Thank you for your review, Cheri Goodman, DoctorSweets, lukablue, bebhail, MickeyBoggs. I'm sorry to disappoint the angst continues.

Brennan took off, fuming as she pounded the sidewalk. Angry at herself and at Booth. She was upset and that was an understatement. She had always prided herself in being the only woman who would be able to bring Booth pleasure, even more so after they got married. His someone for everyone belief had somehow converted her and she had become a firm believer in it. Booth was that someone for her, she knew it, but how were they to continue if she was no longer able make love to him? She felt the need to run, not physically but to escape her situation. She loved Booth more than she thought possible, but she also felt the overwhelming urge to get away from him.

Brennan kept running, letting her legs take her wherever they wanted. She soon realized she had deviated from her usual route. It was early morning and most of Washington DC were getting up from bed and getting ready for another work day. The streets were still relatively empty, and she was on one that skirted the park she usually ran at.

She became acutely aware she was once again jogging alone with nobody else in sight. She wasn't in a wooded area, but still felt herself beginning to panic. She remembered her run that fateful morning when everything changed. She remembered tripping, falling, she remembered his hands on her.

She heard footsteps behind her, someone closing in. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She let out a startled shout, turning around. To her relief, it was a teenaged boy walking his dog.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." The boy apologized while his overly energetic dog on its leash tugged him forward.

"It's ok," Brennan mumbled. Her heart was racing and she decided it was time to head home.

When she got home Booth was livid.

"Where have you been?!"

"I told you, out running. I needed to think."

"I tried to find you."

"I told you not to come after me!"

"I had to."

"I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, stop trying to control me."

"I'm not."

"This is exactly why marriage is an archaic and antiquated. You and your need to control me."

"That's not why I married you Bones, you know that."

"Then stop keeping tabs on me twenty-four hours a day!"

"I don't, I'm just trying to take care of you."

"I can take care of myself."

"Did you forget our wedding vows? I made a vow to protect you – "

"Booth I don't want to argue with you ok? We're late for work, we'll talk later."

"Bones I'm not letting you walk away."

"I'm not, we need to get to work. We'll talk tonight."

Booth couldn't concentrate the entire day. He hated fighting with Brennan. They bickered, sure but rarely fought like that morning. He had always felt the need to protect the ones he loved, especially Brennan, but he knew perhaps he had been crowding her. He concluded that he needed to give his wife the space she needed, so he left her alone that day, even deciding against picking her from work.

It was late when Brennan finally got home. He was expecting her to evade the issue again but instead she greeted him with a "We need to talk."

"I've been thinking Booth."

"So have I. Listen Bones, I'm sorry about this morning, I was a little harsh. I've been thinking, and you're right, I need to let go. You can take care of yourself, I just, since the attack, I just feel like I failed you. Like I need to do a better job of protecting you."

"You didn't fail me Booth." Brennan placed her palm on his cheek. She kissed him gently on the lips.

"Nothing that happened is your fault. You need to let me go."

"I'll try ok? It's just in me, I have to make sure you're safe."

"No, you have to let me go."

"Go?"

"I've booked myself a ticket to Peru."

"You're leaving?"

"Yes. I had an invitation to a dig just before the attack. I rejected their offer at first but now I think it's a good opportunity for me to get away."

"Don't run from me Bones."

"I'm not."

"Something bad happened, to you, to us. But together we can get through this."

"I just need some time alone Booth."

"You can't run from our marriage, from what we have."

"I'm not, I just need time, and space."

"I'm not so sure this is such a good idea, you need me to help you get through this."

"Do you trust me Booth?"

"With my life."

"Then let me go."

Booth took in a breath. His heart was already aching terribly.

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know… but I will come back. I'm not giving up on us."

"And I'm not either."

"I love you Booth."

"I love you too Bones, don't ever forget that."

They leaned in to each other, kissing each other passionately. A kiss tangled with sadness and love.

"My flight leaves in a couple of hours."

"What?!"

"I don't need you to try to change my mind. I've told Cam, and you have the interns to help you with your cases."

"It's not work I'm worried about."

"I'll come back, I promise."

"Promise me Bones, you'll take care of yourself?"

"I will, and I'll call."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"You take care of yourself too Booth."

"Hey you don't have to worry about me."

"I'm just gonna pack some things, then maybe we could stop by Rebecca's I'd like to explain things to Parker."

Brennan loved Parker like her own son, and she did not want him thinking she and her father were breaking up. That was never her intention. She would come back, she just didn't know when.

That night Booth bid his wife farewell. The airport was quiet, and he had held her to him, trying to imprint everything about her into his mind. Her face, her scent, her taste when they kissed. Brennan held on to him, he had been her rock and one constant for the past six years of her life. She hated to go, but knew she had to. She had lived most of her adult life in fear or being abandoned. The irony wasn't lost on her. She knew this time she was the one doing the abandoning.

"I'll come back."

"I'll be waiting."

Short chapter, but review quickly, cos I'll have the next chapter up real soon.