She looked over at him with strained eyes, feeling the deep attraction she knew to be real, but completely irrational. Her green eyes tried to understand the psychology beneath her partner's goofy exterior, but her forensic, scientific mind held her back uncomfortably. Unable to find any words to say at Booth's disappointment, Brennan simply placed her hand on top of his.

     Booth looked back at her with a pathetic expression, his heart completely broken. Tears were gathering in his eyes, and his pride made him angry at himself for crying in front of her...and this would have been the second time...

     "Booth, I can understand that you are feeling downtrodden because of your experience, but..."

     "Bones," he interrupted in a broken voice, "There's something wrong with me."

     She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, saying, "Booth, you have wonderful symmetry and your tibulae are perfectly aligned. You have courage, compassion, and interpersonal skills; all of the things I do not yet possess. While I'll admit that I have more intelligence that you, I must say that..."

     "Bones, just stop," he interrupted again. "Every woman I give myself to, every woman I love...can't commit that love back..."

     Bones didn't know what to say; she simply stared back at him and rubbed her thumbs against his hands in a gesture of comfort. Booth's eyes closed in what could have been physical pain, and he exhaled so quickly that even Bones could tell that he was crying.  She moved closer to Booth, wrapping her hand around his shoulder and letting him rest his head on her own shoulder. He grasped her hand so tightly that Bones half wished he would let go, but then she wanted that grasp to become permanent and never go away.

     "Sweetie, is Booth okay?"

     Bones looked over her shoulder toward the door of her office, where Angela stood beside Hodgins. Her hands were on her inflated stomach, and Hodgins had his arm wrapped around her waist, smiling slightly, but obviously concerned for Booth.

     Bones shook her head at Angela, who frowned and looked over to Hodgins with sad eyes. Hodgins let go of Angela and walked in front of Bones and Booth where they sat on the couch. He squatted down before them and put his hand on Booth's knee. Booth looked up with bloodshot eyes and managed to smile slightly.

     "Bones," he asked with a slight smile, "Why are your squints touching me?"

     Hodgins smiled involuntarily and Angela chuckled. "I'm not just any normal squint, Booth. I'm King of the Lab."

     Bones smiled slightly and started rubbing her arm up and down Booth's shoulder. "See, Booth? You still have all of us."

     Instead of feeling relieved at this assessment, Booth's smile disappeared and he stood up solemnly, leaving the room without saying another word. Bones sat on the couch, completely surprised at his reaction. Angela sighed as she watched Booth walk sullenly down the hallway and out of the Jeffersonian, passing Sweets on his way out.

    "What did I say?" Bones asked, slightly hurt. "I evaluated what I would say to him and it seemed to be the right thing to say."

     "Sweetie," Angela replied, "You can't evaluate how to help Booth. You guys loved each other once, you know, and it's really hard for him when you are the one providing comfort after you rejected him and he rejected you...and then Hannah rejected him on top of that, and you were the one to comfort him...Do you see where I'm going with this, Sweetie?"

     Bones frowned. "As far as my perception leads me to believe, you aren't going anywhere because you haven't moved from that spot."

     Hodgins chuckled. "Brennan, she meant figuratively."

     "So you are saying that Booth is in emotional turmoil because I am offering him solace after the woman he rejected me for rejected him?" Bones asked. Angela and Hodgins nodded just as Dr. Sweets entered the room.

     "What's wrong with Booth?" he asked.

     "Hannah rejected his proposal to get married. They aren't together anymore," Angela replied. "And Brennan is his sole comfort, making him feel all this crazy emotional turmoil and conflicting his desires to want to be in Brennan's pants when he initially rejected her claiming that he loved Hannah."

     Sweets widened his eyes. "Sorry I asked," he said in a whisper. "Maybe he just needs some time alone to come to grips with his decision to both idolize and isolate Dr. Brennan. His life when in his coma, where he and Dr. Brennan were married, became completely real to him. Without that Dr. Brennan in his life, he cannot fully function. Maybe he just needs to decide what role he wants Dr. Brennan to play in his life."

     "I hate psychology," Bones said in irritation. She stood up and walked over to her desk, where her first human skull was resting on top of a pile of murder file documents. Angela walked over to her and gave her a hug, while Hodgins and Sweets left the office, shutting the door behind them.

     "Sweetie," Angela said with a kind smile, "I know how you feel about Booth, and how you want to keep things strictly on a partner-partner...you know...work-centered relationship basis, but babe, don't you think it's time to take a chance with him? To actually sit down and talk with him about this?"

     "Angela, it's statisically improbable, now that each of us has rejected the other, that..."

     "Sweetie, I don't want to hear about statistics," she replied. "I want to hear about what is right. You and Booth...why can everyone see it except the two of you?"

