A/N -- First off, let me apologize for taking SO long to update this one. I have literally been writing this chapter for a week and finally finished. I don't know about you guys, but things have been really busy. I hope you are all still interested in reading even though I have kept you waiting. I'm hoping things are all down hill from here. Just a few more days of school until Christmas Break. Hopefully then, I will be able to write more. Please let me know what you think and feel free to tell me how awful I am for making you wait.

Disclaimer - Bones is property of Fox.

Chapter 36

Booth and Angela made their way back to the Jeffersonian to go to the update meeting on the current case. So far, they knew very little about how Abigail Harmon ended up murdered. They really didn't know how she died. It would all come together with time and Booth knew that. At that moment, however, Booth realized just how important Brennan was to the entire team and the success of their work. She had been gone for some of her digs from time to time, but they had Zack during that time. He wasn't Bones, but usually could get cause of death or something to get them going. Without Bones, the team was incomplete. He was incomplete.

The SUV was silent and Angela could tell that Booth was thinking. She thought about questioning him, but decided against it. She didn't need to ask to know that he was thinking about Brennan. If she had to guess, she would say that his thoughts were usually about her anyway. 'Should I tell him about the investigative work I've been doing about the possibility of a relationship between the two of them?' She thought to herself. She chose to wait. The time would be right at some point. She just hoped it would be sooner rather than later. In her opinion, Brennan had been alone long enough.

They parked in the parking deck of the lab and walked inside. Angela noticed just how much of a gentleman Booth was. He waited for her at every door and opened each one for her. She thought about how Jack always did the same thing. She was very close to approaching Jack about possibly getting back together, but she realized that she didn't want to hurt him again. She wanted to commit to him, but frankly, the idea scared her to death. She had spent a lot of time on the road with her father as a child and staying in one place for a long time was not something she was used to doing. She had only stayed at the Jeffersonian for Brennan. She knew her friend had been left so many times; she refused to leave her too.

As they approached the platform, they could see that Jack had already set up the video link and was ready to call Brennan. Booth looked around and found Nichols sitting on a stool against the railing of the platform. She didn't speak and Booth was thankful.

Cam started the meeting. "Alright people, before I call Dr. Brennan, I understand that we don't have cause of death and that's okay. Hopefully, Dr. Brennan will be in on Monday and we can go from there. It's an old case and a few days delay isn't going to hurt us. We have not even found any injuries that would give us clues as to cause of death." Cam finished and gave Angela the motion to go ahead and start the call with Brennan.

She answered quickly and Booth smiled. 'She's bored,' he thought to himself.

Cam started. "Dr. Brennan, we're going to do a quick run through of everything we have. I am sure everyone actually read the email I sent out and didn't just mark it as read in your inbox. Booth and Nichols, you start first."

Booth allowed Nichols to speak first. He had sent her a text message with all of the information they gleaned from the Harmon's that morning. "Abigail Nichols, age 21 – she was last seen leaving her house to go to her riding stable to practice for an upcoming competition. According to her family, she dated a guy named John Allen for 3 years before she died. From all accounts, they were still happy together. They had not spoken about marriage, though. She has one older sister and an older brother. The older sister rides horses as well and the brother was away at college during the time she disappeared. Other than that, we don't have much." Nichols finished and Booth began.

"I am going to try to contact the boyfriend this afternoon and bring him in for questioning. At this point, I like him for this. Crimes like these are usually related to romance in some fashion. I don't think it's random. How many murders do you know that hang out around horse stables?" Booth finished. They didn't have much. It could turn out to be a long case.

Cam looked to the team and said, "Hodgins?"

He just nodded and began to speak. "The exoskeleton fragments I could sift out of the soil were congruent with burial at the time of death. The body wasn't moved postmortem. Particulates from the soil were minimal, but I did get a couple of things. First, there was some kind of hydrocarbon residue on the fibers mixed in the dirt around the vic. It's probably something her clothes came into contact with at or around the time of death. I also found a small amount of a pesticide on the fibers. It matches the mass spec of typical equine pest prevention topical agents. It looks as if she did actually make it to the stable to ride that day."

Brennan piped up from her seat on her couch via video conference. "Hodgins, when you covered the bones for particulates, did you notice any signs of trauma or perimortem bleeding?" She knew he was an entomologist, but he had worked with her enough to quickly recognize abnormalities and signs of trauma.

