A/N – Thanks so much for all of the reviews. I appreciate all the feedback. This story is still a bit lower than the usual number I receive but I enjoy writing this and think it's actually some of my best writing.

The next couple of chapters are going to be pivotal to the story. I have already started the next chapter and hope to have it up soon. I planned on going further with this chapter but it was getting very long and this seemed like a good place to stop. Just stick with me and continue to let me know what you think.

Thanks to JunkieCat, GCatsPJs and Thnx4theGum for their story help and to MickeyBoggs for proofing for me. You ladies are great.

Disclaimer – I don't own Bones.

Chapter 10

The coarse sound of his cell phone vibrating against Brennan's hard mahogany bedside table woke Booth from his comfortable slumber relatively quickly. Even though it woke him up, he didn't move to answer it. He could hear the pounding of the rain on the windows of her apartment. It had been another magical night of them making love and they had fallen asleep in each other's arms as the wind began to howl and the rain began to fall down. It was definitely a rainy spring.

"Get that," was Brennan's muffled mumble as she was pulled from her dreams as well.

"No, you get it. I'm sleeping," he argued.

"It's your phone," she mumbled again and wiggled herself out of his warm grasp slightly. "I had the forethought to turn mine off," she teased.

Booth let out a very loud sigh. "Fine," he grunted out. "I'll get it. Booth!" he said rather angrily as he opened his phone.

Brennan quickly returned to her slumber. She could hear one side of Booth's conversation in the distance but she didn't care about it. All that was important to her at the moment was additional sleep.

Frustrated, Booth flipped his phone shut and rolled over. Two weeks ago, a call in the middle of the night about a case would excite him. That meant he could pick up Bones early but now it was 2:45 am and he was in bed with her and didn't want to be anywhere else.

He watched her for a few seconds as she continued to sleep. She was curled up slightly and had turned from her position of spooning with him and was now facing him. One of her hands was under her cheek and her hair was splayed in more directions than he could count. She was absolutely a picture of beauty. He decided they would need to get moving if they were going to get to the crime scene before the FBI Crime Lab did. He rubbed a single finger up and down her bare arms and laughed a little as chill bumps automatically popped up.

She instinctively shifted more toward him without waking. He pulled her in to him and planted a kiss on her head. "Bones," he said softly. "We gotta get up. We have a case."

"Where?" the sleepy anthropologist mumbled without moving in the least.

Booth couldn't help it. He laughed at her a little bit.

"Don't laugh at me," she fussed. "I'm sleepy. Now," she popped her eyes open. "Where's the body?"

"About 40 miles away," he replied. "Battle Creek Cypress Swamp out in Maryland. You know, Bones, if you'd rather me have the FBI Techs retrieve this one, I'm sure they'd be more than willing," he teased.

"I'm awake," she immediately became more alert.

"You are so predictable," he said as he climbed out of bed and walked around to her side. "Out of bed, lazy Bones," he kidded and pulled the covers off of her.

"I'm not lazy but you are definitely mean," she said as she worked on the daunting task of getting up. She couldn't seem to get a handle on her energy level and it was beginning to concern her slightly. She stood up and stretched her stiffened muscles.

He immediately noticed her slowness and the lines of discomfort on his forehead as he was pulling on his blue jeans. "What's the matter, Bones," he asked.

Brennan wasn't happy that she had allowed him to notice her own lethargy. She didn't mind as much as she would have years ago but she knew he wouldn't like it and would question her about it. "Nothing really," she responded. "just a little bit achy. I'm sure it's just my decreased energy level yesterday or maybe my allergies are acting up in response to the weather change."

Booth hugged her. "You're sure you aren't coming down with what Parker has?" he worried.

"I'm sure," she responded. "The incubation time for strep throat is longer anyway. I'll be fine once I'm up and moving."

"Maybe you're just getting old," he teased and smacked her on the rear end as she headed into the bathroom to get ready to go to the crime scene.

Over two hours earlier, just after midnight, in the midst of a massive thunderstorm, a research scientist from American University had been out collecting samples of planaria. He was extremely surprised when he pulled an ulna out of one of the marshes in one of his sample containers. A typical person wouldn't have recognized it as human but this particular individual had taken multiple courses in comparative anatomy and was able to identify the bone as human and quickly contacted the authorities.

