Welcome to Chapter 3!

Thanks for reading this far. And thanks to everybody who reviewed Chapters 1 & 2.

Warning: I'm not very good at all the technical stuff of FBI, Forensics, Anthropology, and most anything else that's, well, technical. Please bear with me.

Legal stuff: I don't own the characters of Dr. Temperance Brennan, Special Agent Seeley Booth, or any other character developed by the legal owners of "BONES" or the books in which BONES are based on.

I did use my creative license to create new characters and situations.

Thanks again for taking the time to read. I really, really hope that you enjoy it.

Brennan was at the lab early the next day. The skeleton that Booth had told her about had come in, and she was eager to get a jump on it, before having to explain to her team what was going on. That in this case-a case where the victim was her specialty, so to speak- she would be held up at the lab, instead of out in the field. Brennan let out a shaky breath. It hadn't occurred to her how much she actually liked going out in the field, liked being out with Booth. She pulled off the latex gloves and rubbed the back of one hand over her eyes. "Hey, sweetie, what's up?" Angela asked, as she walked into the lab. "You look dead tire. Did you go home last night?" Brennan nodded.

"Believe it or not, I sure did. Didn't sleep well, but I went home." Angela looked her in the eyes, and saw a shadow of something dark pass over them.

"What's wrong, Tempe?" Brennan pinched her lips together.

"I'll rather wait until Zach and Hodgins get in for the day." Angela watched her friend very closely. Something was wrong, but she knew that Brennan had made up her mind. This was something that she wanted to say only once. Something that was to be hard for her.

"OK, sweetie," Angela smoothed. "What's with the bones?" Brennan glanced over at the skeleton laid out on her examining table.

"Kinda goes with what's wrong."

"Right, ok, Tempe, what do you want to talk about?" Brennan grinned over at her best friend.

"Not really up on talking." Angela nodded, then turned and walked off toward her office. This is going to be a long day, Brennan thought to herself. A very long day.

"What do you mean?" Angela asked. "Not partners?" Brennan bit her bottom lip between her teeth. She knew that it would be Ange that would speak up. "They can't do that, can they? Just toss you to the side." Angela was mad. How can they do this? She thought to herself. I'm never gonna get them together if the brass spilt them up. Angela all but growled at that fact.

"I'm not a piece of trash, Ange. They just thought that Booth should have a FBI partner."

"You mean someone with a gun," Hodgins said. "Someone who has his back." Angela shot him a shut-the-hell-up look.

"Nonsense," Angela said. "It has to be some mistake." There has to be a reason. "Booth just let it happen? Let them spilt you two up?"

"Of course not," Brennan said, making sure that she wasn't yelling. "He spent four days trying to convince them it was a bad idea. He was even trying to look out for all of us." Brennan looked around the small group. "A new partner means someone else in the lab. Booth tried to tell them the less people here the better we work."

"Dr. Brennan is right," Zack said. "Booth is bad enough, but now there's going to be somebody else to explain things too." Hodgins and Angela nodded.

"That's what Booth tried to explain."

"Maybe it's a conspiracy?" Brennan rolled her eyes. "No hear me out, maybe…"

"Oh, please," Angela said. "It's not a conspiracy. It's just some stupid FBI thing to make our lives harder." Or maybe it is a conspiracy, Angela thought. A conspiracy against me trying to hook Tempe and Booth up!

"Ok," Brennan said. "That's enough. We have a job to do, remember? We have a pile of bones," -she went on- "that needs to be identified. Everybody knows what to do. Now get to it." She turned her back to her team and walked into her office. "Now!" she called before slamming her door shut.

Angel, Zack and Hodgins looked around at each other. "Not taking it well, is she?" Hodgins said.

"For some reason, she lived to go out in the field," Angela answered.

"I thought," Zack began, "she hated it. After all, she always fusses about going." Both Hodgins and Angela laughed.

"She doesn't hate it, Zack, no matter how much she complained." Angela smiled at his confusion.

"Yeah, Zack," Hodgins said. "Brennan isn't like the rest of us."

"She's not?" Zack asked.