He shook his head. "No, Dr. B., I looked, but there's nothing obvious. The intern came up empty as well and Cam found nothing." He informed the anthropologist. As much as they had grown closer over the years, she still made him feel like an undergrad research student.

Brennan thought for a moment as the team looked at her lost in thought face and then she spoke. "Was there any remaining hair in the soil samples?" She asked.

Cam interjected before Hodgins had a chance to speak. "Are you thinking about long term exposure to chemical agents, Dr. Brennan?"

"Yes, it will probably show nothing, but it's worth a look if there is hair present." She thought for a moment longer. "Booth, could you talk to her family and see if there were any signs of a stubborn illness she couldn't get rid of? Maybe see if you can get a release of her medical records."

Hodgins was waiting for Brennan to pause long enough so that he could answer her original question. He jumped in as soon as she took a breath. "Dr. B., we did have some hair. I can run a few tests. I'll have to do a comparison to make sure that we don't have hair from more than one person, but that was on my to do list anyway. I'll just bump it up and start it sooner." He explained.

"Thanks Hodgins." Brennan said before Cam spoke again.

"Angela?" She addressed the artist who had been quiet up until this point.

"I don't have much. I scanned all of the bones into the Angelator, but without cause of death, I can't really do anything." After Angela finished, the group just nodded. They completely understood.

Cam finished up. "Well, fortunately for me, all of the bone wrapping was gone, so I can't be of much help until we come up with something. When Hodgins isolates the hairs, I can cross reference some of the elements and compounds with the symptoms from her medical file, if there are any." She paused and gave others an opportunity to speak, but no one did. "If there isn't anything else, I think we can all get back to work. Dr. Brennan, have a good weekend and we hope to see you in on Monday." Cam was sincere. She enjoyed working with her and hated to have her missing from her team. As much as she was in charge, Brennan was the center and everyone knew that.

"Thanks Cam. I'll be there after my doctor's appointment on Monday. Hopefully it will be by lunch, maybe even a little before." Brennan wanted to get back to work and Booth just rolled his eyes as she spoke. He loved her determination, but she needed to slow down sometimes.

"We'll see you then, Dr. Brennan." Cam said as she informally dismissed the team from the meeting.

Everyone was slightly surprised at what Booth said next. "Thanks Bones, I'll be by later tonight." He smiled as he spoke. When he looked up, he saw several sets of eyes staring at him.

He thought about telling them to find something else to stare at, but figure it would be futile. He just ignored them and everyone scattered.

"Nichols!" He called her from the other side of the platform. She immediately responded by rushing over to him. "Did you finish all those file?" He went straight to business with the rookie agent.

She shot him a smile that he couldn't quite read. "I did, and I turned them all in to the correct departments for filing. You had already signed them all." Booth nodded in response. He was actually impressed that she had finished everything. She must be pretty efficient, but he would need to ask around and make sure that she didn't enlist the help of some of the other rookies that he sees drooling over her in the bullpen.

"Okay—thanks for taking care of those. Let's head back to the Hoover and see if we can get in touch with this Allen guy. It's almost 3:00 now and I'm not working tonight or this weekend. If we can't get him in this afternoon, we'll just have to do it Monday after Bones' appointments." Booth made his intentions abundantly clear. He hadn't exactly told Bones that he would take her to her appointments, but at this point it was a given. He figured she would beg the doctor for clearance to drive since it was her left ankle and he would probably comply. He'd take care of her for as long as he could and that included driving her around.

Nichols just nodded and agreed. She hadn't given up on her goal of working with Booth long term, but she wasn't sure of what her next move would be. She figured she would lay low for a little while and come up with a plan. For now, she would work hard and comply with his requests.

Nichols and Both drove separately to the Hoover and Nichols walked as Booth's shadow to his office. As he walked in, Charlie handed him a file labeled John Allen. Booth opened the file and walked to sit behind his desk. He had to pause for a second as he sat in his chair. He recalled how he had gotten it. Earlier that fall, Bones had managed to convince human resources to give him the most popular chair in the building, but he hated it. A couple of weeks later, he walked into his office and found a black leather chair with all the bells and whistles a man could ever want behind his desk. It even had a massager. On it, there was simple card that read, Booth, I can't have a partner with a bad back – Bones.

