Author's note: It took me ages to write this chapter! I've rewritten it like five hundred times. I had some major trouble putting everyone's thoughts into words. Why? Well, let's just say that this chapter confronted me with my own emotional situation. The fact that I've been ill the last couple of days certainly didn't help either.

For my reviewers: Bella-mi-amore, thank you. I've tried to make Temperance evolve some more but I'm not sure if I succeeded. °worried smile° If you ever come across such a picture of DB, don't be afraid to share it! °lol° MadeOfStars, your review once again affected me. I'm happy that the dialogue was true to character. I'm hoping the following internal dialogues are the same. °another worried smile° I'm planning on including more 'outside interests' in the next chapters. Sheliak, I hope you haven't fallen off your seat. °lol° I tried to update as soon as possible.

- Week 1: Thursday -
-----------------------------------

It was Thursday. Another Thursday. The fourth day of this very unusual week. At seven o'clock the alarm went off. The sharp beeping sound filled the room. A hand shot out from under the covers and pushed the alarm clock onto the ground. A loud crash put a stop to the beeping. Slowly the covers were pulled back. A pale face with tussled hair appeared. Temperance opened her eyes. She was in her bedroom. There were no talking skulls here. She practically crawled out of bed and into the shower. It took three cups of coffee to wake her up completely. The drive to the Jeffersonian took longer than usual. Temperance had to stop every five minutes to rub her eyes. She absent-mindedly waved at the guard before scanning herself in.

"Are you alright, doctor Brennan?"

"Yes Tom, I am." Temperance didn't bother turning around to face the guard. Instead she continued her way to her office. She knew she wasn't a sight for sore eyes. She had barely slept. The dream of last night had been even worse than the previous ones. Temperance shook her head. She didn't want to remember her dream. With a sigh she grabbed her lab coat. She had work to do.

At half past eight the rest of the 'Squint Squad' entered the separate examination room. They found Temperance there, staring with empty eyes at the skull on the table. Hodgins and Angela exchanged worried looks. Zach was the first to move. He took a step forward in Temperance's direction but his foot accidentally hit a box on the floor. The noise was loud enough to startle Temperance. Her head shot up and she gave her colleagues a bewildered look.

"It's not talking, is it?"

"What isn't talking, doctor Brennan?" Zack carefully asked.

"The skull! The skull isn't alive, correct?"

"The skull?!" both Zack and Hodgins exclaimed.

Angela immediately pushed Zack and Hodgins out of the office. She didn't want to explain to them why Temperance was acting this strange. The two men hardly protested against their removal. They were still baffled by Temperance's words. They had never seen her this confused. Angela closed and locked the door. She rushed over to Temperance, who had turned her attention back to the fleshless head before her.

"It's not alive, Tempe. This is not your dream." Angela softly spoke. She watched her friend massage her temples in an attempt to gather her thoughts. She wasn't quite sure what to say next. "You don't look healthy, sweetie." she finally said.

"Thanks for reminding me." Temperance dryly retorted.

"You dreamt that dream again?" Temperance gave the artist a nod. Angela narrowed her eyes and carefully scanned her friend's face. "Let me guess, the dream got even worse."

Temperance sighed and gave Angela a desperate look. Inwardly she debated whether or not to give Angela the latest update on her dream. Who am I kidding? She deserves it. She's my best friend. She turned her whole body towards Angela.

"Yes." she breathed. "The dream got even worse." A slight movement of Angela's head told her that she had the undivided attention of the artist. "I'm at the Jeffersonian. The entire team is there, including Booth. The skeleton moves and grabs my hand. But instead of stating that I'll never live like other normal human beings, it begins to enumerate all the reasons why people don't like me."

"Oh sweetie …" Angela took hold of Temperance's hand.

"It doesn't end there." Temperance interrupts her. "All of a sudden, Booth turns around and says that he agrees with the corpse." A look of pain washed over Temperance's face. "I woke up immediately, covered in sweat."

A full minute passed by. Neither of the two women tried to speak. They were both lost; Temperance in her thoughts, Angela for words. For one of the first times of her live, the artist didn't know if she knew the right words to say. Instead, she tenderly stroked Temperance's hand. Angela silently prayed that Booth would come up with one hell of a master plan. She had never seen Temperance like this, so fragile and vulnerable.

Temperance was silently over thinking her current situation. Here she was, at the Jeffersonian, next to her best friend, feeling the pressing urge to scream. She didn't like what that dream was doing to her. Yes, it made her loose sleep and yes, it made her loose her focus that she desperately needed for her work. But most of all, it confronted her with her own insecurities. Somewhere in the past few days the walls she had once carefully constructed, had started to crumble. She didn't know if she was ready to face what was behind them. She knew that they would reveal an emotional woman who longed to love and be loved in return. Yesterday, she had come to the conclusion that being emotional wasn't a bad thing. She had even silently thanked her partner for making her feel like that. But now she wasn't so sure that being vulnerable was such a good thing. She knew out of first hand that being in touch with your feelings could destroy you. The memory of her parents' disappearance and her brother's leaving hit her full-force. For her own survival, she had created those walls. She had put a distance between herself and her surroundings for her own protection. And now her inner core, who she really was, was about to be exposed. She didn't know if she was ready to deal with everything she had locked away, all those years ago. She was afraid of having the very thing she had avoided in the past: a mental breakdown.

