Heartbreak City

by JulesSC

Booth and Brennan are back in DC after a year apart, two completely different people. He has a blonde on his arm, seemingly out of love with her, and she has heartbreak in her eyes, having come to terms with her love for him. Eventually BB.

5. Chapter 5

A/N PLEASE READ: So I've re-uploaded this chapter with quite a lot of changes here. What went down with Angela and Brennan in the original chapter still happens here but I've changed Kira's personality. Mostly because I re-read the chapter and cringed at how high school I've made her out to be the first time. And, you know, as oblivious as Brennan is all the time, she still has a knack for choosing the best people to get close to - Angela and Booth, for example. I've also changed HOW Brennan and Kira met up with one another again since it seems strange that she'd show up out of the blue like that. The inspiration for their meet-up this time around came from a CASTLE episode named 'A Rose For Everafter'. I mean, I didn't steal everything from it but there are similarities.

I'm introducing a new character here. At the beginning of chapter 1, I mentioned that Brennan will be getting back an old lover of hers, one who happens to be female. I know that in the series Brennan said she had never been with a woman, but I'm tweaking it a little.

Please let me know if you enjoyed this chapter.

Timeline:

Freshman year of college: Brennan meets Angela (I don't know when they met or remember if they touched on this in the series, but I always thought that they met in college)

Sophomore year of college: Brennan and Angela meets Kira Fusco, their new roommate.

P.S. Kira's picture in on my profile. Imagine her as Melinda Clarke, with red hair.

Also please note that a) I'm very sorry for what I'm about to do in this chapter, b) there will NOT be any love scenes except between Booth and Brennan somewhere down the line and c) please bear in mind that there is a point in Brennan's relationship with Kira which you might understand by the end of this chapter or in the coming few chapters; I'm not just putting Kira in there to make things more interesting or anything like that.

Disclaimer: Hart Hanson owns Bones, not me.

*MUSIC*

Come Back Home by Holly Conlan

The Day Before the Day by Dido

No Way Back by 8MM

Edge of the Ocean by Ivy

Stay Where You Are by Ambulance LTD

I Tell Myself by Correatown

---

"When a love comes to an end, weaklings cry, efficient ones instantly find another love, and the wise already have one in reserve."

Oscar Wilde.

---

September 2011

To everyone's immense relief - and surprise, for those who weren't made aware of Booth and Brennan's 'reconciliation' - the tension seemed to die down within a matter of weeks.

Booth didn't speak of Hannah around Brennan, knowing that it was probably the last thing she needed, having gone through several heartbreaks of his own in the past. He didn't mention the mystery man Brennan had been kissing at the Jeffersonian, though he was very happy when, after a few more appearances, the mystery man seemed to have vanished completely.

Brennan, on the other hand, found herself able to compartmentalize enough these days to focus on her work during the day and give a little information to Angela during one of her girl talks after work. She had been best friends with Angela ever since they were both eighteen years old college freshmen at Northwestern. The only time they had ever really been apart was when they had gone their separate ways after college graduation - Brennan to grad school and Angela to art school - but they had kept in touch and had reunited just a few years after. Angela was her closest confidant, other than Booth, and she missed being able to share everything with her.

So, the moment that she was able to suppress whatever heartbreak she felt as far down as it would go, she allowed Angela to 'interrogate' her, knowing her friend was probably worrying herself sick about her.

Whatever it was between Booth and Brennan the rest of the world weren't privileged to know, they were all relieved that the partners were acting like partners again. Wendell, in particular, was glad he didn't have to take his boss' place out in the field, though he was more than happy to be of assistance if Brennan was going as well - he didn't think the agent would rant about Brennan with her sitting right there, and fieldwork like that was good practice and good to have on his resume.

They were, as it was, working on a case at the moment.

Having fielded a call about an unusual cadaver find – a mostly decomposed corpse had been found cut up and stuffed in an air vent of a ballroom at a luxury vineyard in Virginia. The body might've been there for longer but it was only discovered early in the morning when the staff had gone in to make sure everything would be in order for the ceremony later on. The oxidized blood had started to run down from the holes in the vent and the smell had started to become unbearable.

The discovery of the body had been untimely, interrupting and postponing the wedding ceremony of a couple that was supposed to be taking place there at this very second – Booth had called up Brennan and the two, plus Brennan's trusty new sidekick Wendell had embarked on a trip to the vineyard together to get to the crime scene.

When they'd arrived, they'd separated to do their respective jobs: Booth had to interview the bride and groom, their families and friends, the staff of the vineyard and anyone else around that might be able to give him some much needed answers. He had heard that one of the guests - the groom's half-brother Waylon - had been missing since halfway through the bachelor's party the night before so he had to look into that, as well. Brennan and Wendell headed for the ballroom to get to the body, the owner and the manager of the vineyard trailing after them and asking a million questions.

As they reached the ballroom, Brennan turned around, glaring at the annoying pair. "You know," she said, interrupting their next batch of questions. "You should really ask Agent Booth if you have any concerns. He's the FBI agent in charge of this scene."

That seemed to get them away from her and she marched into the room, immediately ensnaring attention as she ordered the techs already there to do as she wanted. No one said a word to contradict her, already too used to her after years of working together, and she immersed herself in the respect and reverence they offered her, letting it soothe her bruised ego slightly over Booth choosing another woman over her.

It took a while before she and Wendell could slowly and carefully extricate the cut up decimated remains from the vent. They carefully laid piece by piece of the body down on the white sheet placed on the ground and were halfway through with the body reconstruction when Booth stepped into the ballroom.

"Well, none of the people here saw or heard anything remotely use-" Booth stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of the chopped up remains and his nose scrunched up. He fought the urge to gag when the smell registered. "Oh…God. That's disgusting."

Wendell nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's pretty messed up," the younger man didn't seem as unaffected as his boss.

Brennan barely paid any mind to either of them, entirely too focused on the parts of the body in front of her at the moment. "Well, it's definitely murder," Brennan murmured as her gloved fingers probed at a bullet hole she'd found.

Booth, gingerly stepping further away from the remains and leaning his back against a white stone pillar a few feet away, perked up. "Really?"

"Yes," Brennan sighed, straightening up from her crouch next to the upper half of the body. "There are at least two bullet holes from what I can see. We'll have to extricate the rest of the remains from the vent but I'm pretty confident in stating that I've already found the point of COD…Still, we need to do a thorough examination first or it'll simply be conjecture."

Turning towards Wendell, she said, "Let's get back to the vent. We still have his lower half to get to."

Wendell nodded. "Of course, Dr. Brennan," he agreed, stepping towards the ladder that they'd been using earlier.

It took them almost until dinnertime to get every last bit of their John Doe and everything else Brennan thought was necessary to the investigation. The body and the evidence were sent to the Jeffersonian, Wendell riding with the body in the Jeffersonian truck headed back to DC.

"Did you get anything else out of the interrogations you were doing all day?" Brennan asked Booth as she unsnapped her gloves and took out a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

Booth sighed, shaking his head. "Nope," he answered glumly. "Some of these people aren't even co-operative. Like the groom's family. One of their own is missing and it's like they don't even care if he's hurt or if he had anything to do with the body being here at all. If I have to hear one more sob story about how all the money they'd wasted on a non-wedding, or another vapid gossip…"

He sighed again heavily. "Rich people," he grumbled. "Their priorities are all mixed up."

She took the coffee he offered her gratefully. "I'll be sure to tell Hodgins that," she said dryly, gulping down the hot liquid as fast as she could without burning her tongue too bad. She was pretty thirsty after an entire day working on the remains.

He shot her a look and was about to protest when they were interrupted by an approaching FBI tech. "Agent Booth?" the tech said. "Sorry to interrupt but there seems to be some sort of panic going on with the bridal party. They're asking for you."

Booth ran a hand down his face. "God, what now?" he muttered to himself. He'd already been asked to 'do a favour' and make several parking tickets disappear.

Booth led Brennan towards the room where the 'bridal party' had been sitting in all day since the ballroom had turned into a crime scene. None of them could have gone home without talking to Booth so they'd all sat together in the other ballroom. It was smaller than the first, almost half the size, and it was pretty bare the first time Booth went in but now there were chairs and tables set up by the staff and even a buffet table full of food that was probably meant for the reception had the wedding took place earlier.

The number of people in the room had decreased exponentially, nearly a hundred guests reduced to only a handful of guests and everyone from the bride and groom's families. Booth caught sight of the bride in one corner, talking to a gaggle of women wearing identical dresses he could only assume were bridesmaid. She was still wearing her wedding dress and a distraught, tired expression on her face as she spoke to her friends, gesturing around madly.

He felt a stab of pity for her. Although there seemed to be no personal connection between the bride and the victim (he could only assume since the victim doesn't have any ID yet but there didn't seem to be anyone from the wedding that was missing), today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Instead, everything had gotten derailed by a rotting corpse.

"Agent Booth! Agent Booth, thank God you're here," the groom's mother said, rushing forward to grasp at the front of his suit. "We can't find Victor."

Booth furrowed his brows, trying to place the name while unclenching her claws from his clothes at the same time. "Victor?" he asked confusedly.

The groom's mother, Adelaide, nodded, her worry turning into exasperation for a moment at his lack of memory. "The best man," she clarified.

Booth nodded in understanding. "Right, of course. Victor Webber," he recalled.

Brennan pursed her lips together in thought. This Victor Webber person was obviously not the victim since Booth hadn't mentioned any possible murder victims that had gone missing from the group when he'd finished talking to them all earlier in the day. "When did you notice his absence?" she questioned.

Adelaide turned to her, blinked a few times as though she hadn't noticed Brennan's presence before then. "Oh," she muttered. "About an hour ago. He said he was going to the bathroom then he didn't return. John – that's my son, the groom – he went looking for Victor because he needed to borrow his car and needed the keys. He wanted to send Aunt Muriel home. She lives right here in Virginia so she didn't get a room here. But John couldn't find him and we've been searching and calling for an hour now…Do you think something happened to him? I mean, there's a crazy person stuffing dead bodies in air vents, running around loose here…God, and with Waylon missing, too. I mean, I didn't think anything of it at first. Waylon wasn't really supportive of this marriage to begin with and no one here could imagine him being involved in something so terrible. What if that lunatic who stuffed that body up there took Waylon and Victor? Oh, God, this is turning out to be such a horrid day…"

She looked positively terrified of the idea that two people she knew and cared for were harmed in any way and Booth rushed to assure her. Again, he spoke to everyone that had been there when they discovered Victor missing, sent up two junior agents to the rooms in the hotel where several of the other wedding guests were staying to check their whereabouts and assured Adelaide that he'd call up the local police to search for Victor once the appropriate amount of time has passed and Victor still hadn't shown up, knowing that the local PD wouldn't look into the disappearance too seriously if he called now considering Victor's past habit of pulling a disappearing act every now and then only to turn up fine a few days later.

It was almost two hours later when almost all of the people in the room had gone up to their rooms when a familiar voice called out Brennan's name in surprise.

"Temperance!?"

Brennan looked up from where she had been talking to one of the groomsmen with Booth, shock coming over her countenance as she stared at the woman standing three feet away from her, dressed in a beautiful white wedding dress.

She was at a loss of words, unable to form a reply even when Booth looked at her curiously and asked, "Hey, you know the bride? Why didn't you say anything?"

She wanted to tell him that she hadn't said anything because she hadn't known Kira Fusco was a bride, let alone the bride whose wedding was postponed thanks to a decomposed body. She wanted to tell him that yes, she knew the bride and though they hadn't seen each other in years, the sight of her alone had caused a barrage of emotions to come to the surface, making her want to run as fast as she could in the opposite direction and sprint towards Kira with her arms outstretched all at the same time.

But the words wouldn't form and any sounds she might make died in her throat.

So she remained silent as her eyes took in the only woman she had ever loved so intimately, the fact that she was supposed to have gotten married that day still not quite registering to her thanks to her shock.

She looks beautiful as a bride, Brennan thought to herself, even as bitter bile rose at the thought of Kira being somebody's wife.

She tried shaking herself out of it, reminding herself that she shouldn't be jealous, shouldn't resent John-the-groom, because Kira was her past. Kira was her very painful past and that can of worms should never be opened again.

But her head was spinning too fast, her heart was thumping too hard and her stomach was churning too much and she could only swallow hard as her eyes caught Kira's beautiful green ones.

