AN: Hey, I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Allie for becoming my beta for this. You're the best :) Also thank you to all those that have reviewed, always greatly appreciated and keeps my muse happy ;) Enjoy!

Brennan stood in front of the door taking a deep breath, trying to suck up her pride. She'd spent most of the morning at the lab, though hadn't really achieved much. She couldn't get Booth off her mind. He'd been a background thought for a while now, but usually she could put him on a back burner as she concentrated on the task at hand.

Today however her thoughts just kept going back to him, how he'd looked last night; the butterflies that had raced through her stomach every time his arm had brushed against hers; how her heart ached as she'd watched him dancing with March and that last look he'd given her, making her weak at the knees.

It was stupid really. If there was anything going on between Booth and March, he'd tell her right? They were partners, of course he'd tell her. He might not be able to tell her how they knew each other, or any details about March herself, but he was free to tell her if he were in a relationship with March.

Feeling reassured, she knocked confidently on the door. The view that met her a minute later sent her weak at the knees all over again.

"You're late again Re…you're not Rebecca," Booth said, giving her a charming smile as he dropped the small towel he'd been wiping his neck with around his shoulders.

Shoulders that were bare save the towel, Brennan noticed, watching the small droplet of sweat that ran down between his well defined pecs. She was suddenly aware it wasn't just his shoulders that were bare, but his entire upper half. The only clothing he appeared to be wearing was a pair of loose basketball shorts, which hung lazily over his hips, accentuating not only his hip grooves but that near six-pack of his as well. For the life of her she couldn't figure out where he found the time to both work out and spend time in the sun to achieve the tanned, toned body that stood before her.

"Bones? You alright," he asked, drawing her out of her trance.

"Huh? Oh yeah…I uh…I…" she looked down at her hands as his smile grew. Spotting the folder in her hand, she held it up triumphantly. "I came to give you the report," she told him.

He gave a soft chuckle. "Just couldn't wait till Monday could ya Bones?" he asked. "Come on in," he said, stepping out of her way. "Sorry just hopped on the treadmill before Parker arrives," he said as they walked into the apartment. "Can't see why you work Saturdays," he added shaking his head.

"I don't see why you don't work Saturday's. I mean you're a religious guy and in the Bible it states that God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh," she said as he guided her to the kitchen.

He raised a brow at her, his smile growing. "You consider me a god now Bones?" he asked teasingly.

"What? No," she stammered as her cheeks flushed. She wanted to break his gaze, but knew if she looked down she'd fall into a daze again. "I'm just saying it's perfectly normal to work six days a week."

"And what would you say about working seven days a week?" he asked as he grabbed two beers out of the fridge, opening them both before passing her one. He smiled at her expression, knowing she didn't want to say it was fine because he'd tease her about it, but she couldn't say it wasn't fine either since she'd called him from the lab last Sunday. Laughing, he just shook his head, "Admit it Bones, you're a workaholic."

"I am not!" she protested, annoyed with herself for being so distracted by his bare chest to come up with any plausible argument.

He raised a disbelieving brow. "Okay, name one time when you only worked nine to five…heck name one time you only started at nine or finished at five!" he replied with an evil grin.

Brennan was saved having to admit she couldn't think of one though. "Is he here?" March asked excitedly as she came out the bathroom. "Oh…hi Dr Brennan," she added as she spotted Brennan, her smile fading, but she quickly recovered.

The same couldn't be said for Brennan, who took a moment longer to get over the shock. She stared at March, who was back in her cargo pants, but with a pink baby-t this time, her hair still damp from the shower she must have finished before Brennan arrived. Finally finding her voice she croaked out, "H-hi March." What are you doing here? she wanted to add, but knew it wasn't really appropriate.

The oven timer went off, causing them all to jump. March went over and pulled out a lasagne, smacking Booth's hand as he went to steal a bit. "It needs time to set first," she scolded him as he pretended to nurse his injured hand before grabbing the tray with garlic bread on it and popping it in the oven. This done, they stood in an awkward silence not really meeting each others gaze.

Before the moment could get too awkward, there was another knock on the door. "Ooh, that's gotta be him," March squealed, darting for the door.

"Uh, she's just a little excited about seeing Parker again," Booth explained unnecessarily as he rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact as he slowly trailed behind March.

Brennan nodded mutely. "How does she know---"

"Parker!" they heard March's cheerful voice, and rounded the corner just in time to see him running into her open arms, before she swooped him into the air, landing him neatly on her hip.

"May! You're here!" he said excitedly.

"Of course, didn't your daddy tell you I was here?" she asked, her complete attention devoted to the little boy.

"Yeah, but---"

"You know your daddy doesn't lie, Parker," she said giving him a stern look.

"I know…it's just…I was worried I might be too late…that you would be gone already," he said softly.

Brennan was surprised to find this small statement had a great affect on March, though she quickly covered the hurt expression that had crossed her face, and tapped him on the nose.

