Author's Note: Thanks to all who reviewed the first chapter of this one. I did not really intend to do another chapter, but several people requested a continuation so here it is. This one is from Brennan's POV. As always, I don't own much but the words I make them say!

The Best Gamblers Know When to Walk Away

Chpt. 2- Finding the Faith to Risk the Loss

I don't know how long I stood there alone, staring at the doors that Booth had just walked through. I had no idea that I was still crying until Angela and Sweets came in from lunch and Angela rushed towards me to ask what was wrong. I couldn't answer her. I stared past her and looked at Sweets, whose face echoed the concern in Angela's voice.

"This is all your fault Sweets," my voice grated out the accusation. I stepped towards him and interrupted his stuttered response. "You told Booth to gamble and he listened to you. And now he is moving away and everything is ruined."

I pushed past Sweets and exited through the same doors that had closed behind Booth. I could hear Angela's agitation behind me as she interrogated Sweets for an explanation to the scene she had just witnessed. I could not stop and explain it all to her- the rawness I felt in my heart was too painful to stand still and talk about it. Realizing that I had left the building without any of my personal things, including my car keys, I started to walk. I had no sense of direction or time as I walked along enveloped in a hazy film of shock. In my head, I kept repeating the words; 'Booth is leaving. Booth is leaving.' No matter how many times I said them to myself, the piercing sting never diminished.

I wandered blindly along the city streets until I suddenly became aware of growing darkness all around me. Hours must have passed and the afternoon sky had transitioned to twilight. Looking around, I realized that I was at Hillside Park and I was standing beside the merry-go-round that Parker had liked to ride on when he was younger. Turning to my left, I saw the bench that Booth and I had sat on together when he had drawn that line between personal and professional. I had tried to respect that line when it came to my feelings for him and had believed it was for the best because I never wanted to hurt him. Standing there more than three years later, I did not enjoy the irony of either of the two realities: that Booth had drawn a line that he apparently crossed the moment we met because he said that he knew right from the beginning; and that by trying to prevent Booth's broken heart, I had somehow managed to shatter him. Nothing made sense to me at that moment. None of this was rational. Two people as different as Booth and I should not fall in love; Booth should not want to be with me when I could never be what he wanted; I should not feel so empty just because one person might leave my life- I had lost people before and never been as consumed with the dismay I was feeling; I should not already miss him when he was not even gone yet. Sitting down on the bench, I stared impassively at the garishly painted horses on the playground ride and wondered what would happen to me if my whole rationality based worldview fell apart around me. Because I knew that no matter how irrational any of it was, it made sense on some other level that had nothing to do with logic and everything to do with what was right in some cosmic plan that I had never believed in before I met Booth.

The park grew shadowy as night crept in, and still I sat there with no sense of what to do next. If I wanted to go home, I'd have to go back to the lab and get my house keys- the possibility of facing Angela who was probably still there waiting for me was enough to deter me from that plan. Suddenly, almost as if they were not connected to my brain, my legs pushed up off the bench and starting walking again. Somewhere in the back of my consciousness I had some awareness of where I was headed, but it never came into the forefront of my awareness until I was standing there outside the door. The only times I had ever been inside this church had been with Booth and I was hesitant to enter on my own. My eyes traveled up the building, along the stone to the stain glass windows- and for some reason the glow of the lights coming through the coloured panes of glass gave me courage and I made my way up the steps. Once inside, I shuffled into an aisle at the back and sat, staring ahead but seeing nothing. I knew that the sense of comfort that Booth experienced inside the church would not come to me since I did not have his belief in the powers that he thought inhabited this building, so I just sat and let the blinking flames of the candles hypnotize me.

