Chapter 4

"Agent Booth." Timothy said as he met with Brennan and Booth. "What can I do for you?"

"We were wondering if anyone goes to the basement where the black mold had been." Booth asked as the man looked at him confused. "We found traces of Black mold on one of the victims and according to the CDC you had a break out in the basement a few months ago."

"Well the maintenance man mostly and very rarely a nurse if they need to get linens. But, that's only happened a few times here and there. We do not allow our patents to wander outside of the designated areas."

"Could we take a look at the area the mold was located at?" Brennan asked.

"Yes, yes of course. I'll take you there." He said and started leading the way to the basement. "You don't think that one of them were killed down here do you?" He asked looking at Booth and Brennan who shrugged.

"It's a possibility." Brennan told him as her phone rang. "Brennan… okay, thank you." She said as she hung up to look at Booth. "Hodgins found the same particulates and traces on the second victim." She said as Booth nodded.

"We're going to have to talk to the maintenance guy."

"Yes of course. Here the mold was this entire back area." He said pointing in front of him as Brennan started walking farther into the room.

"Booth. It smells like cleaning materials." She said as she looked around the room. "Are the cleaning supplies kept in here?"

"No. They are on the other side of the basement by the elevator." The manager said as he watched Brennan walk around.

"Why don't you go find that maintenance guy for us?" Booth suggested before Timothy nodded and went off to find the man while Booth walked over to Brennan. "What do you think?" He asked making her look up at him.

"This could be our crime scene. If the chemicals were not stored here yet the smell of Bleach is obviously strong, it is very possible that both victims were killed here."

"I'll call in a team." He said as he dialed Haker to call in the forensics team while Brennan continued to wander. "Let's head up and see what we can get from this guy." He said as they started back up the stairs to find Timothy walking back towards them. Booth and Brennan stopped in front of him, as he looked at them worried.

"I am afraid Jeff is not in today. It seems he called out once again."

"How long has he been out for?" Booth asked curious as the manager took a breath.

"Since the first body was found. He left early claiming that he had an appointment and he's been calling out since."

"Do you have an address for him? We'll just take a trip over and talk to him for a bit." Booth suggested as Timothy nodded.

"Yes, I will get everything for you." He turned and left to go to his office to get what Booth and Brennan would need. Booth saw Brennan looking around as she began to wander making him follow as she walked through the hall to the little courtyard where the second body had been found.

"Bones, you can't just go wandering through this place." He said stopping behind her as she stopped in her tracks. "Bones, what is it?" He asked as he walked closer and she pointed.

"Booth that shed in the corner… there are stairs in the basement that line up to it. Collin could have easily been pulled up the stairs and buried quickly without anyone knowing anything." She looked at him as he looked at the shed then the area that was still taped off right next to the shed. He looked back at her and nodded "The stairs and the inside of the shed should be checked for blood and anything that could prove that he was…" She trailed off and looked up at him with emotion flowing into her eyes.

"Yeah, we'll make sure to check. Come on let's get what we need from the manager and set the team up." He said softly turning them around to walk back towards Timothy's office just in time to see him walk back over.

"Here is everything we have in his file."

"Thanks." Booth said taking the file. "We're going to have a team come in and take a look around in the basement just to rule a few things out."

"Yes, of course." Booth and Brennan walked out to meet the forensic team and another two agents.

"Agent Miller, Agent Ledger." Booth greeted as they walked over to them. "In the basement the far side is where the mold was and where there's a strong smell of bleach. There's also a little stair way up from the basement into a courtyard that we found the second victim buried in. make sure to check everywhere possible for any traces of blood." Booth said and watched the two nod before Agent Miller, the taller of the two with black hair and light brown eyes walked off to direct the lab techs while Ledger looked at Booth as Brennan watched the techs begin their work. She turned to Booth as if wanting to go back to supervise making Ledger worry as rumor of Dr. Temperance Brennan reached all the agents in the FBI. Several knew what she was capable of and several flat out refused to work with her, to the point of threatening to quit if they were made to work with her.

"Booth..." She said making him look at her before she turned to look around again and Booth glanced at Ledger who was looking slightly worried.

"Bones, they will look at everything and get everything you need. You don't need to be here bossing them around and making their lives a living hell. That's what we have Miller and Ledger here for." Booth said

"I would not make their lives a living hell. Booth someone with real training needs to be here to make sure they do not miss anything and that they do not mess anything up. If they miss something that could lead to the murder or anything-"

"Bones." He said making her looked at him ready to argue farther, but the look he was giving her made her stop and take a breath.

"It is happening again. Isn't it?" She asked making him nod and smirk before she took a deep breath. "I am sorry." She said softly before walking away and towards the car leaving Booth with the confused agent.

"Did she just….. Apologize? Is she okay? I mean what's going on? I head she tore agents apart not that she would listen to you and apologize." Booth smirked as he looked over at Brennan who was standing beside the car with her arms crossed and her head down.

