Thanks very much for the reviews - hope you like this chapter.
"I'm Dr Temperance Brennan and I have an appointment with Special Agent Seeley Booth," Temperance said, holding up her ID card for inspection at the security checkpoint. The guard took her pass and noted the reference number and checked her name off on a list of expected visitors.
"Thank you Dr Brennan. Cold one today isn't it? Do you know your way up?" He queried handing the pass back.
Temperance nodded and smiled thank you as the gate was buzzed open and she walked through into the large atrium. The elevators were in the far corner, as she waited she could see that quite a few lights were on in the offices lining the large open space. Unsurprisingly the FBI didn't get to take weekends off.
The elevator pinged and the doors opened, she stepped in and pushed the button for Booth's floor. The inside was mirrored and glancing at her reflection, she realised that the freezing wind had reddened her cheeks, although her woollen hat and scarf had covered most of her head. She rubbed her cheek absently before realising that it was unlikely to help.
Arriving on Booth's floor she made her way down the corridor towards his office, counting off the doors as she went. Each office had glass panels along the corridor, so if the resident hadn't closed their blinds, you could see in. It always intrigued her to see the subtly different decor and clutter in each office. The details of the personalisation of each room said something about its occupant, and the general principle said something more profound about humanity's need to claim space and define it as theirs. She paused outside Booth's door. He was engrossed in the papers on his desk, supporting his head on his left hand and jotting notes. Even from a distance, and with his face largely obscured, she could tell he was tired. There was something in the slump of his shoulders, the way his hair had ruffled up through his fingers and the loosened tie that told her that all was not well. As she watched, she felt a strange desire to smooth his hair back and give him a hug. She bit her lip - these were not appropriate thoughts to have about her partner - Booth would be horrified if he realised what she was thinking.
She decided she better knock before she had any even more wildly inappropriate thoughts, when he looked up. She was sure she hadn't made a sound, but put it down to the strange awareness they seemed to have of one and other's presence.
Booth smiled tiredly in greeting and stood up to wave her in, "Afternoon Bones. Like the hat. Coffee?"
Temperance glared and folded her arms, still standing in the doorway.
"What? The crack about the hat? Or calling you Bones?" Booth smiled a bit wider, "Sorry. Reading case files always makes me cranky. Especially if its a Saturday. Come on, take a seat and I'll get you a coffee." He waved a mug at her.
Despite her best efforts a smile broke through, "Coffee would be great." she said with a shiver, stepping into the room and taking off her gloves.
Booth moved out from behind his desk carrying two mugs in one hand. He stopped as he passed her and reached out to clasp her hands in his larger one. "Your hands are freezing! Go stand by the radiator." He pointed to across the room, "Be back in a minute."
Temperance stared after him in confusion. Random physical contact was not normally part of their routine. After depositing her shopping, she hung her coat and scarf on a hook behind her and stuffed her hat and gloves into a pocket. She then perched on top of the radiator trying to get warm.
Booth's mind was wandering as he waited for the coffee to dispense. It's good to see Bones, he thought, and she had looked really cute all wrapped up against the elements. Her fitted coat, with its nipped in waist, really showed of her figure. The beep of the coffee machine brought him back to the present and when he looked up guiltily as he realised the inappropriate direction his thoughts had been taking him.
As he walked into his office, he grinned as he spotted Bones practically sat on the radiator, that had to be one of the first times that she had ever done what he suggested. He handed the coffee over to her and wheeled his chair round to her side of the desk.
"So what d'you buy today?" He asked.
Temperance looked at him, "Umm well, a couple of books, a skirt in the sale and er...," she trailed off, looking nervously that the pile of shopping bags "You know - stuff."
Booth's eyes flicked between her face and the shopping bags, his investigative instinct piqued by her obvious embarrassment. He then spotted the edge of what looked like a Victoria's Secret bag and grinned.
"What?" Temperance demanded.
"Nothing - wouldn't want to pry into your intimate purchases." he replied innocently.
Temperance glared at him, but decided that there was no graceful way to deal with the conversation, "Let's talk about the case, and why you're in here on a Saturday."
Booth shrugged, "Case is a bit unusual. About month a ago up in Pennsylvania, a lady called Janet Johnson was buried after a short illness. Apparently she had a lovely funeral with a lot of friends and family there to mourn her. Over the next couple of days other people got sick and it emerged that they had all eaten at the same hotel over a three day period. Food poisoning was suspected. A decision was taken to exhume Mrs Johnson's body to confirm whether she was the first fatality from the outbreak. Only when they opened up her grave. She wasn't in there."
Temperance raised an eyebrow, "Not in the grave?"
"Nope. An elderly gentleman by the name of..." he paused to check his notes, "...Victor Davies was. Only his family had stood around a different grave while he was buried the week before. And Ms Johnson wasn't in that one either. The cemetery records are non existent. So far, ten graves have been opened up, only four of which have the correct occupants. One was empty and two had multiple bodies in." Booth paused to take a swig of his coffee. "The families are up in arms and have demanded that all the graves under three years old are opened up. The local authorities are resisting that, but are opening them up sequentially in the hope that they can find all the missing bodies and put them where they should be."
