**Chapter dos! Enjoy! :)
Not mine...**
With a fluorescent light angled at the corpse, Dr. Brennan inspected every inch of the guy. Booth watched as she carefully searched the body for any obvious signs as to what actually happened to the poor man lying beneath her. He took note of every strand of hair falling around her perfect face, along with every gentle and deliberate move she made doing what she loved.
"Earth to Booth!" he finally heard Cam calling him from the platform.
With a shake of his head, he took a deep breath. "Yeah?"
"This guy doesn't have any organs inside of him," she announced, blood-covered hands in the air as to not touch anything.
"Wait…what?" Booth asked, walking towards the corpse.
With a look of no amusement spread across her face, Cam repeated what she said, except slower. "He. Has. No. Organs."
Hodgins stops in his tracks when he hears Cam say this, along with Clark. "What?" they both asked at the same time.
"Are we talking Black Market shit here, Booth?" the FBI deputy director yelled over the phone.
Running a hand through his scraggly hair, Booth sighed. "We don't know yet, sir. I was just told to update you on anything that we find."
"You better figure this shit out, Booth!" he director snapped, hanging up the phone.
Finding the nearest squintern, Booth snapped his fingers. "Get a move on it!"
"What is your problem, Booth?" Temperance asks without looking up from her microscope.
With a chuckle, Booth shoved his phone back in his pocket. "What's my problem, Dr. Brennan? What's MY problem? MY problem is I have the deputy director breathing down my neck, there's a dead guy without any damn organs inside of him, and a partner that would rather me rot in hell than for her to have to speak to me!"
With that being said, he turned on his heel and started for the platform steps. "Excuse me?" Brennan asked, stopping him in his tracks. Turning his head back towards her, he raised an eyebrow as she quickly pulled off her latex gloves. "My office. Now," she instructed, taking the lead.
After he entered the office, she rested her hands against her desk. "Shut the door." Her words were cold, without any flexibility in tone.
As he shut the door, Booth winced, knowing this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. "How about you tell me what your problem is, now, Agent Booth." Temperance lifted her head and turned it towards him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"I just told you, Dr. Brennan," he enunciated her name very clearly.
"Incorrect," she informed him. "You told all of my staff what your problems are. If you want to keep this little partnership going, Agent Booth, I suggest you learn about professionalism and what it means to be discrete."
"You're not discrete with anything," he quips, regretting his rebuttal as soon as the words leave his mouth.
"What exactly am I not discrete about?" she asked, taking a few steps toward him, her steel blue eyes pinched narrowed in on him.
"Hell, Temperance!" Booth sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Just this morning in that damn field…" he reminded her. "You were, and still are, pissed off at me and you didn't try any little bit to hide it!" Sitting down on the couch, he sank his head into his hands. "Don't you think that if we're partners…you know, a full-fledged team…that we shouldn't give any staff members, mine or yours, reason to doubt our ability to solve cases and get our jobs done?"
His brown eyes finally look up and settle on her blue ones. "I'm sorry, Booth," her voice was raspy with a catch in it as she finally broke their gaze. "Let's just finish this case."
Attempting to walk to the door, she was stopped as Booth pulled at her arm. Giving into him, she melted into his chest and snaked her arms around his waist. She had missed the secure feeling of his embrace.
After a few moments, Booth rested his chin on the top of her head. "We're okay…right?" he asked, his hand caressing her back.
"I hope so," she breathed softly against his shirt, warming his skin underneath. "We're both tired. Let's get this over with."
Agreeing with her for the first time in a long while, Booth released her from his arms and held the door open for her. "Temperance?" his voice feeble as she looks back over her shoulder at him.
"Yeah?"
"Never mind," he shook his head with a pathetic excuse for a smile. Temperance returned the half-hearted smile and continued to the platform, swiping her nametag as she approached the first step.
"Mr. Edison, we have work to do," she informed him, snapping on a clean pair of gloves.
Booth watched her from a distance as she returned to her element. Her wavy hair falling out of its pony tail holder, the dark circles underneath her translucent blue eyes, everything about her. He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring as ran a hand across his head. He knew it was going to be a long case.
When Booth returned to the Jeffersonian hours later, he bit the inside of his lip as he noticed the corpse's skin still being on the bones. He knew that if the case was going well, Temperance would have already gotten rid of the skin to get down to the bones.
After swiping his nametag, the few beeping tones signaled him that it was okay to enter the platform. Before returning to the lab, Booth had told himself to be in a better mood…that Temperance deserved him in a good mood. With a very forced smile, he stopped as she looked up at him. "How's it going, Bones?"
Sighing, Temperance raised her safety glasses. "There are several small incisions," she pointed to the man's abdomen, "But it would be impossible to fit entire organs out of them."
"So what are we looking at, here? I gotta tell my boss something," he grimaced as he looked down at the guy.
"As of right now, our only conclusion is that someone used laparoscopic surgical tools to slice the organs and remove them piece by piece," Cam stepped in, knowing Brennan wouldn't jump to a conclusion like Booth wanted her to do.
He shook his head and looked down at his watch. "It's eight o'clock, guys," he announced. "This guy's not going anywhere. How about we try again in the morning, huh?" he suggested.
Standing up, Temperance pulled off her gloves. "I completely agree."
The entire ride back to Temperance's apartment was silent. Occasionally Booth would glance over and skim his eyes over her face, but nothing changed. As Booth parked the SUV outside of her building, he sighed. "What time do you want me to be here in the morning?"
"I'd like to get started early," she told him, gathering her bag and jacket. "Can you be here by six-thirty?"
"Sure thing," Booth answered, his usual smile overcome with exhaustion. "Goodnight, Temperance."
"Goodnight, Booth," she replied, stepping out of the SUV and closing the door.