"Well you're not! So what've you been up to since I saw you last?"

Before Parker had a chance to reply, someone cleared their throat at the door, and they all looked to find Rebecca standing there.

"Becca! So nice to see you again," March's voice was dripping with sarcasm as she gave the other woman an oversweet smile.

The only evidence of hearing the greeting that Rebecca gave was to purse her lips as if she'd just bitten into a lemon, before turning to Booth. "I'll pick him up Sunday night at five, make sure he's ready," she said coldly.

Booth nodded, clenching his jaw with restraint at what was probably not the best comment for Parker to hear.

Rebecca looked over at Parker, glancing at March, and decided she'd prefer to keep her distance. "I'll see you tomorrow night sweetie," she said with a smile, before turning and leaving.

"See you Becca, we should really do this again sometime," March called out. She seemed to be about to make another comment of her own when she caught the warning glance Booth was giving her. "So what've you been up to since I saw you last?" she repeated her question to Parker instead. "You got a girlfriend yet?" she asked teasingly.

"Eww May! I don't wanna catch girl cootees!" he said, scrunching his nose.

March laughed as she shook her head. "How could I forget the girl cootees?"

"Why does he call her May?" Brennan asked softly as March and Parker continued to chatter away enthusiastically.

Booth's smile faltered for a moment, before he just shrugged. "Well he met her for the first time a couple of years ago…before he had mastered the 'ch' sound. In the end rather than calling her Mar I guess it just got decided to call her May instead," he said, keeping his gaze on the pair.

Brennan continued to stare at him, more once again captivated by the sight of him. Her cheeks grew crimson as she realised she was staring again. Anyone would think you'd never seen a half-naked man before, she scolded herself, forcing her gaze back to the pair as well.

Just then March looked over at them, seeming to only just realise Parker wasn't only there to see her. "Oh…Parker, you should say hello to your daddy," she said, clearly embarrassed about hogging him.

Jumping down, Parker ran into Booth's arms, being swung up into them in similar fashion to how March had.

Brennan looked to the floor, feeling a bit like she was intruding as Booth had a hushed conversation with his son, before hugging him tightly and ruffling his hair before setting him down again.

"Hey Dr Bones," Parker said as he landed on the ground once again. "What you got there?" he asked indicating the folder in her hand.

"Oh it's a case your dad and I are working on at the moment," she replied, suddenly feeling as though she should be picking him up and swooping him onto her hip as the others had, rather than staring down at the folder.

Parker frowned. "You and daddy are working today?" he asked in confusion. "But it's Saturday," he emphasised the last word, as though he thought she might have lost track of the days, causing Booth to laugh and Brennan to glare at him.

"Hey Parks, how about you and I go hit the town for a bit so these two can get there work done and then when we come back they should be ready to play okay?" March asked him.

"Okay," he replied, though it was unnecessary by the pure excitement that spread across his face and how he was bouncing excitedly. He suddenly stopped, turning to Booth. "Can I daddy?" he asked with a perfect miniature of Booth's puppy dog eyes.

Booth just laughed. "I don't think I've got much say in this one," he replied before being engulfed in a hug.

"Thank you daddy," Parker said as he grabbed his bag from where it lay near the door and running to his room to drop off it off, running back out a moment later. "Ooh May, I lost another tooth while you were away!" he spoke quickly, having just remembered the amazing event. "And this time it fell out all by itself!" he added, beaming with pride.

March grinned back at him. "Did my talk with the tooth fairy work?" she asked as he raised his arms toward her, and she automatically picked him up.

"Yup!" he answered, his smile broadening. "I got a whole dollar this time!" he added enthusiastically.

"A dollar?" March said, with just a hint of teasing.

"May," Booth whispered warningly.

Parker looked to Booth then back at March. "Is that still not enough?" he asked, clearly worried now.

"Oh no, that's HUGE," March told him, winking at Booth. "I don't think I ever got that much for just one tooth," she added, getting a huge grin out of Parker once again. Turning to Booth and Brennan she said, "We'll probably be a couple hours, five tops. The lasagne should be ready to eat by now. Help yourself to it, I'm sure Parks and I'll end up filling up on healthy snacks," she said, winking at Parker this time, causing him to giggle as she grabbed Booth's Washington Capitals jersey off the hook.

Booth just glared at her slightly before nodding. "Make sure you bring that back in one piece this time," he said warningly, though with more than a little teasing in his voice.

"I did last time, didn't I?" she asked innocently.

He raised his brows. "One isn't the same as three," he replied, getting a laugh in response. "Well you two have fun," he added as they left the apartment. He ran his hand through his hair, chuckling before turning to Brennan. "You up for lunch? 'Cause I'm starved," he said, heading towards the kitchen again.

"Uh, I thought we should go over the case---"

"Bones I'm starving, and if we look through the case first, I don't think I'll be able to stomach eating for a few more hours. Do you really want to be the cause of me starving to death?" he asked, giving her a pleading look.