     Bones had no answer for this. She simply shrugged her shoulders and gave Angela a hug, holding onto the embrace slightly longer than usual. Angela did not argue or protest; she simply held her best friend until she pulled away, wiping her eyes to get rid of the tears.

     "I just don't know what to do anymore, Ang," she said in a broken voice. "I want to be an emotional pillar of strength for Booth, but how can I do that if my own strength is waining?"

     "You can be pillars for each other," she answered with another hug. "Booth will build you up, and you'll build him up, too. That's the beauty of love, Brennan. It astounds even a forensic anthropologist like you."

     Bones smiled and pulled away from Angela, who followed her out into the hallway. "I think I'll go visit Booth tonight," she said to all of them. Sweets smiled in encouragement, while Hodgins and Angela exchanged a conspirical look, as Bones left the Jeffersonian.

                                                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     "Ring the doorbell, Brennan. Damn it, I know you can do this. Ring the goddamn doorbell."

     Bones stood outside Booth's apartment in complete mental anguish, debating whether or not she should ring the doorbell and comfort Booth, or simply go back home and wait to talk to him until the next day at the Jeffersonian. Weighing the alternatives in her mind, she finally realized that the personal conversation she was looking for could not be engaged at her workplace. She inevitably pressed her finger to the doorbell.

     "Just a second."  She heard Booth's voice from the living room and he sounded completely distraught. Bones put a stray lock of hair behind her ear just as she heard Booth turning the lock and opening the door. He widened his eyes when he saw her.  "Bones?" he asked. "What...uh...what are you doing here?"

     She looked at Booth and just noticed that he was shirtless, wearing only a pair of black pants and his "Cocky" belt buckle that she secretly thought was sexy when he wore it.

     "I simply came to visit you for a while, since I thought you would enjoy my company," she answered sensibly.

     He chuckled. "Bones, it's 11:30 at night."

     "So?" she asked back. "Time of day shouldn't matter to people who just want to converse and connect on the antropological level."

     "Yeah, yeah...whatever, Bones, just get in here before the neighbors see me like this."  She snuck into his apartment and he locked the door behind her, leading her into his living room. "So...what did you want to "converse" with me about, Bones?"

     She walked over to the couch and fell on it beside him, crossing her legs and placing them on top of his lap. "I just want to make sure you're feeling okay, that's all...Earlier you stormed out of the Jeffersonian completely in pieces, and Angela and Dr. Hodgins and Dr. Sweets said that I should..."

     "Sweets?!" Booth countered. "You talked to Sweets?!  Oh God," he said, rolling his eyes.

     "What?" Bones replied innocently. "He has some excellent insight into the human psyche, even though I'll admit I hate the things he comes up with half the time..."

     "Still," Booth interrupted again.  "Sweets? I mean, come on, Bones..."

     She started to laugh, and Booth finally cracked a small smile. Bones yawned and Booth raised his eyebrows.

     "Unbelievable!" he exclaimed. "You come over saying you want to talk to me, and then you yawn in less than five minutes from when you entered my apartment..."

     "I'm not trying to," she replied. "I just want to be here for you, Booth. Because I know you'd do the same for me."  That comment made him smile again and he thoughtlessly took her hand in his. His thumb began therapeutically massaging her palms, and Bones felt her eyes close as the tension was released. Booth then shifted on the couch so that he was sitting behind her, and then began to massage her back.

     "How's that feel, Bones?" he asked with a chuckle.

     "It feels so relaxing," she replied. "But you know what would make it even more relaxing?" she added.

     "I know what you mean," Booth said almost immediately, and he went into the kitchen.  Within a few minutes he came back with a bottle of wine and two glasses, and his elbow carefully bumped the light switch so that only the dim lights from the hallway and bathroom lit the apartment. He poured out two glasses of wine, handing one to Bones.

     She clanked her glass against his and the two of them drank. Booth completely drained his glass, so Bones acknowledged his grief and did the same. He poured two more glasses and downed his before resuming his massage. Bones sipped at hers, letting the warm heat begin to fill her up as Booth's muscular arms moved up and down her back. She felt her eyes close after the second glass of wine, and Booth poured a third and stood up.

     "Temperance," he said to her.  Bones opened her eyes, surprised that he had called her by her first name.  "Temperance," he repeated, "Why don't we just...I don't know...why don't we just go into my room?  It's a lot more comfortable in there, and plus the windows can let in more fresh air than they can in here."

    She knew this was wrong...She knew this was mentally unsound...But she honestly didn't care.  She picked up her wine glass and followed Booth into the bedroom, sipping at the wine as she watched Booth lie down on the bed.  He carefully undid the "Cocky" belt buckle and threw it aside, putting his hands behind his head and smiling at the ceiling.

     Bones hesitantly drew closer to him, putting her wine glass on the bedside table.  She remembered what Angela had told her earlier, and without another moment wasted, she moved over to Booth and got into the bed with him.