Universe 1 (April 2010)
Sweets looked across at the pair. "One of you has to have the courage to break this stalemate." He pointed at Booth. "You. It's gotta be you, cause you're the gambler. For once, make that work for you."
They walked down to the plaza in front of the FBI Headquarters. As they headed to the sidewalk, Booth suddenly stopped. "I'm the gambler. I believe in giving this a chance. Look, I wanna give this a shot." Bones was looking at him in disbelief. "You mean us?" A slight nod from him. She continued. "No, the FBI won't let us work together as a coupl…" He interrupted her. "Don't do that. There is no reason…" He grabbed her and kissed her soundly. She seemed to be responding, but then pulled back and slapped his chest. "No! No!" He pleaded with her, "Why? Why?" With tears in her eyes, she vehemently tried to get her point across. "You thought you were protecting me, but you're the one who needs protecting." He looked baffled. "Protecting? Protecting from what?" She looked so sad and her voice broke. "From me. I…I don't have your kind of open heart." He begged her. "Just give it a chance. That's all I'm asking." Her voice grew stronger. "No, you said it yourself. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome." He started pushing back on her premise. "Well, then let's go for a different outcome here. Alright? Let's…hear me out, alright? You know when you talk to older couples who, you know, have been in love for 30 or 40 or 50 years, alright. It's always the guy who says, 'I knew'." She looked at him tearfully, wishing she could let him change her mind. He tried again. "I knew, right from the beginning." She tearfully shook her head. "Your evidence is anecdotal." He earnestly tried to change her mind. "I'm that guy. Bones, I'm that guy. I know." She started openly crying. "I…I am not a gambler. I'm a scientist. I can't change. I don't know how." They both looked defeated. "I don't know how." Booth tried a couple of times to respond, but nothing came out. Tears were running down her cheeks. "Please don't look so sad." He gave up. "Alright. Okay."
He sat down on the ledge and hung his head in defeat. Brennan sat down next to him. He looked up at her. "You're right. You're right." Her voice broke. "Can we still work together?" She silently implored him. He looked at her, pursed his lips, looked away, and then nodded his head while wiping away tears. "Yeah." She was relieved. "Thank you." Booth wiped the tears from his eyes, regained his composure, and looked over to her. "But I've gotta move on. I've gotta find someone who's gonna love me in 30 years. Or 40. Or 50." She couldn't look at him, and said in a tiny voice, "I know." She stood up and took a few steps and he followed and caught up to her. She linked her arm through his and her head rested on his shoulder. He rested his head on hers and they slowly walked across the plaza, dreading what came next. They both understood that tomorrow would be the start of a whole new dynamic for them. Booth had gambled and lost. Bones had been pushed before she was ready, and no one understood that better than Booth. He had been clean for 6 years, and tonight he went "all in" with the most important hand in his life. And he lost. And he deserved to lose.
A couple of weeks later, they got a case that required them to fly to Illinois, and it just so happened that it was the town where Bones went to high school. As they started working the case, they discovered that it was the week of her high school reunion and Booth talked her into attending so she could brag about her adult accomplishments. The body they found had been mutilated in a similar way to other deaths in the small town going all the way back to the 1950s, so Booth and the sheriff decided to keep the murder quiet so as not to alarm residents. Booth and Bones decided to pose as a married couple, and only the sheriff knew that Booth was with the FBI. When they identified the body, it turned out to be one of Bones' classmates, so this allowed Booth to observe the classmates assembled for the reunion.
They were both still a little raw from what had occurred a few weeks before, but they put on a brave face. Bones was able to distract herself because of the flood of memories - she did not really have any friends in high school and was made fun of because she was such a science nerd. But she did enjoy the nostalgia of returning to the school. It was more difficult for Booth, especially since he had to play along as her husband. But he insisted on a video call to Sweets that he was moving on - he already had a date set for the following week. Sweets didn't believe a word of it. The Jeffersonian lab spent a lot of time examining the body that had been shipped there and kept Booth and Bones apprised of their findings. They found that she had been stabbed multiple times with an odd angled blade, so Booth and Bones set about looking around the school for a possible murder weapon. The former classmates setting up the gym for the dance all had weapons that could conceivably have been used, so the pair had their work cut out for them.
After a full day of investigation, they decided to set it aside so that Bones could enjoy her reunion. But, of course, they couldn't stop working and they observed and speculated on many of the classmates. They finally relaxed enough to get out on the dance floor, but when the music changed to a slow dance, Booth looked ready to bail. Bones persuaded him to dance with her. "It's Seal!" Booth knew he could never refuse her anything, so he took her into his arms. But he immediately pulled back from her and said he was leaving room for the Holy Spirit. Halfway through the song, suddenly, a whole field of shiny metal stars hanging from strings dropped from the ceiling to just above the dancers' heads. Everyone "oohed" and "aahed", including Booth and Bones. Booth saw tears in her eyes as she looked up at the stars, and she told him it was just like the prom that she never got to go to. Booth smiled at her, let out a big sigh, and pulled back into his arms. She threw both arms around his neck and had a heavenly smile on her face. Even she wasn't sure if it was the thought of being at her long ago prom or a wiping away of the last few weeks and for just a few minutes feeling that closeness between them again. Booth, for his part, started with a pained look on his face, but it morphed into a small smile as he enjoyed the feel of her hair against his cheek and her body molded to his. He decided to put her rejection out of his head and just live in the moment for the next few minutes.
When the song finished, they broke apart and both immediately missed the warmth that their bodies pressed so closely had generated. Booth hit up the buffet, and the two sat down at an empty table and returned to speculation on the murder. Bones was admiring the dangling stars again and got an idea. She got up on a chair, took one down, and sent a photo of Booth holding the star to the lab. They got right on it, and determined that the angle matched and that it was the murder weapon, which helped lead them right to their culprit.
The pair continued to work together for the next couple of months, and they each started dating other people. On the very next case after returning from Illinois, Booth met a beautiful marine biologist, Catherine Bryar. Once she was cleared as a suspect, he asked her out. Around the same time, Bones resumed dating Booth's boss, Andrew Hacker. An objective observer would realize they were just trying to prove to each other that they could "move on". Trying to maintain their "best friend" facade, they both gave an outward show of cheerleading for the other's dating life. A month later, neither of them were mentioning any dates, and they each knew that if dates were happening, they would be discussing them. While the "moving on" began quickly, it seemed to fizzle out just as quickly.