Chapter 37

Booth glanced over at Brennan as they drove to the University for their meeting with Stires. Her arms were crossed and her head was turned away from him as she stared out the window. He wondered exactly how angry she was and as the silence stretched on he finally spoke. "Look, I know you're mad at me right now but can we please keep this between us? I would like to get through this interview with Stires without any personal outbursts; it's none of his business what goes on between us. Can we agree on that?"

Brennan looked over at him curiously; for a long moment she didn't speak and then she asked, "Are you jealous of Michael? I admit that I don't always understand these types of social cues but Angela has advised me before that it's best not to discuss past lovers with current lovers. Regardless, I have no intention of discussing our personal interactions with Michael."

Booth snorted even as he inwardly cringed at the image of Michael as her lover, past or otherwise. "I'm not jealous; I just think that certain things between two people should be private. Whether we're having sex, not having sex or fighting, I think it should be between us that's all."

"I can agree with that," she replied. "And I'm not angry, Booth."

He thought about the scene in the lab and said doubtfully, "Ok, so you're not angry, you're just not having sex with me tonight because you're so happy with me right now."

"I'm frustrated because I feel helpless to do anything except wait for something else to happen. Waiting for another victim, waiting for a 'gift' from the killer, waiting for the head to turn up – and everywhere I turn you're hovering as if my ability to take care of myself has somehow become impaired. I am trying to reconcile our personal and professional lives and it's difficult, Booth. I'm not sure I know how to make it work and not knowing is also difficult."

Her expression was equal parts frustration and confusion and something about that made him feel better. He reached over and caught her hand, linking their fingers together in her lap. "I know you think I'm being an unbearable Neanderthal, or whatever anthropological term applies here. You know it's only because I love you, right? I love you so much that it scares me sometimes."

"You've never been afraid of your feelings about anything," she protested.

"I've never had this much to lose before," he said quietly. "But with you, what we have….. I can't lose you, Temperance."

Brennan looked at their linked fingers and then back at his taut profile. She was suddenly aware of how tired he seemed, the worry stamped on his handsome features, and she realized that as much as this situation was worrying her it was taking an equal toll on him.

"I can understand that," she said softly as Booth pulled the car into a parking space near the building that housed the anthropology department.

He cut the ignition and then looked over at her. "Can you?"

"I know how I would feel if something happened to you. I lived through it and it was the longest two weeks of my life," she admitted. "It hurt and I didn't know how to make the pain go away. I would do whatever I had to do in order to avoid that feeling of loss again."

It was the first time she had ever really spoken about her feelings during the two weeks she'd thought he was dead and he reached over to push her hair back as he pressed his lips to her temple. "I'll make you a deal – if I ever have a psycho stalker sending me gifts and killing people in order to impress me, I promise to let you follow me around and hover as much as you want to."

"I'd be better able to protect you if I was armed," she pointed out.

Booth shook his head as he got out and walked around the car to meet her. "One compromise at a time, Bones."

They made the trip to Stires' office, Booth's hand on her back as they walked. Perhaps it wasn't terribly enlightened of her, but she admitted that she liked the feeling it gave her. When they reached the anthropology department, she saw Michael standing near his office with a tall blonde woman.

Michael looked up as they approached and cleared his throat. "Grace, this is Agent Booth and of course you know his partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. This is a friend, Grace Sandlin; I hope you don't mind but I asked her to be here because I assumed you might want to question her." The last was directed at Booth, and Brennan wondered if she was imagining the sarcastic tone of his voice.

"That's helpful, thank you," Booth replied evenly. "Maybe we can speak privately in your office?"

They followed Michael to his office and once they were all seated Booth got straight to the point. "Professor Sandlin, Dr. Stires has indicated that you can verify his whereabouts early this morning; is that correct?"

Grace colored slightly as she nodded. "We ate dinner together last night and then I joined him at his home. I didn't leave until 8:30 this morning."

"So to be clear, you were together all night?" Booth prodded.

"Yes, we were together all night," she confirmed. "My husband is out of town at the moment so I would appreciate it if this could be kept as quiet as possible."

Booth nodded. "Dr. Stires mentioned to you that he was meeting with Dr. Walters. Can you recall if you mentioned this information to anyone?"

Grace shook her head. "I didn't discuss my plans to meet with Michael, and I certainly didn't tell anyone what his plans were."

"Ok then, thank you for your time; you're free to leave," Booth said.

Grace glanced over at Michael and he stood up to walk her to the door. "Thank you, Grace. I'll talk to you later this afternoon." Michael walked back to his desk and sat down. "Happy now, Agent Booth? I did not kill Dr. Walters and even the suggestion that I'm capable of something like beheading a friend and colleague is grossly insulting."

"In a homicide investigation I have to follow all avenues of inquiry; as a scientist I'm sure you can understand that Stires," Booth replied calmly.

Brennan looked over at Booth and realized he was gaining some sort of pleasure from needling Michael. She was suddenly reminded of mating rituals of various tribes that involved the alpha males squaring off to determine who would have first choice among the females of the tribe. She wondered now if those long ago females also felt annoyed that no one bothered to ask them how they felt about the ritual.

"Well I hope that your 'avenues of investigation' are panning out to some legitimate leads, because from what you've told me the killer is obsessed with Tempe's work and that probably makes her a target," Stires pointed out. "No matter what you think about me, I would never hurt her."

"No one is suggesting that you're the killer, Michael," Brennan said firmly. "Booth takes his job very seriously and always questions every person connected to a crime. The fact that I am personally connected to the case simply heightens his need to resolve this quickly."

"So you don't mind that he's running roughshod over this investigation, throwing out baseless accusations? I'm surprised that you follow his lead – the Tempe I knew forged her own path."

"The Tempe you knew had no idea what it was like to be part of a real partnership, both personal and professional. I'm happy to say that was a long time ago and Booth has shown me that love and respect can coexist, and it doesn't make me less a woman or a scientist. It simply makes me better," she replied. "I'm sorry that your pride was injured but I would prefer that you keep your opinions about me and Booth to yourself."

Booth wondered who felt more astounded by Brennan's response, him or Michael. Based on the look on Stires' face he thought it could be a draw. He looked at Brennan and tried to squelch the overwhelming desire to kiss her senseless right in the middle of Michael's office; as alpha male displays went, he figured that might be over the top. Instead he cleared his throat and said, "We still need to speak to your assistant who made the hotel arrangements for Dr. Walters. Is she available now?"

Michael tore his gaze away from Brennan and stood up. "She was giving an exam to some of my students; let me see if she's finished."

When Michael walked out of the office Brennan looked over at Booth. "He's much more annoying than I remembered."