A/N: Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy. By the way, I know Brennan is acting a little emotionally distant right now, but it will all be explained in due time!
Chapter Four
He walked into the Jeffersonian the next afternoon feeling exhausted. He hadn't got much sleep last night and felt like he had barely slept at all when Chris pushed him awake this morning. He watched her, bent over the table, examining some bone or another.
"Do we have a case?" she said, without turning around.
"Yes." He replied, striding up the steps and stopping. "Body found in the dumpster on 4th. I'll tell you about it on the way."
She nodded and placed the bone back on the table.
"Zach." She called.
Zach appeared on the platform, followed by a young woman.
"Can you supervise Kelly as she finishes my analysis?" she asked.
"Absolutely Dr. Brennan." Zach replied.
He watched as she grabbed her coat and her kit and followed him out to the SUV. He had subconsciously reached up to place his hand on her back and then dropped it immediately.
They did their jobs as usual, processing the crime scene, bagging the body, collecting samples. But it was different. There was no friendly banter, in fact the car ride both to and from remained mostly silent.
When he had attempted conversation by positing a scenario, she just nodded and agreed with him.
They got back to the Jeffersonian and she had immediately told him that she would call him when they had the id. He was about to protest his obvious dismissal when he looked down at his watch and realized he needed to get home to Chris. Flicking a brief glance at a concerned-looking Angela, he turned and headed out the doors.
As he drove home, he knew that they would have to talk and soon. Their partnership which they had spent nearly three years building up, was gone. He decided that they needed to deal with this right away. He wouldn't be able to stand another day.
He picked up Chris and after stopping to eat, headed back to the Jeffersonian. When he walked in, he noticed that the team was still there working. Before he could say anything, Chris piped up.
"Hi Angela, Hi Jack, Hi Zach."
The squints looked up as Chris wiggled out of his arms and ran up the stairs, causing the alarms to go off. Scared, Chris turned and ran smack into Brennan's legs. He ran up the stairs, swiping his card on the way, to turn off the alarms.
"Chris." He said panicked. He reached her and scooped her up in his arms. "Don't worry, princess, it's just the alarm."
"That…was…scary." She said between sobs.
"I know..sshh…it's okay." He said, rocking her back and forth. At the same time, he was trying to stop his heart from beating out of his chest. He knew she wasn't in any real danger, but that didn't stop him from reacting the way he did. He always did, even if she did something as simple as fall off a swing.
"Is she okay?" a voice said softly. He turned to face Brennan.
"She'll be fine." He replied, more harshly then he intended. He thought of something that never failed to make his daughter smile. "Won't you pumpkin?" he said, making his voice cheery.
"Daddy!" Chris said giggling. "For once and all, I'm not a pumpkin, I'm a little girl!"
"If you say so." He said, pretending to look confused. "But you look round and you have a pointy handle on top, like a pumpkin."
"Daddy, that's my ponytail." Chris said. He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Hey Hodgins, are you busy?" he asked. "What I mean is, would you mind looking after Chris for a minute?"
"Sure." Hodgins replied. "C'mon kid, want to see my bug collection?"
"Yeah!" Chris said, running over.
He turned to Brennan. "We need to talk." He said.
"About what?" she asked.
"About today. About us working together." He replied, trying not to get frustrated.
"There is nothing to talk about." She replied, turning back to the table.
"Yes there is." He said, hitting the table with his hand and causing the bones to rattle.
"Please do not put your hands on the table." She stated in a monotone voice. "You will contaminate the evidence."
"God dammit Bones!" he said, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Keep your voice down." She said. "We are in the Jeffersonian. People are trying to work."
"It's 8 at night Bones, nobody is trying to work." He replied. "I need to know how we can make this work."
"Umm.." Angela piped up. "Maybe you should both go into Bren's office. It's probably a better idea."
"No Ange, that's not necessary." She said. "There is nothing to talk about."
He clenched his fists in anger and tried to calm himself down. It didn't work.
"Do you think this is easy for me?" he shouted. "I am back here working with you after everything that has gone on between us. You are the mother of my child, for god's sake Temperance! But I am trying. I tried to talk to you all day and you ignored me. Then you brushed me off. If we want to work together we need to solve this."
"It's not easy for me either." She said, her voice rising in anger. "I didn't ask for you to come back, so why are you here? And you bring her here and are parading her around in front of me, like I am supposed to feel guilty. I get it Booth. You are the superdad and I am just the woman who abandoned her baby. I don't need that shoved in my face."
"Okay guys…" Angela started.
"You need to figure this out." He replied, cutting Angela off. "Because we need to work together. And as for Chris, she is my life. That means that you are going to see her. A lot. Work it out, deal with it, whatever. I am not saying that we become best friends again, we both know that isn't going to happen. But we need to be civil to each other if we are going to work together. Agreed?"
"Fine." She muttered, picking up another bone. "If we are going to be professional, then don't call me Temperance. My name is Dr. Brennan." She said coldly.
Her words were like a slap in the face.
"Right." He said.
"Is that all?" she said, lifting her head and looking at him.
He looked into her eyes and saw coldness. He could always read her, but now she was different. She was cold and unemotional, nothing like the woman she used to be. For a brief moment he wanted to take her into his arms and shake her, make those emotions come back, help her deal with whatever was bothering her. He snapped out of it. If this is the way that she wanted to act, then it was the way it was going to be. She wasn't his anymore. He nodded and walked to Hodgins' office to get his little girl.
At least she loved him back.
