Chapter 3... 'Collapse'

"Bones!"

Her heart jumped. If I turn around, will he still be there?

She turned as quickly as she could, so that he never had a chance to walk away again. Standing there, in front of her, was Booth, neatly dressed in a suit, as though he were ready for work, as though nothing had happened or changed.

She couldn't comprehend her feelings. I should be mad at him, but I... Why aren't I mad at him? She wanted to throw herself at him, but instead just stood there, confused.

"Bones? ... Say something, Bones."

Again, she stood there, stunned.

"I'm sorry... I.. It's just... Something came up, Bones. I'm sorry."

Brennan held back the tears, turning and facing the bones on the table in front of her. Booth approached her cautiously, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't" she protested, pulling her shoulder out from under his clasp.

"Are you mad at me?"

Brennan just stared down at the bones, and as she picked one of them up, a single tear trickled down her face. Before she could say anything, Angela rushed in. She threw a scornful look towards Booth as she made her way to Brennan.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?" she asked, as she looked back over her shoulder to Booth, once again giving him a dirty look.

"I'm fine, Angela. Can you just give us a minute? Please?" Angela quickly left. She knew something, and was not letting on.

"What were you about to say, Booth?"

Booth plucked up the courage, and looked Brennan straight in the eyes. "I did as I promised, Bones. I was careful in Afghanistan, I wasn't a hero. But I also did something else I said I would..."

Brennan knew what was coming next.

"Her name's Jennifer, Bones. She's a journalist from New York. I mo..."

Brennan saw Booth's lips move, heard the words, but could not accept it. I moved on... The words played in her mind over and over again.

"I'm sorry, Bones. I wanted to tell you sooner, I just didn't know how to" he said, the desperation screaming out.

Brennan stood there, shocked, unable to breathe, unable to move. She took a tight grip on the table. The pain in her heart was overwhelming, and she tried with all her might to hold it in. She held her head, trying to make the pain go away.

"Not now Booth, please."

"I want you to meet her, Bones. Jennifer!" he called.

As soon as Jennifer stepped into the room, the pain in Brennan's heart and head took over, and without warning, Brennan collapsed onto the floor, pulling the table with the bones on it down with her.

Booth rushed to her side, quickly followed by Angela.

"You get away from her!" she yelled at Booth, as she lifted Brennan's head up onto her lap. Hodgins and Cam, who were now at work, rushed in, and forced Booth away from Brennan.

Brennan came to in her office about half an hour later. Angela hugged her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Brennan. I wanted to tell you, but it was for him to do."

"Where is he?" asked Brennan, sitting up.

"It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you're alright."

Brennan continued to look around for Booth, wanting to say something to him, anything. Suddenly, the pain began to emerge again, and Brennan clasped her chest. She slipped out of consciousness as she tried to stop the tears from flowing.

"Angela" called Cam.

Angela lay Brennan back down on the couch and walked into the main part of the lab.

"He wants to see her, Angela. What do we do?"

Angela pretended to roll up her sleeves, even though she was wearing a singlet.

"I know what I'm going to do..." and she marched over to Booth.

"You son of a bitch, Booth!" exclaimed Angela as she slapped him on the cheek. "You leave her there, on her own, with false hope, then you show up, reveal the truth and to make matters worse, you bring that little skank along with you!"

Booth took a step back, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this easily.

"Do you have ANY idea what she went through last night? Do you? I found her lying on a park bench, curled up, crying. I sat with her the whole night, watching the tears flow down her cheeks, drenching her pillow. I caught her when she fell this morning when she stepped into her office! The only thing she could say to me when I caught her was 'He Lied!'"

Angela took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't think there's anything that can be done to help her anymore. And it's not my place to tell you why all of this happened. So you better think of a way to make things right between you two before I lose her forever!"

Angela slapped him again. She dragged him to her office. "You know that I think that you two belong together, so don't go flaunting your Afghan Skank around this lab anymore, Booth, or next time, you won't be so lucky to get away with a slap!" She gave him a death stare. "Now get the hell out of this lab, Booth!" shouted Angela as she tossed him out of her office.

Booth stood there in the middle of the lab, with every squint staring at him scornfully. What have I done? He asked himself, realising what he'd done to his partnership with Brennan. He ran his hand through his hair, and didn't even think twice about the slap that he deserved so much.

Booth quickly made his way out of the lab, heading straight for his car.

"Seeley!"

Booth turned around; expecting to see Cam, or even Bones, but it was Jennifer who was hot on his heels.

"Are you alright?"

He didn't know what to say. Was his affection for Jennifer so great that it meant more than his partnership with Brennan?

Jennifer hugged him tightly, and Booth hesitated for quite some time, before raising his arms to hug her back.

"I'm fine, Jennifer," he said softly.

"But that woman, she slapped you, are you sure you're okay?"

"Jenny, I... I deserved it, and a whole lot more. I told you when we first started going out, about how complicated everything was between Brennan and me..."

Jennifer reached up and kissed Booth on the lips, but he did not return the kiss. When she pulled away, Jennifer looked confused.

"I have to make this right, Jenny. I couldn't live with myself, knowing that I'd hurt Bones the way that I have..." and he walked away.