After the hour long drive to Maryland from Brennan's apartment in DC, the rain was still coming down but had slowed to a steady shower instead of falling in sheets as it had been doing just hours before. They had been at the scene for approximately 20 minutes and Brennan had already placed a tarp near the water's edge and the FBI Crime Scene guys had set up plenty of lighting around the perimeter. Currently, on top of the tarp sat one lone ulna waiting for an additional 205 bones to join it.

"I have to get my waders out of the back," she said to Booth. "The torrential rains have most likely disturbed the full skeleton from somewhere in that direction," Brennan explained as she pointed slightly upstream. "We're going to have to go out there and try to find it."

"Bones," Booth protested as she headed toward the SUV to get her larger boots. "Maybe you should wait until daylight or let the FBI techs take care of this retrieval." He knew he was treading on thin ice but he had to say something. "It can't be good for you . . . you know with your allergies and all."

At this moment, Temperance Brennan proved that they would surely be able to handle separating their personal relationship from their work partnership quite effectively. She looked at her partner, "Do not baby me, Booth. I am quite well equipped to determine if there is some type of medical reason why I cannot complete my job and at the moment, I am fine. Now, it's almost daylight anyway, go ahead and put a call in to Hodgins. I'm going to need him for particulates," her tone softened slightly. "Cam has already been contacted, correct?" she asked.

Booth couldn't do anything but nod. He didn't like that she would always choose the search for the truth over her own well-being, but at the same time, he loved it. He'd just keep an eye on her and make sure that she ate breakfast with him when this was all over. He watched as she practically stomped back to the truck for her boots. He quickly flipped his phone open and dialed Hodgins.

The sun was nowhere to be found but at almost 7:00, the clear indicators that it was morning were clearly there. It seemed that for the time being they had a slight reprieve from the rain but everyone was busy doing their jobs. Booth and Brennan had now been at the crime scene for around three hours and both were wet and frustrated. "Bones?" Booth said as she made another trip from the murky marsh waters to deliver the contents of a mesh bag to the tarp which was quickly becoming covered by the remains of not one but two bodies.

"Hmmm?" was her barely detectable response as she added a tibia to one set of remains and several vertebrae to the other.

"You think you should rest or something?" he asked. He'd been watching her become more and more sluggish with each trip from the marsh.

She stood from her position on the tarp and rolled her neck against her shoulders trying to rid herself of the tension that had been building up to a slight headache. "If I rest now, it'll just be longer before we can shower," Brennan said. She didn't deny the need for rest but she couldn't she had a job to do. "I have almost located all of the long bones except for the metacarpals and tarsals. Both skulls were intact so that should give me something to start on in determining cause of death and Angela will be able to start facial reconstruction. The short bones are probably lost in the silt and so the bottom is going to have to be dredged," she went on. "The first victim is male, late 20s early 30s and the second victim is female, mid to late 20s."

"Here," Booth said as he practically shoved a bottle of water down into her hands. "Drink that," he pretty much demanded.

"I'm fine," she said sharply but truth be told she was exhausted and had battled minor dizziness off and on since waking up. "I just want to wrap this up and shower," her tone was clearly not indicative of her proclaimed fineness. She took a drink of the bottle of water before handing it back to him. "As for cause of death," she changed the subject. "Looks like one of the skulls shows evidence of blunt force trauma from some either square or triangular object."

She handed him back the bottle of water and headed back out into the marsh to finish her job.

"Alright, Bones!" Booth was overly chipper about the fact that they had finally finished retrieving the bones and could now head back to DC. "Breakfast time! Get your dry clothes from my SUV, change and let's vamoose." It was now just after 9 am and if they hurried they could still get to the diner while the good breakfast cooks were there and he loved the chocolate chip pancakes that Eddie, the main cook, made.. Sure, they served breakfast all day long but no one could flip a pancake like he could.

