Author's Note: I know I haven't finished The Change in the Answer yet, but after watching The Doctor in the Photo (the commentary was awesome, by the way) this idea started nagging at me and it just wouldn't go away. I hope you enjoy.

Brennan sat in the passenger seat of Booth's SUV, shivering from the cold. She was soaked from the rain, physically exhausted, and, she admitted to herself, emotionally wrung out. She'd figured it out. She now knew how Dr. Lauren Eames died, but she couldn't prove it.

She frowned. I just know. Without proof. She shook her head slightly, trying to make sense of the last few days. Everything felt off-kilter.

All we get are these dim, staticky messages from the universe. That's what Micah had said, and now, looking back over this case, she realized what message the universe was sending her.

I made a mistake. I don't want to have regrets. She could feel Booth glancing at her from time to time. And even though it wasn't rational, she could feel waves of concern radiating off of him.

Her stomach clenched when she realized it was already too late. I missed my chance.

I made a mistake. She pressed her lips together to stop the words from escaping her mouth. As tempting as it was to confess everything to him, she accepted responsibility for this. She rejected him. She agreed that he should move on. Now that he had done so, she couldn't suddenly share her regrets with him. No changies. No take-backs.

Tears pricked at her eyes and she bit the inside of her cheek in an effort to keep them in check.

"Bones, do you want me to…should I call Angela?" His voice startled her.

She shook her head almost imperceptibly and said in a shaky voice, "No, I'm fine. Alone." She finally understood what it meant to feel truly lonely. Before they'd taken their respective sabbaticals, Booth would have offered to stay with her. He would have insisted.

But now…now he had someone waiting for him at home. It was too much. The SUV felt suffocating. She felt trapped.

"Stop the car, please."

"What? Why?"

"Please, just…pull over." She could hear the frantic edge to her voice. She didn't want to break into hysterics in front of him.

He looked at her worriedly, but did as she asked. As soon as the car was stopped, she opened her door and jumped out.

"Bones, what the hell are you doing?" Booth asked as he followed her out of the car.

"I just…I need to be alone right now." She could see a cab in the distance. It was unoccupied. She stepped to the curb to flag it down.

He grabbed her left arm. "Bones, what are you talking about? I'll take you home. It's two o'clock in the morning. It's raining, the roads are bad. I want to be sure you get home safe."

"Booth, I can't—I just need—" her voice broke, and she stepped away from him, pulling her arm from his grasp. She could still feel tears threatening to fall, and the words she had swallowed were rising like bile in her throat.

She had rejected him because she wanted him to be happy. That hadn't changed. He is happy with Hannah. She couldn't risk ruining that for him for her own selfish reasons.

She knew Booth. She wasn't entirely certain if he still had feelings for her, but she knew that even if he did, he wouldn't end his relationship with Hannah if she confessed her regrets and feelings for him. He would torment himself over it. And even if his feelings for her had waned, he would shoulder the guilt and the responsibility of her pain. She wouldn't put him in that position.

She was hit by a realization.

"Can we still work together?" She hadn't appreciated at the time just how thoughtlessly she'd tossed those words out to him. The memory only strengthened her resolve. If Booth could do that for her, then she would do the same for him. But first, she had to get herself back together. And it would be much easier if she kept her struggle hidden. She needed time and space.

"Bones, what the hell is going on? I'm not letting you take a cab!"

The cab stopped next to her.

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. She had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but she knew what she had to do. Telling him the truth would be more hurtful than this lie.

She looked him in the eye and coldly said, "Booth, I don't want you to take me home. I want to be alone. Let me go. Leave me alone."

"No, Bones…"

"Booth, just go! I want you to leave me alone." She sounded angry now, punctuating the last three words by tapping his chest with her finger, hard.

He recoiled as if she'd slapped him. It made her chest ache, but she was careful to keep her expression hard.

Before he could recover from his surprise and stop her, she had climbed into the cab and slammed the door. He stood and watched the cab drive away, dumbfounded. He watched until he could no longer see the taillights, but she never turned around.

oOo

Booth stood by the side of the road for several minutes, wondering What the hell just happened? Finally, despite the hollow feeling in his chest, he climbed back into the SUV.

