Consolation Prize Chapter 5, a bones fanfic

Consolation Prize

By LizD

Chapter 5 – Week Two without Bones - it's kind of like leaving your book at work over the weekend (a really long weekend) and dying for Monday to come so you can find out what the characters will do next. Just me? Oh well.

A/N: So here we are during the World Series - SF leads TEX 1-0. I'm sure DB is disappointed that the Phillies didn't make it (I know some Phillies fans who were disappointed). But oh well, such is life in baseball. One more week and we are into SWEEPS. Do we get three eps this month? Sure hope so. Maybe for 'Christmas' Hannah's husband will show up and take her away. (EW ... now that is a twist, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm).

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While their date was not forgotten or ignored, it was tabled. The single set of remains turned into seven. Their relationship whatever it was or would be was put in perspective and rightly so. The only upside (if there were any upside to a septet of murders) was that Booth was back. He was focused, dedicated and at the top of his game. There was no more avoiding or weirdness. He was at the lab pushing as hard as he ever did for clues to find the murderer and put him (or her) so far away that he wouldn't see the sun shining for the rest of his miserable rotten life. Booth and Brennan were back out in the field talking to families, friends, witnesses trying to piece together anything they could to close the case. They were in perfect symbiotic harmony. The center was back and all the squints, shrinks and attorneys that rallied around them were spinning in perfect balance.

For Booth it was particularly profound. A case on this scale forced him to really take a hard look at what was important and what wasn't in his life. It made him grateful to be in a position to help so many families find closure and to take another killer off the streets (and there was no doubt about them solving this case). It also made him grateful to be part of such a miraculous team. There was no weak link. Before he hooked up with Brennan and the squint squad, Booth was a lone wolf. Yes, he (by himself) was effective but not nearly as effective as they were as a group. When they closed a case, there was no question that the murderer would go down. It was rock solid. Working with Brennan again as close as they were before the split - closer - also gave him some insight. It may have been that coma dream which first allowed him to recognize and accept his personal feelings for her, but it was that coupled with his professional feelings that raised their relationship to a level that he never knew existed. Always in the past there was a split between his personal life and his professional life. The women (girls) he dated didn't want to hear about his day - not really. They were scared about how dangerous his job was. Many had been enamored of the title and the badge, the romance of the white knight hero, but each one was put off by the gun, the danger and the hours. They couldn't possibly understand how much each case took out of him, and how much he was compelled to give and how little that left for them. Hannah had come close, but not close enough. Brennan more than came close. Brennan understood all of that. She not only understood it, she was a part of it. She was the only person he had ever known who took their work as personally as he did. He was more in love with her than he ever had been and he had come to a conclusion. He hadn't shared it with her yet, but when the time was right he would.

Ten days later they were closing in on the killer. Booth and Brennan had taken a step away from the lab and office to clear their heads and review what they had and make sure they hadn't missed anything. There would be no mistakes on this one. Caroline's repeated warnings were unnecessary. Booth, Brennan and the entire crew were already motivated. Booth had chosen the diner just because it was easy and close. Pie and coffee for him, coffee and fries for her. They weren't there more than ten minutes when Brennan announced that she would see him back at the lab. Grabbing her files she bolted for the door.

"Bones, what the hell?" he said to her retreating back. He stood up to follow her when he saw what Brennan had clearly seen: Hannah Burley walking up the street toward the diner. The women met at the door and Booth watched their brief encounter - stunned.

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"Temperance," she called breathlessly.

"Ms. Burley," Brennan said curtly annoyed that her escape had been foiled. She was actually more annoyed that she felt the need to escape. Brennan had done nothing wrong, why should she feel the need to excuse herself. But after the date and how well she and Booth were working together she felt very vulnerable to something causing a rift between them. Looks like that rift just blew back into town.

"I understand why you are not happy to see me," Hannah pressed.

"My feelings on the matter are immaterial."

"You're angry with me," Hannah stated. "You warned me to be sure of my feelings for Seeley and I assured you that I was but -."

"Ms. Burley, you are not my concern. Booth is," she stated. "I don't want to see him get hurt."

"Is that why you turned him down?" Hannah pressed. "Because you didn't want to see him get hurt?"

Brennan steeled herself. "Did Booth tell you that?"

"No," Hannah stated. "You just did." Hannah was making wild intuitive leaps, but that was what made her an excellent journalist. Push the buttons and watch the reactions.

