A/N: Here it is, folks, the final chapter. Thank you so much for your support of this story. I would especially like to thank GreyIsTheCatsPajamas for giving me her seal of approval on each and every chapter. I'm really curious to hear what you think so if you feel so inclined, leave a review. Thanks again and enjoy!

Chapter 12

The Paying in the Past

"Good evening, everyone, our top story tonight is about the D.C sniper, who has been identified and taken into custody, according to a statement released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier today. Jacob Ripkin Broadsky, a 39-year-old male formerly in the United States Army Rangers, was arrested early this morning by the Washington D.C. police department after being tracked down by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. The Bureau has yet to release what evidence they have against Broadsky but Assistant United States Attorney Caroline Julian said today in a statement to the press that with evidence gathered with help from the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab, she does not anticipate a problem with his eventual conviction for the murders of Karrina Adams, Alvin Fung, Dr. Curtis Lewis, and Vincent Nigel-Murray. For more on this story, we head to our field reporter Jessica Nario at the J. Edgar Hoover Building-"

Brennan turned off the television mounted on the opposite wall of the intensive care unit hospital room she was currently a resident of, deep in thought about the news report she just heard. While she was relieved that Broadsky was off the street and knew that the evidence her team gathered would hold up under scrutiny, she found that Broadsky was the furthest thing from her mind, more focused on the other man mentioned in the news report.

She loved him. She was in love with him.

But she was also really, really angry with him.

She had not heard from her partner since she woke up in the hospital this morning, finding a sleeping Angela to be her only company. Her friend quickly assured her that Booth faithfully stayed by her side until about three this morning when he was called away to help catch the man who put her in the hospital to begin with, shooting out her tire when she was leaving the Bureau. The chest tube still ached constantly as she winced at the thought of a plastic tube being inserted in between her ribs and into the space around her lungs. Pushing the button that delivered pain medication intravenously upon her command, she sank back into the pillows of the uncomfortable bed, trying to find a position that did not press on the insertion site. But she knew that the chest tube was not the only thing that made her chest ache.

Closing her eyes, she wished that she could get some sleep but the noisy thoughts running through her head stopped any hope of resting. Although it was completely irrational, she blamed herself and Booth for the death, no, murder, of Mr. Nigel-Murray. They knew about Broadsky, they knew that he was the sniper and yet, Booth convinced her to say nothing. And because she trusted him, his knowledge of people, she kept silent upon his request. She was convinced that the center would hold and in turn, they would hold up everyone who relied on them, like it had always been.

But it was all a lie. The center did not hold.

She sighed, feeling the irrational guilt crash down upon her again. But was it irrational? Ever since they had gotten back from their respective enforced sabbaticals, they had been different. So different that even she could tell that something had changed, something was off. Was she right to put her trust in them again after she knew that they weren't the same? More importantly, was she right to put the well being of her team in her and Booth's hands? It might be the overwhelming hormones running through her system because of the stress of the last several days but her mind kept coming to one answer: no. And irresponsible was not a feeling that she liked.

"Can I get you anything right now, dear?" she heard from beside her bedside and looked up to see that her day nurse, Nancy, had come next to her without her even knowing.

"I'm okay right now, Nancy, thanks. I just really want to get some rest right now," she answered, giving her a small smile.

"Well, you have a visitor right now, a Seeley Booth. Would you like me to send him in?" Nancy asked compassionately.

Brennan felt her heart metaphorically stop for a moment as she thought about the man on the opposite door of the ICU. She could picture him in her head; his hands in his pockets, one of them fiddling with the poker chip that he kept there, shifting from foot to foot and almost vibrating with all the nervous energy that was running through his system. But as much as her second instinct was to comfort him, her first instinct was still to run and it was the one she listened to.

"No, can you just tell him that I need time and space? He'll know what that means," she said, knowing that it would hurt him but she needed to think.

"Okay, hun. Let me know if you need anything," she said and Brennan was so thankful for the understanding. Now if she could only figure out what she was going to do, how she was going to reconcile what she was feeling with what she was going to do next.

Because for the first time in her adult life, she was factoring in another person's heart into her decisions. And while she knew it was going to be hard, the other heart was worth the pain.

Booth walked along the quiet hallways of the lab to the forensic platform, loosening his black tie and unbuttoning the top button of his crisp white dress shirt. Normally, this area would be bustling with activity as the squints went about their work, uncovering the mysteries of life and death. But today, the squint squad was absent, most of them going home after the memorial service this morning for one of their own.

Mr. Nigel-Murray's family requested that the body be flown back to England so that he could be buried in his family plot. It had been two weeks since the young man had been murdered and the Jeffersonian dedicated the Vincent Nigel-Murray Memorial Fountain in the beautiful gardens surrounding the museum this morning. Booth thought it was a beautiful ceremony and was particularly impressed by the speech his partner made about her brilliant former intern. Luckily, the squints were able to rest a little easier knowing that because of the slew of evidence they had amounted against Broadsky, the ex-sniper took a plea to avoid the death penalty: four life terms with no possibility of parole. What made him feel guilty though was that he was more saddened by the fact that it was the first time he had seen his partner since he spent the night by her side in the hospital than the young man's tragic death.

