AN: Ah, you people are breaking my heart here! For those of ya who are still reading (and adding me to story alert/favorite)...thank you so much! I love that y'all have decided to stick with me on this one! And I'm sorry it's been a little over a week since I've updated. I had some friends come in from out of state to visit me, so I wasn't chillin' out by my computer. So to make up for it, I have posted this chapter today, and there will be another update tomorrow before I head up to a taping in LA! :D

Chapter 29:

The lights were flashing bright, burning into his retinas as he walked onto the stage and towards the podium. The room was noisy, filled with the unanswered questions of the curious reporters who surrounded the stage. Director Cullen had just gotten done with his press statement, and he introduced to the audience the lead investigator of the Georgetown case: Special Agent in Charge Seeley Booth.

As soon as Booth stepped in front of the podium, a million questions were shouted at him. He raised his hand as a signal for the reporters to remain silent. "As the Special Agent in charge of this investigation, I can assure you that we have our best field agents and lab technicians in play. We are using all of the resources available through our contacts with the Jeffersonian Institute. Dr. Camille Saroyan is leading the Jeffersonian staff. She was the chief coroner of New York for two years. We have been using the expertise of Dr. Temperance Brennan, who is a world renowned forensic anthropologist. Dr. Saroyan and Dr. Brennan are using the brightest forensic team in the nation to help us catch this sadistic murderer."

Booth nervously looked around the room at the many faces doubting the truth and sincerity of his words. "Any claims made against the team at the Jeffersonian that states or implies that they are incompetent are completely false."

Disbelieving outbursts from the reporters exploded throughout the room. Booth gave a look of frustration to his boss before continuing with his statement.

"They are, in fact, the best in the nation, and they are doing everything they can to help us track this guy down and prevent another murder from occurring. Most members of the team have been working a minimum of 15 hour days since this was first brought to their attention."

He looked around at the hundreds of reporters standing before him, knowing he'd regret his next statement. "With that said, I'd like to address any questions or concerns that you may have."

All at once, every journalist in the building started shouting their questions. Booth called on the pretty blonde journalist who chose to raise her hand instead of shouting her questions like her peers.

She flipped through the pages of her notebook, turning to an empty page with her pen poised and ready to take notes. "Hannah Burley, Washington Post. What can you tell us about the victims?"

Booth gave her a charm smile before answering. "So far, there have been three victims. All were students attending Georgetown University, either the undergraduate or graduate program. They were all taken late at night, usually after attending a party."

"What are you doing about security at the university?" Hannah questioned as she scribbled notes into her notebook. When she didn't receive an immediate reply, she lifted her head up to look into Booth's eyes. "Surely you must be doing something to protect the students..."

Pleased that he had the reporter's full attention, he decided to continue. "Local police have increase their patrols in the surrounding area. Campus police have been placed on high alert. Students have been advised not to go anywhere alone."

Hannah studied him for a moment, contemplating her next question. "Are there any more reports of missing students?"

"As of now, no. No more students have been reported missing." Booth smiled at her and began to move on to another reporter's questions. However, Hannah interrupted before the next journalist could ask his question.

"So far, the FBI has not released a list of suspects. Do you have any suspects at all?" She raised one of her eyebrows, demanding an answer from him.

"We have a strong list of suspects, of whom we are conducting a thorough investigation. However, for obvious reasons we will not be releasing the names of said suspects."

"A strong list of suspects?" Hannah questioned. "What does that even mean...like...three solid suspects? Or perhaps ten, or even twenty, people who can be vaguely linked to the victims?"

Booth took a deep breath in an effort to ease some of the tension that was building as a direct result of this woman's incessant questions. "Our main suspect pool is small. However, we are looking at other persons of interest as well."

"What can you tell us about a Mister...," she looked down at her notepad to double check her research, "...a Mr. Tristian Howards? Seeing as he had a relationship with the first victim, Ms. Ames, he must be your prime suspect, no?"

