Last Chance

Ok, here's something I came up with after watching the 100th episode for the third time and here is how I would like to see it resolved in the season finale.

It contains slight spoilers for the remaining episodes, so if you want to remain unspoiled don't continue reading. Please let me know what you think

He was leaving. For a year, to the place that brought him more pain and horror than any other. And I was the reason.

I can still remember the day when we confessed all to Sweets. When we told him of the day we kissed and almost ended up in bed together after consuming too much tequila. Sweets had pushed him, pushed him to act on his feelings and pushed him to tell me. When he did tell me, I had to push back and push away; there was no way I could let him be with me.

I had to do what I told him, I had to protect him from me. I was no good at relationships or love and I could never be what he wanted, what he needed. After he had kissed me outside I knew that I had to push him away, he needed someone to love him in 30 or 40 or 50 years, and it was clear that I could not be that person.

He said he had to move on, to find that person, the one who could be with him, they way he needed. I wanted to be that person, god, how much I wanted to be her, but deep down I knew that I couldn’t change and I would only end up hurting him more and that was something I couldn’t bear. I know I was pushing it by asking him to remain partners, but I needed to be with him somehow, if not the way I wanted, at least to have a small piece of him to hold on to.

It was when he met Dr Bryar, when I first felt the full impact of my decision. He had told me he had to move on and find someone, but it still hurt incredibly to know that I wasn’t that person anymore. She was exactly who he needed, she was beautiful, smart, and wanted what he wanted. She was a perfect fit, I knew she would make him happy. I only wanted him to be happy, but why did it have to hurt so much.

That was why I decided to go on the dig. To create space between us and give him the space he would need to get on with his life and the space I would need to move on and try to compartmentalise as best as I could. I was so determined to go, to leave and eventually come back with a clear head. It was a few days later that he told me he was leaving, that he was going to help with army training for a year.

I knew I didn’t want him to go, because then once he left, when he came back, there would be no chance. But, I had already given up my chance, I gave it up and he was trying to move on and make things better, that was up until yesterday, when the last person I expected came and talked to me.

*******
“Hey, Dr. B Can I talk to you for a second?” Dr. Hodgins asked knocking on my office door.

“Umm ok,” I answered gesturing for him to enter.

“Ok, I am going to get straight to the point. Remember when we were stuck in that car, when we were running out of air and I told you that I was in love with Angela. I know that when I came out if I hadn’t told her that when I came out, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. Yes, things went askew for a while, but look at us now, we are back together and stronger as ever. I don’t want you to regret anything, if you have the chance to be happy,” he said.

“What are you saying?”

“I am saying, don’t go on the dig. Go and stop Booth, this is your last chance. You love him, you have always loved him, I have known that since the car, you can’t let this pass you by because you are scared. Life is full of regrets, don’t make him one of them,” he said before leaving the room quietly.

I was shocked that he had come to me like that, I would have expected Angela, Sweets, heck even Cam would have put her two cents worth in, but he usually stayed out of things and let things flow. I knew he was right, I had to stop Booth and tell him how I feel.

**********
That is how I had come to be inside a cab driving to the airport, trying to get the driver to go faster. I know that I am cutting it fine, hw will need to go through customs and all that so he would need to be through early. I can see the airport up ahead and urge the driver to speed it up for the last leg. As soon as the driver stops I leap out of the car chucking whatever cash I have handy and slammed the door shut.

Once I got into the airport, I realised I had no idea where to look. I knew that I couldn’t go any further than the initial gate and I would have to have to search the airport for customs and hope he hadn’t gone through yet. I rushed through the hallways, hoping that I wasn’t too late, to at least say goodbye.

When I finally found what I presumed to be the customs entrance, there was a huge line. I quickly scanned the line and searched for his face, I must not have been looking hard enough, because I couldn’t have sworn he wasn’t there and then when I turned around to leave I heard his voice.

“Bones.” I turned towards the voice like my life depended on it and searched for where it was coming from. Then I finally saw him, he was standing in the middle of the line surrounded by many. When he saw me turn around he seemed to walk a little closer towards me so, I walked over to him before I lost my courage and backed out of what had brought me there in the first place.