Having been out in the dampness of the night, my skin had been chilled and as I sat in the pew, warmth began to seep back into my body. The returning heat reminded me of the way it felt to have Booth wrap his arms around me or to have him lean against my side in a gesture of comfort. I found myself thinking back on all the times he had held me when I needed him. His strength had helped me through some of the worst moments of my life and suddenly it occurred to me how much it must have cost him to be there for me like that. If he really had been fighting to hold back his feelings for me all those years, then it must have been difficult for him to offer me that physical closeness and not act on his emotions. I know better than anyone that Booth's heart is open and that he offers it up without hesitation so restraining himself from that natural inclination must have been tortuous. I wonder if it had felt the way it did for me when he had dated Dr. Bryar for those few weeks- he had told me that he had to move on, and I tried not to be devastated by it, but watching him try to forge a meaningful bond with someone else had cut deeply. It amazed me that either one of us had any energy to catch criminals when we spent so much time pushing back against whatever intrinsic forces seemed to have brought us together in the first place. I could not speak for Booth, but I was completely exhausted. Thinking about how fatigued I was, my eyes began to drop shut and I drifted into sleep.

Some time later, a soft touch on my shoulder eased me out of the restless slumber. It took me a few minutes to focus on the world again and when I did, I saw Booth standing there, looking down at me.

"I'm still dreaming," I murmured.

Despite everything, Booth managed one of his quirky smiles, "No Bones, you're awake."

"But, what are you doing here?"

"Angela called me and she was worried. I looked in all the places that I thought you might be, and then when I couldn't find you I figured I'd come here to think it through and try to figure out where you'd gone. I certainly didn't expect to find you here."

"You looked for me?" I was genuinely surprised.

"Of course I looked for you, Bones. Angela told me that you were really upset and she was afraid that something had happened to you when you didn't come back to the lab after a few hours."

"But I thought you didn't care about me anymore- that you said you couldn't care." The confusion in my voice reflected the mixed up thoughts racing through my brain. Booth's eyes flicked up towards the ceiling as though seeking some divine assistance and then his leg nudged against my knee, signaling me to shift down and make space. With a sigh he lowered himself onto the pew beside me and rubbed his eyes before turning to face me.

"Temperance," as always, my first name carried a level of seriousness when Booth used it. The next phrases carried the sound of frustration. "I never said that I didn't care anymore. You just don't understand this at all do you?"

Booth fell silent and I knew he was thinking something through and trying to find a way to express his thoughts in a way I would comprehend. So, I waited for him to decide what he wanted to do next- at least I tried to wait. But he was motionless for so long, and staring at him, I realized that his face was drawn and tinted with the greyness of exhaustion. Without thinking, my hand reached up and caressed his cheek. Booth jerked back from me as if I had burned him and my arm dropped quickly to my side.

"Please don't do that," his voice was quiet and strained.

"Booth," my own voice carried an unfamiliar pleading edge. "Does it have to be all or nothing?"

"It already is Bones. The way I feel for you is everything- it is all consuming and I can't retract it to some halfway point. Maybe 3 years ago, I could have changed things- you know if you had left with Sully. But once you stayed then there was no turning it around. My whole heart is with you Temperance- and the way I love you is beyond any capacity for love that I ever thought I had- I never imagined that it could be like it is with you. So, yes, it has be everything or nothing. It's the only way."

"I'm scared Booth- because I don't know how to do the everything version. I've never given myself to someone to that extent and…" my voice trails off.

"I understand that you're scared Bones and I know why. But you don't need to know you can do the everything version, because I know you can- I know that we can. I've never been more sure of anything in my life than I am of the fact- that's right Bones, the fact- that you and I are meant to be together. I don't even need to you believe it right now. I just need you to trust me enough and I'll believe for both of us until you see it too. Just tell me to cancel the transfer request and stay with you- that's all I need. I need to know that you will try."

Booth's eyes stay locked with mine and I see in them all the things that make him so special- all the things that make him so precious to me. I have always been able to trust him with the most fragile pieces of myself, the pieces I've never let anyone else see. Thinking back over the years I latch onto one moment we shared and it makes me realize what I need to say.

"Cancel your transfer request and stay with me Booth. You have to stay with me because you and I are the centre- and the centre must hold," I smile as the light of recognition brightens his face. Leaning forward he rests his head against mine and his hand reaches out to intertwine our fingers together.

"You'll see Bones- it's all going to work out and we are going to be happy," Booth pulls me towards him so my head rests on his shoulder. I hear the rumble of a laugh in his chest as he says, "I'd kiss you, but we're in church."

So we sat there listening to the wind whistle through the rafters of the old building and watching the candle flames flicker.