Seeley Booth sat in his office shuffling papers from one side of his desk to the other, but not acting on anything, so nothing was landing in his outbox. He had planned on leaving early to avoid any fallout, but Hacker called him after the meeting with O'Brien to tell him he needed the paperwork from last week's case on his desk by the end of day. He felt horrible. He felt like a coward. Former Ranger, current FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth wasn't afraid of anything. But he knew he couldn't handle her reaction when Bones was told that their partnership was being disbanded. He still couldn't believe he had done this to her, to them. But he had no choice. This was just the next step in "moving on". If it weren't for Parker, he might have looked to transfer to another FBI office - maybe even overseas. Hannah would have loved that. But he would never move far from Parker because it would mean seeing even less of him as he was growing up. This was the only solution, but he hated it. He had been watching all afternoon for O'Brien to return from the Jeffersonian and he wasn't sure what to expect.
What Booth didn't know is that O'Brien had no intention of returning to the office that afternoon. After leaving Brennan's office he decided it would be a good day to be out in the field following up on some leads. He expected that there might be some fallout and he had no wish to be in the middle. From what he heard of the conversation, it seemed like it must have been Booth's decision to terminate the partnership and Doctor Brennan seemed stunned. He had known Booth for several years and worked beside him on occasion. He always struck him as an honorable man, so he thought it was inconceivable that Booth would blindside her in that way. It also occurred to O'Brien that she was not going to just accept this decision lying down. While he didn't see her trying to reverse the agent transfer, he expected her to come down hard on the decision and the way it was handled. Again, he wanted no part of that. He hoped that next week he could start fresh with her on a new case and begin to build a rapport with her and her team.
And no, she was NOT going to take this lying down. The more it all sunk in, the angrier she became. As she walked briskly from her office, Angela saw her and asked what was wrong? Brennan bristled that she would tell her later and kept moving, leaving a puzzled Angela in her wake.
Brennen was alone on the FBI elevator headed to Booth's floor and emotions by now were flipping between anger and sadness. She was still in shock, but as it was all sinking in, the sadness was starting to creep in. But Hacker told her that the transfer was requested by Booth and Booth hadn't had the decency to tell her in person. Or even in a phone call. Or an email. Or a freakin text. These thoughts tamped down that sadness - she would allow that emotion later. Right now she needed that anger.
As she swiftly walked toward his office, she saw with relief that he was sitting at his desk. She had worried that he might have left to avoid her, and frustration was the last emotion she needed in the mix. He looked up and saw her just as she was about to slam her hand to open the door, and she noticed the blood drain from his face. She entered the office, closed the glass door, and leaned her body against it, not wishing to get any closer to him. She didn't trust herself. He just stared at her, and she knew he had never seen her this angry. "What the hell, Agent Booth?" She couldn't trust herself to say anything more…yet. Booth got up and started to come around the desk. "Don't you dare! Stay on that side of the desk! I don't want you anywhere near me!" Booth had a pained look on his face as he stammered, "I'm sorry Bones. It just had to be done." "Don't you dare call me 'Bones'! From now on, I am 'Doctor Brennan' to you!" The flinch in his expression brought a small measure of satisfaction, but she was waiting for an actual explanation. "I want to know when you decided this, why you decided this, and why you didn't have the courage to tell me to my face!" Booth took a few seconds to gather himself and then looked up with a look of contrition on his face. "I'm so sorry Bones…" He was interrupted by a blurted out, "Doctor Brennan!" He started again. "I'm so, so sorry. I know it was a cowardly thing to do, and the only excuse I have is that I knew you were going to be hurt, and I…" he looked down at his feet and back up again, "I couldn't stand to see you hurt." An astonished look came over her face. "Hurt? You look at this face and see hurt? I thought you were supposed to be so good at gauging emotions. Oh no Agent Booth. No hurt here. I suspect that will come later. This is pure anger. And I'm still waiting for the answers to my first two questions. I guess I got the answer to number three. As I've been suspecting for the last hour, and you've confirmed, it was cowardice. Something I never thought I would say about you." She shook her head in disbelief.
Brennan put her hands on her hips, leaned back against the door, and raised her eyebrows as her eyes bored into Booth's. He looked back down at the floor, shuffled his feet, and leaned back against the credenza behind him, bracing himself with both arms. His face began to show more resolve as he started to speak. "Hannah and I decided that it would be better for our long term relationship if I wasn't working so closely with you." He stared at her face and there was no visible emotion, so he continued. "When she found out about the feelings I once had for you and how you rejected my overtures, it made her feel insecure. Then she found out that you had second thoughts and had regrets about turning me down. How do you think that made her feel? Knowing we were working together almost every day? Having lunches together? Getting drinks together?" He stopped there, waiting for her reaction before deciding whether to continue. She stared at him with venom in her eyes. "So, you and Hannah decided? Or did she demand that you split us up?" He stood up from the credenza and steeled his back. "It was a joint decision." She scoffed at him. "I don't believe you. I know you "Agent Booth". You are covering for your girlfriend." His face was beginning to mirror her anger. "Fine! She was the one who suggested it would be better for us if I wasn't working with you! Does that make you happy? And I decided to give her that because I love her and when you love someone you sacrifice to make them happy! Of course, you would never understand that, and I suspect you never will!" By now he was angrily leaning toward her with his hands on the desk. Brennan's face blanched for a few seconds at the cruelty in his voice, but the anger quickly returned. She held out her arm. "Your lab access card." He stared at her for a few seconds and then reached into his wallet, took out the well worn card and slid it across the desk. She leaned over and grabbed it, quickly backing up to the door again to get as far away from him as possible. Again, the venom in her eyes almost melted him. "You are never again allowed inside my lab. If you ever show up there, security will throw you out on your ass!" She reached back, opened the door, and just before turning to leave, she spoke in a low voice just to make sure he understood how serious she was. "Seeley Booth, I never want to set eyes on you again for the rest of my life."