"Temperance." Andrew's knock against her office door was soft and he looked a bit tentative as she glanced up. He was glad he'd caught her in her office, but he was nervous.

"Andrew." He certainly wasn't the person Brennan was expecting to see walking into her office. After spending the morning in court and a quick lunch at the diner, she was almost expecting Booth to stop by and remind her not to forget to take a break for dinner even though she had plenty of work that she needed to catch up on. She had hoped that she could simply turn Andrew down the next time he asked her out, but clearly that wasn't going to happen.

He held a small gift bag up and offered a smile as he walked towards her desk. "Since you weren't able to make it to the concert, I thought I'd bring you a bit of a peace offering."

She raised a brow at him in confusion. "A peace offering would imply that we were at war." She felt more than amicable towards Andrew, she was just certain that her feelings were merely platonic. Was this some sort of social construct that she was unaware of?

He let out a soft chuckle as he set the bag on her desk. "It's a concert T-shirt. I know that you said you liked Bon Jovi, and since you were unable to attend, I thought you might enjoy having a souvenir." He also felt guilty that he'd gone out of his way to get tickets only to end up taking someone else.

"Oh." She wasn't sure if she should decline his gift if keeping it implied that she was receptive to seeing him again socially. "Did you and Dr. Klein have a good time?"

A guilty look flashed across his face for just a second and he felt compelled to adjust his tie. "Yes, we did." He hadn't felt this nervous in some time. "She bought Agent Booth a shirt as well."

"Oh." If Catherine Klein was still in the mindset to be buying Booth gifts then perhaps things hadn't gone so well between her and Andrew. Clearly she was going to have to be direct. "I'm not sure if I should accept this." Brennan looked directly into Andrew's eyes as she stood up. "I don't want to give the wrong impression, but I believe that accepting this from you might imply that I have further interest in pursuing a personal relationship with you."

A slight 'deer in the headlights' expression flashed across Andrew's face.

"Was that too direct?" She felt a pang of regret only for the fact that she was sure that she'd hurt his feelings and he was a very nice man. Surely Andrew Hacker didn't deserve to be purposely hurt.

He let out a soft chuckle again. "No, that was was perfect." He seemed to stand up a bit straighter and a smile warmed his expression. "It makes all of this easier actually." He pushed the bag a bit closer to her. "I really do want you to have the shirt, if for no other reason than to apologize for hitting it off with Catherine."

She smiled as she began to realize that there were no hard feelings. "I'm glad that you and she hit it off. Will you be seeing her again."

Andrew looked nervous again. "Actually, yes, I will be seeing her again. I only hope that Agent Booth is as understanding as you are." Although he highly doubted that Booth would mind at all since it was pretty obvious that the man was in love with Temperance himself.

"I'm sure he will be. He mentioned that he didn't feel any spark with Dr. Klein." There was a strange feeling of wistfulness welling up inside of her and she didn't know if it had to do with the fact that Andrew had found Catherine or the fact that she was starting to come to grips with the fact that she hadn't wanted to be with Andrew because he wasn't Booth.

"Look, Temperance, if I may be so bold, if the only thing holding you and Booth back from seeing each other socially is the technicality of FBI regulations, there are ways around that." He let out an amused chuckle. "I should know, I'm the Deputy Director."

This was certainly a variable that she hadn't anticipated, but she was also sure that Booth wouldn't appreciate it if she were to discuss what might or might not be between them with his boss. "Thank you for the T-shirt." Her smile was genuine. "I'm glad that you and Dr. Klein will be seeing each other again."

Andrew seemed pleased with the way things had gone. "I can see that you have alot of work to do."

"Yes, I do." She really didn't seem any reason to go into detail since she presumed that he was looking for a way to wrap up the conversation in a socially acceptable manner.

"Then I'll be seeing you around." He offered a friendly wave and let himself out of her office.

"I know that you like vintage concert shirts, and while this isn't vintage, I thought you might like it." Catherine smiled at Booth as she explained the shirt she'd brought him. As fate would have it, she'd finally found him alone and in his office late in the day.

Booth didn't want to be rude, but he also didn't want to lead her on any further either as he looked at the Bon Jovi T-shirt that she'd brought him and then set it on his desk. "Uh, thanks." He cleared his throat and rest his hand on his hip as he considered how he was going to break up with her. "Did you and Hacker have a good time?"

"We did." She didn't hesitate to answer and a tentative smile twitched the corners of her mouth. "Perhaps too good of a time." She let out a breath and offered him an apologetic smile before she continued. "Things between you and I weren't going to go anywhere, were they?"

He shook his head and returned her smile. "I guess not." This was far easier than he'd imagined it could be, but he still felt badly that he'd essentially led her on, but then again, maybe it had just opened his eyes a little more to how hard moving on from Bones could be.

"I can tell that you care deeply about your partner, Seeley. I just hope that she realizes how lucky she is." Catherine was genuinely happy with the way things were turning out. She wasn't about to be someone's second best, and quite by accident she'd found a man who she thought she just might have a future with in Andrew Hacker.

"If it helps, I really do think that you're a wonderful person, Catherine." He felt almost guilty that he was happy that she was dumping him instead of the other way around.

"But your heart belongs to her, whether she realizes it or not." Her smile warmed again and she raised her hand in a brief wave. "Enjoy the shirt." And with that, she was gone.