Temperance Brennan sat totally alone on the forensic platform. Usually, she liked it that way while she worked as it allowed her to concentrate on the case at hand instead of being forced to deal with interruptions and unnecessary conversations.
Glancing up from the remains she was examining and looking around her, Brennan began to realise that being alone wasn't always what it was cracked up to be.
I need someone to talk to. There's so much going on right now and I need to share it with someone else, to get another perspective on the situation.
Her gaze trailed across the lab to Cam nodding at something Zach was enthusiastically telling her.
When it comes to work, I can easily talk to Zach. He might be even more socially inept than myself but at least he understands the process of an investigation. However, when it comes to my personal life, to my thoughts and feelings, Zach would certainly not be my first choice. But then nor would Cam.
Especially seeing as she's my boss and my partner's new girlfriend…
Her chest seemed to ache at that thought as her eyes were pulled towards Angela's office.
She's my best friend. She's the person I turn to in a crisis. But right now, she's coping with everything that's happened today. Nate's reappearance, the threatening letter, the photographs… The last thing she needs is me whinging about my own life.
Her attention turning to the man Angela was talking to, Brennan's heart seemed to speed up a little.
And then there's Booth. Normally, I wouldn't have the slightest problem in talking to him about what's going on. But right now, he's part of the problem. He obviously doesn't trust me or hold me in the same high regard as I see him, otherwise he would have told me about his relationship with Cam. Not to mention the fact that he's been weird with me all day. He's still hiding something from me.
Swallowing hard, Brennan forced herself to return to her work with a heavy sigh.
Maybe it really is for the best that I don't have a man in my life right now. Boyfriends would just be yet another way to complicate things.
She pulled the camera closer, adjusting its position over the body in front of her as she upped the magnification. Not that she was thinking about her work as she stared at the results on the screen on the other side of the examination table.
There have been so many times that I thought that maybe Booth and I were… That we were heading to be… It's a totally ridiculous concept, Temperance. Booth obviously doesn't feel that way about you and you certainly shouldn't be thinking that way about him.
She moved the camera across the torso slowly, barely registering the change of images on the screen.
But that doesn't stop me thinking about it all. It doesn't stop me feeling angry even though I can't really explain why. There is no rational reason for me to feel betrayed by Booth's actions. He is perfectly within his rights to have a relationship, just as I'm entitled to the same thing.
But why did it have to be Cam?
The echo of footsteps across the platform forced Brennan's attention back to the lab as Zach approached the table.
"I'm afraid I haven't made much progress in identifying either victim, Doctor Brennan. The DNA results will take ten days but unless they're already in the system, we'll need another sample to compare it to."
Temperance sighed heavily as she met his gaze.
"Yes Zach, I know. It's just so frustrating. These two people have been buried for so long. They need their stories told, their families need to know what happened. We have to find answers and all I have right now are questions."
"But at least someone's asking those questions now. Somebody cares about what happened to them and who they were. That's a start, right?"
Brennan jumped at the sound of Booth's voice, his reassuring words doing much to sooth her jagged emotions. Looking up in to the warmth of his smiling eyes, she felt herself drifting back to her normal self. All the fears of loneliness and alienation, the fact that she had no one to talk to, everything just faded away.
But all too soon the bitter taste in her mouth returned, the sting of betrayal surging through her veins.
Tearing her eyes away from his, Brennan practically sprinted away from him as she marched around the table to face her assistant.
"Keep working on this, Zach. I want these people identified. I want to know who they were and what killed them. I want answers."
Before he could respond, she spun on her heel and headed for the steps, acutely aware that her partner was close behind her and calling her name.
"Bones, what's the matter? Bones? Bones, would you just stop for a damn minute?"
Reaching her office, she slammed the file she was carrying down on her desk and spun around to face him, hands planted staunchly on hips.
"What?"
He stopped in front of her, a look of confusion and concern clouding his handsome features. Pushing the door to, he slowly crossed the room towards his partner though he had the sense to stop a good distance away.
"I want you to tell me what's going on. Why are you snapping at me? Is this about me and Cam?"
Brennan rolled her eyes as she inadvertently let out a snort of derisive laughter.
