Hi everybody again,

Here is the tenth chapter of my story. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: as always, Bones is not mine…

OF BRAINS AND HEARTS...

She wanted to kill Angela. She wanted to get into the deepest hole she could find and hide there forever. She hated to feel this way, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't sure if she wanted to have this conversation with him, because she knew for sure that nothing would be the same. The change to something new with him was what scared her the most. She was very comfortable with this situation. Well, if she had to be honest with herself, not very comfortable. Ok, she admitted to herself, she wanted this to happen, some day, yes, but, it has to be now? She needed time to process everything in her brain, and that was just what she hadn't: time. She was surely going to kill Angela after this.

Booth knew this was going to be difficult for her. He didn't know this was going to happen this way. He couldn't know that she and Angela were talking about him in that very moment. He had searched her around the lab, and when he found them there he just wanted to apologize for his previous behavior, and to tell her to get some sleep, because she couldn't get more than a few hours, and in a chair. She must be exhausted after all had happened. And when he was just going to say something, he heard Angela talking about the relationship with him… and he just stood still. Only Angela could see him, and she gave him a glance that meant wait there and don't dare to move. He kept quiet listening to them. When Bones told Angela how she had felt while he was unconscious on the flat roof, he had goose bumps. He couldn't watch her face, but when Angela asked her about the Gravedigger, all her body jumped in uneasiness. Angela was right. Her reaction told more the truth than what she wanted. When he heard Angela tell her that they were in love, almost telling directly to him, he felt like a child surprised playing a prank. But at the same time he felt as if a big weight had been taken off his mind. This was surprising, because he had spent the last years denying his true feelings for her to everyone, even to himself. But now, listening to Angela telling Bones those things he thought that it could be a good idea to deal with this once and for all. He saw her turning around and look directly to him with absolute terror in her eyes, even more than when they were at the hospital with the killer, and he changed his mind; maybe the idea wasn't so good, after all. He kept looking at her when Angela wished him good luck and left.

"Hey" He said, approaching slowly to her. He knew she was trying to put her brain on, but maybe it could be easier if she hadn't time to think.

"How m-much t-time…" She began, but she knew very well that he had listened too much. It would be useless to try to deny everything, but she couldn't say anything more coherent.

"Bones… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snoop at you. I just wanted to apologize and tell you should get some sleep." He said sincerely. But she was too confused in that moment to get a word out.

"I-I n-need… I-I c-can't… n-now…" She babbled while turning around, trying to walk out of there. She wasn't used to deal with these kind of situations, and didn't know what to do. So she just tried to run away. But Booth didn't let her. He grabbed her elbow and gently made her stop and turn around again. They were just a few inches of one another. She was absolutely blocked, as he has never seen her before. Well, that was logical after all. She had never dealt with any situation like this in her life. This was… she didn't know.

"Temperance…" He said, trying to calm her down a little. He bowed his head trying to have a better look of her eyes. She took a step backward.

"I-I h-have wo-work to d-do r-right now." She just said doubtlessly.

He had slid his hand from her elbow to her hand. She was shaking. "Hey, why are you so frightened? It's just me!" He said, trying to calm her down.

"That's just the problem, b-because it's just y-you!" She said, with fear in her voice. "I-I need t-to go." She said trying to release her from him. But he wasn't going to let her go so easily.

"No, wait, please!" He said, squeezing her hand gently. He needed to get to her, because she was trying to run and hide herself in a shell. "Please…" He said, watching her internal fight. She didn't know either to stay or to run as fast as she could. Couldn't he see that she wasn't ready for this? She thought. "We need to talk." He said almost whispering.

But she was too much blocked. She needed to go out of there right now. She needed time to think, because this was going to be a big change in her life, although she had been wishing this to happen for some time. She didn't believe in the happy ending, the we-are-gonna-be-together-forever, nor in love as Booth or Angela did. Every one that she had allowed to enter in her heart had left her, sooner or later. Her parents, her brother, her boyfriends... Now Booth wanted something more and she didn't know whether she could give what he needed or not. And what would happen if she couldn't? He'd leave? She couldn't lose him. For the first time in her life, the simple thought of lose someone left her breathless. She had had to deal with these feelings in these days, and she knew she couldn't go on without him. It would be too much for her.

