A/N - First and foremost - a BIG thank-you to jsq for her beta talents. Check out The People in the Story. She's made me laugh, cry and smile with chapters 5, 6, and 7 this week!

Secondly, damn...and thank you! I was floored by your response to the last one. I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction to a chapter from the POV of she-who-shall-remain nameless.

Disclaimer - Not mine. Though it seems that a few of you would like to give HH access to my MacBook. *grins*

Booth

"I don't know why anyone would do something like that," she says to me as we walk through the darkened lab.

My hands are jammed into my pants pockets holding the tails of my trench coat back. Tonight the shift in our relationship is apparent. I realize that my hand has not rested on her back, guiding and steadying her, since we returned to DC. Things aren't the same now that Hannah's in the picture. But then they aren't supposed to be. I've moved on. "People in love do crazy things," I say.

We're so deep in thought we don't notice until we're standing right underneath it. Mistletoe. Reaching up, she pulls down the slip of paper that dangles from the plant.

"Caroline?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "Angela." Her eyes are on the floor.

I see tears start running down her cheeks. It's a little bit of a shock. I mean Bones crying? It's rare and usually not so out of the blue. Something's different. She's different.

I touch her arm and tilt my head to look at her. "Kissing you in front of Caroline was torture," I muse thinking about the kiss we shared three years ago in this very spot. Trying to lighten the moment, I add, "And then you had to go and say it was like kissing your brother."

"I lied," she says, suddenly looking up at me.

"Oh, I know," I tease with a smile. Her eyes flutter closed as I brush her tears away.

We lean into each other. My lips slide over hers in the lightest of touches. Unlike our last mistletoe kiss, this one is about comfort rather than a puckish prosecutor. For a brief flicker, the world stops. I almost forget about...

Oh. Shit. Hannah. I'm not the kind of man who cheats. I watched my dad screw around on my mom while he was beating the hell out of us. Pops taught me better. He would beat the hell out of me if he knew I was doing this. To either of them. But especially to Bones. I pull back.

"I'm sorry, Booth," she says quietly. She's unable to look at me. Which is okay because at this point I'm not sure I could look at her either. I feel like a complete heel. "That shouldn't have happened. It was my fault. I shouldn't have..."

"You weren't alone in this, Bones," I say as I drag my hand over my face. What am I going to do?

She puts her hand on my arm. "Do you think it would help if I talked to her? If I explained?"

I've got a few decisions to make. Letting her talk to my girlfriend isn't one of them. "No. It's okay. All right? I'll take care of it."

Her face falls further. There is a sadness in her eyes that I realize has been there too often recently. "I know you want to make it work, Booth," she tells me, her eyes brimming with fresh tears. "I'll go to Cullen. I'll ask for a new agent to be assigned to the Jeffersonian."

"You don't mean that," I reply, reaching out to catch her hand.

She pulls it away as if the touch burns her. "I'm afraid it's what's best. For you, Booth." Without another word, she picks up her purse and hurries from the lab leaving me standing in her office too shocked to follow.

For a while, I just drive. There's something about being behind the wheel that helps me think. That and it's not like I can go home. I can't face Hannah. Not yet.

I pass Wong Fu's and think about stopping for a drink with Sid. Only I really don't feel like being around someone I know. Going to Wong Fu's or Founding Fathers - even the diner - is out of the question tonight.

Then I see it. The flashing light of the old pool hall. My fingers twitch. I haven't gambled in years. Not like that anyway. I resist the urge to pull over. To lose myself in a game of skill rather than chance. A game that I might actually win.

It's a struggle. But the part that makes me feel bad isn't what you'd expect. You see, I know I'm not going in. That I'm not going to give into the temptation. Brennan changed me without knowing it. She made me want to be a better man. She made me a better man. Hannah doesn't know that. She doesn't know about my past - my gambling problem or what really happened between me and Bones. That's the part that is tugging at me: I love two different women for two very different reasons.

I love Bones for our history. For everything we've meant to each other. Part of me always will. But am I still in love with her?

And Hannah. Hannah makes me feel alive. When we were in the desert, she made me forget. I tried - really tried - to make it clear to Bones that I'd moved on hoping to get back to where things had been. I tried to love Hannah. But there's a problem with that. I don't know if I'm in love with Hannah. It's more that I love her because she isn't Bones. And Hannah? Hannah's in love with a stranger.

I realize that if I want to have any hope of making it work I'm going to have to come clean. And I'm going to have to come clean about more than just the kiss. Right now the guilt is eating at me. And this isn't the kind of thing that going to confession and talking to Father Tom would help me deal with. Oh, God. I've made a huge mess.

I walk up to my apartment and take my time letting myself in. It's late. In the event that she's asleep I don't want to wake her. I'll sleep on the couch tonight to avoid having this discussion. To give myself a little more time to think of how I'm going to right my wrongs.

The lights are on. I see a tube of lipstick on the bathroom floor. That's odd. Moving to the bedroom, I note that the bottom drawer of the dresser is open and there are hangers on the bed. Was she called away on assignment?

I make my way to the kitchen and reach into the refrigerator for a beer. That's when I see it. The note with the brass key sitting in the middle of it.

Seeley -

I think it's time we stop fooling ourselves into thinking this is going to work out. I saw something tonight. Something that should have made me angry, but instead left me feeling surprisingly hopeful.

I went by the Jeffersonian. I know you've been worried about Temperance and thought I'd invite her to join us for drinks. That's when I saw you. Kissing her in her office.

It should have bothered me. I mean, what woman wouldn't get upset at seeing her boyfriend kissing his partner? But I couldn't help but wonder if I had inadvertently gotten in the middle of something that was destined to happen.

I always wondered if there was something going on between you. The way you talked about her, the way your eyes followed her, I probably should have picked up on it sooner. But a woman in love tends to overlook certain things when it comes to the man in her life and that's what I did.

I'm going back to Afghanistan. I suggest you go to her. Do whatever you have to do to make it work, and don't let her tell you 'no'. Any woman stupid enough not to want you doesn't know what she's missing. She's smart. She'll figure it out.

Best wishes and good luck. Thanks for the memories.

Hannah

I skim it over a second time. Could I really have been so blind?

My phone vibrates and I pull it from my pocket to see a text. It's from Bones.

I accepted a position on a dig in Peru. Will be gone for 2 weeks.

I take a deep breath. I've hurt them both and I hate myself for it. Shoving the note and the phone into my pockets, I toss my keys in the air and break for the door. If I hurry, maybe I can still catch her.