I've been grappling with this one for weeks, trying to get it just right. I think I finally got it though. This is an ending for Hannah but it also has to do with the sniper that they're bringing in (tomorrow if you're in the US). I'm not going to lie it's a little sad but hopefully you like it anyway.

Bones unfortunately mine to do anything with other than be an obsessive fan.

Sincerity in the Sniper

My stuff was in piles on the bed, my four suitcases open on the floor. There was no way it was going to all fit back in there. Meticulously I picked up the first thing folding it and then rolling it. Cramming it into the smallest nook possible, maybe a little too forcefully. I continued the process with the next item, and the next, the silence daring me to stay a moment longer in this space that was never meant to be mine.

Piece after piece crammed into the smallest spaces, before there was nothing left on the bed and the suitcases were embarrassingly heavy. I would leave no trace behind, it was better that way. I was never meant to anyway.

It was on the news before he even had a chance to call me about it. Not that it's unusual for him not to call me about a case. But this one is something that a normal boyfriend would have called his girlfriend about.

Coffee and bagels as I dashed out the door, wishing him good luck was how it started. Today was the day that they were going to transfer Heather Taffet, for her sentencing hearing, and he'd requested to run the transfer. There was no way that he was going to allow something to go wrong in this case; he wants to see it through to the end. That's just the kind of person he is. That's how big of a deal it was.

The bullet hit her as she was climbing out of the van. That was the only time that there was available for it. One moment she's on her way to await a sentence to repay for the horrible things she's done and the next, someone had subverted the justice system taking her fate into their own hands.

Being a journalist wasn't enough anymore. I couldn't get the information I needed. I couldn't get any information at all. The FBI only released that a massive task force had been convened to catch her killer, so far they supposedly were having success. The standard law enforcement answer when they haven't made any progress.

I hadn't heard from him all day, and figured that I shouldn't expect him home any time soon, so I called him. Short clipped phrases were all that I got, yes he was working on the sniper case, no he wouldn't be home for a few hours at a minimum, and I was to stop digging around and let the FBI do their job. That stung, he had always supported my work and encouraged me to do all the digging that I felt necessary in order to get my story. I tried not to read anything into it though and went home.

He was there in the morning when I woke up. He'd made coffee and breakfast. He was apologetic and distant. He admitted that he'd been made the lead on the investigation and that he would be lucky to come home at all tonight before he kissed me on the cheek and left the apartment.

The FBI released a name for the suspect later that afternoon. I was sitting at my desk working on an unrelated White House story, trying to stop thinking about the sniper and everything else that seemed to be crumbling just a little bit, when my editor came striding over. "Hannah… this sniper guy" He left it hanging.

"What about him Ralph?" I asked turning away from the computer.

"He's army trained." I nodded, "Ranger trained." This piqued my interest, and I lifted an eyebrow indicating he should continue. "Isn't your boyfriend an ex-army ranger sniper?"

"Yes…" I answered cautiously "why?"

"Well one of the interns was doing some digging and found this and brought it to my attention rather than yours…" He got a little shifty and uncomfortable, which isn't something that Ralph normally does. "Well for reasons that are obvious after reading this well…" he trailed off.

"Spit it out, Ralph." I was getting agitated now.

"It appears that this sniper was only rivaled by one other sniper in his time in the army completing nearly as many successful missions as one Army Ranger Seeley Booth." I'm sure that the shock was visible on my face, but Ralph continued. "It would seem that Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI is directing the investigation because the Sniper is here because of him and no one knows him better." Ralph finished taking in my reaction briefly, "any way I was wondering if he'd said anything to you."

All I could do was shake my head as I scrambled to pack everything up, I needed to see him now. Ralph watched me pack, "they're not going to let you into the FBI its sealed shut they're not letting anyone in."

"I'm not going to the FBI, that's not where his team is." I swung my coat on hoisting my bag onto my shoulder. "I'll be back."

