Four Months Earlier-

December 24th

Doctor Temperance Brennan was not a quitter. She was not a quitter, and she wouldn't stand for anyone saying that it was a possibility. Of course, she was alone in the lab, on Christmas Eve, poring over reports of the latest set of remains she was examining. No one was around to say she was a quitter… but the longer she sat at her desk, staring at the empty doorway in front of her, the more she felt completely the opposite.

Just a week earlier she had been in Indonesia, to her knees with dirt, paperwork, and questions. There had been excitement when the team had first gotten to the site. They had new discoveries ahead of them, and there were endless possibilities. Unfortunately, this elation only lasted for about a month, before things began to just go downhill for her. Brennan found she was feeling anxious all of the time, on edge. She knew that the opportunities of this dig were going to be career changing and exciting, but after the initial thrill of the experience, she was to the point where she didn't even care.

She found herself missing her lab, her apartment, her friends, and ultimately that is what got her onto that plane on the way home. She knew that nothing was the same at home, and that Hodgins and Angela were in Paris, that Booth was in Afghanistan, but she didn't care. She wanted to be home, at least there she knew that she was in control of her destiny, in control of her feelings, and in control of her work. Under the guise and excuse of better lab equipment, Brennan changed her base location from the dig site to the Jeffersonian. She guaranteed thorough analysis and reports on all of their findings after they were shipped to her lab, that she would be more useful. She argued that the Jeffersonian would be a better research base where she could do many of the more technologically advanced examinations with her own equipment… in her own domain. Reluctantly, the organization agreed to her request, sending with her half dozen scientists that would be of better use at the Jeffersonian, then on the ground in Indonesia. Today was Christmas Eve, however, and the lab was silent, and she was thankful for that.

The moment she had arrived four days earlier, she had come directly to the lab. She walked through the glass doors and made a quick line to her office, where she had looked around at the familiar objects and allowed herself to take a deep, cleansing breath. All of the stress from the earlier months seemed to drain away as she looked around and breathed in the scent of the lab, and saw all of the familiar things that made her smile. She sat in her chair and felt all of the tension of being away just melt into its fabric, her head tipped back as she took a slow, deep breath as she relaxed, and though she'd take the occasional trip to her apartment in the past four days, she spent the majority of her time in that exact same place.

She was closing her eyes, her chair tipped back just slightly when the light knock on her door nearly sent her toppling over. Her eyes opened wide, and she grabbed the desk, surprised to see someone in the doorway. He was a tall and thin, fairly young looking man, dressed in a suit and tie. His hair was blonde, cut short and a bit messy, only adding to the ruggedly handsome face that held two bright green eyes that looked across at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry." The man said politely, still standing right outside the door, Brennan could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment. "I'm really sorry." He said, cringing a bit as he continued to keep his distance.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her demeanor completely changed as she willed the redness from her cheeks.

"I… I hope so." He said, taking a step into her office, he held his hand out. "I'm Special Agent Matthew Cooke…"

"FBI?" She asked, her brow furrowing in confusion, she shook it and stood. "Doctor Temperance Brennan."

"Yes." He nodded. "I am quite aware of your record, Doctor Brennan." He smiled.

"Is there something that I can do for you, Agent Cooke? I'm not currently working on any cases for the FBI, and seeing as my partner is not going to be in town for a few months, it looks like I won't be working with them anytime soon." She said, glancing to her computer screen, and back to the agent. She could see the hope that he had in his eyes start to diminish with her words, and felt a niggle of regret in the pit of her stomach. "Were you looking for me specifically?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He nodded. "I know that you just returned from Maluku, only days ago, and I wouldn't ask you for this favor if it weren't really important to me, but…"

"Please get to your point, Agent Cooke."

"I have an unidentified body of a child… really, skeletal remains… on this case that I'm working on, and… it's really weighing on my mind. I know that you have a special kind of… touch when it comes to your work, and I was wondering if you would have the opportunity to take a look. Our people didn't find anything with the evidence."

"Not to sound rude, Agent Cooke, but 'your people' amount to a couple of men in leather shoes and metal detectors most of the time. Where was the body found?"

"Theodore Roosevelt Island… a couple of tourists found it… him, on the…" He cleared his throat. "On the um, shore…" he said, his eyes showing genuine sadness at the situation.

"It's okay, Agent Cooke." She said, walking to the corner of her office, she opened a bag. "The death of a child is very difficult to endure. It shouldn't be an easy thing to deal with." She said, moving things around in the bag, she packed one or two things inside and turned around. "Is the dump site accessible by foot?" She asked, looking back at the man as he gave her a surprised glance.

"You want to go out there now?" He asked, watching her look him up and down as she eyed his leather shoes.

"You're probably going to want to get yourself a pair of gumboots." She said as she grabbed her boots from the shelf under the table, and swung her bag over her shoulder as she walked past him and smiled politely, as he turned and walked behind her out of the office.

He kind of jogged to catch up with her, her stride was long and determined, and as she stepped from the lab, he walked alongside her. "Doctor Brennan, you really don't have to do this now… I was just going to ask if you could look at the remains." He said, watching her push the button on the elevator, she glanced to him.

"If we wait, the evidence will be washed away… I would feel much better aiding in this, if I were able to get some samples from the scene for my own edification, along with some sense of where and how the body was found. I prefer my crime scenes to be untouched, but there's nothing that I can do about that now, is there?" She asked as the elevator door opened and she stepped inside. He stopped the door from closing as he watched her look up at him with a surprised look.

"Doctor Brennan, it's Christmas Eve… I didn't expect you to do it today. It's a holiday."

"Then explain to me why you came to my office on Christmas Eve… if you didn't expect to find someone here." She said, swatting at his hand on the door, she nearly pulled him into the elevator. She pushed the button for the parking garage as they made their way downstairs.

"I was hoping." He shrugged.

They fell into a bit of an awkward silence as they stood in the elevator. "Are you good with a gun, Agent Cooke?" She asked, watching his cheeks redden as he looked at her with a completely surprised expression.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." She said with a smile as she stepped out of the opening door of the elevator. "I just needed to get back at you for nearly sending me to the floor when you knocked at the door of my office." She stated as she walked briskly toward the car. "Oh…" She said as she turned around and glanced back, pressing the keyless entry for her car, it honked in the background. "I'm driving… so hurry up." She said, turning around as he grinned and followed after her, relieved that this was going to be easier than he had originally thought.