“Bones, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be on your dig?” he asked when we were in earshot of each other.

“Umm, can I talk to you? I will be quick, and then you can get back into the line,” I told him. He was hesitant at first but then agreed and followed me a few metres away from the line of people.

“What’s this about?” he asked, almost nervously.

“I am not going on the dig. I changed my mind, I have realised that life shouldn’t be about regrets and I shouldn’t let good things go,” I told him looking up at him.

“What are you talking about Bones?”

“I love you, Booth. I don’t want you to leave, because I know if you do then that means you will move on and you will get the thirty, or forty or fifty years with someone else and I will be stuck here, wondering what it would have been like if it had been me. You said we should change the outcome, I want to change the outcome,” I told him, I could feel tears beginning to form in my eyes. I was terrified that he would be the one to reject me this time, tell me I was too late, that he had already moved on.

“Bones, I love you too,” He said, before I could say anything he kissed me firmly like he had that night. I felt tears falling down my cheeks and I knew they wouldn’t stop. After a moment we both had pulled back and he spoke again. “Listen, I have committed to go to this training, but I have only said definitely for a month, I need to keep my word and do my duty. You go on your dig for a month and I will go do my thing, then when we come back, we will sort through all of this, ok.”

I knew this way would work; I need time to go through things before being in a relationship with him. I nodded in response and he simply hugged me. This simple gesture made me feel safe, loved and the happiest I had in a long time. He quickly kissed me again and told me that he loved me and said he needed to go to so he would be on time. He said he would call me as often as he could and he couldn’t wait to see me again.

Reluctantly I let go of him a he relined up and waited to go through the gates. When he was at the front of the line he turned around and waved at me before he was ushered through. As I saw the last glimpse, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I leisurely turned and began to make my way out of the airport, feeling lighter and lucky that I had finally taken someone’s advice and it hadn’t backfired.

this made me cry... i loved it

Here's a little chapter from Hodgins POV, I will proabably write a couple more chapters after this one, focusing on some of the others and their reactions. Please let me know what you think

I know I wasn't the only one to notice, but I was the only one to do anything about it.

Booth for obvious reasons didn't say anything, he was involved in the reason she was the way she was. I know he would have loved to have helped her and made her feel better or woken her up to reality, but there wasn't much he could do for her at this point. Cam, although now considered as part of the Jeffersonian family, wasn't into really dealing with Brennan's personal problems. They didn't have that kind of relationship.

Angela, her best friend, didn't even do anything. I know she could see something was off, heck we had all noticed since they had gone to talk to Sweets about his book. But, she hadn't spoken up either, I assume she was too involved in what was happening in our lives to bother to help out and aid her friend. What really pissed me off was that Sweets, who I assumed somehow was the root of all this upheaval, sat back watching like a little boy watching a hamster run around a wheel in its cage. Watching and waiting for something to happen, but never helping or intervening.

I had recognised the look on her face when she stumbled into the lab uncharacteristically, that morning after. It was a look of fear, disappointment and the look of someone who was completely lost and scared. It reminded me of when we were buried, she had that same look various times then, I am sure I showed held it as well from time to time during those gruelling 12 or so hours.

But this was different somehow; it had a mixture of something else, something that was foreign, a look of loss. I know she has suffered great loss in her life, but she has never let it shown, which only proves to me what she has lost. The most important person in her life, the one person who knows her inside out and would do anything for her.

That was why a month later I was in the position to give her a rare piece of advice. I hoped that if it came from me she would listen and hopefully not lose the most precious thing ever. I had seen her leave the lab quickly after I had spoken with her, and I hoped it meant that I had knocked some sense into her. It was hours later when I saw her return, which made me slightly worried, but when I saw the huge smile on her face when she crossed my path, I knew the world was once again turning on it's axis.

Her smile was infectious and as I walked into Angela's office to ask if she was ready to leave she asked what I was smiling about and all I could do was kiss her and let my smile become even wider knowing I had helped restore her happiness.

