A/N: I felt like being nice so I decided to update today (came earlier than I had expected to). Hopefully you will like this second-last chapter. Don't forget to review at the end:-) They make me update faster. ;-)

A/N2: Who can't wait for Season 2 to start! Only 28 days left (hopefully) and only 29 days left before my b-day:-)

"The cause of death is obvious." Zack said as he twirled the skull of their latest Doe in his hands.

Temperance shot him a reprimanded look.

"You have to work procedurally, Zack. You can't skip any steps. Come on, put that skull down."

Her tone had been a little harsher than she had wanted it to be but she couldn't care less.

"Sorry, Dr. Brennan." Zack then apologized.

But not even his apology could bring his boss to feel bad.

She felt numb, felt like all she could feel was pain and nothing else. So she worked. Booth had been gone for a week, maybe two, she couldn't remember. Her work engulfed her, time stood still. She hadn't heard of him and hadn't tried to contact him. She had simply just... worked. She was well aware of the worried glances her friends and colleagues threw her way but she ignored them. She didn't need anybody's pity. If Booth had wanted to leave without telling her, it had been his choice. There was nothing she could do about it now.

She finished arranging the remains.

"Working from the top down, what do you see?" she asked her assistant.

"The shape of the skull and facial features tell us the victim was possibly African-American."

Temperance nodded, jotting down Zack's analysis on her report sheet.

"What else?"

"Cause of death: skull smashed open by a blunt object."

Temperance glared at him. Zack looked back down at the skeleton.

"From the way the hips and pelvis are built, we have got ourself a John Doe."

Another nod from the doctor. Zack worked his way down to the feet. Nothing else of value.

"Height?" Temperance asked, not looking up from her clipboard.

"Most likely between 6' and 6'3"."

"Age?"

"Thirty to mid-thirties."

Looking up from her clipboard, Temperance examined the skeleton herself. Zack hadn't missed anything. The only fracture she could see was present on the skull, the rest of the skeleton seemed in pretty good shape.

"It's too early to determine time of death."

She spoke out loud, more to herself than to her assistant.

"Dirt was brought in with the skeleton and plenty of bugs. We'll get Hodgins to take a look to determine time of death. Wrap this up and bring it over to Hodgins."

"Sure thing, Dr. Brennan."

Going back to her report, Temperance started writing once again. She could feel the quick glances thrown by Zack to her and she forced herself not to get irritated. After all, he was probably only looking out for her and wanted to make sure she was okay. But she didn't need protection from anybody. All she wanted was to be left alone and forget about the whole proposal incident. She knew that with the friends she had, it was unlikely to happen, especially if Booth didn't come back soon.

But after a few minutes, she grew tired of Zack's glances. Not bothering to look up from her report, she asked:

"What is it, Zack?"

Embarrassed to have been caught, Zack immediately looked away.

"Nothing, Dr. Brennan. I was just... nothing. I'm done wrapping our John Doe. I'll go find Hodgins and give him the dirt and bugs."

"That's a good idea." Temperance replied, clipping her pencil on the clipboard before walking down from the examination platform.

She could feel pairs of eyes on her as she made her way to her office. She ignored them.

She couldn't help the feeling of relief she felt as she stepped into the privacy of her office and closed the door behind her. Finally, she was away from all the pity and the worried glances.

Sitting down at her desk, she turned on her computer. She had forgotten to do it when she had come in a few hours ealier. As she waited for her computer to boot up, her gaze was attracted by the phone on the corner of her desk. Maybe she could call him. She shook her head. No, she had called him enough times this week. Or had she? She remembered calling once when she had found out that he had left without telling her but had she called him after that? She couldn't remember.

Was Booth waiting for her to call? After all, it would make sense since she was the person who had shot him down. On another hand, maybe he didn't want to have anything to do with her anymore and that was the reason why he hadn't called.

She picked up the receiver, heart racing inside her chest. She dialed the number she knew too well only to fall on an answering machine. She hung up, not bothering to leave a message, then dialed his cellphone number. Again, she fell on the pre-recorded voice that told her the customer she was trying to reach was unavailable. She frowned as she hung up for the second time. That was odd. Booth never turned off her cellphone.

