This chapter had kind of a mind of it's own, and ended up dealing more with the word itself than how Booth knows about it… I'm assuming he knows she loves chemistry from that time she said she 'missed organic chemistry class' …and I thought it would be completely within the realm of her character to unwittingly pick a password that had so much potential subtext to it... so enjoy! …And thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed so far, you guys are so great!

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"Chemistry: Intense emotional or psychological interaction between two people, usually experienced as powerful mutual attraction." Angela Pearly-Gates Montenegro, best friend to Tempe Brennan and sage to all, knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Brennan and her FBeye-candy had it in spades, but just try telling either of them.

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"That's not what the word 'chemistry' means Angela!" Brennan exclaimed trying desperately to avoid the 'you and Booth should just hook up already' rigmarole that she got at least once a case since she had hugged him at Angela's wedding. Physically she could run away, but Angela always followed…and mentally Angela was always in her head, especially when Booth was less than a foot away.

But today Angela obviously wasn't going to let this go too easily; then again, she never did.

"Sweetie, this is what I do! You gotta trust me. And by the looks of your knight in FBI standard-issue body armor over there I can promise you won't regret it for a second." She said with what could only be a sly, mind-in-the-gutter smirk. Brennan finally paused in her marathon circuit around the lab tables and turned around.

"But we do nothing but argue!"

"Aha!" the artist pointed a finger in her friend's direction. "I thought you said that you and Booth 'don't argue'."

Brennan sighed and started for her office. Angela was, of course, skipping a few steps behind. "If you two don't 'argue', then what is it that you do ALL the time?"

Brennan headed straight for her desk and while flipping through various papers; she tried to explain herself to the artist perched on the arm of her sofa.

"Well… in basic terms that's what we do… but there's no anger in it, so it's not really arguing in the classical sense… It's more like a lively discussion… it's even kind of fun."

Angela took her elbow and pulled her over to the couch. "Sweetie… that's called 'banter'. All great couples with chemistry do it; Elizabeth and Darcy, Beatrice and Benedict, Nick and Nora and Mulder and Scully."

Brennan looked confused for a minute, searching through her mind for the cultural references. "I guess that makes sense in the larger view, the 'banter' could be a coping mechanism for subconscious sexual attraction, but I don't know about including Booth and I in tha… Wait, Mulder and Scully? Booth called us that once! But I still don't know what it means."

Angela couldn't decide whether to faint, squeal, or run and tell Hodgins, so she opted for a voice that rivaled a chipmunk's. "He said what?!"

Temperance leaned back and made a face at the shrill sound that escaped her friend's lips; and then scooted farther back when Angela began to smile like the Cheshire cat in that movie that her friend Cindy had liked when she was eight.

"I don't see the big deal Angela. Booth and I are just partners… but I guess I should ask, based on your reaction, who are Mulder and Scully?"

Angela quickly calmed herself down enough to explain. "Mulder and Scully were characters on a TV show from the 90's called 'The X-files'. They were FBI agents who investigated paranormal events like UFO sightings and stuff; she was a doctor and a skeptic, he was a psychological profiler and a believer in just about everything they encountered…"

"Logically, I'd say that was a pretty good analog to Booth and I, but why did you get so excited? They were partners too, right?"

"Hold on Bren, I haven't gotten to the best part of it yet. In between all the bickering, bantering and aliens, Mulder and Scully fell in love; but neither one would admit it. For years they bickered, hugged, argued, hugged, and drove all of the fans completely insane. Just like you and Booth drive Hodgins and I insane. And since he made the reference… You see where I'm going here?"

Suddenly the room seemed a too small and too warm for Brennan's liking, she got up and walked to the doorframe to get some air. "… You think he thinks that we could fall… eventually… umm…hmm…"

Angela smiled at her discomfort and watched as her best friend on the whole world stared out her office door at the man in question, who was looking over Hodgins' shoulder at something. After a second, he looked up and stared back. Neither took their eyes off the other for a few long minutes, as if they were studying each other, searching for some kind of truth in their partners' eyes. Angela wanted to squeal again, but controlled herself enough to walk over and put a hand on Brennan's shoulder and whisper in her ear.

