TITLE: Nothing Personal
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Just as a pre-emptive warning for everyone, these following chapters won't be posted as speedily as the previous six have been. I'm sure you all know how RL tends to get in the way. That and the fact that I'm writing for several fandoms at the moment. Enjoy this one nonetheless, and hopefully I'll have eight up soon!

Booth and Bones were able to get in a few more hours of rest before a cell phone rang, waking Booth. Groggily, he lifted his head and glanced at the clock. Nine-thirty... it was probably the sheriff. He kissed Bones' cheek and gently rolled her off him, smiling when she just snuggled into his side in response. He then reached for the cell phone and pulled it to his ear. "Booth."

"Agent Booth?" It was Zack Addy, one of the chief members of Bones' 'squint squad.'

"Yeah, that's what I said. Booth."

"I... thought I called Dr. Brennan's phone. I did, didn't I?"

Booth's eyes widened, and he pulled the phone away from his ear long enough to give it a glance and realize that it was, in fact, Bones' cell phone. He closed his eyes. "Shit."

"Booth?" She awoke at his side and caressed his chest, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

He leaned away before she could reach his lips and handed her the phone, mouthing, "Zack."

She furrowed her brow and took the phone from him, tucking the sheet under her arms as she sat up. "Zack?"

"Dr. Brennan, why did Agent Booth answer your phone? And why do you both sound like you just woke up?"

Tempe closed her eyes and covered them with her hand, sighing as inaudibly as she could. "We were up late working on case files, and I guess we just fell asleep. What do you have for me, Zack?"

"I cleaned and examined the four sets of remains Agent Booth sent, and found the same apparent cause of death for all four -- multiple stab wounds to the chest. I made a mold of the cuts on the ribs, and we were able to determine that a five-inch, double-sided dagger was used on all four victims."

"Thanks, Zack."

"Hodgins also analyzed some wood splinters we found embedded in each victim's skull... said it looked like it was treated. He said he'll call later with more specific details."

"Okay, thanks."

"Uhh... and it appears as though Angela would like to speak to you. She keeps pinching my arm -- ow!"

Tempe rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile, that smile growing all the wider when she heard Angela's knowing, sing-song greeting. "Heeey, Sweetie..."

"Ange, what's up?"

"So I hear Booth answered your phone! As if the tie, and you in his tee-shirt wasn't a dead giveaway... spill!"

Booth smirked to himself, able to hear Angela loud and clear over the phone, and turned when his own began to ring. After double-checking to make sure that it was, in fact, his own cell phone, he pulled it to his ear. "Booth." He paused. "Yes, sheriff. Yes, we'll be down as soon as we can." He hung up quickly and tossed the phone onto the bed. "Bones, we gotta go."

She smiled her thank-you at him before telling Angela, "I'll have to call you later. The sheriff just called and we're needed at the scene."

"Alright, well you're not getting out of giving me all the horny details!"

"I'm well aware of that. Bye, Ange." She hit the 'end' button and sighed, then smiled up at Booth. "Thank you. You just saved me from an hour-long interrogation."

He chuckled and leaned down to brush his lips against hers, both sighing as Booth reached up to cup her face in his hands. When he pulled away slowly... so slow that both could feel the exact second their lips ceased to touch... he kept his eyes closed and leaned their foreheads together. "So... can I ask?"

Tempe smiled with eyes closed before pulling back slightly to look up at him. "Ask what? If it's something filthy, I reserve the right to decline answering."

He grinned and shook his head. "No, it's nothing 'filthy.'" He then gave her a roguish look. "We'll save the dirty talk for later."

She rolled her eyes and rose to her feet, heading for the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower now, Booth."

"Wait a minute, wait." He grabbed her elbow and spun her around, chuckling when she bumped into the wall in the process. "I didn't get to ask..."

She chuckled back. "Ask what, Booth?"

His hands found her shoulders, rubbing tenderly as he regarded her with furrowed brows. "What changed your mind?" He gestured between them, "about this, about... us."

"I just realized that I was... trying to make it be impersonal, because it was so personal already. Even before we had..." She trailed off and gestured to the bed.

He grinned. "Sex? You can say it, Bones. You know it's not a dirty word."

"We were personal before we had sex, so to assume that we could keep it impersonal was sort of... stupid." She putzed with her fingers and Booth took them in his own, kissing each of her knuckles. "And Angela said some things that made me think."

"Like what?"

She shrugged and leaned back against the wall near the bathroom door, pulling Booth with her until their bodies connected from toe to pelvis. "Basically that I knew virtually everything except how to handle myself when a real relationship presents itself... and that you and I have been in a relationship since day one."