As she typed in her password, she couldn't help feeling a little anxious. Had something bad happened to him in Philadelphia? She pushed the thought aside. What did it matter, anyway?

A soft knock on her door brought her back to reality. She told the person, a tad irritated, to come in. A second later, Angela was stepping in the office. Closing down the behind her, she looked down at her friend, sympathetically.

"I don't need any sympathy or pity, Ange." Temperance warned her best friend.

"That's not why I'm here." Angela told her. "Can I sit down?"

"Suit yourself."

"Okay... you're mad." Angela said as she sat down on the chair, across from the best friend.

Temperance rolled her eyes, in a manner that told Angela she had been stating the obvious.

"You knew about all of this. Why didn't you try to stop him? Or why didn't you just give me a heads-up? All of this could have been avoided and Booth and I would still be living together."

She grabbed a pencil and nervously played with it. She was being ridiculous and totally irrational. She knew it but she didn't care. A relationship like she had with Booth didn't come by often. She didn't want it to end, especially not like that.

"I'm sorry, Brenn. In my defense, I did warn him... several times. He just didn't want to listen. He was positive that you would say yes. Obviously, he was wrong."

"I just froze." She started, throwing the pencil in frustration. "When he asked me, I didn't know what to answer. I looked into his eyes and saw that he was scared. I saw myself in him and something in me pushed me to say no. It was like payback. Payback for all the pain I had suffered because of men."

Angela frowned, confused.

"So it has nothing to do with Booth, then? You were just getting revenge on all of the other jerks you dated and hurt you?"

Temperance sighed, leaning against the back of her chair.

"No, it has nothing to do with Booth and it wasn't only revenge. I just don't want to get married. Marriage changes everything. It puts a tag on the relationship and suddenly, everything that was one way when you were just dating isn't okay when you're married. It causes stress more than anything else."

Angela shook her head.

"You keep changing your reasons every time we have this conversation. Are you sure you don't secretely want to get married?"

"I don't. What I had with Booth was just perfect. For the first time in my life, Ange, I felt loved and I found it pretty nice. A marriage would have just ruined everything. I didn't want it to get ruined."

"Sweetie, a marriage with Booth would never ruin everything. That man is hopelessly in love with you and wants to cry it out to the whole world. A marriage would have just celebrated the love you two felt for one another and strengthened your bond. Marriage with Booth wouldn't be like a marriage with any other man. Trust me."

Unable to look at her friend anymore, Temperance turned her attention back to her screen. Her inbox was empty. No new e-mail. Not even one from her brother. She sighed. She missed Russ already. She wished he could be here to comfort her. God knows she needed it.

"Did you only come to see me to talk about Booth?" Temperance asked, her voice filled with unspoken sadness.

"No. I came to get you. Hodgins wanted to talk to you about those bugs you sent his way."

Temperance nodded before closing her e-mail window. Putting her computer on stand-by, she then got up and walked to the door. Angela followed behind her, a smile tugging at her lips.

She swiped her card before stepping onto the platform. Hodgins was bent over his microscope, examining what seemed like small worms. He looked up when he heard her arrive.

"Take a look at this." He told her.

She bent down and squinted into the microscope to see.

"These little fellas are only there at the beginning stage of decomposition and they seem to have been dead for a little while now. I'd say, from the bugs, that your John Doe has been dead for close to a year."

Temperance looked up.

"Thanks, Jack."

"No problemo."

"Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"Not really."

She had been about to turn around when Hodgins stopped her.

"Have you heard from Booth lately?"

"What? No. I..."

She heard the sliding doors open and something inside her subconscience told her to turn around. Everything around her became a blur as her eyes fell on the person walking through the doors.

He stopped as their eyes met and locked. He was looking sheepishely at her. Even from far she could tell he was tired. She felt her rational side disconnecting from her body as she ran down the stairs and towards him.

:-)