Brennan didn't argue just stood at the back of the SUV and began to shed the wet, muddy Jeffersonian jumpsuit. She dropped it in a decontamination bag and climbed into back to change into her dry jeans and t-shirt. She emerged a few moments later and Booth, who had already changed, approached her. He was now using an umbrella and instantly invaded her personal space to make sure she was able to stay dry.

"Ready?" he asked.

She just nodded and allowed him to walk her to the SUV. "I just want to climb in a warm shower and stay for an excessive amount of time," she said as she climbed in.

"Not yet. Pancakes first, then shower," he said. "Sleep if you want to and I'll wake you up when we get there."

She didn't need any more prompting; she simply leaned against the window and didn't quite fall asleep but did drift into a relaxed state.

"So," Angela said as she swiped her card and walked onto the platform. "I planned a little celebration tonight for you guys. 7:00 at Founding Fathers. Everyone is coming. Well, everyone but Sweets. Daisy says he's still out of town and won't be back until tomorrow or something."

"Angela," Brennan's automatic protest began. "I'm not sure that we're going to be able to make it. Booth and I have to meet with my realtor at 4 to look at a house and it's already 1:30 and I'm not even close to cause of death," she said almost pitifully. "I'm really not up to pulling an all night longer today. Booth and I were at the crime scene really early this morning. I'm tired," she finished simply.

"Oh, go take a nap, Sweetie," the artist wasn't giving her any compassion. "You are not getting out of this one. Even Caroline is coming."

"Did you tell everyone that Booth and I are in a social contract?" Brennan set down the bone she was holding and glared at her best friend.

Angela just laughed. "I didn't have to. You two getting together released as much energy as an atomic bomb or something." With that, she decided to leave a very dedicated anthropologist to her work. Her heels clicked as she walked off the platform with a simple, "I'll see you at 7, Sweetie," she said. "Oh, and by the way it's all-nighter."

Brennan never understood the expression "headdesk", but it immediately clicked when she allowed her head to contact the cold metal exam table out of frustration. 'I just wanted to go home and watch some aimless sporting event with a glass of wine and Booth,' she internally fussed but quickly got back to the task before her. She had about two hours to make some kind of headway on this case. She had two victims on the platform and they had some kind of story to tell and someone, somewhere was responsible for putting them in that murky swamp.

Approximately an hour and a half later, Brennan found it. She immediately yelled for Cam and Hodgins and speed dialed Booth on the speaker phone. "Hey, beautiful," he said.

"Thanks, Booth," Hodgins said in a slightly goofy voice as he stepped onto the platform. "I didn't think you'd ever noticed."

An obviously not amused Booth sighed audibly over the phone. "Very funny, Hodgins. Don't you have some slime or seeds or something that needs sorting?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking," Hodgins quipped back.

"What do we have?" Cam said as she approached and heard the interaction. Someone has to rein them in and as director of forensics, she held the reigns.

"Cause of death," Brennan said as she held up the skull of the first victim. "The blow to the head I found at the scene was post-mortem and unique to the first victim," she said. "Cause of death, however, was the same for both victims," she went on. "Here," she went ahead and pointed to the sternum of both victims from where she was positioned between the two exam tables. "There is a distinct pattern on both of the victims' sternums. It resembles a plus sign but clearly the beveling indicates that whatever the object was thrust through the sternal body at such an angle that it would have nicked the major arteries that supply the right side of the heart."Her explanation to that point had been rather dry. The next part, however, choked her up a bit. "Death would have been slow and...and very painful," she forced her mouth to make the statement.

Even though Booth was on the phone he could tell she was upset. "You okay, Bones?" he asked as if no one else was around.

"Fine," she recovered her composure quickly. "I'm going to make a cast of the weapon and maybe that will lead us somewhere," she went back to the case. "Angela can go ahead and have the skulls to begin facial reconstruction."

Cam jumped in at that point. "Great. Hodgins, what's the word on time and date of death?" she asked.

"Still working on some of the insects I found but there were some pods attached to the bones that would indicate the bones were in dry decay by the end of last summer. That would mean the bodies were dumped last winter. I'll have a more specific date in a few hours," he explained.

"Sounds like everyone is happy," Cam said. "We'll meet in the lounge tomorrow at 10 to go over more specifics. That means no one gets too drunk at the little party tonight. Understood?" she was partially kidding but she also knew her staff well.

