A.N.: Ok. So I won't lie: I was stuck. Big time. The ending I had planned suddenly sucked. And I didn't know what to do because your support is so awesome, I didn't want to disappoint you. The real episodes are getting more and more amazing and I got scared you wouldn't like my story anymore. Well, I hope you like it. Next chapter probably will be the last, or the second-to-last, so if you've got any requests, suggestions, comments, ideas... Now's the time to send them my way! :) You might inspire me enough to postpone the inevitable "complete" status.

Chapter 13
The End of the Line

"I think Booth told me he wants to sleep with me," Brennan whispered to Angela who was slowing the car down to a full stop, one red light before her apartment.

Saying it out loud didn't help her come to grasp with what had just happened.

"What?!" her friend screeched. "When?!"

"Right before we left."

"And you left? Are you insane?!"

Brennan pointed in front of them.

"The light's green, Ange."

Angela started driving again.

"He said..."

Angela interrupted her vehemently. "No! No! No! No! Wait! Don't say anything yet!"

She turned onto Brennan's street. She waited until the car was parked to continue this oh-so-important conversation. She turned off the engine, undid her seatbelt and took her friend's hands.

"Ok, slowly explain to me what happened."

Brennan tried to think. "He said he was convinced we would sleep together someday, and asked me if I did, too."

"What did you say?"

She winced as she recalled, "Something that sounded like 'I... Uh... too... Uhm... think... bye.'"

"And what does that mean?"

"It was supposed to mean yes. I think."

Angela shook her head in disbelief. How sad was it that such an incredibly gifted and beautiful woman didn't have a clue how to go after what she wanted if it wasn't in a professional capacity?

"And what did he say?" she wanted to know.

"Nothing. You told me we were leaving, so we left."

"You're telling me this is my fault? You could be having sex with Booth right now?"

"Well, I don't know about that. He said someday."

And he handed me my purse. He wanted me to leave.

"Now I want to kill myself."

Brennan gave her an insisting look, head tilted.

"But I won't," she promised.

Brennan looked out the window.

"What do I do now?"

"Oh, please, honey, you go for it!"

"But I... maybe it was a joke," she rationalized. "I don't always understand his humor."

Angela grabbed her friend's chin and pulled it towards her.

"You realize you are in denial, right? You tell him you want him too, you show him you want him too and you tell him what you've just shown him. You can't be overly explicit with that man."

"I'll have to think about it," Brennan said, getting out of the car.

"Oh! No, no, no!" Angela rapidly objected. "You cannot think." She yelled at her friend as the passenger door slammed shut. "Don't think! You'll ruin everything!"

Too late, Brennan had disappeared into her building.

At least she had made some true progress. For the first time, Brennan hadn't denied wanting Booth. But the tribulations were far from over, she thought. She had a feeling those two would push each other around some more before accepting their fate.

***

Booth didn't bother turning on the lights in his apartment. He walked straight to his bedroom and sat on the mattress. What the hell was wrong with him? He couldn't believe he had told her he was convinced they would sleep together someday. It was idiotic. He only wanted to shock her to get the truth once and for all. She had been shocked alright. But she had said yes. She had, right? She couldn't take it back. He didn't really want to take it back either, but he didn't want to face the consequences of their words. Would she avoid him? Would she confront him? Would she... He knew her by heart. He just had no clue what to expect this time. Except a sleepless night, of course.

***

Pretending like things never happened didn't make them disappear. She knew that. She tried to focus on the dissertation she was proofreading. It shouldn't affect her so much that Booth had expressed some kind of sexual attraction towards her. She was obviously desirable. Most men thought so. He didn't explicitly say he was attracted to you. He said he was convinced you two would sleep together. Like it was inevitable. He didn't say he wanted to. She sighed. Why is this so complex? Why can't I stop dissecting everything?

"Hey! You busy?"

At the sound of his voice, her heart did a somersault and she dropped her red pen on the floor. She didn't blush, but it took every bit of strength she had not to look away when he grinned.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Fine. And yes, I'm busy." Liar.