"Not every woman in this world cares about your sex life, Booth."
He blinked slowly and Temperance was all too aware that he was hiding his hurt.
He knows I'm pulling away from him, that I'm angry. Well, good. I want him to be hurt. Just like he hurt me.
Catching herself in that thought, she turned away from him if only to hide the blush that was creeping up her neck.
He hurt me? So what if he chose to have a relationship with my boss? That doesn't stop us from being friends and partners. It doesn't matter if he chose her.
Her knees almost seemed to buckle beneath her as the next thought formed behind her furrowed brow.
Yes, it does matter that he chose her. It matters because… Because he didn't chose me.
The full weight of her feelings crashing down on her, Brennan had to lean on her desk for support.
How did this happen? When did this happen? Booth is my partner and my friend, nothing more. I've always been fine with that. What changed?
Booth's voice caught her off guard.
"Temperance, please talk to me. I know something's wrong and I just want to help."
She couldn't turn. She couldn't speak. Her feet were rooted to the spot, her palms clammy against the desk. In that moment for the first time in years, Temperance Brennan didn't have a single clue what to do.
"Temperance, please."
Still she couldn't move, couldn't dare to open her mouth for fear of what she might say.
She felt his hand on her arm, gently pulling her round and forcing her to face him. Staring in to his eyes, Brennan felt totally lost and totally safe all in the same breath.
Is this what falling in love feels like?
Booth curled his forefinger under her chin, raising her head to meet his gaze full on.
"Bones, you told me once that you're my partner so I should just let you be my partner. Well, here I am telling you the same thing. Let me in, Bones. Let me be your partner."
The surge of emotions running through her was just too much and she jerked away, shaking his hand loose of her arm. Moving so that the desk was between them, she felt angry words bubble up her throat though she had no idea where they came from or why. Even before the words reached his ears, she knew she was just trying to push him away.
"Let you in? Excuse me Booth, but how about letting me in for a change! Who's the one that's been acting weird with everyone all day? Who's the one that's been having a secret relationship with my boss? Who's the one who didn't respect their partner enough to tell them what was going on? And I know that you're still hiding something from me, Booth. You're a terrible liar."
He just stared at her for a moment, obviously surprised by her unexpected outburst. She just stared back, jutting her chin out in defiance.
I don't love him. I can't possibly love him. It's Booth for God's sake!
But then, why am I pushing him away? I always do this. The minute someone gets too close, the second someone starts to break down my walls, I force them out. I'm too scared of getting hurt to let anyone in. If anything, I'm surprised it's taken me this long to push Booth away…
Booth took a tentative step forward, his eyes downcast as he spoke barely above a whisper.
"You're right, Bones, I have been hiding things from you, things that I should have told you right away. Things like Cam… But don't you dare think for a second that it's because I don't respect you or that I don't trust you. You're my partner and my friend. I would do anything in the world for you, I'd put my life on the line for you. But I've never had a relationship like this before and… Well, I guess I just got scared about telling you everything."
Slightly surprised by his frank admission, Brennan just stared at him as he took a couple of careful steps towards her and half rounded the desk.
"I know I've been acting weird with you and for that, I'm truly sorry. I'm also sorry for what it is that I have to tell you next."
The anger clawing its way up her throat seemed to change to fear as he raised his eyes to hers.
"What is it Booth?"
He swallowed hard, obviously trying to figure out what to say to her. He looked worried, really worried, and Brennan felt her stomach lurch.
"I had a phone call this morning from Cullen. It seems like you're not the only one who figured out what's going on between Cam and me."
"Cullen had a go at you for having a relationship with Cam? Surely that's none of his business. It's not like it's affecting your work."
Booth sighed heavily as his eyes darted about the room. Brennan raised an eyebrow as she pursed her lips.
"Please Booth, tell me it's not affecting your work…"
He raised his hands in front of him in a sign of surrender, crossing the last few feet between them as he frantically shook his head.
"No, Bones, of course it's not! But that doesn't stop other people thinking that it might or that it already has."
"What do you mean?"