"Bones…"

"I c-can't do t-this now, Booth. Please, let m-me go." She said releasing her hand from his. He tried to catch it again, holding his hand out toward hers. But this time she was faster than him and was walking quickly, almost running, through the upper platform to the stairs. Booth couldn't do anything to stop her. He could just watch her leave. He remained still a few seconds, disappointed and desperate, not knowing what to do now. Definitely, this hadn't been a good idea. But when he arrived there and heard Bones and Angela talking about him, he couldn't help to stand still. And then Angela saw him there. In that moment he thought this could work, because she was opening herself to Angela, but when Angela left, he wasn't so sure that this was going to work. And then she left, and his worst thoughts proved right. Her refusal to talk about that made him think that maybe she didn't feel the same way he felt for her. He sat heavily on a chair, feeling absolutely defeated. What could he do now? He couldn't go home, and he didn't want to stay there. He ruled that last thought out of his mind and decided to stay just there, in that chair, for the moment. Maybe later he could have the courage to talk to Angela. Maybe she could help him. He waited there a few minutes more, just to breathe. Then he stood up and walked down again, not knowing neither where to go nor what to do.

Brennan had sat on the stairs, out of everyone sight. She needed to be alone for a while, and put her thoughts in order. This was too much in so short period of time, too many emotions to deal with. First the case, that killer obsessed with her, who was trying to get her and kill Booth. And now this. She had made a big effort to open herself to Angela, admitting to her and to herself that she had some kind of feelings for Booth. How could she have done this to her? She'd deal with Angela later, but now she had a lot to think about.

Maybe Angela was right, but she didn't want to risk her relationship with Booth on any account. She believed that if they became romantically involved their relationship was doomed to fail, and they'd broke off, as always had happened to her with every romantic relationship she had had. That's why she always needed to stay in control of her feelings. It had become very easy to her, but somehow she couldn't do it with Booth, and she didn't know why. It bothered her too much. Maybe what she had to do is to stay away from him for a while. This way she could regain control again over her feelings, and he could do the same, and everything would be normal again.

Everyone was so immersed in the case that they arrived very early to the lab, because it was just 7 am, and everyone was already working. She spent the next two hours talking with Cam, Hodgins and Clark. She went to Cam's office and explained everything that had happened at the hospital, and that Angela had the videos of the attack and was searching for the man in all the other videos. Cam was stunned, she said nothing but just two questions: where was Booth, and where were they going to be. She knew the lab couldn't be as comfortable as their homes, but undoubtedly it was the safest place to stay, with the exception of the Hoover building. But the lab was far more comfortable than the FBI Headquarters. Brennan answered that she didn't know, but for the moment they would be at the lab.

Then she went to speak with Hodgins and Clark. They told her there was nothing relevant on the victim's clothes, just evidences that proved that the victim worked at the hospital, but nothing more. It was just another dead end. The samples of the crime scene were at the mass spectrograph to identify the components, and maybe to find something useful. They had just samples of blood and the lubricant, but they must try. She summarized what had happened at the hospital, and that the FBI forensics were going to send them samples from there. She asked Hodgins to call her as soon as he had something new. She asked Clark too, to work side by side with Hodgins, since they had nothing to do with the body of Karen Lindberg. They already knew the cause of death and every clue from her had been analyzed. The Jeffersonian could return the body to the family to bury her.

While Brennan was talking to Cam, Booth arrived to Angela's office. He didn't want to go to Bones' because she could be there. If she wanted some space he could give that to her, although it could hurt him. When he entered in Angela's office she knew that something had gone wrong.

"What had happened? You're face is so long that it's almost touching the floor."

"She ran." He simply said.

"She what?" She asked with incredulity.

"She frightened and ran away. She didn't let me say anything."

"Oh, God. Where is she now?" Angela asked, concerned.

"I have no idea. I suppose she's in her office, but, I don't know." He sounded as deflated as he was.

"Booth, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to force you two to do anything. You just appeared in that exact moment, and she was just being so honest, that I didn't want her to stop talking. I'm really sorry." She said sincerely.

"It's not your fault, Angela. I should have said something for her to notice I was there."