"Ok. I was just..." He gestured somewhere behind him, vaguely, not making any sense. "Uhm... There's some boring FBI function tonight and I thought... maybe, you'd wanna go. With me, I mean."

Booth could have sworn he was 15 all over again. That's precisely why he regretted telling her what he had told her last night. Normally, asking her to a work event didn't take so much courage. It didn't make him feel stupid. He usually never feared she'd say no. Now that the word "sex" was out there, somewhere between them, it made everything nerve wracking and it surely made the room temperature rise. He waited for her answer, looking casual, trying to hold off his panic attack.

She sat up straight and her voice got all... doctorish. There.

"Why would I want to go to a boring gathering?"

That's the Temperance Brennan he knew and... knew. That Bones didn't make him sweat so much. That Bones was cool. Coldish. Clinical. Logical. That one he knew how to deal with. The other one, the one that was starting to flirt back... The one whose shimmering blue eyes expressed surprise, fear and some deep expectations... The one who tried to make him laugh... The one who was slowly opening up, insecure and unsure... That other one scared him. Like he didn't want to break her. He didn't want to push her. With Doctor Brennan, he wasn't afraid to disappoint because he knew he would anyway. And her annoying –yet so endearing- habit of correcting him was always there to remind him of that. He was seeing less and less of her, though. She was letting the other Bones shine through. The fragile one. Only at times.

"Well, it will be less boring if you're there," he said with a shrug.

She pushed some papers around and turned her back to him to look for a book she didn't need at all.

"Ok. I'll go."

"Great!" Relax, dude. "I'll..." And lower your voice register. "...pick you up at 7?"

Why would you pick her up? You never pick her up. You always meet there. This isn't a date.

He thought he saw her ask herself the same thing, so he said, "Or you can meet me there around 7:30. Same place as last year. At the..."

"I know where it is. I'll be there."

"Thanks."

You thanked her?! You, moron!!!

The slightest frown appeared on her face.

"No problem."

He left before he could sink any deeper into embarrassment.

She watched him leave. He had asked her to go places plenty of times before. Yet, this time, it felt different. She was nervous. Relax. It's not like this is a date. She put the book she had just taken back on the shelf. Well... if it looks like a date and quacks like a date... It's not. Stop it. She would know if it were. She would.

Not.

***

There was one person in the Jeffersonian who knew the one side of Booth she didn't know, but she wasn't in her office. Brennan sat down and waited for Cam to come back. She only had to wait five minutes, but almost changed her mind a hundred times.

"Dr Brennan. Do you need something?" Cam asked, entering.

The anthropologist had planned to go in, ask her question, get her answer and get out. But she tried another approach. She had never been good at it, but Sweets had told her once that it was a good way to put the other person at ease. So...

"How's Michelle doing?" she asked, trying to sound concerned.

Cam's mind started racing.

"Why? Did the school call? Is she ok?" she blurted out, checking her desk for missed messages.

Something must be very wrong. Her colleague never mentioned things for no reason.

Confusion washed over Brennan.

"No... I was just..." Yeah. That's why you don't make small talk. Ever. "I thought it was a better topic than the weather, that's all."

Cam relaxed, but only for a second. Temperance Brennan always got to the point right away. This, here, meant something was seriously bothering her. She sat down.

"What can I do for you?" she asked, curious and a little disturbed. This was Angela's job, usually.

"I was hoping I could ask you for..." Don't say 'advice'. "I have a question."

"You need an advice?" Cam let out, dumbfounded.

"No! Just..." Shit. "... Information."

Seeing how uncomfortable Brennan was made Cam worry.

"Isn't Angela here this afternoon?"

"She is. Why?"

"You usually turn to her, not to me."

"Yes, well, she has never..." Dated Booth. "... You know him better than she does." Real smooth, there.

Cam tried not to laugh out her astonishment.

"This is about Booth?" she clarified.

"Yes," Brennan admitted. She felt foolish. So foolish.

"Ok..."

This silence was excruciating, so Brennan jumped in to cut it short.

"How did you two... happen?"

