Booth woke to Brennan attempting to extricate herself from his arms. He tightened them around her instinctively. "Are you okay, Bones?" he asked.

It wasn't a surprise to him that she was trying to escape. He worried that waking in his arms would make her uncomfortable.

Far from uncomfortable, Booth relished the feeling of her in his arms. Even if she was trying to escape.

She struggled harder now that she knew he was awake. "I'm fine, Booth. I need to make some phone calls."

When his arms didn't relax, she ceased struggling. "Please, let me go, Booth. I promise I'm only going to take a shower and make some calls."

"Only phone calls?" he asked.

She picked her head up, but her hair fell over her face, blocking her eyes. He freed one hand to push it away. "And a shower," she repeated.

Not seeing anxiety reflected back to him, about the night she'd just spent in his arms, Booth let her go. It was both a surprise and a relief. "I'm going to go get some fresh clothes and get cleaned up. I'll give you some space to do what you need to do."

It was another heartbeat before he relaxed enough to free her. He rolled and watched her grab her things before she headed into the attached bath. Just before the door closed, she met his eyes. "Booth?"

"Yeah, Bones?"

"Bring your things back with you," she said. And promptly closed the door between them.

Rolling to his back, he stared at the ceiling and allowed the grin to grow on his face. The nightmare he'd been living for six months was finally over.

He returned, suitcase in hand to find a fresh cup of coffee waiting for him. Brennan, her feet bare again, watched him from her chair on the porch.

"Aren't your feet cold?" he asked. The suitcase went next to the door and he grabbed the coffee, sighing in pleasure at the first sip. He pulled a chair up next to her and took her hand in his.

"A little. But I like not wearing shoes or socks," she admitted, falling silent again. Her eyes continued to focus on something only she could see in the distance.

Booth remained quiet, unsure of what she was feeling. "Phone calls not go well?" he finally asked. He found it hard to believe that her friends wouldn't welcome her back with open arms.

And if they didn't? He'd find someplace new for both of them.

"I missed them," she said. "More than I realized." Sighing, she took another sip from her own cup, before placing it down on the arm of the chair. "I know I shouldn't have left," she admitted, looking down. "I'm sad that I made that choice."

Swallowing, he pushed back the frisson of fear at her demeanor. And vowed to kill Angela if she'd done anything that would keep Bones from going back to DC.

Brennan picked her head up and glanced toward him before turning to look straight ahead again. "Angela cried. I didn't want to make her cry. She made me cry, too. But not in a bad way," she explained.

"What did you think she was going to do, Bones? They missed you, too. They've been waiting for you."

"Yell at me. Tell me that she hates me." Brennan shrugged. "Those responses seemed the most logical. I spent a lot of time imagining what it would be like going back home."

He squeezed her hand, both in support and apology. Because she would have imagined what it was like to return without him.

"It's what I expected you to do," she continued. "Yell at me. Hate me. At least what I imagined that first night, after I finally decided I hadn't suffered a mental break when you appeared on my porch."

"Jesus, Bones," he said without thinking first. His eyes were focused on nothing but her. "I could never hate you. I'm in love with you."

She turned and gaped at him, mouth wide, before she closed it with a snap and stared at him.

"What's wrong, Bones?" he asked, turning to look behind him. Why was she looking at him like that?

"You're in love with me?" she repeated.

"Wait, what?" he asked, replaying the words in his head, realizing exactly what he'd said to her.

"You said you could never hate me. That you're in love with me? Are you?" she asked.

"Yes," he said knowing there was no way he'd take those words back. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I'm in love with you. I won't apologize for it," he said. "Maybe for the timing, but not for saying the words."

"You haven't seen me for six months," she reminded him. Her mind raced to catch up. And her eyes keep returning to his hand, holding hers. "How can you be in love with me?" She tilted her head and brought her eyes up. "And do you want to apologize for it?"

A thumb traced over her knuckles. "That's a lot of questions, Bones. As for being in love with you, I just am. You can try and explain it with your fancy words and your science if you want, but it won't change anything."

He brought his hand to his lips and kissed it, watching her eyes. They widened slightly, but she didn't try to free her hand. "And I will never apologize for it."

"Angela asked me when I was coming home," Brennan said.

"And?" Booth asked, allowing her to change the subject. "What did you tell her?" He lowered her hand, but didn't let go.

"I told her two weeks," she said softly. "It seemed like an appropriate amount of time."

Booth watched her closely. He'd expected panic from his unplanned declaration, but there was none of that reflected in her eyes. "Why two weeks, Bones?" He needed her to be sure about whatever she was feeling. Because he meant what he'd said in the darkness. There was no going back from this.

"I thought it might be nice to spend some time together. Because despite what I've always believed about science, and love, I think I might feel that way about you, too. It was just jumbled up with all the rest. It's easier to recognize now, because I'm not devastated or angry anymore."

The grip on her hand was almost painful, but she didn't pull away. "I need to hear you say it, Bones. Even if it's only this one time."

