Hey look… It's not Thursday XD. Well, this chapter was finished and nice and pretty so I decided to post it for you guys.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, but I do own the blood in my body which I will be donating Thursday (another reason for an early post. I've never given blood before so I don't know how I'll feel afterward. I might lose the ability to write flowingly and I won't post junk so… yeah.)

Special Thanks:

To everyone who's review thus far.
My bff Lena (:D) Thanks for being my beta and helping with planning out the case. You rock!

Warning: Anyone looking for a fluff fest… walk away now. Note the genre. angst/romance… well note the first one. Angst.

Previously:

Taking the file, she returned to her office. Mere minutes after she had sat down and taken a few deep breaths to calm herself from the conversation that had taken place here earlier, the file dropped onto her table. A small bundle with curly blond hair jumped into her lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Dr. Bones, Dr. Bones!"

A smile graced her face as she looked down. "Hello Parker. What are you doing here?"

"I'm staying with daddy for the whole week!"

"Really, a whole week?" He nodded enthusiastically, his unruly hair bouncing with his head. "Well, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun."

"Yeah! We're gonna go to the park and play football and eat ice cream and go to the zoo and have guy fun!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Guy fun?"

"Yeah! It's when me and daddy hang out and do stuff most girls don't like. Like football and fishing! Didn't you know that Dr. Bones?"

"Well I do now. Thank you Parker for keeping me well informed."

He laughed. "Silly Dr. Bones."

Looking around, she noticed Booth was nowhere in sight. "Is your father here Parker?"

"No, he dropped me off with Auntie Angela. She said she'll paint my face again!"

"Well aren't you a lucky boy, but why are you here?"

Parker clambered off her lap and sat next to her. "Daddy had to run to his office. I asked if I could stay here. It's funner here."

"Funner is not a word Parker. The correct grammar is more fun."

"Ok Dr. Bones. Here is more fun than daddy's office."

Angela rushed into her office. "Bren? Have you seen… Parker! Don't run off like that. I looked up and you were gone. What was I suppose to tell your father?!"

"Sorry Auntie Ange." He wrapped his arms around Brennan. "I wanted to see Dr. Bones. You were busy… I'm sorry."

Angela sighed. "Next time please ask me Parker, don't just run off."

Booth knocked on the door and entered. "Hello squints, Bud."

"Daddy!" Parker jumped up and ran over, hugging his leg.

"Parker, why don't you go with Angela to her office, I need to talk to Bones about work stuff." His eyes flashed to Angela's.

She got the message and took Parker's hand. "Come on Jr. Squint, let's go see Hodgins and his bugs."

As they walked away, Parker whispered to her. "Can we paint my face again? Last time it took weeks to wash off."

Angela winked at him. "What should we paint this time? A lion? Monkey? Cheetah? Bear? Or maybe a rabbit?"

"Noooooo. I want to be a robot!"

"A robot. Well, I don't know about that."

"Please? Pretty please with a hug on top?"

"Oh… how can I resist your charm smile?"

"You can't. It's because I'm just too adorable."

"You're pushing it kid. Just use the smile, don't add to it."

Brennan moved around the room placing files back in the filing cabinet and the case file back on her desk. Grabbing a book that lay on her desk as reference for her next book, she moved to place it back in the bookcase. She couldn't quite reach the shelf.

Booth stepped behind her, taking the book gently from her hand and setting it on the shelf. "Thank you." He didn't move from behind her. His head dropped to her shoulder.

"Bones." He savored the moment, knowing she would turn soon and the contact would be broken. It was.

She turned to face him. "Booth, what are you doing?" The hand that had returned the book to its shelf drifted down to rest beside her head.

"I still want us." His other hand pressed against the wall near her right elbow, effectively preventing her from running from this conversation.

"Booth…" Why was everyone bringing this up? She'd made her choice. She had to protect him. She didn't, couldn't trust herself not to destroy him. He was too good for her. Nothing mattered but his happiness.

"No Bones. Listen." He stopped to see if she would protest again, but she remained silent, her blue eyes staring intently at his face, but giving no indication to what was going on in her mind. "I want us Bones. I'm ending your running. I'm not letting you run anymore. I'm tired of everyone thinking we're a couple and having to explain why we're not, I'm tired of Angela and Sweets and, hell, even my brother telling us to get together. I'm through with excuses."

She looked away from his face, focusing on a picture of her family when she was 13 that rested on a shelf above her desk. Booth noticed. His right hand cupped her cheek, forcing her to meet his eyes. Instinctively, she pressed her face slightly into its warmth.

"You said you couldn't change," he continued. "I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to be you, to be my Bones. I'm asking you to let me take you out to dinner, to the movies, on vacation. I want a chance Bones, I want a chance with you. Is that so much to ask?"

She could hear the pain in his voice. She could feel the hand on her cheek tremble slightly. She could see the desperation in his eyes. She couldn't bring herself to answer him.

"A week."

Struggling, she managed to whisper, "A week?"

