Chapter 30 - The Beginning

A/N: Okay, I know this update took forever, but my computer literally broke, so it took a while to get a ahold of a new one. The upside was that I got all your loveeeely reviews at once, so that was fun for me at least. Anyways, I'm good to go now, and here's the last chapter... I made it extra-long to make up for the delay. It was a tough story to finish up, and I may have written it a little fast because I felt so guilty about making everyone wait so long, but I hope it gives everyone some closure and still kinda leaves enough up to the imagination. Anyways - let me know :)

...

Brennan put her last shirt haphazardly into her suitcase and zipped it shut before turning to face Booth. He put his hands on his hips, exhaling slowly as he surveyed the newly emptied room.

"Wow, Bones - you know, I might actually miss this place."

Her eyebrows raised in appreciation. "The pretzels were amazing."

"Ha -" He pointed at her triumphantly, grinning characteristically. "I told you they would be. You know, Bones, you really have to have more faith in me."

Brennan rolled her eyes, head shaking as she turned back to her suitcase. "The mini-bar was also excellent; I could really get used to this whole wedding thing."

Booth came around beside her, gently pushing her shoulder with his own. "Starting to come around, Bones?"

She turned towards him, smiling uncomfortably at his expectant grin. "Booth..."

He looked at her for a moment before clearing his throat loudly and turning awkwardly to grab their suitcases. "Yeah all right - let's boogie or we're gonna miss our last meeting with Sweets."

Brennan was momentarily distracted by his sudden change in demeanor, but she was quickly re-diverted as he began to leave with her bag. "Wha-?" She trotted after him, mouth open in protest. "Booth! Why are you taking my suitcase!"

He turned to face her, never breaking stride. "Because I'm the man, here, Bones, okay? - Not you. You know, one of these days, you're just gonna have to learn to accept that."

Their casual bickering became inaudible as he closed the heavy hotel room door behind them, and the newly empty suite was suddenly thrust into lonely silence.

...

As much as the bickering had helped to relieve the tension created by the night before, as soon as they were checked out and sitting in the car, Booth and Brennan lapsed into contemplative silence as the full meaning of their departure began to sink in. They spent most of their time together anyways, but though it felt like very little had changed between them since the study had started, the thought of going back to the way things were before suddenly didn't feel like enough anymore.

If this weren't enough to keep them quiet, the looming prospect of their separation definitely was. Though Brennan wanted to believe that Sweets had never actually intended to split them up for a week, something told her he had been entirely serious when he had announced this second phase of the study. Sighing, she slumped back in her seat, trying to understand why that bothered her so much.

Look at the facts.

Booth glanced at Brennan out of the corner of his eye, and even from the limited view of her this provided him, the determined expression on her face told him she was trying to think something through. Forcing his eyes back to the road, he willed himself not to say anything to break her train of thought, though he was fairly certain he already knew exactly what it was that was bothering her. In an attempt to smother his agitation, he reminded himself that it was something she needed time to process.

Gripping the steering wheel with considerably more force than necessary, Booth couldn't help but think that for someone whose mind usually worked at an impossible speed, this was sure taking her a while.

...

Several hours later, the pair were walking awkwardly into Sweets' office, greeted as always by his unlawfully sunny disposition. After a moment of studying his nervously smiling guests, however, his own grin began to fade.

"You two are never this quiet. What happened?"

Booth sighed in exasperation. "Look, Sweets, you know what happened."

He frowned, sitting back defensively. "How would i know?"

"Because I saw your number on Agent Stanfield's phone when I borrowed it to check the time. Look, I may not be allowed to work right now, but that doesn't mean I'm not still good at my job."

After a moment, Sweets sighed in resignation. "Okay, fine - I informed him of the situation, and he agreed to help arrange things in a way that would be beneficial to the study." A boyish smile began to spread across his features, as he leaned forward eagerly. "Did it work?"

