"I miss you."

You could have knocked Zach over with a feather right then. Dr. Brennan had come for a visit, and they had spent most of the time allotted to them talking. After Dr. Brennan had finished a story in which Angela had become drunk at yet another company party, they had fallen into a silence neither of them really knew how to fill. Her sudden admission left Zach more than slightly shocked.

Seeing the expression on Zach's face, Dr. Brennan explained, "Sweets said I should be more open with my feelings. I thought now might be as appropriate a time as any."

"Oh. I see."

"I know it's irrational since I can come visit you, but I miss you."

"I'm sorry," Zach whispered as he hung his head.

Brennan went on, "I miss seeing you at the lab, I miss your insight on cases, I miss having someone to carry on an intelligent conversation with. I even miss your stupid experiments with Hodgins, even though more than half of them resulted in me defending you from Cam's wrath." She paused. "Sorry. I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I find that once I start, it's hard for me to stop."

Zach gestured for her to continue.

After a moment, she said, "I think the thing I miss the most is just knowing you were there. When I stayed late to work on a case, it was nice to know you were around somewhere. Now there's no one else there." Her voice had gone very quiet towards the end of her speech, and as Zach watched he saw something sparkle in Brennan's eye before she quickly wiped it away.

He stood and pulled her into a tight embrace. After a moment's hesitation, she returned it by wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "What I regret the most is not seeing how my actions would affect others."

They stood like that, both regretting the past and dreading the future, until a nurse poked his head into the room to inform them that Zach's visiting hours were over.

"Bye Zach."

"Goodbye Dr. Brennan."

As Zach watched her leave, he wished more than ever that he could change what had happened, if only so that she didn't have to be alone again.