First part is Angela's POV, second is Cam's POV

I was happy, excited, over the moon and any other adjective you could think of to describe my delight to what had transpired between Hodgins and me in the past few weeks.

We had surprisingly been arrested, which had been a blessing in disguise. Somehow it had brought us back together and resulted in us getting back together, in jail of all places. We had both decided on a spur of the moment to elope to Vegas and get married. As soon as we were released we were on his private plane and were there and back in a flash and came back, finally after about 4 years, as newlyweds.

I knew we had some of our previous issues to work through, just as all people in a relationship did, but now at least we both knew what it was like being apart and we knew we didn't like it at all. I had begun thinking about re-starting things with Hodgins for a while now, maybe since his offer when I had my pregnancy scare, it really put things into perspective for me and I realised that he was the one I was meant to spend the rest of my life with.

Perhaps that was why I hadn't noticed anyone else around me. It must have happened about a month ago. She had come in one morning late, which was a rarity for her. At first I hoped it meant she had finally done the dirty with studly, but I could tell by her stance that it wasn't the case. I chose not to say anything; she would probably just say she was fine and push me out of her office. I knew it was somehow connected to Booth, but it was most likely one of those things that would just blow over.

When she informed us she was going on a dig I knew that something serious had happened and when a few days later, Booth announced he was going to train rangers for a year, I knew my suspicions were correct, but again I did nothing. A month later I saw Hodgins go into Brennan's office looking very serious and determined. I originally thought it was work related, but when he came out again I peered in and saw a slight tear run down her cheek and saw her rushing out of her office, faster than I had ever seen her leave the lab. When I looked over to Hodgins I gave him a questioning look and he just ignored me and got back to work.

It was an hour later when Brennan returned and she was happier and Hodgins came over to me and was happier and I knew life was good again.

*********

I have known him for years, most of that time as a friend and for some of those years more intimately than that.

He is one of the happiest guys I have ever met; he is charming, handsome, and funny; basically anything you could want in a guy. But recently I had noticed his downfall. He had looked less and less like himself; he was more moody and became more irritable than ever. And whenever I questioned him about it he would ignore me with the same emotionless look in his eye.

I wasn't stupid, I knew what the root of all this trouble was, it was her. I knew this because she was carrying around an identical attitude and both had started at the same time. And that only concluded that he had told her, and she hadn't been ready, and now they were both completely miserable. She was becoming more and more like the person she was when I had first arrived at the lab, she was retreating into her work and ignoring everything else.

It didn't help that he was practically parading the fact that he was moving on and finding a new someone in his life and only to make matters worse, someone who was so much like her. It was obvious things hadn't gone the way they should have and now two people were paying the price.

I knew that it had gotten particularly bad when I received information that Booth was no longer going to be the liaison to the Jeffersonian. When I had asked him about it and told me he was going back for duty for a year, I knew it was at its worst. Especially when only days before I was informed that Dr. Brennan was going on a dig for an unknown amount of time, luckily a few days later that was changed and the trip was cancelled. I was very surprised when I received an e-mail the day Booth was leaving saying he would only be gone a month.

It made more sense when a week after that when Hodgins and Angela were leaving for their honeymoon that I saw a knowing smile between Hodgins and Brennan when I realised what had happened and I only hoped that soon, I could be informed fully on all the details.

Sweets' POV

The dam had broken, just like it had before, except this time there was more at stake.

I know this because over the last three years I have studied them, watched them interact with each other. I had seen them at what I had thought at the time was their worst. I saw that they had a relationship that was stronger than some people in a marriage had, because they trusted each other with everything they had. She gave him all she had and he gave as much as he could, but it worked well, well it had until I had pushed him to change it.

It may have been because I was feeling in a romantic mood because of my situation with Daisy or maybe I actually truly thought that he had a shot. But, I never thought that it would turn out the way it did. Little did the two of them know that I had watched them that night, if only for a moment, I saw him go towards her and when I saw her push away, I knew I had made a horrible mistake.