"Awwww there you go again, Cam. Spoiling all our fun," Angela whined.

"My accountant and the realtor should be there already," Brennan explained.

Booth cut her a confused glance from his position in the driver's seat. "Why your accountant?" he asked. "I thought we were just looking."

She gave a slight smile. "Well I am prepared to make an offer on the house today if it's what I anticipate it is. It is a very good deal," she was going explain further when he cut her off.

"Hey!" he said excitedly. "Isn't that that big wig senator's house?" he asked.

"Most likely," she responded and lifted her head from where it had been resting against the window to look back at the house he had commented on. "There are some rather affluent people who live in this area."

"Bones," Booth said in a more serious tone. "I hope you don't feel like I'm pushing you to do this or anything." It wasn't like she'd asked him to move in or anything but it felt like such a couple thing to be doing. She'd kept his son one day and it seemed like she was doing something out of obligation to them.

"I'm not, Booth," she protested. "I mean, yes...our relationship is a factor in this decision but truth be told, I need to invest in something," she went on. "I have trusts set up for all my loved ones that will take care of them if something happened to me but I feel like I need something a little more permanent since I have no intention of making a change in my long term employment or even...even in my chosen path in life." She chose her words very carefully but she said what she wanted to say. "I'm in this for the long load," she said.

"Long haul," Booth said with a giggle. "Long haul."

She just shook her head. It seemed like she was confusing more colloquial phrases today than usual.

Since it was a Wednesday night, the Founding Fathers was relatively quiet. It was mostly jut the regulars and a few couples out on their awkward first dates. Brennan and Booth made their way toward the back. They were both grinning from ear to ear as they approached their friends.

"Someone must have made a stop by their apartments," Angela said as she saw the pair approaching. "You are way too happy for it to be anything else."

"Angela!" Booth's tone clearly indicated that he was more open than usual to her kidding but that he still disapproved.

The forensic artist just rolled her eyes. "Well, I know I speak for everyone when I say that I'm glad you two finally grew some brain cells and got together."

Their small little group which consisted of the partners, Angela, Cam, Caroline, Daisy, Wendell, Hodgins, Fisher, and even Clark spent the next little while enjoying casual conversation and munching on their appetizers. After she was beginning to get just a little bit tipsy, Angela stood to say a few words. "Alright, so everyone here but two people have known that we would eventually see some kind of explosion leading to the hook up of the century," she said rather quickly indicating that her blood alcohol level was a little elevated.

"Angela, I hardly think," Brennan interrupted which resulted in an eruption of laughter from the group.

Angela just shook her head. "Still so oblivious, Sweetie, but I love you for it. Anyway, as I was saying, we all had our suspicions on how you two would get together. There were bets on stake outs, life threatening events, or drunken stupors. I don't think any of us imagined it would be something so completely romantic as a dinner under the stars. It's fitting for you guys though. You two are so unpredictably, predictable it's sweet," she went on. "I'll shut up now but let me just propose a toast to you two. To Booth and Brennan, you aren't just partners anymore. You guys have long lives ahead of you."

"To Booth and Brennan," echoed through the room and was followed by a series of hugs and well wishes.

The party continued for a while and all of the interns checked out and Caroline left after a simple, "'Bout time you two geniuses got your acts together." Finally, it was just their intimate group of friends, family actually.

Brennan was unusually quiet and seemed very contemplative. Cam broke the silence. "Are you okay, Dr. Brennan?" she asked. She couldn't read the anthropologist well most of the time and she knew she'd had a very long day but she also knew she might be overwhelmed by the events o the last week or so.

"I'm fine," Brennan responded. "Just tired, excited, and slightly overwhelmed."

"Been quite a long day for you two," Cam said noting her understanding.

Brennan nodded. "I bought a house in Cleveland Park today," she practically blurted out.

"Wow, Sweetie," Angela piped in. "You two are skipping all kinds of steps and going straight to the moving in together part. But. . ." she paused and took a sip of her martini. "I guess you have gone on plenty of weekends away and you've shared keys for a long time. It makes sense."