"No, of course is my fault, and I'm sure she'll be mad at me right now."

"Probably."

"But for your face, she's even madder at you."

"Don't doubt that." Booth said sadly. Angela wanted to speak with him too. She was right, she knew that, but somehow she needed to hear it from him.

"Booth, apart from that, can I make you a question?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, it's not just a question. She told me something about a dream you had when you were in coma. She explained to me something about you making questions about you two being married, she being pregnant, and other things. She's hurt because you haven't told her anything about that dream, and she doesn't know why. She thinks that you don't trust in her." Booth was stunned at that statement. How could Bones think that he didn't trust in her? He trusted in her with his own life. "But I know she's wrong."

"Of course she's wrong!" Booth said with surprise. "How can she…?"

"That's clear. But the question is, why is she wrong? I told her that the reason why you hadn't told her anything about that dream was because the best part of your dream were the feelings you dreamed. I'm sure that dream was very real, and there you hadn't to hide them. I'm sure they have become stronger after that dream than ever. And don't try to fool me, honey. Don't bother to deny that you didn't feel anything for her before. It was plain as the nose on your face." Angela asked inquisitively. Booth took a few seconds to answer to that. One thing was to know something and another was to say it out loud. But, what else could he do?

"Yes, you're right." He said bowing his head. At least he had admitted to someone else. Now he felt really relieved.

"I knew it!" She exclaimed.

"Angela, you should be a psychologist. You're far better reading people than Sweets."

"Thank you. Coming from you is too much a compliment."

"Ange, I don't what to do." He said worried. "She just ran away when you left. I admit that you were right about me, but I'm not sure you were right about her. I don't think she feels the same way as me. She didn't even want to listen to me. She was… she was terrified! I've never seen her like this before. And what is worse, among the few things she said, she told me that she was frightened because of me."

"I see. But I think you're wrong. She is scared to death because the nature of your relationship is about to change. She has detected changes in your behavior that tell her that something is about to happen. I'm sure I know exactly why she has run. But what surprises me a lot is you not knowing it. You know her even better than me."

"Not in these kind of situations. We have always been just partners and friends, nothing else."

"Yes, I know that very well. If you two had listened to me before…" She said ironically. "What I'm trying to tell you is that she needs you, Booth, more than she could admit even to herself, and more than she has ever needed you. You listened to her when she told me how she felt when she found you lying on the floor. You heard her how she told me it, she was stammering. I've just heard her stammering once before, and she was explaining to me how the El Salvador police abducted and threatened during several days to kill her and throw her body into a communal grave just as they had done with a lot of people before, and that nobody would ever find her nor would know what had happened to her. That was the only time I've heard her stammering.

"She has never talked to me about that."

"Well, it was ages ago. I'm sure you remember the case with the Mara Muerte… she kicked the ass of one of its heads at the Hoover."

"Yes, I remember that very well." Booth said. He indeed remembered how it ended.

"When I told her off for doing such a thing and put her own life on risk she told me why she had done that to him. I also remember you being late at the funeral." She said, with a little smile on her face.

"Yes, she was mad at me. But… do you want to know why I was late? Believe me, I couldn't forget about it." Angela just nodded in agreement. "After that public humiliation that son of a bitch put a prize on her head. So I waited for him to appear in a place where he used to be. I put the gun in his mouth and told him that I'd kill him if something happened to her. I guess I made myself very clear, because he just agreed. He was just a piece of shit."

"Oh, my God!" She said grinning. "I'm sure she wouldn't have been that mad at you if you had explained that to her."

"No, she would. You can be sure of that." He answered smiling a little too.

"Yes, you're right!" She said. Then she turned serious again. "But to get back to what we were talking, you didn't see her face today, Booth. She couldn't bear something bad happening to you. That thought just makes her sick."

"When you asked her about the Gravedigger I couldn't see her face, but her body stiffened and she jumped disturbed. She got very angry with you." He said. "I thought that you were right when you told her that her reaction told more the truth than her words. But, then she told me all that, and, Angela, she was truly scared. More than that, it was as if her brain had stopped by the fear. I can't deal with her if she's scared of me."

"Haven't you been listening to me, Booth? She's not scared of you. She couldn't be scared of you. She's scared because she sees the possibility to lose you."