There was a text on his phone from Hannah, wondering where he was. He threw his phone into the passenger seat without replying and began to drive aimlessly. He had been exhausted, but his exchange with Brennan on the side of the road had banished his fatigue. He was feeling strangely wired.

He thought back over the last few days. Brennan had obviously been hit hard by this case. She'd drawn parallels between herself and the victim: same approximate age, height and weight; no family, no friends outside of work; that silly dolphin ring. He cursed himself for mentioning the similarities he had noticed between the two women.

He'd watched her become more and more irrational, exhausted, and emotional. They'd all seen it. They'd all worried about her. Even Hannah, who barely knew her could see that something was wrong.

And then…and then she'd gone to Woodland in the middle of the night and nearly gotten herself killed.

Did she ever even go home? Was she working all night, every night? The simple fact that he didn't know was troubling to him. His relationship with Bones was something he'd wrestled with ever since he'd returned from Afghanistan, and especially since Hannah has arrived.

He frowned as he tried to remember the last time he and Bones had hung out, just the two of them. Months.

You have no reason to feel guilty about that. You told her that you had to move on. She said she understood. She doesn't want you. You have Hannah. Simple.

But if it were that simple, then why was he ignoring Hannah's texts and driving around aimlessly trying to talk himself out of ambushing Brennan at her apartment and demanding an explanation?

She'll be fine. She deals with this stuff alone. She just needs time. But he didn't really believe that. It was more than just this case. She was holding something back from him. He could see it in her eyes.

Half an hour after he'd watched her cab drive away, he found himself outside her apartment building. Her lights were on. She made it home safely.

He was tempted to pound on her door and refuse to leave until she explained herself. In years past, that's exactly what he would have done. Well, he'd have shown up with take-out and made small talk until she was ready to talk to him.

But as curious as he was to know, as frustrated as he was that she was keeping something from him, he was also terrified.

He thought back to the interview with the helicopter pilot who had a thing for the surgeon. Something he wasn't ready to name made his gut twist when his mind refused to let go of the possibility that there might be a connection between that conversation and Bones' behavior tonight.

He had an inkling of what her secret was and he wasn't sure he was ready to hear it. He wasn't sure what he would do if he were right. And he was disgusted with himself at the spark of hope that ignited in his chest. Unwilling to examine what that might mean, he shifted into drive.

oOo

Brennan jumped into the cab and choked out, "Just drive. Anywhere. Go!"

As soon as the cab pulled away from the curb, Brennan bent over double and broke into sobs. Three days. Three days and my world will turn right side up again.

After her tears subsided, her head felt slightly clearer. She realized what she needed to do. She gave the driver her address, and when they arrived she threw a handful of bills at him and hurried inside.

It occurred to her that Booth might come here, demanding an explanation. That thought gave her pause. If he did come, she might give in to the temptation to come clean. Unacceptable.

But if he didn't come…she felt a pang at the thought that he might not come looking for her. That he might just go home and slide into bed with Hannah. As much as she didn't want to see him, the idea of facing proof that he didn't care even that much about her anymore was too painful to contemplate.

Booth had once said she had a mania for the truth. Well, she had finally discovered one truth she wasn't ready to face.

She couldn't lie awake all night worrying.

Resolved, she quickly packed a bag and called another cab.

oOo

After forcing himself to drive away from Brennan's building, Booth drove for more than an hour before he finally began to feel tired again. He sighed. He didn't want to go home and climb in bed with Hannah just to lie awake and worry about Bones, but he wasn't sure where else he could go.

He turned the SUV toward home.

He crept into his apartment to find Hannah asleep on the couch, wrapped up in his fleece robe. He smiled to himself. She'd obviously been waiting up for him.

He was smiling down at her when his phone chimed, indicating he'd received a text. It was from Bones.

I am taking a short leave of absence. I am turning my cell phone off, and I will be out of contact for at least three days. I will call when I return.