Sabbaticals - 8 weeks

Two months had passed in Maluku, and Brennan was feeling comfortable in the compound that had sprung up near the dig that held such promise for research in the anthropological world. The compound consisted of six rectangular living quarters, each about the size of a shipping container. Because of the sweltering climate, metal wasn't practical, so these were stick built, but easily disassembled if they needed to move to another site. The six buildings formed a semi circle around two larger buildings. One contained the lab and the other was multipurpose - it was where the participants ate their meals, attended meetings, handled clerical duties, etc.

Three of the living quarters were two person units and housed the six rotating young anthropologists who traveled from around the world to work on the dig. These young people contracted for either two or four week rotations. The fourth two person unit was for Daisy and Sofia, who had both signed up for the entire year and were put in charge of the day to day working in the camp and the dig. A small group of people from nearby villages had been hired to help as day laborers, always supervised by the scientists. Brennan and Mary Davies, the co-leads of the project, each had their own sleeping unit. Their units were filled with the research materials and computers they needed for the project, and when they weren't out in the field, most of their work was done in their individual units. Daisy and Sofia, who had come to them from Italy, had proved themselves very capable of running the teams, so it allowed Brennan and Mary the time to do research as well as experiments in the lab.

The first month had kept Brennan extremely busy getting everything set up and running smoothly, but now she had her evenings free and found herself examining the choices she had made prior to leaving home. She missed Booth. She missed him so much. She had made a decision as she flew across the world that she needed to use this time to get distance from the whole situation, and that meant not trying to contact him. No phone calls, no letters. Radio silence. She had turned him down because she felt that she could never give him the life that she knew he wanted. She felt it was better to remain best friends and partners than to risk it all by attempting a romantic relationship.

But, then again, he really had sprung it on her - expecting an answer right there on the sidewalk in front of the Hoover Building. When she resisted, he immediately said he would have to move on, and she accepted his declaration. In the weeks following that night, before they both decided to go off on their quests, she began to wonder if she had made a mistake. But it was too late - he was already seeing Catherine, and she had also started dating again. And they were both being so mature about the whole thing. Every day at lunch they would quiz each other about their dates from the previous evening. Inside, she wasn't so sure.

That's why the chance to work on such an important project, and at the same time get some distance from him, was so appealing. She was hurt and a little annoyed with him. He had declared his love to her that night, and when she said she couldn't do it, he did a 180 and said he would have to move on. Of course, she agreed with his decision in the moment because she cared about him so much. She wanted him to find the life she knew he craved: wife, children, house with a lawn and garden. He probably even pictured the damn white picket fence. But if he believed in eternal love, as he so often preached to her, how could he say he loved her and then make plans to transfer that love onto the next woman who appealed to him? Her head was all over the place because she wanted him to find love with the right woman. But the more she thought about it, the more confused she became. If he loved her, was it eternal, like he insisted? Or was it transitory, as she had always countered? His quick "moving on" decision that evening seemed to indicate that her theory was the correct one.

Now that they had settled into the camp and the routines, she and Mary had started spending a little time each night after dinner, sitting outside their quarters in the cool night air getting to know each other. A few nights each week, Mary would head into her unit to have a video call with her husband back in London. Mary was about a dozen years older than Brennan and her two children were both at university. In these two months they had started developing a friendship and Mary began asking about the life that Brennan had left in DC. Brennan was slowly realizing that Mary was the type of person who could be a good sounding board and could give her some helpful advice. Mary and her husband, Nigel, had been married for 25 years and Mary often talked about how they were still so much in love. Brennan was interested in Mary's views on love, because, again, she had always considered "love" a chemical reaction in the brain, and therefore transitory.

Because Mary was also a scientist, she was able to offer solid, rational views on the differences between transitory love and "real" love. She talked about her relationship with her husband as well as some of their couple friends who were also in long term marriages. Brennan found that it helped her round out her feelings on the subject. Booth had taught her so much over the last few years, but Mary, as a scientist and anthropologist, was able to take those Booth lessons and show her how they could coexist with the scientific explanations about brain chemistry.

Brennan often talked about Booth, so one evening Mary decided to dig in a little. "How did you and Booth meet? Did either of you feel an attraction right away?" Brennan smiled. "Well, he walked into the back of the lecture hall just as I was finishing up a session with my students. I have to say, I think we both felt a physical attraction the minute our eyes met across the hall." Mary noticed her cheeks had turned red and she looked down shyly before continuing. "He asked if I would be able to help him with a case that had grown cold and I told him that I certainly could."

Mary leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. "So, I'm assuming you started working the case with him. Did either of you acknowledge the attraction?" Brennan nodded. "Yes. A few days into working the case, we were examining the possible crime scene and I let him know that I was interested in seeing him outside of work. He said that he was tempted, but that it wasn't possible because the FBI didn't allow agents to fraternize with consultants. A few days later, I slugged a federal judge." Mary gasped and Brennan continued, "Well, I had determined that he was the killer." She smiled. "Booth said it was hot. But his boss demanded that he fire me."

Her smile turned wistful. "That evening, he got us both drunk on tequila so he could get up the courage to fire me. Then we both decided that since we weren't working together anymore that we could have sex. We ran outside in the rain to hail a cab and we shared a really fantastic kiss. I wanted him so badly right then and there, but I decided that we were both too drunk to take that step. So, I jumped into the cab all alone and waved to him as he stood in the rain in the middle of the street watching my cab disappear down the block."