Booth and Brennan looked at each-other uncomfortably, the former opening and closing his mouth several times before slumping silently back down into his chair. Frowning at this blatant lack of support, Brennan turned to Sweets, though she continued to glance at her partner somewhat distractedly as she ventured an explanation.

"Booth and I-" she paused, frowning slightly as he sank even lower into his seat. "Booth and I are aware of the boundaries of our partnership, and the kiss was purely -" At the point, he began to clear his throat noisily. "-ceremonial."

Sweets took a moment to glance excitedly from one to the other. "Agent Booth, you seem uncomfortable. Why is that?"

Booth seemed to be in the act of burrowing into the back of his chair when he was addressed, and it took him a moment before he even realized he was being spoken to.

"What? Hey, no - I'm totally comfortable. I, uh -" he looked at Brennan nervously, before forcing a grin and turning back to Sweets. "- nice chair."

Sweets frowned slightly, but managed to move on quickly. "So you're saying it was purely ceremonial? Not even part of you enjoyed it?"

When they both just stared at him blankly, he raised his hands in exasperation. "Oh, come on!"

Brennan looked at Booth, who was still staring resolutely ahead, before jumping in. "Dr Sweets, wouldn't it be in the FBI's best interests to keep us apart, not get us together? I don't understand why you're so insistent that we like each-other."

Sweets tried to keep the edge of frustration out of his voice. "Because, Dr Brennan, you do like each-other, and the sooner you both admit that the sooner we can figure out how to integrate that new type of relationship into your current working relationship."

Brennan opened her mouth, but when she could find nothing to say, she just sat back and crossed her arms resolutely. Sweets glanced between her determinedly icy gaze to Booth's increasingly absent one, and decided there was nothing more he could get out of them like this: it was time to test his theory.

"Well, you two - phase one of this case study is officially over, so we're now moving onto the phase two." This seemed to catch Booth and Brennan's attention, and when he continued, his voice was more confident. "If your relationship is strictly professional as you say it is, then you won't mind seeing each-other only at work. For the next week, you'll be separated except for the time you spend together at the Jeffersonian, which will be very limited since you'll both be assigned to seperate cases."

"Assign Zack as my forensic anthropologist, Sweets, and I swear I'll shoot you."

They'd both known it was coming, but it was a blow all the same. Sweets raised his voice over the sudden outburst of Brennan's protests and Booth's threats, sheilding himself haphazardly with one arm as he did so in case either of them decided to take a swing.

"There is a second option."

Booth's jaw was set as he frowned warningly at Sweets. "Well, now seems like a good time to tell us about it, don't ya think?"

Sweets tried to compose himself, mentally bracing for another impact. "You can - admit that you have a deeper emotional connection than that of simply professional colleagues, and we can work on your relationship in that context instead of splitting you up."

Instead of making their protests louder, this revelation seemed to shock Booth and Brennan into silence. Jumping on the chance to fully express himself, Sweets continued uninterrupted, his smile beginning to return. "Look, you guys - this study has already proved that you can continue to succeed professionally with a deeper personal relationship, so there's nothing holding you back except yourselves."

Brennan frowned. "Is that what this whole thing was about? You told us you were going to use this study to help other partnerships like ours."

Sweets scoffed. "With all due respect, Dr Brennan, your partnership is ... pretty unique." He sighed. "Look, I knew from the minute I met you two that you'd get together eventually, and that both you and your partnership would be all the better for it. The idea of this study wasn't to convince me; it was to prove it to the FBI. That way, when you finally did figure it out, there wouldn't be anything standing in your way."

Booth looked nervously over at Brennan, but she didn't seem to notice. For a moment, she seemed unable to move, but as soon as she had regained her bearings, she was out of her chair and through the door. Suddenly forgetting about Sweets, Booth jumped to his feat and followed after her, breaking into a jog as he heard her speed up down the stairs.

Brennan was enveloped by the cool night air the moment she stepped through the door. She paced up and down the side-walk, trying to re-orient herself and objectiely observe the situation. As hard as it was to remain emotionally detached, she tried to keep a level head long enough to figure out what it was that was making her so unsure.