"Hannah," Ralph called from my desk. "The sniper has threatened more will die today. I think he's making a game of it between him and your boyfriend." I nodded and the elevator doors slid shut.

He was right. There was no way I was getting into the FBI but the Jeffersonian was another story. There was definitely increased security here as well, it appeared agents had been assigned to boost the security on the institution, fortunately someone had added me to the list of allowed entrants here. Giving me only a few seconds to consider why I did not have a protective detail, it wasn't like him not to go overboard.

The lab felt like an ant farm as people scurried around trying to find the missing puzzle piece. Everyone was tense, like they hadn't slept in hours. He wasn't anywhere on the platform neither was his partner and so I started towards her office grinding to a halt once I turned the corner and was able to see in.

They were standing inches apart she had her hands on his arms as she seemed to be talking him through something, calming him down. He was nodding slowly with each statement she made. She finished and her head was cocked so that she could look into his eyes, which were staring at the ground. Their eyes finally caught and it was as if you could see the tension release from his body as he pulled her into his arms and just hugged her. He held her there, she wrapped her arms around him, and they held on, for how long I couldn't tell you, but all the sudden it made sense why I hadn't heard anything from him.

I turned and left the lab trying to remain calm as I walked through the increased security, trying not to let it rankle me that I hadn't received the extra security detail. I would have hated it any way I kept telling myself. I sat in my car staring at the concrete structure contemplating what to do. I couldn't go back to the office and I couldn't go back to the apartment. I ended up sitting at a Starbucks trying to work on a story that was unrelated to the sniper.

The blank page daunted me as I tried not to over analyze everything. Eventually I gave up and went home. It was empty as I expected it to be. There was no message, no note, no sign that he'd even considered being home for any amount of time. I tossed and turned, waiting for him to come home or for the news to announce that more people had died.

When I woke up in the morning the story scrolled across the new telling me that there was nothing new. I sat on the couch, with my laptop in my lap trying to find out as much information as I could. I my contacts were useless, no one would give me anything, because they had nothing to give.

It was nearly six when the door opened. I could hear her in the hallway convincing him that there was nothing more he could do right now and that he needed to get some sleep. He was arguing with her even as he pushed open the door. I closed my computer as they came in.

Both looked almost surprised to see me but neither sad anything. "Hey guys." I said internally cringing at how falsely bright it sounded in my head. "I was just about to start some dinner. Would you like to stay Temperance?" I asked apparently I was just asking to be punished.

To my relief she just shook her head, "No I 'm going home to get some sleep." She glanced down the hallway to wear Seeley had disappeared tugging at his tie. "Make sure that he gets some sleep Hannah." And she left letting herself out.

I was now standing in the kitchen in the middle of pulling out ingredients for what appeared to be spaghetti, but I couldn't remember when I decided that was what I was going to make. I shrugged my shoulders, put the water on to boil, and began slicing vegetables for the sauce.

I was adding the pasta to the water when he finally reappeared, wearing sweats and a t-shirt his hair glistening from the shower he must have taken. He climbed into the bar stool and was silent while I stirred the sauce. I was doing my best to ignore him until he uttered. "I'm sorry."

I took a deep breath turning around to face him. "For what?"

"For not letting you know what was going on, or at least letting you know where I was."

"What happened?" I didn't want to accept the apology certain because it wasn't what I wanted an apology for.

Took a deep breath as his chest heaved. "We were in training together, He always was a little pissed that I was better than him. I guess I didn't know how much it really bothered him." He was silent for a beat and ran a hand through his hair. "It doesn't matter he's proved he's better now. He got away. I couldn't catch him, and he's going to come back."

I didn't know what to say besides the cliché, "I'm sorry" before turning back to serve dinner.

We ate dinner in silence. He pushing his food around more than eating it, but I sat there patiently waiting for him to be done before clearing the plates. When I turned from the sink leaving the dishes to dry he was still sitting at the table staring at this hands. "You still love her."

He looked up at me heartbreak sketched across his face. "She got a security detail and I didn't even get a phone call."

