Hi everyone! Thank you for reading and reviewing! It means so much that people seem to be enjoying my little story! After all the delays, I'm posting this one within just a couple days of the last – so yay to carving out some time!

-Mac

Chapter 7

"So… how was it?" Angela asked Brennan, the moment she walked into her office the next morning.

Brennan smiled. "It was nice," she said, nodding. And she meant that. It had been nice. Jake was… he was nice. Pleasant. He asked her a lot of questions, seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say. He held her seat for her, paid for their dinner. And he'd given her a small kiss on the cheek when he'd said goodbye. "It was a date."

Angela laughed. "We knew that."

"I still thought that perhaps he was just being friendly. I've known him for a few years. He's a great profiling agent and Booth has known him since Quantico. We've always gotten along well. He's always been respectful."

"And now that Booth's getting married, he's comfortable enough to actually do what he's probably wanted to do for awhile now," Angela supplied.

"Why would Booth need to be getting married for him to feel like he could ask me out?" Brennan asked. What did one thing have to do with the other? She'd been single nearly the whole time she'd known Jake. And Booth had been her friend and partner. The FBI even had rules about fraternizing. Booth had been sort of off-limits either way. But… no matter the rules, they'd only been friends.

There was that moment, when he'd been convinced that he… that moment that he thought he felt more for her. Maybe Jake had sensed that? But now he surely could see what she and everyone else saw. That moment had not been real. It couldn't have been. Booth had not ever actually loved her. Even she'd thought for a moment that he had.

But now she could see it all very clearly. She could understand it, bad as she sometimes was at understanding the complex matters of the human heart.

Human bones… that was her comfort zone. From now on, if she decided to leave that comfort zone, she would do so carefully – being completely clear on where others stood in regards to her.

"Maybe," Angela said, "he backed off out of respect to Booth. Maybe he thought that Booth had feelings for you and he respected him. And that makes him a good person. So that's another check in his favor."

"What was the first check in his favor?"

"Um. That he's hot. Like… really, really hot."

Brennan smiled. She couldn't deny that Jake was classically handsome. He didn't have soft eyes and a strong jaw like Booth… or the kind of chest that looked perfect for hugging and being held, or arms that would make her feel safe from… from just everything.

But he was really very good-looking. Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, a straight nose… tall. Tan. And a beautiful smile, if she did say so. She hadn't felt that stirring in her stomach during their date – even right before he kissed her.

And she worried about that, what that meant. Because he was handsome and kind. He was smart and talented. He was sort of her friend. And now he was looking to get to know her more. And she'd felt nothing. But… she had to keep moving through this. Because surely if she gave it time, she'd feel something. For him. For someone. Surely discovering her feelings for Booth – her love – wouldn't mean a life of complete misery because no one elicited the same kind of response she got whenever he was near?

Her best friend. Well, former best friend. He'd ended up teaching her to trust. And he ended up being the only one who'd had the power to earn her love. And the power to completely break her heart.

"He asked me to go to the wedding with him. As his date," she said, a small smile on her face, sadly hopeful. Angela smiled back, and in her friend's eyes she thought she saw pity. Angela could read her only too well. She could see that Brennan was trying – and failing – to move on like he had. While Booth had found Hannah and been swept off his feet, actually in love (not just a misguided conclusion) – she seemed doomed to her own feelings for her partner.

"And what did you say?" Angela asked. "For what it's worth, I think it would be a really nice distraction to have a date to the wedding."

Brennan nodded. "I agree with that completely. So… I said yes. I mean, we're both going anyway. So why not go together?"

Angela smiled. "That's very reasonable."

"Yes," Brennan agreed. "That's what I told him. He was going to mention it to Booth this morning. Then Booth's coming here because we have a case."

"Do you know anything about the remains? Anything we can do?"

Brennan shrugged. "He didn't give any details and I didn't ask. I've been trying to leave him alone lately. He seems really busy with wedding planning."

A shadow passed over her features at that and Angela seemed to pick up on it. "I think taking a step back from him right now makes sense."

