Temperance left for school earlier than usual that morning. She had spent the night in the basement, which grew rather cold in the evenings. It was still early October, and although the first few light snows had melted upon hitting the ground, it wasn't going to be long before she stared seeing her breath in the moonlight streaming through the windows.

The cold and her constant state of exhaustion had put her to sleep as soon as she had pulled the ratty blanket over her head, and it wasn't until she awoke the next morning that she realized she had landed on her ankle wrong as she tumbled down the stairs the night before.

The pain had woken her well before the sun came up, and she had started her chores immediately to insure that they were done on time. Even with the head start, she had only just finished and retreated to her closet when Mr. Colier had gone sauntering down the stairs, whistling jovially to himself while straightening his tie.

She had gone about her own morning rituals as fast as possible, foregoing trying to sneak a peak in the bathroom mirror and hopping like hell she looked presentable enough to belie any suspicion. After she had slipped out the back door, to avoid a still present Mrs. Colier, and hobbled her way down the alley, she knew that she was going to be late for school. She was moving entirely too slow, but the pain was already enough to make her want to scream.

She had just managed a little over two blocks when a rusted blue pickup pulled alongside the curb next to her and honked its horn. Temperance groaned internally. Just what she needed, in pain, late, and now she was being harassed. She tried to walk faster, but this only caused her to stumbled, and a film of tears covered her eyes as her ankle jarred painfully as it took on its equal share of her weight.

She heard a car door slam and realized that she had been standing awkwardly still in the middle of the side walk. Taking a deep breath to brace herself, she gingerly picked up her foot.

"Wow! Easy there Bones!" She froze mid-step, her head snapping up to look at Seeley who had materialized next to her. One of his hands came to rest on her lower back while he placed his other on her shoulder to steady her. She immediately leaned back into his supporting hand, gritting her teeth at her own weakness. Even though she had lowered her gaze to stare at the cracks in the sidewalk, she could feel his frown on the top of her scalp. They stood in silence for a few moments, and Temperance couldn't help but wonder if this is what animals at the zoo felt like, being examined without a means of escape. "Why don't you let me give you a ride to school today? I've got my football stuff with me. I'll see if I can't do something to help out your foot." She felt pressure on her back and planted her good foot more firmly on the ground.

"That won't be necessary. I can get there fine on my own." Temperance heard the surrender in her voice before she had even finished the statement and sighed in frustration. There was no way she could make it all ten blocks to school without her ankle giving out. She felt stupid for even trying, and feeling stupid was not something Temperance Brennan was accustomed to. "And it's not my foot." She looked up to meet his gaze. "It's my ankle." He gave her a pained smile.

"Sorry, I'll see what I can do for you ankle then. Come on Bones." He picked up her arm and draped it around his shoulders, wrapping his own arm around her waist while she muttered, "Don't call me Bones," under her breath. She blushed as she was pulled flush against him and they began moving to his truck. She had little energy to focus on their position however once she tried to put pressure on her foot. Without the sense of desperation, her adrenaline rush had dissipated, and her mind was fully processing the amount of pain radiating up her calf. With a groan she allowed most of her weight to be transferred to Seeley, who was practically dragging her along beside him.

"Oh this is ridiculous!" He came to a sudden stop and Temperance's head whipped up to look at him in panic. Before she had time to voice her thoughts however, she felt the sidewalk disappear from underneath her and she squealed as she locked her arms around Seeley's neck.

"What are you doing?" She cried as they once again began moving toward his truck. She shrank back against his chest. He really was rather tall.

"What does it look like?" He grinned down at her. "I'm carrying you."

"Is that really necessary? We were ten feet from the car!" He gently set her down so that she could lean against the truck bed while he opened her door.

"Maybe not. But it was way faster, and I really can't afford to be late again this week." He turned to wink at her. "Unless it's for a good cause." She felt a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach as he helped her into the passenger side of his car. She was never very good at reading people or situations, but it had all come so naturally with Seeley. Maybe she had been wrong this whole time. Maybe this 'good cause' he was mentioning was his way of letting her know that he had an ulterior motive.

"Look Seeley, I-" Her voice disappeared and her eyes slammed shut. Seeley was kneeling on the ground next to her seat with her foot held delicately in his hand. He made a disapproving noise in the back of his throat and looked up at her.

"Do you mind if I take off your shoe?" Still unable to find her voice she gave him a slight nod and watched as he bowed his head again. His fingers ghosted over the laces of her worn out Keds, brushing the laces back and removing her shoe as gently as possible. Still she let out a pained hiss as her foot as freed. Seeley let out a low whistle. "Geez Bones, that looks like quite a doozie. How did you manage this?" His fingers brushed over her skin, delicately prodding to feel for broken bones.

"I don't-" She sucked in another breath as he hit a particularly tender spot. "-know what that means." She winced and ignored his question. "And don't call me Bones." He grimaced as he met her gaze.

"Well, lucky for you, I won't have to call you broken bones. Looks like a really bad sprain. I can wrap it for you, but you should really go to a doctor. And definitely stay off of it. Would you like me to take you back home?"

"No!" Temperance was so startled she tried to jump out of his truck. Where she was going or how she was going to get there were only afterthoughts. Seeley leapt up and caught her by the arms, firmly holding her to the seat. She began pounding on his chest with her fists. She never noticed the stray tears had managed to fight their way down her cheek.

"Wow! Easy there Bones! I won't take you home okay? Just calm down." She continued to struggle. Seeley pulled her tight against his chest, effectively pinning her arms while he gently stroked her back. "Shh. It's okay Temperance. Just calm down. I'll fix up your ankle and we'll go to school and everything will be fine. Shh. It's all going to be okay. I've got you. Shh…" Temperance stilled in his arms, but he continued to hold her for a few minutes longer, making make sure that she wasn't going to try to make another break for it. Finally, he pulled back and looked into her eyes, brushing her hair back from her cheek while she took a shaky, calming breath. "You okay?" She nodded mutely and he sent her a soft smile. "Good. Now think you could hand me that bag behind you?" She twisted in her seat and noticed a black gym bag behind her.

Although he handled her foot as though it were made of blown glass, Temperance's ankle throbbed painfully when Seeley finally placed the last strip of tape several long minutes later. She groaned as she turned to face the front of the truck and Seeley closed her door, tossing his gym bag in the truck bed with her backpack while he walked around to his own door.

"Here, these won't help much, but hopefully they'll take the edge off." Seeley leaned across her and handed her a bottle of aspirin from the glove compartment. "Keep the bottle with you. You are going to need them today." He glanced at her in concern as she dry swallowed two pills while she pocketed the rest.

"Thanks Seeley." She closed her eyes and leaned against the window as Seeley drove toward the school, glancing over at her still form every few seconds. Despite the pain, her lips curved up slightly.

Hurray progress! Now if only my internet would work so that I could actually post this chapter. =/

I know it's nothing you haven't heard before, but I am trying to stay more on top of this story, but I work a lot, and I would really like to have a life sometimes. Makes existing more interesting ;)

Reviews please!