a/n: this story, everything I write, is dedicated to the person I love who passed away yesterday. I'll never forget you.

'So what exactly did you do?' Tony's question was warranted, Booth supposed. That didn't mean he had to like it.

Brennan had called him a half hour ago, telling him that Natalie Dalton's DNA had been found on some of the severed limbs. Something about skin cells Booth had caught before she had dissolved into a blur of scientific jargon and complicated chemical names that he couldn't for the life of him pronounce. She had also politely informed him that she was on the way to Norfolk with Abby. Knowing that arguing with Brennan in her current state of mind was futile at best, Booth had gritted his teeth and said he would meet her there.

The NCIS visitor's badge pinned to his chest seemed heavy as he looked at the Italian located behind his desk. Tony had his hands interlocked, head resting against them as he gazed up at Booth. The three other desks ringed around Tony's were unoccupied Booth noticed.

'They're downstairs at the lab. Tempe told me to meet you up here and escort you down,' Tony offered, following Booth's gaze. 'So?'

'Look DiNozzo,' Booth started, trying to keep his temper in check. 'Let's just get down there so Bones can rub whatever she found in my face, alright?'

The tall agent unfolded himself from his seat, coming to stand a few paces in front of Booth. The NCIS man was a few inches taller, but Booth was satisfied to note that his shoulders were broader.

'Look Agent Booth,' Tony said, the usual sparkle in his eye dimmed somewhat. 'I get why you've been pissy to me since the day we met. Heck, if I had a partner like Temp I'd probably be worse than you.'

'Can we get down to the lab?' Booth asked, shifting his coat onto his other arm.

'Tempe's an important person to me. So when she comes in here, keeping her chin up like she's daring me to call her on why she's all choked up, I'm going to get suspicious. And from what I've heard and seen, you're the only guy who can push her that way.'

'I don't think this is any of your business Agent DiNozzo,' Booth ground out. Sure Brennan had explained why this man was important to her. Apparently, he understood parts of her that she seemed to think Booth could never really get, at least not yet. Booth liked to consider himself somewhat of an expert on all things Temperance Brennan and it irked him to think that there was someone else out there who could read his partner the way he could.

Tony held his hands out in a gesture of surrender. 'I'm not trying to pick a fight. All I'm saying is that Temp's one of the few women I know that completely buck whatever the hell I've managed to learn about the fairer sex over the years. So I'd appreciate it if you could-'

'Look pal,' Booth said, jabbing his finger into Tony's chest. 'Whatever happens between me and Bones is between me and Bones, got it? Don't tell me how the hell I should treat my partner, and how'd you appreciate me doing anything that had as if I didn't already have her best interests in mind.'

Tony seemed to study him intently for a minute, nose titled down and eyebrows slightly puckered. Finally, he clapped Booth's arm and nodded for him to follow. Booth stood there, watching Tony as he pressed the button for the elevator.

For the love of - he wags his damn finger at me for pissing Bones off and then slaps me on the shoulder as if we'd just said something remotely funny. These people are worse than the squints!

'You coming? Gibbs hates waiting. Especially for the Feds,' Tony remarked, with a little smirk, acting as if what had transpired before had never happened.

Booth stood still for a second, deciding whether to pull out his gun and shoot the man, before finally sucking it up and walking into the elevator as the doors opened. He saw Tony press the button, saw the circle that said basement light up. A level down before Booth finally felt the fraying edge of his temper unravel and flicked the emergency switch.

The elevator ground to a halt, metal screeching against metal. The fluorescent lights dimmed and cast the enclosed space in a blue-grey hue that made Tony's skin swallow and ghostly. The Italian's mouth gaped open, eyes wide, expression caught between curiousity and what Booth thought was horror.

'What?' Booth asked, irritated.

The former Ranger caught the words 'Gibbs' and 'not good' amongst Tony's mutterings. The NCIS agent finally looked up, meeting Booth's eye. After a moment had passed and Booth had yet to say a word, Tony cleared his throat, as if to ask what the hell they were both doing stuck in a stalled metal box.

He had to ask it. It was eating away at him, no matter how he felt about her, despite what Brennan had sketched out about how she felt about him.

'What is Temperance to you?'

The words hung between them, Booth feeling his throat constrict as Tony regarded him warily, as if he had just opened a Pandora's box that he shouldn't have.

Finally, Tony sighed, drawing it out slowly and painfully. Booth saw his fists clench and unclench, his jaw so tight his cheekbones became more pronounced.

'Look Booth, don't get me wrong. When I first met Tempe, I wanted her. That soft skin, nice silky hair, and don't get me started on those eyes.'

Booth resisted the urge to growl softly, though he saw Tony smile knowingly.

'Before Ziva, we had another member on our team. Her name was Caitlin Todd. God, she was a real ball buster. Completely resistant to the DiNozzo charm and didn't take crap from anyone. Kate was damn good at what she did. And you know, everytime I heard she had a date, it'd drive me insane. For a while, I kept telling myself it was what partners did, you know? Make sure she didn't get hurt. Kate hated me for it, but you could see in her eyes she didn't mind it so much.'

Tony paused, exhaled.

'Then one day, we're both lying there, I'm coughing up blood and infected with the plague, and Kate stays with me. And I realize that maybe, somewhere down the line; I could feel more than friendship for this woman. I looked in her eyes and thought maybe she could as well.'

Wishing he had kept his mouth shut, Booth remained solemn, watching the anguish play across the other man's face. Tony shifted his head to the side, looking Booth in the eye.

'One minute she's standing in front of me, with this smile making her whole face light up, the next she's lying in front of me with her brains blown out.'

Oh God.

'I didn't get my chance Booth,' Tony said, the agony now buried so deep within his tone that if you looked at him, you'd never guess he had just cut a new line into his heart. 'But you can. I'm known for a lot of things, but I'm not that guy. I'm not going to try and lay claim to someone else's woman. Whether she knows it or not, she's handed a part of herself over to you.'

Booth's mouth felt dry and parched, as if he had been stuck in the desert without water for days again.

'So look after her. Gibbs may be the Marine, but I didn't spend all those years in Narc twiddling my thumbs and sitting on my ass.' Booth met Tony's answering stare, saw the other man's green eyes harden slightly.

Feeling, knowing, that words wouldn't come out even if he wanted them to, Booth managed a curt nod.

'DiNozzo-'

Tony cut him off by reaching over to flick the emergency switch. The harsh lights blinked back on, making Booth's eyes water. Or at least, that's what he wanted to explain the burning sensation forming behind his eyeballs.

'Hell, McGee may look like the Elf Lord, but he'd motherboard your ass in a heartbeat if he needed to.'

Listening to the mechanical whirring sounds, Booth once again wished he had never asked that question. And realizing that Tony had never actually said he wasn't in love with his girlfriend.