Booth nudged Brennan with his elbow, a confused expression on his face. "Bones," he murmured. "Bones, you in there? You're kinda freaking me out."

Brennan didn't respond to Booth, however, because Kira had taken one small, tentative step forward in her wedding gown and she was calling Brennan's name one more time. "Temperance?" her bottom lip, smeared a deep red color, was clenched between her teeth. "I…It's good to see you again."

Swallowing hard again, Brennan stood up on shaky legs. Kira seemed apprehensive as Brennan came closer.

"Kira," Brennan breathed, blue eyes wide as she gazed at the other woman.

Seeing no anger, no hatred or disgust or any negativity in Brennan's awestruck gaze, Kira allowed herself to feel the love they once shared – a small piece of which she'd always kept with her no matter where life had taken her since they'd last been together – and smiled as she felt the first trace of happiness since John had proposed and she'd felt obligated to say yes despite how stifled she'd felt by him at that point.

"Hi," she murmured, her voice shy as she met Brennan's gaze.

Brennan seemed absolutely astonished as she said, "You're here."

Kira nodded. "I am," she nervously smoothed her hands down the front of her dress.

Brennan's eyes caught the movement and her gaze followed Kira's hands as they moved. A small frown formed on Brennan's lips, disappearing almost immediately. Kira, knowing Brennan better than most people, caught the frown, however. "You're wearing a wedding dress," Brennan stated unnecessarily. "You're the bride. It's your wedding day."

Brennan was in a daze as she said these things, the shock coming back full force. She had known Kira since they were both in their late teens and though they had broken up and separated, going their different ways twice too many times, Brennan still knew Kira – or, at least, she thought she did.

Kira was a free-spirit and very much alike Angela. They had met first, at a college party Brennan had refused to attend in favor of studying for a test coming up the next week. When the two of them had become good friends, Angela had introduced Kira to Brennan. The three of them had gotten along so well that the next year they'd gotten an apartment off campus together.

The Kira Fusco that Brennan knew would've never said 'yes' to marriage. She was far too much of a flight risk, far too much of a free spirit to feel so trapped and tied down.

Angela wasn't the type to get married back when they were in college, either, having been so young then but they'd grown up now. And though the artist shared many similarities with Kira, Angela was a romantic at heart. Her marriage to Hodgins – one of her soul mates and the love of her life, according to her – wasn't a big shock to Brennan. In fact, she'd be lying if she said she hadn't anticipated the very first proposal Hodgins had given Angela or the first time Angela had said 'yes' to him.

Kira, however, was the sort of person to never 'settle down' like that, no matter how much growing up she did.

Then again, Brennan hadn't been the sort of person to 'fall in love' like she had with Booth, either, but she'd still done it.

Brennan sighed, forcing her sadness away as best as she could. She couldn't take handling her grief over Booth and her grief over Kira all at the same time, even if her sadness over Kira was dulled by time.

"It was," Kira agreed dryly. "It's not anymore, obviously…" She picked at the intricate beading at her waist. "I haven't even had time to change out of this dress. It's making me a little claustrophobic…"

Kira's nervous laugh made Brennan smile, seeing bits and pieces of the Kira she once knew in this new woman, standing in front of her in a white gown.

"It's been…What? Six years now?" Kira prompted when Brennan didn't say another word.

Brennan cleared her throat, not wanting her voice to crack embarrassingly when she spoke. "Eight, actually," she corrected quietly. "The last time we saw each other was at Angela's New Year's party back in '03…Remember?"

Kira fought a grimace when Brennan could so clearly remember their last time together, and at the mention of Angela, an old friend she knew must hate her after doing what she promised never to do again – abandon Brennan without a word.

"Yes, I remember," Kira murmured softly, her eyes growing soft at the memory. She had already gotten the itch to run and her bags were already packed and hidden away but for one night, as Brennan held her in her arms, and they swayed together with the music, she'd felt the stifling feeling of being trapped fall away and it was just like the earlier stages of their relationship, where everything was perfect and sunny and bright and happy. "It was a great party."

Brennan nodded, unable to say anything to that, a lump forming in her throat as she thought of the next day when she'd gone out to work and came back to an empty apartment and a letter with only two words – 'I'm sorry.'

Kira swallowed a few times to soothe her dry throat before saying, "I don't know if you'll believe me when I say this, Temperance…But it's so good to see you again."

Brennan remained silent though her eyes had that steel, guarded look in her eyes.

Kira sighed. "I just…" she let her arms fall limply to her sides. "I miss you."

Brennan's eyes softened at that.

She and Kira were as different as night and day.

She was all things logical – science was her life and anthropology her religion.

Kira believed in a different deity every month. She 'experimented' with Wicca and Voodoo in college. She was once a Buddhist for three weeks. She liked living on the edge and though she was skeptical of a long lasting real-life romance, she still wanted it to be true. She believed in psychics and the afterlife and fengshui.

But if there was one thing the two of them shared was their difficulty in expressing their emotions and dealing with them outright.

If Kira had admitted that she'd miss her – and Brennan knew it wasn't a lie, too, because lying about their emotions was another thing neither woman was a fan of – then she knew it was the truth and a difficult one for Kira to say.

"I miss you, too," she said honestly, unable to stop her smile when she saw the sparkle in Kira's green eyes at her words.

Kira stepped forward and before she knew it, Kira's arms were wrapped around her. Brennan stiffened for a moment before hugging Kira back, ducking her head to drop her forehead on Kira's bare shoulder and bury her nose in the crook of her neck, taking deep breaths of the flowery scent she'd forever associate with the fiery red-haired woman who'd stolen her breath away at first glance.

The women embraced each other tightly, fiercely, neither of them breaking away for long minutes.

Booth finished questioning the remaining groomsmen before letting them head up to their rooms for the night, assuring them that they'd be informed when their friend was found regardless of his condition.

As the room grew empty except for Booth, Brennan and the bride, Booth turned to look at the embracing pair, a confused frown on his face. He allowed them a minute or two longer, expecting them to break apart on their own, but when they continued to hug, eyes closed and soft smiles on their faces, occasionally murmuring words too quiet for him to hear to one another, he decided to interrupt.

He placed his hands palms-down on his thighs and pushed himself off his chair. Clearing his throat, he waited for them to acknowledge him.

They didn't.

"Um…excuse me," he said quietly.

Again, it was as though they hadn't heard him.

"Uh…Bones? Ms. Fusco?"

Neither one of them reacted.

He was about to try again when a sharp, commanding voice sounded. "Kira!"

Brennan and Kira pulled apart reluctantly and all three of them turned to look in the direction of the voice.

An older woman, probably in her mid-fifties, stood near the entrance of the room. She was wearing a powder blue skirt suit and her dull red hair was pulled into a tight bun. Her face was strict by nature but made even more so by her severe glare.

Booth watched as this woman – Jane Fusco, if he remembered correctly from his earlier interrogations – stalked into the room, a displeased expression on her face. Judging from the stern glare she sent Brennan's way, Booth had a feeling that Jane Fusco wasn't a fan of his partner, no matter what friendship her daughter might've formed with Brennan in the past.

"Kira, it's past eleven already," Jane chided. "You should really be getting some sleep. It's been a very stressful day. You have to be up early tomorrow so we can figure this out."

"Figure what out?" Kira seemed confused.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Your wedding, sweetheart," she said exasperatedly. "We need to figure out when we can actually have the ceremony."

Brennan started, surprised by this. She didn't know why she was. Kira had fallen for someone enough to walk down the aisle for him. The wedding might've been postponed by it certainly wasn't cancelled. She didn't know why she had simply assumed as much.

"The…Wedding," she almost spluttered ungracefully. "Right. The wedding. To…Um, John, was it?" she couldn't help the slight mocking in her tone as she said the perfectly normal name of Kira's groom-to-be.

Normal - maybe that was what this new Kira wanted. Normal was something that Brennan had never been. It was something that had drew Kira to her in the first place. Maybe normal was the new exciting thing for her.

Jane turned glaring eyes to Brennan. "Yes, that's right, to John," she emphasized on John's name. "Just because today had gone badly doesn't mean that the wedding's not going to happen some other time – preferably without any interruptions."

They fell into an awkward silence before Kira cleared her throat and spoke up. "Mom? You remember Temperance Brennan, don't you? We-we went to college together…"

Oh, that's now they met, Booth thought as he watched this painfully awkward, tensed scene.

Jane waved her hand dismissively. "Yes, yes, I remember her well," she said dryly. "How charming to see you again."

It was clear from her tone that she thought the exact opposite.

Brennan, being herself, took it too literally. Frowning at Jane, she asked, "It is? But you hated me…"

Booth diverted his gaze from the scene, mentally shaking his head at his awkward partner. A wide smile bloomed across Kira's face as she lifted a hand to her lips to stifle her laughter.

Jane merely glared at Brennan. "Say goodnight now, Kira," she ordered briskly. "There's a lot of damage control we have to do tomorrow."

Kira frowned at her mother. "I'm not all that tired, mother," she countered. "I'll head up in a while. Temperance and I have a lot of catching up to do."

Kira turned her head to look at Brennan, the shy look back on her face. "That is…If you want to?" she asked uncertainly.

Brennan nodded immediately. "Sure, that'd be great," she agreed instantly.

Jane looked unhappy by this. "Kira…" she said warningly.

Kira looked at her mother, irritated. "Mom, I promise not to be late tomorrow," she assured Jane. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? We're just going to sit and talk."

Jane still wasn't pleased by this and after a few rounds arguing with her daughter, she left with a stern warning not to be late the next day.

Once Jane was gone, Kira turned to Brennan, all traces of frustration gone as she smiled. "Are you heading back to DC?" she asked, looking at Booth for the first time since she and Brennan had seen each other for the first time in eight years.

Brennan shook her head. "No, we're staying until the case is solved," Brennan told her.

Booth looked over at her in surprise. Before Sweets' book, before their feelings came out in the open, before Afghanistan and Hannah, Brennan staying with him out of town while he investigated a case wasn't such a shock. She did it all the time and would delegate the rest of the team back at the lab to examine the body and give them more than what she'd already known from initial examination.

Recently, however, just the fact that she agreed to go out into the field with him in the first place was a surprise. They hadn't had an overnight out-of-town case in a long time.

"You're staying too?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Brennan gave him a confused look. "Is that a problem?"

"Uh…N-no," he stammered.

Brennan nodded, satisfied.

Kira either didn't see the look on Booth's face or didn't bother about it. "Where are you staying then?"

Booth shrugged, answering for the both of them, "Probably a hotel close by…"

"Why don't you stay here?"

"Government pay isn't that great," Booth said. "I'd have to dish out three month's salary to afford a night here.

Brennan and Kira both looked at him, unamused. "I was actually talking to Temperance, Agent Booth," Kira clarified, calling him by the name he'd introduced himself by earlier when they'd spoken about the decomposed corpse. Turning to Brennan, Kira smiled. "You could stay with me if you'd like," she offered. "John's got a million relatives and he invited them all here for this," she rolled her eyes.

Despite the stab of envy she felt at the mention of John, Brennan quirked an eyebrow. "Won't John be upset if I stay with you? He'd want privacy with you…After all, this was supposed to be your wedding night. And it would be a little awkward, don't you think-"

Kira laughed, interrupting Brennan. "We have separate rooms," she assured Brennan. "Some weird tradition I've never cared for."

Without so much as a backwards glance at Booth, Brennan had twined her fingers together with Kira and followed her out the door.

Booth watched them, eyebrows furrowed. Was she ever that touchy feely with Angela? He wondered silently.

---

The case was solved within five days, victim ID'd, the culprit caught - it wasn't Waylon who did the actual killing like Booth had suspected, but Waylon who had helped an accomplice hide the body and panicked, running, afterwards - and Victor Webber found – alive, drunken and soliciting with a hooker, his disappearance not revolving around the case at all.

Booth and Brennan were slated to leave Virginia the same day. Brennan was reluctant to leave but Jane Fusco had already re-set the wedding date. Kira was getting married to John Neven in two weeks' time.

"I can't believe how little time we've had these past few days," Kira said to Brennan as she walked Brennan down the steps from the inn and towards Booth's FBI-issued truck parked out front. "I mean, I know you had to work and all…I just wished we had more time."

"You could always visit," Brennan was quick to offer. "DC is just a few hours' drive from here…"

Kira looked tempted by that. "I wish I could," she said sincerely, linking arms with Brennan. "But I know my mom. She was bridezilla the last time around and it's just going to be twice as awful now. I'm not going to have a spare second to myself."

