[A/N: Thanks very much for your supportive reviews! I'm glad that last chapter was received so well. It was very fun to write. This one changes tempo a bit for very good reasons.

I need to ask you to overlook my foray here into another unchartered world. Aside from my wonderful friends who happen to be Korean, I know very little about that fine culture or its language. I just randomly picked that ethnic group for part of this story—no disrespect or dishonor intended. It's just meant to be a bit of background information, so if that choice offends you, by all means mentally assign the gang to another heritage or skip over those parts entirely.

I am already missing looking forward to new Bones on TV. I have a feeling it will be a very long summer.]

Chapter 10: Unspeakable Secrets

Broken sticks and broken stones
Will turn to dust just like our bones
It's words that hurt the most now isn't it

Without telling anyone where she was going, Brennan rushed out of her office and walked down the stairs and out of the lab, ignoring each and every person who tried to stop her along the way. She knew that her partner needed some time to quieting his raging hormones and to calm down, but she suspected that he had absolutely no understanding of the overwhelming challenge she now had to face. With her eyes opened, all she could feel was Booth's breath and heat and energy still somehow surrounding and enveloping her, and every time she closed her eyes, the image from her dream was staring back at her with the drawer in the center now pulled out into the open and completely transformed-now gleaming a bright red as if to mock both of them.

Are you sad inside, are you home alone
If I could just pick up the phone
Maybe you could see a better day

About fifteen minutes after his partner had left him alone in her office, Booth decided that he had to make himself go out and face things with Bones again. He didn't feel prepared, but he knew that he had to man-up and deal with this. He could only hope that Bones would be completely in science mode and that working with her would be easier. That, or he'd make a quick exit and come up with Plan B. But it was time to face things head on. He wasn't built for hiding—not even from something as extreme as what had almost happened between him and his partner. He knew full well how whisper-close he'd been to crossing a line that might have broken both of them.

And you won't waste away
under my watchful eye
Because I'm your hero and you're my weakness

When Booth opened the door to Bones' office to re-enter the real world, Angela was standing there glaring at him.

"Hold it right there, Hotness. What did you do?"

"Ange...," Booth said in an apologetic tone. He simply couldn't handle dealing with Angela now. He'd barely pulled himself back together enough to face Bones. He knew that he'd never survive a grilling by Angela.

Not giving him the option to leave unless he went through her, Angela stepped into the room and closed the door. Her eyes continued to bear down on him as he gave in and retreated to the relative safety of the other side of the room. Booth felt confident enough in his ability to take on nearly any man, but he feared Angela more than most men.

Shrugging and walking closer to him, Angela blurted out, "So, how hot was the sex?"

"What?"

"You had sex with Brennan, didn't you?"

"What? No...," he insisted, his voice dragging out his response and trending toward that more nasal tone that always accompanied a lie or an uncomfortable truth.

"Okay, well you must have suggested that you two have sex and then she ran."

"Jeez, if I had sex as much as everybody talks about me having sex, I'd be walking funny," Booth couldn't help wondering aloud.

Angela just looked at him strangely for a long moment. She wanted to make him tell her what he was talking about, but there were bigger issues they needed to resolve.

"Angela, listen... Bones and I are partners. We are not having and have never had... sex." Dammit, spelling that sad fact out that clearly did not improve his mood.

"But we all know that you want to. You've wanted that and more for years. And you sure looked hot and bothered when you pulled her in here. I felt the sexual sparks coming off of you guys from all the way across the lab. It was eerily quiet while you were in here alone together. And then she ran out of here looking like something had happened. And now you look guilty..."

"I'm Catholic. It's what we do."

"Oh, God...," Angela said suddenly, a new idea striking her. She walked over and smacked him on the back of the head without considering the mismatch in size.

"What? Ow!" he howled, bending backward slightly and rubbing his head to alleviate the new throb she'd added to his already massive headache.

Angela put her hands on her hips and glared at the shaken FBI agent, "Tell me you weren't a complete idiot. Tell me you didn't turn HER down when she propositioned you."

"No. Angela. Look. Bones and me, we're fine. Same as always."