When the nurse came out and sympathetically told him that she needed 'time and space,' Booth felt his heart break a little more. He knew what that meant; it meant that she was running away and had very clearly told him not to follow, at least not right now. But like he told her in the parking structure before she got hurt: he was not making the same mistake this time, he was not going to let her run too far. As far as he was concerned, it was time to go for a different outcome. That's why he was searching for her in the one place he knew she would go after an emotional morning, to her church of logic and reasoning. Spying her in her office, he headed over to the open door, taking his resident place leaning against her doorjamb.

"Hey, Bones," he said softly, holding his breath while waiting for her response. She froze for a moment and Booth felt like he could hear her thinking. It seemed like several minutes before she finally turned and gave him a soft smile.

"Hi, Booth," was all she said before turning back to her computer. His confidence buoyed by her response, he walked in the office and sat down in one of the two chairs that were in front of her desk.

"How have you been, Bones? It's been a couple of weeks since I have seen or heard from you," he said casually, trying to keep any accusation out of his tone. He really didn't blame her for staying away from him and he knew better than to rush her but he also couldn't deny that these last two weeks had been hard without her. He was still getting over his recent break-up and the silence in his apartment was deafening, inviting all the nightmares that sex with Hannah drove away. The only good part was that he had gotten so much paperwork done he got to spend more time with Parker and less time in the office. The lack of sleep though was definitely catching up with him. He found himself nodding off during his meeting with Hacker the other day and considering he had just been reinstated as an FBI Agent, the last thing he needed to do was fall asleep while his boss was talking to him.

"I've been okay, Booth. Thank you for giving me the time I requested. I needed some time to think and have come to some conclusions," she said and Booth felt a knot of dread settle in his stomach. The rational way she was speaking and the way she said 'conclusions' had an air of finality to it, which he did not like at all.

"Okay, Bones, talk to me. What's going on in that genius brain of yours?" he said cautiously, stopping himself from fidgeting in the chair, knowing that Brennan would catch it. He saw her hesitate for a moment, making his heart rate speed up and his palms begin to sweat. Saying a quick prayer that she wouldn't leave him, he buckled down for what his partner had to say.

"I think we should be apart for the next five months."

If Broadsky walked in the room right then with his sniper rifle, Booth wasn't sure he would have noticed him, or even cared. But before he could open his mouth to protest, she continued with her statement.

"Originally, we agreed to be apart for a whole year but we came back after being apart for only seven months of that year. And when we came back, we were…different. To be honest, I don't trust us yet together. The center did not hold because both of its parts were not able to stand together. I need more time, Booth, time to find where you fit in my life," she told him. Still too shocked to speak, he sat there, dumbfounded and sad. Seeing his silence, she continued on like she just told him the weather report as opposed to something that was going to change his life.

"I love you, Booth; I can admit that now and I know you love me too. But I'm worried that if we don't take some time apart, then we will destroy everything between us and I can't let that happen. You are too important to me. What do you think?" she asked.

Strangely, the more the shock of her statement wore off, the better he felt about her idea. She was right, of course; they were damaged goods currently, completely toxic to each other. He hated to admit it but the same itching feeling he had been feeling when he needed Hannah was starting again when it came to Bones. It was time to take control, to separate himself from his triggers and get back to his meetings and sponsor. And he fell more in love with her for knowing what was best for both of them and being strong enough to take the step to tell him. Seeing that she was waiting for his response, chewing on her bottom lip, he finally felt like he was under control enough to give her a response.

"I think that is the right thing to do, Bones," he told her and he felt the same relief she was projecting. All of the sudden, it was like things were calm again, like some of the tension was instantly gone.

"So, it's settled then: in five months, we will see each other again and decide where we are going in our partnership," she said, acting like the issue was settled. But he had to be the brave one this time and implement one more condition of their time apart.

"One more thing, Bones," he said, noticing that she hadn't taken her eyes off of him since they had begun their talk, like she was trying to memorize every detail of his face. "I need to get myself straight again and in order to do that, I need us to have absolutely no contact over these next five months, just as if we were on separate continents. And I want you to think about if you really want to be partners because if you are not totally ready to work together again, then this destructive cycle is just going to repeat itself and I'm not sure I could survive that, Bones," he admitted softly.

She seemed to understand as she nodded, apparently content with his decision.

"So, if we decide not to be partners anymore, then what happens? We have coffee?" she asked and he smiled sadly, remembering their conversation with Sweets about what they would look like if there were no more murders.

"We'd have coffee," he agreed, uncertain if it were true but wanting to hope that they would come out of these five months to become a stronger unit. Sensing there was nothing else to say and wanting to leave before he changed his mind, he got up and started to walk out the door.

"Meet at the reflecting pool?" he heard as he left her office. Turning and seeing the hopeful look on her face almost undid him but he knew that this was what's best for both of them.

"How about the diner? Somewhere that doesn't carry so much baggage to begin with," he suggested and at her smiling nod, he walked away from her, hoping that he would see her again. But he knew in his heart that they needed to be well without each other in order to be the center again.

Hands in his pockets, he walked into the June sunlight, thinking it would be winter before he saw or spoke to his partner again. It was time to move on with his life though and time for Seeley Joseph Booth to find out who he was in the world, as a father, as a son, as a brother, and as a man. And if that place was next to his partner, to the woman he was in love with, then that would be ideal. But if it wasn't where he was meant to be then that was okay too and he knew now that he was strong enough to cope with what life threw at him, that he could fight the battle within.