"You know that last case we worked on, the one with the wife, the toy boy and the meat cleaver in the kitchen?"
She nodded slowly, wondering where he was going with this little stroll down memory lane.
"Well, it seems like the defence attorneys somehow found about it all and they want to bring up my relationship in court as a way of discrediting all the evidence. They seem to think that they can convince the jury that Cam and I have some kind of hidden agenda, that we manipulated the facts to reach the conclusions we wanted as a couple."
Brennan couldn't hide her disbelief as she laughed in her partner's face.
"They think that they can prove that you and Cam are some kind of criminal masterminds orchestrating the evidence to make the wife your fall guy? That's completely preposterous! The jury would never believe that."
Booth seemed surprised.
"Bones, I… I thought you'd be mad at me."
"What? Why?"
"Because I put our work in jeopardy. If the judge decided to rule that the defence attorneys were right, then all your hard work would be thrown in the trash."
"It's our work, Booth, not mine. You're as much a part of this team as I am. And if you had intentionally put that at risk then yes, I would definitely be mad at you. Instead, all you've done is follow your biological and sociological urges to seek gratification with someone with whom you have a sexual rapport. That is perfectly understandable."
He cocked an eyebrow in her direction as he sighed with relief.
"Fancy giving the FBI big shots a dose of that anthropological mumbo jumbo in my defence? They're getting so nervous up there in their ivory towers that they're spitting out big words like ramification, embarrassment and reassignment."
Brennan's heart stopped in her chest.
"They want to reassign you?"
He turned to her, his eyes wide as he obviously realised his mistake.
"God Bones, I didn't mean it to come out like that."
But it was too late, the damage was done.
Brennan backed away from him, shaking her head as she stared at her partner, a man she now realised she barely knew at all.
"Just like you didn't mean for me to find out about you and Cam? What's with all the secrets, Booth? I thought that you respected me at least enough to be honest with me."
"I do, Bones. I just…"
"What? Thought you'd wait until a decision was made and then tell me on your way out the door?"
"Bones, it's not like that…"
"If they're talking about reassigning you, then they must think the defence team have a chance of proving their case about you and Cam, they must think that you really are a liability. Are you?"
Temperance Brennan, a woman who had spent almost her entire life locking her emotions away, was suddenly consumed by them.
And it's all his fault. He's the one that makes me feel like this, he's the one that's put my work in jeopardy. That's all I've got. I can't lose it, even if it means losing him.
"Well, are you a liability?"
He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Deep down a part of her screamed at him, imploring him to say no, to say that he was her partner and that he would always be at her side. She wanted him to say that he would never put the work she took so seriously at risk, that he could never do anything to hurt her like this.
But no words came to him. But they did to her.
"Get out of my office."
He blinked rapidly, obviously unnerved by the bitterness dripping from her voice.
"What?"
"I said get out. I will not have you or anyone putting what we do at risk. That woman murdered an innocent 19 year old boy, not to mention the two bodies lying out there in my lab. I will not let you endanger their cases too."
"Bones, I…"
She didn't let him finish. Instead, she marched straight past him and held open the door.
"You just got your reassignment. You can get the paperwork from Cam."
He just stood there for a moment and stared at her. She stared right back, her gaze cold and unflinching. He opened his mouth to say something but just as quickly snapped it back shut as he moved towards the exit.
Pausing beside her in the doorway, Booth turned the full weight of his eyes on to her.
"Temperance, you know me. You said it yourself, I would never knowingly put our work at risk. I want answers, same as you, but I would never manipulate or contrive evidence to get them. I haven't done anything wrong here."
"You've lied. You've hidden things from me. As such, it's plainly obvious that you don't trust me so why should I trust you?"
"But we're partners, Bones! Do you seriously want to throw all that away over something as ridiculous as this?"
The door that slammed in his face was the only answer he would get.
A/N: Is this the end for our favourite crime-fighting duo? Will Booth get reassigned to the back end of nowhere? Will Brennan admit how she really feels? Will we ever find out what Nate was doing in the lab or who trashed Angela's lab? And will they ever get around to identifying the pair in the park? These questions will all be answered in your next thrilling installment! Well, a couple of them might...