Brennan tried not to let her disappointment show as they came to a stop next to the truck. She could see Booth's arm hanging out the window of the driver's side. "I guess I have to go…" she sighed, wishing she didn't have to say goodbye just yet.

Kira bit her lip as she gazed at Brennan for a long moment. Launching herself at Brennan, she hugged her tightly. "I wish you could stay," she murmured into Brennan's hair.

Brennan smiled. "Me, too," she whispered. She pulled back from their hug with a heavy heart, her arms feeling like lead as she forced them to fall from Kira's slim waist.

"For what it's worth, Kira…" She sighed, her eyes flicking away from Kira's vivid eyes for a moment as she fought to push down her emotions. "You made a beautiful bride."

Kira smiled slightly. "Thank you," she murmured quietly.

Brennan nodded once before stepping further away from Kira. She was blinking back tears as she slipped into the passenger's seat.

Booth did a double take at her. "You okay?" he asked quietly, seeing the moisture in her eyes.

She threw her duffel in the backseat and turned away from Booth to look out the window. "I'm fine," she said curtly.

She refused to be comforted by her recent lost love as she mourned another missed opportunity with her past lost love. It was just too complicated, too painful. She couldn't deal with that.

"Let's just go."

Booth stared at her for a few long moments before nodding his head. "Okay," he said quietly.

He didn't know what it was that had upset her so much – though he knew it had something to do with her old friend Kira Fusco – and he didn't know why she seemed so tearful but he was sorry she felt sad. He reached out to place a hand on her knee, squeezing reassuringly. When he felt her tense up, he quickly removed his hand, moving to place it on the steering wheel instead.

"Let's go," he agreed, turning on the engine and slowly backing out of the vineyard.

She didn't speak a word to him the entire drive back and she didn't argue with him when he put on the Smashing Pumpkins as road music – though she could never remember the name of the band, she hated their music and would usually complain loudly and incessantly every time he played it. She gave him a very soft 'thank you' when he dropped her off at her apartment.

He shook his head, staying parked while he watched as she made her way into the elevator and waited until he saw the light in the window he knew belonged to her apartment lit up. He couldn't catch up to her bizarre mood swings and he couldn't understand the look in her eyes ever since they'd arrived at the vineyard and saw Kira.

That truly made him sad because it hadn't been too long ago when he knew each and every one of her looks and anticipated her mood changes before it happened. It wasn't too long ago when he would've done everything in his power just to see the sad look in her eyes disappear and a smile flicker on her lips.

Taking one last look at the light in her apartment, Booth turned away and stepped on the gas, making his way back to Hannah waiting for him at home.

---

He didn't see her again until three days later when he received a call about another body – this one discovered in downtown DC. She didn't look sad when they saw each other again, just tired and guarded. He didn't ask and she didn't offer.

He drove her to the crime scene in silence – not comfortable, like they might've in the past, but awkward and tensed and stifling. She threw herself into her work perhaps a little too enthusiastically when they arrived at the scene but he didn't allow himself to care more than a co-worker would another, knowing that if the door was opened even the tiniest crack, he would be too vulnerable to falling in love with her all over again and that just wasn't an option.

She worked on giving an initial assessment of the victim before putting the lab techs at work to carefully transport the body as well as any evidence she might need back to the lab.

Bending over a sterile table on the platform, Brennan continued working on their latest body. "There's a knife wound here," Brennan murmured. "It could be the COD but there's too much flesh here for me to work properly."

She sounded frustrated as she straightened up. "Wendell," she turned towards her assistant. "Is Dr. Saroyan available now? I need to know if she wants anything from the remaining flesh."

Wendell nodded. "I'll page her," she offered.

Brennan sighed. "Please do," she instructed. "I'd also like it if you could do an evaluation of your own and double check with mine. And once Dr. Saroyan is done with the flesh, please remove them and have the bones cleaned."

Wendell nodded his head immediately. "Sure, Dr. Brennan," he said with a smile, taking hold of her clipboard she extended to him.

Booth quickly followed after Brennan as she swiped her card and descended the stairs. "So when do you think you will get an ID?" he asked her as he kept long strides to keep up with her quick steps.

Brennan shot him a sideways look. "Cam will have to get whatever she needs from the flesh, then after Wendell cleans the bones and we examine it, Angela can have the skull," she said in one breath. "You know all of this, Booth. Or did you forget after being away from all things anthropology for a year?"

He fought a blush trying to color his cheeks red. He hadn't forgotten - he'd worked with Brennan and her team of squints for five years before he'd left, known her for over six…No one could forget something they thought about everyday for six years. He had simply been anxious to make conversation with her that he'd unthinkingly blurted out probably the stupidest question he could've asked.

"No, I didn't forget, Bones," he scoffed, scowling at her in an attempt to defend himself and not look like a complete idiot next to her. "I was just asking. It's a valid question, you know? You just told me it was murder - I'm gonna wanna know who the victim was as soon as possible."

She was glaring at him now. "Booth, you can't rush science, okay?" she snapped. "How many times do I have to-"

Her words were cut off as someone placed their hand on her arm, gripping it tightly, before spinning her around. All Brennan saw was a flash of red before soft lips descended on her mouth, closing on her lips in a passionate kiss of two lovers reunited after a long time apart. All of her locked muscles, having prepared to defend herself, slowly relaxed because even after all that time apart, she still knew exactly whose lips were fused to hers.

Booth, who had been right beside Brennan, felt his jaw drop, his face scrunching up in disbelief.

He recognized the fiery red-haired beautiful woman instantly – after all, it hadn't even been a week since they'd left Virginia. What he didn't understand was why she was kissing Brennan and why, for the love of all things Holy, Brennan was relaxing into the embrace and kissing her back just as passionately.

Up on the platform, Wendell had stopped working as well, confused as to why the loud voices of his boss and her partner had suddenly ceased. Daisy and Cam, who had just joined Wendell to analyse the body, were also gaping at the scene right below them.

Booth slowly backed away from the embracing couple, noting that Brennan didn't even seem to realize where she was, let alone that he was right there next to her.

Just like back at the vineyard, he realized. They'd been caught up in their own world back then, too. This kiss…It clearly wasn't a first time thing. Does this mean they weren't just old friends like I'd thought? Does this mean they're old lovers?

Booth frowned as he considered that. If she had been lovers with Kira, that had to have meant this happened before he and Brennan had ever met. Brennan had recalled the last time they'd seen each other was eight years ago. That was before he had met his partner.

If this was so, then why had she lied to him? He could still clearly remember her denying that she'd ever been with a woman on that freaky art case when Angela's old flame Roxie had been unintentionally, unexpectedly, dragged into the picture.

Once Booth was a few feet away from Brennan and Kira – still kissing each other madly, might he add – he quickly swiped his card to access the platform and joined the others. He would've just left but he was far too freaked out and he wasn't sure just what was happening.

"Whoa," Daisy said, breaking the silence amongst the group. Her tone was hushed, and Cam imitated it when she spoke next.

"Got that right," Cam was equally stunned, her eyes unable to look away from the scene. It wasn't that she was unfamiliar or uncomfortable with lesbian couples - she was all for the freedom to love whoever you love, regardless of gender. And it wasn't like anyone here at the lab was unfamiliar with it, as well, considering Angela's and Roxie's brief relationship a few years back.

However, the fact that it was Dr. Brennan - awkward, uptight Dr. Brennan whom not only had Cam never seen with another woman like that, but had been having a steady stream of suitors, all of whom men - made all of them gawk.

Booth turned away first, feeling uncomfortable watching such an intimate moment. Cam followed suit, turning wide eyes to Booth and Daisy. "Who the hell is that!" she whispered fiercely.

Booth cleared his throat several times to get his voice working. "That's Kira Fusco," he told her.

Her eyes went up at the familiar name. "Fusco? As in the wedding-that-got-interrupted Fusco?" she questioned disbelievingly.

He nodded mutely.

She gaped at him for a moment, her head swivelling from him to the still-embracing couple down below and back to him. Reaching out, she smacked him on the arm – hard.

"Ow! Cam, what the hell?" he complained, glaring at her. Cam did not hit like a girl. At all.

She ignored his complaint. "Something as big as finding out about Dr. Brennan's old female flame and you didn't even bother to tell me about it?" she asked him, a little offended by it.

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't know they were old flames, Camille," he said, irritated. "I thought they were just old friends."

"Yeah, I make out with all my girlfriends, too," Cam said dryly.

He shot her a look. "They weren't making out in Virginia, okay?" he said, shaking his head. "They were just…Friendly."

Brennan was completely oblivious to her friends' shock, still embracing the woman in her arms. It was Kira who pulled away first from their kiss, though she kept her hands in Brennan's silken hair. Brennan kept her eyes closed as though worried that if she opened them, she would discover that the woman in her arms was merely a figment of her imagination. Her hands tightened where they were pressed on Kira's hips.

She licked her lips, clearing her dry throat, and spoke, her eyes still squeezed tightly shut. "Please tell me that this is real," she said quietly, not even ashamed at the pleading edge her voice had taken because if she was right and this wasn't a dream, then something she hadn't dared to dream would happen had occurred and she now suddenly had something tangible to hold on to. "And not an incredibly vivid daydream I'm having."

In a voice Brennan knew meant that Kira was smiling a wide, goofy smile, she teased, "Why don't you open your eyes and see for yourself?"

Pushing herself to be braver than she felt, Brennan allowed her eyes to flutter open. Seeing the beautiful green eyes before her, Brennan felt a smile flicker across her lips, growing wide as she took in the porcelain skin and the beautiful, silky red hair she had always been envious of.

"Kira," she practically breathed her name. "You're really here."

Kira grinned at her widely. "I'm really here," she assured in a soft voice.

Brennan lifted one hand from Kira's hips, safe now in her assessment that this woman was really there with her, and brushed her fingertips gently over Kira's cheek. "What…? Why…?" she was unable to properly articulate herself, too in shock over Kira's reemergence into her life. Just three days ago, she'd thought she wouldn't be seeing Kira again for a long time, if at all, let alone have the chance to kiss her again after eight years.

Kira seemed to understand her question despite her stammers, and shrugged. She stepped closer to Brennan, her arms going around Brennan's slim waist in a half embrace. "I just…I've missed you, Kitten," a shy smile coming across both their lips at the nickname that Kira had christened her with so many years ago.

"Everything in my life was just so…Euggh, you know?" Even though Brennan didn't, she nodded anyway. "I just felt so trapped with John and it felt like I had to marry him, not because I wanted to but because my parents wanted me to. A marriage shouldn't be a 'have to' thing, it has to be a 'need to'. It took me two days after you left to break it off with John. My parents were unhappy with it – they totally freaked out and everything grew so crazy that I just had to get away…"

Kira took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "I packed up a bag and I went to the airport, bought a ticket to the Bahamas to have some fun before I go back home and deal with the craziness but when I was waiting for my flight, the TV was on and there you were," she continued her explanation, her words coming out all in one breath.

"TV?" Brennan blinked in confusion, her mind still not catching up as quickly as she would have liked. It wasn't her fault, really – Kira's unexpected presence and their mind blowing kiss had completely boggled her mind.

Kira nodded, bright green eyes sparkling excitedly. "Yeah, you were doing an interview on Oprah," she gushed. "It was a repeat episode but I've never seen it before…You never told me you went on her show. That was so incredible, Temperance! I can't believe you actually got to meet her."

A smile tugged at Brennan's lips as basic motor function started to flood back. She remembered, with clarity rivaling memories of this morning, that Kira absolutely idolized Oprah. "Oh, yeah," she nodded. "It was…It was great."

Not really in the mood to talk about a show on TV, she blinked at Kira. "So you…You saw me on TV and decided to…?"

Kira sighed. "It had to have been a sign," Kira said, not making sense to her at all. "The dead body on my wedding day, the best man going missing –"

"We found him two days later," Brennan interjected dazedly. "He was unharmed. He was just drunk and forgot to call anyone or show up at the inn again."

Kira ignored that, giving Brennan a soft smile. "You showing up on my wedding day," she continued with her list, her voice growing as soft as her expression.

"That was…A coincidence, almost. I-I'm the closest forensic anthropologist to Virginia," Brennan reminded her, almost stuttering.

Kira shook her head. "It was a sign," she insisted. "My heart just wasn't with John anymore. I felt so suffocated. When I saw you…It was like fate. That Oprah came on and I knew. I just knew I had to come here. I just had to drive up to DC to come see you."

