Thank you so much for the nudges and messages and reviews! They mean so much to me –each and every one! Sorry for the delay but here you go. Enjoy! – Mac

Chapter 10

Finally, Brennan felt like she was in her element. She was on a nature hike with half of the crew. Basically, she and Booth were separated. One half of all the couples were at a spa with Julia, Henry's wife.

And she was with this half, which included Janine and the mediator, Henry, himself. She still believed that he might be behind the disappearances of those people and was eager to see if she could find some clues to prove that point. Because she was ready to go home.

Last night had been too much for her. Kissing Booth had felt… she closed her eyes, remembering in a flash the sound of his breathing as their lips touched, the feel of his hand on her back, gently pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. She had felt complete…

She sighed.

… complete electricity. She had felt every nerve ending in her body awaken. Everything felt right. That kiss had felt like true love… true love finally in her arms. Hers for the taking. Hers.

He'd felt like hers.

But he wasn't hers at all.

And that reality had punched her in the gut so hard she'd almost felt sick from the way it crashed over her. She'd already accepted that he was not hers and could never be hers. He'd made that quite clear. He'd moved on. He was in love – actually, really in love. Not just imagining the emotion because of their former closeness and an attraction. Friendship and partnership mixed with sexual tension had made him believe it had been love. But obviously what he had now was actual love. And that was clear to her and probably everyone. It was embarrassing. People like Sweets and Angela had suggested for years that Booth felt something like love for her. They'd been so sure. It had made her feel sure, too. Confident in that fact. But as she faced this reality, she burned with the shame and embarrassment of realizing that he was yet another person in her life who hadn't really loved her at all. Someone who'd been interested in probably one thing only. And now, it seemed like even her friendship wasn't enough for him to hold onto because all of his spare time that used to be spent laughing with her, or talking with her – about his past, her past… about everything they thought and felt and dealt with – was spent with Hannah now. If they'd really been best friends like she'd stupidly believed, they'd still be hanging out, surely. At least some of the time. They'd still be eating for fun not just for sustenance in the middle of the day while they discussed murder and corpses.

No… last night had been torture. Her heart was already so broken. Realizing she loved him had honestly broken her heart. She had been happy going about her life, not thinking about love. Now that she was aware of it, she was looking at a life full of regret at missing that one moment. If she'd been stronger – more like other women, and not… not her!... then he would be hers. And a kiss like the one they'd shared last night would have made her feel like she was home.

But that kiss had made her just feel lost.

Being here, on this hike, felt nice. There was a little drizzle and a light breeze, the temperature had plummeted in the past ten minutes – and all of it made her feel so very alive. Like she'd be okay. Like Booth was something she could overcome. Being on this walk without him, feeling for the first time in days like things were possible… she knew she could get through this.

She could sit down, all dressed up, at his wedding. She could wish him well. She could leave his life so he could move on. And she could survive.

She smiled as that reality settled into her heart and followed Henry… wondering where on earth he was leading them. She'd completely lost her bearings awhile back because her mind just couldn't settle.

As Henry alerted the group to a view up ahead, Brennan stopped in her tracks. She thought she heard something.

She turned sharply toward a little path that led… well, she wasn't sure to where. But she swore she heard a human moan. And just like that, she turned and left the group. And followed the sound.

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Booth didn't like this one bit. If they really were Tony and Roxie and they were on the rocks, this retreat would be the last place on earth he'd ever go! It was insane all of the things they did here in the name of love. Forced, awkward conversations. That game last night! He'd never forget the feeling that coiled in his stomach when that woman had asked Bones if anyone had ever loved her… and her answer continued to drive him crazy. Her insistence that she had really meant it… he just didn't know what to do with that but it did; it made him crazy. Being forced to kiss like that… what had that been?

He kept expecting to feel guilt for kissing Bones, even though it was to keep their cover, because of Hannah. Surely he should feel like a cheat, despite it being for work, and being part of an undercover assignment, and despite it being because they were directed to do that. Right? He should feel horrible for having been in that situation at all.

But he didn't.