"What's it matter, you got off easy." Booth said with a smirk. "Just give me a call if you find anything."

"As long as you keep her calm and not trying to kill us or the techs I think I can manage that." Ledger smirked with his smiling brown eyes and neatly brushed blond hair. Booth gave a small smirk before walking over to Brennan and they climbed into the car and were off to see what they can find out from the maintenance man.

Booth and Brennan sat in her office going over paperwork while they waited for his phone to ring. They had gone to see the maintenance man, Jeff but there was no answer when they knocked on the door and the car was not in the driveway forcing Booth to place a bolo out on the man before they went back to the lab to look over what they had already, which wasn't much. Booth leaned back on the couch as Brennan continued to flip through the pages that had been sprawled on the table in front of them. He watched her scan the words written all over the pages. After a while, she also sat back and looked at him with a sigh.

"Booth, there's nothing that points to anyone. We do not have anything. All we know is that the first victim's head was struck with an object like a square and we still have no cause of death for the second. We have nothing."

"We'll get something Bones. We just got the team working and processing the basement and that shed. They found blood so that's something. We know where at least one of them was killed. It's just a matter of time before evidence starts pointing to someone." He reassured her. "Let's go home and get some sleep." He offered and saw her shake her head. "Bones, you promised…." He trailed off as she leaned forward and started working again.

"I…. Booth, I cannot go rest. Not right now." He leaned forward and pulled the papers from her hands making her look at him with tears in her eyes.

"Bones… what's going on? You've barely slept last night and you were up for three nights before that. You have to get sleep." She looked at him wanting to tell him everything that was swimming around in her head, but did not want to worry him when it was not necessary. "Come on, talk to me. Tell me what is going on." his tone suggested he was trying to beg slightly, hoping she would explain it to him.

"Booth…" She said trailing off as she tore her eyes from his and stood up to walk over to her desk. He followed her and stopped making her turn to face him.

"Don't shut me out. Come on, we're partners, we're more than partners we're boyfriend and girlfriend. Don't shut yourself up behind those walls again." He said making her search his worried eyes. They stood looking at each other for a while before she pulled her eyes away again and took a deep breath. "Just tell me what's going on."

"Booth…" She started softly before looking up at him. "You know I'm not very good with allowing myself to show emotions and I am certainly not good at telling others what is wrong. You are correct though. I should tell you when there is something in my mind. We are in a relationship and I should be honest with you not try to hide everything." She paused and looked up at him and he nodded waiting for her to continue. "I…. I have not been able to sleep recently. This case has my mind going back to the child. Every time I try to sleep I just keep seeing that little boy trying to work passed his illness, wanting to be a normal boy, trying to play and laugh….." She trailed off as the tears began to over flow and Booth pulled her to him and held her tight.

"Alright. It's going to be okay." He hushed her as he pulled her close. She took a deep breath calming her emotions and pulling herself together as she pulled back to look at him.

"I can't go to sleep, I can't imagine what his family is feeling knowing that their four year old child was killed by some mad man at a hospital that is supposed to be making him feel better." She saw Booth give a small nod. "My chest hurts when I think about the pain and what it would be like if something happened to our child….. "She trailed off in tears again. "I… I cannot seem to gain full control over my emotions as of late." Booth took a breath and pulled her into another hug. He did not want to even have the thought of something happening to Parker or the child they were having together. He knew her hormones had been even higher the last few days and knew that things would only get worse before they leveled out for the remainder of the pregnancy.

"Don't think about something happening. We won't let it. You know that. So just forget about anything possibly happening to our baby and just focus on helping me catch the guy who took away someone else's kid. We get a hold of him and maybe I'll even let you take a swing or two." He smiled as she gave a small sound something close to a chuckle before he felt her arms tighten around him. He slid one hand from her upper back to rest on her lower back while his other arm wrapped around her back with his hand cradling her head to his chest.

"Every time I start working on the case about him or I try to sleep I just… I can't, Booth….."

"I know. It is gonna be okay, I promise. Why don't you take a little bit and just focus on something other than this case. Leave the remains to Wendell and just work on something else or even take a few days off."

"Booth I can't do that. Not in the middle of a case." She protested pushing back to look up at him.

"At least until we find that maintenance guy. Just relax, and let Wendell look at the remains, and just forget all about murder and victims for a while." she looked at him thinking and analyzing the pros and cons of what he was suggesting. Slowly she gave a small sigh.

"I do not think I will be able to sleep still, but you need to get your rest." She said making him smirk before he let go of her.

"Alright, let's pack it all up and call it a night." She nodded before she started to help him collect the papers that had ben strung across the table. By the time they were finished collecting everything they needed to and were able to make it to his apartment it was nearly ten p.m. Brennan tried to take the files from her bag to start working again only to have Booth stop her hands. She had thought he went to get ready for bed leaving her a little bit of time to look over a few more papers. As she tried to pull the files from her bag, he had come up behind her and grabbed onto her wrists from behind.

"Booth." She complained.

