(After season 5)

I posted chapters 3 and 4, but Fanfiction didn't notify anyone, so you will need to read those before you read chapter 5. Since notifications didn't work, I want you to know I did reply to reviews as I saw them. You will probably have to log into your account and go to private messaging to see them.

This story is AU like most of my stories.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

She'd had time to think about what was going on in her life. She'd needed the space and distance that this trip had allowed her and it had helped her more than she had realized. Brennan and the rest of her team had put in long hours on the dig so far but much to her disappointment, no one had found anything to show that their hard work had been worth it. So far, they hadn't found anything that would make this dig worth the time and effort put into it. No bits of pottery, no skeletons, not one bone, not one handmade object. Just dirt, mud and the constant attack of mosquitoes and other insect life. The occasional snake showed up and made everyone's life interesting, but it was an excitement she could do without.

At night, when she was in her tent, lying on her cot, she thought about home and Booth. She had time to think about what it meant to be the friend of Seeley Booth and she found that friendship to be as dear to her now as it had ever been. I was so afraid when he asked me to have a relationship with him. I didn't want to hurt him. I just . . . I was afraid that his love wouldn't last and it might ruin our friendship if that happened. I said no to protect him from me because I don't know if I can trust love. I don't know if I can love anyone. It has only caused me pain in my life. Just pain and it's caused pain for Booth too. Love may or may not be real, I'm not sure, but my friendship with Booth is very real and maybe that's enough. Maybe it's all I need. He loves me or at least he has said so and I do love him as a dear friend and wouldn't that be enough? I could make sure that our friendship would survive even if our relationship didn't. I am strong enough to do that for both of us. I am confident about that.

Oooooooooooooo

It had been four months and so far, the dig had been a disappointment for everyone involved. "I'm thinking about going home. My skills are of no use here. I can use them better back at the Jeffersonian."

Shocked, Daisy turned to face her mentor. "But Dr. Brennan, we might be just inches away from finding something world shattering and wouldn't you regret not being here if that happened?"

"And we could be feet from finding nothing." Brennan shook her head. "I've spent four months of my time here and there is nothing to show for it. The original find appeared to promise so much but it might have been an anomaly. We've spent hundreds of man hours on this project and it would appear it was time wasted."

"But you've been on digs that weren't productive before. I know you have and you didn't give up. You kept working on it until your grant money was used up." Daisy wasn't willing to give up hope that the dig might still be successful. If it wasn't then that meant she had left her fiancé behind for months for nothing. If she still had a fiancé.

Annoyed, Brennan sat back on her heels and stared at the pit she had been working in just a few minutes earlier. "Yes, grant money that could have been better used somewhere else . . . Most of the digs I have been on have been successful. Material was found early in our excavations and it made the project valuable, but we have been working on this site for four months and have absolutely nothing to prove or disapprove that the original find was of significance. The bones that were found were purported to have been found here, but what if they hadn't originally been here at all? They may have been carried to this site by a primate or an inquisitive human who abandoned them after his interest flagged. I am inclined to believe that is what happened. We have found no indications that any hominids have lived here. There are no signs of fire, or hand-crafted tools, or discarded animal bones. No signs that anyone lived here for any amount of time. No burials . . . I believe there is nothing to find here."

Daisy didn't want to give up, but she knew she had no influence on her mentor. "I just think we should give it more time. What can one or two more months cost us if we find something in the end?"

"It could cost me more than I am willing to pay." Brennan was tired and disappointed. She normally was willing to work on a project for as long as it took, but this dig wasn't showing any signs that there would ever be anything of value found here.

She wasn't sure what Dr. Brennan was talking about, but Daisy wasn't going to give up. "I plan to stay if you leave. Dr. Bashear still thinks we're just a shovel of dirt away from what we're looking for. He really does think that the original find was found here and that what we're looking for will eventually reveal itself."

"I hope he's right, but I've spent four months here and my skills and knowledge could be better used at the Jeffersonian." Brennan was now determined to go home.

"Okay, but I'm staying." Daisy dreamed of her name being printed in history books and this might be her only opportunity to get that to happen.

Standing, Brennan brushed the dirt from her knees. Staring at Dr. Bashear who was talking to their resident botanist, Brennan knew that he would be disappointed when she left, but she had wasted enough of her valuable time. There were remains at the Jeffersonian to be identified and her partner probably needed her help with one or more cases. She had been gone long enough.

Ooooooooooooooo

She was back in the District and she planned to contact Cam in a few days to let her know that she was back and ready to return to work. Before she did that, she had a few things she needed to take care of. She had mail waiting at the post office that needed to be picked up and examined. There was food and cleaning supplies to be bought and she needed to clean her apartment. There was a film of dust on everything and she needed to take care of that before she returned to work.

Once she had her apartment clean and her kitchen cabinets and refrigerator restocked, she knew she'd have to let Booth know she was back. She wasn't sure how he was going to react to her early return, but it was something she needed to take care of before she returned to work.

