"Cath, Nick, two 419 in Henderson, Warrick and Greg there was shooting on the highway to Boulder, so far one dead man and several injured. You're the back-up for swing. Sara, I've got something special for you. There's a request for a material und element analysis specialist."

"Who requested that?"

"You'll get all the details." Grissom handed Sara a file with one single piece of paper inside.

"That's the diner across the corner."

"Aren't you a lucky woman? Don't let them wait."

"Who is…never mind." Sara knew there was no point in asking him who he meant with them. Grissom decided not to tell her and when he made a decision it was final. Unless he was proved wrong. There was no way she could prove him wrong on this one.

With her kit she made her way to the diner. It was busy as the nightshift had just started and a lot of people from swing shift, who didn't work the highway case, were here to grab a bite or a brew. Sara had no idea who expected her but after somebody asked for her, this person could also find her. Deciding she would start her shift with a coffee today, she went to the bar and ordered her beverage. To go to be on the save side in case she had to leave right away.

Quarter past ten, they were supposed to meet five minutes ago. Were they late or was she at the wrong place. There was only this address and nothing else on the paper, no description of where exactly she had to be. No table number, nothing. Annoyed she spun the plastic cup around when her eyes felt on a woman, who just entered the diner. Dressed in black jeans, black shirt, black boots and sunshades on top of her head, keeping the long blond hair out of her face, she needed only one look to find Sara. An almost invisible smile appeared on Sofia's corner of her mouth. The badge shone in the light while the detective walked straight to Sara.

"Miss Sidle, sorry we're late."

Now Sara saw the woman and man who were behind Sofia. He was over six foot, well built, in a dark suit and there was no further explanation needed to know, he was with the FBI. The woman was around five seven with brown hair and…she looked familiar.

"Special Agent Booth, Doctor Brennan, meet Sara Sidle, your requested specialist."

"Tempe?" When she heard the name she knew why the woman looked familiar.

"Sara…it's been a while…"

"You know each other?" Sofia was surprised.

"Yes. We did…do…" Sara couldn't take her eyes off the other woman. "It's been over twenty years."

"To be exact twenty-three years, eight months, two weeks and two day."

"You haven't changed a bit."

"Neither have you. Beside the fact that you look older."

A little smirk appeared in Sara's corner of the mouth. A typical comment for Temperance. It was good to see her. "So do you. Suits you."

"Do you two mind telling us why you know each other?" Agent Booth asked.

"We were sisters for a while."

"What?"

"You had the same foster parents." Sofia knew about Sara's foster past. It could be the only reason why they were sisters for a while.

"Yes. When I left to go to Harvard my foster parents took Tempe in. We saw each other only for Christmas."

"Two Christmas holidays. After that I came to another family on the east side. Back to where I came from."

"Why did you request me? Did you know I work here?"

"No, we requested an expert on material und element analysis, your boss made the decision it's you. I didn't know about you until I saw you here."

"In that case we should get started." Sara didn't want to spend too much time talking and thinking of her childhood and the time with the foster parents. That weren't the best thoughts and didn't belong to here. This wasn't a social call, it was a work meeting. And when Sara remembered correctly, her former foster sister was here because somebody was dead. "Who is dead?"

"We don't know yet. We need you and your expertise."

"Okay."

"Yesterday a farmer found bones on his field. He called the cops, who called the FBI because of Bones. We came here this afternoon and had a look at the remains."

"The victims is male, Caucasian, in his late thirties. Cause of death is undetermined at the moment. We can ship everything back to the Jeffersonian but apparently the local cops prefer us working with them." Brennan looked at Sofia.

"The body was found in our jurisdiction."

"You're making things harder."

"With the dead body in Nevada it's likely the killer is here too. You find out who the victim is, we find the killer, case closed."

"Who else of LVPD is involved?" Sara asked.

"Doc Robbins, you and me."

"Are the remains with Doc Robbins?"

"Yes."

"In that case I should go there too. Or do you have anything else for me?"

