Something had changed between them. They weren't tense or angry, and their bodies weren't facing in opposite directions. They were still in tune with each other, but ... something was different. They'd closed that last case, a real marathon, and they both looked tired. But while he looked calm yet subdued, she looked... thoughtful. Expectant? I don't know.
I asked them about the case, tried to tease out this new whatever-it-was by asking about lab dynamics and team tensions that might have arisen.
"No-- we're all fine, Sweets," Booth said, and Brennan shot him a look. Concerned, not angry. He looked back at her for a moment before speaking again.
"In fact ... I actually learned I'd been taking the squints a bit for granted, you know? Got confronted with some of it. Kind of stupid on my part. But ... we're all fine."
Brennan looked measuringly at him, and he looked back at her, one of those silent communications that none of us can decipher. She nodded almost imperceptibly, shot him a sad smile, and he gave her the same one in return, before they both turned to look at me, united on some point again. Talking in code, as always.
Then their phones both rang, and looking at one another once again, they both went to answer. It was hopeless. I couldn't insist on therapy when there were murderers to catch. They both listened, asked short questions, both said "Be there shortly," and stood together.
"Got a body, Sweets, got to go." He pulled Dr. Brennan's coat up for her and she looked at him for a moment. Another impenetrable look, and he nodded this time, before she stuck out her arms, he placed her coat on her shoulders, and they were out the door, his hand at her back. It all took an instant, and it was all fraught with incredible sadness—and yet, complete agreement. I needed to know why, but now wasn't the time.
They called me a day or two later, needing a profile, and wrapped it up not long after, their usual excellent job. Afterward, they asked me to join them and the rest of the team for drinks, and I accepted, hoping to see in a social dynamic what had changed between them. It was almost as if, despite the sadness I'd seen, they were more relaxed with each other, as if some tension had disappeared. I wondered-- were they finally involved? Had they finally admitted what they meant to each other? I got my answer in a way I hadn't expected.
Dr. Saroyan, Agent Booth and Ms. Montenegro were all sitting together when I came in, and I slid in next to Booth. Then Dr. Hodgins came in with Dr. Brennan, the entomologist's arm over the anthropologist's shoulders as she laughed at something he said. I looked around at the team and saw Cam, Angela, and Booth smiling to see them both so happy and so clearly together. Booth's smile was slightly strained, but he did look happy for her, underneath.
"You're all fine?" I asked under my breath.
He looked over at me slowly, as if he didn't want the rest to notice. "Yeah, really. But ... he who hesitates is lost, kid. Like I said. Learned something this week." he replied, then looked away, to answer a question his partner asked him.
His partner. Nothing more. And that tension between them, all that unresolved stuff that made them afraid and totally co-dependent. Just gone. Whatever they'd been meaning to say, they'd said it. I could tell it was resolved. They weren't happy about it, but they weren't at war over it either. They actually were running in parallel now. Just a sad parallel.