Booth was stunned, and somewhat impressed, by the level of information this woman seemed to have about his investigation. "Mr. Howards is a person of interest, yes. But I cannot go into any more detail on that."

"And a..." she checked her notes again, "Mr. Tyrell Jones. Big basketball star, but he's also been linked to the victims as well, has he not?"

"We will not be making anymore comments about our suspect pool," Cullen stepped in. "Are there any more questions or concerns that we can address?

Booth spent the rest of the hour answering the reporters' questions to the best of his ability and with as much honesty as he was allowed, given the circumstances surrounding the on-going investigation.

oOo

"Wow!" Cam exclaimed as she turned off the television. She was stunned at the extent of scrutiny the FBI and Jeffersonian were experiencing as a result of this case. "That was painful to watch."

"Yeah, no kidding!" Angela said. "Poor Booth! I can't even begin to imagine having to go up there and answer all those questions."

"Booth did a satisfactory job given the circumstances," Brennan observed, turning away from the group to resume working on the remains laid out on the autopsy table. "Anybody would have found difficulty evading the more detailed questions, especially taking into consideration the tenacity of some of the reporters."

"Yeah, did you see how hot that blonde was?" Hodgins piped in. He let out a small laugh and whistled. Angela glared at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Hey, I can look. It's not like I'm acting on anything, right?"

"Uh huh..." Angela sighed. She turned to look at her best friend. "She was hot though, even I have to admit that."

"Yes, her features do fall nicely into the golden ratio," Brennan admitted, a pang of jealously coursed through her for reasons she couldn't quite understand.

"She was totally checking Booth out too, ya know," Angela informed the group. Brennan looked up from the remains for a minute before quickly refocusing on the job in front of her. Angela didn't miss the look of anger that flashed across her best friend's face.

Cam didn't miss that look either. "Nothing to worry about Dr. Brennan. Booth loves you, only you. He's too smart to let some blonde reporter use him to get intimate details about a case."

"Yeah, he's not stupid enough to fall for some reporter's attempts to use sex as a way to get more information for a story," Angela agreed. "Especially not when he wants to spend the rest of his life with you, Bren."

Brennan dropped the bone she had been studying. Tears began to sting her eyes, so she hid her face away from the prying eyes of her co-workers.

"Is everything okay, Dr. Brennan?" Cam asked, worried about her best employee.

Hodgins walked up beside his friend. "Yeah, Dr. B. It's not like you to be so careless with human remains."

"Sweetie-" Angela began before she was interrupted.

"I'll be in my office," Brennan interrupted. She was able to keep control over her emotions long enough to make it into her office, lock the door, and shut the blinds.

"Well...that was...strange," Angela said as she looked towards her best friend's office.

oOo

Later that afternoon Booth walked into the Jeffersonian. He walked up to the team who were standing on the platform conversing with each other.

Hodgins spotted Booth first. "Hey there, G-Man! That sure was some press conference."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Booth grumbled. "God, I hate reporters."

"Even that sexy blonde one?" Angela inquired with a spark in her eye. She took a step closer to Booth. "I mean, she was practically undressing you with her eyes. Not to mention the drool."

"She's not exaggerating on that one, Seeley," Cam added. "Even Dr. Brennan picked up on the sexual tension."

"Thanks, Camille," Booth replied. "And for the record, the blonde one was the most annoying reporter there!" Booth looked around the platform, finally noticing that someone was missing. "Where is Bones, anyway?"

Angela and Cam shared a look before Angela spoke up. "Well...um...you see..."

"Spit it out, Angela," Booth said. "Where is she?"

"She locked herself in her office about 5 hours ago," Hodgins stated. "Hasn't come out since your press conference ended."

"What!" Booth exclaimed. "Is this because of Hannah, or whatever her name was?"

"Sort of," Angela said. "She was definitely upset about that."

"What do you mean sort of? What else happened?" Booth demanded.

"Nothing happened, Seeley," Cam answered. "We were reassuring her about how much you love her, and she just sort of freaked out."