"You two haven't been fine in forever. And Bren... she's certainly not fine. She hasn't been for weeks. She's shut me out completely, Booth. She's put up walls that we've spent years breaking down. All she does is work; she barely eats and sleeps. She won't go to lunch, won't go to dinner, and won't talk to me except about work. She's stopped spending time with you. She won't talk to her dad. She hasn't talked to Sweets," Angela confessed, her worry for her friend now completely visible to him.

Booth sighed. Angela was just being a friend to Bones. God knows, Bones needed her since he had made himself a rather dangerous person of late for her to confide in. "She's talked to me a little," he confided quietly. Then, sighing and pacing slowly as he rubbed the back of his neck in a futile attempt to keep the stress from settling there, he continued in a fake optimistic tone, "Bones will be fine. She's tough. Don't worry."

Who's gonna break my fall
When the spinning starts
The colors bleed together and fade

"She's not fine. And neither are you. What the hell happened, Booth? You're both acting weird. I'm her best friend. Maybe I can help."

"Ange, I know you're just looking out for her, but I can't talk about it. Bones... she's just dealing with some stuff, but it's stuff I can't talk about. It's confidential stuff I can't tell you because she's my partner. She'll come to you if she needs to talk."

"And you'll tell me if you think she's in trouble... if you think she needs me to intervene?"

"Yeah."

"Booth, do you need to talk? You look like hell... Still handsome and studly, of course, but not your usual self."

"No. Thanks," he said, smiling a crooked smile at her and hoping that he could now escape. "Hey, Ange, I really need to get out there and talk to Bones about the case."

"She's not here."

"What?"

"She left the lab."

"What? When? Right after she was in here? I've gotta go find her," he made for the door. She was really upset if she'd left the lab. Dammit, I never should have...

"Stop," Angela said, placing her hand on Booth's chest to stop him from barreling out of the room. "Jack's gone for her. He'll bring her back."

"Oh," Booth said, a portion of the weight of his worry lifted even though he was still bowed from the day's misadventures. He sighed audibly and his shoulders slumped a bit.

"You did do something, didn't you?"

Was it ever there at all
Or have I lost my way
The path of least resistance
Is catching up with me again today

No answer. Angela's heart broke for him. She'd never seen Booth look this stressed out and guilty-not when he had known that Brennan was alive and safe. She hated to do it, but she felt compelled to tell him why she was so worried, "Booth, she walked right out of here past Cam, ignoring me, and not even seeing her interns. Daisy showed her a bone, and she didn't even pause or say anything about it... A bone! She is physically unable to pass by any bone without noticing it. But she did."

"Oh," he said in a voice much too small for a man of his burly physique. The guilt and worry on his face pulled on her heartstrings. She couldn't bear seeing him that upset.

"Look, whatever you did or said was probably justified. I could see her pushing your buttons out on the platform. You two were whispering and she was daring you to react to the things she was saying. She does that. She pushes people too far. It's the scientist in her studying cause and effect or something. She was clearly baiting you. She must have said something that either turned you on or ticked you off. Or both."

"I...," Booth was beginning to realize that he wasn't going to be able to hide much of anything from Angela. She was too smart and too good at reading people, "Nothing happened, Angela. But I... I might have unloaded on her pretty heavily."

Angela just raised one eyebrow and looked at him with a combination of curiosity and suspicion.

"That was not a Freudian slip, Ange. Get your mind out of the gutter. We're just talking about stuff..., serious... difficult stuff, and Bones just... she pushes, you know? And I let it get to me. I shouldn't have said all of those things..."

"It will be okay, Booth. She knows you. She knows you'd never try to hurt her."

Booth didn't quite look convinced. He shot her a look that said more than he could confess aloud. "I... I've got to get back to the office. Call me when she comes back. Call me if I need to come over. Call me if she... if she's not okay?"

"Sure thing."

Booth got up and made for a quick exit. In the doorway to Bones' office, he turned and looked back at the artist as she watched him leave, "Thanks, Angela."

