A/N: Nothing bad in this chapter. I will tell you that Goldpiece (thanks for beta-ing), found one sceen in this fic flipping Hilarious...so I hope you do too.

There are a few burning questions that this reporter wishes to know the answers to, such as, how do outsiders treat the pair? And how do their spouses or significant others feel about the partnership? Neither one was forth coming about the answers, so I began to dig a little deeper. I asked Dr. Brennan about an incident that involved Agent Booth interrogating a boyfriend of hers, to which she responded, as cool and calm as ever, "Agent Booth was just doing his job, and although I was somewhat mad at the time, looking back I realized that if he hadn't done it, if he hadn't done his job, then I really would have been mad." I decided to question Agent Booth about the topic. How does his girlfriend feel about his partnership with Dr. Brennan? After several moments of silence, he answered. "At present, I don't have a girlfriend." Interesting. I asked him if he has had a girlfriend since his partnership with Dr. Brennan began, and he told me 'yes'. I wanted to know if Dr. Brennan was the cause of the breakup. Agent Booth pinched his lips together before giving his short, official answer, "No comment."

- SB -

Chapter Three

No Comment

Hotel, Greenville South Carolina, 6:45 AM

Dr. Temperance Brennan stood outside of the hotel room of her partner, Agent Seeley Booth. It was still early and she didn't want to wake him up. They had stayed up late, going over what they had and answering a few questions of Shanelle Bryant. Brennan had been up for an hour, however, unable to sleep. She had showered, dressed, and then figured out that her small make-up bag was missing and Brennan knew it had to be in Booth's room. Normally she wouldn't have minded, but it also contained her personal items. So she had gone down to the front desk, and after a few threats, was given the extra key card to Booth's room. Now, she stood in the slightly darkened hallway, trying to calm her nerves. Brennan slid the card, and slowly opened the door. The sun was beginning to stream in the large window giving her plenty of light. A quick look around the room, confirmed that Booth was still asleep. Brennan smiled and allowed herself to rake her eyes over his body. He lay on his back, the covers stopping at his waist, showing off his chiseled chest. Brennan shut the door behind her and picked her way through the room. She found his bag on the floor beside a chair and beside his bag was her small personal bag. Quickly, she picked it up and then turned back to the door. A noise from the bed caused Brennan to stop. Her heart slammed against her rib cage. She watched out the corner of her eyes as Booth turned in bed to his stomach, passed some gas, which caused Brennan to slap a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. When she was certain that he was still asleep, to finished her walk to the door and left. She let out a deep breath and then went down to return the key. Brennan was in the elevator, and almost back to her floor, when her cell phone chirped, indicating a text message. She pulled out the phone and flipped it open.

You could've knocked

x Booth

Brennan let out a groan and snapped the phone shut as the doors opened. She stepped out of the elevator and then stopped. Booth stood in his open doorway, leaning on the door jam, with his arms crossed over a bare chest, his hair ruffled, a charm smile plastered on his face. Brennan pushed her shoulders back and walked down the hall, passed Booth and stopped at her door. Without looking at him, she slid her key card, entered and the shut the door on the sound of Booth's low chuckle.

Twenty minutes later Booth was pounding on Brennan's door. "Is she in here?" he whispered after Brennan opened the door.

"She? You mean Shanelle?" Booth nodded. "No, haven't seen her this morning."

"Good," Booth said striding in past her. Brennan shook her head in amusement and closed the door. "I wanted to talk to you without Ms.-Want-to-know-it-all around."

"She's just doing her job," Brennan said, when he turned to face her.

"I know this is supposed to be good for the Jeffersonian and all, but I swear, Bones, she's driving me crazy."

"Now, Booth,' Brennan began with a laugh. "All you've got to do is play nice and give her your charm smile. You'll do fine."

"My charm smile?" he questioned causing Brennan to blush.

"That's what Angela calls it," she answered with a shrug. "Are we going to talk to the hikers first?" Booth smiled but let her off the hook. He pulled his notebook out and flipped it up.

"Yeah, a Nola Shearman and her boyfriend, Rick Walton," Booth informed his partner. "I've arranged with Agent Alsbrook to meet with them both at Shearman's house."

"Think they have anything to do with the murder?" Brennan asked.

"Not really enough information to form an official opinion. But at first glance, I would have to say no. The first interviewers noted that they were scared, nervous and visibly shaken. Unless they are really good actors, I don't think they have anything to do with it." He put the notebook back in his pocket. "So, you ready to check out, grab some breakfast and head on to the Shearman's?"

"Just let me get my bags," Brennan tossed over her shoulder already heading to where they sat on her bed.

"So how did you get a key card to my room?" Booth asked. He saw her back go rigid and he laughed. "Come on, Bones," he said. "Let's go wake up Dr. Bryant and get this show on the road.

Thirty minutes later they were all piled in the rented SUV. Booth had his eyes forward and he kept readjusting his grip on the steering wheel. "It's just an innocent question, Agent Booth," Shanelle said from the backseat. Brennan watched her partner out the corners of her eyes. His jaw was set and his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Shanelle," Brennan finally said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Quite a lot, Tempe," the writer said. "I know that you aren't seeing anybody, and I was just asking Agent Booth if he was in a relationship. And if he wasn't, was it because of you?"

"My official answer is no comment," Booth finally said.

"Come now, Agent Booth, don't be so closed mouth about it," Shanelle said. "Although, your unwillingness to answer makes me wonder." Booth's eyes shot to the rear view mirror. The writer stared back at him.

"My official answer is no comment," he said again, returning his eyes to the road. "But I'll answer your personal inquiry." Shanelle shifted in the back seat. "My partnership with Bones is part of the reason my last relationship didn't work out."

