This is one that I was pondering in the aftermath of episode 100. I had considered making this a chapter in Booth's Lie, but decided in the end to make it its own stand alone one shot. My musings were in the direction of who would Bones turn to, other than Pops or Angela, to try and understand her emotions in the aftermath of rejecting Booth, and also the knowledge that Booth is trying to move on. The one figure that made any sense in that respect was Gordon Gordon. I hope you all enjoy this one. Gregg.

Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

"Dr. Brennan?" Dr. Gordon Wyatt, better known as Gordon Gordon by his closest friends Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan, said as he approached the woman. He'd seen her enter his restaurant a few minutes before and noticed that she had been looking for someone, which he presumes was him. He had noticed also the slightly disturbed countenance that she had. Having spoken with Dr. Sweets a couple of weeks before he had a fairly good idea what the brilliant woman was here about. He sighed, thinking that he would never get away from the world of psychology and settle fully into his passion of cooking.

"Dr. Wyatt," Bones said, a bit of relief escaping in her tone of voice.

"Please come on back to the kitchen and my table," Gordon Gordon said with his trademark smile and avuncular cheer. "No need to stand on ceremony here. You are always my guest whenever you come to try some of my cuisine."

Bones followed him back into the kitchen area, noting the full restaurant and the frenetic, but organized pace in the kitchen. She was pleased that Gordon Gordon was doing so well in his new career. The meal that she and Booth had been treated to a few months before at this very table she was being ushered to had been superb, and she had no doubt that she would be having another excellent meal this evening, though the conversation would not be as pleasant.

"And here we are," Gordon Gordon said as he placed wine glass in her hand, a small swirl of wine in the bottom for her to give her approval of. He watched as she expertly went through the formal wine tasting ritual and then smiled, nodding her approval. He poured a full glass and then snapped his fingers signaling a salad was required at the table. He sat across from her and looked at her with his usual, casual look that belied the piercing analysis that he engaged in. "While I am honored to have you as my guest, and I assure you you are most welcome anytime you wish, but I sense that you have something important on your mind which brought you here," he observed when the salad had arrived and she had taken a few small bites.

"I am still uncomfortable with psychology, being as it is a soft science, but you have demonstrated a penchant for assisting others in times of genuine distress, or trouble," Bones prefaced her remarks. "You helped Booth when he was having difficulty with his shooting, and I am able to see where your comments have been somewhat prescient in the past, so I came her in hopes that you could possibly help me to understand something."

Gordon Gordon smiled deeper at her prefacing remarks. He would have been shocked if the hyper-rational, act based scientist in front of him hadn't made some sort of disparaging remarks about his former profession, and somewhat disappointed. He found her incisive logic and approach rather refreshing. Not always correct, but refreshing. One knew where one stood with her at all times.

"While I am now but a humble chef, Dr. Brennan, I believe that I may be able to offer a few words now and again to good friends, and good company," Gordon Gordon replied, offering his own preface pointing out his change in profession. "What seems to be bothering you, if I may be so bold?"

Bones quickly, and as dispassionately as possible, told Gordon Gordon of the session with Sweets a couple of weeks before. Then she revealed what had happened outside the building. "Booth told me he wanted to take a chance on us," she told Gordon Gordon who was listening intently.

"Am I to infer that you rejected his advances?" Gordon Gordon asked, though he already knew the answer. It got the reaction he was hoping to see. Dr. Brennan's shoulders slumped and her serious face began to show the signs of genuine distress, and no small bit of anguish.

"Yes," Bones admitted, almost reluctantly. She'd been thinking of that and almost nothing else since then, and she had no one to talk to about it until now. Angela knew something had happened, and not good, but had not pressed. Bones knew that if Angela found out what really happened she would be treated to a lengthy lecture about how incredibly stupid she'd been that night. "I told him that I couldn't be with him because I wanted to keep him from being hurt. I can't take the chance of him being hurt."

"Why would he be hurt?" Gordon Gordon asked curiously. In many ways he felt that concern for Agent Booth would be a motivating factor in any decision that Dr. Brennan made in regards to her feelings, so the revelation wasn't too much of a surprise.

"I don't know how to make a relationship work," she replied bluntly. "I'm socially awkward at best, and he deserves someone who can give herself to him without reservation. He also drew a line, and while I may disagree with it on most levels, I can't deny the view I hold that the work we do is too important to risk on a relationship that has no guarantees of success."

"In other words, you applied logic to the emotions behind whether to begin a romantic relationship with Agent Booth," Gordon Gordon observed. The main course came out and he explained what she would be dining on that evening. It was an excellent pasta with a crème sauce. Braised green beans in a fine garlic butter sauce was the side dish.

"I'm a scientist," she pointed out firmly. "Logic is what I know. It's how I derive solutions to complex problems, and draw conclusions as to what is happening around me."