He'd meant what he told Bones last night. It had not been cheating; it had been work. It had been to keep people from finding them more suspicious than he already felt they were. He wouldn't have done that otherwise. Of course. He wasn't like that. He was getting ready to marry Hannah, and that was no small promise he'd made. He was not a cheater and he was not concerned in the slightest about having to kiss his partner last night. Because it had been for work. Just for work.

It was still strange, though. Where guilt might be, something else took its place in his mind. And he could not figure out what it was. Something big and emotional and messy invaded his mind, something his subconscious was working hard to process. Something his conscious mind was pushing away faster than his subconscious could work.

He'd gone to sleep on the couch in the room, giving Bones the bed. He hated sleeping on couches, but there was no way, despite how much she insisted because of his back problems, that he was taking the bed from her. And yet, uncomfortable as he was, he slept better than he had in a really long time. He could see that she was sleeping soundly, too.

But now, they'd been separated. After a night like that, a kiss like that… oh, he couldn't allow himself to really think about the kiss, it made his blood boil – probably because of how annoyed he felt at this entire operation… he needed to work this case with Bones. But they'd been separated.

He'd hoped to be sent on the nature hike and for her to go to the spa, but that hadn't happened. So he'd put aside his swirling thoughts for the past hour and tried to "get to know" some of these couples and Henry's strange wife. All he knew was that his gut was telling him that these people were all fine. Which meant that if someone on the other half were responsible, then his partner was out in the woods right now with that person.

And so, he waited impatiently for them to return, standing out in the rain, which was now picking up quite a bit. After what felt like hours, he heard Henry's deep, booming voice. He walked casually over as they filed back into the retreat. After a couple of minutes, something tightened in his stomach. The last of the group was appearing from around the bend, but Bones was not with the group. Where was she?

He took a deep breath, as the last people settled back into the main area, waiting in case a few more straggled in.

No one did.

His gut sprang to life, something tightened in his stomach. Bones was not with the group. She'd left for a mountain hike… and now, she was not here. She wasn't here.

Where the hell was she?

He walked over to Henry and got in his face, a frown on his face. "Where is Roxie?"

At his question, Henry's eyes shot up in surprise and he looked behind him at the crew he'd been leading. Booth was pretty good at reading people; this man had no idea that one of the people he was responsible for had not returned with them. And that that made him crazy.

How could someone not know that Bones was gone? Why was no one looking out for her?

Someone needed to look out for her, or…

God, someone needed to have her back! Why didn't anyone notice she was gone? When she was around, he always felt it. He felt responsible for her safety in the field. Always had.

Probably always would.

It was honestly impossible to imagine that if he was not around, no one noticed her the way she should always be noticed.

Henry walked quickly to the back of the group and continued looking up the path and back.

"Is this everyone?" he asked, his voice detecting a nervousness that Booth could see right through.

"Yes," various people muttered, seeming confused at his question.

"You didn't notice that she wasn't with you," Booth demanded, his voice sounding a lot calmer than he felt.

"I was in the front, leading the way," he explained lamely.

Booth put a hand up to his head, as the rain really poured now. "You led a hike in the rain. You were in the woods, on rocky terrain. It could have been slippery and you didn't watch over the people you were leading?" What if she'd fallen? What if she'd hit her head.

How could no one notice?

Before Booth could say another word, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He grabbed it without thinking and barked into it. "Booth."

Henry looked confused at him. After all, he wasn't Booth right now. But he really didn't care. He just needed to find Bones and make sure she was okay.

They were here to figure out what happened to the missing people from this retreat. If Bones went missing… on his watch, when this had all been his bright idea to reestablish some of what they'd lost…

… he'd never –

"Booth, it's me. I'm—"

Her phone was breaking up. Dammit.

"Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm—"

It broke up again. He glared at Henry and once again got right in his face. "Get your keys and your truck. You're driving us to wherever it was that you all just came from."

"Can't I have someone else drive you? My wait staff knows all the routes. In five minutes we're supposed to—"

Booth stood just a little bit taller and looked at the man, feeling like he could kill him for being so irresponsible with his partner, his—

"Okay. Okay," Henry said again, with a sigh. "Let's go."

"We are on our way," Booth said into the phone. "I don't know if you can hear me. Can you hear me? Bones?"

"Booth, I…"

Nothing.