"Actually, Dr. Brennan has been acting strangely since yesterday," Vincent stated as he walked up the steps of the platform. "She locked herself up in limbo most of yesterday afternoon and evening. She was still there when I left late last night. And she was in her office when I arrived early this morning. I'm pretty sure she didn't go home."

"Did something happen between the two of you, Booth?" Angela asked.

Booth shook his head. "No, I don't think so. She was acting a little strange when I got here this morning, but I just figured she was overly tired."

"I think you should take her home, Seeley," Cam said. "Get her out of the lab for the night. I think it'll do her some good."

"Yeah, you're right," Booth replied. "Keep me updated though if anything else comes up about the case."

"Sure thing, G-Man," Hodgins agreed.

Booth walked down the steps and made his way towards Brennan's office. He stood near the door for a moment to listen for any unusual sounds. Content with the fact that at least she wasn't crying, he knocked on the door. "Bones? Hey, Bones, open up."

A few moments later, Brennan unlocked the door to her office. She opened the door, stepped to the side, and allowed Booth to enter. She closed the door and leaned against it, looking at Booth.

He let his eyes wander over her, looking for signs of distress. He found nothing to be concerned about. Standing in front of him was his Bones; his always confident, strong, independent, and sexy-as-hell partner.

Noticing his questioning gaze, she decided to speak up first. "Is there something wrong, Booth?"

"No, nothing's wrong," he gulped. "I was just making sure everything was okay with you. Everyone seems worried."

Brennan shook her head. "Nope, everything is fine." She pushed herself from the door and took a few steps closer to him. She motioned with her hands for him to look her over. "See? Everything's fine."

He continued to let his eyes wander over her body. Something was different about her. Something had changed in the past couple of days. Even since he had seen her this morning. She just seemed different in some way.

"Look at me, Booth," Brennan said. She took a few more steps in his direction. "Trust me when I say that nothing is wrong."

"I do trust you, Bones."

"Good," she smiled as she closed the gap between them and pulled him into an intoxicating kiss.

He let his hands rest on her waist and pulled her closer to him. He had panicked, letting himself believe that there was a problem between them, letting himself believe that some blonde reporter somehow was the cause of that problem between them. He released his fears as he allowed himself to lose himself in the caress her warm, soft lips.

"You know," Booth began as he slightly pulled away from her, "Cam told me that I should take you home. Let you have the rest of the night off."

"You're suggesting we leave here to go have intercourse?" Brennan clarified as she pulled him in for another kiss.

Booth moaned in approval. "Damn straight, Bones. Just don't call it that."

"What? Intercourse? It's an accurate term to describe the activities in which we'll be participating." She pulled back from him enough to look into his eyes. He saw a glimmer of playfulness in her eyes and a small grin on her lips. "Is there a better term with which you'd like to describe it?"

"Anything that doesn't make it sound clinical," Booth laughed. "Although your squint speak is very, very, sexy."

She smiled and freed herself from his grasp. "Let me just pack up my things." She turned away from him and smiled to herself, knowing that she was about to get exactly what she wanted, what she needed. 'To hell with Dr. Sweets and his theories,' she allowed herself to think to herself.

He watched her move confidently about the office as she packed up her things. She grabbed her laptop, a few case files, her coat, and purse. She turned around a smiled at him. "You ready?"

"Sure am."

oOo

They arrived at Brennan's apartment in record time. Booth broke several laws as he drove through the city in a rush to get to her apartment. She barely managed to unlock the apartment door before he had pulled her inside, closed it, and had her pressed up against it.

Brennan moaned as she allowed Booth to lift her up so she could wrap her legs around him. Booth moved his lips from hers and began a trail down her neck, over her collar bone, and down to the top of her breasts. He began to unbutton her blouse as she worked on loosening his tie. Once she was able to lift the tie over his head, she worked on freeing his skin from the confines of his suit jacket and shirt.

He pulled he blouse off of her body, revealing a lacy, black bra. He groaned in approval as he brought his lips down to trace the edge of her bra. He continued to tease her as he lifted her from the door and carried her to the dining room table. He quickly freed her from her jeans before moving onto the table and hovering over her and letting his hands wander over her body, teasing her with what was to come.