I was reminded of how badly I stuffed up when I was informed that neither had shown up to work on time the next day, which was extremely unusual, especially for her. I tried calling both of them to get them in for a 'make-up' session, but when I did both adamantly refused and said they were too busy. I was sure that she had pushed him away, but not for the reasons everyone who didn't know her would think. They would all say she was heartless, a cold fish and he was lucky he didn't waste time on her.

But after I betrayed her trust two years ago by withholding serious information, I know that is not the case. She is scared, terrified that she is not enough for him, worried that he may see that and leave her as soon as something better comes along. I don't know if he was aware of that, he may just think that she doesn't feel the same.

I have felt terrible about the poking and prodding I did that night, when I see the defeated looks on their faces. I felt sick when I was informed that they were no longer required to come to couples therapy, because for the time being they were no longer partners. I knew when he became involved with someone else was when she made her decision, the reason for her leaving and then counteract for him leaving. It was when I received a call from Daisy saying she was taking her place on the dig that I was feeling the most optimistic I had in weeks, even though I would miss my fiancé like hell, it meant things were moving forward.

Then I was informed via e-mail that he was only gone a month was when I nearly leapt for joy. The dam was being rebuilt, albeit slowly, but it was a start.

First part is Booth's POV, second part is Brennan's POV

It had been one of the longest months of my life.

I had spent years away in the army. Month after month of doing the same thing day in and day out, and yet it had never felt as dragged out as this. Perhaps it was the fact that then I didn't have anything in particular waiting at home for me. I was pretty much a one man show then, no one waiting, therefore nothing to look forward to. This time I had the rest of my life to look forward to. A career I loved, a son I adored and the woman I loved and who, which was still an adjustment, loved me too.

As hard as it had been being away from everyone for so long, I had enjoyed the time to myself to be able to think. It sounds really stupid but when you are around other people your thoughts seem to be censored as if someone else can tell what you're thinking. And even though I was surrounded by people the whole time I was away, they were all unfamiliar so it didn't matter.

I am now on a plane headed back towards Washington DC, back home, the place I had wanted to be for the last 30 days. It seemed surreal that I would be back home in less than an hour. I hadn't seen her since the day she had poured her heart out to me in front of the line at customs, I had briefly spoken to her, even just to make sure that things were still the same between us. She had assured me every time that she was still in and was patiently waiting for me to come back.

It was obvious in her voice and her words that she had given our relationship a great deal of thought over this time. She seemed lees worried and nervous about it which was a good sign. When I had talked to her last she was sounding very excited about me coming home and I was glad that was the case. I checked the time and I still have about half an hour to go, so I shut my eyes to hopefully be able to be relaxed by the time the plane lands.

**********

I had stupidly arrived at the airport half an hour early, as if that would make the plane come quicker.

I was patiently, well as patiently as I could, waiting near the terminal for Booth's plane to arrive back on American soil and for him to walk through customs. It was irrational that I had missed him so much, considering we had only been apart a month, we have been apart longer than that before. Like after his brain surgery, that was about six weeks and even before that, we have been able to go with out seeing each other for weeks at a time.

But, even I with my limited social skills knew it was different this time. This time we were both had something else to have when we were reunited, something more important than our partnership and work. We had a lot of work to do in this area but the sooner we were actually in the same country, the more we could move forward and sort out our issues. I know I have many issues, mainly abandonment issues which definitely need to be addressed, but never have I had a better reason to sort things out.

Over the past 30 days I had been given time to reflect on certain things, I honestly considered what would have happened if Booth had rejected me at the airport like I had that night on the steps. I realised that I had been given a huge opportunity that many may never have the chance to get and the only thing I know to do is to give it my best and my all and not to regret it.

I also have made sure to remind myself to tell Booth everyday that I love him. So that he doesn't again think that I don't, because it has never been that I don't it's been because I don't think I am worthy of his love. I have always had the ability to think about thinks so much that I loose track of time.

It wasn't until I felt two arms around me that I realised how lost in thought I had been, the warmth the arms brought, brought with them an instant smile to my face.

thats the best ending i read!!!!