Something's missing.

The door slammed shut somewhere to her left, and she looked up to see Booth coming towards her. Even in the half-light, she could tell something was bothering him, but he seemed to relax when he realized she was still there.

He slowed as he neared her, panting slightly. "Look - next time you do that, warn me first."

"I -" she exhaled loudly. "- sorry. I just needed some air."

He took a moment to count cracks in the pavement before looking up at her again. "Hey, about what Sweets said -"

"We ... don't have to talk about this Booth."

"Look, I know your mad at him, Bones, but -"

"I'm not mad at him. I just ... I wish he'd be more upfront with us, that's all."

"I don't like it either, but it has nothing to do with you and me. I just - don't want us to get weird or anything."

She nodded slowly. "So you're saying that you think Sweets is wrong?"

This question seemed to catch Booth off guard, but he composed himself quickly. "Well you must have, or you wouldn't have bolted out of his office like that."

She frowned. "I did not bolt, Booth."

Booth scoffed. "You went from zero to sixty in about half a second, Bones; that's not exactly a vote of confidence for the guy."

She just continued to frown. "Zero to sixty?"

He looked at her in exasperation. "It's a car racing thing, Bones, okay? Just - never mind. The point is, we don't have to change just because some twelve-year-old got bored of his action figures and decided to play with, you know - real people."

Brennan couldn't help but think that he didn't sound very convinced in his own argument, and for the first time, she stopped trying to figure out how she felt and started wondering how he felt. The reason she'd had so much trouble sorting through what he meant to her was because she still didn't know exactly what she meant to him, and it was a pretty tough question to ask.

They'd somehow managed to wander down to the reflecting pond by the Washington Memorial, and as they approached a bench, Brennan sank down on to it. Booth plopped down beside her, sighing as she turned to him, her voice slow and deliberate.

"They're gonna slipt us up, aren't they?"

"Not if I shoot Sweets."

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Booth - I'm serious."

"Yeah, well - so am I."

She squinted out towards the pond distractedly. "We probably shouldn't be so hard on him."

"Yeah -" Booth scrunched his face. "- he is just a kid."

"And he's right a lot."

"- For a kid."

Brennan leaned forward on the bench, smiling slowly. "You know, despite all the lying and manipulation ... I actually kind of enjoyed his study."

"Yeah -" He turned towards her, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. "Me too."

She was suddenly very conscious that their shoulders were touching, but she did her best to ignore it."- And I'm going to miss your snoring."

He took a moment to pause in confusion. "... I would say you're being sarcastic, but, I don't think you do that -"

"The rhythm of the snores helps me fall asleep." She shrugged. "I find it soothing."

"Yeah, well - I'll tell you what I'm gonna miss; your conditioner."

Her eyes widened, and he grinned. "Smooth and silky."

"Booth! You stole my conditioner?"

"Yeah, well, you stole my PJs, so I think we're, you know - more than even on that one."

She shook her head, smiling out towards the pond. "You know, I'm going to miss you next week."

He turned to her, giving her a small half-smile. "Yeah - me too. - But, hey - at least it's only a week, right? "

She nodded firmly. "And then back to life as usual." She hadn't mean to sound so disappointed, but it came out that way anways.

His smile faded. "Yeah - you in the lab, me in the field."

"Right. The way it's supposed to be."

"- Right."

Brennan caught his eye, her expression betraying all the disappointment she couldn't voice. She knew she should have looked away sooner, but her stomach was twisting, and he was sitting so close, and she thought she felt his hand brush up against hers, so she just held his gaze. It was in that moment that they both made the wordless decision not to go back. This time, when Booth leaned in, and Brennan's eyes flickered shut, there was nothing there to stop them.

...

A/N: Another thankyou to everyone who stuck with this story - 30 chapters is a ton to read; you guys are all troopers. I don't know if I'll do any more writing after this fic (it was my first one) but I loved doing it, and you guys are a big part of that. THANKSSS