"Bren, I think he already is."

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"Chemistry: the branch of science that deals with the composition of and combination of elements, and the investigation of how they interact, combine and change each other." Jack Hodgins, self proclaimed bug man and reluctant millionaire, had read this definition a million times over the years, but never seen it apply to a pair of people as well as to his colleague and her big, tall FBI agent partner. Asking Booth about it scared him just a tad, but with his well-developed sense of humor, how bad could one little comment be?

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"I am not going to ask her out Hodgins! What does this lab do to you people?"

"Ok, no dating." He decided to try a little harder. "How about just pushing her up against the wall and kissing her senseless?"

Before he got soundly thwapped in the face with a manila folder, the entomologist glimpsed Booth's immediate reaction to his suggestion. It was a grin; one that he had often seen in the mirror before he and Angela had gotten together. It was a grin with a darker side, a side of fear and nervousness. And then his vision was filled with beige and the smell of freshly copied paper.

"Ok, ok, ok, Man. I get it. But you can't honestly say you haven't thought about it."

"Maybe I can honestly say that."

Hodgins gave him his patented 'yea right' look and with a quick look around to see whom was within earshot the Agent folded instantly.

"Fine. So I can't honestly say that. But I'm a guy, and she's…" he said lowering his voice progressively. "…well stunning. It's not hard to think about it."

"That's not all you think of her Dude. You'd have to be wearing sunglasses, following a dog and selling pencils not to see it. Chemistry like that is hard to hide. I would know, I've got a doctorate in it."

The guys then went back to discussing the actual case, but Hodgins noticed that Booth's eyes strayed towards her office more than usual. He looked over too, Brennan was talking to Angela about something very animatedly, walking around and waving her arms, sitting and then getting up again. He could tell that Booth was worried about her, what she thought of him, and how she was doing. He knew he could help ease the agent's mind.

"Hey Booth, I think there's something I should show you… I thought that I'd save it to give to your kids, but I think you might need it now."

Booth was really confused, but he was more curious than confused. When Hodgins returned with a hand in the pocket of his lab coat Booth got a little nervous, and of course, communicated this nervousness with a threat.

"Hodgins, if you are about to show me a bug or something slimy I swear to God I will shoot you."

He got his answer in the form of a chuckle from the scientist.

"No, it doesn't have any legs, but it still might scare you a little." He took his hand out of his pocket, and with it came a small evidence bag with a folded piece of dirty paper inside it. "It's from last year when Brennan and I were buried together. It ended up with my clothes at the hospital and after reading it I couldn't throw it away."

Hodgins sat down at his workstation and opened the bag, carefully unfolding the paper with gloved hands; he flattened it out enough for the agent to read the short note.

Booth, I once told you that I was very articulate on paper, but given the stress of my current situation I'm finding that my potential last words to you are hard to find. You and our partnership have meant more to me than I thought anyone or anything ever could again. Talking to you is always stimulating, and being around you is always an adventure. You are a wonderful man, and probably the best father your son could hope for. You helped me get out into the real world and then let me observe and discover what being alive is really about; you believed in me from the start, without question. And Seeley, if these do end up to be my last words, I want you to know that I believe in you. And since you believe so much in love, I'm going to say that I love you. Because I think I might anyways.

Ever,

Temperance

Hodgins waited for Booth to straighten up, then folded the note up and put it back into the plastic. As he turned around on the stool to hand it to the agent, he noticed the gaze that his two friends were exchanging. They stared at each other for what felt like hours without ceremony, searching deeply into the pair of eyes that returned their own like a mirror.

Hodgins smiled as Angela snuck up behind Brennan, and as his fiancé whispered in her ear he clapped Booth on the shoulder and congratulated him.

"Dude, it looks like she definitely might."

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This chapters' review prize is a front row seat to our favorite couples' next big kiss scene… you know you want to get this one!!