Brennan didn't believe in fate. She didn't believe in seeing signs. She didn't believe in an organ telling you that you didn't belong in a certain city any longer.

But in the past year, she'd found out that she'd been in love without even realizing it, had gotten attached to a child that she had desperately wanted to call her own, had come home and gotten her heart broken, and was now still walking on what felt like shattered glass all day every day.

It felt, most days, like some of her most core beliefs - at least, her personal core beliefs - had been shaken so hard that they'd turned into dust. So who was to say that it wasn't fate and signs and hearts telling Kira that she should be in DC?

All Brennan really cared about was the fact that Kira was in DC, she was in Brennan's embrace and they'd just spent a few good minutes kissing as though there wasn't years standing in between them.

So she smiled, hugged Kira as close as their bodies would allow, and murmured into her ear, "I'm so glad you did. So very glad."

Kira let out one of those happy, feminine laughter of hers that Brennan had always adored, and pulled back to look into her eyes. "Good to know, Kitten," she whispered.

Brennan beamed, leaning in to accept Kira's kiss. Kira's hands slid up Brennan's back, fingers clutching at her shoulder blades, while Brennan cupped Kira's face in her hands, fingers tangling in her hair as they kissed enthusiastically, almost violently.

Angela, who had just spent the better part of twenty minutes locked in her office with her husband, was now accompanying him towards the platform. He had a file in his hands - results from the bugs he'd collected from the victim's clothes - and she had a sketchpad in hers, ready to check on the skull to see if she could start working on it already. They both had very happy, very satisfied smiles on their faces.

Angela had to admit that while everything wasn't going so great for her best friend, things were going very well for herself. Now if only I could just fix Brennan, she mused to herself.

When the two of them came into viewing distance of the platform, they were surprised to see one very unexpected sight.

"Is that who I think it is?" Hodgins muttered disbelievingly, shooting a look at his wife, knowing that she wouldn't be happy at all. True enough, the blissful grin on her face dropped and was replaced by an angry frown. "Uh-oh," he muttered under his breath, watching as Angela stormed off ahead of him, confronting the embracing couple heads on.

Angela, not at all concerned about disturbing the couple's privacy, walked straight up to them. Clearing her throat, she interrupted their reunion. "Bren," she said, her voice pleasant even if she was seething inside. "What's going on here?"

Brennan and Kira pulled away from each other, turning to look at Angela. While Brennan wore a glowingly happy smile, Kira grimaced at the sight of Angela. She already knew Angela wouldn't be quick to welcome her back into their lives.

The first time she had run from Brennan, Angela had tracked her down without telling Brennan. Kira believed that, to this day, Brennan still had no idea of their heated encounter that had ended with Angela telling her that she was throwing away the love of the best woman she'd ever meet and to never return if she intended to really leave.

When she had showed up at the Jeffersonian, knowing that Brennan had just started work there simply because she had followed Brennan's career, reading papers she'd published and finding information on her online which grew in abundance over the years, Angela had been upset. Even when Brennan had readily forgiven her for walking out, Angela hadn't trusted her.

While a part of her wanted to mend bridges with Angela for Brennan – knowing just how much the two of them meant to each other – another part of her wanted to mend bridges for herself.

She didn't let herself think about the past much, whether it was her past with Brennan and Angela, or with anyone. She didn't want to dwell on the past when the future was right there in front of her. But standing there in front of Angela…Kira found herself missing the easy friendship they'd had back in college. It had felt like they were sisters, which was a great thing for her since she had been an only child growing up.

"Angela," she offered the other woman a small smile. "Hi. It's good to see you again."

Angela quirked an eyebrow. "Is it?" she asked coolly.

Brennan frowned unhappily at Angela. "Angela," she said warningly.

Angela ignored that. "I didn't even know you were back in town, Kira," she said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Oh, it was an impulse decision," Kira said as her arms fell away from Brennan's waist. "I…It's a long story."

Angela stared at her. "So you woke up one day and decided you wanted to come to DC out of nowhere?" she prodded, wanting to know the real reason why Kira had suddenly dropped back into their lives after almost a decade of absence. "You decided to fly here just like that? Come on, Kira. New York isn't close by. There has to be another reason."

Kira frowned at her. "New York?" she questioned. "No, I, uh, I came from Virginia," she explained. "After I saw Temperance again, it just felt right, you know?"

"Virginia?" Angela was taken aback. Her eyes flickered to Brennan who was doing her best to avoid Angela's gaze.

"Then I cancelled the wedding and everything got really messed up and…"

At the word 'wedding', Angela suddenly understood. "You were at the wedding where the body was found," she stated more than asked.

Kira furrowed her brows at Angela. "Of course I was," she said, confused as to why Angela was acting like this was news to me. "It was my wedding."

Angela's eyes dropped to Kira's left hand, looking at her ringless finger. "I guess you never actually got married," she commented.

Kira shook her head, turning to give Brennan a wide smile. "No…I had a feeling and three days later, here I am," she beamed, chuckling together with Brennan.

Angela rolled her eyes at the lovesick duo. "Uh-huh," she said dryly. She watched Brennan twine her fingers with Kira's and lift their hands to press a kiss to the back of Kira's hand. "Uh, Brennan? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Brennan was a little too wrapped up in Kira to take note of her words so Angela reached out and grabbed her by the arm. "Bren?" she prompted, leading her away from Kira.

Stopping a few feet away from the red head, enough distance between them that Kira wouldn't be able to hear anything that was being said, Angela rounded on Brennan.

Angela took a moment to study her friend, using her intuitiveness with people in general and the knowledge she had on Brennan's hard-to-decipher emotions after over fifteen years of friendship. She could see clearly, plain as day, what most people would miss if they looked at Brennan at this moment.

Even though she had a smile on her face and her cheeks were pink and glowing with happiness at seeing Kira again – and, Angela assumed, rekindling their old flame – her eyes were still sad and pained and hurt.

She was in no position to be making decisions like getting back together with the one ex she had loved when she was still reeling from being rejected by the love of her life.

Angela shot Kira a look, noticing that Daisy had approached her and the two were now making polite conversation, the younger woman much more enthusiastic than Kira.

Turning back to Brennan, Angela lowered her voice even though there was no chance Kira would hear her from the distance even if she'd spoken normally. "What are you doing, Bren? Don't you remember who she is?" she hissed at her friend.

Brennan gave her a look. "Of course I do," she huffed. "I don't make it a point to kiss every woman I see, you know?"

Ignoring the sarcastic comment, Angela ploughed ahead. "Then you remembered what happened the last time you saw each other?"

"That was a long time ago, Angela," Brennan protested, glaring at the dark haired artist.

She knew that Angela and Kira had fallen out during college and she was pretty sure it had something to do with Kira's sudden decision to leave midway through senior year but it had been such a long time ago.

Angela had kept a grudge long enough.

She could understand Angela's reluctance to accept Kira's presence when they'd seen each other again eight years ago – it had only been a few short years since college then – but now it had been over a decade since college was over.

Brennan wished Angela would forgive and forget already because the last time Kira had been around, it had been taxing to Brennan trying to be the buffer between them. She had no desire to repeat that experience.

"It's ancient history," Brennan insisted. "It's not even worth mentioning, Angela. I've forgotten all about it."

Angela glared at her, placing her hands on her hips. "If it's such ancient history, why didn't you tell me you saw her in Virginia?" Angela demanded, raising an eyebrow. "We talked more than once daily every day you were there and it's been three days since you've been back. You've had plenty of time to tell me."

Brennan blew out a breath of frustration. "Because I knew this was how you'd react!" she whisper-yelled. "Seeing Kira again was a happy thing for me, Angela, and I knew you were only going to remind me of our past mistakes and you're going to tell me how I should forget about her and make me feel bad about it."

"Look, if I were to make you feel bad about it, it's because I care about you, Brennan, and I don't want you to get hurt by her again," Angela explained. Brennan stayed silent, her arms folded across her chest as she stared at Angela.

Sighing, Angela shook her head, rubbing her temple with her fingertips. "Brennan, why the hell are you so quick to forgive her?" she asked, sounding almost as tired as she felt.

"There's nothing to forgive, Angela," Brennan scoffed. "If you stopped being angry for just a second, you'd see that."

They were interrupted by Kira coming up to them. "Uh, Temperance?" Kira looked between Brennan and Angela, giving them both apologetic looks for interrupting. "I just…I haven't eaten anything since last night and I was thinking maybe we could go out for an early lunch," she smiled at Temperance. "It'd give us a chance to catch up since we didn't really get to do that in Virginia."

Brennan nodded immediately, "Yes. Absolutely."

Hodgins, who had joined the others up on the platform, quickly whispered, "Quick - someone give an excuse so she can't go!"

He hadn't been there to witness Brennan and Angela meeting Kira for the very first time when they were back in college, but he was already working at the Jeffersonian and a part of Brennan's team the second time Kira had come into Brennan's life, and had seen just how messed up Brennan had been after Kira had left. He hadn't been told all the details but he'd seen parts of their relationship fold out and he'd been warned by Angela not to mention anything involving Kira once the red-haired woman was gone.

From everything he'd gleamed years ago, and from the look of pure ire on Angela's face, he knew Kira wasn't going to be a happy ending for Brennan. Or even a healthy beginning.

"What? Why?" Cam whispered back.

"Just do it!" he hissed.

Booth was the one who stepped up. "Bones!" he called out, stepping closer to the railing so he could speak without having to yell loudly. "We were going to go interview our suspect, remember?" he reminded her, knowing that she wouldn't want to pass up the chance to interrogate suspects now that she was back on the job as his partner.

Unfortunately for him, he had no idea how Brennan was when Kira was around. "What?" Brennan said, apparently not having heard him at all as she gazed at Kira. "Uh…I'm just…" she murmured distractedly.

"Bones!"

Jumping, Brennan tore her eyes away from Kira to give Booth an apologetic look. "Can we…Rain check?" she asked. Without waiting for a reply, she took Kira's hand in hers. "Come on, Kira…I'll just grab my coat."

"Give me a tour of your work place first," Kira urged. "This place sure has changed since the last time I saw it."

"Bye, Ange!" Brennan threw over her shoulder absentmindedly as she led Kira towards the direction of her office. "I have a new office now."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. It's bigger, nicer…I think you'll like it," their voices started to fade, growing softer as they walked further and further away from the platform.

Angela stared in the direction they'd left in, watching as they disappeared into Brennan's office, the door closing behind them, effectively cutting off her view since the blinds on her glass windows and door were already drawn. Shaking her head at the absurdness of the situation, she walked towards the platform, not really feeling like herself.

I can't believe Kira's here, she sighed to herself. After all this time…She's here again. Why now?

Thinking of Brennan's emotional vulnerability at the moment, even if Brennan kept insisting she was more than fine, Angela couldn't help but think that Kira had picked the worst possible time to show up again.

She threw a dirty look at the closed door of Brennan's office, feeling an irrepressible surge of anger at the redhead. It angered her that every time Kira Fusco rolled into town, she left behind a trail of destruction that Angela was the one who had to clean up and put back together. She could already see the storm brewing, even if Brennan couldn't, and just like all the other times before, she knew it wouldn't be pretty.

Angela snorted in bitter anger when she remembered Brennan's earlier words. 'Nothing to forgive', my ass, she thought spitefully, remembering clearly just how well Brennan had taken to Kira leaving her the last time around. It had taken her years to finally be somewhat normal again, and that, too, wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the extra push Brennan had received being around special agent charming.

Now that Booth was taken and clearly the cause of Brennan's heartbreak slash mental disorder - because there was no way any sane person would fall for Kira's charms a third time after everything that had gone down - Angela wasn't sure how long Brennan would take to come back up after Kira would inevitably push her down.

"Hey, babe," Hodgins greeted her fragilely. When his wife barely gave a grunt of acknowledgement, he tentatively asked, "Are they…?"

This seemed to suddenly spark her into action. Fire blazing in her eyes, she nodded, "Yes, they are!" she growled. She turned to Booth, who suddenly felt very glad that whatever issues Angela had with that Kira woman, she didn't feel the same towards him. "Look, Booth, I know you and Bren aren't really…Talking much right now, especially about personal stuff-"

He cut her off, ignoring the involuntary wince that had come with the reminder. "Wait, how do you know about that?" he demanded.

Angela gave him a scoff. "Booth, please," she said exasperatedly. "I'm her best friend."

