Disclaimer: Fox, Josephson Entertainment and Far Field Productions own these characters; I myself have come up with this plot.

Dancing, its streamers bright and growing, the light spread over the walls, sending shadows flitting up and down the room, the orange and yellow tongues spitting out bright sparks. Jumping to her feet, Temperance moved quickly away from burning object just as the flam began to crawl up the window's curtains. Booth flew through the door in time to watch Brennan pull the heavy curtains down, putting all of her strength into ripping from the metal rings that held it to its wall mount, all the while bits of broken glass biting into the skin of her bare feet. Watching as she threw the blazing curtains on top of the fire starter he saw the flames lick her left wrist but she didn't seem to notice. Taking into his hands the first bit of fabric he could find he moved past her and to the fire, throwing the brown fabric over the fire, cutting off its oxygen supply and stomping on it, his foot connecting with something hard. Smoke filled the room and exited the broken window in thick wasps. Lost in thought Bones jerked and rushed to the window, looking out and seeing nothing but a few shards of glass lying on the ground below. Booth looked to the ground, his eyes following the splotches of blood her feet left on the floor.

"You're hurt."

"Bastard got away." She stared out of the window still, the smoke gently distorting her features and curling around her face to come to rest in the cool night air outside. The fire alarms in her apartment chose this moment to begin blaring. Covering her ears and rushing out of the room he heard her press the rubber buttons of a wall mounted control system, the alarms turning off abruptly. Leaning down he picked up the piece of charred fabric he had thrown onto the fire. Groaning from the doorway Temperance saw him pick up her brown jacket from atop the pile of ash and curtains. He turned to find her leaning against the doorframe, her right hand wrapped around her midriff the other lying by her side. He looked at the smoking fabric that hung from his hand.

"My favorite jacket."

He looked from it to her then back again. The brown fabric now seemed familiar and the image of her wearing it came to him.

"I'm sorry Bones."

"I can get a new one."

Walking to her he guided her from the door both of them walking to the bed together, his hands gripping her shoulders. "Sit down and let me see your foot."

"Its fine Booth, it just looks bloody, appendages like your head and feet always bleed more due to a solitary, high supply of blood to keep them mo-" she said, her eyes focused on him like a teachers gaze upon a questioning student. He cut her off.

"Bones shut up and let me look at it." She felt the intense heat of anger fill her as he reached for her ankle. It pissed her off how he thought he could take charge of her, even if he was a good kisser and had come to her rescue. She hated playing the damsel in distress.

"I can take care of myself." she steamed through clenched teeth, pulling at a thin, long shard that rested almost fully inside the ball of her foot.

"Tempe you need a hospital."

"I said I can handle it." She snapped finally removing the glass trying not to react to the fleshy scraping feeling that came as the glass was extracted. It felt weird to have him sue her first name.

"I don't mean for your feet." She looked up at him, her gaze furious then following his down to her left wrist. The skin was charred and red, peeling exposing to more charred skin. She hadn't noticed before and as she looked at it it was as though her eyes prompted it to tingle slowly into a sharp and warm sting. "I can handle that too." She said defiantly. Standing up she made her way to the bathroom, Booth hot on her heals, filling her ears with protests. Stopping at the small cupboard mirror that hung high above her sink she took a look at their faces together in the mirror. God he was gorgeous. Shaking her head slightly she opened the mirror.

"Bones you ok? You really should get to a hospital…"

"I don't need medical attention; it's a simple burn, only the top layer of skin is burnt."

"I don't think so Bones"

"Leave the medical stuff up to me Booth; it's not your thing." She mocked his comment from earlier on that day. She looked back into the mirror as she closed it, a roll of gauze and tube on Neosporin in her hands. His face looked like that of a saddened puppy dog.

"Hold this." She handed him the gauze, lightly pouring and spreading the Neosporin over her wrist, cringing as she hit a patch of burnt, exposed under skin. Setting the anti-infection medication down she motioned for him to hand her the gauze. Instead he held the base of her forearm, just below her elbow and began to carefully wrap the fabric around her wrist. When he finished he looked up at her with a grin. "Maybe I know a little bit on the subject." He paused and she tried to speak.

"Thank -"

"But psychology still isn't your thing." His smile widened and became Cheshire like. Flicking off the lights in the bathroom, both of them still occupying it, the glow from her bedroom glowing behind him like a halo, his voice almost made her jump. "You need some sleep. Take the couch and I'll have a team over here in the morning to check out the fire." She nodded though she knew he could not see her, and passed quickly by him grabbing the comforter off of her bed and heading for the couch.