Mary was enjoying the tale. "Did you eventually take the plunge after sobering up?" Brennan's smile remained wistful. "No. It's been over six years now and we've never slept together. In fact, we've only shared one other kiss. But it was a whole 'mistletoe thing, blackmail thing'. You know? But it was nice. Really nice." Mary's head was swimming. 'Blackmail?' Brennan continued. "Anyway, he had to re-hire me because my team had cracked the case and proved that the judge was the murderer. But he was angry that I had changed my mind about sex and left him in the pouring rain, and I was angry that he got me drunk, so things were pretty tense as we wrapped up the case. The partnership thing ended when I slapped him across the face in the middle of the bullpen at the FBI and told him I would never work with him again." Mary raised her eyebrows. "So…?" Brennan chuckled. "A year later, he searched me out - that's a whole other story - because he needed my expertise on a case. We solved it together and the rest is history."

Mary took a sip of her wine. "So, that's the beginning. It sounds like over the last six years that you've become close - just the impression I get from hearing you talk about him. But no sexual attraction?" Brennan sighed. "I can't count the number of times I thought he was about to kiss me. Or I was about to kiss him. We've shared everything about our lives and our pasts with each other, and we've shared so many moments when we quietly talked about deep subjects. One evening he leaned across the table, looked me right in the eyes, and told me about the difference between crappy sex and making love. Another night, we were sitting in his apartment and I told him I was jealous of him and our friends because they were able to lose themselves in another person. They believe that love is eternal. He looked into my eyes and promised me that someday I would too. It felt like he was saying that it would be us one day."

Mary slowly nodded her head. "It sounds like a lovely relationship that you have with him. Perhaps you are inching closer to each other every day, but just haven't gotten there yet." Brennan shook her head. "I don't know Mary. He was the one who drew a damn line between us several years ago. Some of our friends and family members were in danger from a serial killer we were chasing, and he said that with the danger we faced every day, we couldn't cross that line."

Brennan went on to tell her about what happened the night in front of the Hoover Building. About how he wanted to erase that line. And how she turned him down because she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to give him the life that he wanted. How the next couple of months put a strain on their relationship because he told her that he had to move on. And the twin opportunities that opened up for them to escape for a year and have the space to find clarity.

Brennan talked about her fear of losing his friendship and their partnership. But she also admitted that she had felt, for the last few years, that she might be falling in love with him. "I've always kept my emotions under control, Mary. I have abandonment issues…but that's another tale for another evening. When it comes to Booth, I just feel so out of control, and it scares me to death."

At that moment, Mary realized that she was going to take Temperance under her wing and try to help her sort out her feelings for Booth. And then, together, perhaps they could come up with a plan of action. "Do you have a photo of him?" Brennan smiled, grabbed her phone, and pulled her chair over next to Mary's. She showed her several photos of him, and a dozen shots of the two of them together. The joint photos had been taken surreptitiously by Angela.

A few days before they were all flying out of DC, Angela told her that she wanted to put photos of the Jeffersonian crew on her phone so she could take her friends with her. She had forgotten about it until she was on her flight and then had tears in her eyes swiping through Angela's beautiful photos of the members of her work "family" - including a couple of Zack.

And then she found the Booth & Bones photos. There were a dozen of them. The first ten were of them laughing together - some with his arm around her. Just looking at each photo brought her so much joy. But the last two were the ones that made her come close to tears every time. In those photos, they were staring into each other's eyes and both of them had incredibly loving looks on their faces.

Mary turned from the phone to look at her. "Temperance, these photos of the two of you look like two people very much in love." Brennan sighed. "I know. I was stunned the first time I saw them. I emailed Angela and she said she just captured how we always look together. And she said this is why everyone we know - everyone we meet - thinks we're a couple. It's her opinion that we are a couple - but just not having sex."

Mary went through the photos again. "He is very handsome. And I take it he works out? He looks very solid through the chest and arms." Brennan smiled. "He's very solid all over. He has very well defined abdominals - you know - a 'six pack'. And his obliques? Mmmmm." "Doctor Temperance Brennan! Have you seen him naked?" She gave a slight leer. "I have. Well, one time completely naked. I barged into his apartment because I was furious with him. He was taking a bath and when he got angry with me, he stood up, temporarily forgetting where he was. And then there was the time that he had pieces of evidence from a crime scene all over his clothes and I slowly stripped him down to his boxers. It was right in the middle of the lab, and, of course, I had to do it slowly to preserve the evidence for the investigation. I…I'm not sure how much evidence actually made it onto his dress shirt - or his trousers for that matter. But you know. You can't be too careful when it comes to preserving evidence." She now had a large grin on her face and her cheeks had turned beet red.

Mary couldn't contain her laughter. "Oh, Temperance. You have got it bad, girl." Brennan blushed again. "I did leave him in his boxers. He started reciting saint's names. I'm not sure what that's all about, but I've seen him do it a handful of times." Mary just shook her head and chuckled. "Okay. We're going to spend some time while we're here figuring all this out. I get the feeling that you both really want to be together, but you need to resolve some issues first. Maybe I can help you try to find the answers?" Brennan sighed. "I would love that. You might have a new perspective. And you also have a scientist's perspective. I just know that the only times he has not been on my mind these last two months have been parts of the day when I was deeply involved in my work. Once I have a free minute, he's right there." She looked over at Mary. "Is that what you mean when you say, 'I've got it bad'?"