A/N OK, first of all I want to thank all of you for being so patient with me while I took a break. I really needed it to sort out my ideas and get some of them onto the page so that I can make that final push towards the end of this story. This one is a long one (comparatively) to make up for the long wait. Oh yeah, and I'm not sure when the next chapter will be finished or posted (don't hurt me!)… It's been started, and is already about five pages, but it has a long way to go until you guys can read it. So, you'll know when I upload it, until then, you'll just have to make do with what I can give you. So on that note, read and enjoy, and don't forget to leave me a message saying how evil I am that I've had all this time to finish the story and I haven't. Believe me, I feel your pain.

February 19th 2009

As Booth walked down one of the upper-level corridors of the Jeffersonian, past the smaller of the three layout rooms and a staircase leading down towards the work platform, he paused outside of Temperance's office. Usually, when the door was shut like is was now, chances were she was busy, either in a meeting or working on something that required her complete concentration. He had said that he would come by to check on her when he got back from an interview, letting her know that he probably wouldn't be there until eight o'clock at the earliest, so he wasn't surprised that she had busied herself until he arrived. He didn't want to intrude if she was busy or with someone, he'd just pop his head round the door and see if she needed anything. Then he would leave. Unless she wanted him to stay.

He tapped his knuckles against the door and opened it, scanning the room to see where she was. As he spotted her sitting on an armchair in the little seating area, not in her usual spot on the couch, he noticed that she had company. He wasn't sure who, as he could only see the back of his (definitely a his) head, but she seemed to be having a fairly informal conversation with him. He cleared his throat by way of an interruption. "Hey, Bones, got a second?"

"Sure." She turned her attention back to the visitor and said, "Excuse me for a minute, Sully."

Booth's words caught in his throat for a moment. Did he hear that right? Sully?

February 20th 2009

Temperance and Cam were perplexed. When they had received the remains of an elderly woman earlier in the week, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary except the fact that she had been found apparently tied to a tree in a heavily wooded area. Once they had transported the body back to the lab, however, it had become clear that her cause of death was one that the team had been seeing a little too often in the past four months – the victims had all been tortured until they were unconscious, left in an isolated area, and ultimately either died a slow death from their wounds or, in the case of the elderly woman, by being devoured alive by animals that were attracted by the smell of blood.

"So what do you think, Doctor Brennan? Are we dealing with a serial killer or not?"

"Well, I can't answer that definitively at the moment, but the wounds and tool marks on the bones do appear to be consistent with that of the previous victims."

"And when will you be able to answer definitively?"

"I don't know. I'll try to make it a priority, but I'm still backed up on paperwork from the last two cases."

"Really? That doesn't sound like you."

Temperance glanced at her superior and couldn't help but glare at her. "I'm aware of that. It's just that I used to spend the majority of the evening working in my office, then went home and worked some more. Now, all I want to do at the end of the day is go home and sleep. So I'm having to fit all of the paperwork into my lunch breaks." She turned her head at the sound of someone coming onto the platform, and was surprised to see Booth. "I thought you were going to question the suspect? You've only been gone ten minutes."

"I left the case file around here somewhere," he replied, scanning the area and picking it up from Hodgins' workstation where he left it. "What's this I hear about working through lunch breaks?"

"Nothing."

"Doctor Brennan appears to be feeling the full effects of pregnancy." She turned to Booth conspiratorially and said, "She's getting tired easily."

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her for a moment. She felt like he was studying her, not looking at her, but into her. "Really?"

"It's a normal consequence of pregnancy."

"I know that."

"And I'm not working any harder than I was before – I'm just working more during the day and then going home earlier."

"OK…"

"So it's not a problem."

"Right. You know, you don't have to explain yourself to me."

"Really? Because I was under the impression that, in every other facet of the past seven months, you have questioned everything I've done. And I might have known that you'd have an opinion on this, too."

"Alright, calm down. Do you just work at lunch, or do you eat as well?"

"What?" she asked, completely ready for a fight with him, but now slightly confused as to why they weren't actually arguing. "Of course I eat. I couldn't not eat, have you seen how much food I've been getting through lately?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Haven't you got work to be doing?" She scowled at him, then turned her back to him and went back to working on the remains in front of her. She felt a little bad for snapping at him, but she assumed that he would understand that she had a very short fuse lately – especially when it came down to her eating habits. She had heard the old adage 'eating for two' quoted to her far too often of late, and was starting to get paranoid that she was getting overweight.

"I guess that's my cue to leave. Cam, can I have a word?"

"Sure." They made the short walk to her office in silence, only speaking once they were inside and the door was shut behind them. "What's up?"

Cam took a deep breath, mentally steeling herself for what she was about to say. If he was half as stubborn as Temperance, she knew she was about to have a fight on her hands. "I want Doctor Brennan to take maternity leave."

"Is that because you're worried about her, or because you're sick of working with her while she's so… hormonal?"

"It's both. But she won't like me telling her to stay home, so I need you to do it."

"Are you kidding? No way! She will kill me!"

"I don't think she's moving too fast these days, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"That's mean. Kinda funny, but mean."

"Don't tell her I said that, I don't want her to yell at me like she just did to you. She's got a lot of rage right now. Hence why I'm asking you to do this for me."

"Do I have to?"

"Seeley, stop whining. You know I would tell her myself if I could. But she listens to you."

"Have you actually met her before? Since when does she listen to anything I tell her?"

"Well, that's the solution – don't tell her to take the leave, suggest it. Let her think it was her own idea. And if all else fails, we'll get Angela to guilt her into it. Deal?"

He really didn't think that she would listen to him and take his advice, but he suddenly had an idea, like the proverbial light bulb had flashed above his head, of someone who she might listen to. "I'll see what I can do. But you owe me one!"

February 21st 2009

"Hey, Sully!" Booth began, jogging to catch up to him in the hallway as he was on his way to the elevator from his office. "Aren't you supposed to be in the Caribbean?"

"Gee, Booth, it's good to see you too. I'm fine, thanks for asking. Working here again is going well, too."

"Yeah, great, anyway," he began, brushing off Sully's attempt at making him feel bad. "I need a favour."

"After that heartfelt greeting? No way, man."

"Aw, come on, Sully. You know I'm not the kind of guy to ask for favours. And anyway, it's not a favour for me."

"Well who's it for?"

"Bones."

"You may have piqued my interest."

"Thought I might. So, I need you to convince her to take maternity leave."

Sully let out a hearty laugh, then composed himself when he realised that Booth was serious. "You're not kidding, are you. What the heck makes you think she'll listen to me?"

"I don't think that, I just know that she won't listen to me. So you're my best shot."

"It's nice that you have so much confidence in me. But I'll see what I can do, OK?"

"Thanks, man, I appreciate it. And the sooner you can sit her down and talk to her, the better."

"You aren't expecting me to do this alone, are you? Don't you think you should be there?"

"What? Why?"

"Because it's your idea! Plus, I may need you to protect me from her."

Booth's cell phone began to ring, and as he looked at the caller ID, he realised he would have to continue this argument later. "Alright, I'll be there. But you need to grow a set, Sully," he called over his shoulder as he turned to walk back in the direction of his office.

A/N Part Deux A large part of what finally motivated me to finish this story is the fact that I got my exam results on the 20th, and I actually passed them all! So I'm going to university, to study forensic anthropology (yay)! It has made me want to rewatch all of the Bones episodes (though I seem to have lost season 2 – Natalie, do you have it?). Hit that button down there, people!