As he watched her walk into the building, Booth's heart crumbled. He knew that what he had done was going to take some major doings to get things back on track. But he knew he had to do it.
Once inside, Temperance put her bag and jacket on a chair and began taking her shoes off. As the first shoe hit the floor, something caught her eye – there was a note standing up on the bar in the kitchen. With her eyebrows pinched together, she glanced around her apartment and slowly made her way to the note.
The outside was blank, but the inside wasn't as fortunate.
Temperance – You have a very beautiful place, here.
I hope Agent Booth likes it as well as you do.
Yours – XOXO
Without a second lapsing, she grabbed her phone from her bag and dialed Booth's number. "Booth," he answered, as per usual.
"Booth, I need you to come back here," she instructed.
"Did you forget something in the vehicle?" he asked, not wanting to have turn around in the middle of DC.
"Not quite," she spoke softly. "There was a note on my bar when I got inside."
Booth's eyes widened as he slammed on his brakes. All of a sudden, pulling a U-turn didn't seem like such a bad idea. "Temperance, go down to the lobby in your building. Wait with the doorman. Don't move until I get there."
Ending the call with that being said, Booth flipped on the sirens and lights, clearing a path between him and his Bones.
Doing as she was told, Temperance quickly, but cautiously, slipped her one shoe back on, grabbed her bag and jacket, and exited her apartment. Once downstairs, she smiled at Charles, the doorman. "I need to know who's been in the building that doesn't live here since I left at three o'clock this morning," she spoke softly, as to not cause a panic.
With a raised eyebrow, Charles nodded and pulled out the visitor sign-in book. She watched as he made a copy of all of the entries and smiled politely as he handed it to her. "Is something wrong, Dr. Brennan?" he asked, his question almost being cut off by Booth busting in the front door.
"Are you okay?" Booth asked, taking a couple more steps until he had reached Temperance, pulling her into his arms.
Nodding against his chest, she attempted to get loose from his grip. "I'm fine, Booth." Finally free, she reached into her bag and pulled out the card.
As he read the card, Booth's face drained of color and his eyes both darkened and widened. He immediately pulled out his cell phone and pushed a button. "Director Cullen, we have a situation," he spoke firmly into the phone. Temperance ran a hand through her tousled hair and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Dr. Brennan found a note inside her apartment just a few minutes ago, sir. It read 'Temperance – You have a very beautiful place here. I hope Agent Booth likes it as much as you do. Yours – XOXO.'"
Temperance looked over and noticed Charles' eyes as wide as half-dollars. She turned back to hear the rest of Booth's call. "No, sir. It doesn't have any other markings on it. Right. Yes, sir."
As he put the phone back into his pocket, he took a deep breath. "I'm so glad you're okay," his voice was shaky. "A team will be here in five minutes to do a sweep. They'll do one here and one at my place, too."
With sleepy eyes, Temperance nodded. "How long will this take?" she asked, crumbling onto a chair beside the front desk.
"If they do the job they're supposed to do, it could take a couple of hours," Booth sighed. Hell, he was just as tired as she was. "Cullen said for us to find a, uh…a hotel for the night," he stuttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Do we have to be present for the sweep?" Her blue eyes were weak as they looked up into his brown ones.
"Whichever agents cover this will need your statement. But then we can go," he assured her.
After twenty more minutes, Temperance had given her statement to three FBI agents and had packed a small bag for the night with the supervision of Booth. "You ready to go find a place to stay?" he asked, guiding her very quickly back out of the apartment.
Temperance nodded as she shoved her keys into her pocket.
"Any preferences as to which place?" he asked, holding the front door of the building open for her.
"Booth, for all I care right now, I'm willing to sleep in the SUV. Just get me somewhere."
With a deep breath and a nod, he climbed in the driver's side of the SUV and hit the gas.
Pulling into the third hotel he saw, Booth killed the SUV's engine as he parked under the awning. Before he was able to make it to the other side, Temperance had already taken the lead and headed into the hotel.
Booth stopped by Temperance and as he leaned against the counter, the perky receptionist's eyes fluttered and her bright red lips curved upward. "How may I help you, sir?"
Temperance cocked an eyebrow at the girl, well aware of the fact that Booth's physical appearance had apparently mesmerized her. "We need a room," Booth smiled politely, looking over at Temperance, who was still glaring at the girl.
She tapped a few keys on a keyboard and clicked a mouse a couple times. "What type of room were you wanting?" she asked, a hopeful sound her voice.
"Two beds, please," he requested, shifting his weight and leaning more towards his partner.
After a few more key-taps, she sighed. "I'm afraid all we have are one-bed suites. We're all booked up."
"Oh, hell, just give us the damn key," Temperance snapped, earning a concerned look from Booth and a scared look from the receptionist.
"Uh…yes, mam…right away…" Within another minute, they each had a key and began walking towards the elevator. "If you need anything, just let me know!" she called out.
Turning in the elevator, Booth raised a hand in acknowledgement, but dropped it as the doors shut. "I'll sleep on the couch," he assured Temperance, who was now leaning against the wall in the small space.
"We've shared a bed before," she reminded him, recalling an undercover case a few years back.
With a raised eyebrow, Booth swallowed hard as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. "After you…" he held out his arm.
After changing into her flannel pants and a tank top, Temperance crawled into the bed, feeling the coolness of the sheets on her skin. As her body relaxed, her eyebrows pinched together as she saw Booth standing by the window. "Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked, her eyes already becoming heavy.
With a soft smile, he walked towards the bed, slipping his jacket and tie off. He kicked his shoes off and sat on the edge of the bed as he unbuttoned his dress shirt. "Goodnight, Temperance," he spoke quietly, leaning back into the bed.
She rolled to look at him, her hair falling around her face as he looked back at her. "Goodnight, Seeley."
