Disclaimer: I have as much claim to Bones as you do, so unless your name is Kathy Reichs, Hart Hanson, or you single-handedly own Fox... ;p

Summary: While babysitting his young daughter at the FBI offices, Booth receives a surprise visitor.

Author's Note: Unlike many Bones fans, I actually wouldn't mind it if Hannah returned. I want that storyline laid to rest once and for all, because in my honest opinion it was very poorly executed. Don't even get me started on what a stupid decision it was to have Booth propose. I mean, and after everything he said to Brennan in the episode previous! About only loving one person the most, and what if they get away, well that person's not going anywhere...? Argh. Happy place. Must go to my season nine happy place. Deep breaths! Also, the sadistic side of me just really, really wants it rubbed in blondie's face how happy Booth is without her, because now? Now he has everything he's ever wanted: a family with Brennan. Mwhahaha. Emily Deschanel said it best: "Who's on top now, bitch!?"

The Elephant in the Room, by AngelMoon Girl

Everything had changed, and yet, nothing.

The receptionist still gave her a funny look upon arrival at the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building, and that was far from new. The copier machine still whirred with that perpetual wheeze, and Dan from Human Services could still be heard yelling profanities at it as one walked by. The elevator still smelled a little off, and when the doors opened into the bullpen the walls were still that comfortable mix of pastel blue, grey, and orange. Melinda from Security still gave her a pleasant wave. And Seeley Booth of field agent fame still had the central bigwig office right at the end - not that Hannah Burley was surprised. If there was ever a man at the bureau who was as dedicated and deserving as Seeley, she had yet to meet him. Seeley was, truly, one in a million.

Employees chattered and bustled, for the most part ignoring the out-of-place blonde beauty. Whether their indifference stemmed from familiarity or preoccupation, Hannah wasn't sure. All she knew was that whatever the reason, the lack of hubbub over her return was a blessing. It was... easier, this way. Surely an onlooker from afar would not think it had been a near three years since Hannah last stepped foot in this building. She could hardly believe it herself. But time is a funny being. Unlike people, it cannot hold regrets. Nor does it ever look back, only pillaging onward with no pause for retrospective. In the blink of an eye it is possible to lose a day, a month, a year...

Hannah supposed it was a serious case of not realizing what one has until it is gone, as the saying goes. She would have given anything - anything - to go back to that night when everything fell apart. When she lost the one piece that had actually fit amidst the jumbled chaos of her life.

But now - now she had come to make it right.

The striking young journalist sucked in a deep, steadying breath as she approached the back of the bullpen, heart beginning to beat erratically as she spotted him through the glass. Seeley was as breathtakingly handsome as ever, bent over a pile of documents and scribbling furiously. Hannah had to swallow when she noticed that his tongue was sticking out in that adorable way only a Booth could manage to achieve, as she remembered other things he had done with that same tongue...

Something must have fallen or otherwise caught his attention, because when Hannah finally made it to the door, Booth's head had disappeared underneath the desk. It was a comical sight in this very professional setting, and the blonde had to resist an urge to roll her eyes and chuckle. Affection and a strong measure of sadness welled up inside her chest. God, she missed him.

It was now or never.

Hannah rapped softly, and her breath caught in her throat as Booth's eyes peeked over the burnished mahogany and met hers. They were still the same solicitous shade of brown as ever, like dark chocolate spun in golden champagne. It had been one of her favorite pastimes to stare into those heady yet elusive depths, wondering what he thought; how he viewed the world. Hannah was first and foremost a journalist - she reveled in the dissection of the human condition, and Seeley had always been the most fascinating subject.

She allowed herself a moment of quick inquest, giving Booth a penetrating once-over in order to gauge his reaction, but Hannah couldn't quite tell what other emotions resided on the man's countenance behind the thick mask of shock. Was he happy? Conflicted? Or simply bemused?

Booth blinked a few times, seeming to collect himself with a glance down then back up at her, plastering on a polite smile that she returned in full. At least he wasn't running in terror, right? That had to be a step in the right direction.

