After Brennan's comment from The Monster in the Closet(s11 ep13), "Impossible. I have personally catalogued every set of unidentified remains", I've been thinking about how Booth would react to that statement. So I wrote my take on it. And, as is the standard of this fandom, I over-analyzed a very simple and forgettable line. I hope you all enjoy.

~AlphaGirl13

Booth sits on the couch, flipping a pen between his fingers. He does not look up as his wife opens the door and walks in with armfuls of groceries.

"Hey Booth. Christine and Hank in bed?"

"Yes."

"Did you eat dinner?"

"No."

"Are you hungry?"

"No."

Brennan pauses and looks up from her shopping bags.

"Booth are you alright?"

"You said that you've personally catalogued every set of remains in Limbo."

Brennan nods and begins stacking groceries in the fridge.

"I have. Why do you bring it up?"

Booth flips the pen across the room and pulls out his GA chip.

"There are hundreds of remains down there"

"Thousands actually." Brennan's voice corrects him from the cheese drawer.

"You must have spent a lot of time down there." Booth stares intently at the chip, still not moving from the couch.

Brennan hesitates and pulls her head out of the fridge. "And?"

"When did you find all of that time Bones?"

Brennan closes the fridge and turns toward her husband. Her voice is steady but her eyes glint with a bit of trepidation.

"I've spent a lot of time in Bone Storage over the years Booth. You were well aware of that."

Booth stops flipping the chip and studies it's painted surface. Until now he's been removed and unemotional. But his voice begins to betray his grief.

"While I was with Hannah." It's more of a statement than a question.

Brennan's head snaps up and her hand slips from the apple she'd been holding. It thuds to the counter, and Brennan watches it roll away.

"...Yes. I spent a lot of time in Bone Storage while you were with Hannah."

The agent still refuses to move from the couch or even look at his wife.

"You couldn't have had that much time to sleep or eat."

Brennan takes a deep breath and walks over to the couch. She sits on the coffee table and lays a hand on her husband's propped up feet.

"Booth…"

He shakes his head. "I want to know Bones."

The anthropologist sighs. "Booth… During the months that you were with Hannah, I spent most nights in Bone Storage. I often slept in my office or only went to my apartment for a few hours. Micah occasionally brought me a snack, but I did not eat very often."

"You lost weight." Booth comments.

Brennan stares at him. "I didn't think you noticed."

Booth begins flipping the coin again, watching it twirl over his knuckles. "I didn't. I didn't realize until after I had broken up with Hannah. Only then did I realize how thin you were."

"It's alright Booth. I didn't expect you to notice. You were in a relationship with Hannah and we spent less time together than before."

Booth hesitates, then finally makes eye contact with his wife.

"Why did you sleep at the lab Bones? Why didn't you go home?"

Brennan sighs. "I didn't want to. Too many things there reminded me of you."

Booth looks back down at the chip.

"You spent enough time down there, alone, to catalogue hundreds of remains."

Brennan nods. "Yes. During that time I finished cataloging every current set of remains. After that I periodically catalogued the new ones coming in."

"You spent so much time alone. Because I was looking right through you and you were too upset to go home. I was looking at you, but I was no longer seeing you. It wasn't until after I broke up with Hannah that I noticed how thin you were, how tired you were."

Booth pauses. "How upset you were."

The agent looks up at his wife and a single tear slips down his cheek.

"Jesus Bones I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Brennan sighs; she'd been hoping this conversation would never come up.

"It doesn't matter anymore Booth."

He shakes his head and sits up, laying a hand on her thigh.

"It does. It does matter. Jesus Bones I'm so sorry."

There's a moment of silence before Brennan speaks.

"I forgave you a long time ago Booth. You were with Hannah, not me. And I understood that. I did not blame you, nor did I hold any resentment towards you."

Booth takes her hand and pulls her onto the couch next to him.

"Every single set of remains."

He pauses, thinking through the events of that year.

"Bones, where did you spend Christmas?"

Brennan tucks her feet underneath her and leans against her husband.

"At the Jeffersonian."

Booth's eyes widen and glisten with newly formed tears.

"I caused you to spend another Christmas alone?"

Closing her eyes, Brennan snuggles against him and presses her cheek against his shoulder.

"No Booth. I caused me to spend another Christmas alone."

Wrapping an arm around her, Booth presses a kiss to her temple.

"God Bones I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Brennan tilts her face up and smiles.

"It doesn't matter anymore Booth. I don't have to work to forget about alone because I'm not alone. I have you now."

Booth slants his head and kisses her gently. Her lips are soft against his, and when she finally pulls away, Booth's heart skips a beat. Her eyes shine and twinkle in the low light. He smiles and presses his forehead to hers, closing his eyes.

"I love you Bones."

So there you have it, my take on Booth's reaction to Brennan's life during Hannah. Whether you liked it or not, please review! If you have any improvements or critiques, I'd love to hear them. And if you have your own interpretation of Booth's reaction, please share!

So long squints,

AlphaGirl13

(I won't see a friend of mine for three months, and "So long squint" was how she told me goodbye. I thought it was cute so I'm going to try it out as my signature from now on.)