#####SEASON 6 SPOILERS – DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED#####

So by now, we've all pretty much heard the bad news. There's a new lady in Booth's life and it's going to be serious. I hate it, you hate it, but we need to deal with it and in the end remind ourselves that this chick is only going to be around for 5 episodes. So, I felt that I'd like to skip over his relationship with Ashley/Hannah (last I heard it's going to be Hannah, but Ashley has been floating about out there too) and pick up the story after she and Booth had broken up.

Brennan hadn't been herself lately, she knew that he'd noticed, and she was pretty confident that he had an idea why. He'd changed, before Afghanistan he'd have asked her what was wrong, tried to get her to open up, now it appeared that he was scared of her opening up too much. She'd changed too, naturally, it had taken her so long, too long, to realise that giving herself to Booth didn't mean giving herself up completely. They had missed their moment, no, she had missed their moment. She had allowed her fear to drive a wedge between them and now they were so out of sync that she didn't know quite where they stood.

Angela had told her to find something that changed the meaning of humanity, and she had, only she hadn't found it in the dirt of Maluku, she'd found that something in herself. The capacity to love, to believe in love, and to hope for a love returned. She'd missed him every day, she'd thought of him when closing her eyes at night and on opening them in the morning, and while she was there in the humid heat of the jungle, she'd hoped that he was doing the same. It had come as an unwelcome shock that he hadn't.

She'd confided in Angela on her return, and though the artist was sympathetic she didn't encourage the anthropologist to devise any underhanded schemes to try and break up Booth's new relationship, nor did she suggest that Brennan tell Booth about her feelings. She'd simply hugged her friend and told her that a good man had offered her his heart, his whole heart, and that by turning him down she had given him no other option but to move on. Tears had been cried, an oath to be happy for him and support him had been undertaken, and they had all tried to move on with their lives as best as they could, but the pain had never left her.

Hannah was good for him, even she couldn't deny that, but the hurt that she felt when he looked at Hannah could be so overwhelming at times that she could scarcely draw breath. Those were the looks that he had once reserved only for her, and she had driven him away, given him reason to stop directing that gaze at her. For that reason, she held no bitterness toward Hannah, she really was an incredible woman. A better woman for Booth than she felt she could ever be.

When Hannah decided that she needed more than the press corp could offer her, Booth was devastated, he'd been testy and withdrawn. Instead of feeling relieved that the relationship was ending, Brennan could only feel the disappointment that her partner was experiencing. He loved Hannah, she knew that, and she knew firsthand how hard it was to watch someone that you love leave you behind. In a way, she'd felt that Booth had done that to her. It was irrational and not fair to him, but feelings are irrational and they refused to be suppressed by reason.

That was three months ago, it had taken Booth a while to bounce back, he was bitterly disappointed and she knew that he had begged Hannah to reconsider. She knew that he blamed himself for the breakdown of the relationship, despite her believing that it was an absurd notion. Though she would never admit it to him, she had cried for him, she didn't know why. Despite all of her efforts over the past five months since returning from Maluku, she could not force her feelings for her partner away. She'd told herself that just having him as her partner and friend, having him safe was enough for her, she'd told herself that, but she still hadn't convinced herself.

Now she finds herself sitting on the bench facing the reflecting pool, one year from today, that's what they had agreed. It wasn't rational to be sitting here of course, they'd been stateside for five months, but when she had remembered the date she'd felt compelled to come. Somehow being here on the date that they had agreed made her feel closer to him, closer to a time when he was hers and she was his everything. She'd promised him she would be here, and despite knowing that he wouldn't be here, she couldn't bear to break that promise.

So she sits alone, a half empty Styrofoam cup containing cold coffee in hand, staring at the water and reflecting on all that has happened in the past year. The chill of a fall wind numbing her skin as she grieves for a love lost.

So... not the best opener I know, but I just thought how great it would be to see Brennan go to the pool as they agreed, and how sad it's going to be for her now that Booth has moved on and she has realised that she let him slip away.

I'll work on a second chapter shortly, but reviews make for speedier typing