"We aren't really moving in together," Brennan explained. "I just decided that I needed more room to be able to host Booth and Parker and my accountant has been asking me to get a house for quite a while anyway." She pulled a picture out of her purse and handed it to them. "I am going to need some help with purchasing furniture and decorating. I could pay you," she looked directly at Angela.

Angela gave her a hug. "I am so happy for you Bren and you know you don't have to pay me. I'll just live vicariously through you and you will have a beautiful house," she said. "Now, let's go take those guys on at pool. I'm a great shot when I'm tipsy," she said.

Cam immediately stood but Brennan protested. "I'm going to just stay here. I'm tired, Ange."

"Fine," Angela huffed. "Cam and I will whip their tails and tell you what you're missing later."

Brennan just shook her head. She was content but she was so tired. She had been up since early morning, but she never remembered feeling this drained before, not even when she would stay up several evenings in a row. She went through the possible causes of her fatigue in her mind and couldn't quite put her finger on a source. She had certainly been neglecting her exercise regimen lately but decided she should begin taking a multivitamin just in case. If she didn't see an improvement in a few weeks, she would see her primary care physician for a consultation.

Booth was enjoying his game of pool. He was partnered with Hodgins and that was like being partnered with a physicist. 'Does he really have to mention kinetic energy every time he lines up a shot?' he thought to himself. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he liked the guy. He was good to Bones and dedicated to their little family and solving crimes. He couldn't believe how far he'd come in the five years of working with these people on a regular basis. His best friends and now his girlfriend were squints and he liked it. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Even though he was busy beating Angela and Cam at eight ball, his focus was on his girlfriend. She was beautiful but there was something not completely right with her right now. 'I shouldn't have let her stay out in that rain storm this morning,' his good Catholic guilt began to kick in. She looked exhausted and not just the kind of exhausted she got when he'd find her asleep at the table in the bone room. This exhaustion seemed like it went straight to the core of her body. He might not be a world renowned forensic anthropologist but he could certainly read body language, especially if it had to do with her. He'd spent the better part of five years studying her and if he was graded on it, he would definitely get an A.

He watched her as she nursed some kind of non alcoholic drink. 'Probably club soda,' he told himself. That's what she always switched to when she felt herself getting a little bit of a buzz or if she was just choosing not to drink. He knew she hadn't really had much that night, maybe two glasses of wine or so. That worried him. He was about to quit in the middle of the game when he heard Angela's drunken squeal.

"Crap," she whined very loudly. "That's a stupid rule. Eight clearly comes after seven and before nine so why do I lose when I knock the eight ball in when there's still an eleven and a thirteen on the table. I'm pretty sure eight comes before those." She was speaking very quickly and the only time Booth remembered her being like this was when she and Brennan had inhaled that meth at the night club.

"Alright, Angie," Hodgins said. "Game's over for the night. Let me call you a cab."

"You guys will make sure she gets home safe, right?" Booth said. He wouldn't mind waiting around with her but he was more concerned with getting Brennan home and in bed. When he saw a nod from both Cam and Hodgins, Booth headed back to the counter where Bones was seated. Her head was propped up on one arm and he could tell she wasn't paying attention to anything going on around her.

"Hey, Bones," he said as he positioned himself beside her at the bar. "You okay?" he asked.

She allowed her head to fall to his shoulder. "I'm just really, really tired. I think I'd like to go home and crawl into the bed and sleep for a very, very long time," she said.

"Alright lazy Bones," he squeezed her tightly and then stood. "I'll get you in bed and then head home." He would gladly stay but didn't want to make her feel like she had to stay awake or play hostess or anything.

She didn't want him to go home. "Stay, please?" she asked. "I mean I'm not really up to any kind of activity but we both have to sleep and my bed is very comfortable."

Booth just laughed. She didn't need to explain. All she had to do was ask. "Sure, but I have to be at the Hoover by 5:30 for a workout on the obstacle course. I have to rerun it in a couple of weeks and want to make sure I'm at the top of my game. I'll be at the lab in time for the meeting though."

Brennan just smiled at him and allowed him to provide her with a little more support than she typically allowed as they walked to the car.

To be continued. . .