Title: Goodbye For Now

Plot: When enlisted to help on a grave robbing case, Brennan becomes involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Can Booth and Brennan stop a criminal before it is too late?

Rating: strong PG-13..I think.

Disclaimer: The people who made the characters know who they are. I am just borrowing for my pleasure and hopefully someone else's.

Notes: Ok, so this is my second Bones fic. I tried to stay away from the relationship aspect of Brennan and Booth, but I can't. What can I say, I guess I am a hopeless romantic.

Feedback: Be gentle please: Lab
Jeffersonian Institute
6:34 am

Another night had come to pass with Temperance Brennan sleeping it away hunched over an examination table of the Jeffersonian Insitute. The lights overhead flickered softly and the glass of the roof crackled in the morning sunlight. Gazing upward, Brennan looked at the sunrise, a mix of emotions swirling in her. So much of the time, she paid attention to things that weren't moving anymore. Rarely had she sat and watched the sun come up. An odd calm came over her body, stretching into her muscles and flowing throughout her veins.

"I really need to start sleeping at home", she thought to herself as she rubbed the feeling back into her cheek. But home never really seemed what everyone said it should be. For months, she had been alone. And even when she had someone with her, she was alone then too. Secretly she yearned to be near people, to connect with them on a deeper level than she did. But she also feared letting someone get too close, close enough to see her vulnerable and stripped of the confidence she seemed to have seeping out of her most of the time.

"I think I see a little bit of drool there," Booth smiled to her, pointing at the desk where she had been sleeping. He pulled a chair up beside her and leaned back a bit, almost losing his balence. "Why are you out so early?" Brennan asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Maybe the real question is why you aren't asleep in your nice bed at home," he laughed. He was dressed in a navy suit, neatly pressed as always and a white shirt, crisp and clean under his jacket. A navy tie was tucked under the fold where his suit came together. Brennan closed her eyes as the scent of cologne and soap wafted into her nose. She so missed the smell of a man and what it felt to wake up beside one in the morning.

"How do you know my bed is nice? And besides, I asked you first," she said with a smirk. Booth leaned back in his chair again. "I told you Bones. You can't ask a personal question without offering something back," he shot at her. The words still rang in her head, ever since the first time he had said that. Maybe to avoid any further incident with Booth, she had to tell him something that she really didn't want anyone else knowing. Her gut had an uneasy feeling but she blurted out an answer to him.

"It's quiet and lonely. And I guess sometimes I get scared," Brennan sighed, letting her voice trail off toward the end of her comment. "Temperance, ass kicking, flesh handling, bone digging Brennan gets scared?" Booth asked with amusement oozing out of his voice and a smile curling on his lips. A hot heat rushed into Brennan's face and she let her fist collide with his shoulder. "You rat bastard! You set me up just to poke fun at me."

"Take it easy Bones," Booth shouted as she hit him. "I was joking with you! Plus, I guess I didn't see you as the type to get scared easily."

Brennan's body language shifted, and she sent Booth her best death look. "Don't ask if you don't want the truth then," she grumbled. Suddenly, he reached into his jacket and withdrew a file. Idly, he tossed it on the table, spilling out pictures and files. Brennan raked her fingers through the pile, then looked at Booth.

"Maybe a case will put you in a better mood. That's Betty Page, age 30. She was found buried in a basement four years ago. Cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma to the skull," Booth explained.

"So where do my skills come in on this case?" Brennan asked. The woman in the picture seemed to haunt Brennan, even though her eyes were closed. The pale blue of her skin mixed with a gray that went along her face. Her features were delicate for her age, making her look younger than she actually was. Long brown hair framed her face, looking as unnatural as the person it belonged to.

"Yesterday, FBI became involved in the active search to find the remains of Betty Page," Booth said in a small voice.

"Someone dug up her bones, and now you need me to help you look for them," Brennan sighed heavily. Did this job ever get any easier?

"I guess I should have brought you a turbo charged cup of coffee to accompany that beautiful look you have on your face," he spat to her, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

Why did Seely Booth have a way of crawling under her skin? The doors to the Medico legal lab swung open, disappating any remaining thought she had of Booth annoying her. Zach's boyish visage appeared first, only sending a smile in Brennan's direction. He followed Jack, who glanced only in Booth and Brennan's direction, then went to talking about a new beetle species that had been discovered in Africa. Angela followed not far behind them, eyes rolling at the droning conversation.

When she noticed Booth and Brennan, a large smile spread across her face. "Good morning early birds. What are you guys doing here at this time of morning?"

Brennan could feel the heat spreading through her face again, sending it to a crimson red. "I was finishing up catalouging the remains of another World War I soilder, and I fell asleep here last night," she said and then paused. "Again."

"And Booth stayed to keep you company? Aw, that's really touching Booth," Angela chided. He hopped up out of his chair and strode across the room to her side. "You only wish you could have been here to see what happened," he said in a small whisper into her ear. With a dashing smile, he looked back at Brennan. His dark brown eyebrows raised and few times and he sent her an air kiss. Anger quickly replaced embarassment, and she sent Booth another death look. She watched as he walked away, disappearing after a few moments.

"Oh my God, Sweetie. What happened?" Angela questioned as she rushed to Brennan's side.

"Nothing. And that is a promise."

"Nothing?"

"He showed up here this morning, ready to annoy as usual."

"Maybe it is sort of a school boy crush he has on you. He knows which buttons to push."

"Well, he can needs to learn to stay away from my buttons. Those among other things."

Brennan stood from her chair and slid her arms through her lab jacket. It was early, but as always, there was work to complete. With one fluid motion, she grabbed her hair with one hand, chasing loose stands with the other. After a few seconds, she had tied her hair back and was ready to begin another day.

"If you had the chance, would you want to have a night with Booth?" Angela questioned as Brennan started to walk away.

Brennan stopped walking and let her head rest at her side, Angela in her peripheral vision. For a brief moment, the thought rolled around in her mind. A night with Booth. That thought could get her into a heap of trouble. But what was this feeling deep inside her? She had known him for quite sometime. In her heart, did she yearn for a bit of attention and affection from the FBI agent? Nothing good ever comes from foolish dreams.

"I may need you to run a texture analysis later," Brennan said changing the subject, shifting the files under her arm that Booth had left lying on the table. With that, Brennan walked away, trying to avoid any other conversation Angela might engage her in. Yes, work. These days, it seemed to be the only thing that kept her anchored to the real world.