"No work. Come on, it's late and we need to get some rest. You're starting to look like a zombie, Bones." He said with a small smile as he leaned down kissing her cheek as she gave up on the files. He let go and turned back towards the bedroom before Brennan grabbed his hand and turned him back to her.

"Booth, you can't just stop me from work and tell me to go to bed. You know I cannot just stop and forget about everything. I need to figure this out." She complained softly making him walk closer to her.

"I know Bones; no one can forget any of the stuff in these cases. You have to just be able to put them aside when you come home."

"I can't do that when I don't know what the mystery is. I have to keep my mind occupied or else I will not be able to continue to fit the pieces together." She looked at him slightly concerned at the look that had jumped into his eyes as he watched her stand explaining. Slowly he moved closer to her and he smirked down at her.

"So you need to be preoccupied to be able to relax?" He asked as saw her study him before shrugging.

"That is one option." He smirked before he leaned down giving her a kiss. Soon the gentle kiss turned into a heated passion and they were on their way to his bed for another night of romantic bliss that Brennan had no way to describe what was going on with her or her emotions.

That night Brennan lay with her head on his chest and an arm across his bare stomach as he had his arm wrapped around her naked form as they slept comfortably after several hours of wearing the other out. Booth was jerked awake by a scream as Brennan rolled off his chest making him sit up quickly and look around wondering what was going on. He looked at the tortuous face Brennan was making as she curled in a ball with her arms wrapped around her middle. Booth reached out and started to wake her as she gave another small cry. Finally, her eyes snapped open and she jumped into his arms as tears involuntarily came to her eyes and slipped through her tightly shut eyes.

"It's okay. I've got you. It's okay now, it was just a dream." He whispered as he held her close comforting her as she began to gain control back over her breathing and relaxed into his embrace. He slowly laid them both back against the soft mattress as she sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry I woke you." She said softly not wanting to let go just yet but still feeling awkward. Even after being in a relationship with Booth for the last three months she still felt off, and awkward when she shared her feelings or when she was completely vulnerable and he saw her, but slowly she was beginning to get used to him always being there to help her and hold her.

"Don't worry about waking me. You okay now?" He asked as she rolled slightly off him to look up at his face.

"Yes. I'm fine now. You should go back to sleep."

"We. We should go back to sleep." He said looking at her as she averted her eyes. "Bones."

"I can't Booth. It…. That dream…."

"You want to talk about it?" He saw her shake her head. "It might help you get back to sleep." He said and watched her weigh the options before she pulled herself close to him and tighten her grip making Booth tighten his arms around her.

"I… I've had this dream several times before. It's… you weren't home and it was late at night and I seemed to be almost due. A man broke down the door and came after me… he…. He tried to hurt the baby… Booth I….." She trailed off as tears came to her eyes and he held her a little tighter.

"No one's going to hurt you, or the baby. I promise I won't let anything happen to either of you." He said sternly as he kissed the top of her head.

"Booth, you weren't home, I think because you were working on a case and I couldn't go since I was so far along." She said softly.

"No one is going to get to you. No one is going to get to the baby either, no matter where I am. Nothing will hurt either of you." He said softly and he felt her relax a bit more in his arms. "I'm right here now, and you're both safe." He said as she relaxed and melted back into his arms as she let out a soft breath that danced across his bare chest.

"Promise you won't leave me." She whispered.

"I swear on our baby's life that I will never leave you, I love you, Temperance." He said making her shift to look up with a small smile as her eyes glistened from the unshed tears. He smirked as he looked at her. "I know, I know. Love is just a release of chemicals, but there's no science to explain how I feel about you."

"I accept that logic, and I seem to have feelings that I am unable to describe. The only thing I can think of is that I love you too, Seeley." She said making him smile before he rolled them and leaned over her with a grin before he kissed her and lulled her back to sleep until the next morning when Booth's phone rang waking them from a very comfortable, deep sleep. Booth groaned as he rolled and climbed from the bed to answer the phone making Brennan sigh.

"Booth." He answered as he dug his phone from the pocket of his discarded pants that had been left by the doorway to the bedroom the night before. "Yeah… Thanks, I'll be right in." He said before hanging up the phone. He grabbed a pair of boxers from his drawer before he walked over to the bed where Brennan had curled back up with the blankets and was drifting back off to sleep.

"Booth, come back to bed." She groaned missing the heat he had given off.

"That was Ledger. They found the maintenance guy and they're bringing him in now." He saw her crack her eyes to look at the time on the alarm clock beside the bed.

"At six in the morning?" She complained.

"I thought you liked early mornings." He smirked as she groaned.

"I did but the baby doesn't seem to enjoy them as much and has a habit of causing me to sleep through until late morning." She heard him chuckle making her look at him as he laid on her belly looking at her. "What are you laughing at?"

"You just blamed the fetus in your womb for you sleeping late." He smiled as she sighed closing her eyes again. "Come on. Let's get this done and over with." He said before he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek before climbing away to get changed for the day while she fought her body and followed suit.