He nodded. "Rebecca is away and I have Parker. I'm giving you until Sunday to make your decision… I don't want to force you Temperance. I don't want you to feel any need to say yes. It's just… I…" The hand on her cheek moved town, his fingers curling under her chin and his thumb brushing across her soft lips before coming to rest under them. An involuntary shiver ran through her body.

"Booth…" She was afraid he could see the fear in her own eyes. When her parents left, her heart had been broken. Her time in foster care had slowly shattered each broken piece into thousands of identical fragments. Once upon a time, she'd believed she could never love anyone or be loved in return again. That was before she met Seeley Booth.

He'd taken the shattered fragments of the heart she'd stopped believing she had and pieced them back together until it was whole. Then, he'd made her see the beauty beyond the pain. A tear escaped her eye. She'd tried to prevent it, but her heart belonged to him.

"Don't cry Bones, Please don't cry." He tilted her chin up and brought his left hand up to gently brush the tear away. It brushed lightly across her neck before resting on her shoulder.

His lips lowered to meet hers. They brushed across hers gently before pressing softly against them. Unable to prevent it, her eyelids fluttered shut and her body relaxed. Her brain stepped aside and her heart took over. To his surprise, she kissed back with the same gentle pressure and made no move to stop him or deepen this kiss.

The terrified child in the back of her mind pushed her heart aside and yanked her back. Her hands came up to his chest and pushed him away, her head pulling away and looking away. "No…" Her voice came out as a whisper.

"Bones…" His hands gripped her arms. He wouldn't let her run away again, he had to try and make this work, he had to make her see. Nothing could ever make him abandon her, leave her, nothing.

"No." Her voice was stronger, but she still couldn't bring herself to look at him, to see the pain in his eyes again, to see the same utterly defeated look on his face.

"I don't want an answer now." Ok, maybe he was letting her hide right now, but she needed this. She needed time to think.

"You won't get one. I told you Saturday and I'm telling you now." Her voice gained strength as she went on. It was better this way. She couldn't give him what he wanted.

"What if Booth wants you? Just you. Only you." Angela's voice echoed from the back of her mind. "My answer is no."

"Bones, please." He was desperate, she could tell.

"I can't Booth, I can't." She tried to push him further away, but he wouldn't budge.

"Why Temperance, why can't you try? I'd never hurt you. Please… please give me a chance to prove it to you. I'll never leave you. God, I love you so much." Turning her face back to him, she brushed the hair off her face and pressed his lips to her temple.

She froze. No… No. Booth couldn't love her. He wasn't supposed to. No one was supposed to love her. Her voice tightened. "We can't work like this."

"Bones…" A look of complete betrayal spread across his face.

Wrenching herself out of his grip, she briskly walked across the room to her desk and sat down. "After this case, I will no longer be assisting the FBI with cases. My time will be dedicated to my actual job of identifying the remains in bone storage." Opening the file for her current limbo case, she began writing her report. The 18 year old male had been killed by an Indian arrowhead. Time indicators dated the body back to the French and Indian War.

Despair gripped Booth's heart. Ignoring the desk she had strategically placed between them, he walked around it and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her body stiffened under his touch. "Booth, I told you…" She never finished the sentence.

"I. Don't. Care. I told you Sunday Bones. On Sunday, we will talk about this. I know you need time, I know you're scared." He brushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm not giving up on you."

"Leave." Cold apathy replaced any emotion that might have been visible across her face.

"What?"

She gritted her teeth. "Get. Out. Or else I will personally see you escorted out by security Agent Booth."

"Very well Dr. Brennan. I'll just take the case file then." Picking it up off the desk, he left her office, but not before slamming the door behind him. A loud clunk rang through the now suffocating office as her pen hit the door behind him.

Great, just great, the rat bastard. Now she wouldn't get any work done today. Grabbing her purse and coat, confidently leaving her phone in her desk drawer, she locked her office behind her.

Storming out of the Jeffersonian, no one dared to stop her. They'd seen the anger in Agent Booth's face. If there was one thing the lab tech at the Jeffersonian knew, it was when the agent and the scientist fight: stay out of their way. The agent will shoot you and the scientist will get you fired.

As he slammed Bones's door behind him, Booth let out an angry breath. He'd made the decision to fight for her, but why did she have to be so god damned stubborn? She'd kissed him back. Over the past few years, he'd grown increasingly aware of the feeling between them, but kept them to himself in the hopes she would recognize them herself before he bared his heart to her.

Oh, he'd bared it all right. He'd let down any barrier between his heart and her, and she'd plunged a dagger through it, twice. The second time digging in so deep he couldn't pull it out himself.

"Daddy!" Parker ran over to him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Daddy, where are you doing?"

Looking down at his son, Booth's anger turned toward himself. Sure, he'd been angry at Bones, but he'd almost left his son at the Jeffersonian. Rebecca would never let him see Parker again! "I'm sorry buddy. I was thinking." Hefting Parker up, He carried him to the SUV. "Wow Bud, you're getting heavy. Pretty soon you'll be able to ride in the front seat."

"No." Parker looked at his father oddly.

"Why not Bud?"

"Because that's where Dr. Bones sits." His face told Booth he was wondering how his father could possibly forget that.

"Well Bud, Dr. Brennan isn't always in my car."