"Yeah, but-"

"I need you to look out for her," Angela blurted out, interrupting him.

Booth, forgetting whatever protests he might've wanted to say could only blink at her in surprise. "Excuse me?"

She repeated her request, adding, "That woman is nothing more than a she-devil and for whatever reason, Brennan is the only one who can't see it."

Cam's eyebrows shot to her hairline as she heard the vehemence in Angela's voice. She had never heard the fun-loving, free-spirited artist talk about anyone with that much hate. Hannah had been a close second before they'd all met her but even Angela couldn't deny that the blonde was actually a nice person. Well, she couldn't deny it much, anyway. "Wow, you don't seem too fond of her, whoever she is," Cam noted.

Hodgins snorted softly. "Understatement of the century," he muttered.

Booth shook his head. "Look, Ange, I know you've probably got issues with…I don't know, whatshername, and I know Bones was acting kinda weird earlier…" 'Kinda weird' didn't even cover it. He still felt sort of lightheaded. He didn't know why he was so stunned over this.

When his aunt had come out, he had been beyond shocked but that was only because that had been the first time anyone he knew had done so. Angela hadn't really been a surprise. She was so free spirited that it would've probably shocked him more to learn that she hadn't experimented at least once in her life.

But Brennan? His tight-laced partner? Sure, she wasn't at all shy when it came to sex but this was too outrageous for her somehow. Besides, if she had, at one point in her life, been in a relationship with a woman, why hadn't she come clean with him when he'd asked? He knew she probably already knew the story about his aunt - Brennan and Angela tended to share everything, in explicit detail. He'd always thought Hodgins was a patient man for putting up with their need to reveal intimate details of their lives to each other. Well, either he was patient or slightly pervy for liking it.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he added, "And even though I don't really know her, I've met her at the wedding and talked to her a few times…I'm a pretty good judge of character, Angela, and she seems really nice."

"Okay," Angela relented slightly. "She's not exactly the 'she-devil', but she's still bad…"

Booth rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh," he said disbelievingly.

Angela, who didn't like the fact that Booth was dismissing this so lightly, turned her glare on him now. "Listen to me, Booth," her voice was urgent and demanded his attention immediately. "I may not like Kira, but there's a reason for that…Kira's bad news, okay? The last time…" she shook her head as memories of Kira's last entrance into their lives - and her subsequent, inevitable, departure - flashed through her mind. "Brennan got her heart hurt really badly when Kira left. It took her a long time - years even - to really forget about Kira and move on."

Daisy, whom Angela hadn't noticed was standing there, piped up, "Was Dr. Brennan in love with this Kira woman?"

Angela's head snapped around in her direction. "Daisy, when did you get here?" she asked, the anger in her voice fading just a tiny bit as she stared at the intern.

Daisy blushed slightly. "Oh, I've been here the whole time," she announced perkily. "May I just say that the woman Dr. Brennan was kissing was very beautiful?"

Angela's eyes tightened, and that seemed to scare Daisy enough for her to scramble back towards the body, attention averted. Angela turned away from her and continued to speak to her friends, answering Daisy's question as though one of them had asked instead - it wasn't that she disliked Daisy, but she didn't actually want to tell her about Brennan. "Brennan loved her," she admitted. "She wasn't in love, I don't think, but this was a pretty close to being in love kind of love. And Kira…She's just…She never cared."

"Bones!" Booth said, shocked, before shaking his head. "Oh, come on…Bones doesn't do that. She doesn't love like that." His words were spoken unthinkingly, and was easily misunderstood.

"Tread very lightly, Seeley," Cam warned, seeing the look on Angela's face. "Think about what you're saying."

Going over what he'd just said in his mind, and realizing his mistake, he started and was quick to try and rectify, "No! No, God no…That's not what I meant. I just…" He felt like cowering a little under the glare both Hodgins and Angela were giving him, and Cam wasn't helping at all, just standing there with a blank expression on a face and a cocked eyebrow as though waiting for him to suddenly pull a Shakespearean monologue out his ass. "I just meant…You know, she couldn't have gotten her heart broken with this Kira person. Bones, uh, you know, she doesn't really invest in her past relationships."

And it wasn't like he wouldn't know, either. He'd seen the way she was with past boyfriends (key word here - boyfriend, his mind couldn't help but throw in, still staggered by this new tidbit of information about his partner he'd never known about). They had all been nothing more than casual relationships, even Hacker, that son of a bitch. Sully had been the closest thing Brennan had ever had to a real relationship but the moment the guy had shown any sort of real emotion towards her, Brennan would balk. It was crazy to think that she'd ever been invested in any relationship.

Angela nodded. She could see where he'd gotten that conclusion. Her best friend was definitely not the advocate for serious, long term relationships. But he hadn't known about Kira, either. "She did," she revealed. "She invested in Kira and she got burnt badly enough to convince her that she didn't want to open up enough to feel that kind of hurt again."

Unable to help herself - despite the promise she'd made to Brennan after she'd finally opened up to tell her everything that had happened between herself and Booth, starting all the way from before they went their separate ways for a whole year to their 'reconciliation' after the Greek expedition incident - Angela gave Booth a meaningful look and made a jab, "You know, what with all the people just upping and leaving her the way they do?"

Booth wasn't quite sure what she meant, because if she was referring to him going to Afghanistan, then she had no right because Brennan had gone from DC, too, going all the way to Indonesia. And if she was making some sort of dig about Hannah…Then she had no right to do that, too. Nevertheless, her dark eyes bored into his skull and made him uncomfortable enough to shuffle his feet, averting his gaze awkwardly from her.

Cam, deciding to save her friend, interjected, "It couldn't have been that bad, Angela…She seems happy enough to see Kira." She herself had been on the bad end of plenty of heartbreak and she knew that she wouldn't have acted the way Brennan had with Kira if she'd bumped into someone who'd caused her heart to hurt as much as Angela said Brennan's had.

Angela shook her head. "Kira was the one that got away," she said, putting it into words that would hopefully break through to them. "She's the one you know, deep down, is bad for you but you just can't help it. Something just keeps pulling you back in every time."

A sympathetic look on his face, Booth nodded in understanding, "Oh…I know how that is." Lord knows he himself had suffered through that. One woman in particular stood out in mind; the one woman he'd waited half a decade for and had never gotten anywhere with. The very same one he'd had a very confusing dream about last night while he was wrapped around a different woman he was in love with.

Seeing that he was probably understanding now, Angela narrowed her eyes at him and stepped just a tiny bit closer to him. "Just promise me," her voice was low and urgent. "Promise me you'll look out for her, G-man. Seeing her like that…" Angela shuddered. It was an experience she'd had the unfortunate luck to live through twice, and she just wasn't sure she could go through it a third time. "It was scary. Really scary. She was like…Just…"

Words seemed to have failed her after her long rant before this, so Hodgins jumped in. "Yeah, I was there the second time," he added. "It wasn't pretty…Might've even been worse than when she was working through the heartbreak you left her with," he mused.

After all, even though he figured Booth meant a whole lot more to Brennan than Kira ever did - anyone who had spent five minutes with the partners, especially before they'd gone to separate continents and shaken up their foundation, would be able to tell how much they meant to each other; and, really, how was anyone supposed to top a bond that was important enough that you'd take a bullet for the other person without even thinking? - all he had ever seen Brennan do to work through her heartbreak for him was write a new book and put in more hours at the Jeffersonian.

Even when she'd spent a 'girls night in' with Angela at their house, there were no tears, no drunken rambles, just the two of them snuggled up in the den in the Hodgins' estate in their pajamas, watching romantic chick flicks that Brennan had mostly criticized.

Hodgins came out of his reverie only to find Booth glaring at him. Shrugging, he said unapologetically, "Hey, just sayin', man."

Throwing his hands up in aggravation, Booth rounded on the squints. "Okay, why the hell are you all taking her side?" he hissed, the frustration he was feeling boiling in his stomach until he felt sick and more than just slightly suffocated. "She left me first," he reminded them all, a little hurt that none of them were on his side, if they had to take sides at all. After all, weren't they his friends, too? Hadn't he been hurt, too? "I just did what I had to do."

Angela and Cam shared a look before the former sighed, finally relenting a little. "We know," she admitted grudgingly. "And we love you, too, Booth."

"People take sides in a divorce, man," Hodgins shrugged. Seeing that Booth was about to point out the obvious, he added quickly, "I know you guys weren't married, but it…It's the same principle. People take sides. It's a thing."

Angela nodded in agreement to her husband's words, "And Brennan's one of us. We're on her side."

When Booth pointed accusing eyes at Cam, daring her to admit that she was on the side of the woman that she hadn't even liked in the beginning, instead of the side of her oldest friend, Cam merely shrugged, offering him an rueful look. "I was on your side when you were hurting," she held up both hands as though to calm him. "But you've moved on now. You've got Hannah. And she's the one hurting this time, so…I have to be on her side, too, Seeley."

Booth looked away. "In a weird way," he admitted after a long moment of silence. "I'm actually glad you're on her side."

Cam didn't find that weird at all. She'd known Seeley Booth for most of her life, she knew him inside and out. She knew that despite him having 'moved on' with Hannah, he still cared about Brennan. Maybe even loved her, without him even knowing about it. And because of that, even if all his friends weren't on his side in a metaphorical divorce, she knew that he wouldn't be himself if he didn't care about Brennan's heart while she recovered.

"Remember what I told you?" she reminded him gently. "At the bar, the first time you admitted to me about your feelings for her?" Booth nodded, remembering the day two years ago very clearly. "She needs us now, more than you do."

Silence enveloped the group, only the sounds of pen scratching on paper being heard as Wendell noted down his own observations of the remains.

Finally, Hodgins spoke up, "Plus I'm not too sure you're as naïve as you claim to be about government conspiracies. I mean, dammit, all you feds must know something about Roswell."

Booth stared at him in shock. "What!"

"I can keep a secret," Hodgins added earnestly. "Just tell me and I'll switch sides."

Angela gasped in outrage. "Hodgins!" she smacked her husband on the arm.

Booth shook his head, his lips pursed into a thin line. "Know what? You're insane," he pointed at them individually. "All of you."

"Just one detail…" Hodgins pleaded shamelessly.

"I'm leaving," Booth announced unnecessarily, putting away his pen and notebook in his jacket's inside pocket before turning away from the group, heading towards the stairs.

Cam, as though just realizing that they were all in the workplace and not out gossiping on their own free time, ushered Hodgins towards the body as well, grabbing her own pair of gloves to start working on the flesh.

Angela watched as Booth left, a disapproving look on her face. "Well, we all know that's what you do best," she muttered under her breath, too low for anyone else to hear. So maybe she wasn't as forgiving as Brennan when it came to the mess the two partners were in - she couldn't help it. She had only been rooting for Booth and Brennan to get together since day one. It wasn't anything more than her love for Brennan, and knowing for certain that they belonged together that had spurred her on for years, and riled her up now when everything had turned out so wrong.

The sound of a door opening diverted her attention from the agent exiting the lab. She turned her head and her scowl deepened as she watched Brennan and Kira exit her office, hand in hand and laughing loudly with one another.

Booth might not take her warning seriously, but Angela knew that she was right. Watching as Brennan left the lab with Kira in tow, the redhead throwing her hair back and Brennan gazing at her, completely entranced, Angela steeled herself.

It had been far too painful for her to watch Brennan fall to pieces after Kira had shattered her the last time. Brennan wasn't thinking straight, Angela already knew that. She wasn't grieving her lost chance with Booth, having sealed it tight and shoved it so far deep into the recesses of her mind and heart. She was jumping straight into the arms of Kira, who probably had the worst timing in the world. Angela couldn't depend on anyone else, not even Hodgins who had been around the last time Kira had broken Brennan's heart.

I'm the best friend, she resolved. I should be the one to talk sense into her.

---

Unfortunately for Angela, talking sense into Brennan wasn't an easy task.

Brennan had been on such a ridiculous cloud nine all week that nothing Angela said failed to register to her, especially if it had anything to do with Kira and how Angela thought it was all a huge mistake for her to be opening up that can of worms all over again.

Thankfully, Angela was a resourceful person. Resourceful and persuasive. She'd managed to get Brennan hooked on a line about how they hadn't had any time to spend together ever since Kira had gotten back into town - which was actually true. Getting her to agree to a girls' day out this weekend had been a piece of cake after that.