"But that doesn't make any sense. That's just the opposite of what I want. How could I try to be with her not being with her?" He said, but just after saying that everything clicked in his mind. "Wait… I think I understand you. How could I be so blind? She thinks that if we get together she's gonna lose me, because she thinks that everyone she has loved, had left her. That's what she thinks. Oh, my God!"

"Exactly! That's just what she's thinking. That's exactly why she has run away from you, and that's exactly why it's going to be hard for you to get to her." She stated.

"Yeah, you're right!"

"Booth, I bet she's gonna concentrate in her work as if nothing else exists, not even you, nor me, nor anything else. Just work. Don't let her get exhausted. She's going to work, and work, and work. She'll forget even to eat or sleep."

"I know that. In fact, when I found you both up there, I just wanted to tell her to get some sleep, because she had had just a few hours in an uncomfortable chair at the hospital. She must be exhausted right now." He said. "I think I should go and find her."

"Yes, but before, I have good news for you. I'm sure she hasn't told you anything about the case, right?"

"No, she hasn't. It'll be better if you told me." He said, a little more relaxed now. Then Angela explained what she had got through the videos: the attack, the killer's face, and what tests was she going to run. She told him too about Brennan's idea of search for the killer in the university videos. He then asked her to take a look at the electronic devices the killer had installed: the one for lock the door, and the microphones.

"I'll call you as soon as I have any result, ok?" She said.

"Ok." He said, turning around to leave her office. "Oh, Angela, thank you!"

"For what? I've just messed things too much between you two."

"Don't blame yourself. Maybe we can still make sense of all this."

"Good luck, again. I guess you'll need it this time."

"Me too." He said, and left. He headed to Brennan's office, but when he arrived she wasn't there. He thought about what Angela had told him about her working too much. She was absolutely right. He was going to wait her for a while, but if she didn't come in a reasonable period of time he'd go and grab her to her couch and make her sleep a little. And after that they could have a very good talk.

An hour later Booth was speaking with Perotta by phone in Brennan office, but she hadn't arrived yet. Perotta was telling him that Harmon was stable and awake. Booth was glad to hear that. Harmon was a good man and a good agent. Then she told him that every evidence from the hospital, from his own apartment and from the parking was going to be sent to the Jeffersonian to be analyzed.

When he was saying goodbye to Perotta and hanging the phone Brennan came back to her office. He said nothing, just stared at her. Her face showed evident signs of exhaustion: she had dark rings under her eyes and her face was whiter than it used to be, and she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. But she just blinked twice and passed by his side to sit on her chair. She didn't expect to find him there, but however, where was he going to be? He watched her focus on her computer and some papers that Hodgins had given to her. She was trying to concentrate on the work, but it was very difficult with Booth staring at her that way. Maybe it'd be better to go to talk to Angela instead. So, she stood up again and took a few steps toward the door, but Booth blocked it before she could leave. She felt the anger rising inside her.

"Get away from the door, Booth!" She said in a warning voice.

"I have a déjà vu right now. This situation seems familiar to me." He answered trying to play the situation down a little. But she wasn't in the mood for that now and didn't understand.

"Let me go, now! I have work to do!" She said not hiding the anger.

"No, what you need to do is get some sleep. You're exhausted. You've slept a few hours in an uncomfortable chair this night. If you don't want me here with you I can wander somewhere else, but you're going to lie on your couch right now!" He replied with the same tone as hers. Two can play the same game, he thought. She stood still when she heard him telling her that she didn't want him there. "Bones…" he changed to a softer voice and took a step forward "I just want you to be ok. If you want to focus on the work, that's fine with me, but you'll be more useful if you take some rest. Let your squints do their job."

"They are not my squints!" She replied.

"It was just a figure of speech. Right now everyone here is working hard to help you. They didn't want anything happening to you, neither do I!"

"I know that, but that doesn't mean that you could lock me in my office!" She replied stubbornly.

