December 25th – 2:30am-

After the phone call about the Maluku earthquake, the joy and festive air seemed to have been sucked from the room. The couple had continued their Christmas Eve together, though the thought of the disaster that was so far away in distance was never far from their minds. They went to bed at a reasonable time, a muted excitement for the next day's festivities, but as they lay wrapped in one another's arms. Neither could find the peace they needed in order to fall into a peaceful slumber.

Booth's arm was wrapped around Temperance securely, her body pushed tightly into his. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek and could tell by the depth of his breathing that he wasn't sleeping either.

"Are you thinking about Maluku?" He whispered, finally unable to keep his thoughts to himself. He could tell that she wasn't sleeping just by the tension in her body.

"Yes." She whispered gently.

"At least you won't have to go back there." He said, kissing her hair, there was a long pause.

"I should. I should go back, Booth." She said, knowing that he wouldn't be happy with her answer. "I should help them clear the site and catalogue and ship items. I should finish what I started there."

"Bones." He said, the tone of his voice showing his obvious concern with her thoughts.

"It wouldn't be for long, but I owe it to Doctor Lawrence." She whispered.

There was another long pause, and she could feel the tension in is arms before he spoke. "Was that Doctor... the one that died. Was he somewhere that you would have been?" He asked. "Would you have been in that building, Bones?"

"Booth." She whispered, hoping that he wouldn't insist on an answer. "I don't know." She said, swallowing her answer, she closed her eyes. "How could I possibly know where I would have been when the earthquake struck?" She asked, the forced aloofness nearly unbearable to Booth. She closed her eyes tightly, hoping he'd drop it. "I'm here, Booth. I'm alive, and I am here. Where is the sense in considering the danger I would have been in? I wasn't there when the earthquake occurred."

"And what if you go back, and there's another earthquake?" He asked. "What if it's worse than this earthquake? There could be a tsunami, or flooding. You may not be able to get off the island, Bones." He said.

"I cannot control nor predict the movement of the earth's crust or the response by the ocean." She whispered. She could feel his arms pulling gently from around her. She wanted to grasp his hands to keep them from moving, but stopped herself. "I also cannot control whether or not you come home from Afghanistan uninjured." She said quickly, noting that his retreat was instantly halted. She rolled in his arms, coming face to face with him, she could see the hardness of his expression, even in the darkness of the room. "I don't want to sit around here in Washington D.C. wondering whether or not you are coming home." She whispered.

"I am coming home, Bones." He said, his tone resolute and strong.

"I want to believe that." She said, sincerely. "But we both know that the work that you've been doing there has not been purely administrative, no matter what you tell me." She said. "We both know that you are in a warzone. You are handling very heavy artillery in an area of the world that is more unstable than the volcanoes and tectonic plates in Indonesia." She said softly. "We haven't discussed your missions, or the danger, but I am not a fool, Booth. I know what your training entails. I know the types of people that are working with and around, insurgents around every corner. It's not a guarantee that you will come home. It isn't."

"Just because I am going to be in a dangerous place, doesn't mean that you need to be in a dangerous place too, Bones." He said, feeling that this was a losing argument. "If I'm going back to Afghanistan, I need to know that you're safe. If I don't know where you are, or what condition that you're in, that breaks my focus and puts me in more danger." He said, touching her cheek gently with his fingertips, he followed his hand with his eyes, then focused on her gaze. "I need to know you're safe, Bones."

"I lost a colleague, Booth. I am not discounting your concern, and I can assure you that I will not take any unnecessary risks. I just need to conclude the work that I had started in as much of a complete fashion as possible." She sighed. "I… need to talk to Dr. Lawrence's family. I need to make sure that everyone else that is on the site is safe. I don't want them to feel that I abandoned the team. You understand, don't you?" She asked, slowly breathing through her nose, she waited on his response. "You understand the importance of the team, don't you?"

"I understand." He replied.

"I will not put myself in any harmful situations, and I will be returning here as soon as everything is situated. I can assure you of that." She said, leaning toward him, she rested her forehead against his. "One week, maybe two." She replied.

"When will you leave?" He asked.

"That hasn't been decided. I need to get more information. It doesn't have to be decided right now, but it won't be tomorrow." She said, dropping a kiss on his lips, she looked into his eyes again. She could tell that much of the tension in his body had relaxed at her words, though some still remained. "And it won't be the next day." She said, feeling him relax a bit more. "When I have more information, I will let you know." She said, kissing him again. She felt his arms wrap securely around her, deepening the kiss. She groaned at his gentle touch, the way he moved with her. She trembled at his tender warmth that spread through her body.

"I just don't ever want to lose you." He said, whispering into her mouth. "I need you."

"I need you." She replied, pushing him to his back gently, continuing the kiss. After several moments of the breathless kiss, she broke from it, looking into his eyes. "I also need you to get some sleep, you have to get up early." She said, a smile sliding onto her lips that made his eyes narrow, and his eyebrow lift in confusion.

"What?" He asked, "I thought…Bones." He whined into her, and she let out a light laugh before pushing him away with a giggle.

"Booth! You need to be up early." She said, her tone still holding a bit of breathiness that he was sure would kill him.

"Why?" He asked.

"You have to pick up Hank in the morning." She replied, watching his eyebrows raise, and a smile lit up his face.

"You invited Pops?" He asked, letting out a laugh.

"I certainly did. He's family, isn't he?" She asked.

"Bones." He said, pulling her close to him tightly, he heard her let out a grunt because of the tightness of the hug, and then a slight laugh.

"Is that okay?" She asked, feeling his arms release her gently, his head once again on her forehead. "It's okay that I invited him, right?"

"It's more than okay, Bones." He said. "I love you."

"I love you." She said, kissing him once more. He wasn't willing to give up so easily. "Booth!" She laughed as he rolled her around, pinning her to the mattress. "Booth! We need to sleep!" She said, silenced by his kiss for a moment.

He pulled from the kiss and looked hungrily into her eyes. "Hush, and let me thank you properly." He said, watching the happy smile appear on her lips, as he lowered his lips to hers, and thanked her until they were both completely exhausted.