**A/N 8/6/16: For new readers, the reviews state there are 46 chapters while you will see 41. The story is complete, but I've since combined a few chapters because they fit better together as I'm transferring this story also over to AO3. I may be combining 1 or 2 as I finish processing, but all reviews remain and no chapters will be deleted, just combined.

Enjoy.

Booth sat by the bedside, slowing suffocating by the quiet of the room. He took her hand and squeezed it before putting it to his lips with a sweet kiss. Taking a few moments to pull himself together, he got up and slowly walked out of the room. His feet led him to a door, which he opened to the greeted by the people he called family.

Hodgins and Angela were sitting on the right with Cam and Arastoo next to them.

Wendell, Fisher, and Finn stopped talking and turned to him. Nearby Clark stood up and stared at the agent.

On the other side of the room, Max and Russ stood at attention before moving quickly over to where Booth was standing.

Seeing Booth's silence and pain, Max took the initiative. "Booth, what happened?"

Booth shed a few tears, hitched his breath, and exhaled. "She's gone". Booth moved slowly to a chair, sat with a look of defeat, and put his head in his hands. After a moment, he looked back up. "Damn you, Pelant"

It has been three weeks since the engagement was broken, but to Booth, it felt like three years.

She said she had understood. She said nothing had changed, but he knew better. There were no overt gestures, but it was the small things that foretold the truth.

Before, all class work and projects from her interns stayed at the Jeffersonian with the occasional work at home. Now, she brought it all home with her every night there wasn't a case.

Somehow Booth always went to bed before her and always woke up next to a cold space where before his Bones would always sleep, with the blankets she stole bunched up with her and her grumbling when the alarm went off.

His mornings consisted of cold showers and silent breakfasts with only the sounds of Christine and/or the keys of her laptop as she worked on her latest novel.

Day by day, he felt like he was losing her body and soul. He also knew that if he relieved the pain he caused by telling Bones the truth, he would lose her to death, along with his children next. What scenario was the cruelest he couldn't tell.

A tear came down Booth's face as he felt Bones get up out of bed and walk to the bathroom. He looked at the clock and noted the time….5:00. Bones hated mornings. The realization that she would rather rise at a time she hated to be awake rather than sleep near him was devastating.

The few times he tried to initiate lovemaking she always came back with an excuse; a headache, deadlines, grading projects, or other reasons to avoid intimacy. That's when he missed her the most. He didn't care about the sex…..he just missed her. Their bodies could always communicate their feelings when one or the other's voice could not.

He was a man alone. As he held his St. Christopher's medal to his heart he began to wonder if God listened to his prayers every night…..about his safety, his life, his children…..and his Bones. He said the prayer he had said every morning for the last few weeks.

God, please keep me safe as I do my duty

Keep Parker and Christine safe from the evil in this world

Please keep Bones safe until Pelant is destroyed.

Please don't let Bones stop loving me.

As he finished his prayers, the alarm went off. Sighing at the prospect of another day in torment, he swung his legs to the side of the bed. "Time to start another day" he grumbled before walking to the bathroom.

A short time later, Booth came down the stairs with Christine. When his daughter smiled at him, it lit up the room and he responded back in kind. He hugged her feeling her love flowing through him. 'I hope I never disappoint you my Princess.'

When he heard the clatter of computer keys, a wave of sadness came through before he put a smile on his face for the woman who appeared before him at the center island with her laptop in front of her. This woman held his heart and soul in her hands, but hers was in pain right now, that he knew. The worst was he knew he was the cause but didn't know how to fix it. So he did what he knew how to do, try to act normally.

"Good morning, Bones. I was just going to make Christine's breakfast and feed her. Can I make you something?"

Bones turned, pushing down her pain with a forced smile of her own, turned to her mate. "No thank you. I am only having coffee." Suddenly she turned to her only light right now and waves her hand. "Hi Honey…..look…dancing phalanges!"

Booth felt the sting, but forced it down. "Say, I was thinking….what about if we called Max and asked him to watch Christine one night this week."

He was greeted with two blue pools of pain as Bones looked up. "Why?"

Suddenly feeling very small, Booth hesitated for a second before responding. "I thought maybe we could do dinner. We've been so busy these last few weeks and we haven't had much time to talk. I've missed talking squint talk with you."