"Bones, I'm not going to lock you anywhere. You can do whatever you want. But please, do as I say, just for once. I can understand that you don't want me here. That won't be a problem. But rest a few hours in your office. I make myself sure that anyone disturbs you unless it's something important, ok?" He said. Now she was feeling bad for him. He was thinking that she didn't want him around her, and that wasn't true. She just needed time to put her mind in order. But he was right in something. She hadn't notice it, but now that he had told her, she was indeed exhausted. The effect of the dopamine was gone. She sat heavily on the couch and closed her eyes a second.

"You don't have to go anywhere, Booth. You can stay here, you know that." She said in a soft voice now.

"Well, it didn't seem that to me a while ago." He answered sitting in the armchair next to the couch. But she didn't answer to that, because she didn't know what to say. "Lie down for a while."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you think that I don't want you around me. I was just…" She began.

"Bones, don't worry for this now. Just try to sleep, ok?" He said. But she knew that he was upset. She knew very well that he needed to talk, and now that she had time to think about it, it could be a good moment. Now they were alone, and maybe later they wouldn't have time.

"No, I'm ok. Booth…" she took a breath and went on "I'm sorry." She kept silent a few seconds again.

"For what?" He asked.

"For leaving you there the way I did. I think that led you to think that I don't want your company, but that's not true, and I'm sorry for that."

"Bones…" He started, but she didn't let him interrupt her.

"No, let me finish." She said, and he let her go on. "I'm sorry too if I did or said something that led you to think about me in another way."

"What are you talking about?" He said, suspecting what she was going to say.

"What I'm trying to say is, that I think you are feeling something different about me. But I don't want anything to change between us." She tried to sound convincing, but he knew her better than she thought, and knew she was lying. She was trying to hide herself behind a shield of insensitivity, but he wasn't willing to let her do it.

"Bones, this is bullshit. Not even you could believe that!" He said.

"But that's the truth!" She replied. She didn't expect him to say that.

"I think you've forgotten who you're talking with. I know you, remember? I already told you that maybe you could fool someone else, even yourself, but you can't lie to me."

"I'm not lying, Booth! I really don't want anything to change between us."

"Ok, look at me and now you tell me what you've told Angela before. Explain to me how you felt when you found me lying on the floor and you thought I was dead!"

"What the Hell is happening to all of you today? Why everybody insists in what I felt in those situations?" She was almost yelling.

"Because in that kind of situations people let their true feelings come to light. Because in that kind of situations hardly anyone is capable of remain in a shell. And you're not a robot!" He almost yelled too.

"You can't know how I feel about anything only watching my reactions in dangerous situations!" She answered.

"Bones, you told Angela, babbling, how you felt when you found me in the flat roof. Babbling! I've never heard you babbling before!"

"I'm sorry if my manner of speaking it's not to your liking, Booth. I was worried about you! How did you want me to react???" Now she was yelling.

"You're not following me, Bones!"

"I don't think so! In fact, I thing I understand you pretty well! You have simply misunderstood my reactions, because you want to see something in them that is not there. I'm sorry, but I just can't give you what you want from me!" Now she had to lie to him, but it was the only way to make him go away from her.

"I'm not buying that! And I'm gonna tell you exactly why I don't believe you! Do you want to hear it out loud?" He was angry, and didn't bother to hide it. "You're scared because almost everyone that meant something to you has left you, one time or another. But guess what? I'm not going anywhere. You're frightened without a good reason to be." He was going to go on, but she interrupted him.

"Without a good reason? Maybe my reasons are not good enough for you, but that doesn't turn them to bad reasons. And how you dare to tell me that? I know pretty well who has left me before, I don't need you to remember it, thank you!" She shouted with desperation. She closed her eyes, trying hard not to let the tears fall from her eyes. But she couldn't help it.

"Do you wanna know why I didn't tell you anything about what I've dreamed? Just because of this. How do I suppose to raise this with you? For the first time, I couldn't go and talk to you about something. Do you have an idea how that made me feel? What could I do? I needed to do something, but I couldn't rely on you to talk about it!"

"I-I don't k-know!" She just said. She stood up from the couch and turn around it. She leant on the wall trying to regain some self-control. Her brain was becoming water. Why everything had to be so complicated? She thought. "I just want everything to be as always between us, why this is so complicate for you to understand?"

"Because is not enough for me anymore!"

"And what about what I need? You're being selfish now! You think that what you feel is enough to make everything change, but it's not. I'm part of this relationship too, and I don't want it to change now!"