"They've been in there for twenty minutes," Angela reported to the rest of the team, who were all taking a well deserved break together on the lounge above the platform, overlooking the rest of the lab.

They had just closed their case hours ago. Booth and Brennan had made the arrest and had gotten an easy confession from the killer. Booth was back at the Hoover, working on the paperwork, and Kira had been in Brennan's office for nearly half an hour, worrying Angela sick.

"What do you think they're doing in there?"

Hodgins raised an eyebrow at her. "Babe, think about it - what do we do in your office for twenty minutes?" he pointed out.

Cam, leaning back against a plush chaise, grimaced. "Oh, dear God," she groaned. "Do we really need to mention that in everyday conversation?" she glared daggers at Hodgins, who merely smiled amusedly at her.

It would be nice if at least one of my employees was afraid of me, Cam thought sulkily before chiding herself on how childish she'd just sounded.

Turning back to face his wife, who had her back turned to him, leaning against the railing and willing herself to somehow get x-ray vision so she could see through the closed blinds of Brennan's office, Hodgins continued, "Ange, really, you're starting to get paranoid on me."

"And coming from him, our resident conspiracy theorist, too," Cam deadpanned.

Angela finally swiveled around to look at the other two. "You know, you of all people shouldn't think I'm crazy for anticipating the worst," she pointed an accusing finger at Hodgins.

He blinked at her. "Because I'm a nutty conspiracy theorist who believes that next year, the world will come to an end just like the Mayans predicted?"

She scowled. "No," she replied sharply.

He shrugged. "Okay, but you'll thank me later when the world does come to an end and I've already booked us seats on a ship so we'll be perfectly safe from the destruction," he told her smugly.

She ignored that. "You were there the last time she was here, Jack," she reminded him. "You saw what happened."

Hodgins sighed, a little disgruntled that he hadn't been able to distract his wife. "I know, I know, it was terrible," he recalled. "But, baby…That was eight years ago. People change, especially when it's been that long."

Reaching out, he took her hand and pulled her closer to him. "Maybe she's changed, Angie," he suggested gently. "Maybe she's grown up and she's really here to make it work and you're just gonna end up pushing Dr. B away if you keep doing this."

Angela looked away from him for a few seconds before sighing. Stepping closer to her husband, she settled on his lap, letting the comfort of his arms around her wash over her. "What if she hasn't changed?" she countered quietly. "It was disconcerting for you to watch her become so unlike herself, but it was painful to me. I can't do it again."

Before Hodgins could think of something to say to comfort her, Cam nudged Angela's leg with her elbow. "Angela," she murmured, nodding towards the stairs leading up to the platform.

Angela and Hodgins looked up to see Kira climbing the last few steps, a nervous smile on her face as her eyes found Angela. "Hi," she said awkwardly.

Angela stared at her silently.

Cam cleared her throat. "I thought you and Brennan were headed out for the night?" she asked, making polite conversation with Kira. She wasn't sure what to make of Kira. Angela had been so adamant that Kira wasn't a good person but from what Cam could tell from the few days Kira had been hanging around the Jeffersonian, the woman was a nice enough person. Then again, she didn't know Kira well and she definitely didn't have history with her the way Angela and Brennan did.

Kira nodded, tucking a lock of red hair behind her ear. "We are," she said quickly. "But, um…Tempe had a last minute conference call with a team in China so…I'm waiting until she's done."

"Oh."

Another silence fell on the group.

Kira shuffled her feet slightly, sneaking looks at Angela. "Listen, Angela…Can we talk?" she asked quietly.

Angela glared.

"Please?" Kira prompted.

Angela sighed, nodding her head and climbing off her husband's lap. She followed Kira a few steps away from Hodgins and Cam, both of them leaning their sides against the railing of the platform.

"Angela…" Kira trailed off on a sigh. "I don't know what else to say except I'm sorry. I know I screwed up before – not just with Tempe, but with you, too, and I…I shouldn't have just ran but I couldn't stay any longer, Ange. You know me. I-I had to go. The time just wasn't right."

Angela shook her head. "You know, if that was the first time you did something like that to her, I would've maybe forgiven you at some point," she told Kira. "But there's a pattern, Kira, and she might still be swimming in denial but I'm not."

"Angela, I…I won't hurt her," Kira insisted.

"Not again, you mean?" Angela quirked a perfectly sculptured eyebrow.

Kira pursed her lips, a flash of annoyance crossing her pretty features. "I love her, Angela," she murmured quietly, meeting the artist's dark eyes steadily. "I do."

Angela stared at her for a long while and, just for a brief second, she caught sight of the Kira Fusco she'd known and loved in college. That Kira had been freer in the sense that she didn't feel so trapped being where she was. She was free to love, free to accept love and free to be.

Somewhere along the way, Kira had gotten restless and jaded even. Angela had a feeling it had a lot to do with Kira's stuffy upbringing and her snobby mother.

Just for a second, she allowed herself to feel the fondness she'd once held for the woman and felt pity for her restless existence.

"But do you love her enough?" Angela countered.

Kira fell silent.

Angela straightened up, slightly triumphant even if she didn't want to be for this particular instance. "Look," she sighed. "I do know you, Kira. And I know that this isn't going to be enough for you. At some point, you're going to get the itch to run, to find something new and exciting and you're going to pack up and leave."

Kira's eyes flashed and she opened her mouth to argue.

Angela held up a hand to stop her before she could say anything. "Unless you can tell me without a doubt that, this time, you're ready to really work it out. That you're in it for the long haul and you're ready to stay and get committed and stop being a flight risk…I don't want to hear it," she warned.

"Brennan is my best friend, Kira," she lowered her voice, her gaze growing intense at her words. "I can't let you use her that way again."

Kira's lips formed a thin, hard line. "I have never once used her," her voice was slightly harsh. "Not once. I love her. I always have. All the mistakes I've ever made wasn't a reflection of my feelings for her."

She sniffed slightly, crossing her arms in a defensive pose. "Temperance understands that," she said tightly.

Angela rolled her eyes. "Temperance would believe anything when it comes to you," Angela stated dryly. "She's a little too gullible in that sense."

Kira looked like she was about to argue before changing her mind, shaking her head. "You know what? I don't have to prove myself to you," she said firmly. "I know I've been a disappointment to Tempe in the past – and you were affected by it. Obviously. You're a good friend to her so I wouldn't have expected otherwise. But this is between me and Tempe, Angela."

Angela clenched her jaw, watching as Kira turned to leave.

Kira froze for a second before turning back around to face Angela. "You know, I don't expect you to believe me when I say this but I'm here to stay this time," she said. At Angela's derisive scoff, she sighed. "I am. People can change, Angie, and I have."

"Coming from the bride who ran away from her wedding because she felt like it was the wrong thing to do," Angela pointed out.

Kira frowned at her. "It would've been even more horrible of me to go through with it if I didn't love John enough to be his wife forever," she argued.

At Angela's pointed look, Kira shook her head. "You can't compare that. You can't. I've never felt for John what I feel for Tempe," she said, a soft smile coming across her lips as she thought of Temperance. "Listen…All I'm trying to say is that this is real, what's going on between Tempe and I. It's not her that's in denial. It's you."

Angela felt anger rise in her chest, causing a bitter warmth to spread. "Is that so?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Kira bit her lip and tentatively took a metaphorical step forward. "I don't want to interfere – and we may have fallen out a long time ago, Angie, but you're very important to Tempe and I'd hate for anything to happen between the two of you," she spoke in a rush, almost stumbling over her words in an attempt to explain it all and not get misunderstood at the same time.

Unfortunately for her, Angela was pretty defensive when it came to Kira's presence in their lives and took offense to her words. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean…" Kira trailed off, looking around as though expecting Brennan to overhear somehow. "I don't want you to end up pushing Tempe away because of me."

"Brennan would never choose you over me," she said fiercely.

Kira frowned at her. "It's not about choosing sides, Angela," she said, a little exasperation in her tone. "I'm just saying…"

"Well, don't," Angela interrupted, glaring. "We've been friends for a good solid seventeen years. You abandoned her twice. No matter what, she wouldn't choose you."

"Angela…"

"And don't go pretending like it's 1995 and we're back in college, Kira," she interrupted. "Your sporadic drops into her life mean nothing. You don't know the first thing about me and Bren."

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment – Angela red-faced and still fuming as she breathed heavily, Kira looking a little stunned and hurt – before the sounds of approaching footsteps broke their gaze.

"Hey, guys," Brennan said, smiling as she walked over to Kira. She was oblivious to Cam and Hodgins' awkward expressions or Angela's slightly angry one, her eyes riveted on Kira whose lips had quirked upwards at the sight of Brennan, accepting the kiss Brennan leaned in to give. "I'm good to go, Kira. I'm sorry that took so long."

Kira shook her head, her hurt expression transformed into an easy, loving smile so smoothly. "Oh, I don't mind," she assured Brennan, one arm wrapping around Brennan's waist and her other hand resting on Brennan's shoulder, her body leaning into Brennan's side as she took comfort in the embrace of a familiar lover.

"I was just catching up with Angela and getting to know her husband. Hodgins, was it?" she said, having heard the name when Brennan had told her all about Angela's less than traditional marriage to the bug man.

Angela didn't seem pleased at all but Brennan beamed widely. "Really? Well, I'm glad you two are speaking civilly again," she nodded her head approvingly. She knew that Angela's falling out with Kira had been due to Brennan's breakup with her that first time in college, and she'd felt guilty about that because Kira and Angela had gotten along so smoothly before that. She was glad that they had put whatever it was behind them.

Angela resisted the urge to snort in response to Brennan's words.

Cam, wanting to be the peacemaker, at least for as long as peace would stay, spoke up. "Dr. Brennan, are you heading out?" she asked.

Brennan nodded. "I hope that's okay, Cam," she said easily. "I'm bringing my paperwork home. It's just that Kira and I have plans tomorrow and we want to get an early start…"

Cam shook her head. "No, go ahead," she assured the anthropologist. "It's Friday night after all."

Angela had started at Brennan's words. Angry glare fading, she frowned at her best friend. "Bren… Tomorrow?" she asked, trying her best to avoid looking at Kira wrapped around Brennan. "We have plans tomorrow, remember?" she reminded Brennan. "We were going out all day? Spa, brunch then shopping?"

Brennan winced. "Oh, wow!" she pressed a hand to her cheek. "I'd completely forgotten about that…" She turned to look at Kira, biting her lower lip in contemplation. "Kira…"

Kira looked between Brennan and Angela, a contemplative look on her face. "You know what? You should go with Angela," Kira urged Brennan. "I mean, you made plans with her first, even if you forgot. It wouldn't be fair…"

Brennan sighed. "I guess you're right," she murmured.

Angela shot her a look. "Gee, don't sound so excited, Bren," she commented sarcastically as Hodgins came up to their little group, standing beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Brennan gave Angela an apologetic look. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I am excited to go out with you. We haven't spent time together outside of work in a while. It's just…You know, this is the first time Kira and I will be going away together for such a long time…We did all that planning…"

"We did," Kira agreed. "But I don't want you to cancel on Angela due to me…God knows you get too busy sometimes and I'm sure you two need to bond or whatever."

Angela shot Kira a look, disgruntled that she was being so nice. She still didn't like Kira, nor did she trust her, but it would make it easier on her conscience to be a bitch to someone evil rather than nice.

Brennan, meanwhile, was nodding, agreeing with Kira's words. However, she didn't exactly want to cancel on her girlfriend, either. Then again, the reason for her day out with Angela was because Angela had thought they weren't spending enough time together recently. Cancelling on her would be counterproductive.

She was sold, though, when Kira said reassuringly, "I'll call the inn, baby. I'm sure we can bump it to a different weekend."

"You two were going to go to an inn?" Cam asked, stepping closer.

Kira nodded, a happy grin making its way across her lips. "We were going to take a trip up to Vermont," she explained. "We went to this charming little inn eight years ago for a mini holiday and Tempe and I thought it would be nice to do that again. It's just such a romantic place," she sighed, running her hand up and down Brennan's arm.

"Aw, that sounds so sweet," Cam smiled. "I didn't know you did 'sweet', Dr. Brennan."

Brennan's face scrunched up in an odd combination of reproached embarrassment, mumbling something Cam didn't quite catch.

Hodgins, squeezing Angela's shoulders, leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You might not like Kira but maybe you could support Brennan," he murmured quietly. She gave him a look as though to say 'why would I ever do something like that?' "Come on, babe. She deserves a vacation, right?"