He saw a quick spark in her eyes and got his hopes up before being crushed by the clouds that took over them.

"I'm sorry Booth. This week I have to complete the evaluations for the interns and I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't start working on them as soon as possible to ensure they are not tardy or incomplete."

He swallowed the rejection, feeling the flame all the way to his stomach. Before he could respond, her phone rang.

"Brennan."

Followed by his phone "Booth."

"….okay text me the location."

"….we will be there as soon as we drop of Christine at daycare."

"….we are on our way."

Both hung up simultaneously. Brennan looked up from her phone. "I need to complete getting ready. Can you finish feeding Christine and get her ready to leave?"

Grateful for the communication, Booth jumped in quickly. "Of course, Bones. We will just wait for you in the truck when we are all set."

He went to touch her hand, but she had already maneuvered out of the way towards the stairs. Defeated with tears in his eyes, he turned to his daughter, who was smiling. Her smile made him smile, proud that he had proof of his love for Bones staring at him with identical blue eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, Brennan turned after walking away to watch her mate talk to their daughter. He may have rejected her, but he will always be a wonderful father. The ache in her heart grew too hot, she turned away to finish getting ready for her day.

Dr. Camille Saroyan was one to mind her own business.

Her personal view was people could do what they wanted to do within reason and all she asked in return was to have her privacy respected….at least she did before starting work at the Jeffersonian.

Over the years, she became part of a family that shared their lives, good and bad. Love flourished within these walls. Some was bittersweet, like Dr Lance Sweets and Daisy Wick. Others were an example of second chances, such as Dr. Jack Hodgins and Angela Montenegro, and some were of fate, as with her and Arastoo Vaziri, and then there was the love that combined all three, Dr. Temperance Brennan and FBI Special Agent in Charge Seeley Booth.

Never did she feel jealous of Dr. Brennan after her relationship with Seeley ended. They were meant to be friends and it was better that way. From their "relationship" she gained her best friend in the world. Now her best friend and a woman she considered a good friend as well as colleague were both in pain from their broken engagement.

Of course they didn't say anything of the sort, but the ones who loved them the most could tell there was a distance between them. Of course they had solved cases together in the last few weeks, but Booth's visits to the lab lessened as Dr. Brennan's time in Limbo had increased.

As she weighed the heart of the patient she was working on, she pondered further. 'Booth accepting a proposal of marriage from his Bones, then changing his mind?'

The Seeley Booth she knew for the last twenty years had always wanted marriage, a home with the white picket fence, and a family inside. Being with Dr. Brennan and having Christine and Parker was his dream come true. Everyone who came in contact with their partnership knew that fate brought them together and knew how much Booth wanted to marry Temperance. However, he loved her enough to accept her views on marriage and wanted to be with her no matter what.

Dr. Saroyan put aside the heart, recorded her measurements and weighed the brain. She saw the total weight, but didn't move the brain as she was consumed with one thought.

Seeley Booth would never hurt Temperance Brennan without a good reason. What she saw was a man with torment in his eyes and a woman drowning in hurt. As she continued to think more, she stopped at a thought. Before she could ponder further, she was distracted by a voice.

"Dr Saroyan?"

Cam turned to see Finn Abernathy looking at her as to ask a question. "Yes, Mr. Abernathy."

"Sorry to make a mess of your thoughts, but Dr. Brennan wanted to me to check on how long it would be until she could have the skull to examine."

"Of course. I am sorry. Here you go. Just needs to be cleaned."

Finn took the skull, but didn't leave yet. "Ma'am, if I may speak plainly?"

"Of course."

"You looked like your bee hive was full of angry bees. Is there anything I can do to help, Ma'am?

Cam was confused until she figured out what Finn was getting at, and then smiled at the polite young man. "No Finn, but thank you for your concern."

Finn tipped his hat. "You're welcome, Ma'am". He turned and walked out.

Cam followed his path to the platform where he handed the skull to Dr. Brennan, where she gestured and he left a moment later to follow her directions. She continued to watch Dr. Brennan. To the outside eye, she looked very dedicated to her work at the moment, but Cam saw her slumped shoulders and her lack of bounce that she always had with a new set of remains. She turned to remove her gloves and wash her hands. That done, she went and sat down at her desk and stared off into thought.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this shit if it's the last thing I do."