A/N~ This takes place directly after season six, episode nine: The Doctor in the Photo.

I understand. I missed my chance.

Tes's P.O.V.

I was confused, with no idea what was happening to me, but it terrified me. Instinctively, I had some idea as to what was happening, but I didn't know what to do about it, or how to react. This was completely new territory, and that scared me more than anything. I was completely broken at this point. I got into my apartment and headed straight for my closet, letting the tears run down my face as I pulled the chain out from under my shirt that I kept my TARDIS key on. I opened up the door and went right inside, allowing the soothing hum of my TARDIS to surround me.

I walked over to the console and began pressing buttons, doing a slight dance around the console as I flew her. I opened up the door to see Angela staring at me, with Hodgins nowhere in sight.

"Sweetie?" Angela asked me, the shock gone from her face as soon as she saw me. "What happened? You look awful."

That was when Hodgins came walking back into the room, freezing in the doorway as he stared at my TARDIS, still disguised as a wardrobe.

"What. Is. That?" Hodgins asked, getting up from where he sat and walking over to the Old Girl. "And why are you standing inside it?"

"Not now Hodgins." Angela said, coming over to where I was standing and leading me over to a chair. "Sweetie." she called, but I didn't answer. Something was wrong, I knew it, but I didn't know what. What I did know was that I couldn't say anything - I was crying so hard that I couldn't get a single word out. "Brennan." she tried again. "Hodgins, please, get away from there!" she yelled, and I was able to make out the back of Hodgins' head disappearing inside of the TARDIS through my tears.

Finally, she said the one name that was practically guaranteed to get me to focus. "Anthropologist." she called softly, and I practically snapped to attention. She smiled at me softly. "It's been a long time since I've had to call you that." she whispered. I smiled back, hiccupping softly as my tears slowed down. "What do you need, sweetie?" she asked me.

"Call… call R-River…" I said, still hiccupping. "Please…"

"Of course." she said, taking the phone that I handed to her.

"THIS IS AMAZING!" we heard Hodgins yell from inside my TARDIS. I looked up at Angela in alarm, my tears stopping as soon as I heard him.

"What is he doing in my ship?" I hissed, and she looked at me defensively.

"Don't look at me, Anthro." she said, using her oldest nickname for me. She had come up with it right after we met, deciding that 'Anthropologist' was too long to say all of the time. "You're the one who flew the TARDIS into our living room." With that, she stood back up and practically sprinted over to the Old Girl, almost squealing as she ran inside.

"Angela!" I called after her, and she popped her head back out, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, come on, sweetie." She said. "I haven't been inside in almost seven years, I'm just excited to say hello!"

She ran inside then, and I followed after her. Angela was leaning against the console with her eyes closed and a blissful smile on her face, as she started to talk with my TARDIS. Angela had always been one of her favourites, even though she had originally traveled with the Doctor. Meanwhile, Hodgins was still standing closer to the door, completely shocked.

I shut the door behind me, which was enough to get Hodgins to snap out of whatever trance-like state he was in. "This… this is impossible." he told me, pointing at the interior.

"Not impossible, Dr. Hodgins." I corrected. "Merely an eleventh-dimensional sentient time and space capsule." The Old Girl hummed and dimmed her lights, and I frowned, stroking the console. "Sorry, sweetheart." I whispered.

"What is it?" He asked, and the TARDIS hummed - she always was a smug old thing.

"She -" I stressed, "- is a TARDIS."

"What's a TARDIS?" Was the next question. This time, it was Angela who answered.

"It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, honey." she said, making her way down to stand next to her husband.

"So a time and space ship?" Hodgins asked, and we both nodded. I, for one, was glad that he had picked up on the meaning right away. Some of the humans that knew about the TARDIS had to have everything explained to them, and I was relieved that that would not be the case this time. "And she's alive?" he asked.

I nodded. "That is correct, Dr. Hodgins."

"So… you're an alien?" Hodgins asked, his face completely blank of any expressions.

I was honestly nervous about this part - I hadn't really been thinking when I input the coordinates to get to Angela's, and now I was dealing with the consequences. I knew Hodgins well enough by now to know that there was little - if any - chance that he would tell anyone the truth about me, however. Despite his strange obsession with conspiracies and aliens, he was a good person, who would not put his friends in danger.

So I answered, "Yes." I said softly. "Is that okay?"

He nodded absently, still preoccupied with looking around the console room. "It explains a lot, actually."

Angela snorted at that, and I tried not to let how offended I was show on my face. I apparently failed, though, because he immediately tried to fix what he had said. "Not in a bad way, or anything!" he said quickly. "It's just… even now, you still don't really get how to act like a human." He paused for a moment. "Never thought I'd actually get to say that." he commented.

"So… you're okay with this?" I asked cautiously.

He nodded. "Yeah, I think I am." Then he stopped for a moment before turning to look at Angela. "You knew!" he accused. "You've known this entire time, haven't you?"

Angela nodded. "Anthro and I traveled together for a little bit before she settled down. But I traveled with the Doctor first."