"Why? Why exactly don't you want it to change?" He asked standing up too. He stopped a mere inches of her.

"B-because... I-I don't..."

"You're babbling again, Bones!" He said leaning even closer to her. "I'm going to make it very easy for you!" He put his arms on the wall on each side of her, blocking every way out of him. "Look at me in the eye and tell me that you feel absolutely nothing for me! I can deal with it, but try to say the truth this time!" He was so close to her that she could feel his breathing on her own. Now she couldn't think rationally. "Stop trying to think with your brain, it's useless in these situations. Maybe you can try with another organ more appropriated for this time."

She didn't know what to do. This was Booth, for God's sake. If it has been anyone else sure he'd be picking his balls from the floor. But this was Booth, her Booth. She was blocked again and he knew it very well. He let her some space to breathe, more to himself than to her. That proximity was intoxicating. He hardly could keep his self-control and not kiss her right now.

She recovered a little too, and found some hidden courage to reply, stubbornly.

"You think you know a lot about my feelings, but you don't say anything about yours. How can you demand me to tell you how I feel if you don't say anything about how you feel?" This question made him look at her with incredulity.

"I'm sorry. I think you were here for the last ten minutes, but maybe I was speaking with someone else!" He replied ironically.

"You're being sarcastic."

"Have you notice it?" He said. He blocked her on the wall again with his arms. "Don't you know how I feel? Really? Ok. Let me tell you, plain and clear, how I feel! I love you, ok? I LOVE YOU, and I can't help doing it. Although I could do something to stop loving you, I wouldn't do such a thing. If you don't feel anything about me, let me doubt that, I can deal with it. If you don't love me I-I... I really can accept that even it could hurt me a lot. But I don't want to deal with you denying your feelings for me, just because you're too scared to accept them in front of me. I've already told you, that I don't count on going anywhere. I love my son, I love my job and I love YOU, and all that turns out to be here. So, why I should go anywhere else having here everything I love?"

Now she was truly blocked. She didn't expect him telling her that. He loved her. He had told her that he loved her. She couldn't believe what she had heard. What can she do now? She couldn't help to raise her eyes and look at him too. She was feeling her walls trembling down and he saw it in her eyes. After a few seconds of mutual staring, he closed his eyes and leant his head since their foreheads were together.

"Bones, I can't promise you I'll be with you forever." He said in a very soft voice now. She shivered and closed her eyes too, letting his aura embrace her.

"I-I know t-that's impossible. We're gonna die someday." It took a great effort to her to say that sentence. He opened his eyes with the sound of her voice.

"But what I can promise you is that I'm not going to leave you on purpose." He said. "I want to be with you. I can say it louder, but not clearer." He was almost whispering on her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"You know t-that what you're feeling right n-now it's possibly due to the d-dopamine that the doctors gave you at the hospital? Recent s-studies have shown that t-that substance is w-what m-makes us feel romantic love." She needed to regain some more control, and that was her way to do it. "Your g-glands in your brain are secreting phenylethylamine and that makes your brain..." She couldn't finish because Booth was kissing her. She stayed still just a second and then returned the kiss instinctively. When he felt she kissing back he held her face with his two hands and deepened the kiss. The taste of their lips, their tongues fighting together... it was overwhelming. Her hands came one on his chest and the other on his neck. Every cell of their bodies was now radiating energy, like a hurricane that storms right after a deep calm. Their calm had been so long that now they felt as if they could switch on every light of the city. He felt her still shivering, but she was relaxing second by second. Then they broke the kiss, their eyes still closed, remembering the taste of the other.

"I've told you to turn off your brain…" He said breathless. And then he kissed her again, and now even more passionate than before, if it could be possible. He put his arms around her back and held her very tight. And her arms travelled through his waist, searching by instinct for even more contact with his body. But (what a hated word) they had to stop. Someone could come to her office every moment. So he moved slowly away, and went regaining control over his own bit by bit.

"You should rest a little..." He said almost whispering, opening his eyes a looking at her. She opened her eyes too.

"Do you think I could sleep after this?"

To be continued...

Uffffff........... how difficult was to write this... I think I need a break!!

Reviews, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!