Universe 1 (September 2006)
Booth and Rebecca lay in his bed in a post coital glow. They looked at each other and both declared that this was a huge mistake. They had been through some testy times over the last year because he was worried about the man she was dating. He had tried to investigate him, but that backfired when Rebecca found out and threatened to withhold his visitations with Parker. Booth capitulated and they all started to get along. But then, a few months later, Rebecca and Drew decided to take a break. Somehow, Booth and Rebecca fell back into old habits, and they found themselves in this position a handful of times. Each time, they acknowledged that it was a bad idea, but each time it happened, it was a welcome release with a partner with whom they had a comfort level. But, of course, moments after it was over…well…wash, rinse, repeat.
This time they got caught out though. Booth was in the bathroom when his cell phone rang and Rebecca picked it up only to find Brennan on the line. She handed him the phone and his attempt to hide what they were up to failed miserably. Brennan knew exactly what was happening. When he met her at the crime scene, it was obvious that she knew, he knew she knew, and he still tried to bamboozle her. But they both knew she didn't buy it.
The case turned out to be a doozy. A body was found almost completely liquified in a clawfoot bathtub in the middle of a residential construction site. The case presented really challenging obstacles since there was so little to go on, but, as usual, the Jeffersonian crew was up to the challenge. Not only did they find the identity of the victim, but they discovered that he was living a double life with two separate families. Later in the investigation, they found out that a third woman was currently pregnant with his child. And the actual killing was convoluted too, involving the 3 women who had discovered his treachery, the boss who he was fleecing, and an attempt to disguise it all with a staged suicide. But, between the Jeffersonian crew's dogged pursuit using science and technology, and Booth's intuitiveness, they pulled together all of the strings and wrapped up the case in a neat bow.
But throughout the time they were investigating this case, Booth and Bones were uncharacteristically at odds. It started with Bones disclosing her discovery of Booth & Rebecca's tryst to Cam. Cam had recently moved from her job as a coroner in New York to become Brennan's boss at the Jeffersonian. While gossiping was not something Bones ever engaged in, she apparently thought it could be a way to connect with Cam since their first month working together had been a bit rocky. When Cam mentioned it to Booth, he was incensed with Bones. Booth and Bones sparred over whether the tryst had actually taken place, and whether Bones had any right to disclose it. They sniped at each other throughout the entire investigation, and Booth was in a bad mood most of the time.
There was also a bit of resolution with Rebecca. Brennan met her in person for the first time and gave her some insights to chew on regarding Booth and his feelings about why they didn't marry when Rebecca became pregnant. A few days later, Rebecca and Booth had a heartfelt talk about their past and current relationship. They decided that, while they felt they were in a good place as co-parents for Parker, the physical relationship just had to end. The resolution with Rebecca also led to a truce with Bones. In a provocative late evening talk in Bones' office, Booth more or less admitted that he had been sleeping with Rebecca, but it was over now. Staring deeply into her eyes, he talked about how there are some people you just can't sleep with because there are too many strings, too much to lose. She said that she was sure that Rebecca wasn't his only option for satisfyingly biological urges. The air was charged with electricity between them for a few seconds before Angela came walking into the office and they both struggled to regain their composure.
But then, back to Booth's bed again, and another post-coital glow. But this time his bedmate was Cam, someone who had shared his bed a few times in the 15 years they had been friends. They both insisted that they wouldn't do this again, but they both knew they were fooling themselves. After all, this was one of the people Bones was talking about who he could go to to satisfy his biological urges. Bones just didn't realize it was the person in the next office.
Universe 2 (September 2006)
Booth and Rebecca lay in his bed in a post coital glow. They looked at each other and both declared that this was a huge mistake.
How had they gotten there? Well, Rebecca's visit to Seeley's apartment almost a year ago had spurred him to change his life. He knew that if he didn't get his gambling under control that Rebecca would withhold his visits with Parker, and that would have destroyed him. Plus, there was a good chance he would also lose his job, and being an FBI Special Agent was his identity. Trying to find another fulfilling job after being fired from the FBI would have been impossible. So he kept his word to her. He attended a GA meeting the next day, and every day after for the length of his suspension. He went to mass several times over that 10 day period and prayed for guidance to help turn his life around. And he did the work. He decided to commit his life for the next few months to improve every aspect of his life. It was like going through Ranger training all those years ago. A single focus to get where he needed to go.
And it worked. Rebecca could see the change, even in the limited time she spent with him. Parker didn't understand what was going on, but he could feel that his dad seemed happier and more energetic, and that made his time with him even better than before. At work, he was hyper focused on his cases. In the past, he would often have point spreads and odds running through his head during the day, thinking about bets he was planning to lay on his way home from work. Now he was spending every hour working his cases and found a renewed trust in his instincts. His boss noticed the change and encouraged him at every turn. Six months after he had turned things around, his boss rewarded him by pulling him from the bullpen and making him head of the Major Crimes Unit. With the promotion came his own office and put him in charge of the agents he had been working with in the bullpen. Over the last 4 months he had rewarded his boss' trust in him by increasing the solve rate of the unit.
But, back to Booth and Rebecca and the post coital glow. They had been through some testy times over the last year because he was worried about the man she was dating. He had tried to investigate him, but that backfired when Rebecca found out and threatened to withhold his visitations with Parker. Rebecca was proud of what he had done to get his life together, but she drew the line at him questioning who she was dating. Booth capitulated and they all started to get along. But then, a few months later, Rebecca and Drew decided to take a break. Somehow, Booth and Rebecca fell back into old habits, and they found themselves in this position a handful of times. Each time, they acknowledged that it was a bad idea, but each time it happened, it was a welcome release with a partner with whom they had a comfort level. But, of course, moments after it was over…well…wash, rinse, repeat.
Although Booth's team had raised their solve rate under his direction, there were some cases that were destined to land in the cold case file. The one with the human remains liquified in the bathtub was one. There was just so little to go on. They investigated the owner of the development company where the remains were found. But they were never able to identify the victim, and it made it impossible to put together a case against anyone. What they never found out was that there were three angry women and one angry boss who all had a hand in what happened. But the victim had betrayed them all so horribly that he was never missed or mourned.
During the doomed investigation of the victim in the bathtub, Seeley and Rebecca sat down and had a frank conversation about where their lives were going. She told him how proud she was that he had been able to turn his life around. And she told him that he was a fantastic father to their son. Their relationship was as good as it had been in the five years since their decision to part ways, and they had built a solid parenting team for Parker. But they agreed that they had to forgo the occasional romp in his or her bed. They were in a good place and there was too much to lose if things got sideways. And they were in agreement that a relationship between them would never work full time and they both wanted the freedom to build their individual lives.
But, of course, Seeley had needs. His friend, Cam, the coroner from New York, had moved to DC last month and taken a position at the Jeffersonian Institute. Seeley and Cam had been friends for a long time, and their relationship occasionally fell into the "friends with benefits" category. Now that she was living in DC (and Seeley and Rebecca were no longer intimate) they reestablished that dynamic and it was mutually satisfying. There was no illusion for either of them that it was a love match, and they kept it on the down low so no one at the FBI or the Jeffersonian knew about it.