But he kept the call going, his only connection to her right now. And he climbed a moment later into Henry's truck.

"How could you lose someone who was on your watch?" he asked him. "How long have you been running this program?"

"About two years."

"Well, I'm getting the feeling that maybe this isn't your calling."

"Why do you say that?"

Booth rolled his eyes. Where to start? He strained to hear into his phone. Mumbled sounds. Static. Nothing. "Well, let's see. You force people who don't want to be together anymore to kiss. You play stupid games that embarrass people, that make them admit things that… things that aren't true. You make people uncomfortable in just about every way imaginable."

Henry laughed and Booth thought he might actually kill this man.

"What?"

"I don't force anyone to do anything."

Booth sighed. "Please. That nightly ritual – what is that? It's not a way to bring couples back together. It's forced public affection and it's weird."

"There was nothing weird about what I saw between you and your girl last night."

Before he could help himself he turned in his seat and said, "What does that mean?"

"Just that I've been doing this program for a few years now… and I ain't never seen two people kiss like you two did last night. I'm not sure why you're here. But you don't need help falling back in love. Why would you when you're already in that deep."

Booth turned his attention back to the phone, pushed away those words. Those words… were unwelcome. Because… this man was a crazy person, running a weird couples retreat. What did he know? He knew nothing. He didn't know the real them. He knew Tony and Roxie. He didn't know Booth and Brennan. He didn't know that back at home, Booth had a girl… a girl who was going to marry him. In a matter of days!

Why couldn't he breathe? His breath… it was doing that thing again.

"Bones?" he shouted into the phone.

"We are getting close to where the hike ended," Henry said, stopping the car. Booth jumped out of the car.

"Bones!" he shouted.

"Why do you keep calling her that? Is it because you two like to—"

"Don't finish that thought," Booth said, a warning edge to his voice.

"Booth!" he heard, not from the phone. From somewhere nearby. "Booth! Over here!"

Booth ran, his only focus on finding her and making sure that she wasn't hurt.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Booth!" she said it over and over and finally she was close. There was a little opening to a cave and he ducked in, pulling out a flashlight and finally, his eyes rested on hers and he felt relief course through him.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

She smiled, relief in her eyes. "I'm fine. But they are not."

And just like that, she indicated two people – the two missing people. They were here, in this cave.

"You left the crew to look for them? In the pouring rain? Bones, you could've gotten hurt!" he asked. She knew he hated when she did things like that, reckless things that could put her life in danger.

"I heard them. I had to."

He nodded, his heart still hammering against his ribs, and bent down. These people were hurt, but they were alive. Awake.

"Have they talked to you, told you what happened?"

"Yes," Bones said. "They told me everything. Booth, it was Henry. He's dangerous. We need to—"

Booth suddenly stood up and ran out, just in time to see Henry jump back into his truck and floor it. He grabbed his gun and shot the tires and ran. He grabbed the man and pulled him from the truck.

"Going somewhere?" Booth asked, a fierce look in his eyes.

Henry looked angry. Confused. "Who are you?"

"Let's just say that I'm not Tony and she's not Roxie. And you're in some serious trouble."

After a few moments, Henry bowed his head, defeat in his expression. Whatever he was up to, whatever he had done… he was finished now. It was over.

And he and Bones… they could go back home. Back to their normal lives. They could leave Tony and Roxie behind. He could go back to Hannah. Back to his wedding plans. Back to…

Back to the life he wanted…

He looked over at Bones, still, for some reason, worried about her. She was standing outside the cave, looking at Henry with a serious expression.

She looked emotional for some reason, like she was hurting. But when she met his eyes, her features straightened. Almost like she was putting a mask on. Hiding something that she didn't want him to see…

And just like that, their case was over.

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Their last case was over.

Brennan took a deep breath as she rest back in the seat in Booth's car, settling in for a long ride home.

Their last case. How was it possible that she was facing the end of a partnership that she'd long held so dear? Why couldn't she have been stronger when she'd needed to be?

Now they were driving back to DC. And she was back to figuring out how on earth she would survive sitting down in a church to watch her partner marry someone else.