Over the course of their partnership, it was the most affectionate thing she had ever done for him. He was proud of himself for helping her get to that point. He and Angela had worked hard to show her what it was like to give by giving her Brainy Smurf, a Christmas tree, and Jasper. He was wearing her down.

Booth sat down in his heavenly chair and read the file. "No previous offenses, he is a student at American. He's majoring in criminal justice." Booth read a little farther and then handed the file to Nichols.

"It looks like he took a semester off after Abigail disappeared. I wonder if he was distraught because she went missing or distraught because he killed her." Nichols stated very bluntly.

"I don't want to guess right now. I want to talk to him." Booth was actually impressed by her observations. As much as he disliked her, she would end up being a decent agent if she committed to it. She just needed to get past the possibility of being his partner. That wouldn't happen.

Booth picked up his desk phone and dialed John Allen's cell phone number. He waited for a few moments and finally the victim's former boyfriend answered. "John Allen?" Booth said before he paused. "This is special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI. I need to speak with you about the disappearance of Abigail Harmon." Booth paused again. "No, actually, I was hoping you could meet us here at the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building in DC." He waited for a response from the young man. "When will you be back in town?" He asked. "Alright, I will need you to be here by 1:00 pm on Monday." Booth waited as Allen must have been speaking. "If you aren't here, we will pick you up and bring you in. I anticipate you complete cooperation." Booth was fairly stern as he spoke. He didn't know what to make of the former boyfriend not being in town to talk to him. He closed his phone and looked at Nichols who gave him a questioning look.

"Looks like he's out of town visiting relatives in New Jersey. He'll be back Sunday night, but I've got him meeting us here on Monday at 1:00. I'm going to hit him pretty hard. Maybe he knows something." Booth explained and Nichols understood. Right now, the love angle was the only possible lead they had on the case.

"What do we need to do for today?" Nichols asked Booth.

"I'm going to get Caroline to give me a warrant for all of Allen's financials. When I get it, I'll get Charlie to have someone pull them. It should be fairly straight forward. He's a college student not the head of a Fortune 500 company. I guess you can go ahead and call it a day. I'll take care of the rest." Booth cut her some slack. For now, it seemed as if she had toned things down a little. If she would keep it that way, he could tolerate working with her.

"You're sure?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm going to meet with Caroline and get some things taken care of and then I'm out of here myself." Booth explained. She nodded in response and left his office.

Booth quickly checked his email and then made the short trip to Caroline's office. He hadn't talked with her in several days and now had a good excuse to pay her a visit since he needed to a warrant to pull the records on Allen.

He walked to her office door and rapped slightly on the open glass doors. She was listening to someone on the phone while drinking coffee at the same time, but somehow managed to wave him in. Booth silently chuckled. He wondered how Caroline could do the work of about 5 hands when she only had two. 'Maybe that is why criminals were so afraid of her,' he thought.

Booth nodded to her wave and sat in one of the chairs facing her desk. He instinctively pulled out his poker chip and started playing with it. He waited silently as Caroline finished listening to the caller. He couldn't really call it a conversation since she didn't speak. After a couple of more minutes, she finally spoke. "Monday," was all she uttered before placing the phone back on the receiver and giving him a smile.

"Darn special agents, they always think that I'll drop whatever I am doing and get warrants for them on a Friday afternoon." She complained and Booth shifted in his seat since that was exactly why he was sitting there. At least it was some of the reason he was sitting there. "Now, to what do I owe the please of seeing you this afternoon?" She asked.

Booth placed a million dollar smile on his face and said, "I need a warrant for financials." He hoped he would not be on the receiving end of a flying stapler with that request. He'd seen the damage staplers could do.

"You know, cher, I wouldn't get one at 4:00 on a Friday for just anyone, but I'll get it for you. What do you need, exactly?" She smiled and Booth released the breath he had been holding.

"The bones found in the field, we found the boyfriend. He's in New Jersey and I'm questioning him on Monday, but I need to get financials and background information pulled before that. He dated her for a long time and is really our only potential right now." Booth explained; he knew it was enough for a warrant.

"I've got the file. I'll get it for you before I leave. Now, how's that scientist partner of yours anyway?" Caroline was clearly going in the direction Booth had hoped.

