They had gone to "their" coffee cart on the mall in relative silence. They were happy to be back in each other's presence again, but there was something…wrong, just something seemed…out of place.

"So Bones, how were the Mai-poo-poo islands?" Booth asked breaking the silence once they were sitting on the bench drinking their coffee.

"Maluku. It was great Booth, so many fascinating scientific discoveries!" She didn't go into detail though; she understood she could be a bit dull at times. "Did it feel good to go back to the army?"

"Yes, well…it's just good to be home," Booth said. He then turned and stared directly into her eyes, "I've missed you Bones."

Brennan, startled, broke the eye contact. "It's been a long time since I've been called that."

After another slight silence, Booth said, "Remember when you said that if we didn't work together we wouldn't even have coffee?"

"What? I never said…" Brennan said.

"Yes you did, during our first few therapy sessions with Sweets."

"Oh that. But in your situation we never would've met, and…"

Booth cut her off. "I'm just saying this is nice."

"Yes, but we will be working together soon," and there went Brennan, ruining a potentially sweet moment by being serious, "My replacement was Zack! He's going to get his own position when I return. And your replacement was Sully…"

"What? Sully?" Booth practically yelped. The last thing he needed right now was Sully coming and taking Brennan away from him again.

"Yes Sully," Brennan said a bit nervously, "He only wanted to stay for the year so Cam figured he was the perfect guy to hold your spot." She could still see that he was tense and it worried her. But she still couldn't shut that big mouth of hers, and part of her wanted to see if he'd get jealous. "He was quite glad to see me," she said.

Booth didn't say anything, just looked down with his hurt puppy dog face. Then he said, "I guess it's nice for you to see him again."

'What?' Brennan thought. She had expected him to be jealous, not to give up this easily. She was starting to feel mad at him, but she didn't really know why. "I guess," she finally said.

"You know, I really ought to go see Parker," Booth said, "I'll swing by the Jeffersonian later to get my stuff. See ya, Bones." And with that, he was gone. Brennan was about to say something, but didn't know what to say. As she watched him walk away she was tempted to run after him.

But Brennan just sat there confused. She had expected a bit of jealousy, but not the beat-up sad puppy dog look. It had almost been more than she could take. But his abrupt leaving left her miserable. Maybe he had changed more this past year. Maybe he just couldn't take anymore of the heartbreak with her. She still couldn't understand her feelings. She'd probably have to talk to Angela. It'd be best to just head back to the Jeffersonian and hope to see Booth later.