Booth charged around D.C. looking for her. She wasn't at the Jeffersonian, she wasn't at her apartment, and she wasn't anywhere that he could think that she would be. His phone rang, and he scrambled to answer it. After almost dropping it then catching it upon reflex, he answered.

"Booth," he said.

"Have you sorted this mess out yet?" Max asked.

"Max! Where is she? I've been looking all over for her," Booth said urgently.

"Ah, so you did figure it out," Max said, excited. "I think she was at her apartment."

"I just came from there," Booth said, looking back down the street.

"Oh. Perhaps getting a drink then?" Max asked.

"I was just there," Booth argued. "She wasn't."

"Ah crap," Max said. "I don't know then."

"Was she out with Sully?" Booth asked, wincing. That would be awkward doing this in front of him.

"Possibly. Hang on, I'll call her," Max said.

"No, wait! Max!" Booth called, but Max was gone. Booth growled at his phone and hung up. He figured he'd return to the Founding Fathers and have a beer while he waited for Max's update. It had been a stressful last hour. When he walked in, he froze. There was Sully, sitting there nursing a beer. Alone. Booth was unsure of what to do next. This guy had been built up to be almost like a monster in his mind for taking Brennan, but here he was. A human. A simple guy drinking a simple beverage. Looking sad. Too sad.

"Sully?" Booth asked. Sully flinched at his voice, but he turned around anyway.

"Hey, Seeley," Sully said. "What's up?"

"Just...out," Booth said nonchalantly. "What are you doing?"

"Having a beer. Wanna join me?" Sully asked.

"I...I suppose so," Booth said. He slipped onto the bar stool beside Sully. He gestured to the bartender for a beer. Then he waited for Sully to explain.

"I think you know why I'm here," Sully said, sipping his beer slowly. He wasn't making eye contact with Booth at all.

"I don't think I do. Last I heard you were an engaged man," Booth said.

"I almost was. She said no," Sully sighed.

"Oh." Booth didn't know what else to say.

"Yea. I really thought Tempe was over her feelings for you," Sully started. "But I was wrong. I should have listened to my gut seven months ago when she told me about you two, but then you left the country. I didn't think you'd come back. She didn't either. Somehow, she convinced me she did care about me, and I believe a part of her does, but not the way she cares for you."

"Sul," Booth tried to say.

"Don't worry about it, Booth," Sully said, waving his hand. "I know having a brain operation threw everything out of wack. I don't know what I expected from this relationship when I knew you were what she really wanted. You always were what she wanted. Even when I set sail around the world, I knew she didn't come with me because of you."

"I..."

"Booth, seriously. It's okay. I love Tempe, but I love her enough to let her go. She'll never be fully mine when you're around," Sully said, smiling grimly.

"I'm so sorry," Booth blurted out.

"You remember it all, don't you?" Sully asked. "That's why you're so frantic to find her."

"I do," Booth admitted.

"She's still upset that you left her, though. You see, we had fought about you, and I was under the impression she was going to confess to you about your relationship, but then the next thing I knew, you were gone, and she was devastated but determined to move on since you had."

"But I didn't. Not really," Booth said. "How could I have moved on when I didn't really know?"

"I'm sure a piece of you knew somewhere," Sully said. Booth's stomach twisted at this. The memories he had dismissed as not real. They had been, and he had known without knowing all along.

"I really am sorry," Booth said again.

"Stop apologizing," Sully ordered. "I'm just glad you're finally back to being you again."

"Have you two...?"

"Broken up? Oh yea. We agreed it was for the best. She seemed almost relieved," Sully mused. Booth was anxious to find her, but he didn't want to just bail on Sully right away. The guy had been dumped after all. His phone rang again.

"Excuse me," Booth said, answering it.

"Yea. She's at Angela's," Max said right away.

"Oh, okay."

"I'd maybe not disturb her there," Max advised. "Always tough when the bestie is there to take a stab at you."

"Good thinking," Booth said.

"Good luck," Max said before hanging up. Booth tucked his phone away.

"Another case?" Sully asked.

"No. Just a friend," Booth said vaguely.

"I see."

"What are you gonna do now?" Booth asked.

"I'm gonna sit here and drown my misery then pack up and head back to where I was happiest," Sully informed him.

"The boat?" Booth asked.

"No. The sandwich shop. I've left a trusted employee to run it, but I need to get back there," Sully said.

"Do you want me to stay?" Booth asked.

"No, it's all right. I'd rather be alone right now," Sully answered.

"Okay," Booth said. He stood to go, and he felt sad for Sully in that moment. Booth hoped he'd never have to be in his position, sitting at a bar rejected after proposing to someone and getting shot down.

"Take care," Sully said. "And for God's sake, don't grow another brain tumor or hit your head too hard. I don't think she can take that again." He shot Booth a lopsided grin.

"I'll do my very best," Booth said, grinning back. Sully raised his beer to him before turning back to the TV on the wall. Then Booth was gone.