Over at the National Museum of Art, Temperance Brennan sat on a bench staring at the painting before her. She was examining it closely—as if it held secrets or guidance or wisdom that might help her navigate the jumble of emotions she was feeling. She'd been sitting there nearly an hour transfixed by the image tenderly laid upon the centuries-old canvas.

I'm broken down, not good enough
The broken promises add up
To twice their weight in tears which I have caused

On the outside, the anthropologist appeared to be composed, if a bit sad. But on the inside, she was an absolute wreck. At the moment, she felt like a cubist painting. She could have been a work of Picasso or a lesser known artist. She felt as if she had been contorted into abstract art in human form—her brain felt swollen from overactivity, her heart ached in a way that made it seem disproportionate to the rest of her body, her stomach was rolling around in a way that made her feel raw and disconnected. She was so caught up in the way she felt and in staring at the painting that she couldn't even begin to decipher the true feelings causing her current distress. Everything was a blur as if someone had thrown a can of paint across her entire field of vision.

I'm afraid to sink, I'm afraid to swim
I'm sad to say I miss my friends
I know that I'm supposed to step away
But they need me to stay and keep a watchful eye
On all my heroes and all their demons

"Dr. B?" Hodgins said quietly, finally opting to speak to her in order to draw the anthropologist from her thoughts. Brennan flinched and then tried to recover her practiced façade of calm and composure, "Hodgins? Why are you here? Was there a break in the case?"

"Uh... no," he admitted, his worry about her evident in his tone.

"Oh," his unspoken sympathy brought tears to her eyes. She hated acknowledging that anyone might have a reason to see her vulnerability or feel sorry for her.

But who's gonna break my fall
When the spinning starts

"Dr. Brennan, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine, Dr. Hodgins?" She pretended to blow her nose and then wiped at her eyes to hide any tears that might have been visible.

"Well, you're here in the museum staring at paintings-instead of working."

The colors bleed together and fade

"I just needed a moment to clear my head."

"Are you sure that's all?"

"Yes."

"Look. I don't mean to pry or to be disrespectful, but I think it must be more than that."

"No. I enjoy fine art. It relaxes me. I just needed some time to think. This case has been frustrating. You should be back at the lab analyzing the soil and those fibers you found."

"Dr. B, I've been here since you arrived. I probably should have said something sooner, but I wanted to give you some space. You aren't thinking about work."

"I'm always thinking about my work."

"I've seen you here before on three different occasions—after we found your mother, when you thought Booth was dead, and… and when Sully left. You don't come here to think about work."

"You've been stalking me?"

"No... well, not exactly. I come here, too. Being near the paintings made me feel near Ange when she seemed so far away and unreachable. The first time I followed you here—I was just curious about where you were going. You were upset. I just watched to make sure you didn't need a shoulder to cry on."

"Oh."

Was it ever there at all
Or have I lost my way
The path of least resistance
Is catching up with me again today

"You only come here and sit still like this when you're upset. You're upset today. I watched you wind through the gallery stopping at specific paintings. You're not thinking about work. Those works of art that caught your eye today are not about science. They're about feelings. Did you choose those paintings consciously or did they just speak to you? Do you realize where you've stopped today at the gallery? First you stopped at The Suitor's Visit. You sat there for hours after Sully left. You stayed a long while today, too. Then you went over to study The Dancing Couple... I saw it, too. I've stared at that painting more times than I can remember. They weren't an obvious match. To anyone else, they looked like Angela and me-two people who looked different and were from completely different worlds. Only they fit together perfectly. They were in love. Just like Angela and me. Just like..."

She turned to look at him with a silent gasp, fear that he might say what she was thinking written clearly on her face.

"My point is... Sometimes the things that seem most improbable work out. You've ended up here staring at the Woman Holding a Balance as if you hope it will give you an answer. Trust me, it won't."

Not today
Not today

"I know. It just... it helps to see someone else struggling with something… trying to handle something big and enormous and ominous. It helps to know that other people have been in difficult circumstances," she confessed.