He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face and through his face, "She's my partner, he issued threats against her. She's not with me every moment of the day I had to make sure she was safe." He tried to justify it.

Part of me wanted to yell and scream at him that it's not what I meant, but looking at him sitting there clearly fighting an internal battle that was playing across his tired features, I didn't have it in my heart. "I know you want to make sure she's safe Seeley. That doesn't explain why you told me you were over her."

He looked up from the table almost as though he was shocked, before he took a deep breath. "I wanted to be… I thought I was." He hung his head as I tried to hide my reaction and waited for him to continue.

"The call came in not long after he blew off the grave digger's head. He was threatening to kill her next and then everyone at the lab." A sigh fell from his lips. "I don't know it was like my heart tied it's self in knots nothing else mattered if she died."

He lifted his head, locking his head with mine. "She's the only women that nearly bested us all. In addition, she's come so close three times. And she was taken out by him." The terror that this reality presented for him was all over him as his fist clenched and released as if he was trying to relieve the feeling.

"When she got Bones and Hodgins…" He swallowed hard and looked back at the ground briefly before looking up again with a watery smile, "let's just say that I wasn't smart enough to find them in time. If they weren't so damn squinty they'd be dead and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

I sat down at the table again, picking up the napkin turning it in my hands, corner after corner, straight edge after edge. "Bones found me; well they all did, just before the ship sunk. I hallucinated a dead solider and still managed to get to the main deck but if she hadn't blackmailed my brother, I'd be dead."

There was silence as he watched me spin the napkin in my hand, "And the third time." I prompted.

"Her trial was right before we left." He told me taking an interest in the saltshaker twisting it slowly in his hands. "The straw that broke the camel's back. As they say. The evidence from our own cases was inadmissible and so to see justice for one little boy we dropped the cases and prosecuted her on his case."

The silence was glacial, as I waited for him to continue. "A dust mite. That was it. A dust mite saved us. If that hadn't been there then she'd be free."

He looked up from his hands staring at a spot just beyond my head, "She thought she'd lost the ability to be purely rationale, and she was mad at me for making her feel that way." He rolled his lips in chewing on them for a moment fighting with the emotion this moment brought. "That was the moment I was certain I'd lost her."

I shifted so our eyes caught again, "Before that I figure if I made a show of moving on she'd figure it out and everything would be as it was supposed to be. Everything happens eventually." He finished the last phrase playing like an inside joke I didn't know.

"We promised we'd be back in a year, but when I looked back at her in the airport I wasn't sure I'd ever see my Bones again… I'm still not sure I will."

Anger flooded his face, "I hate that women for what she stole from us, whatever chance we may have had. And I hate him for rendering justice for me. Ridiculous that I have to find the killer of the woman that tried to kill me."

"Poetic." I whispered and it was the first time he really focused on me since the beginning of the story.

"I love you." He whispered.

"Not enough." I held back the tears threatening to spill, "not as much."

"Differently."

"That doesn't change things." I shook my head. "I'm going to bed." I stood trying to keep myself in check.

"Hannah," he croaked. "I'm sorry."

A tear escaped, "I know… I know you are. I am too."

I left my key and the note sitting on the coffee table.

The cabbie helped me load my bags into the trunk, "You got a lot of stuff lady." He comments.

"It's everything I own." I told him with a water smile.

"I take that back. You could teach my wife a few lessons." He climbed into the driver's seat. "Where to?"

I inhale the unique taxi scent, glanced up at the apartment on last time. "Reagan International"

The corners of the note fluttered with airflow of the opening door. "Hannah." He called his eyes catching the note and the key.

Sliding the note out from its temporary paperweight. Opening the folded legal paper to find the line inside.

Good stories are never simple. Making poetry is never pretty. Moments are never singular. Yours will come again.

And for the first time in days he smiled.

The last little bit is supposed to be the ending of the episode. You know the moment were everything seems to fall into place.

Please, please tell me what you think! I really appreciate you reading this.

Babyrose