We had all moved back out of my ship and into the living room by that point, and had settled down - Angela and Hodgins were sitting together on the couch, while I sat in one of the chairs. "The Doctor?" he asked, sounding more confused than he had during the rest of our explanation. "What kind of a name is that?"

"It's more of a title than a name." I began to explain, finally calming down completely. "Just like my chosen title is the Anthropologist."

"Do you remember the guy that came to visit - the one that helped you blow up the lab?" Angela asked, and I almost laughed when Dr. Hodgins winced. Apparently he was still in trouble for that incident. "That was the Doctor."

Hodgins looked shocked, to say the least. "He was an alien?" he asked. "A real, live alien?"

That was when a familiar voice cut in. "Oh, he's definitely an alien - why else would he think that bow ties are cool?"

We all turned around to see a familiar head of frizzy blonde curls entering the room. "Hello Tes, Angela. Sorry for breaking into your house." she greeted. Then she turned to the third member of our group. "And you must be Doctor Jack Hodgins."

Hodgins looked smug. "They've told you about me?" he assumed, but his smug smile faded when she shook her head.

"Not quite. I'm an archeologist from the future - I simply dug you up." she smirked. "Although, I also remember something about you almost blowing up my husband the last time that we were in the area."

Hodgins at least had the decency to look slightly sheepish, but she ignored him, focusing on me instead. "What's the matter, Tes?" she asked, moving to sit next to me on the steps that led up to the console.

"I… I'm not sure." I admitted. "It feels like I've lost everything, and that nothing can possibly fix that."

Angela looked confused, but River looked like something had occured to her. "What were you doing when that started, Tes?" she asked softly, and I started to tear up again just thinking about it.

"Booth and I were talking…" I began, wiping my tears from my face. "I told him I love him."

Angela gasped, and Hodgins smiled. "That's great!"

But River studied my face, and came up with a different answer. "He doesn't return your feelings, does he?" she asked softly, and I shook my head.

"Right, I know exactly what the problem is." River announced, before turning to Angela. "Do you know where the kitchens are?" she asked, and my best friend/companion nodded. "Good. We're going to need ice cream and wine, lots of it. Doctor Hodgins, you're welcome to join us if you wish." she finished, before pulling me to my feet. "Come on, Tes." she said, flashing me a small smile.

"What's the matter with Dr. B?" Hodgins asked, walking alongside us. "Is it some sort of alien virus?"

River laughed. "Nothing quite that simple, I'm afraid. Our dear Doctor Brennan is suffering from heartbreak."

"What?" Hodgins laughed nervously. "That's it?"

River glared at him for a moment, before saying lightly, "An old friend of mine said something once, and I shall never forget it. She said, 'heartbreak is a burden to us all. Pity the man with two.' Of course, at the time she was referring to my husband, but it applies in this situation as well."

"She sounds wonderful." I managed to say, while Dr. Hodgins just stared.

"But surely you have to have had your heart broken before, Brennan." Hodgins protested. "I mean, how old are you?"

"I've lost track over the centuries." I admitted. "But I would estimate that I am at some point in my third or fourth millennia. Besides, bonding with a mate based on love was unheard of on my planet, at least among Time Lords. They bonded for social status, political, or economical gain."

"I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong." he said after a minute. "I could've sworn you said two. As in, two hearts. And third or fourth millennia?"

"Yes, that's right." River said, as though it was the most normal thing in the world. "I'm assuming that you use some sort of perception filter to hide from the security systems and scanners at the Jeffersonian." she said, and I nodded.

"Yes, that is correct." I said, showing her my hand where the dolphin ring lays. "It was a gift from Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. Do you know him?"

"I'm afraid not." she said. "You know how he is - he hates endings." I nodded, knowing exactly what my sister-in-law was talking about.

"He's been like that ever since we were children." I said, and she turned to me, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Speaking of, I'm dying to hear some stories of my husband as a child…" she said, smirking wickedly.

I laughed. "I'm sure that can be arranged, as long as you tell me about what he has gotten up to over the centuries. I understand that you are an archeologist, as well?"

"That's right, but tonight is not the time to be discussing work." she decided as we finally reached our destination - the media room. Angela was already there, waiting for us with a bottle of wine and a bottle of hypervodka, along with chocolate ice cream. "Tonight is the time to watch crap telly and discuss how terrible boys can be. Oh, I have some great stories for that - there was this one time, with a Nestene Duplicate…" she paused then, setting herself down on a couch, before looking up at me.

"There is one thing that I don't quite understand, however." she said softly. "Why did you call me? The Doctor would have been here just as quickly, and you're far closer with him than you are me."

Angela laughed, and then answered for me. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "Even though the Doctor is the younger sibling, he's still very overprotective of our Anthropologist. Even with his whole pacifist thing, I'm betting he would have killed Booth for hurting her."

River laughed at that before saying anything else. "And I know this might not be much consolation at the moment, Tes…" she said softly. "But I can assure you, there will be a time when you look back on this and it doesn't hurt anymore, and everything will have worked out exactly how it should."

"You've seen my future, haven't you?" I asked, giving my sister-in-law a look. But she just smiled widely.

"Spoilers!"

Thank you to KirkSauber, Dragons-Twilight1992, Mermaid1108, and StichinKat for their reviews!