Tony and Roxie… that had been a nice distraction because for months now, being Booth and Brennan had been hard. She liked being someone else for a few days. Even that kiss… that was it. That was all she was getting with Booth. There was no happy ever after for them. Not that she'd ever believed in happy ever afters anyway. Fairy tales had made billions of dollars selling notions of codependency as a way of life to little children.

But she had her kiss. Roxie and Tony had kissed and for a moment – just for a moment – she got to pretend that Booth was hers, that she was safe in his arms, free to be herself, free to love and be loved. Safe from a world that had given her so many reasons to build up walls and not let people in. In that one moment, her walls were down and Booth… he was there. She wasn't too late because he was there, patient and gentle. Her safe haven. Protecting her. Loving her. Kissing her.

"You okay?" Booth asked her for the third time in the past half hour.

"I already told you; I'm fine."

He shook his head and clenched his jaw, though he kept his eyes on the road. "I'm sorry, Bones."

"For what? We did what we set out to do. We went undercover. We found the missing people. We caught the bad guy."

"I'm sorry you were left out there. I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you needed me. You could've been hurt. Those were dangerous conditions, it was pouring and… and I'm just… I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I heard them and walked over. You would've done the same thing."

He nodded because that was true. They were the same in some really key ways. No matter what was ever going on in their lives, they were still two people who believed in justice and helping people who needed help. They were still crime fighters, making the world a little safer just by showing up. Every day. They were still two people who had been through hell before setting off on this journey – a deep underlying understanding always continuing to bond them, even when so many things threatened to break them. Because there really were no two people exactly like them.

So yes, he would've done exactly what she had done.

But… he still felt short of breath, thinking about how he felt when those people came back and he couldn't see her with them. When the rain had picked up, he'd felt sure that if she was gone, it was because she might be hurt. Or…

As they sped toward their normal lives, he knew that he was going back to not always knowing where she was, if she was okay. Because between cases, he didn't really check in on her much. If at all? And yet today… that had reminded him of how it used to be. He used to have her back. He used to make sure her safety was his promise. And in a moment of white cold terror, he remembered that lately no one was playing that role in her life.

At that thought, he found himself thinking about her and Agent Roman. Jake. He was a good guy. She deserved a good guy. He squeezed his eyes closed as irritation, for some reason, threatened to overtake him again. He'd already given her attitude about them dating. Sort of. But just like he deserved to be happy, she did too. Jake could take care of her. And he knew she could take care of herself.

He just had to let go of that feeling that hadn't gone away since her hike this morning. That feeling that it was always going to be his job to keep her safe. That taking care of her was what he was meant to do.

For the rest of the ride, they made some small talk, listened to music and when they both finally relaxed and stopped acting like two people that didn't even know each other anymore, they laughed. They laughed a lot. Thinking about Janine from the retreat and her sexual hijinks with her poor, embarrassed husband…

They laughed about something Parker said at school that no one had really appreciated. It had been a science story and when he told her, she couldn't stop laughing and then he couldn't stop laughing.

And it honestly felt like old times.

He pulled up in front of her apartment to drop her off, still on a high from their ride back, from…

… well, nothing else. Right? Nothing else made his blood race through his veins like he was a teenage boy. It was just the laughing. The comfort. The feeling of friendship that had been a bit lost lately.

Then, a car pulled up alongside his and Jake Roman stepped out and suddenly Booth's smile fell. He had a dozen roses. And when he looked at her, he saw a sheepish grin.

She said goodbye to Booth and walked toward Jake as Booth drove away. Drove back to Hannah.

And back to reality.

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THREAD: SQUINT SQUAD

Angela: They're back!

Jared: I know… I texted my brother earlier. So… I sort of encouraged Jake to greet them on arrival.

Cam: Greet them? Like… at Brennan's?

Sweets: What on earth does that mean? What did you do?

Jared: I did nothing. I merely reminded him that grand romantic gestures are always a good idea.

Angela: Good grief, what are we doing?

Hodgins: It's not too late to back out of this asinine plan right? And just, you know… solve crimes, like we used to?

Jared: Well I already texted Chris.

Cam: Because…

Angela: Because Brennan's back so the PR stunt is on. Two more days and… and what, exactly? Honestly, Jared, I'm a little nervous.

Jared: You should be. You should all be.