CHAPTER 1

"What the hell? …perfect, no hot water." Today was starting off to be a wonderful day, the sun was yet to rise and here she was fighting with the sink. Temperance grumbled as she made her way to the other side of her apartment to start her usual morning pot of coffee. She swore she was going to cut back on the caffeine, she was quite certain she was starting to become dependent on it, and while dependency was just a fact of human nature she felt that it took a little bit of control out of her hands and that was something she just couldn't handle.

"Who are you talking to?"

Temperance nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice behind her. Had she left the door open? She was sure she had locked it. With one quick move she had grabbed the knife on the counter and turned to face her intruder.

"How the hell did you get in?"

"I picked the lock… that's what I do.. I'm a lock picker, another one of the amazing qualities you didn't know I had." Seeing how she was still in full attack mode with knife in the air and white knuckled he decided it was time to address it. "Um.. Bones.. Can you put the knife down please.. I'm not here to kill you."

Shifting uncomfortably she placed the knife back on the counter top and turned to retrieve her much need cup of coffee that was now steaming hot and ready for consumption.

"So, again… who are you talking to? Is someone else here? Ya got a guy in here Bones?" He flashed her his boyish grin in hopes that she would forgive him for the intrusion, then nonchalantly made his way over to the coffee pot. He knew after 2 years that Tempe made a kick butt cup of Joe and he was in no place to resist the temptation.

She hadn't realized that her sigh of annoyance had been loud until Booth's gazed shifted back to her.

"Booth… focus! What are you doing in my apartment? And why did you pick the lock? You could have knocked; I would have come to the door. That is what logical humans do. They respect people's privacy and ask to be allowed in; they don't just take it upon themselves to just walk into someone home. What if I had been walking around naked?"

"You walk around naked?"

"No, but that's not the point. My point is…"

Booth cut her off. It was way too early in the morning for a lecture and he already had a headache.

"Get over it Bones… I did it to scare you; it obviously worked seeing as how you tried to go all Chainsaw Massacre on me with that knife."

"I don't know what that means"

"You should invest in a TV, broaden your horizons. Bones… go to a movie once in a while."

"I happen to think that books are better than movies and I've been to 30 countries I think my "horizons" as you say are broadened."

"Ok, fine.. We have a new case." He stated as he slid the file across the counter to her.

"What is it?"

"Cameron Biggs, 16, disappeared after a babysitting job 3 days ago, parents of course concerned called the police, when they got to the house where she was working no one answered, they busted down the door, found her in the bedroom strapped to the bed frame."

He handed her a set of glossy pictures. "Coroner states time of death 24 hours ago which means this guys has a pretty good head start on us."

Temperance stared at the pictures in complete bafflement. As many times as she had seen it, the battered, bruised, and cold body of a child lying lifeless she'd never get used to it. Something in her stomach started to turn as she flipped through the pictures. The crime scene; the scene where an innocent girl had been turned into some demented mans play toy and then left to fend for herself against the odds of blood loss and emotional torture.

Booth could see it, in an instant her eyes went from sad to detached. This is what she did, he knew it, and in a way he wished he had the same quality.

Temperance had a knack for shutting down, the more impersonal she made the case the better in her eyes she could do her job. Don't become emotionally involved and it won't drive you to that place in your head where you over analyze the pure hatred that humanity can possess. She had done it with every other case that had been thrown her way. It was an unconscious understanding they had between them. Booth was the emotional one, the one that handled the families and the recoil of the situation and Bones was the logical one, the one that found the missing pieces, put a face on the victim and got into the mind of the criminal. Together they made the perfect pair; brains, brawn, a dash of sympathy, and an overwhelming sense of duty to find the answer and let justice prevail.

"I don't understand why you need me? You know who she is and you know who murdered her. Where do I fit into the picture?"

"Like I said before, the bastard took off, and now we need to find him. Nobody has ever had a problem with the guy, so we don't know how his mind works, how he thinks, so we have no idea where he is heading. Cullen was hoping you could scam his place; see if you pick up on anything we are missing. Maybe you will see something that us armatures didn't"

"Ok, let me finish getting dressed and I'll meet you at your office."

"My car is downstairs, I'll just drive you." Booth said reluctantly knowing full well the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

"I'm capable of driving myself." Tempe scoffed.

"Just once please could you not argue with me… please… just once…?" This time is was Booth who was sighing in annoyance. Why did she have to be so difficult? Why couldn't she just say, "Ok, give me a sec and we can go."