Angela didn't want to say anything to let Brennan off the hook for tomorrow, letting her be free to go to Vermont with Kira. But Hodgins was giving her that soft, sweet smile of his and his words and Kira's words earlier both mingled together, giving her a paranoid jolt for a second about her lack of support for Brennan's renewed relationship leading to a conflict between them.

Before she could stop herself, she had blurted out, "You should go to Vermont."

She regretted her words immediately but everyone had heard her and Brennan and Kira were both looking at her now, surprised expressions on their faces. She had no way of turning back.

"Ange?" Brennan prompted uncertainly.

Taking a deep breath, and strength from her husband's warm body pressed up to her side, Angela continued reluctantly. "We can go shopping any other day, Bren," she smiled slightly. "You should go to Vermont. I mean…God, when was the last time you had a vacation? And you've been planning and stuff…You should go."

Kira was giving her a grateful smile, a proud look on her face as though she was pleased Angela had gotten over whatever hostility towards her to grant the two of them a weekend away.

"Do you mean it?" Brennan asked, still unsure.

Forcing a smile on her lips and trying her best not to look Kira's way, Angela nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure," she said in a tight voice Brennan didn't seem to notice. "We'll go shopping when you get back."

Brennan was already distracted by Kira yet again, the two exchanging flirty smiles right there. When Kira's arms lowered, both of her hands enclosing around one of Brennan's, Brennan turned to the others. "I think we'll be heading out now," she said. "I'm starving."

She threw Angela a wide smile. "And, Angela – thank you. We will definitely go out once I return," she promised.

As she allowed Kira to lead her away from the group and down the stairs, Brennan called out, "You should go to the spa, anyway. We already have an appointment, don't we? Take Cam with you! Goodnight, everyone!"

The remaining three chorused a farewell to Brennan and Kira.

It was a one-time thing, Angela assured herself as she watched the duo walked away. You're just being paranoid because of what Kira and Hodgins said right before this. Brennan's not choosing her. No way.

But, like William S. Burroughs once said, sometimes paranoia's just having all the facts. And the fact was that Brennan was following the same pattern all over again. She was falling much too hard for Kira, going so far as to let Kira move in with her barely a week after her arrival in DC, and getting so distracted by her that she seemed to be blocking the rest of the world out, acting as though Kira was the only thing in her world.

Except this time was worse, and Angela didn't know why nor did she know how to stop it. All she knew was that her best friend was heading in a very unhealthy direction and Angela had the worst possible feeling in her stomach, one that screamed at her not to follow. Like all good best friends, she knew she had to be there for Brennan. Lord knew Brennan had done her best to be there for Angela during her hard times, bless her oblivious soul.

But she had been there for Brennan both times before when Kira had been around. How was she supposed to do it all over again, especially since seeing Brennan all broken after Kira would leave would be just…Horrifying? Was she supposed to just keep doing it over and over again no matter how many times this happened in their lives? How could a woman so smart be so stupid, and not learn a lesson that had been thrust into her face one too many times?

---

"I knew the butler did it," Booth boasted, flipping his poker chip in the air and catching it in his hand.

They had just solved their latest case, one that didn't involve rich people or butlers. Brennan shot him a confused look from where she sat next to him on the couch up on the lounge. They were all supposed to head to the Founding Fathers for a drink, as was customary after solving a case, but they'd been far too exhausted after such a trying case that they'd ended up just splayed out up on the lounge instead, wanting to rest for a little while.

"Booth…There was no butler in our case," she pointed out rationally.

He rolled his eyes, though he was smiling as he looked at her. "I didn't mean it literally, Bones," he said gently. "I just meant, you know, it was the obvious guy who did it."

She nodded her head, seeming to accept his answer, even if she didn't know what the significance of butlers were in his answer. "Oh, okay," she said, lifting her arms above her head and lacing her fingers together, stretching. "God, I'm so tired…" she sighed, dropping her arms and rubbing at her eyes wearily.

"I know," Cam groaned. "I hate federal cases."

"No, you don't," Booth teased. "You'd be bored to death without 'em."

Hodgins snorted. "Ha! You wish," he retorted, though he threw a friendly smile at the agent to show that he had simply been joking.

Brennan barely paid any mind to her friends' banter. Instead, her attention was on Angela who sat on the chaise directly opposite the one she was sitting on. Reaching out with her foot, she gently nudged Angela on the shin. "Hey," she said quietly, prompting her best friend to look up from where her gaze had been fixed on the ground. "Are you okay? You're being very quiet."

That in itself was very strange because Angela had never been a quiet person. Even after closing a case, she would almost always still be chatty enough to talk about horrible the murder was. However, Brennan also knew that Angela would feel for the victim, and her big heart would always weep for the families who had lost their loved ones. Maybe she was just absorbed in the details of the case.

She's been quiet for days, though, Brennan reminded herself with a frown.

Angela forced a smile upon her face so bad that even Brennan was able to see through it. "I'm fine," she nodded. "So…Are we just gonna sit here all night or go to the Founding Fathers? I know I could use a drink."

It wasn't the case that had bothered her - though the murder had been a horrendous thing, it wasn't nearly as gruesome as some of the things they'd encountered in the past years - but, rather, Kira's constant presence at the lab.

Hodgins and Cam had, without Angela's knowledge, been actually quite fond of Kira, finding her to be quite a pleasant person to be around. It was quite surprising considering Angela's intense dislike for the woman. However, having borne witness to the tension between the two women, they were quite wary around her, especially if Angela was around. Booth had simply picked up on the tension in that perceptive way he usually did, and had been extremely uncomfortable around all of it. Brennan, of course, remained as oblivious to it as ever.

Angela was mature enough to admit, at least only to herself, that she wasn't simply distressed because of Brennan's relationship with Kira and how Angela knew that it would only end badly all over again - and soon, because Kira wasn't the type of woman to stick around long for anything. Her own dislike for Kira and the mutual enmity between both women had played quite a large part in feeding her fears and insecurity about losing her best friend to the one person in the entire world who could probably make it happen.

It wasn't like she hadn't tried being a stronger person. She knew that if Brennan was playing right into Kira's hand, she wasn't doing it on purpose. Still, Angela couldn't help but blame Brennan a little. It wasn't like she hadn't been burned - twice - by Kira before. She should've learned by now, no matter how 'irresistible' she might find Kira to be.

Brennan hissed, checking her watch and wincing. "Actually…" she trailed off apologetically.

Angela's head snapped around to her. "Oh, you're kidding me?" she asked incredulously.

But Brennan merely shrugged, still looking sorry. "It's just that I've made plans with Kira," she started to explain. "And we sat here for so long…I mean, I didn't even realize the time. I'm really sorry…"

Booth, who noted the look on Angela's face, figured he'd probably better say something to ease the tension. He wasn't sure, exactly, what to make of Kira, having spent the tiniest amount of time with her amongst the group. He hadn't taken Angela's warning to heart and a brief mention from Cam told him that his old friend found the redhead quite likeable. And asides from the weirdness of seeing Brennan kissing another woman, he didn't really have any problems with Kira.

He didn't think Brennan's relationship with Kira Fusco would be a lasting one. It wasn't due to anything Angela said - though she ranted a lot these days about Kira's imperfections and flighty tendencies - or because Kira was a woman, though that certainly played a part (Brennan, right before Kira showed up, had been in the mindset of Angela in her twenties. He wasn't fond of that, either, but he at least knew that men weren't something she'd give up easily).

He just couldn't see Brennan being in a long term relationship with Kira. There was something off about the redhead, something that failed to click when the two were together. He knew Brennan probably didn't see it at the moment but the time would come when the relationship would end, that he was absolutely, one hundred percent sure of.

So, taking up the role of gentle-toned buffer, he said, "Hey, it's okay, Bones. I probably should get home, too…"

Angela interrupted him. "No, it's not okay!" she said, her weariness and frustration at Brennan bubbling over. "It's not okay."

Brennan was taken aback by Angela's sudden outburst. "Hey," she murmured, her tone softened by stunned concern. "What's with you?"

"What's with me?" Angela repeated, glaring at her. "Are you kidding me, Brennan?"

Brennan's eyes had gone round in shock, and her jaw dropped at what, to her, was anger that had come out of nowhere. "Angela…"

Angela shook her head, "No, you know, there are a hell of a lot of things in life you're oblivious about, but this?…This shouldn't be one of those things, Brennan. You're smarter than that." Leaving her best friend gaping at her from where she sat, Angela rose from her seat abruptly and walked off towards the stairs.

Hodgins made to stand up to go after his wife, but Cam held out an arm, stopping him just as Brennan shot up from her seat. "Let them," Cam murmured to a worried looking Hodgins. "They need to talk."

Brennan jogged after Angela, catching up to her at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the lounge area. She reached out for Angela's hand, surprised when Angela yanked her hand out of her grip, spinning around to face her. Angela's beautiful skin was flushed, and her eyes blazed as she locked gaze with Brennan.

"Ange, you're saying things, and they don't make sense to me," Brennan said, stuffing her hands into her jacket pocket.

"Yeah, I know they don't make sense to you," Angela said wryly. "Because you don't listen to me. I try, you know, I try to talk to you and all you ever do is block out what you don't want to hear."

Brennan simply blinked at her best friend. "What's all this about?" she asked carefully.

Angela sounded frustrated when she replied, unable to believe the blinding naivety of the anthropologist. "This is about you, falling for Kira all over again when you know you're only going to get burned in the end," she said. "This is about you being smart enough to change the world, but stupid enough to let someone break your heart over and over again."

Brennan's porcelain skin flushed red and anger sparked in her own chest. "Hey!" she protested. "What Kira did in the past was-"

"Unforgivable?"

Brennan shook her head, curls flying everywhere. "No," she insisted harshly. "It was horrible. And I was hurt, I know that."

"Do you, though?" Angela demanded.

Brennan raised an eyebrow at her. "I was the one who felt the pain, Angela," she replied testily. "I remembered. I know. She hurt me. I know."

Angela shook her head, looking away for a moment. "It doesn't feel like you know," she said finally. "She comes around and you fall for her, and then she leaves and you're in pieces. Then it's like it all never happened when she comes back…"

Brennan exhaled loudly. "Why can't you get it?" she asked, her voice almost desperate with need for her best friend to understand. "Why can't you see that I need her to be…Here. I need her."

"No, you don't. You-"

"I do," Brennan interrupted. "I do. Because she…She's all I've got left. And she makes me feel. She always makes me feel. I need that."

Angela's hardened eyes softened. "You deserve better," she said softly.

Brennan's voice caught in her throat, a lump forming there and making it hard for her to breathe or speak or to do anything other than try her hardest not to cry. "I don't get 'better'," she said in such a self-deprecating tone that it made Angela want to weep for her. "I get Kira…And don't you see? Don't you see that she could be what I need?"

The fire was back, pushing Angela to convince Brennan, to make her see the truth. "But she's not," she said adamantly. "She always leaves, Brennan. She always leaves you, and you know she's going to leave you again. You know it, deep down. Just admit it yourself, please. Please just do this one thing."

"She might not leave again," Brennan argued, her voice wavering at the thought of Kira leaving all over again. "Maybe she needed space before. Maybe I wasn't as good for her before. I know I wasn't…I wasn't ready. My heart…It wasn't good. It wasn't good." Sucking in a deep, shaky breath, Brennan cleared her throat as much as she could and spoke despite the lump still lodged there. "But I could be better. Maybe I already am. She could see that and decide to stay."

Angela stared incredulously at Brennan. "Are you listening to yourself?" she demanded angrily, hands on her hips. "Seriously. Are you? Do you realize just how insane all of that sounded? Kira left because she's a floozy who can't commit to any one thing-"

"Angela!" Brennan snapped, glaring right back at her.

The two of them simply stood, facing off with daggers shooting at each other from their eyes, hands on their hips, for a long, long moment.

Finally, voice low and controlled as though she was trying to reign in her anger and not yell, Angela said, "She's left you twice. Not once, but twice."

"I remember."

"And, you know, the last time, I could understand," Angela admitted begrudgingly. "Kira left so suddenly the first time. You didn't have time to say goodbye, didn't know what went wrong. But then she did it all over again and, God, Brennan…" She shook her head, grimacing. "I'm your best friend, Bren."

The soft admission was enough for Brennan's anger to dissipate. "You are," she agreed, nodding, her voice equally soft.