"We collected some evidence, it's in the car."

"Okay, I start processing it."

Sofia closed the door behind herself when she came in the room where Sara was working.

"Anything new?" The brunette didn't look up.

"You tell me."

"I found a few fibers and will work on them later. They asked if I could do all the…" The rest of Sara's sentence was washed away by a kiss. Sofia pressed her lips firmly on Sara's.

"We're on duty." Sara's protest was halfhearted. Her hands got around the blonde's waist and pulled her closer. Thank god she was in a room without windows to the hallway. The last thing she needed was that her colleagues found about her relationship to the detective.

"I'm aware of that. It will take some time before we can go home and I didn't want to wait this long."

"Good decision. Where are our guests?"

"Your sister is with Doc Robbins and Agent Booth with Brass."

"That leaves you here alone with me."

"Unfortunately I need to go too. Give me a call when you're ready to leave."

"Okay. Take care, Detective."

"Ditto." Sofia kissed Sara one last time and left the room.

With a sigh Sara got her attention back on the evidence. As much as she liked these little secret visits of her lover, there was always the danger that somebody came into the room, surprised them, found out about them. Their relationship was fresh, only a month, and she had no intention to make it public. She didn't need any comments on her private life and she didn't need whisper and knowing looks from officers and colleagues when Sofia and she worked the same case. Plus it was possible Grissom and Brass decided they didn't want them on the same cases anymore. It had taken a while until Sara enjoyed working with the blonde, she didn't want to lose her as a colleague – not only because they were in love.

She was in love! A smile appeared on her face. Deeply in love. How great was that? After her little intermezzo with Grissom, that showed both they were perfect as friends and colleagues but not as lovers, she was with somebody who seemed to be perfect for her. Without any exceptions.

"Where are you staying?"

"MGM Grand." Brennan washed her hands. "Did you find something?"

"I found out what he wore, I gave you and Agent Booth the list. Unfortunately it was nothing special, jeans, flannel shirt. I gave both two our trace guy, he can maybe give you some more information. About the unknown substance you found on the bones, it's copper. Again I gave it to Hodges, he might be able to tell you where the copper is from."

"Thanks. Doc Robbins and me are sure cause of death was blunt forced trauma to the head. The weapon was something smaller, we couldn't define it yet. I send a 3 dimensional photo of the skull to the Jeffersonian for facial reconstruction."

"Okay." Sara waited a heartbeat, not sure if she should the question she had in mind. "How tired are you?"

"I'm awake since thirty-six hours. Why?"

"Do you want to have breakfast?"

"I understand Las Vegas is open 24/7 and has all kind of food…do you know a good vegetarian restaurant, that serves breakfast?"

"I know a few but they suck when it comes to breakfast."

"Then it's coffee and a bagel."

"You can over to my place for breakfast, I don't live far away from The Strip. You can see a few casinos from my balcony. Maybe we catch up a little bit before we go to bed. I bet there won't be any time after we solved case, the best anthologist in the US must be a busy person."

"Actually I'm best in the world."

"Of course." Sara laughed.

"I am."

"I didn't doubt that. You were as a child already the best at school and told the teacher when they were wrong."

"I got grounded for that. They punish you for the truth."

"School is a strange place. Shall we call your agent?"

"Booth is in his room, there was nothing left to do for him."

"Okay, shall I drive?"

"Yes. I take a taxi home."

Did Sara just arranged a breakfast date for herself? With one of her old foster sisters? The world best anthropologist.

"What do you want on your bagels?" Sara asked when they were in her condo.

"Cheese, jam, whatever you have."

"Want some eggs?"

"No, thanks." Brennan walked around the living room, took a good look at the book shelves. They weren't related but she and Sara had a few things in common. Not only the same foster family, they were both highly intelligent, liked books and used their skills to bring justice to victims. They both worked for dead people.

With a tray Sara came in her living room. "Found anything you're interested in?"

"Do you have any books that aren't work related?"

