"I can look after myself you know," Brennan said for the fifth time tonight.

"Yeah I know Bones," Booth said with another exasperated sigh."Anyway this is more for my protection than yours."

"How do you figure that?" Bones looked at him with her Are You Stupid look.

"Well The Grave Digger's already gone after you, so I figure I'm next, and you know how to make more air and all, so I reckon you'd be good to have around."

"Yeah ok, whatever. I'm going to have a quick shower."

Booth said he'd set up dinner, as he walked into the kitchen.

While padding into her room, Tempe found herself liking the sound of Booth pottering around in her kitchen, but also found herself getting annoyed with the way she was reacting to his presence.

Strange how things change that way, she thought to herself. She got her robe off the back of her door, and stripped down.

"Hey Bones, do you want wine with dinner?" She heard Booth ask through her door.

Wine! Yes, wine is just what she wanted.

"Wine sounds great," She muffled through her shirt.

Putting on her robe, she walked out of her room and stop to stare at Booth as he got dinner set up. He was quite... cute, I guess people call it... when he was being domesticated. They rarely saw each other this way.

The floor creaked beneath her as she shifted her weight onto her left leg. Booth looked up to catch her staring.

"Red or White?" Booth said with a smirk on his face.

Tempe quickly ducked her head and muttered something about Red being more beneficial for the your heart, before disappearing into the bathroom.

Booth pressed play on the stereo for some background noise, since Bones still didn't have a tv, and the sound of her in the shower was kinda more than he wanted to hear at the moment.

Massive Attack's Mezzanine started strumming in the background. He finished setting everything up for dinner on the coffee table, and started drumming on the table. "Damn females and their long showers," Booth grumbled to himself.

He walked into her room and picked up her pile of dirty clothes, saw Jasper sitting on her bedside table, which made him smile. At least she got her pet pig, he thought to himself.

He started off to the laundry, but noticed a piece of crumpled paper had fallen out from the clothes.

"Ooooh, wonder if this is anything juicy Bones."

But as he started reading he started to feel guilty for finding it... All it said was...

Booth,

Ignorance is bliss. There was too much to lose.

Temperance.

P.S. I knew you wouldn't stop searching, and I don't blame you.

Realising this was her last note, in case the worst happened, he felt humbled that it was to him. He realised she knew him a lot better than anyone else, cos if he hadn't found her alive, he would never have forgiven himself. If she had died, it would be like losing a limb. Booth had no idea how he would go on from day to day without her beautifully social awkwardness, her complete oblivion to how people reacted around her. Her naievte. Her trying to use "hip" words and phrases, but not quite getting them, he laughed when he thought back to, "Are you ready for the kickster."

So strong, but yet so fragile, not that she'd let anyone see that. She's "Dr. Temperance Brennan, Forensic Anthropologist for The Jeffersonian", as she liked to spiel as much as she could, which always made him smile. That was her wall to everyone. She was Dr Temperance Brennan, no one argued with her. No one could touch her.

He needed to protect her.

Brennan heard Dissolved Girl playing through the bathroom door, as she shut off the water and dried herself. Funnily everything else was quiet though. No Booth noise.

"Booth?" Brennan called through the door. No reply.

Her heart started racing with the thought of her being alone. She'd never tell Booth, but she needed someone there tonight. And as much as he said it was for his protection, she knew better and was secretly glad he was there.

She put on her robe and stepped out of the bathroom.

Living room and kitchen empty...

Then turned and saw him in her bedroom. Holding her dirty clothes.

"Uh Booth, they're dirty, and I don't think they'd fit you."

Booth's head snapped up like a kid being caught with his hand in the cookie jar an hour before dinner. Dropped the clothes and put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh! Yeah these. yeah, I was, uh, putting them in the laundry for you." He picked up the clothes and came over and gave her shoulder a nudge "Before you snuck up on me that is".

There was a spark in his eyes, that she couldn't place. There was something different about him. Bah! Now he'd gotten her onto the whole psychology way of thinking!

Which is just silly because psychology has no anthropological benefits whatsoever...

"...laundry and then we're set for dinner?"

Brennan's brow furrowed, what was he saying?! Dinner! He said something about dinner!

"Yes... Dinner..."

Booth gave her a wink and his "charm smile" as he passed her. Yep there's definitley something different. Or was it her that had changed?

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