"I didn't know that," Brennan said, slightly shocked.

"The other part of the reason is that when she and I started dating, my position was exciting. I was a trophy for her to flaunt to her friends. It didn't take long for reality to settle in. Being an FBI agent is a 24/7 job. I'm always on call, and if a case comes in, then I have to go. If Bones had new evidence, she called- I went. I'm at her disposal at any and every hour of the day, and visa-versa. Me, Bones and her squint squad are a weird sorta family. In a way, you get one, you get all of us." Booth chanced a quick glance over at Brennan, who sat watching him. His eyes then flicked to the mirror and Shanelle. "Most people can't handle that. But what we do is too important to let the lack of non-work related relationships get in our way. Like I said, we are each other's family. Me, Bones, Angela, Hodgins and Boy Wonder."

"Zack," Brennan corrected.

"Thinking too much about that," he continued, "could cause us not to do our job right. A victim goes unidentified. A murderer goes free." Again he caught Shanelle's eyes in the mirror. "Did you get your answer?" The writer licked her lips and nodded.

"No comment." Silence filled the cabin of the SUV for fifteen minutes before Shanelle spoke again. "How about outsiders? How do they treat you?" Booth smiled over at Brennan who felt her cheeks begin to flush.

"They tend to…misinterpret us," Brennan said, softly.

"She means that most people think I'm her boyfriend," Booth teased.

"I don't know why," Brennan quickly threw in. "It's not let we act like that or anything. Some people see what they want to see."

"So how does that make you feel, Tempe?" Shanelle asked.

"Frustrated," she answered. "That people can misread two people so badly. What?" she asked, when Booth began to laugh. "They do." She pushed herself back in her seat and crossed her arms- Booth still laughing.

Booth pulled to a stop in front of a modest sized house of brick with green shutters. A small porch graced the front, and two rocking chairs sat empty and still in the heat of the Southern summer. Booth, Brennan, and Shanelle all got out of the car. As they did, a uniformed officer approached.

"Agent Booth?" the young man asked. When Booth nodded, he went on. "I'm officer Dennis Jones. Agent Alsbrook said you requested an officer present."

"Yes, I would like you to keep an eye on Dr. Bryant here," Booth said, indicating one of the two ladies. "Make sure she doesn't go away or talk to anybody."

"But Agent Booth," Shanelle began, taking a step toward him.

"Sorry, Dr. Bryant, but I can't allow you to come in and I don't trust you to stay put." Shanelle narrowed her eyes at him.

"You forget Bones is my partner," he said with a laugh. "That look doesn't bother me." With that he walked around the SUV, joined Brennan and began up the front walkway.

"That wasn't very nice," Brennan whispered as they approached the door.

"Yeah, I know," he answered with a smile, and then reached up and rang the doorbell. After only a minute the door opened to reveal a short woman with dirty blonde hair and glasses. She was dressed in shorts and a tank top, and her feet were bare. In her arms was a small black dog- a Chihuahua, Booth thought.

"Nola Shearman?" Booth asked.

"That's right," the young woman answered, trying to keep the dog quiet.

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth," he introduced. "And this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. May we come in?"

"Please," Nola said, stepping to the side, allowing them access. Booth and Brennan were greeted with a welcoming blast of cold air. "Have a seat. Rick should be right back," the woman said. "He just ran to the store to get some soda."

"That's fine," Booth said, taking a seat on the couch, Brennan beside him. "If you don't mind, we'll just ask you a few questions before he gets back." Nola nodded and sat down across from the partners in a glider. The dog in her lap began to bark again.

"Sugar, shush," she said, but the dog wiggled loose and jumped to the ground.

"Can you tell us about finding the body?" Booth asked, one eye on Nola, the other on the ankle biter that was sniffing his foot.

"It was terrible," the young woman said with a shiver. "Rick and I had been planning that hiking trip for weeks. It was a perfect day and we were having so much fun." While the girl talked Booth reached down and held a hand out to the dog. After a second of unsure sniffing, Sugar allowed Booth to pat her. "We had just decided to head to the truck when we saw…this huge ant mound. That's not really unusual for these parts, but something about this one…Rick said it looked like a person. I thought he was just trying to freak me out. I hate ants. But we went over to take a better look and…and found," Nola stopped and took a deep breath. "Found a body." Booth nodded and Brennan tried to hold in a laugh when Sugar took Booth's petting as an invitation to get in his lap. She quickly turned in a circle and then made herself comfortable.

"You can put her down, Agent Booth," Nola said as the front door opened.

"Sorry," the man who walked in said, putting his bag on the floor and walking over to Nola. "There was a line." Then he turned his attention to the pair on the couch. "Rick Walton."

"Special Agent Seeley Booth and my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan," Booth said. "Hope you don't mind if I don't get up." Rick took in the sleeping dog and shook his head.

"Not at all. I don't know how you did that, Agent Booth. Sugar normally doesn't take to strangers." Booth grinned and patted the dog's head.

"Mr. Walton, could you tell us what happened the day you discovered the body?" Brennan asked.

"Of course. Nola and I were out for a hike. We were just heading in when we saw this odd-looking ant mound. I said it looked like a human form, but Nola didn't believe me. We made our way to it anyhow, and sure enough, there was a body in it."

"Did either of you notice anything different about the woods that day?"

"No," Rick said. "Except for the body, everything was…normal."

"Thank you," Booth said, picking the dog up and putting it on the floor. He stood as well as Brennan. "If you two think of anything else, please call." He handed Rick a business card and then escorted Brennan from the house.

"Not much to go on," Brennan commented as they began their way back to the SUV.

"Yeah, but we'll have to work with it."

TBC...

This chapter is In Memory Of Sugar. Who was the sister of my oldest chihuahua, Kujo.