumb down her rosy cheeks and across her jaw line. Booth moved his mouth towards her ear and whispered in a heartbreaking sigh, "Don't think . . . just . . . feel . . . please."

Brennan willed her eyes shut against the barrage of questions that invaded her confused mind.

"Okay." She breathed, releasing the hurricane of emotions she kept locked away—privy to no one—except him.

Booth lowered his lips to Brennan's pearly skin, trailing feather-soft kisses down her jaw and neck. Brennan ran her hands through his damp, disheveled hair and down his cold back.

"Your freezing, Booth." Her concerned words were lost on him. All that filled his mind was her sweet, intoxicating taste; the smell of her fragrant hair; the feel of her soft, numbing fingers running themselves through his hair. The memory of her was being burned into all of his senses—forever— there with him until the end.

Booth stopped his kisses just short of her lips. They both felt the untapped desire in each other's warm, rapid breath. He pressed his forehead against Brennan's and smoothed his hands over her cheeks, intertwining them in the red locks that rested on her shoulders. He couldn't stop crying; the droplets cascaded down his ashen face and pooled lightly on Brennan's lips.

"I'm so scared Bones. I . . ." Brennan wrapped her arms around his shaking body and pulled him into a comforting embrace.

"It's okay . . . you're going to be alright . . . Sshhh, I'm right here . . . always." Brennan's face was filled with surprise and concern. Booth was in her arms. The strong, cocky, compassionate man she longed to be with was utterly and completely broken. She was confused—frightened—and had no idea how to sooth the man she possibly loved. Love . . . stay strong Temperance . . . for him.

Booth needed her, as much as he could allow himself in the next few minutes. Throwing all caution to the wind, he lifted her lips to his and kissed her with all the desperation and longing that burned in him. His kiss was feverish, passion and love sweeping both of them to heaven and back; Brennan returned his kiss with an equally intense and heated fervor. Their hands trailed down each other's burning faces and smooth backs, clinging to each other as if their lives depended on their invigorating touch.

The need for air soon became their number one priority. They broke apart and it was Brennan's turn to shed her heart wrenching tears. He was saying goodbye to her.

"You're leaving me?" Brennan had both her hands on his face, directing his despondent eyes towards her. The despair covering his face told her everything. She flung herself on him, pushing him against the other wall. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, her head buried in his muscular shoulder and her anguished sobs reverberating through the apartment.

"You can't, you just can't. Not now. . . please . . . not when I need you more than ever!"

"I have no choice. I wasn't even supposed to come here tonight." Booth clung to her.

"Than why would you come here?!" Brennan was angry and hurt by the sudden thought of him leaving her . . . abandoning her.

I had to say goodbye . . . I . . . I just needed us to have our moment Temperance." Booth placed Brennan on her feet, but kept a hold on her when she started to sway faintly. Booth kissed her gently, once, twice until he was overcome with emotion again. "I needed you to know that I would never abandon you on purpose, never, I needed you to understand that."

"I know Booth, I know. But why . . . who the hell is making you leave?" her resolve made him smile freely.

"All of your questions will be answered in the morning." Brennan was about to reply but he halted her with a loving kiss—deeply intimate and tender—that left her weak. She felt his salty tears on her blushing cheeks, but she couldn't open her eyes. At that moment everything she had ever wanted had finally clicked into place. She didn't want it to end, for reality to battle its way into her life and rip away the man who made her whole, made her want to live.

"I love you temperance." With those last words, Booth walked out of her arms and through the door. Gone forever.

Brennan crumpled to the floor, her tears staining the wood flooring, the feeling of emptiness enveloping her. "I love you Booth."