"I don't plan on saying it just once, Booth. That would be impractical." She smiled at him. "I love you, too, Booth."

Standing, he pulled her to her feet, until she was pressed against him. He freed his hand from hers and cupped her face. "You're sure?" he asked.

"I'm always sure, Booth." It was Brennan who closed the distance between them, but it was Booth who pulled back first.

"Ready to take this inside, Bones?"

"I'm ready, Booth. Let's go start the future I thought I lost."

BBBBBBBB

A few weeks later…

Booth left the meeting and headed back toward his office, pausing when he noticed his door was closed. He was sure it had been open when he left.

"Charlie?" Booth asked, "is someone in the office?"

His fellow agent looked nervous. "Yes, but I wasn't supposed to warn you."

Charlie wouldn't have been that nervous for Bones. Booth opened the door, not surprised to see the figure of a man there.

"Hey, Max," Booth said. Bones's father stood at the back of the room, behind the desk, a picture frame in his hand. Booth didn't have to ask. It was the same one that had caught Angela's attention several months before.

Booth swung the door closed. Turning slightly, he considered the move, before locking it.

Max raised his eyebrows, but didn't say a word.

"Figured you wanted to take a swing at me," Booth explained. "This will keep you from getting arrested for it."

Chuckling, Max set the picture down and faced the agent. "That's funny. I figured it was because you planned on taking a swing at me."

"Maybe we could skip that part," Booth said. He'd spent the weeks since their return to DC wanting to both talk to and avoid the man in front of him. How much had he known? And when did he know it? "I never asked Bones about your part in this."

It wasn't that he didn't want to know, because Booth did. At the same time, he wasn't sure it mattered anymore since at the end of the day he'd get to take Bones back to her apartment.

Then spend the night there. It seemed her home was now his. Bringing her back had changed his definition of the word.

DC was no longer his home.

Bones was.

"Are you asking me if I kept her from you?" Max asked. When Booth nodded, the older man sighed. "Not intentionally," he admitted. Pacing away from Booth, Max considered his part in everything that happened. "How much do you know?" Max asked.

"She's given me a general outline," Booth said, refusing to repeat anything Bones had said to him.

Max's eyes approved the vague answer. "Her call came late that night. And she was…not the Tempe I've come to know." His daughter was fearless in ways that could be terrifying. She wasn't afraid to risk herself if she thought it was important enough.

The voice on the other end of that phone call had been none of those things.

Fiddling with several items on a shelf, Max picked them up and put them down again. "I've only heard one other woman sound like she did." Visibly shaking himself, Max chased away the memory. "I was afraid if I didn't help her, there would be no one who knew where she was. I won't apologize for making that choice."

"I don't expect you to," Booth said. "You hid her well. Lost a lot of hours trying to find where you put her. Not sure I would have if she hadn't sent that letter."

"I told her to," Max said. At Booth's raised eyebrow, Max hurried to further explain. "I told her she could have six months. Then she had to restart her life again." Max's eyes met Booth's and there was something in them Booth couldn't read. "I told her you'd be pissed she was leaving." Max shrugged. "She wasn't ready to listen then. I did what I could."

"I was pissed," Booth admitted. "Angry at the thought of what you did. Angry at her for making that choice." Stepping around his desk, Booth readjusted the picture Max moved. "I'm not anymore. For either of you." From the corner of his eye, he watched Max square his shoulders. "Is this what you came to tell me?" Booth asked.

"It goes against everything that I believe that I like you," Max said. "A damn cop, of all things." He shook his head at the twist of fate. "I came here to apologize for hiding her. That also goes against what I believe. I don't apologize for the decisions I make. But I should have made a better one."

"So you didn't know," Booth concluded. It was no longer a question. "You didn't keep the woman I love away from me for six months."

Max smiled at the easy declaration. "Does Tempe know that?"

Booth nodded solemnly.

"Then I will say this to you, Booth. If I had known you lived, I would have driven you to her myself. Just because I knew what she couldn't admit. A blind man would have known what she felt for you. But," he continued, the tone of his voice turning as sharp as a knife, "if you ever put that look on my daughter's face again, I will kill you. It's not just living people I can hide."

"Understood," Booth said, meeting his eyes. It wasn't safe to discount any threat Max made.

The moment was broken by the ringing of the phone. Max took the opportunity to unlock and then slip out the door. What he'd come to do was done.

Booth watched him walk away, shaking his head. Who knew what that man had gotten away with over the years.

Answering the phone, Booth had a quick discussion, before hanging it up and dialing a second number.

"Bones," he said when she answered the phone. He didn't realize a contented grin had appeared on his face at the sound of her voice. "We have a case."

A/N: This is the end of this adventure. The reviews that I received for this story were more than I expected. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it, despite the angst. Thank you so much for reading, and commenting. Many of the reviews brought a smile to my face. They were greatly appreciated.

Until next time...