Cam waited for Brennan to complete her sentence. Happen to what? But Brennan was finished. She raised her eyebrows as she understood. Oh! HAPPEN. Wow. This is serious.

"Uhm..."

Dr Brennan certainly didn't want her to get into the details. She tried to think back.

Twisting her mother's ring on her finger, Brennan bit her lips to stop the dozen of questions threatening to come out. Who made the first move? Was it clear from the beginning? How soon after meeting did it happen? Did you two make love? No! That last one, she didn't want to know. Seriously.

"Well," Cam finally said. "I don't know. It just did."

That wasn't helpful at all. Brennan nodded anyway, trying to look like she understood, but she was disappointedly at a complete loss. As much as she wanted to know, she wasn't going to pry. Cam was her boss, after all. And Booth would probably want to kill her if he knew she was asking personal questions about him behind his back.

She got up.

"Ok. Thanks."

And she walked away, leaving Cam more stunned than ever. Why she even thought for a second this was a good idea was the final straw. There were no more doubts: she was crazy.

***

As she walked towards the noisy room, wondering if her dark teal dress was appropriate or if she should have stuck with the little black one, she allowed herself to think about them one last time to clear her mind before meeting him inside.

It was simple, really. Booth and Cam had just happened. Easy. Just like that. It could only mean one thing: that if Booth and she hadn't already happen, they never would. It was not supposed to be complicated. People who want each other find each other. Brennan had never been afraid of words. Of honesty. If she wanted a straight answer, she would have to remember that and plainly ask him.

As soon as she set foot in the room, she ignored all the men's eyes on her –apparently, the dress was fine- and looked for him. Her stomach fluttered and caught the sound of his clear laugh in the back. She walked towards it, already smiling, and found him standing there, an elbow on the bar, leaning towards a familiar face. Perotta.

You don't look bored to me, Brennan thought, feeling her smile stiffen a bit as she looked up to him.

"Bones! You remember Payton?"

Payton? As an anthropologist, she had encountered a myriad of names in hundreds of different languages, yet none of them had ever made her want to laugh. Until now. But she didn't.

"Agent Perotta, hi," she politely said instead. "Nice to see you again."

The blond agent smiled broadly, in a Payton-way, and said, "You know, everyone's talking about the two of you."

Brennan's first instinct was to look up at Booth. They hadn't even revisited the subject yet, and people were already talking?

"They are?" she let out.

"Of course! You really are the best team out there. Congratulations on closing your latest case, by the way."

"All the credit goes to Bones."

He put his arm around her naked shoulders and she suddenly felt really important. Agent Perotta raised an eyebrow at them and said,

"Well... whatever you two are doing, keep doing it. It works."

She smirked, took her drink and walked away. Brennan wondered if her face was as red as it felt.

"What does she think we're doing exactly?" she asked him, waiting for him to take his arm off of her, embarrassed, as usual. But he pulled her closer, squeezing her, before letting his hand drift down to the small of her back.

"Meh! Who cares," he said.

Slightly astonished, she just kept quiet while he asked her if she wanted something to drink.

"My alcohol quota has been filled for the month, I'm afraid. But I'll have some water."

Since the barman wasn't paying attention, Booth reached behind the bar, put some ice in a glass, poured water and added a lemon.

"Here you go. A fancy drink to go with that fancy dress."

Suddenly remembering her dress dilemma, she looked down at herself.

"Is it too much? I didn't..."

"You look beautiful."

Spoken in this low, soft and serious tone, his words reached deep inside of her. She felt a shiver tease the back of her neck.

Ok. That's it.

She grabbed his hand and headed for the exit. Surely, there was an empty hallway somewhere. She heard him ask her where she was going, what she was doing, she heard him chuckle and ask her to stop pulling so hard. She kept on walking. She wasn't going to let him do or say anything to stop her now. They were going to talk.

But leaving a room full of cops wasn't such an easy task. An agent she had never seen before planted himself in front of her. She let go of Booth's hand immediately.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Daniel."

"Hi," she replied, shaking his hand, hoping he would not drag this on.

