Sorry it's been so long since my last update. Things have been busy! I know, that's no excuse, but that's what you get. Thanks to everybody who has reviewed up to this point.

The words seem to hang in the air. "A setup?" Booth repeated, as he froze in half step. "You mean a conspiracy." Brennan gave a small laugh.

"You sound like Hodgins."

"Me? You're the one who spoke his catch word."

"No, I said 'setup'," Brennan argued. "You said conspiracy." Booth ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

"It doesn't matter what you call it," he said, pulling their attention back to the discussion and not their argument. "Why do you think it's a consp…um...setup?"

"What are the facts, Booth?"

"Well," he said, resuming his pacing. "For starters, this Agent Weasley woman doesn't seem to exist. I'm told not to discuss this case with you, except for the skeleton."

"I didn't know you weren't allowed to even discuss it," Brennan interrupted.

"It's not important," he dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"Not important? You could get in serious trouble if Cullen finds out."

"Can we please stick to the issue?" Booth asked. "You know, this whole setup idea. That, may I add, is your idea."

"Sorry," Brennan said sheepishly. Booth let out a heavy sigh, before he continued.

"The case file has been striped of everything that could possibly be useful. The original FBI agent is currently trekking across Italy with no way of contacting him."

"The bones that were recovered," Brennan started, taking over Booths list. "They don't belong to the Whitman kid. Cullen seems to dismiss the fact the file has been tempered with." Booth stopped pacing.

"I think we just might be on to something."

"But why would anybody want to set you up, Booth? Have you ticked someone off?" Booth couldn't help but to smile.

"You can't be a G-man," he said, "and not tick someone off sooner-or-later."

"Someone high enough to set this in motion? Someone who would want you to fail? To make you look bad?" Booth dropped into a chair, and stretched his legs out.

"I don't know, Tempe," he said seriously. "Between what I did in the service and what I've done with the FBI, I don't know how many people would want to see me fail." He looked up at her, and she saw the confusion and pain in his eyes. The memories of his past torturing him. Suddenly, she had an urge to go to him. To try and smooth the anguish. She wanted to hold him until the hurt went away. That's what friends do, she thought to herself.

"Can I ask you something?" Brennan asked softly. Booth nodded.

"Only if it counts towards one of your questions?" He saw the corners of her mouth turn up in a small smile.

"Do you think you'll ever overcome your past?" She knew the question was hard to hear- it was hard to ask. But Brennan thought that she had worded it right. Not asking about his past, but about overcoming it. She watched him in silence as he thought. His legs were still out in front of him, and he took his hands, locked his fingers and placed they at the back of his head. She watched as he let his eyelids drift shut, and she knew that he was reliving something in his past. Something that still hunted his dreams- both sleeping and awake. Finally he took a deep breath and released it in a weighty sigh.

"You know," he begun, eyes still closed. "I try not to think about my past too much. I did some horrid things that I'm not proud of." He stopped, and Brennan waited. "I had some things done to me, things that shouldn't be done to anybody." Again he stopped, and again she waited. Booth didn't talk about his past often, and Brennan didn't want to push him. He was understanding about her past, and she wanted to gave him the same respect. He took a ragged breath.

"That's good enough, Booth," she told him, but he continued.

"I have nightmares that wake me up in a cold sweat. Images that shake me to my core. Will I ever overcome it?" Booth opened his eyes and Brennan saw that they were dark with regret. "I can only say that I hope and pray that one day I will. And until then, I can only try to make up for the things I've done." For a moment nothing was said. They just sat there, in silence, watching each other. They both knew that this was a huge step for them. Their relationship was changing- evolving – into something more than a partnership and deeper than a friendship. Brennan gave Booth a small smile to let him know that she understood. Not his past, she would never insult him by saying that she understood that, but she did understand that something was shifting between them.

"Ok, my turn," Booth said, breaking the silence. "What is one thing that you would love to try at least once?" Brennan cocked her mouth to one side in thought.

"You like asking me questions I have to think about, don't you?" Booth laughed.

"And like you haven't been asking the same kind of question." He waited, and watched, while Brennan thought. She still had her bare feet tucked up under her; her hair hung loosely around her face. He couldn't help but to smile.

"Well, believe it of not, I would love to go fishing."

"Fishing?" Booth stared in disbelief.

"Yeah, you know, when you put a hook in the water and a fish bites it."

"There is a little more to it than that, Bones. There's tackle and technique and patience."

"And I suppose you know this from experience?" Brennan asked.

"You would be supposing right," Booth said with a nod. "Use to fish when I was a kid. In fact, I have a friend who has a great boat. If you want, one day I'll take you out and teach you."

"You will?"

"Of course, Bones. That's what friends do."

Thanks for reading. I hope that you like this chapter. Please feel free to R&R!

Happy Easter!

Wolfy