Hannah nervously twisted her fingers as the paladin of an FBI agent approached her, watching through the glass while he fumbled with first his tie and then the handle. Within seconds, they were face to face in a stance not quite unlike the one the pair took three years previous. Only now... now it felt like a role reversal. Now she, Hannah, was the proposer, about to lay her heart bare for Seeley to either crush or cradle. What was there left to lose? He was a ghost in her every waking thought, always there in the periphery, and the knowledge that she turned down a bliss-filled marriage with a perfectly wonderful man for a career devoid of any real fruit had become too interminable to endure.

"Hannah," Booth greeted, with a minute incline of the head.

"Seeley." She wanted to reach out and embrace him, but thought better of such a forward act when Booth made no offers of a similar nature other than to welcome her into his office. Hannah crossed the threshold with a tinge of doubt coloring her movements. "I hope you don't mind me showing up here out of the blue, but I just - I had to see you."

"I understand," Booth hedged slowly. "So... how has life been treating you?"

"Like I'm an errant tenant long overdue on my rent," Hannah scoffed, and that drew a sound of mirth from Booth, which pleased the woman greatly. "It's been a bitch lately, but thanks for asking."

"I see you haven't lost your flare for the dramatic."

"Can't afford to - not in my line of work."

"Does that mean you're still rubbing shoulders with the top dogs in Washington?" Booth teased, and Hannah shrugged.

"Off and on. Mostly I'm freelancing. I spent about eight months overseas, this time in Syria covering their path to civil war. I'm all about political activism shorts these days." Booth nodded, and Hannah had to marvel at how blessedly easy it was to share a conversation with this man. "In fact, I've only been home for about a week now. What about you, Seeley? You still saving the world in your spare time?"

"I, uhh..." Booth opened his mouth then closed it, suddenly careful with the words he chose next, as if rolling their meanings around with the tip of his tongue - chewing on them until well considered. "I guess you could say that. But I've decreased my hours quite a bit. More often than not I'm at home vying to stake claim as Best Dad in the World. Kids are... well, they grow so fast... blink once and they're out of diapers, blink twice and boom: you've got a full-fledged teenager draped across your couch, scarfing down all your food!"

Hannah giggled, and Booth tacked on with joyful conviction,

"Family. It's the best and most important thing in my life."

"It always was," Hannah recalls fondly, eyes twinkling up at him. "Parker is unbelievably lucky to have you for a father."

Booth was quiet for a moment, just staring at her, then he glanced back at his desk and murmured, "Thank you."

Hannah sensed he was distracted for some reason, so she tried to reel him back in with a topic that was sure to garner an animated response and his complete attention - a fact which, even years later, was still a source of discomfort to the blonde. Because she knew, no matter how hard she'd ever tried, she'd never been able to compare to - "Temperance. Do you still... see her? I mean, do you- I mean, in the lab. Do you still see, er, work with her... in the lab?"

Hannah was aware she was talking loudly, her agitation too visible, but the query succeeded in gaining Booth's attentiveness once more, and that was all that mattered.

"Hannah..."

"Listen, Seeley. I'm tired of skirting around the elephant in the room. I think you know why I'm really here."

"Hannah..."

But Hannah was breathing fast now, and her chest was aching fit to burst, so she waved him down. "No, please. Seeley, please, hear me out. I... I made a horrible mistake, I know that now, and what we had- that was real. I felt it, you felt it, but somewhere along the way we messed up and misread where the other was in our relationship. But I'm there now, Seeley, I'm there and I'm ready and I wholeheartedly meant what I said that night, about us not being ov-"

"Daddy?"

Hannah choked back an expletive, nearly jumping out of her skin as the owner of the tiny voice - a skinny slip of a toddler, no more than two - crept out from underneath the desk, looking as though she had just been disturbed from a nap. Her strawberry blonde ringlets - so dark they were almost ecru in color - were matted, and she sucked piteously on the ear of a stuffed purple elephant. Booth held out his arms and the little girl rushed into them, trying to hide her sleepy visage in the crook of his neck once settled.

"Hannah, I'd like you to meet my daughter. This here is Christine, and she's usually not so shy around strangers, but I think you took her for surprise."

One breathtakingly blue eye opened to gawk from the safety of Dad's strong arms, and this time it was Hannah who experienced a cold douse of realization, because she knew those eyes. And there was only one reason why Temperance Brennan's eyes would be on Seeley Booth's child...