"Can I just say, if you ever get tired of working with him, my name's on the list."

"What list?" she asked.

Booth interjected.

"Drop it, Dan."

But Dan held on.

"The list of agents who desperately want to work with you."

"Is there an actual list or...?" Brennan asked a sighing Booth.

"Oh yes, there is!" Dan said, excitedly. "You wouldn't believe the number of applicants they had for his position. I don't know why they picked him," he said pointing at Booth, "but I can't say it wasn't a good decision. I wished my partner and I had half the number of solved cases you two have."

"Keep wishing, pal," Booth let out.

As Daniel walked away, Brennan said,

"He just told you he admires you, why were so you mean to him?"

"He doesn't admire me, he was admiring you."

"So?"

"So... Nothing. He's just annoying."

Before he could ask her why she was so eager to get him away from the bar, another guy approached them. If I had known I would spend the evening signing autographs, I would have brought a pen. He sighed.

They spent another 20 minutes being told how great they were. Brennan had almost forgotten that she wanted to speak with him, but every time their eyes met, she remembered. She was about to start with 'we need to talk' when she heard Booth mumble,

"Crap!"

"What is it?"

He took her hand and quickly led her right outside the room.

"My boss," he said, discreetly peeking through the opened door.

"What about your boss?"

"He's here. He never comes to these things."

"It looks like he's looking for something," she observed.

Booth swiftly pulled on her shoulders and pinned her against a wall.

"Don't look! He'll see us. He's probably looking for me."

"What did you do?" she asked, her back still flat against the cold wall.

Booth realized he was still holding her upper arms. He slowly let go and answered her.

"Nothing. I don't think. But until our weekly therapy sessions are complete, I'd rather not run into him."

Brennan smirked. "I had never realized you were scared of your boss."

"I'm not scared. I'm being... prudent."

She laughed out loud and he automatically smiled, taking it in. When her laughter died down, he finally asked her,

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"What?"

He shifted on his feet and mindlessly played with his belt buckle.

"Earlier," he said. "You pulled me away. You wanted to talk to me."

It wasn't a question anymore. For a second, she wondered if it really was necessary to go there tonight. Maybe it could have waited a little longer. But as she took a deep breath, his Cologne tickled her heart, suddenly pounding. She realized she couldn't wait. This idea of Booth and her was becoming a distraction, she had to settle things.

She was still mute. He raised an eyebrow to get her to speak up.

She avoided his stare and looked at his tie, ignoring the urge to fix it. It was a little crooked. A little too sexy. Sex. Right. Ask him.

"Do you want to sleep with me?" she dropped. She couldn't look him in the eye, but no matter where she looked – his shoulders, his hands, his feet- she felt the same pressing sensation in her chest.

"Right now?" he said before he could think.

"Yes," she retorted. But realizing what it sounded like, her chin jerked up and she looked at his stunned face. "No! Anytime. I mean, in general." There. That wasn't so tough, was it?

Booth didn't even blink; he was just trying to process. He should have been used to her bluntness by now, but he was in complete shock. His heart was throbbing in his throat. He wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to push her against the wall again. He wanted to.

"Well... Do you want to sleep with me?" he deflected, aware and ashamed of being such a coward. She deserved the truth, but the truth wasn't going to help them.

She thought about it for the millionth time. In the past, she would have said yes without a shadow of hesitation, but right now, as she lost herself in his dark eyes, she froze. She didn't want to be the only one to say yes. She could easily imagine how embarrassed her prude partner would be if she confirmed her desire. And by the way, I asked first.

"Could you just... answer me?" she pressed on, trapped in his gaze.

Fine. He let out the long breath he had been holding and his shoulders dropped slightly. He licked his dry lips as he searched her features for any indication that would prove to him she felt the same way. Slowly, he surrendered.

"Yes."

The silence that followed was deafening. The line he had drawn a hundred years ago had been pushed a little further.

Things were clear. The possibility was real now. It could really happen, she thought. Now they really had to deal with the tension, right?

"Ok," she agreed.