Gordon Gordon let that go for one moment. "And what was Agent Booth's reaction?" he queried.

"He-..." Bones' voice hitched for a moment, though she hoped that it wasn't too obvious, though by the intrigued look on Gordon Gordon's face she knew he'd noticed instantly. "He said he needed to move on. He needed to find someone who could love him for him and for the next 30 or 40 or 50 years."

Gordon Gordon saw the conflicted emotions clearly in her eyes. Those brilliant blue eyes of hers were most revealing if one looked hard enough, though most didn't. "Is Agent Booth dating someone?" he asked quickly, while the emotions were still there.

"I'm not sure, but I think so," Bones replied very quickly.

"May I ask whom he has decided to date?"

"A marine biologist," Bones said with extreme reluctance.

"Blonde, brunette?"

"Brunette," came the reply, again with serious reluctance.

"And how does that make you feel?" Gordon Gordon prodded.

"What do you mean?" Bones asked, deliberately avoiding his thinly veiled conclusions.

"I would assume you have some view on the subject seeing as you rejected Agent Booth on the basis of protecting him from being hurt," Gordon Gordon observed, never letting his eyes wander from her face as she slowly ate her meal.

"I'm not sure," she said finally.

"Interesting," Gordon Gordon said, his warm smile in place as always.

"Interesting?" Bones responded almost harshly. "I'm confused, and don't know what to do and you say that's interesting?"

"Oh, but it is indeed interesting," Gordon Gordon replied.

"How so?" she asked witheringly.

"Interesting that the woman who said just a few months ago that she couldn't think of anything she wouldn't do for Agent Booth is now explaining how her logic has convinced her that she simply cannot be in a relationship with him, yet is now feeling torn with the fact that he is now dating someone who not only is a scientist, but a brunette, which speaks volumes of the kind of woman that Agent Booth feels is right for him," Gordon Gordon observed. He didn't ordinarily tip his hand so much at any point in a consultation, but he'd found with Dr. Brennan that a more direct approach was usually warranted.

"I still don't understand," Bones said with a genuine bit of confusion, not feigned.

"Actually Dr. Brennan, I believe you know exactly what is happening, and you also know exactly what you want," Gordon Gordon said, going back to the more enigmatic approach. "The real question is, are you willing to set logic aside and listen to what your mind is really trying to tell you?"

"That doesn't make any sense," Bones shook her head. This was exactly why she hated psychology so much. Nothing made any sense in any logical, meaningful way.

"The mind rarely does, Dr. Brennan," Gordon Gordon informed her, amused at her facial reaction. "And when it comes to genuine human emotions logic is no help in reaching conclusions."

"But what if I don't know?" she asked.

"My Dear, you've known since before I first met you," Gordon Gordon revealed. "The real trouble is that your own fears are blinding you to what you know you want, and in fact need. But the decision as to whether you are able to let go of your shield, if you will, that incisive logic you use with exactingly ruthless aplomb, is entirely up to you."

"I'm not sure that I can do that," Bones admitted with complete honesty.

"Then I don't know what to tell you, Dr. Brennan," he responded. "I will point out one thing, though. No matter what your final decision is respecting a relationship with Agent Booth, unless you come at the decision based on how you truly feel, as opposed to some logical construct, then you will succeed only in causing the very damage you supposedly sought to avoid two weeks ago. Agent Booth deserves an honest answer, not a constructed one that in reality has nothing to do with the emotions and attachments that both of you have regarding the other."

She didn't fully understand what was being told to her, but then she rarely did at first when Gordon Gordon said anything. She needed to consider it some more in private, and also think about what he was implying. The reluctance she felt was now focused on the idea that she may in fact find that her security blanket of sorts, her logic, may in fact be the problem instead of the solution.

"I will have to consider what you've said," Bones told him.

"Just remember that everything, including, and especially, logic has a dark side to it," Gordon Gordon advised. He saw that she had finished her dinner. "Now, would you care for some dessert? And would you mind if I joined you in that? I find myself to be hungry for some reason."

Bones smiled. "Only if we can talk about something other than my so-called issues," she told him.

"My word of honor," Gordon Gordon said, signaling for some dessert for the both of them. He hoped that she didn't take too long in finding what she was looking for, as he had a feeling it could be too late if she spent much time thinking about what they'd discussed that evening. For now, though, he would enjoy the company of a good friend.

A/N: This one doesn't have a clear resolution, but it was a conversation I imagined her having with Gordon Gordon. I call it The Dark Side of Logic because logic, while it can be a very useful tool, it has a distinctly dark nature to it when applied to things that have a significant number of random variables, such as human emotion, and in particular love. I wanted Bones to hear, in a vague way, that reality. I hope you all enjoyed this one. Gregg.