"Yes. One. Yours."

"Mine? Which one?"

"Your first novel. When I saw it I bought it. How much is your fiction character like you?"

"We're both smart, beautiful and successful."

"True."

"She's a fiction and I'm real." Brennan sipped on her coffee. "Since when are you and Detective Curtis together?"

"I beg your pardon?" Sara almost dropped her bagel. Why would Brennan asked such a question? How did she get the impression she and Sofia were a couple?

"You and Detective Curtis. Your body language told me you're more than colleagues. I thought first you're friends but there's obviously more than friendship between you and her. The smile you gave her, the way she looks at you, it's obvious."

"Do me a favor and keep it to yourself." There was no point in denying something that was true. When Brennan said she was the best, she was right. Less than five minutes and she knew that Sara and Sofia were more than friends or colleagues.

"Is it a problem?"

"I don't know and I like to keep my private life private. My relationship with Sofia is nobody's business and when we tell everybody, we might get a lot of comments from colleagues. When your colleagues worry more about your private life than about the work you do, it's bad for the job."

"And for your work attitude. I like yours, you live for your job."

"Yes. I did." Sara leant back with her coffee, sipped on it.

"You did? What changed it?"

The front door was opened and Sofia's voice came from the hallway. "I'm home. Sorry I let you wait I had to…oh…I didn't know..."

"Sorry I didn't tell you. I asked Tempe to have breakfast with us." Sara moved aside so there was some space for Sofia on the armchair. "She knows. Saw it. I told you, she's the best."

"Apparently." Sofia sat next to Sara, a little bit uneasy. She didn't know doctor Brennan, met her last night the first time and the woman knew already more about Sofia than her friends and family.

"I don't mind you and Sara together and I promised her I won't tell anybody."

"Thanks. For both. Some people do mind."

"My best friend is married with our colleague. It had never been a problem. As long as you do your job it doesn't matter."

"We do our job."

"Only a little bit more carefully because somebody is waiting for me to come home." Sofia smiled and took Sara's coffee. Her lover worried about her, needed to know she was okay. So yes, Sofia took more often a bullet proofed vest, sent more often a text when she ran late to let Sara know, she was fine and would be home soon. All these little things she never thought about before. Before Sara Sofia was sure, if somebody couldn't handle her job, couldn't handle what she did, it wasn't the person who was meant for her. Now she understood worrying about your partner, asking where the other was, had nothing to do with lack of trust. It was human nature, it was love.

"Do you both live here?"

"No, it's Sara's place. I've my own place."

"Because you said you're back home."

"I'm a creature of habit. It feels like home. Home is where your heart is."

"No, actually home is where…"

"Tempe, she didn't mean it literally." Sara stopped her former foster sister. "Sofia, Tempe tempts to take everything literally. If you say home is where your heart is, she'll explain that your home has nothing to do with your heart."

"All right. This feels like home because Sara lives here, I love her and spend a lot of time here. More than in my condo. Why are we most times at your place, Honey?"

"Because it's closer to the department and we like to be there ASAP when we get called in. Plus I've the better diner around the corner and better parking."

"True."

"What if your colleagues see you leaving? Won't they ask questions?"

"They will. I'm here for a work related breakfast." Sofia sighed. It was complicated, it made her life more difficult but at the moment she saw no other choice than living in a lie. They were both aware of the fact it couldn't go on like this forever. Right now, it was the best choice.

"Talking about work. I should go to my casino room and get some sleep. We have to be back in the lab in a few hours."

"True. Are you fine with your way back?"

"If the taxi takes longer than half an hour I call detective Curtis and let her arrest the driver."

"I can do that." Sofia laughed.

"Okay. Maybe we can catch up later."

"There will be a few more breaks. I've no idea how long after we solved the case Booth and me will stay, but I've got your number now."

"Ditto." From all of her foster siblings Temperance was the one Sara had relied on most. They understood each other, they were both into science, both very intelligent and both got out of the system faster through school.

