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Little by litte it got darker in the Jeffersonian. It was already after 8 o'clock. Most people went home hours ago, except Brennan. She did overtime again, as she often did. Although she wasn't working on the garbage-bag-case anymore, it hadn't been a calm day. One body after the other had to be examined by her. One man did during a car accident and got burned in the vehicle, another skeleton was found in an apartment and there were still a vast amount of remains in the archive of the Jeffersonian, waiting to be identified.

In the case of the skeleton in the apartement the work had been easy. It was the hirer, an old weak woman, nobody had heard of in months, but still no one seemed to have missed her. There was no other explanation why she had died alone in her apartement and wasn't found until the renter knocked at the door to collect his money but could only find the almost completely decomposed body. Brennan could merely ascertain that she had died a natural death. It made her sad. The old woman died lonely and no one had missed her. But she didn't have enough time to think about it for long. She still had to work on a question from a student and had actually planned to visit her father in prison this evening. She was sure that it would be weird. Brennan didn't see him since he was arrested. She tried to avoid that situation as long as possible. And she also did everything to stay a little bit longer in the lab today. At the same time she actually could have left hours ago...and still she couldn't bring herself to leave. But she still had another hour to drive to the prison. The visiting time wasn't over before 9 pm. Brennan wanted to open another file from the archive as Angela appeared in her door.

„Still here?" Angela asked with a light reproachful tone in her voice. She knew exactly why Brennan tried to evade the meeting with her father.

„You're here as well." Brennan replied without looking up from the file.

„You know that he can't come to you, don't you?" Angela sat down on the couch. „He's waiting for you, Sweety. How long do you still want to delay your visit ?"

Brennan closed the file, sat up in her chair and pulled down her top.

„I'm not delaying it. I just didn't have the time. All this work and then the appointments at the psychiatrist with Booth..." she sighed. „Do you think he wants to see me at all ?"

Angela lifted her eyebrows in surprise. „Why not? He came back because of you!" she stood up , grabbed Brennan's jacket from the hallstand and offered it to Brennan. „Go! If he doesn't want to see you he would not use every phone call he's allowed to do to talk to you, would he ?"

Brennan smiled and nodded. „Okay." she said quietly and took the jacket...

Angela watched Brennan walking down the stairs. She had actually wanted to talk with her about something else. She unknowingly pulled the foto out of her pocket. It was a copy. The private detective had kept the original. But this had to wait...

„BRRMMMM" The sound of the door lock came through the hall. Brennan nodded to the watchman before she entered the floor. The walls were cold and grey. It reminded her more of a house shortly before demolition than of visiting rooms of a prison. Another officer was patrolling in the hallway. Through the glass windows he could see into all the different rooms and help it it was necessary.

Brennan saw him sitting a the table. His hands were folded on the table in front of him and he let his head hang forward. He suddenly seemed to be much smaller in the typical clothes of a prisoner than she remembered. She hesitated a moment before she opened the door and entered the room. Max looked up by the sound of the door and beamed at her. "You came."

He got up and embraced her before she could do anything against it.

When he let go of her again, Brennan tried to smile. " I...had a lot to do."

Max nodded. "I see. It's nice that you're here."

Brennan sat down on the chair in front of him.

"How was the wedding?" he asked.

Brennan laid her hands in her lap, insecure how to behave. "Ehm..there wasn't an actual wedding. It turned out that Angela is already married."

"Oh" Max had an astonished look on his face. "And she wasn't aware of that before?" He took both glasses on the table and poured water in them.

Now Brennan really had to smile. "Apparently not. She jumped over a stick with a guy." she waved aside and took one glass in her hand.

Max laughed as well. "Well,...and I really thought you would do that with Booth."

Brennan almost choked up. "What?"

„It's not that absurd ! I saw how he's looking at you!" Max reckoned and winked at her.

„We're working together. Booth and I are partners, not more." Brennan explained a little more composed again.

Max nodded knowingly. „Mhm...that's why he had to play the hero..." Brennan frowned her forehead. „Although, we both actually did..."

„What are you talking about?" Brennan asked irritated.

Max sighed and took a gulp of water before he continued to speak. „My arrest..." he cleared his throat. „It didn't happen like Booth probably has told you."

Brennan was completely confused by now. „You turned yourself in and he arrested you."

Max pressed his lips together. „Yeah, he arrested me, ...after we had hit each other so that it didn't look like giving up without a fight.

Brennan was surprised. She had seen the bruise in Booth's face, but had thought his father had actually fought with him before turning himself in. „You two staged this ?" she asked unbelievingly.

„Mhm...sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do, honey." he took her hand, she had laid on the table. The touch was a little unpleasant, but she also didn't want to pull her hand away.

„And there's really nothing going on between Booth and you?" he asked seriously again.

„No, we're just colleagues." Brennan replied calmly. „...and friends...but not more!"

Max lost the struggle not to smirk.

At that moment the officer knocked at the window. Their time was over. Max grin vanished within a second. She got up faster than he liked it.

„When will I see you again?" he asked and wasn't able to hide a sad sound in his voice.

„I'm not sure. I have so much work...I don't know when..." she noticed the disappointed expression on his face. „...there's just a lot going on right now." she finished her sentence.

„Okay." Max nodded. The officer became impatient already and opened the door. „Miss...?"

„I'm coming." Brennan said and went for the door, where she looked at her father once more. „Bye."

She left the room and walked along the hallway without turning around again

Max was lead out of the room by another watchman. But it didn't depress him to go back to his cell now. She would come back. Of that he was sure.

When Brennan left the prison it was pitch-dark already. Fortunately she had parked directly in front of the entrance. She opened her car, threw her purse on the passenger seat, switched on the light and just wanted to start the motor as her phone ringed.

„Brennan" answered.

„Sorry to disturb you so late. But we have work..." Booth said on the other end.

After he had told here where the new body had been found, she drove off, without looking around...without noticing the man who leaned against the wall in a dark corner of the building and had been watching her the entire time...