Booth woke up with a start, Brennan's alarm clock blaring loudly from her room. He sat up, realizing he had fallen asleep on the thin strip of floor between Brennan's couch and glass coffee table. Yawning he reached up towards the couch to wake her, hoping not to hit a place that would make Brennan uncomfortable, and found nothing but her comforter. Standing quickly and throwing the comforter from the couch he fist tightened on the material. Running to the guest room he seemed to glide into his clothes, his suit on in seconds, his shoes tied and his gun holstered at his side, he was out of the door before he had time to check her room, the alarm still blaring after him.

Twenty minutes later he burst through the doors of the Jeffersonian, rushing through security, badge out and gun setting metal detectors off as he passed through and into the examinations rooms. "Where's Brennan?" he demanded making both Zack and Hodgins jump, Angela looking at him coarsely then to Brennan's office. Seeley turned sharply on his heels and headed towards it, Angela running after him and stopping just outside of the door, her arms spread across the door frame. "She's sleeping sweetie, let her sleep." He looked past her shoulder to see a slumped over Bones, her hair splayed across her desk, her head resting on her hands. She looked almost like a child, her brows furrowing in a dream then setting into their usual position again, her face calm and angelic in her sleep.

"Poor thing, she told me what happened last night." Angela sighed as she began to walk away from the office hoping Booth would follow her, when he didn't she looked back to see him watching bones through the glass o her office, his look concerned and tender. "Booth?" he looked over to her startled and walked to her, matching her pace as she started walking again.

"This morning she brought in the brick and we analyzed it. He used an alcohol based ignition fluid to light the baby blanket it was wrapped in. He had to have soaked it for a few hours, days maybe, the material being made almost entirely out of fleece. But Zack and Hodgins and probably tell you more about it." She concluded, leaving him standing near an examination table upon which the charred brick sat. Zack looked up at Booth and began going over the details. "The baby blanket could have been bought in any local department store, but the brick is location specific. It's made with a home made mix of crushed shell and concrete putting our suspect somewhere around this area." He walked to a map hung on the wall and indicated with his pencil a small riverside neighborhood. "We've found brick samples almost identical to this one in this area before."

"Ok…uhh…"

"Zack."

"Zack, right, have you had someone out there already to interview people?"

Hodgins butt in now "No, we figured that was your department."

Booth's gaze wandered back over to Brennan's office to find Angela shaking her shoulder lightly, trying to wake her. Bones sat up slowly, rubbing her cheek with one hand and yawning. He turned back to Hodgins quickly the question blurting out from between his lips before he could think about it, he didn't need to. "Has she had her wrist checked out yet?"

Hodgins shook his head lightly "Not that I know of."

Booth's concern slowly rose to his expression the subsided as Angela and Bones approached behind him. Whirling on them Seeley's concern quickly turned to anger. "Why the hell did you leave with out me Bones? How the hell did you think I would react!" he steamed loudly through almost clenched teeth, causing a few passerby's to stop and stare. Brennan stopped in her tracks, Angela mirroring the action.

"I didn't think you'd care."

"After what happened last night you thought I wouldn't care!"

"I can take care of myself." Her groggy eyes darkened with her words.

"That's not what I meant Bones." He paused putting his hands on his hips, taking the plunge before he had the thought to stop himself. "I thought I made it pretty clear last night how I felt about you."

His eyes widened almost as quickly as her stormy grays. The room almost instantly fell into an awkward silence, Brennan's shock burning up in her cheeks. Shit. He thought, his eyes never leaving hers as anger boiled deep behind them. Taking hold of his arm she pulled him towards her office, throwing the door shut behind them with a loud bang.

"You NEVER! Never! have the right to disclose personal encounters between you and myself in front of my colleges and students!" Her face reddened with anger. "It's embarrassing and personal and extremely unprofessional!"

"So you're embarrassed with the fact that we kissed? Willingly on both parts I might add."

"The hell it was willingly, I would rather kiss one of the decomposing bodies I get paired with every week than you." the words slipped out in a cruel half whisper, the letters meant to etch into his bones. Moving past him and out of the office door she moved like a steam engine and out of the examinations lab, past watchers and out of the building into the parking lot. Damn him. She thought.

Damn the bastard.

A/n: Hey thanks for the reviews! I hope you enjoyed it!