Temperance gave her co-worker another desperate look. She couldn't voice all her fear right now. She needed some time alone to sort through the chaos in her head. Finally, the female scientist decided to break the silence. The least she could do was to reveal to Angela how much Booth's attitude in her dream affected her.

"It hurt, Angela. It hurt." she whispered. "I always thought that Booth was on my side, no matter what I said or did. To see him turn his back on me like that …"

"Bren, let's not overreact here." Angela intervened. "It's a dream. He would never say such things in real life. He's your friend."

Temperance stared at her creative friend for two seconds before patting Angela's hand a few times. "He's my friend." she stated. She got up and walked away, non-stop muttering that short sentence to herself.

Angela shook her head. Booth, you'd better hurry. Tempe is losing her common sense. She's falling apart.

---°---

At that precise moment, the FBI agent in question was staring at his mobile phone. I could call her … I could ask her how she's doing. Booth sighed. If he knew Bones, then she would say everything was fine. Hell, she would even say she was fine if she was hanging upside down above a pool full of sharks. The corners of his mouth curled into a small smile. Yeah, that's my Bones. His smile faded though when Angela's words came back to him. Bones had been scared in her dream. Yes, she had been scared. Booth wondered what had exactly frightened her. It couldn't be that talking corpse. It had to be something else, something deeper. According to Angela, the skeleton had said that Bones didn't belong here. Nonsense, of course she belongs here. In this world. At my side.

The thought didn't surprise him. Some time ago, he had realised that Temperance was way more to him than just a partner and just a friend. They were way past the normal friend status, for all he was concerned. Yes, it was true. He wanted her to be with him. No, he needed her to be with him.

He turned his gaze back to his mobile phone. So calling isn't an option. He stared at the device for another minute. His mind wandered back to his previous thoughts. He wanted to share his life with her. He wanted to be the one who made her smile, who comforted her when she was crying, who calmed her down in stressful situations. He wanted to know everything about her, from her silliest dreams to her deepest fears. But before all those things could actually happen, she had to let down her guard. That was his main priority now. He had to get behind that confident appearance of her. He was dead certain that it was merely a facade. It was her way of protecting her inner self. Someone needed to convince Temperance that she didn't need a defence system. Not every person was out to hurt her. Suddenly he got up, grabbed his coat and left his office with a determined look on his face. He was going to be that someone. He was going to show her just how well she fitted in.

---°---

He found her on the platform, behind one of the metal examination tables. He strolled over to her with his hands in his pockets. He came to a stop at her left side. He eyed the bones on the table up and down. Not taking his hands out of his pockets, he shifted his body a bit towards the scientist.

"Hiya Bones."

A couple of seconds of complete silence passed. "Booth." she finally breathed back, her eyes not leaving the bones before her.

"How ehm … How are you doing?" he blurted out, not entirely sure if it was the correct thing to ask her.

Temperance slowly lifted her gaze from the table to Booth's face. She bluntly stared at him. Booth forgot to breathe for a second. Dark circles were drawn around her eyes. Her skin looked extremely pale. Her blue orbs, usually filled with interest and knowledge, were now dull. The woman next to him was the complete opposite of the vivacious woman he was used to. He swallowed, processing the sight before him. Shards of the conversation with the artist came back to him. At first, he had thought that Angela was joking. Bones afraid of a skeleton? Right! That would be the day! But then Angela had continued her story. His protective instincts had kicked in. He didn't want the artist to know about his feelings, though. She would certainly run to her friend to tell her. He couldn't risk that. That was why he had pretended to be a fool who was too blind to read between the lines. He acknowledged Angela was right. Bones needed help.

His next action was quite unexpected and very impulsive. He took his right hand out of his pocket and brought it up to rest it on her left shoulder. He gently squeezed it.

"I'm here for you, Temperance." He saw something flicker in her eyes. It was gone before he could identify it. "I'll always be here." He gave her shoulder another gentle squeeze. "Well … I'm off then." He let go and turned around, making his way down the stairs. He was about to walk through the exit door when he suddenly turned around and jogged back to the platform.

"Hey Bones." he said. "If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me. Call me or come to see me. Doesn't matter how late it is. You got that?"

A slow nod of her head was the answer. He sent her a smile before heading off once again.

Temperance bit her bottom lip. Maybe I should take his offer.