"Please, Booth," Brennan's breathless voice pleaded. "Please, I need this. I need you so much it's not healthy."

Her words triggered something in his mind that made him stop immediately. 'And it's not healthy. Sex can't, and shouldn't, be the answer to your problems.' Sweets's words rang in his ears.

"Booth? Booth, what's wrong?" Brennan's concerned voice brought him back to the present. She sat up and looked at him with worried eyes. "Booth?"

"What are we doing, Bones?" Booth questioned. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"What? No!" Brennan stated too quickly. "Why would you think that?"

"I think Sweets is right." Booth locked his eyes with Brennan's confused ones.

"Sweets?" Brennan inquired. "You're seriously thinking about Sweets. Now?"

"Something is bothering you, Bones. I need for you to talk to me about it," Booth explained. "Everyone has been worried about you. You've been acting strangely. And then when I got back to your office, everything seemed to be back to normal. Things don't change that quickly."

"I already told you, Booth. Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." Her voice wavered as she tried to convince herself that she was being honest.

"Even if that is true, which I don't believe it is, I think we should still try Sweets's suggestion and take a two week break from sex."

"What? You can't be serious," Brennan protested. "He's just a kid. You said so yourself. What does he know anyway? He practices in inexact, inaccurate science. He doesn't know anything. Not about us."

"But I think he may be on to something here," Booth said, regretting his words. "I think it's worth a shot to try. I want us to work out, Bones. And if that means trying this as a way to improve our communication, then I think we should try it."

"Booth, please," she begged. "Ignore everything he said. I'm fine, we're fine, everything is fine. I need this. I need you. Please, let's just do this. It's not like we haven't done it before. Forget about Sweets and his inaccurate assessment of our relationship."

"I can't do that, Bones. I think he's right. And until you open up to me, tell me what's bothering you, then we're not gonna do this. No more using sex as a means to avoid our problems. We need to talk about things."

"Booth please," she pleaded. "You don't mean this. Please. I don't want to think, or talk. You're the one who's always telling me to feel. Please. Let me feel."

"Bones, don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

"I'm not trying to. You're the one who doesn't want me," she argued. She was taking shallow, unsure breaths as she waited for him to argue with her.

"That's not true, Bones. I want you more than I've wanted anyone else. I love you. I want this to work out. I told you that. Which is why we can't do this. Not now. You need to open up to me, tell me what's wrong. Please, just talk to me."

"Get out!" she exclaimed, pushing him off of her and off the table. She jumped down and began pushing him towards the door. "Get out, now! I don't want you here." She bent down and picked up his suit jacket and threw it at him. "Leave."

He looked hurt, but he was unsure of what to do. Sweets was definitely right. She was using sex as a way to avoid dealing with things. He knew that she needed space. He just hoped that she wouldn't run. He looked in her eyes and saw the pain, fear, and sadness that was surely reflected in his own. He was defeated, knew it was pointless to argue with her right now. He grabbed his keys, which had fell onto the floor the minute they entered her apartment, and turned towards the door. "Bones-"

"No, not now, Booth. Leave. Please."

"When you're ready to talk, I'm here," he told her. He opened the door. "I'm always here for you, Bones. I love you." With that, he walked out of the apartment and down the hallway.

Brennan closed the door and collapsed onto the floor in a heap of tears and sobs. She reached for Booth's forgotten shirt and cradled it to her chest. She couldn't believe she had just acted so irrationally. She was scared. And she was letting that fear affect her relationship with Booth. But she wouldn't run. Because if she did, then the fear would win. No, she wouldn't run. She just needed a few days. A few days, alone, to clear her head. A few days to get back to her roots; her logical, rational self. Then everything would be fine. She was sure of it. She just hoped that she hadn't pushed Booth too far and ruined things completely.

AN: Next up...Morgan! Will post tomorrow morning before I head up to LA :D