"Ok?" he repeated, far from understanding what she meant.

"Ok. Yes."

What the hell is she saying?! Oh, dear, dear God.

"Whoa!" he gasped. "Are you saying you..."

"We should get it over with," she said. She sounded different. She sounded like the Bones he had first met. The one for whom sex was just some common activity.

"No," he said, calmly.

"But you just said you wanted to!" she reminded him, wondering if she had been imagining the last five minutes.

"Well, yes," he agreed, lowering his voice, "but that's not... It's not that simple, Bones."

"Of course it is!" she refuted. "You're a man, I'm a woman, we are both adult and now aware of a mutual physical attraction. It would be normal, natural, and most beneficial to satisfy our..."

"Stop right there! Don't you quote the Discovery Channel to me right now," he warned her with an accusing finger.

He sounded mad. She didn't understand. She bit her lips together.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't just sleep with her. He knew he would never be able to let it happen once and then just go back. He wanted everything. Everything or nothing. Nothing was better than not enough. But she was Dr Temperance Brennan. She had no idea their whole future was in her hands. He had no idea what she would do if she did know.

"Think about it for a second," he asked her. His voice was calm, but insistent.

Think about it?! That's all I've been doing lately! She decided to humor him. She was painfully aware of his stare while she reflected. She could almost hear his voice from a few years ago. There are certain people that you just can't sleep with. You can pretend that it's just sex, lie to yourself, say that it's all good. But there's too much at stake. Too much to lose. She locked eyes with him. We are the center. And the center must hold.

She felt defeated. She felt brainless.

"You're right," she confessed, her eyes dropping to her own hands. "I was just... checking. To... To clear the air, you know?"

It wasn't a lie, really.

"Yeah."

Well... This silence was one they had never experienced before. It was awkward and loaded. At least, they had talked about it, right? It was all good now. They knew where they stood, now. Right?

"I'm glad it's all..." he dragged on, trying to find the right word.

"Clear," she finished for him. "Yes. Me too."

She hesitated a second before she said, "But just to be clearer... It's never gonna happen. Right?"

"Right." Wait! What?!

"Because... we are the greatest team in there," she said with a weak laugh, pointing to the room they should never have left. "We have been told many, many times in the past hour. And we can't go changing something that's working so well."

"It wouldn't be a good idea."

"Definitely not."

They kept staring at one another, half waiting for the other to change their mind.

She remembered all this was fault. This agonizing moment was all on him. He was the one who had started it.

"Can I just ask you... Why did you tell me you were certain we would have sex one day?" she asked.

"I was drunk," he suggested.

She nodded slowly. She almost looked... sad. Before he could apologize, she said, "Next time, you should stick to water," and headed back inside.

He almost immediately went after her, but she was already talking with his boss. He cringed, wondering if she had done it on purpose, knowing he didn't want to talk to him. Too late.

"There you are!" the firm voice greeted him. A look at his partner, and he knew she didn't want to be there either.

"Hello, sir," he said, shaking his hand.

"I'm glad you finally wrapped this girl scout case."

"So are we, sir." If you say 'sir' one more time, I swear...

"Dr Sweet assured me you two don't need any more sessions with him," his boss said, sceptical.

"He did?" they both said at the same time. Neither of them had intended on sounding so surpised.

"You disagree?"

"No!"

"We're fine."

"I hope so. You might be my number one closers, but if things go sour, I won't hesitate to reassign you. There's a lot of people counting on you so it's all good as long as everyone knows their place."

Without further due, the man left them.

There's a lot of people counting on you.

I won't hesitate to reassign you.

Too much to lose.

Brennan, who was looking down at the floor, felt as though she had been punched in the face. She knew the Director was right. He had just said what she had always thought. Yet, hearing it out loud had made her stomach hurt. She was feeling down. She looked around before turning to Booth.

"Do you mind if I leave?" she said.

Aw man!

"Is it because of what he said? About everyone knowing their place?"

She shook her head no, unable to speak.

"Because your place," he continued, "is where I am."

He saw her eyes flicker. The blue was lighter, shimmery. Were those tears?