"We identified the victim, Detective Curtis and Agent Booth are working with the new information. What do you have?" Brennan didn't bother to greet Sara when she came into the room.

"I've got a piece of a hammer."

"A hammer?"

"Yes. Your murder weapon. The blunt side of a hammer. I've got a model and a list of shops that sell this hammer. It's also with Sofia and Agent Booth."

"Good job, Sara."

"Thanks. The fingerprints were all from the vic but I found some soil that wasn't on his shoes. It could be taken in the room by the killer. Hodges runs it and narrows the area down for us. Plus traffic control found his car. I'm on my way there, do you want to join me?"

"Why would that help?"

"Evidence. A feeling for the victim. Two smart heads are better than one."

"We're not smart, we're brilliant."

Sara smiled. In some ways Tempe reminded her of Sofia. Like the detective Tempe was very sure of herself, could be smug and arrogant. And like Sofia she had a good reason for that because she was exactly what she said: the best and brilliant.

"Two brilliant women are even better. Come on, I drive."

"Why am I always the passenger?"

"In this case because I know the way. In other cases you need to ask Booth."

"He says it's his car so he drives."

"He has a point." Sara gave her keys to Brennan. "I program the GPS and you will be as fast I would be."

"Thanks." They got into the car, Sara typed in the address of their destination and sat back.

"Since when are you in Las Vegas?"

"Eight years."

"Why Vegas?"

"The lab is the best."

"Good reason."

"The Jeffersonian is the best lab for you?"

"Yes. I work with the FBI, have my freedom and I'm the boss."

"You run the Jeffersonian?"

"No, I run my part of it. My boss and me we have an agreement."

"And Agent Booth. Are you work partners or also more?"

"We're not like you and Sofia."

"That's a shame."

"Why?"

"He seems to be a nice guy and he's sexy."

"Yes, his DNA should be good and I think we fit perfectly together."

"What stops you from getting him?"

"He's involved with somebody else."

"Oh. Sorry."

"That's okay. We're partner."

"He could be the right one."

"I don't believe in there's only one partner for you. Human beings are not meant to be with one partner, we need variety."

"To all due respect for your brilliant brain, I think there's the perfect one for everybody."

"Sofia is your perfect one?"

"It's too early to be sure but it feels like it right now."

"Didn't you think that all the time when the chemical reaction…"

"Call it love, Tempe. Even when there's no scientific evidence for what we call love."

"There's an explanation…"

"Love, Tempe."

"We should get back to the case, that's realistic."

Sara was sure her love for Sofia was real too. Like she was sure Tempe wouldn't agree on that.

"It was a pleasure working with you." Sofia said.

"Same here, Detective Curtis. You could make a great career with the FBI. Why don't you come with us?"

"Thanks but no thank you."

"What keeps you here? The pay with the FBI is better, the challenges are bigger."

"There are some things you can't get with money." Sofia smiled at Sara who sat next to Brennan. They were in the little diner not too far away from Sara's condo. A few hours ago they closed the case and both parties were satisfied with the work of the other.

"Maybe we can get Miss Sidle with us too."

"There was a time when I wanted to join the FBI." Sara told them while her hand found Sofias under the table.

"Why not now?"

"I've got everything I want here. Everything I need."

"What if you can take her with you."

"What do you think?"

"I think these people from the east coast are quite good in figuring out who is involved with whom." Sofia wondered if her colleagues really had no clue about Sara and her when two stranger found out in only three days. Or Brennan told him?

"I'm an FBI agent, I can read people."

"We help you out in case you need some experts again, that's all we can offer."

"And you come over for a visit." Brennan said. "Promise, Sara?"

"Sure. A little trip to my little sister, sightseeing in D.C. and teaching the FBI how to solve cases. We can do that, can't we Sofia?"

"Absolutely." And if Sara had wanted Sofia would go with her to Washington and join the FBI. Whatever it took to stay wit her lover, Sofia would do it.