Was it ever there at all
Or have I lost my way
The path of least resistance
Is catching up with me again today

"Pardon my for butting in," Dr. Brennan, "but did Sully call or write or something? Is that what's upsetting you?" Hodgins remembered all too well that the last time Brennan and Booth seemed so intense and off their game, Sully had been threatening to break up their partnership.

"No. I haven't heard from Sully in months."

"Oh, well is there a new guy-a guy who's upset you?"

Brennan's eyes fell to her lap for a moment and then she replied sadly, "No. No, Hodgins, there's no new guy." She hated the hollow echo of her own lie. Part of her brain screamed at her that Booth was not a new guy. When had there ever been a new guy to turn her head, stir her heart, make her notice him in the last five years. Sully had come close to distracting her from the one man who was a stable fixture in her life, and she had opted to send him away.

"I don't have time for ephemeral relationships. There's... there's no one." Her heart panged with loneliness long ignored.

"Well, if there were a guy... a guy who hurt your feelings or made you cry... even if he were a big guy-bigger than me... I'd take care of it," Hodgins said chivalrously. They both knew he had been talking about Booth. She smiled. "If there ever is a guy, I'll call you if he gets out of sequence."

"Out of... Oh, you mean out of line."

"Yes. Yes, I do."

Hodgins' heart broke for his boss. She was obviously upset and had no idea how to deal with the conflict raging within, "It does. Dr. Brennan, do you want to talk about what's bothering you? Strictly confidential. I won't even tell Ange about it. I swear."

"No. Thank you, Hodgins, but I can't talk about what's on my mind."

"How about Sweets? Isn't he sworn to secrecy or something?"

"He is. But I'm fine. I just… I just needed a moment." She rose and smiled at him and then looped her arm through the one he'd extended when she'd turned to face him.

She smiled at him gratefully as he led her out of the gallery and back toward the laboratory, "You're a good friend, Hodgins. Thanks for not prying."

"No problem. You saved my life, remember? I still owe you."

After a few wistful moments of silence, Brennan confessed, "Angela's lucky to have you."

"Well, you're lucky, too." She ached with the knowledge that he was right—and that he was talking about Booth without saying his name. She quickly banished thoughts of her partner in order to pull herself back together, "I don't believe in luck. But I am fortunate to have good friends."

Broken sticks and broken stones
Will turn to dust just like our bones again today
I'm broken down
Not good enough
The broken promises add up again today

Across town, one of the cops Booth had grilled the day before stopped by his office. He apologized to Booth and confessed that he had been defensive because he was still upset that they hadn't been able to catch Lieutenant Forster's killer. He made what appeared to be a sincere offer to help with the investigation. After allowing the man sufficient time to grovel, Booth showed him the latest report on the evidence from the lab. The man flinched upon seeing Angela's sketch of the marks left behind on the teenager's body. He told Booth that he recognized the symbol as the trademark of a local gang—the Korean symbol "이" representing the number two. Sergeant Manry explained that a beating with a common pipe was the particular handiwork of the gang's second in command—hence the purposeful use of the number 2 in marking the victim. Booth asked him who had been the gang's second in command. As it turned out, it would be the man they'd be interviewing the following morning.

As Booth drilled the sergeant with questions about the gang, its members, and his ideas about how they might be linked with the case, his phone buzzed. "Excuse me," Booth said, leaping up and rushing out into the hallway to take the call, "Booth."

"She's back," Angela said quietly.

"Is she...? Should I...?" Booth's heart was beating so wildly that he couldn't decide what question to ask.

"She's on the platform examining bones. Jack said that she wouldn't tell him what was going on but that she seems okay."

"Oh. Thanks, Angela... Thanks for letting me know."

"Sure thing..."

"Ange?"

"Yeah?"

"Call me if she needs...," Booth paused, listening to 'if she needs me' resonate loudly within his heart and his mind before continuing, "if she needs anything?"

Was it ever there at all
Or have I lost my way
The path of least resistance
Is catching up with me again today

Angela hoped the man talking with her knew how much he was madly in love with her partner. Hearing the angst and concern in his voice, she suspected that he actually might.

"Will do."

Again today

Lyrics: Again Today—Performed beautifully by Brandi Carlile