Sorry for any confusion caused in the last chapter, there was just loads of information to get across and I don't think I did it very well. I'll try to make it clearer in this chapter but it will be easier to understand as the story progresses - honest!

Disclaimer: Still not mine.


Chapter 4 - Precautionary Measures

"Where are we going?" Brennan inquired as Booth's SUV pulled out of the Jeffersonian parking structure.

"To arrest Marco Dellato," Booth replied nonchalantly.

Brennan frowned, "But I haven't found any evidence yet to link him to the murder of Maria Clarke."

"Exactly," Booth said confidently, focused on the road ahead.

She frowned again, confused. Booth's logic was not her logic.

"So why are we arresting him?"

"A precautionary measure, Bones"

"A precaution against what?"

Booth sighed, "Bones, the Dellatos are used to getting what they want. Now, I'm pretty sure they don't want you to get enough evidence from that skeleton to put them in jail for murder."

Temperance nodded, "Of course not."

"So, if I were the Dellatos and someone was about to try to use a bunch of bones to send me to jail, I would want to stop them."

She nodded again, "And you think they're going to try to stop me from working this case."

"Exactly. Making you the so-called "bullseye". You have something they want, in this case, all the evidence from Maria Clarke's body."

Her eyes widened, first with realisation, then horror.

"But to get to the cowseye..."

"Bullseye, Bones, bullseye,"

"To get to the bullseye," she continued, fear in her voice, "They'll attack someone close to me." She suddenly sat up and grabbed Booth's arm. "What are we doing? We should get back to the lab, they'll be going after someone I work with! Booth, turn around!"

Booth smiled, "Relax, Bones, it's okay-"

"Okay?!" she shouted, panic rising, "Booth, they won't see it coming! What if it's Zach? Or Hodgins? Oh god, what if they go after Angela?"

"Bones!" he shouted back, surprising her into silence. He continued before she could say anything more, "Bones, it's okay. Angela realised what might happen so she, Zack and Hodgins are going to stay together till we get back."

"But what about when they go home? Or for lunch? Or even to the bathroom? They can't stay together forever..."

"Would you let me finish?" Booth said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Listen, that's why we're here. In mob families, it's almost always the oldest son who has the authority. If we arrest Marco, chances are that the others won't carry out the attack. He'll be the one who does the planning and makes the decisions, and if he's out of the picture, the others won't be confident enough to see it through without him. Cut of the head of the snake and all that."

Temperance wrinkled her brow, momentarily distracted from the case, "Snake? Why would he want to cut the head off a snake? Is that like the cutting off of the horse's head that Angela told me about?"

Booth smirked at her pop culture confusion. "No, Bones, the horse's head is from a movie. The snake's head is an analogy - if you cut the head off a snake, the body will die? Well, here, the Dellatos are the snake and, if I'm right, Marco is the head."

"You know, I could have understood that without you resorting to anatomy analogies. Why do they say a snake, anyway? If you cut the heads of most mammals or reptiles or birds or fish then it naturally follows that the body will die, either from blood loss or severing of the nervous system or..."

Brennan continued as Booth tuned out, watching the road in front of him and trying to think of some reason, any reason, to arrest Marco Dellato.


Booth pulled up outside a large, detached house in one of DC's better neighbourhoods. As they walked up the gravel path to the front door, an idea struck him.

"Hey, Bones, how about you do the talking when we get in there?" he said with a smile.

Brennan stopped and turned to him in surprise, "You never let me do the talking!"

"I know that, which is why I thought I'd give you a shot with this guy." He strode ahead of her, calling back, "But if you don't want to..."

She ran to catch up with him, "I never said I didn't want to."

Booth smiled to himself. Reverse psychology, he thought. Works every time.

Brennan rang the doorbell and a tall, stocky man opened it. He leaned heavily against the doorframe, holding the door opened with an olive-skinned arm, effectively blocking their entry. His dark brown eyes lingered over Brennan as she stood before him, taking in every inch of her.

His eyes are almost the same colour as Booth's, she noticed. But Booth's seem warm and friendly, whereas his... She shuddered at the thought of what was going on behind those eyes.

"Mr Dellato? My name's Dr Temperance Brennan," she said loudly, forcing his eyes to her face and away from other parts of her body. "And this is Special Agent Seeley Booth from the FBI. We'd like to ask you a few questions about the murder of Maria Clarke."