She swallowed the large lump in her throat and wondered what the hell was wrong with her.

"Are you ok?" he asked. His concern touched her so profoundly, it annoyed her.

"I'm fine! I'm just..."

She felt like she hadn't been able to structure an intelligent sentence for quite some time. She couldn't recognize herself. She was getting on her own nerves. She had to get out of there.

"You're tired," he offered her, as an excuse.

"Yes."

Booth couldn't force her to stay. He couldn't force her to talk to him.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he verified.

She wanted to sound casual, to say 'sure!' in a detached yet chipper voice. She wanted to feel normal again. But she only nodded, hating the smile she was giving him.

***

She parked her car and loosened up her tight grip on the steering wheel, at last. She forced herself to breathe and as she exhaled, a single tear slid down her cheekbone. She held in her breath and furiously wiped the salted nonsense off of her face.

"You're being ridiculous," she told herself out loud.

She looked up, outside the window, still unsure she would get out of the car. She sniffled once, groaned of frustration and decided to go knock.

Angela opened the door and her heart sank. Brennan looked horribly upset. Her eyes were filled with tears she was refusing to let go.

"Your allergies again?" she softly whispered.

Brennan shook her head and another tear escaped. Dammit!

"I don't have allergies," she admitted, out of breath, out of voice.

Angela let her come in, trying not to cry. Trying not to pry. Once they both sat down in the kitchen, she asked her friend, "What happened? Why are you so sad?"

"I'm not sad," Brennan quipped, feeling a dull stabbing pain behind her ribs. "I'm pissed!"

"You don't look pissed," Angela carefully argued.

"I'm very..." She breathed in so her voice wouldn't crack. "Very..." It cracked anyway. "Angry," she barely mouthed.

Why couldn't she stop those stupid tears from streaming down? She couldn't understand why she was being so emotional. For no reason. It wasn't like her at all to cry over a man. It wasn't like her to cry because a man had refused to sleep with her. Not that it happened so often. Or at all. She laughed as she thought she understood.

"It's just a bruised ego. I'm fine."

"Sure, you look super fine to me," Angela sarcastically agreed.

Brennan calmed down a little before she explained her weird attitude.

"My pride is hurt, that's all."

"Why?"

"It's my fault. I was too forward with him. I know how he is. I shouldn't even have mention it."

Mention what? Brennan didn't let Angela speak. She was explaining this to herself, too.

"What was I thinking, telling him we should have sex?"

Angela's eyes grew bigger and discreetly hid her mouth behind her hand, resting an elbow on the table. She let her continue.

"I know he doesn't really do casual sex. I mean, I'm sure he does sometimes. But he told me that wasn't his thing. He doesn't do the whole sex-without-emotion thing."

Brennan closed her mouth and looked at Angela, waiting for something. Angela's mind was numb. What was she supposed to say?

"Ok, I don't know what happened exactly, but... Did you say you asked Booth to have sex with you?"

"Yet, I knew he prefers to have sex while in a committed relationship."

"Then... Have a relationship! What's stopping you now?"

Brennan frowned at the thought, but kept her mouth shut.

"Are you telling me you can't see yourself with him?" Because if you are, I will have wasted 4 years of my life waiting for no reason.

Brennan drew random patterns on the tabletop with her index finger.

"Even if I did, he clearly doesn't. I offered him sex and he said 'I'll pass'. When you want to be with someone, you want to be with them, no? Anyway. We couldn't either way. When the romantic relationship would end, the whole team would be screwed."

"What makes you think it would end?"

Brennan snorted. "Relationships don't last forever, Ange. You know that better than anyone."

Offended, the artist sat up straight.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you've been hurt before. Really hurt."

There. That was the real reason right there. She was afraid of getting hurt. If she could cry over the loss of the possibility of them... how would she deal with the loss of them?

They would remain them as long as they didn't change.

She loved them.

She knew that much.

TBC...
Well, there you go. I hope you still think this is all in character. I know it was angsty. I know. Did you still like it? PLEASE tell me.