Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I certainly don't profit from them, but I do enjoy taking them out from time to time to take them on my adventures.

Author's Note: This is a work in progress and as such, I hope you'll come along for the ride. And while there may be a case involved here, the title is there for a reason because at the heart of Bones we know that our favorite 'non-couple' is meant to be together in the end.

Paw Paw, West Virginia was little more than a wide spot in the road compared to the sprawl of the DC metro area, but that didn't mean that the outskirts of the small hamlet wasn't the perfect place for a crime scene. Special Agent Seeley Booth had been barking orders around the burned out shell of what had once been a single-wide mobile home, the result of an apparent arson, while his partner Dr. Temperance Brennan examined the charred human remains that had been found inside.

"Victim appears to be a female in her mid to late twenties." It was the fourth victim that Brennan had examined. All of them had been found in the one small bedroom in the back of the trailer and given their positioning, she was fairly certain that the smoke had killed them in their sleep before the fire had even reached the bedroom.

Booth furiously scribbled in his notebook and then glanced over at the paunchy county sheriff that had just jogged up, seemly out of breath at the effort.

"Apparently, a couple of gals and two kids moved in over the weekend. Trailer was empty before that." The lawman resembled a bulldog that the buttons on his shirt were having a hard time trying to contain.

"Names?" Booth was impatient. They had driven three and half hours to get out here from Washington and it was apparent by the lack of progress they had made in the five hours they'd been here that he and Bones would be spending the night.

"Working on that right now." The sheriff huffed and then scratched his beefy jowl as he surveyed the scene. "Your lady there seems to be moving awfully slow." He wasn't used to these scientific city folks – out here you got the body to the county morgue as quick as possible. She seemed to take her time about putting the poor fried folks into body bags.

"My partner is the best in her field, so if I were you, Sheriff Murdock, I'd let her do her job." Booth gave the man a pointed gaze and made it damn clear that this was his jurisdiction now.

"Sure thing, Agent Booth." If this FBI bigwig was going to make a federal stink out of things, he was more than happy to back off – less paperwork for him that way.

Brennan pursed her lips together as she interjected her own comment. "Sheriff, a slow methodical examination of the remains prior to moving them provides us with evidence that might be destroyed if we summarily tossed them into a body bag."

He simply nodded.

Booth puffed his chest out just a little bit and smiled smugly.

Brennan zipped the last of the body bags closed and stood up, brushing a stray piece of hair back with the sleeve of her coveralls. "I want forensics to send the remains back to the Jeffersonian."

"What, you don't want the entire trailer too?" Booth was only half joking – ever since she'd requested that Gormogon's entire vault be moved to the Jeffersonian, nothing she asked for surprised him anymore.

"Yes, I do actually." She stepped carefully out of the rubble. "But I want to gather more samples first and make sure that we've gotten everything we can while it's still in place." Moving an entire trailer was certain to disrupt things and she wanted to make sure that things were left in context as much as possible while they did their investigation.

"So you folks are gonna need another day then." The sheriff came to his own conclusion and he pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number. "Only one place to stay in town, I'll make some arrangements for you."

"One hotel, huh?" Booth was a little surprised there was even the one given the size of the town – he only hoped that they had more than one room.

"I'm sure whatever accommodations they have will be fine, Booth," Brennan interjected, pulling off her heavy duty rubber gloves.

"This is Sheriff Murdock and I've got a couple of FBI folks here that are gonna need a room for the night." He smiled into the phone at whoever it was that answered on the other end.

"Two rooms. We're going to need two rooms." It was a tie as to which of them said it first.

"Make that two rooms if you've got 'em." He smirked a little as if the lightning quick response amused him. "Ok, then, I'll tell this fella here how to get there." He clicked off the call and glanced back over to the agent and his partner.

"We're going to need the area secured overnight." Booth was ready to call in additional law enforcement if the sheriff couldn't pony up and provide them.

"Got a couple of guys coming in for some overtime to help you out." As much as he knew the agent was trying to take charge, he wasn't easily bullied, but he also knew how to secure a crime scene by the book – so by the book it was.

"Where is the hotel?" Brennan was anxious to clean up and maybe grab a bite to eat before calling the Jeffersonian and checking her email. Hopefully, there was a restaurant that had at least one dish that was vegetarian friendly.

"Grandma's Country Kitchen and Inn is down the road a ways, maybe a mile or two. You follow the highway and then turn right at the Gas-N-Sip and it's up on your left just a short ways up." The Sheriff hoped that his duty was done for the night. He still had about a quarter of the county to patrol. As it was they'd had to call in extra hands just to cover this scene with the FBI.

"Of course it is," Booth muttered under his breath. He only hoped that 'Grandma' could cook as well as the name of her establishment implied because the last food he'd had was too long ago for his stomach to remember.

Brennan shot him a pointed glance before turning her attention to the sheriff. "Thank you." There wasn't much they were going to accomplish out here with the daylight quickly fading.

"Right then – I'll secure the premises and see you at first light." The sheriff seemed to see the matter as closed and turned and walked off in the direction of his squad car, presumably to wait until his back up arrived.

Brennan's mind shifted into overdrive. "I should call Cam and let her know the remains are on their way. Hodgins will want to check for particulates. And..."

Booth interrupted, "And I'm sure that they've all gone home for the day." He offered her a smile. "Let's get something to eat and then you can leave Cam a message." He was sure that even Bones knew the rest of the squints didn't lurk around the Jeffersonian the way that she did – especially when they didn't have a case to work on. He had a few phone calls of his own to make – starting with getting a flatbed semi out to bring the trailer back to DC.

The charm in his smile seemed to work because she easily caved. "I am hungry and maybe a little tired too. And we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." She was already mentally prioritizing the next day's tasks.

He began to propel her in the direction of the SUV and he could swear he could hear the gears turning inside of that pretty head of hers. He inwardly chuckled. "Well, let's just see what 'Grandma' has in store. Maybe if we're lucky she'll have pie."

"I don't see what luck has to do with it. Many eating establishments serve pie," Brennan remarked and then launched into the benefits of a well balanced diet including vegetables as the central focus of the meal.

Booth made a mental note to have that pie of his ala mode.