"You think? Because I was starting to worry that I was letting my personal feelings cloud my professional work."

"You're not. I promise."

Brennan nodded, tears springing to her eyes. "Normally, I'm very good at compartmentalizing. This should be no different. I should be able to treat Booth the exact same professionally. No matter what. We're partners. We're… we're partners," she repeated, not trusting herself to try to express anything else that they were… for fear of having to face everything that they suddenly weren't anymore.

"And you're human. And this hurts," Angela said softly.

"But why can't I compartmentalize? Why can't I just move on? Like he did. Why can't I do that? Normally I could do this. I could focus on the work. I've always loved the work. And I could put my feelings aside, build my walls, and watch him get married and not care. Except… I feel like I can't and I just don't understand why."

Angela looked down, frowning. "Because it's Booth, honey," Angela said. "Because these feelings were over six years in the making. Because you love deeply. Because you have the most beautiful heart of anyone that I've ever met. And right now, your heart is broken."

"But why was it so easy for him? I mean… I know why it was so easy for him. But I wish it were easier for me. I find that I'm very hurt that I care as much as I do knowing that…"

"That what?"

"That he didn't."

Angela held her while she crumbled. She didn't know how she'd ever get through this without her. She was right though… Brennan felt like her heart was honestly broken. She'd felt that last night, when she was out with Jake.

With or without a date, she didn't know if she could do it. Watch Booth marry someone else. Right in front of her. She already felt such deep shame that her heart was so slow that it had brought all of this about. She already felt like her heart was on the verge of just shattering completely. She'd been showing up, being his friend. His partner. As best she could. And she'd even begun her exodus from him. From them. But sitting there while he got married….

For the first time, she considered not going. Like Angela had originally advised.

She knew that if she cared about herself at all, she'd tell him that she couldn't go.

Because watching him marry someone… she was starting think that it might honestly kind of kill her.

B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B**B*B*B*B*B

Booth needed to leave, to go the Jeffersonian. They needed to be at the couples' retreat in an hour and a half. He'd told Bones to pack a bag – though he wasn't positive that they'd be staying there. The woman on the phone had invited them to come and sit in on some of the day's sessions. There was a chance that they would find things out quickly and close this in a few hours. After all, murder wasn't involved. Sometimes those cases resolved very quickly, as past experience had dictated.

He needed to run, but Hannah was here. And she was not leaving nearly quickly enough.

"I'm just trying to understand how long you'll be tied up with this case. I thought the bureau was going easy on you with the wedding coming up."

He stopped. "How did you know that?"

"Hacker told me that at the dinner the other night. I thanked him," she added with a wink. "After all, the more you I get, the better."

He took a deep breath. Once again, it didn't catch. The oxygen was there, but it felt like it was failing to reach his lungs.

"It shouldn't take long," he said. "I'll keep you in the loop. And again – please don't talk to Hacker, Bones, anyone about my caseload, about my time that I spend doing, you know, my career, my work. Han, this is what I do. I won't stop doing it. And you've known that since the beginning."

"I would never expect you to stop what you do. And I know that you respect my work," she said for the fiftieth time since last night. They hadn't exactly argued, but he couldn't focus on listening to music until he'd set her straight about texting Bones about his whereabouts. He'd let her know firmly that that was not okay – that if there had been a case, he would not have just walked away from it and left Bones in the lurch to handle it all alone. She said she'd understood, but she still seemed thrown today that he had a case, that he had work – that he would be spending time with Bones.

But – Bones was his partner. Hannah knew that. She wanted his time to plan their wedding. But she needed to understand that he still had a job to do and a partner to get to.

"Fine," Hannah eventually said with a casual roll of the eyes. "I will utilize my sister being in town to let you off the hook. She can look at kid tuxes with me and linens. She can even do the food tasting."

"Well that I wanted to do," he said with a small smile.

"So hurry up with this case then."

"I can't get on with it until we wrap up here."

With that she hugged him and left.

He grabbed his bag and walked to the elevator to leave.

"Booth."