"I like it back here," he said stubbornly.

"So, what do you want for diner Bud?"

"Pizza!" he shouted, throwing his hands up in the air.

Booth chuckled. "Ok Bud. We'll get some pizza and then ice cream for desert?"

"Yeah!" Parker was silent, then looked at his dad. "Daddy, can we invite Dr. Bones?"

His hands tightened their grip on the steering wheel. "Dr. Brennan is very busy Parker."

"But can I ask her? Please daddy?"

Booth hated to see his son disappointed, but it would hurt him more if she came and they fought. "Buddy, she had to work."

"But it's nighttime!" he protested.

"Parker, Dr. Brennan is very smart. A lot of people ask for her help with things. She's to busy to come have pizza with us."

"She didn't seem very busy when I visited her earlier. She seemed happy to see me."

"Parker! She can't come."

"But…"

"Parker!" His voice was a few octaves (for lack of a better reference) away from an angry yell.

"Sorry daddy." His voice was almost inaudible.

Taking deep breaths to calm himself, Booth glanced at his son through the rear view mirror. "I'm sorry Parker. I shouldn't have yelled." He didn't answer; he sulked in the back seat ignoring his father.

Guilt clenched Booth's heart. All he wanted was a chance, a chance that Bones seemed focused on not giving him. Why couldn't she talk to him? Why couldn't she let him in? On top of that he'd yelled at his son. Today was officially the worst day of his post-army life.

When the door of her apartment closed behind her, Brennan sagged against it and let out the angry breath she'd been holding since she left the Jeffersonian. Dropping her purse and the coat she hadn't even bothered to put on down on her couch. Before she did anything else, she yanked the cord for her phone from the wall. There was no one she wanted to talk to.

Moving over to her bookshelf, she turned her iPod on. Angela had gotten her a docking station for Christmas so she no longer had to use her cd stereo. Soft words drifted through the apartment, filling her ears and pulling at her heart.

I'm so scared that the way I feel,
Is written all over my face
When you walk into the room,
I wanna find a hiding place.
We used to laugh, we used to hug, the way that old friends do.
But now, a smile and a touch of your hand,
Just makes me come unglued.
Such a contradiction, do I lie or tell the truth?
Is it fact or fiction,
Oh the way I feel for you.

Her hand shook as she placed the unopened bottle of wine on the counter.

So complicated, I'm so frustrated.
I wanna hold you close, I wanna push you away,
I wanna make you go, I wanna make you stay.
Should I say it.
Should I tell you how I feel?
Oh, I want you to know.
But then again I don't. It's so complicated.

Nearly running to the docking station, she cursed loudly as it refused to turn off. The outlet it was plugged into was too difficult to reach quickly.

Oh..just when I think I'm under control.
I think I got a grip.
Another friend tells me that, I'm always on your lips.
They say I'm more than just a friend, they say I must be blind.
Well, I admit that I've seen you watch me from the corner of your eye.
Oh, It's so confusing. I wish you'd just confess.
But think of what I'd
be losin', if your answer isn't yes.

She was angry, angry at the way to song seemed to torment her. Grabbing the iTouch, she yanked it from the docking station and threw it into the wall across the room. It hit a Mayan statue from one of her digs as a grad student and fell to the floor. The screen was badly cracked. It sputtered, then was silent.

She let out a sigh of relief. Not 5 seconds later, the words drifted up from the previously thought broken iPod.

So complicated I'm so frustrated,
I wanna hold you close, I wanna push you away,
I wanna make you go, I wanna make you stay.
Should I say it, should I tell you how I feel.
Oh I want you to know, but then again I don't, It's so complicated.

Oh, I hate it. 'Cuz I've waited.
So long for someone like you
Oh, what do I do.
Oh should I say it.
Should I tell you how I feel.
I want you to know,but then again I don't.
It's so complicated..
It's so complicated..
It's so complicated.
Ohh……….

The words faded and for the second time in 72 hours, Dr. Temperance Brennan broke down and cried. Only this time, she sobbed.

Angsty enough for ya? The song is Complicated by Carolyn Dawn Johnson. I don't own it. Poor Parker and poor iPod. It hurt me to kill the innocent iPod, but in her situation I think I'd do the same thing.

POLL!! PLEASE GIVE YOUR OPINION!!

Who is worse? Agent Sully or Andrew Hacker?

I mean it's a tough call. Sully actually slept with her, but then he left. Andrew flirts with her. They both ask booth on how to get in her bed. T.T Seriously though, who do you guys think is worse?!

Does this chapter do any of the following to you?

1. Make you cry
2. Tug at your heart
3. Make you sad
4. Make you go awww in a sad, but still like romanticish way
5. Nothing
6. Other (please elaborate)

Next Time: We see Hollie and Spy again, the victim gets identified, some angst, some Booth/Brennan, awkwardness, some Parker goodness... and maybe not next chapter but maybe I'll add some more Max threatening Hacker. As the score stands Max: 1, Hacker: 0, Team Max: 2, Team Hacker: 0, Team Hank: 1 (Hank is awesome. I'm rooting for him even though he has nothing to do with that argument.)