His cold eyes betrayed no emotions as they met hers.

"May we come in?" she ventured, as he had made no response.

Wordlessly, he moved aside slightly, forcing Brennan to squeeze close to him as she walked through the door. Ignoring Booth, Marco Dellato followed her slowly as she moved around the main hall, examining the lavish decoration.

"What do you do for a living, Mr Dellato?" she asked him bluntly.

"I'm a... businessman," he said, smiling lecherously at Brennan. Seeing that smile, Booth resisted the urge to knock some of his teeth out.

"Would that business include murder and kidnapping by any chance?" she asked innocently. The smile fell from Dellato's face. That's my girl, Booth thought happily.

"Excuse me?!" he asked angrily.

"Well, you are Marco Dellato, correct? With your family's background, I'm sure this can't be the first time you've heard such an accusation."

That's it, Bones, insult the family, Booth smiled inwardly.

"I don't have to listen to this. I don't know who you are Dr Brennan, but no-one insults my family like that, especially under my own roof. Now get the hell out before-"

"You throw me down an abandoned well like you did to Maria Clarke?" Brennan interrupted, thinking she might provoke a confession.

Booth tried to restrain himself from punching the air with his fists in triumph, as he could see what was coming next.

Growling with anger, Marco Dellato swung hard at Temperance, shouting furiously. She was surprised, but deftly ducked under his swing and grabbed his wrist with both hands. Twisting it hard, she watched calmly as Dellato dropped to the floor to relieve the pressure she exerted on his arm.

Doing a mental victory dance, Booth stepped forward and slapped handcuffs on Dellato's newly reddened wrists, pulling him back to his feet. "Marco Dellato, I am arresting you for assault. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right..." Booth could barely keep the elation out of his voice as he read Dellato his rights and led him back down the path to the waiting SUV.

When Dellato was safely contained in the car, Brennan slapped Booth hard on the arm.

"You did that on purpose!" she said, indignantly, "That's why you let me do the talking - you wanted him to attack me!"

Booth tried and failed to keep a straight face, earning him another slap from his partner.

"How dare you-" she began again, but he cut her off quickly.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I wasn't trying to get you hurt, I just needed to find a reason to arrest him. Anyway," he said, giving her his most charming smile, "that is what we came here for, isn't it? To arrest him and stop your squints from getting hurt?"

Brennan nodded, reluctantly, her bottom lip still stuck out in a slight pout.

"Come on," he said, encouragingly, "Let's get you back to the lab. You can tell Angela all about how you managed to arrest Marco Dellato."

Brennan gave a slight smile, which was enough for Booth. He hopped into the driver's seat and headed back to the Jeffersonian, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.


Marco Dellato was not pleased. Not only had he been dragged down to the FBI headquarters on a trumped-up charge of assault, but now he was having to wait in line to make his one phone call, like some goddamn car thief or wife beater. Did they not know who he was? That he had friends in high places? That his family was one of the most powerful in the state?

Well, they would learn. That damn doctor would learn. His fists clenched at the memory of her disrespect towards him and his family. How dare she come and poke her nose into his business? His mind drifted back to the mention of Maria Clarke and he cursed his younger brother for being lazy enough to just dump her down a well, instead of burying her like the others.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the phone being put down and he shuffled forward in his orange jumpsuit to make his call. He dialled quickly, his fingers tense with anger, and was relieved when his youngest brother answered the phone.

"Luca," he said, his tone grave, "I'm in the FBI holding cells on assault, but they say they're looking into the Clarke case too."

He winced as his brother's angry shouts came down the line. The last thing anyone wanted to do was piss off Luca Dellato.

"I want you to do what you normally do," Marco replied in answer to his brother's question. "The evidence is with a woman called Temperance Brennan, she's some kind of doctor. From what they said in the car, any one of her colleagues would make a good target. Apparently they're all like a little family."

He snorted with derision but was quickly silenced by brief, business-like words from his brother.

"Yes, I understand," he said, finally, "Yes, I'll call when I'm out." He paused. "Thanks, bro," he said gratefully as he put the phone down.

Marco smiled to himself as he went back to his cell. Luca knew exactly what he was doing, he'd done it many times before. He chuckled, wondering which one his brother was going to pick.


Hope that cleared some stuff up. Next chapter should be up later in the week but please keep reviewing!