Disclaimer: Bones originally belongs to Kathy Reichs, but is currently under the great care of Fox, Hart, Deschanel, and Boreanaz.

A/N: Brennan companion piece to The Man He Wanted to Be

originally titled The Regret of the Agent.

Please enjoy.

----------

She was near tears, something that rarely happened. In the private of her office there was no need to wipe away the glistening drops of fluid that threatened to spill from her tear ducts at any moment. It was a natural response to the building of emotions, which was generally something she had no problem with. Logically, everyone became emotional at some point. However, it was the emotions that clouded her rational mind.

There was a man she was going to see tonight. Not just any man, her partner. He was strong and courageous, a good father, and always tried to do the right thing. He wasn't always logical, all right, rarely ever logical, he followed his gut. It wasn't the rational way of dealing with things, but she didn't protest about it so much anymore.

Tears slid down her cheeks.

There were certain things that made her who she was. A past as sludge-filled as the waters of the Chicago River. A childhood abandoned by her parents and brother. Time in the system. Foster parents that were far less than understanding. Released from the system, but not reunited with her family until much later in life. Then, the realization that her mother was deceased. A criminal father, and a brother who meant well, but could never seem to do right by it. He relied too much on their father.

Her life had turned out well, despite her turbulent past. A brilliant forensic anthropologist with multiple doctorates. A best-selling author. A renown genius in her field. And a part of the best crime-solving team from D.C.

Partners. Something she had never seen her self being a part of. A partnership that was so symbiotic in its make-up. Together, they solved the crimes and caught the killers. For the betterment of society as a whole. They made a difference.

Seeley Booth- a man who was a great as any she had known. With the capacity to catch someone in a lie, to read people in other words. With warm, reassuring eyes. With work ethics different from her own, but no less noble. With courage and caring, and a great capacity to love, despite his own hardships from his youth.

They were different. Complete opposites. But their common cause brought them together. They were together in a friendship, no, a partnership that had grown stronger from the work that connected them in the first place. She respected that. But Temperance Brennan did not see the logic in basing your sole happiness around one person despite what people in her life had told her, Angela in particular. She knew why she felt this way, rationally speaking. But Booth saw things differently. There was no reason, only feeling from Booth. But she couldn't function that way. She ran on rational thinking first, and feeling last.

She grabbed her coat and bag, flicking the lights off in her office and locking the door. It was time to head back to her apartment before going to meet up with Booth. She headed out into the parking lot and towards her car. The tears in her eyes moments before, just a nagging memory. They were irrational. Besides, she hated crying in front of Booth. It made her seem vulnerable, yet at the same time his alpha-male personality and warm eyes reassured her. There were too many inconclusive feelings when it came to Booth. Feelings that she didn't want to put to the test.

The key slid into her apartment door lock. She tossed her purse on the counter and headed into the bedroom. Her clothes were wrinkled and stained from a day of overtime work put in at the lab. Rifling through her closet she found a suitable dress, and planned on applying new makeup to hide the redness on her face from crying. She would have just enough time to get ready and meet Booth.

She saw Booth waiting at the bar as she walked in to the Founding Fathers. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips as she came up to her partner. It was nice to meet on a day that they hadn't been bogged down by a case.

"Booth." She sat down next to him at the counter and ordered a drink.

He smiled at her and it was all charm. The charm he used on everyone he found attractive, she noted.

He told her she was beautiful. A rough touch brushed her hand lightly.

She laughed freely. "How many of those have you had?" She gestured toward his empty beer bottle.

"Just two." He replied, reaching for a new one.

It's true that his eyes were only slightly dilated, and the alcohol wasn't that strong on his breath. "I'd say you've had a few more than that." She found herself leaning closer to her partner as she sipped her drink. The look in his eyes concerned her- they didn't hold their usual twinkle. He seemed concerned, as if lost in thought.

He broke their gaze by taking another sip of beer. "Just a few. Honest." His usual cocky grin returned. "So don't tell me you got all dressed up for me, Bones?"

She ignored the urge to glance down at her outfit, or ask if he didn't like it. She thought it appropriate for an evening out, deeming the previous urges as foolish. She would just tell him outright. "I just dressed for the occasion, a Saturday night out with my partner."

But the grin on his lips didn't waver, as his cockiness seemed to increase. Infuriatingly, she had no idea why. But nevertheless, his eyes seemed to rake appreciatively over what she had chosen.

"Thanks, Bones."

Yes, that cocky grin was definitely becoming infuriating. "Ah, I never said I dressed up for you." She expected their usual banter to ensue. He would push back. Both of them would become defensive. And their usual cycle would pick up and continue. It was a constant she relied on.

So it was surprising, but not completely unpleasant to have his fingers catch her chin lightly, to have their gazes meet. A smile crossed her lips, because his eyes had recaptured that usual twinkle. She could smell the alcohol on his breath quite strongly now, and realized that they were leaning in, like the pull of two strongly ionized magnets. Booth's warm finger began to gently trace the contours of her mandible. Emotions were rising in her again, and she was afraid of them slipping out like before.

Instantly she pulled back, reaching for her drink. "Surely this isn't date." She laughed it off.

She couldn't help but notice the sideways glance he gave her. "Maybe not to you."

Her adrenal glands began secreting, or as Booth would put it- her heart was racing. She watched him take a long sip of his beer and glance at the counter, seemingly disappointed. But she couldn't ascertain why.

There was still a chemical reaction occurring inside her that made Temperance Brennan uneasy. Did Booth want it to be a date? Had it been a date without her realizing it? Booth often said she was bad at identifying those kinds of things.

Booth raised his beer. "To partnership."

She clinked her bottle against his. Smiling slightly, feeling a bit more at ease. "To partnership." Perhaps it had been a joke.

"Is this a date?" Her stomach was turning.

Booth looked over at her, his hands gripping his beer bottle. "Not if that's going to make you leave me here. Shouldn't drink alone..." He trailed off, still looking her in the eye.

She trusted Booth. There was no reason to leave him. It wasn't as if they were alone in one of their apartments where things could easily be swayed into taking care of biological needs.

"I'm not leaving." She reached out to touch her partner's arm.

Booth's gaze fell from her own. "I've just been thinking."

"I have been thinking as well." She interjected, trying to let Booth know he wasn't alone.

He chuckled, not that she understood why. "Relax, Bones. I've just been thinking that I'd be a different person without you." His hand slowly drifted over to cover hers. Warm and calloused, his touch felt comforting.

She relaxed at the use of her nickname, a serious topic from Booth might warrant a 'Temperance'. "As I would be without you, Booth. Our whole work experience would be different. I would have never gone out in the field or helped with interrogation. It would be a whole different daily lifestyle." She concluded.

"Not just that Bones, I'd be a different person. A different kind of man." Booth's brown eyes filled with the look of far off thought from before. She had no idea what he meant, but was certain that tonight was a night to let all things out into the open.

The truth would slip from their tongues and into the open like never before.

*****

I never intended for this to be more than a two shot.

But im thinking continuation is in order.

Agree? Disagree?