"And I love you," Angela continued. "We've been there for each other for years. I wouldn't change all of that, and I don't regret any of it…But when you're heartbroken over Kira, you get so messed up. And it scares me. It scares me, Brennan."

Angela's dark brown eyes had filled up with tears, causing Brennan's heart to skip a beat. She reached out for her friend but Angela shook her head, waving off her touch. Brennan let her arms fall back to her sides and simply waited for her to speak.

Once she had herself in control, Angela started again. "It scares me," she said again. "Because it's like you fell off the deep end so completely, I don't know if you'll ever surface again. I don't know how to find you and I'm scared and I'm panicking but you're off going to war zones and beating up gang leaders and getting yourself arrested every other day…"

Brennan took that literally, and despite the way she felt so stunned over Angela's admission (because even though she knew that Angela worried for her the last two times Kira had been gone, she never knew about all these things she was telling her now…And Angela simply wasn't one to keep anything to herself, especially not to her own best friend), she felt the need to correct her. "I wasn't arrested every day…"

Angela ignored that. Sniffling, she brought her hand up to her face and wiped hastily at her eyes, glad beyond belief that she had foregone normal mascara for the waterproof kind years ago. "But, you know, I can't do it again," she said, looking up through slightly swollen eyelids to look at Brennan. "It takes so much out of me, Bren, to see you like that, to worry about you so much…To see you shatter. I can't do it. It's so draining and I feel so tired every hour of every day…" She sounded so defeated, so weary of it all.

"You don't have to," Brennan was eager to say. "It's different this time, Ange. I know it. She's different and I'm different, and I think…I think it'll be good this time around. Please…Please just support me. Just…Be my best friend."

I am, Angela thought to herself. It's why I'm doing this. Squaring her shoulders and steeling herself, she spoke in a voice that was deceptively strong, "It's me or her, Brennan." She watched as Brennan's eyes grew as wide as saucers, her lips forming an 'o' of surprise. "Which is it?"

It had been undeniable to Angela that Brennan would choose her, even after the insecurities Kira's words had caused her. They went back so many years, they were more sisters than best friends, and if Brennan believed what Angela did, she, too, would say that they were one of each other's soul mates.

So, she had asked Brennan to choose, firmly believing with her whole heart that Brennan would choose her, no matter how painful it would be for her to let go of Kira. And though she was prepared for Brennan to despise her for a while for having to do such a thing, she knew Brennan would move on much easier if she were to let go now than if she allowed herself to be pulled in deeper before Kira broke it off all over again. The time would come when Brennan would forgive Angela - and maybe even thank her when the right person came along (or, I don't know, break it off with a certain blonde journalist that they don't belong with, she thought to herself.)

Imagine her shock, then, when instead of answering 'I choose you' straight away, Brennan paused.

In the span of the ten seconds silence that it took for Brennan to consider, Angela's face had crumbled, and she was shaking her head. "You hesitated?" she whispered, as though she couldn't believe it.

"Why does there have to be a choice at all?" Brennan asked, her tone shaky and tearful. Her voice rose when Angela took a few steps away from her, tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. "Why does it have to be an ultimatum?"

"You hesitated!" Angela repeated again, her voice still incredulous. "Really! It…You have to think about it?" Clearly, their relationship meant differently to each of them. I guess Kira was right, Angela thought bitterly.

Brennan bit her lip, taking half a tentative step forward before rocking back on her heels. "I…She…" she tried to find the right words to say, to not mess up this moment because she knew it was pivotal, knew that she was risking one of the longest friendships she'd ever had. "She means a lot to me, Ange," she pleaded softly. "I can't just…I mean, think about it. Please. If-if you were me, if you were in my shoes."

"I wouldn't have hesitated," Angela replied coldly, immediately, not having to think at all.

The two of them stared at one another for a long while. Finally, Brennan broke the silence, her heart jumping to her throat. "So that's it?" she asked brokenly. "We're just…We're not friends anymore?"

Angela could feel her heart pounding loudly, blood rushing to her ears. What was the point in trying to be friends with someone who would choose someone else over you? What was the point in being friends with someone who would choose a person who kept abandoning her instead of someone who had been there for her through thick or thin? What did that really say about their friendship at all? Had they really been as close as she'd thought or had Brennan kept her at a distance all this while, just like she had everyone else, without her even realizing it.

Swallowing painfully, she said, "I guess we're not."

Taking one last look at her best friend - former best friend, she corrected herself spitefully - Angela turned on her heel and walked away, only vaguely aware that her husband had joined her. Her knees had started to shake, her chest heaving with her restrained sobs, and it wasn't until Hodgins' hand enveloped her own did it feel slightly easier to breathe. But how do you breathe when you'd just lost one of your soul mates?

"Shh," Hodgins murmured, gathering her in his arms the moment they were locked in her office. She burrowed her head in the crook of his neck, letting her tears fall freely as she hugged him tight. Never in her life had she felt so much relief that he was with her. She allowed herself to fall into him, taking comfort in the fact that at least she had one of her soul mates left.

Brennan watched as Angela left before turning around and walking in the opposite direction, heading towards the lab's exit. Tears started to form in her own eyes, but she kept her head low and her hands stuck in her pockets, swallowing hard every few seconds and fighting to keep her tears at bay and her breathing under control.

"Bones!" she heard, and almost rolled her eyes.

Not now, Booth, she silently pleaded. The last thing she needed was for him to witness yet another one of her crying episodes. God, she had just gotten to the point of 'strong Brennan'. When had it all come crumbling down? Why had it taken so little time for it all to fall apart?

Unfortunately for her, Booth didn't have telepathic abilities, and continued to chase after her, finally catching up to her just as she made it into the elevator. "Bones…" his voice was soft and filled with so much sympathy that a tear spilled over onto her cheek.

She reached out and quickly swiped it away. "I'm fine," her voice was tight as she replied, and incredibly tearful. Not even a child would believe her.

He remained silent, unsure how to react, let alone how to comfort her. Brennan and Angela had one of the most solid friendships he'd ever known. Sure, they'd had their fights in the past, but never had their relationship actually ended before.

He wanted to reach out and take her into his arms, but she was doing that thing where she kept herself as far away from him as she could in the small space they shared, and her chin jutted out stubbornly. He knew that meant that she didn't want to be held at the moment, that she was trying to be strong.

Besides, could he really hold her now and not feel even the slightest pang of what he used to feel for her? He hated that he had to keep such a distance between them, hated that the need for distance meant that he couldn't offer her comfort when she so clearly needed it, but he couldn't help it. He had been a faithful man his whole life and even if he was faithful physically, he needed to be faithful emotionally, too.

A year and a half ago, he'd have ignored her half-hearted attempt at staying strong and gathered her in his arms, holding her tight.

The numbers at the top of the elevator showed they were at the second floor - just two floors away from the basement parking. He had to speak now. "Bones…" he said again, the only word he could think of. "Are you…?" He stopped himself then. Of course she wasn't okay.

But she said it again just the same. "I'm fine," she whispered.

The elevator doors slid open and she practically flew out of it, rushing to her car. He didn't follow, just watched her with sad eyes until the doors slid close again, but she climbed into her car as quickly as she could anyway, sliding the key into the ignition and tearing away from her parking space like a madwoman.

She drove with the same intensity, screeching to a halt right outside the bistro she'd promised Kira she'd meet her at over twenty minutes ago.

Kira was outside, seated on a bench, phone glued to her ear. She looked up at the sound of Brennan's car's tires squealing on the asphalt. She blinked in shock for a moment before standing up, a scowl forming on her lips instead as she hung up the phone. "Tempe, where the hell were you?" she demanded. "You're late! I've been waiting her for forty minutes. And I've been calling you for thirty minutes. The least you can do is call me if you're going to-"

Her words were cut off as Brennan marched right up to her, cupped her face in her hands and pressed her lips to Kira's. She was aware that her hands, her legs, her entire body was trembling but she had no idea how to stop it. So she just continued to kiss her girlfriend, taking in as much of her warmth as she could because her entire body had gone cold the moment Angela had ended their friendship. Kira kissed her back, only pulling back when warm drops of tears started to spill onto Brennan's cheeks and transferred onto hers.

She reached out, wiping at the salty drops with one hand, the other arm wrapping around Brennan comfortingly. "Baby, what's wrong?" she whispered in concern, her head tilted to the side.

Despite every heartbreak she'd caused Brennan, and despite what Angela had accused her of, Kira sincerely did care for Brennan. Maybe not as much as she should, which was why she had such a hard time defending herself when Angela had argued with her at the lab but she did have strong, genuine feelings for the brilliantly beautiful woman in her arms.

Seeing her cry wasn't something she'd ever encountered before - she'd left before she could see the pain in her crystal eyes, knowing that it would be too horrible to bear witness to if she stayed to explain - and it unnerved her to see such a strong woman looked as though she'd crumble to ashes if there was so much as a breeze blowing their way.

Brennan shook her head, not bothering to hide her tears this time around, and not wanting to explain one of the most heart wrenching things that had ever happened to her just minutes after it had happened. "Let's go home," she said firmly.

Kira frowned, shooting a look at the bistro over her shoulder. "But dinner…?"

Brennan reached out and kissed her deeply, letting Kira know her intentions clearly without words. She noted with slight pleasure, deeply tinged with the sorrow she couldn't seem to shake off, that Kira' eyes were clouded over when they pulled away. "Let's go home," she repeated, and this time Kira didn't argue.

As she drove, Brennan's emotions continued to flicker, alternating between deep sorrow and incredulous anger, both directed at Angela. She knew that she had been terrible at losing Kira before, but that would never happen again. She was sure of it. She and Kira were both more mature now, emotionally and mentally. There was much more heart invested in their relationship this time around whereas before, the balance of emotional and physical intimacy was more or less tipped.

She just couldn't understand why Angela, her very own best friend who had been there since the beginning of her relationship with Kira, wouldn't support her. Angela knew better than anyone how Brennan had always wished for a chance to make things work with Kira, to give it a real shot. Now she'd finally been given the chance and all Angela would do was get angry at her.

It didn't make sense to her at all.

"Kitten," Kira's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. One look around at her surrounding caused her to start, shocked. She was standing in front of her bedroom door - she had driven all the way back to her apartment, gotten into her building, rode the elevator and stepped into her house without even realizing it. She turned her gaze on Kira, who was still wearing a worried expression on her face. "Tempe, are you alright?"

Brennan gave her the best impression of a smile that she had. "I'm okay," she said quietly. She would be okay, Brennan decided. She would prove Angela wrong. Kira would stay and they'd be happy together and Angela would realize that she'd been wrong over time. She would apologize and Brennan would accept and they'd be friends again. Soon.

Stepping closer to Kira, Brennan twined her arms around the other woman and brought her in for a kiss. She backed them towards the darkened room, Kira's chuckles against her lips making her smile even for just a bit. Just as they had stepped over the threshold, Brennan pulled away and gave Kira a searching look. "You'll stay, won't you?" she asked, her voice low and quiet, but her words deafening in the stillness of their embrace.

Kira blinked. She had a feeling that Brennan didn't just mean 'will you stay tonight?' even if they were already practically living together. For now, a voice couldn't help but add quietly, harshly, in her mind.

Letting a smile shape on her lips, Kira nodded. "Of course," she assured Brennan. "Of course I'd stay. I'm not going anywhere."

Brennan gazed into Kira's gorgeous green eyes, letting her thumb stroke gently over her smooth cheek. Her mind wandered for a moment, involuntarily, and the green turned into brown, the body pressed to hers more masculine, the smile more charming, the skin tanner. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, setting her lips into a thin line. Booth wasn't hers to love anymore. He wasn't hers to dream about, wasn't hers to hold or kiss or take comfort in. But Kira was. Kira was here and hers and beautiful and charming in her own way.

So she smiled right back at Kira. "Okay," she agreed, leaning in to accept her kiss.

As their kisses grew more and more heated by the minute, Brennan kicked the door close behind her. She was determined to lose herself in Kira, and she was determined to let go of all the heartbreak she felt, be it from Booth or Angela.

She was going to heal.

I have to heal, she thought, almost pleading though she had no idea who was pleading to. Closing her eyes, lost in the momentary pleasure of being as close to another human being as she could get, Brennan willed herself to drown.

---

"We only see what we want to see, and believe what we want to believe. And it works. We lie to ourselves so much that, after a while, the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much, that we can't recognize the truth, right in front of our faces."

Meredith Grey.