"She's doing better. She's bored at home and is jumping to get back to work. She goes to the doctor on Monday for a new cast and then she'll probably be on the case. I tell you, Caroline; we are getting no where on this case without her. They can't even find cause of death." Booth conveyed his frustration.

"Well, it's an old case, a few days won't hurt. Just make sure you do a good job with it when you do solve it. I don't want a tangled mess because the genius was missing." She was finished talking about the case. "Now, on to important matters—I searched through all of the FBI handbooks and the only thing I found was this." She dropped a large book in front of Booth. There was a passage highlighted in green. Booth began to read.

The FBI does not allow coworkers from the same department to be involved in relationships that extend beyond those of typical partnerships. This includes, but is not limited to, dating, marriage, and immediate family members. Partnerships are subjected to this policy.

Booth's face grew long. He was very discouraged by what he read and Caroline noticed. "Don't go getting all depressed on me yet, cher, keep reading." As she spoke, she turned over about 200 pages and opened to another passage highlighted in green. Booth sighed, relieved and kept reading.

While it is the FBI's policy that coworkers and / or partners do not become involved on a personal level, relationships between FBI employees and contractors are not directly subject to this policy. The FBI does not control contractors beyond the parameters explained in the FBI Contractors' handbook. While the FBI does not apply all employment policies to contractors and their FBI contacts, it is required that any and all relationships between contractors and employees of the FBI are approved by the deputy director in charge of the employee of the FBI. If the relationship is deemed to not interfere with matters of the FBI, it will be permitted with no consequences to the employee.

Booth looked up to find the glaring eyes of Caroline. He was slightly confused. "So, since she doesn't work for the FBI, I can pursue a relationship with her. Cullen just has to approve of it first?" He asked, more to make sure he had read clearly than because he didn't understand. It couldn't be that simple.

"That's right cher. You have the free and clear. All you got to do is make sure old Sambo agrees and if he gives you any flak, I'll deal with him." Booth just smiled. Cullen and Caroline went way back and she had a good handle on him. Heck, she had a good handle on everyone at the FBI.

Booth looked at the attorney and smiled. He had his answer. He and his Bones could date and still be partners. He was pretty sure that would be her only requirement. Now, he just had to find the right time to tell Bones. He needed to check with Angela and make sure there wasn't anything from the Jeffersonian side prohibiting the relationship. She would probably go crazy, but it would be worth it.

He snapped out of his trance and spoke. "Thanks Caroline, I owe you big time for this one."

"I already told you cher, this one's on me, but bring another warrant request to me on Friday afternoon and I'll be forced to take you out." She smiled as she spoke. She liked Booth, but had to keep him on his toes.

Booth stood to leave. He walked back to his office and locked up a couple of things. He found Charlie and told him that Caroline would be getting the warrant and he would call him to get one of his guys to work on the financials. It might be another hour or so. Charlie was getting ready to leave for the night as well, but informed Booth that there would be two newbies working who would be more than happy to pull the financials when he go the warrant.

Booth thanked Charlie, everything was set. Now, he was in a very good mood, so he called Bones. He might not be ready to tell her his feelings, but he could at least get her out of the house if she felt like it. He was going to make her go eat and to a movie with him. It was going to be a good weekend with Parker, but he need some alone time with his Bones before hurricane Parker hit.

He flipped open his phone and barely gave her the chance to say hello before he spoke. "Hey Bones, have you done your afternoon therapy stuff yet?" He waited as she spoke. "Good, I'm glad that's out of the way. Go change clothes and put on something other than wind suit pants. I'm getting you out of that apartment for the evening." He paused once again to give her the opportunity to protest. "I'm not abducting you Bones. You want to go with me – remember." He hoped she could sense that he was wearing a big grin. It always worked wonders with her. "Good, I'll be there in 45 minutes. I need to get some things from my apartment and get a couple of things ready for when Parker comes tomorrow." He explained before shutting the phone.

He walked to his car and set out for a great evening. He needed to take care of a couple of things before picking her up. His apartment was clean, but he needed to can some stuff from his refrigerator. He hadn't bought groceries in weeks and was sure his milk was spoiled. He had to get it out of there because he and Parker couldn't stay at Bones' place. Rebecca would have a field day with that one. He hurried, took care of what needed to be done, and headed to get his Bones. It was definitely going to be a good weekend.