The Next Day

Booth had barely slept. He wanted more than anything to talk to Brennan, but he knew enough to wait until she was out of Angela's sight before he attempted that. According to Max, she had stayed at Angela's all night. He was rushing through his breakfast at the Royal Diner and looking at his watch constantly. He wanted to catch her before work. Then, she entered the diner. It was like she had been conjured from a dream. He froze, fork in midair, as she came towards him.

"Hi, Booth," she said.

"Bones," he said. "Hi."

"May I?" she asked, gesturing.

"Yes. Of course!" She sat down across from him.

"I heard you were looking for me?" she said. Her father had mentioned something about it in his multiple messages.

"Yea. Yea I was," Booth nodded. He set the fork down. Breakfast was not important right now.

"I thought you were in Iraq," Brennan said. She had promised herself not to become emotional. She promised she would hear him out even though he had broken her heart by leaving in the first place.

"I was. Look, I was crazy to leave," he said, leaning towards her a little. "Completely mental. I was just so...so..."

"So what?"

"So angry that you were with Sully," he went on. "And the weird thing was, at the time, I didn't know why."

"Okay," she said. Her heart was racing now.

"I left because I couldn't handle the fact you chose him over me, even though I didn't fully remember you at the time," Booth went on. "And I guess I thought there was something there between us despite that."

"Booth..."

"Let me finish. I then tried to forget you while being over there fighting a war. It didn't work. Then your intern called me," he said.

"What?" she demanded. "Who?"

"Arastoo. Then your dad called me..."

"WHAT?!"

"He had concerns, so I came home. Your dad believed that I would remember something if I searched hard," Booth said.

"Remember what?" Brennan asked. She held her breath. He couldn't possibly remember now after all this time.

"This," Booth said, holding up his phone. He pressed play, and she covered her face with her hands as she watched them professing their love to one another while being half naked.

"Oh," she said. She felt like she was going to cry.

"Temperance," Booth said, leaning in further towards her. "I remember. I remember it all. You and me. Our relationship. Buying this." He held up the ring box in his other hand. Brennan stared at it.

"Oh," she said again.

"I was going to propose to you on our eight month anniversary," he said. "I found this nine months ago, just before Jared's wedding, and I was going to ask you who I had gotten it for, but I didn't. I felt like I was starting to like you in a more than friends kind of way, but then you got back with Sully. I handled it badly. I'm sorry for that, I really am."

"Oh," she repeated. She didn't know what else to say. This was what she had been waiting for and given up on. She didn't know what to do.

"Temperance," Booth said again. "I need to ask you, do you still love me?" She started crying. This was all too much for her, and she had no idea what to even say.

"I...I can't answer that right now," she said, shaking her head.

"Yes, you can," Booth pressed.

"No. Booth, I...I can't," Brennan insisted.

"Why not?"

"I just...I just got out of a relationship with Sully," she said, her voice thick with tears. "I hurt him so badly. I really thought I could move on from you and be with him, but I couldn't, and I know you want me to just say I love you and jump right back in, but I'm not there yet, Booth. It's been 17 months without you. I need time to figure this out."

"Okay," Booth said.

"Please don't look at me like that," Brennan said, feeling guilty.

"I'm not. I'm just...it's okay. I realize I've come out of left field here," Booth said, sitting back and away from her. She wiped at her eyes with her hands.

"I honestly didn't expect you to ever remember," Brennan said quietly.

"I did because of these," Booth said, holding her earrings out. She gasped softly.

"Where did you find those?" she asked, taking them from him carefully.

"Under my bed," he replied. "I'm lying there surrounded by dust bunnies staring at them, and then suddenly I remember how they got there to begin with. You took them off before...well, you know."

"Yes," she nodded. She did remember that night now.

"Anyway, it spiraled from there, so that's why I'm here. I'm sorry, Bones," Booth said softly.

"If anything, I'm sorry," she said. "Getting back with Sully was unexpected. I didn't realize there was unfinished feelings there, but when we reconnected at Jared's wedding, it all came back. Then he and I fought, and I was going to tell you about us, but then you left, and it felt like you were finished with me. I hadn't known how to love when I was with Sully before, but I did after being with you, and when you left me to go to Iraq, I remembered you saying you could love more than one person, so I thought I could too. I was wrong. I think I broke Sully's heart."

"He'll be all right," Booth said quickly. "He's going back to his sandwich shop."

"Oh. You spoke with him?" she asked.

"Yes. He said he always knew the reason you couldn't properly love him was because of me," Booth said.

"That somehow makes me feel worse," Brennan said thickly.

"Don't. He said it was fine. He will be fine," Booth said.

"He'll find someone who can love him fully," she nodded. "I know he will." They sat there in silence for a moment.

"So, what about us?" Booth asked finally.

"I'll let you know when I'm ready," Brennan promised. She took his hand and squeezed it.