"Well..." Booth's shrug was facial. "In a way, that's true. A partnership is a relationship."

"She said the parameters of our relationship keep changing."

"Why did she say you didn't know how to handle yourself in a real relationship?"

"Because it's true. I don't, really. I've never had a 'real' relationship before. And, anytime I get close to having one, I... tend to run."

Booth leaned in, planting gentle, playful pecks along Tempe's lips. "Well, no more running," he replied between kisses. "Because if you run, I fully intend to chase you down and bring you back to me."

She chuckled at the mere image of Booth chasing her down at full speed. "I could handle that."

"Now, about this shower business..." His voice dropped low and he peered at her through his lashes, a devilish smirk plucking at one corner of his lips. "Wanna share?"

"Can't believe you wouldn't let me shower with you," Booth complained, pouting slightly at the steering wheel of the SUV.

Tempe tilted her head at him, a slow smile spreading. "Booth, you know what would've happened. The sheriff was expecting us."

"Y'know, it's times like that I wish you had no sense of work ethics whatsoever."

"I promise, we can chuck the work ethics later. For now, we've got a case that still needs to be solved." Before he could reply, she added, "and while we're sort of on the subject, still... please try to not flirt with me while we're working the scene."

Booth grinned, and side-spied her as he pulled into the driveway of their victim's cabin and parked. "Bones, I don't know if you ever took the time to notice, but... I've been flirting with you on the job since we met."

She fought the smile, though it was one of the toughest things she'd had to do. "Well, stop it. The other officers will think we're unprofessional."

"No, I think the other officers would understand completely. Have you seen yourself lately, Bones?"

Tempe sighed and unbuckled her seatbelt, pushing her door open. "I'm exiting the car now, Booth."

He chuckled, unbuckling his own belt and opening his door. "And you're still the hottest thing in town."

They made their way toward the cabin side-by-side, each sobering at the memory of what they had found the night before. The sheriff met them on the porch after having dismissed two of his crime scene officers. "We were able to lift some footprints both from inside the house, and from out back. Our guys are takin' 'em back to the lab to run 'em through the computer. It's gonna take awhile, but hopefully we'll be able to get something out of it."

Booth nodded. "Have a handwriting analyst take a look at what was written on the mirror, see if they can tell us anything about the type of person that wrote it."

"You say this person called you with information?"

"Yeah." Booth pulled out his cell phone immediately and browsed his call list. He showed it to the sheriff once he'd found the correct incoming call. "Jot this down and have one of your guys run a trace. If this guy's any good, it'll probably come back as a pay phone number, but... just in case."

"Was there anything else found out of place, sheriff?" Tempe asked, her eyes on the various crime scene officers packing up their kits.

"Nothing, from what I could tell. Although there were some cigarette butts found in the flower beds out front, here. Some of them were new, some of them looked pretty old."

Booth shrugged. "Miss Michaels could've been a smoker."

The sheriff shook his head. "Not according to her neighbor. Not a smoker, not even a drinker."

Tempe furrowed her eyebrows at this. "Her remains were recovered from behind a bar in D.C."

The sheriff took a moment to pull out his notes from the day before and study them. "The vic's ex was a bartender, according to the neighbor. Used to tend bar at a little place in town."

Booth raised his eyebrows. "And where is he now?"

"That has yet to be known. Our guys are on it. Now, Agent Booth, I need to get a statement from you about what you saw last night."

He nodded, then reached out to lightly touch his partner's arm, promising, "I'll be right back," before he went off with the sheriff.

"Ready to go?"

Booth's voice nearly startled Tempe out of her skin when he approached from behind, and she slowly rose to her feet from examining the flower beds. "Go where?"

"Back to D.C. There's nothing more for us to do here. The sheriff will keep us apprised of any new evidence that may come along."

"Good. I'd like to look at where the bodies were found anyway. I actually wanted to do that yesterday, but since you dragged me away on this field trip..." She raised her eyebrows at him accusingly.

He templed his hands together, miming a plea. "I promise I'll make that up to you."

"Oh yeah, and how will you do that?"

He opened the passenger side door for her despite her protests, and leaned impossibly close to her ear to whisper, "I'll let you be on top this time."

Tempe ducked her head to hide the face-splitting grin she was currently sporting, and turned slightly over her shoulder to address her partner. "What did I say about flirting on the job?"

"Oh, that wasn't flirting, babe. That was a full-on promise."

"Are you sure about that? It sounded an awful lot like flirting," she sighed, throwing him a coy look as she climbed in and buckled her seatbelt.

"Alright, so maybe it was. Old habits die hard. Now let's get back to the cabin and pack our bags quickly. I've got a promise to keep."

TBC