I do not own the characters. They belong to Fox and the TV program Bones.

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Temperance Brennan sat at her desk staring at the crack in the ballerina's mandible. She could tell that someone had kicked the poor girl in the face, but that didn't help her figure out who it was who had caused the blow. She was so wrapped up in her work that she didn't notice when her partner came in and stood behind her.

"Whoever it is, he has quite a kick."

Brennan jumped, startled by the sound of Booth's voice.

"I didn't see you there," Brennan said smiling at the appearance of verbal sparring partner. "How do you know it was a man, the kicker could have just as easily been a woman."

"What woman is going to have enough force to create a fracture like that?"

"I could, and so could most highly trained ballerinas I suspect.

"Forget about the ballerina for a second, come sit on the couch with me. I have something that I have to discuss with you."

Booth had a serious look on his face that caused a knot to appear in the center of her stomach.

Brennan got up and moved to the couch, positioning herself next to her partner. She had found him to be a little distant lately, which was unlike him. Although there were some things that he didn't seem to want to share with her, she had always felt very close to Booth, that despite their differences, they had a connection between the two of them that they didn't share with anyone else.

"After this case is over Bones, I think I'm going to take some time off."

"A vacation?" Brennan relaxed a bit. "Are you going to go to Hawaii? You never did go around your birthday."

"No, Bones, I don't mean a vacation, I mean some time off, away from the bureau."

The knot was back in her stomach.

"Rebecca is swamped in her new job and she said that I could take Parker for the summer. I thought I'd take him back to Pennsylvania with me. There's a cabin in the Poconos that belongs to my friend Jeffrey and his family. They have a couple of extra rooms and they invited Parker and I."

"A couple of months? You're not quitting are you Booth?

"I'm not sure where this is heading, I just know that I need I break to figure out where I want the rest of my life to go."

A wave of nausea came over Brennan, this she was not prepared for. She barely went 3 days without seeing Booth, but two whole months, and possibly more? She told herself that this thought was silly, she had survived years without him in her life, and having her friend gone should have no real affect on her. She rationalized that her queasy feeling was at the thought of having to break in a new partner while he was away. She wanted to seem supportive, as she knew he would of her.

"That's great Booth. I'm sure Parker will enjoy the time out of the city, and despite the fact that I prefer to keep busy at all time, I know how you like your relaxation time."

"Great. Glad you understand Bones." Booth said with a half smile on his face.

Booth was glad this went so well. Not that he thought she would admit that she would miss him while he was gone, but he thought there might be some complaints about him abandoning their work together. He really didn't need to get into why he needed some time off with her. He loved the work, and loved working with Bones, but lately the frustration that came with having to always put limits on their relationship had taken its toll on him. Whoever thought unrequited love/sexual tension was a good thing had never lived through it. He had to start accepting that this might not happen, and a change of scenery might just be what he needed to get himself to move on.