"Okay."

"Booth?"

"Yea?"

"That's when, not if," she said.

"I know."

Seven Weeks Later

Brennan was staring at the photo Booth was showing her. She had had suspicions all day about this woman on her table, but now she was certain. It was herself.

"Earth to Bones," Booth said, waving the photo across her vision. Things had been slowly progressing the past seven weeks. At least, he thought so. He knew she was still trying to figure it all out, so he didn't push.

"You can't talk to Earth, Booth, it won't respond," Brennan said curtly. She snatched the photo from him and studied it hard.

"It was a joke, Bones..."

"Does she look like anyone to you?" Brennan asked, showing him the photo.

"Ummm, no?" he said. "Should she?"

"No. I just...nevermind," she said. She gave him the photo back and left to return to her lab. Booth was puzzled. He looked at the picture again, but he didn't see what Bones had seen.

The Next Day

Brennan had been up all night listening to the Lauren's tapes while she worked. Her dad had been working too, for security, and he didn't seem to notice that Lauren looked exactly like Brennan. He was a little concerned, but he knew she would be all right after the case was over. After all, it takes three days after being turned upside down to be turned right way up again, but it was unnerving her. Now, she was sitting with Booth and Chris, Lauren's helicopter pilot, and she was listening with rapt attention as Chris talked about how he wanted to be with Lauren, but she wouldn't let it happen. Brennan swallowed at this. She glanced over at Booth, who was studiously avoiding her gaze. Things had been okay between them, but she knew he was desperate to be more, like they were. Brennan wanted it too, but she was still afraid she wasn't ready. This case, however, was making her confront these feelings.

"It was in her eyes," Chris said about Lauren sadly. "It was all there, but then it would be gone the next minute."

Later

"You are overidentifying with the victim," Sweets said after Brennan challenged him to see the similarities.

"I am not," Brennan argued.

"Okay, look, she's got a lot of things similar to you, but that woman on that table is not you, Dr. Brennan," Sweets said firmly. Brennan didn't answer. She didn't want a psychology lesson. She just wanted someone to agree with her.

Later Still

"She was not a drug addict," Brennan argued.

"Okay, just calm down," Booth said. "You're acting like I'm accusing you of being a drug addict." Brennan sat in silence. She hadn't really told him she believed Lauren was her, one in the same. Her father could disagree all he wanted even after attending all those lectures and trying to be as smart as she was.

"I'm sorry," Brennan said. "I'm just, so tired."

"I talked to Chris again," Booth said. "He told me Dr. Eames would be upset if someone died before they could get them help. He said one time in the air, she opened the door and undid her seatbelt, daring him him tip her out."

"That's...dangerous," Brennan said, but it got her thinking.

Nightfall

Lauren had gone to Woodward to convince the family of a brain dead boy to give his heart to another boy. Brennan had figured this out. It was pouring rain when she went to the address. She peered at an object on the road, and she missed the oncoming lights. She looked up just as Booth shoved her out of the way.

"Bones! What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted.

"Lauren came here to try and get this family's boy's heart for another boy," Brennan shouted back. "When they refused, she went to buy heroin to feel the danger of it. She got struck by a car, like I almost did."

"So the driver buried her in the park?" Booth asked.

"I can't prove any of it," Brennan said.

"I know."

"But you believe me, right?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good," she said, nodding firmly.

"Come on, let's get you home," Booth said, reaching for her arm.

"Booth," she said over the rain. "This whole case has turned me upside down."

"What?"

"My Dad said I put these glasses on...anyway that's not important. What's important is, Lauren missed her chance with Chris. She had regrets. I don't want regrets."

"What are you saying, Bones?" Booth asked. Instead of using words, she pulled him into her and kissed him soundly while the rain pounded around them.

"I love you," she said once they broke apart. "I always have. I'll never stop. I'll never doubt it again."

"I love you too," Booth said, holding her face in his hands. "I'm so sorry I forgot."

"I'm sorry I tried to move on."

"Let's just go forward, okay?" Booth said. "There's no use hashing out the past."

"I agree," Brennan nodded. He took her arm in his and ushered her to his car. He drove them to her apartment where they stripped each other down and became reconnected in the way they hadn't for 18 months. In the morning, Booth showed her the photo of Lauren again, and Brennan finally saw the woman's face, not her own. It made her laugh. Like her Dad has said, her world had been turned upside down, but it was now right side up again, and she couldn't be happier.

My apologies it's a short chapter. I wasn't even sure if I was going to go on with the story. I got some more seriously shitty news just before New Years on top of the news from mid December, and I basically now just stare into space and try to make sense of it all when I'm not at work. I want to write. I need to write for my own sanity, but nothing comes right now. I'll try to keep writing cos it's an escape for me and something that gets me through tough times, but with the future really unknown and scary right now, it might be a bit before I update. I did want to leave it on a happy note though. Thanks for your patience.