"Where do we come in?" Temperance asked guardedly.
"Well the local authorities have pretty much no credibility with the families for obvious reasons. So they've asked for some help in verifying their identification protocol and assistance with any, er, difficult to ascertain cases. The FBI is also interested, in that we want to make sure that all the people they do find are supposed to be in the graveyard in the first place."
"So you're not expecting my team to identify 100 plus bodies?"
Booth shook his head, "Even if they have to go back three years, it's only around 85 cases and you just need to do some QA work and help out if they have any difficult ones."
Temperance nodded in acquiescence, "Okay. We can manage that. Any idea why all the mix ups?"
Booth shrugged, "Nothing definite, but all the evidence so far seems to point to incompetence, not anything more sinister."
Temperance's eyes narrowed suddenly, "Booth, is this the case you're working on in here today?"
He nodded, gesturing towards the papers on his desk.
"It's not that urgent to need you to work weekends, surely?" She was surprised when he tried to avoid her gaze, "What aren't you telling me?"
"I've told you everything about the case - read the file if you like." He retorted rubbing his eyes with his hand.
Now she knew something was wrong, she couldn't help herself, "Booth, what is it? You look exhausted and don't tell me it's the case."
Booth felt a jolt at the concern in her voice, "It's just been a bad week, Bones. Sometimes work is the best place to come to get away from it."
There was a quiet sense of defeat in his voice, which was so unlike him that Temperance instinctively she reached over and gently took his hand, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Booth's eyes jumped from her hand to her face and back again and he found that he couldn't have prevented himself telling her even if he had wanted to, "Parker's Mom called on Tuesday." Temperance wheeled her chair a little closer and gave a sympathetic nod.
"She wanted to tell me that she was going away with her new boyfriend for ten days and that 'as I'd obviously be far too busy with work', Parker would be staying with his grand parents." Temperance could feel his hand ball into a fist and unconsciously started to stroke it, trying to relax him as he stared at the floor.
"She didn't need to call. She could have gone and I'd have been none wiser. She did it deliberately to make me feel bad that I wasn't going to get to spend time with my son. I told her I'd take time off. She said no. I told her maybe I could look after him this weekend. She said no. That her parents would be 'disappointed' as they were looking forward to seeing him." Booth paused, "They baby sit him everyday when she's at work!" He let out an explosive breath, "I try not to let it get to me, but he's my son... I haven't got much sleep the last couple of days."
At his words Temperance felt the strangest mixture of compassion, fury and protectiveness. She brushed his cheek gently with her free hand, "Booth, your son loves you. It's just really unfair that his mother is able to let whatever problems there were in your relationship affect your relationship with Parker." She swallowed, "I know what it's like to lose family and it makes me so angry to think of anyone deliberately trying to exclude a loving parent from a child's life."
Booth looked up into her beautiful green eyes at her words and for the first time in four days he didn't feel alone. They sat quietly, hands inter-twinned taking solace from the other's presence. Booth usually kept his feelings firmly in check but he knew that in his current state, if he wasn't careful, he would end up saying something that would change his relationship with Bones forever.
He gathered himself to start putting the barriers back up again, "Thanks Temperance. Sorry to spill like that, I guess I needed it though," he gently disengaged his hand and picked up his coffee.
Temperance's eyes widened slightly at the use of her full name, but she felt bereft when he let go of her hand. She guessed that Booth was uncomfortable with showing vulnerability.
Neither of them spoke for a moment, unsure how to break the awkward silence. Booth stood up and took refuge in the case, "So you okay to pick this case up on Monday?"
Temperance looked up at him nodding, wondering if he realised what his body language was giving away - standing up to assert his authority and re-establish that their relationship was based on work.
"Good - maybe we could visit the site Monday..?" He saw her shake of the head, "Tuesday?"
Temperance sighed internally, he was definitely all business, "Tuesday's fine. Give me a copy of the file and their protocols. I'll have them QA'd Monday and I'll run through it with their team on Tuesday."
"Great." Booth acknowledged.
She could see a ghost of an apology in his eyes and decided to forgive his suddenly formal demeanour, "I'd better be going," his head snapped round at that, "It is a Saturday after all." She put her coat on and took the file that Booth handed to her, but her hand lingered on his as he handed the file over, "Don't stay here all weekend Booth."
He stared at her silently.
"Please go home and try to relax."
Booth raised an eyebrow, "That's interesting advice from a workaholic."
She dismissed his comment with a wave, "I like working." Suddenly inspiration struck, "Have you eaten yet today?"
He thought for a minute then shook his head.
"Fine, put your coat on. Let's go get something to eat." Booth looked surprised but didn't move. Temperance gave him a little push in the back, "Come on Booth, it's half past five. You need to eat. You can't survive on coffee."
He was about to protest when he felt her arm slide around his waist and start to inch him forward. Feeling her warm skin pressed against him, he found himself nodding and pulling on his jacket.
In a couple of minutes they were both wrapped up against the winter evening. He tidied his desk and turned off the lights, and they made their way out of the building.
(TBC)
