Temperance said nothing to Antonia about who the victim was, only that they needed to finish their lunch so that she could meet up with Ace and Booth at the crime scene. She watched Antonia gauge the level of concern in her voice, and she knew that something was off about this particular situation. She had asked few questions in the restaurant, and continued questioning her in the car once they were on their way.

"Mom, what did Dad say? Is he okay?"

"He's fine, sweetheart, but you are going to need to stay in the car when we get to the crime scene. We're going to have Agent Fitzgerald bring you back home, and I'll stay with Christopher and your Dad."

"I don't understand. You have extra gear, I can help." Antonia said, watching as Temperance concentrated on the road.

"Not on this one." She said. "Besides, you have concussion, you're not working today." Temperance said, watching as Antonia scowled. "Don't give me that look, you know that I'm correct about this."

"I feel like you're keeping something from me." Antonia said, glancing to her mother. "We just discussed secrets."

"And this is not a secret, it's simply protocol, and you should know by now, that you got that attitude from me, and I will always win." Temperance said, eyeing her daughter as she watched a smirk lift on her face. She pulled down the alley and parked her car behind Ace's, climbing from the seat, she left it running and glanced to Antonia. "Just stay here, please."

"Fine, fine." Antonia said, sighing as she looked out the window, trying to see the three agents who were standing over a scene. "How many FBI agents does it take to screw in a lightbulb..." she mumbled to herself.

Temperance moved to the back of the SUV and pulled her bag and her boots from the rear of the truck, glancing up at Antonia, she watched her curious eyes when she looked back to her. "I'll let you know when I know more, okay?" She said, watching her daughter nod as she closed the back of the SUV.

There were one or two other cars on the scene, a coroner, and an unmarked police officer. She could see her mother approach them and look down at the body, her hand covering her mouth in reaction. Antonia found it odd that her mother would react that way, and she wondered if it was someone that she recognized. Booth looked up toward the car, and Ace did the same, sending a small wave as they said something to one another. Aiden turned and walked toward Temperance's car, his head down as he walked toward her. She glanced out of the window, and noticed that Ace was also walking in their direction. He stepped up alongside the passenger side, as Antonia rolled down the window.

"Hey, kid." Ace said, just as he approached, he got a good look at her black eye and winced. "Holy crap, that's worse than they described it."

Aiden opened the driver's side, and she glanced quickly to him, and back to Ace. "Yeah, yeah. It's a bruise. So what's going on? Who is the victim? Is Mom okay? She looked pretty upset. Is it someone we know?"

"Woah there, little Bones." Ace said watching her glare. "It's… a sensitive case. It looks like the same weapon as the first, but we can't be sure until your mom takes a look." He glanced to Aiden. "Fitz is going to take you home, then get back to the office to finish up on his suspect pool, and Doctor Brennan and I are going to have to go talk to the family of our victim here… once we figure out how to deal with the situation."

"What situation?" Antonia asked, reaching for the door handle, Ace held the door closed.

"No." Ace said, shaking his head. "You can't be on scene."

"Why not? I don't understand."

"Because you're a suspect." Aiden said, watching as she snapped her head in his direction. "You and I are both suspects at this point. I mean, we have extremely good alibis… but we can't be on this case until we're cleared officially." Aiden looked to Ace, who shook his head. "She's going to find out anyway, what does it matter if it's now or later?"

"Will one of you please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Antonia said, again trying to push on the door, only to have Ace block it again.

"Fitz, get her out of here now, tell her whatever you want, but she cannot be on this crime scene." Ace said quickly. "Go." He stepped back from the car, and waved them off.

Antonia turned her head to look at Aiden, who shook his head and started rolling up the window as he started to back out. "Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?" She asked angrily.

"Yes, but we have to at least get on the road first, okay?"

"Fine." She said with a sigh, she glared out at the crime scene as Aiden pulled away.

Once on the main road, Antonia turned her attention to Aiden, who glanced to her and gave her an anxious, but friendly smile. "It has been an extremely long day." He said softly.

"The day is just as long as it is every day, Aiden." She said, lifting an eyebrow. She heard him scoff at her comment and sighed. "Okay, so who did we supposedly kill?"

"Alex Gordon." He said, watching Antonia's jaw drop slightly. "Found stabbed, just like the other victim."

She glanced back from where they had come from, and then back to Aiden, obviously shaken by the news. "What was he doing out here? Was he stabbed here? What happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." He shrugged. "All I know, is that we got a call about the body, we came out here to secure the scene and I recognized him. Your dad said that based on the fact that you and I had been involved in his suspension from the Jeffersonian, that we'd probably be considered suspects. We obviously didn't do it, but it's just a small hiccup, and he wanted to make sure that there were no mistakes." He said, giving her a small smile. "It's just weird. I can't figure out why the hell he would be out here."

"Me either." She said softly, glancing over to Aiden, she gave him a hopeful glance.

"What?" he asked, narrowing his eyes playfully.

"Can you bring me to the lab?" She asked, reaching across to take his hand, she gave it a gentle squeeze. He could feel himself melt under her touch. "Please?"

"If I bring you to your apartment, are you just going to go to the lab anyway?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, most likely." She smiled. "Also, my car is there. I can go pick up my phone at the store."

Aiden nodded and gave her hand a squeeze, running his thumb gently over her hand. "I can bring you to the lab." He said, watching her for a moment. "I have to go back to the office and work on the case, and your mom will pick up her car there, but if I hear any more on our end, I'll let you know." He said, shrugging. "We'll obviously have to just give our alibi, and since we were both at the lab last night, and there is a crapload of security, we should be in the clear."

"I don't know, Aiden… you said you'd be over in ten minutes, and it took you twenty last night." She teased, watching his jaw drop.

"Hey, I don't have to kill people for you." He said, nodding toward her bruise. "You do a pretty good job defending yourself, if I'm not mistaken."

"I have to say, dinner was very much worth the extra ten minutes." She smiled, leaning her head back on the headrest, she looked over toward him and smiled. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, Tex." He said, squeezing her hand again.

They drove in silence for a while until they reached the entrance of the Jeffersonian where Aiden was dropping her off. They each leaned over for a gentle kiss, and he rested his forehead on hers for a moment. "Oh, hey… I have something for you." He said as they leaned back in their seats. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver key.

"What's this?"

"It's the key to my apartment." He shrugged. "You know, if you wanted to go over there any time, day or night. I grabbed the extra key this morning, I meant to give it to you then." He watched her stare at it for a moment, and wasn't sure why she just didn't take it. "You… you don't have to take it if you don't want to, I just thought that since we both work late all of the time, that…"

"Thank you." She said, taking the key from his hand, she smiled over at him, then leaned forward to kiss him gently. "I'd return the gesture, but you don't want to see the inside of my sad little apartment. You have a key to the lab… I'm more likely there than anywhere else." She winked. "I'll see you later, Partner." She said, kissing him again.

"See you later, Tex." He said, watching as she climbed from the car and walked toward the doors, turning to wave before she headed into the building.