"Nope, she's too far gone to be 'normal' but not far enough to be a 'mad scientist'." Hodgins finished with an evil laugh as he turned away.

Brennan stood over the skeleton. Zack stood across from her watching and listening as she quietly went about examining the body. "Dr. Brennan," he asked. His voice almost squeaking, making Brennan realize just how young he was. "May I ask you something?"

"Is it relevant to the case?" she asked, not looking up.

"Umm, well, I'm not sure." Zack cleared his throat, and pushed on. "Why are you so upset about Booth getting a new partner? I mean you are a scientist after all. Don't you feel more comfortable in the lab?" Brennan looked up at him, and under her steady gaze, Zack began to rethink his question.

"Of course," she answered. "The lab is where I spend most of my time. It's where I'm most relaxed at, but sometimes you have to do something that makes you a little nervous. By the time I get involved in a case, the victims always look like this," she gestured to the table. "Sometimes I like to know that I'm helping somebody who still has a pulse."

"But isn't that why you became an anthropologist?" Brennan was aware that Angela and Hodgins had moved closer to where they stood. Both concentrating hard on looking like they weren't listening.

"It's true, Zack, I'm better with dead things then I am with the living. I choose this field because the work is more solitary then other jobs. The people I work have minds that work like my own. Bringing up decomposed bodies over lunch doesn't scare any of you away. But," she paused. What had made me change my mind? She thought. What made me want to go out in the field? "But to be a well rounded scientist, then you need to learn all you can about the world. And to be a good anthropologist, then you have to learn about people." Brennan lowered her head to pay careful attention to a bone that she hoped no one would ask her about.

Brennan didn't bother to look at the clock. She had told Booth she would have answers at 3 o'clock, so when she heard the lab doors open, she knew exactly what time it was. She also knew by the lab became even more hushed, that Booth's new partner was with him. Brennan took a deep breath to prepare herself. "Let's get this out the way," Booth said in a booming voice. "This is Special Agent Diana Weasley. She's working with me on this case." Brennan noticed he didn't introduce her as his partner. "Weasley, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan, my partner," he said, making sure that everybody in the lab heard. Brennan gave the woman a weak smile since her hands were still covered with latex gloves. Weasley was a woman of about 5'8" with shoulder length blond hair. Her blue eyes were bright and cheerful, and Brennan decided right then that she hated her.

"Nice to meet you finally, Doctor," Weasley said, her lips turned up into a pleasant smile.

"That over there is Angela Montenegro." The two women nodded at each other. "Dr. Jack Hodgins by the bug case. And the pint-size squint is Mack."

"Zack," Brennan corrected. "Zack Addy, my lab assistant." Booth grinned at her, letting her know that he was aware of the mistake.

"Ok, now that that's out of the way," Booth began, promptly ignoring the woman beside him. "What have you got for me, Bones?"

"Well, the bones are male," she begun, thankful to be able to look somewhere else other than at Weasley or Booth. "I say about age 12 to 15, we'll have more later on. Killed by a strike to the back of the head. Angela is working on reconstructing the face." She looked up to find Booth eyes. "It'll be tomorrow before I can tell you all long he's been dead and how long he's been in the ground." Booth nodded his head.

"Good work. Call me when you get more information." He gave her one last painful look, before turning of his heels and headed to the door.

"See you later, Bones," Weasley said, turning to follow. Brennan looked at her through neared eyes. She hated it when Booth called her that, but she really loathed someone else saying it. Everybody else in the room quickly dropped their eyes to their preferred task. Each one waiting for Brennan to explode, but it was Booth that spoke.

"What did you call her?" he asked, though clenched teeth, as he turned to face Weasley.

"Bon…Bones," she said quietly. "Isn't that what you called her?" Booth shook his head.

"No, no, no. You refer to her as Doctor Brennan. Nothing else. Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course, I'm sorry." Booth looked passed her to Brennan, and then once again turned on his heels and walked out.

So there you have it. Chapter 3. What do you thank? Feel free to review. I really enjoy reading through them. Ok, I'll confess, it gives me a little rush- a high, if you will- to read them. Guess I've become a "Review Junkie". ;-)

TBC with Chapter 4