"There are many different ways to hurt someone - some are well intentioned, yet hurt is still the result." What she wanted to say was that yes she had turned him down to protect him, but that was before she realized that it left him open to women who were less honorable in their intentions.

"That is also true." Hannah took a moment. "I love Seeley, Temperance."

Brennan completely walled off. "That is between you and Booth. If you will excuse me." Brennan turned and strode away.

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Booth had often wondered what he his reaction would be when he and Hannah would meet again. He knew they would, he just didn't know when it would be. He had expected that it would have had something to do with work and by chance, not by design. Clearly he was wrong about that. She was back and she had an agenda.

She stepped into the diner seeking him. He was still standing by the table. She walked toward him. He tried to maintain eye contact, but it became too much. He looked down and away until she was standing within a couple of feet.

"Hi," she said; her voice filled with trepidation. "I want to come back."

Booth pursed his lips and clenched his jaw. He nodded for her to take the seat that Brennan had just vacated. He sat down and folded the files in front of him. He didn't trust his first reaction, so he waited for her to continue.

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Booth was in Brennan's office about thirty minutes after she got back. She was on the floor with the case files spread out all around her. She was working the case. Her mind was focused and she was on task. There was no easy way for Booth to get close to her. He slid her door closed behind him, stepped carefully over the files and sat in the chair, elbows on his knees so he could catch her eye. Brennan was rattling off the clues that they had found, adding them up linking them and forming conclusions. She was talking very quickly.

"Bones," he called to her to get her to stop. "Bones," he called again. "Temperance," he said a little louder and reached for her hand. "Can you stop for a minute?"

"This case is important."

"Vitally. But we ... you and me ... need to take just a moment, OK?"

She leaned back on the couch and waited for him to say what he needed to say. Her expression was far from inviting but he forged on.

"Hannah wants to come back," he stated simply.

"I see." She looked back down at the files in front of her.

"Bones," he called and waited until she gave him her attention. "I told her no. I told her that it wouldn't work between us, and I knew that before she showed up in Washington which was why I didn't invite her here in the first place."

"Oh." Relief.

"I got caught up in the romance - love under fire, long distance relationships. When she showed up here, I tried to convince myself that what we had in Afghanistan was enough ... enough to last a life time." Brennan nodded trying to understand and figure out where she fit it. "But what Hannah and I had ... and I emphasize past tense ... what we had was not solid."

"You don't know –."

"I do," he cut her off. "I do know that. And I know that because of you."

Brennan visibly stiffened. She looked up at him, wanted to stop him from saying too much but he forged ahead.

"What I feel for you, Dr Temperance Brennan, is solid. Before you get all brittle and shut me out again, I don't know where we could end up - I have a few ideas - but I don't know. All I do know is that the feelings I have for you are everlasting. They have been built on a common history of trust, respect and friendship. The attraction was there from the start, true, but that is nothing compared with what I feel now. We could be destined to be partners and that is all ... but there might be more. I hope there is more. I want there to be a lot more."

She nodded, averted her eyes slightly and kept her expression expressionless.

"However," he waited for her to look back up at him. "However, I won't trade what we have for what we could have. Do you understand?"

She shook her head.

"We are partners, first, last and always. Our working partnership comes first. We - you and me - come first." He paused thinking she might say something. She didn't. "I believe that we can build on that partnership, expand it, grow it, explore it." Another pause. "But we both have to agree and be comfortable each step of the way. All I'm asking is that we continue to explore the possibilities and see where it takes us. OK?"

Isn't that pretty much what he said over a year ago? Give it a chance? So what was different this time? Brennan was ready to hear it and take that chance herself. It definitely took her time to come to that realization and time away was important. If only he had waited. Oh well.

She nodded and almost smiled.

"Good. So let's get back to work." He slid down off the chair onto the floor. "Ohhh … owww … I got me some old bones," he groaned as he forced his legs into place. He would have much preferred working at a table or desk.

"I'm not that old." She smiled impishly.

A smile crept over his face and lit up his eyes. She made a little joke. He leaned over to kiss her (she seemed receptive) but a tweak in his back brought him back to reality. "Can we go to the conference room?"

She laughed. "Sure… and maybe you should come with me to yoga."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen." He put his arm out. "Help me up, partner."

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A/N: So, they are on their way. How much exploring do they need to do before they explore the FINAL FRONTIER? I guess that is up to the show and Hannah, sad to say.