Standing outside his apartment door, she glanced at her watch and saw that it was still early. She wasn't sure if Booth had Parker for the weekend, but if he did, she could always arrange to meet with him at the diner on Monday morning or at his office. It was time they had a conversation about their relationship and she didn't want to put it off for too long.

A knock on the door surprised him and Booth wondered who was visiting him on a Saturday night. He knew it couldn't be Martha since they were no longer dating. Opening the door, he found his partner staring at him. "Bones . . . when did you get back?"

"I've been back for three days . . . may I come in?" Determined to talk to him, Brennan smiled at her friend. "Cam and Angela don't know I'm back yet."

"Sure, come in." Booth stood back and allowed her to enter his apartment. "I thought you were going to be gone for a year."

After she was in the living room, Brennan turned to face Booth. "I was, but the dig has turned out to be a major disappointment. We've worked steadily on the site for four months and we haven't found anything of value. Since my time is too valuable to waste, I've come back home. My skills are better used here."

Glad she was back, Booth pointed at the couch. "Would you like some beer or wine? I have both . . . or a Coke or water too if that's what you want."

"Beer will do." Brennan sat down and waited for her partner to come back from the kitchen.

Once he was back in the room, Booth handed his guest a bottle of beer and sat down on the recliner. He thought some distance might be in order until he found out what his partner had decided about their friendship. "I'm sorry it was a bust. I know you said it was supposed to be an important find."

"Yes, I've been on disappointing digs before. It's fine." Opening the bottle, she drank some of the cold brew then placed the bottle on the coffee table. "You don't have Parker this weekend?"

"Nah. Rebecca is planning to take a trip to London and she's going to take Parker with her. I guess she has some business to take care of. If she goes, she'll be gone for two weeks starting on Thursday. Parker says they're going to go look at castles while they're there." Booth knew his ex was a good lawyer and her law firm was giving her more responsibility in the firm.

Since they were alone, Brennan knew it was a perfect time to talk to her partner. "Have you moved on? You told me that you were going to move on."

Surprised that she was asking him that, Booth decided to be honest. "No, not really. I dated someone for a few weeks, but we didn't click . . . No one wants what I want when it comes to relationships, I guess." He knew that he sounded pathetic, but he felt like a loser when it came to love. No one wanted what he was offering and he didn't really know why.

"I see." Brennan felt a sense of relief. "While I was in Maluku, I had an opportunity to think about us . . . about our partnership and I think I have made a decision about us."

Nervous, Booth nodded his head. "Do you still want to be my partner?" That was the question he needed an answer to.

"Yes, of course." Brennan sighed. "This was never about our partnership, Booth. It was never about our friendship. You are my friend. You are one of my best friends and have been for a long time . . . I know I talked to you before I left and I told you that I was afraid that someday I might not be able to save you and you'd die, but once I was alone in Maluku and thought about it, I knew that wasn't really the problem we have between us. What I needed to consider was, if it was possible to have a personal relationship with you and if it failed could our friendship survive."

His hands clenched; Booth feared what Brennan was about to tell him. "Why do you think it would fail, Bones? I know who you are. You know who I am. I don't think there isn't anything you don't know about me . . . why would it fail?"

"I don't know, but it is a possibility." This conversation wasn't following the path she thought it would. "Both of us have had disastrous relationships . . . but yes, I know you and you do know me and I think that might help us navigate a relationship, if we tried to have one . . . when I turned you down in front of the Hoover it was because I was afraid I didn't have your heart and you'd see that soon enough. I was afraid that failure would mean the end of our friendship, but that doesn't have to happen, Booth. If we find out that we're not able to have a personal relationship, I think we can back away safely and still be friends. You have shown me that. You broke up with Cam and you're both still good friends and I think we could do the same thing. I have no intention of going into a relationship with you and expect failure, but I am prepared to save our friendship if it does. Do you understand? Am I making sense to you?"

Not sure he was hearing her correctly, Booth stood up, moved over to the couch and sat down next to her. "I think I do . . . Are you saying you're willing to take a chance on us and have a relationship with me? I need to make sure I'm understanding what you're saying. I don't want to make a mistake here."

"No, there is no mistake, Booth." Brennan touched his thigh. "I'm saying yes. I want to have a monogamous relationship with you . . . That doesn't include marriage. I don't want to get married. If you're fine with that then I don't think there is an impediment preventing us from actually becoming a couple."

"Bones." Happy, Booth leaned over and kissed her. "Bones, this isn't a mistake, but I promise you that no matter what happens, we will always be friends. Always. I promise you that."

Returning his kiss, Brennan knew that she had made the right decision. "Yes, we will and that is why I can say yes."

"I love you, Bones." He needed her to hear that. "I've loved you for a long time and I'm not going to let this fail."

Ooooooooooooooo

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