Okay, standard disclaimer, they don't belong to me, yada yada yada... Oh, and this is set after the season 2 finale, but references back to other eps, especially The Killer in the Concrete. Now, on with the fiction-y goodness!

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"Earth to Brennan."

Temperance Brennan looked to the doorway of her office at the Jeffersonian Institute where her best friend, Angela Montenegro was standing, a file in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other.

"What?" Brennan was confused. She hadn't even heard Angela come in.

"Sweetie, I've been talking to you for almost 2 whole minutes! I noticed you weren't paying attention about 30 seconds into it, so I just started throwing out random sentences. I thought for sure telling you that Zack and Cam were flying to Vegas to get married would snap you out of it!" Angela grinned.

"Zack and Cam are doing what?" Brennan gave Angela her complete, albeit shocked, attention.

"Did you not hear me say 'random sentences'?" Angela walked to the couch in Tempe's office and sat down. "Of course they're not flying to Vegas to get married! Besides, Vegas is yours and Booth's," Angela said slyly.

Brennan sighed. "Ang, how many times do I have to tell you, NOTHING happened when Booth and I were in Vegas!"

"Hey, I'm just saying! Besides, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?" Luckily, Angela knew her best friend well enough to know when to stop. "Anyway, I was just on my way back to my office when I saw you in here staring off into space. What's up?" She put on her best concerned friend face.

"What do you mean? Nothing's up." Brennan turned her attention back to the papers on her desk to avoid Angela's all-seeing glare.

"Bren, this is me. Now other people might not notice as easily, but other people don't know you as well as I do. Now for the past few weeks, you have not been yourself." She looked truly concerned.

"What do you mean? I'm me." Brennan looked up at her, genuinely confused.

"No, Sweetie, I mean, you've been you, just different. You seem more distracted, edgy, a little rough around the edges. Have you been sleeping okay?"

"Of course!" Brennan answered just a little too quickly for Angela's liking. "Why would you think I haven't been sleeping?" Once again, the doctor's eyes were intently focused on the papers strewn across her desk.

Angela continued to study her friend as she sipped her coffee. "You seemed to be a little better when you were helping me with the wedding or when we had a case, but now that Jack and I are back from the Dominican Republic, and there really aren't any cases coming in... Bren, when was the last time you actually spent a full night at home, in bed, asleep?"

Tempe continued to pay attention to the things on her desk. "What are you talking about? I went home last night." She was hoping Angela would leave it at that.

This was Angela, she wasn't that lucky. "Specifically, what time did you go home last night?" The artist was looking at her with knowing eyes.

"I don't know, 1 or 1:30." Brennan glanced up at Angela to see if she was buying it. Unfortunately, she wasn't.

"Yeah, I don't think so, Bren." Angela set the file and coffee on the side table and leaned back into the couch. "Now, do you want to try again? And just for the record, I already looked up your sign in and sign out times in the system."

Tempe knew she couldn't get out of this one now. "Okay, so I left at 4am! Are you happy now?" She turned from the papers on her desk to her computer.

"Of course I'm not happy! You left at 4am and signed back in before 6:30 this morning! And I know for a fact that it's not the first time you've done that! It's not even the 4th or 5th time! It's been going on for weeks. Ever since we wrapped up the Kennedy case..." Angela noticed Brennan's typing falter at the mention of the former crime boss. "That's it, isn't it? All of this started when Booth was kidnapped, didn't it?"

Temperance didn't know what to say. Did she deny it and risk Angela seeing right through her? Did she lie and just claim it was because of her father's involvement in the solving of the case? Or did she tell the truth?

"Angela, can you come here for a sec?" Cam's voice carried from the platform into Brennan's office.

Angela stifled a frustrated groan and gave Brennan the Evil Angela Eye. "Saved by the bell this time, but don't think I'm giving up. We'll talk later." She picked up her file and coffee and headed out to the platform.

Alone in her office again, Temperance breathed a small sigh of relief. At least now she had some time to come up with an explanation that would satisfy even the toughest critics... and maybe even Angela if she was lucky.

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Okay, there you have it, folks! 1st chapter! I know it was short, and I'm sorry! I promise the other chapters will be longer. I just had to kinda set the scene with this one, you know? Anyway, please, please, PLEASE do me a favor and hit that little review button! Come on, you know you want to... LoL! Trust me, it is greatly appreciated! And I promise, if you guys want me to continue, I'll update as soon as the hamster in my head can turn his little wheel! Show some luv, people!!!