I still don't own any of the characters or situations - do you think that if I asked nicely someone would give them to me for Christmas?

I promise to play nicely with them (well, mostly!). I'm making no money out of this, or anything else for that matter, apart from time apart from what I should be doing.

The journey back to DC dragged interminably. There were several holdups, mainly due to the heavy traffic, and it was nearly five when Booth finally reached the Jeffersonian. He headed straight for the lab. As he walked in, he wondered what kind of reception he would get from Bones. He had been surprised by how open she had been during their stay in Pittsburgh, and felt it was a real danger that being back in her normal working environment had led her to have sudden doubts.

Any doubt that he might have felt about the shift in their relationship was swept away as he saw her. She was standing on the raised lab platform, crouching down to peer closely at a set of bones laid out on the table. Brennan's face was the picture of concentration, and he stood admiring the way she screwed up her eyes slightly and tilted her head on one side as she worked.

He didn't realize how long he'd been just standing, staring at her, until he was roused out of his reverie by Angela greeting him cheerfully. He turned, startled, and she laughed at him. "Hi Booth, Brennan said you'd be here soon. Actually, she's been saying that for the past hour and a half."

"Hi Angela," he greeted her back. "How's life?"

"Oh you know, same as ever," she answered with a grin. "Hodgins is still driving us mad, Zack is still boy genius." Then she turned serious. "Hey, Booth, is everything okay between you and Brennan?"

"Yes, of course," he answered, caught off guard. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know - she just seems a little strange today."

Just then Bones spotted him. She put the bone carefully down on the table, then skipped down the steps to stand beside him. "Hey," she said, looking awkward.

"Hey." They stood just drinking in the sight of each other.

Angela cleared her throat. "Uh, are you sure you two are okay?"

They both turned to her at once. "Yes, we're fine," they chorused. She smirked at them.

"I'll leave you two alone then," she said, and turned and disappeared to her office before either of them could respond.

Booth turned to Brennan, who started laughing. "Maybe we'd better go into my office," she suggested.

They went to her office, and stood enjoying the relative privacy. "I missed you," Brennan said, looking out to check no one was outside, then kissing him lightly.

He smiled. "I was too busy working hard," he claimed, and then laughed as he saw the expression on her face. "I missed you too."

"Hey, I've got something to tell you," she said, suddenly looking serious. He tilted his head quizzically. "I had lunch with Rebecca today."

"With Rebecca? Parker's mom?" Booth frowned. "I didn't think you knew her."

"I didn't. Parker recognized me in Wong Foo's, and invited me to join them."

"Oh. How did you get on?" he asked cautiously.

"She's very nice, Booth. We had a good chat." Brennan's expression changed.

"What happened?" Booth was suddenly on guard.

"I - told her what I thought about her moving out of town with Parker."

He groaned, rubbing his chin with his fist. "I bet she didn't take that too well."

"She stormed off," Brennan admitted quietly. "They had already finished eating, though," she added as an afterthought.

Booth started pacing, trying to figure out the implications of this. "So you decide to meet my ex-girlfriend for lunch and lay into her for deciding prevent me from seeing my son? Wow, Bones, that's really going to help the situation."

"Sarcasm doesn't help, Booth. And I didn't lay into her. I merely explained to her how important a father is to his son, and how she should be considering Parker's needs as well as her own desires. Oh, and how she had no right to deprive her child of his father."

Booth sank into a chair and put his head in his hands. He groaned aloud. "Oh, Bones, what have you done?" His mind was racing. Should he ring Rebecca and apologize? Should he stay well away from her for a while? Could he afford time away from the case to deal with any of this?

"I haven't done anything," she protested sharply. "Don't blame me, Booth. All I did was try to talk a little sense into her."

This was bad. Things were about as bad as they could possibly get.

"Parker said you're taking him to the zoo on Sunday."

Or maybe they could get worse still. Today was Thursday. Booth groaned again, and looked up at Brennan. "What chance do you think there is of solving this case by then, Bones? If I miss that trip, then I can forget any chance of seeing Parker regularly."

"What about Ryan Swift?" Brennan reminded him.

"You're right, maybe that's what we need to crack the case." Booth brightened up at the thought that perhaps she was right. "Let's go see him. Are you coming?"

"Wait! I've just had a thought."

He stood up and looked at her impatiently, jangling his keys.

"As far as you're aware, Parker is with Rebecca," she said.

"What's your point?"

"If something were to happen, and Rebecca thought he was with you, but you thought he was with Rebecca, neither of you would report him missing, right? At least until you found out."

Booth stopped to think for a minute. "Maybe," he said slowly. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm just trying to think about why a child wouldn't be reported missing. Jason Swift was reported because his mom knew his dad had taken him, and she wanted him back. But what if in this other boy's case, each parent thought he was with the other one?"

"How does that help us?"

"Not at all, but it does offer one explanation as to why we haven't been able to identify him. If that's really the case, then I don't see how we can get any further, not on what we've got so far. If the hospital records aren't helping, and there's nothing on missing persons, then we've got little else. I need to get back out there, Booth. I need to check the burial site. There must be something we've missed, something that will prove the key to identifying this body, and maybe the key to finding his murderer."

Booth nodded. "I only came back to see what Ryan Swift has to say," he said. "I'll be heading back up there to continue investigations. You're right; the solution lies in Pittsburgh somewhere. But first, let's go and interview Swift. I want this case solved, Bones. I can't afford to be out of town for too long."

"Are you sure you want me along?"

Booth frowned at the note in her voice. She didn't sound too happy. Well, maybe she should have kept quiet instead of interfering between him and Rebecca. His conscience pricked at him for a minute, but he was too worried about the situation with Rebecca to be concerned right now about whether Brennan was feeling bad about the conversation. He fought back the thought that her outspokenness and honesty were part of what he loved about her.

Impatiently, he took out his keys and started tossing and catching them. "Come on, you can brief me on your side of things on the way."

She grabbed her coat and joined him, and they walked silently down to his car. Booth was vaguely aware of Angela watching them from inside her office doorway, but he ignored her. They needed to work on the case. Once that was solved, he could afford to spend time thinking about other things, like what to do about Rebecca and Parker. Right now, how Bones felt about his reaction to her talking to Rebecca was way down on his list of priorities.

Conversation in his car on the way to the bureau was purely business. She brought him up to date on the findings on the two victims, and the false trails they'd followed in trying to identify the second victim. They hit heavy traffic, and Booth found himself drumming his fingers on the wheel and whistling tunelessly between his teeth, both of which actions seemed to annoy Brennan intensely. Somehow, this wasn't the reunion he had been hoping for.

As ever, reviews are more than welcome! This part and the next two have proved/are proving tricky - reviews might prove the inspiration I need to get the story moving over the hump and towards the final rush to the finish.