She sighed. "The human body is capable of lasting a lot longer than just a few hours without food," she told him reasonably.

His pleading look turned to puppy dog eyes.

She sighed again. "Fine, we'll have lunch first…but it better be good," she added as he gave her a charming smile.

BONES

As it turned out it was a very good meal. Booth had noticed just before sitting down that he was still topless, and had excused himself to have a quick shower, causing Brennan to sigh with both relief and disappointment when he was out of ear shot.

In his absence Brennan had guiltily done some snooping around to try get an idea of March. She checked Parker's room first, but finding nothing there, with a heavy heart she went and checked Booth's room. His smell invaded her senses as soon as she entered, and she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face, feeling engulfed by him. Looking around, her heart soared when she found nothing here of March's either.

She quickly searched the rest of the house, a frown crossing her face as it became apparent there was nothing here. She was about to give up when she noticed the slightly large day pack near the front door and instinctively knew it belonged to March.

Just then she'd heard the shower turn off and had quickly gone back to the table, where Booth found her a few minutes later, pondering the pack. As they enjoyed the meal Booth hadn't allowed her to speak of work at all, keeping the conversation light and easy.

For the life of her she didn't know what made her think of it while she was enjoying his company so much, but she suddenly found herself verbalising what had just dawned on her. "But you called her May too."

"Sorry what now?" Booth asked, somewhat used to her jumping topics of conversation.

"Earlier you said Parker calls March May because of meeting her a couple years ago and not being able to say March yet. But you called her May too," she explained, watching him as he picked up their empty plates and headed for the kitchen.

"Did I?" he asked, looking genuinely surprised. "I guess with Parker calling her May it just slipped out."

"Interesting choice of words," Brennan said crossing her arms, arching an eyebrow at him as he washed the dishes, knowing there would be more to it since he wasn't meeting her gaze.

He said nothing as he finished washing them. Drying his hands he turned around to face her, his face sombre as he folded his arms as well. "What do you want me to say Bones? We've been through this, it's classified."

"I'm not talking about March's work or how you two met, I'm talking about you and your present relationship with her!" she fumed. She saw the small smile cross his face and knew he was about to make some smart remark, so continued on quickly. "I'm not asking about the FBI or some secret mission Booth, it's just your personal life, not classified information."

The smile that had been playing on his lips vanished as he stared at her. "Sorry Bones, I didn't realise your level of clearance gave you access to my whole personal life as well," he said coldly.

"That's…that's not what I meant," she faltered.

"Isn't it?" he asked, his piercing gaze boring into her.

She looked at the floor, unable to keep his gaze.

After a tense moment, Booth sighed. "Let's just go over the report," he said in a distant voice, picking up the folder and going back to the table.

Brennan remained rooted to the spot as he sat down and opened the folder, slowly making his way through all the contents. She watched as he went through every page then went through them again, flipping to different pages as if making connections between the information there, a deep frown crossing his face.

"Bones is this right?" he asked, glancing up at her, his voice back to normal. "He wasn't dead when the acid went on?"

She shook her head, making her way over and sitting down. "No, his lungs were filled with the fumes, he had to have breathed them in, though whether he was conscious or not is inconclusive. I doubt he survived long after…" she trailed off, knowing these were the details Booth didn't want to think about.

They went through every detail from the two bullet wounds to the chest down to the bruises around his ankles.

"I've got Angela running through a few different scenarios on the Angelator," Brennan said once they seemed to be getting to the end. "Is there any you want me to get her to try?"

He shook his head, not noticing her get up as he flipped through the pages once again. "Not off the top of my head, I'll stop by Monday morning, should have a few by then," he said, glancing at her, frowning when he realised she was ready to leave. "You're going?"

"Yeah, it's getting late and---"

He glanced at his watch as he cut her off, "Yeah six is really…six is later than I expected," he said surprised, double checking he'd read his watch right.

"I'll see you Monday," she said softly, turning to go.

"Uh Bones," he called after her, standing up.

"Yes?" she asked expectantly, only inches away from him now.

"Could you take the folder with you? Just with Parker around, I wouldn't want him to stumble upon it…" he trailed off, shrugging as he held the folder out to her.

"Sure," she squeaked, anticipation turning to disappointment as she took it and turned to go again.

"It's nothing personal Bones," he said after she'd taken a few steps away from him, causing her to turn back around. "If I could tell you I would it's just," he paused, looking off to the distance as he tried to find the words, "the more people know, the greater danger it puts her in." He paused again, clearly picking his words very carefully. "Even the smallest detail in the wrong hands right now could end up ki…putting her life in danger," he choked out, the fear this thought caused him evident in his voice and his face.

Brennan slowly nodded. She didn't know how it worked and she didn't know any information she wanted to, but at least she understood why she couldn't be told it, even if she thought Booth might be exaggerating just a little.

Sighing with relief, Booth walked her to the door. "I'll see you Monday," he softly repeated her words, closing the door gently behind her.