A/N: Hey there! So, this is AU after 6x09. All in all, this is going to be a B&B story, the majority of which set ten years in the future. The first chapter is set in the present, the next… Oh, three or four chapters are going to entail what happens to both of them. I promise you that this is going to end up B&B. It's just going to explore a process of them getting to know each other again and learning to love one another without all of the heavy complications. Please read and review, so I know if I'm doing something good. (:

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She could hardly tell the difference between the pouring rain and the tears streaming down her face. Her conversation with- no, her confession to Booth had completely worn Brennan out, and now she just wanted to go home. She wanted to curl up with a book and a glass of wine and forget that this entire past case didn't happen. That these past six months hadn't happened. Hell… That the past seven years had never happened. And yet, with a pang of realization, Temperance knew that she had no home. Booth had always been her home, her sanctuary, that sense of familiarity that she so desperately clung to. But now, she didn't have that. She didn't have that sense of security anymore. She didn't know if she'd lost it just hours ago or a year ago. She didn't know much of anything anymore, and if there was one thing that Temperance Brennan needed, it was knowledge. It was clarity. It was Booth.

And now, well. All of that was gone, and it was entirely her fault. She had been wrong.

It would have taken them less time to get to the Jeffersonian than to her apartment, and in her haste to escape the awkward tension in the car, she was quick to tell Booth that her car was at the Jeffersonian so it would be wise to leave her there. As expected, he had forgotten that he'd picked her up that morning and obliged, leaving her the walk home in the pouring rain to try and gather her thoughts. For the first time in a long time, she allowed herself to feel nothing but sadness. Pure, raw sadness, though she fought to hold it together. Nothing screamed 'victim' more than a sobbing woman walking the streets of Washington DC alone at night.

As she walked, Brennan fought to remember just where she had gone wrong- she could only reason that it was prior to meeting Booth. All of those failed relationships (romantic and otherwise), all of those built up walls. She'd meant to protect herself, her heart. She grew detached because she didn't want to feel when there was a logical explanation for everything she needed to deal with in life. But by never allowing herself to feel, moments slipped by, one right after the other, and there was no turning back. Booth was happy. She should have been thrilled that he was happy, but she could only feel heartbroken. It wasn't fair to him and she deserved it, but there was, frankly, nothing she could do about it except wait for herself to heal.

Still, Temperance noted solemnly, as she climbed the stairs to her apartment two at a time, Booth had an entire year away from her to repair his broken heart. She was surrounded by him in full every moment of the day; she wouldn't be able to go on like this for much longer. There was only so much someone like her could deal with when matters of the heart were involved.

He left. Maybe not physically, but in some way, he left her, just like everyone else. Only this time, it was her fault.

Brennan slammed the door to her apartment and held herself together. She held herself together while she showered, got ready for bed, put her wet clothes in the laundry, and made herself hot chocolate. She held herself together as her computer booted up along with the word document containing the chapters to her latest novel. It was only after she typed the word 'Andy' did she allow herself to cry, nothing but dread and heartbreak washing over her.

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Booth and Bones worked only one case together after that.

After Brennan let any hope of Booth go, her vision cleared and she realized just how tired she really was, and just how much her time spent in Indonesia really did nothing to clear her head. She received job offers on a daily basis, but had never really considered them, only discarded them due to her loyalty to her team and the Jeffersonian and Booth. But as her finger absentmindedly stroked the mouse pad of her laptop, Temperance allowed herself the luxury of mulling over an email entailing a full two year dig in China. Two years, she noted, was an awfully long time, but she would be getting back to her roots. She would be away from Booth and while she would miss Camille and Sweets and Hodgins and Angela (especially) and, surprisingly enough, Daisy and the other interns, she would have time to clear her head. Cam had been reluctant but agreed to allow Temperance that second leave, having sympathy for her after hearing about the incident with Booth (Angela couldn't keep that to herself once she caught wind).

Booth merely called her a coward.

Their last conversation before she left was hardly a pleasant one. He'd heart it from Hannah, of all people, who heard it from Angela that his partner was leaving for two years- this time, though, he would be staying behind. He'd done his best to ignore the pang he felt in his heart when he learned that she was leaving, crediting that to the sense of betrayal he felt- she was running. She was running and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. And so they fought. It was childish, but both of them were hurt and saying goodbye.

He told her she was running. She told him he was being unfair. He told her that she was being illogical. She reminded him that he got over her when they were apart, and he swallowed back the retort that he wasn't over her- partially because that thought had taken him aback. Instead, he yelled about how she was a hypocrite for abandoning all of her friends after being so heartbroken about everyone abandoning her. "It's no wonder you're alone," he'd snapped, and his incentive to apologize didn't matter; the look on her face told him that that was the final deal breaker.

They never spoke again after that.

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Brennan stayed true to her word and returned to the Jeffersonian after two years. She was hardly surprised to learn that Booth had left the FBI's Washington office; while she knew his alpha male tendencies would have made it difficult for him to leave a job like that, Cam had hinted that he transferred to New York and Temperance knew that Hannah had originated from there. She probably had a very appealing opportunity and he moved to be with her. The team was back together and she went back to her roots, dealing with older bodies without the FBI breathing down her neck.

When Rebecca announced that she was getting married, she was all too cheery to mention to Booth that she and her new beau were moving (with Parker) to New York. Booth yelled and fought but eventually Hannah had jumped at the opportunity to move back to her home state, a grumbly Seeley trailing solemnly behind her. He and Hannah split only six months later, but he remained for the sake of his son.