He looked up and saw Jake walking toward him. Jake, who'd taken Bones out last night on what was clearly some kind of date. He was usually happy to see his old friend. Now… he furrowed his brow and greeted him mildly, wondering what he needed. Trying to get to Bones already.

"I just wanted to let you know that Temperance and I were going to go to the wedding together."

Booth's eyebrows shot up at that and he was momentarily lost for words. Finally, he got his voice back, but he couldn't keep the bite out of it. "One date and now you're what, dating?"

Jake smiled but shook his head. "Well, no. But… I asked her to go with me and she said yes. So I wanted to let you know…" he trailed off awkwardly. "Is everything okay, man? You look a bit…"

"I'm fine," Booth barked. "Just tired," he added, more softly.

"I hear you. In the days leading up to my brother's wedding, he was insane with things to do. It's a lot."

Booth nodded. "Well, I'll mention it to Hannah."

"Great," Jake said. "Thanks!" He looked at his watch. "I have to run, but I'll catch you later."

Booth watched the man run off and felt something cold and tight wind itself into coils in his stomach. Bones and Jake… were they actually going to date?

He stepped into the elevator and threw his hands into his pockets, agitatedly. But his anger made absolutely no sense. He should be happy. She was his best friend. His partner. And Jake, he was a nice guy. He was truly one of the good ones. Booth knew that only too well.

So why did he suddenly feel like punching the guy? Why would he feel that way? His fiancée had just left. The woman he proposed to. Who said yes. Who loved him. Who he loved. The woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

Bones could do whatever she wanted and it just shouldn't matter. It just should not matter!

So how come it felt like it did?

B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B**B

"So before we go, can you tell me about this case?" Brennan asked. Ever since he arrived, Booth was pacing her office, like he had a lot of energy to release but nowhere to go with it. "Are you okay?"

Booth looked at her sharply. "Fine!"

"Fine," she said back. She grabbed her bag. "I'm ready to go, but you haven't mentioned the remains, or any details."

"There are no remains." He clapped his hands together and seemed to force his charm-smile on her. "Great, you're ready. Let's go."

"No remains?" She stood still. "It sounds like a case that can be done without my help. I have plenty to do here, Booth. And you… you have a lot of wedding plans to attend to. I feel like you don't need to take on a case that isn't a murder. I'm sure Hacker can find—"

"It's fine. It should be simple. And it's undercover," he added, lifting his eyebrows with intrigue. He knew how much she enjoyed going undercover. It truly made her feel like a crime fighter when she shed her empirical scientist identity and became someone completely new – all in the pursuit of truth and justice.

"I don't understand, Booth."

He sighed. "A few couples have gone missing from a therapy camp downtown. It's a camp for couples. So we go, ask some questions, find the missing people, break up the cult or whatever the hell is going on down there, and go home in time for must-see TV Thursdays."

"I believe that ended in the 90s."

"Okay so we miss that, but we make it back before anyone knows that we're gone."

"Booth, everyone here will know I am gone. The interns will not know which bones to clean from storage or how to properly catalog the latest anthropological findings from the Baltics. And Angela always brings me a donut every day, now that she's pregnant, so—"

Booth smiled and took a step toward her. "Not literally."

She stopped and smiled shyly, as if she were embarrassed, though she wasn't. At all. "Right."

"So… are you ready?"

She took a deep breath and smiled, actually feeling a small thrill at going undercover. It had been awhile. "Yeah."

As they walked out, Booth asked the inevitable question. "So – Buck and Wanda? Or Tony and Roxie?"

"Oh, Tony and Roxie."

"Why's that?"

She looked up at him as they walked. "Buck and Wanda are too practical to believe in soft science to the point of going to a retreat centered around it."

"But Tony and Roxie… they'd get therapy?"

She nodded. "Tony's been hit in the head a lot and Roxie… she's still going out with him. So… yeah."

He laughed. "That all actually makes sense."

She smiled, though it faltered a bit as she got into the passenger's seat of Booth's car, as she wondered if this would be their last case. If this would be the beginning of the end of them.