"You... and Temperance...?"

"Yes."

"Oh... oh my God, I- how?"

"Well, the usual way-" Booth began amusedly, but Hannah swallowed laboriously, shaking her head to and fro, to and fro, trying not to channel some deranged asylum inmate yet no doubt failing miserably.

"No. No. When. When did..."

"Hannah," Booth said painfully, and Christine played witness as Hannah unraveled, her mind doing the math; connecting the dots until they formed a miserable picture of her life.

"It can't have been very long afterward. She's at least two. So what - you went crawling back to her? After... after everything we... Dammit, Seeley, did I mean anything to you?" the blonde hissed, fingers shaking right along with her vision. Curse these tears! "Or was I just a toy to make you forget - a rebound."

She spat the word like it was heinous.

"Tell me, Seeley - was it real? Did you ever love me?"

Hannah felt the powerful need for confirmation was eating her alive. Maybe she has always needed his confirmation, she's not sure. But suddenly her urgent desire to pay visit to her old flame is beginning to make sense. Maybe... just maybe, she isn't here to reignite a spark that was lost. Maybe she just wants the truth. The truth she always suspected - that her one wondrous year was a lie. Perhaps then, it would be easier to walk away. Easier knowing, her loss was only her own.

Booth just gazed upon the woman with sadness. Hannah's heart clenched. She knew then what his answer would be... would always be.

There is something sickeningly bittersweet in having been proven right.

"There were moments when I thought maybe I loved you, Hannah. That maybe I could make a life with you. But I don't think ours would have been a happy life. At least... not for me. Because I have yet to meet anyone who makes me feel the same sense of utter completion that Bones does."

And Hannah felt herself deflate at that, all the self-righteous anger escaping her body in one emotionally thick exhale. Yes, she was so very right. "You chose her."

"I will always choose her."

Hannah nodded, ever so slightly. The revelation was like a ton of bricks in her gut.

She had never been able to hold a candle to the great Temperance Brennan, and so, perhaps... perhaps Booth's heart had never really been hers to claim. It explained everything, from the many disconnects in their relationship to the lonely nights when he left without cause, without justification. He had been going to her - to Temperance. Always Temperance.

Hannah gathered up whatever dignity she still retained and put on a smile, a very bright fake smile. It would do nothing but harm the small child and the man she still loved deep within her very bones to argue any further. She had her answer. It may have hurt like hell, but at least it was the truth.

I will always choose her.

It may have been the most truthful thing he ever said to her.

"I'm sorry I came here today, Seeley. It was a mistake."

"I'm sorry I can't give you what you want, Hannah. What we had was also a mistake," Seeley apologized softly.

And there it was, the detente they would never escape. She wanted - but she could not have.

Hannah's feet led her slowly backward, and she milked in the sight of the man she still believed she might have found real happiness with, if only he'd been hers in the first place. But there was no chance for them; Hannah knew that, now. Christine was living proof, and in Seeley's eyes she saw a barrier she'd never be able to surmount. More tears prickled at the edge of the blonde's vision; it had been a long time since she'd cried this much.

"Goodbye, Seeley. I won't ever forget you."

"Goodbye, Hannah."

She did not miss the glaring absence of a similar sentiment, but who was she to judge? If she were him, she'd want to forget too. It was the way of life. Happy endings did not include those who were cast off halfway through the plot for having been the one true pairing's obstacle, and Hannah loved Seeley enough to ensure he received his happy ending. She just hated that that also meant giving him up.

So Hannah ducked her head and turned around, exiting the office, certain that some large chink of heart was going to forever subsist within those four walls. Seeley was one in a million; Temperance was a lucky woman. A lucky mother.

Their children would've been beautiful, too.

She refused to look back, and she refused to wipe her face.

Let the world know the pain of love.

FIN

Author's Note: Damn, Hannah was REALLY hard to write! I HATED her on the show, so it was certainly a challenge to craft a story based around a character when I'm so biased the wrong way, LOL. I tried to make her likeable but of the belief that she was in the right, which in turn gave her the unfortunate side effect of coming off as a bit of a petulant bitch. Heh. Was it a success? You decide :P