That's it! (crosses arms over chest) I've had it! I am NOT going to post the next chapter UNTIL I reach the 300 mark! Come on, guys, I beggin' here. I have 287 reviews. I want to be over 300 by the end of this fiction. So no next chapter UNTIL I reach my goal! (turns away from adoring fans)

A/N: To kiss or not to kiss? But the really important question is DOES it happen in this chapter?

Disclaimer: I only own my weird and crazy ideas. But not BONES...and sadly...not Booth.

Seeley Booth awoke the next day with a pain in his back and a crick in his neck. He opened his eyes just enough to take in the time from the clock across the room. He stretched out his legs to try to loosen his muscles. He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes again. Booth knew that he should get up. He knew that he had things that needed to be done, but he couldn't make himself budge. A noise caught his ears. The sound of a door opening and bare feet padding across the floor. "Booth," he heard Brennan say. He cracked his eyes open and looked over at her. His breath caught. She stood just inside the living room with her hands on her hips. Her hair messy from sleep and her clothes-my clothes, Booth thought- were crumpled. "You awake?"

"Naw, I'm still snoring," he teased. She rolled her eyes, and walked across the room. She slapped at his legs until he brought his feet up to near his butt, freeing up the end of the couch. As she sat down, Booth asked, "Sleep well, Bones?" She drew her feet up underneath her.

"Yes. Thank you. I didn't mean to fall asleep in your bed," she told him. "You should have woken me up."

"Didn't see any reason too," Booth said. He put a hand to his mouth to cover a yawn, and then stretched his arms up over his arm, then folded them behind his head.

"Still, I didn't mean to put you out of your own bed." Booth smiled.

"Don't mention it, Bones," he said.

"Booth," Brennan said quietly.

"Huh?"

"You know who took me, don't you?" Booth knew the question was coming and he knew he owed Brennan the truth.

"Does it matter, Bones?"

"No," she finally answered after a long moment. "I guess not." She cleared her throat, and Booth opened his eyes to look at her.

"Something on your mind?" Brennan gave him a tight smile and shook her head no. She let out a heavy sigh.

"Why weren't you looking for me?" she blurted out, her cheeks turning red as soon as the words left her mouth. Booth folded his legs Indian style and sat up.

"I was looking for you," he told her. Brennan shook her head.

"But Penn is lead agent," she began, not looking at him. He reached out, placed his fingers on her chin and turned her head so that he could look into her eyes.

"He might have been lead, Tempe," he said. "But only because Cullen wanted me still working the Whitman case. That does not mean that I wasn't involved. I was there from the beginning. I talked to Penn every hour on the hour." He stopped and took a breath. "Just because I wasn't official lead doesn't mean I wasn't in charge. And Penn and Cullen and everybody else knew that." Brennan dropped her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "It's just…I mean…well…I'm sorry." He bent down until he caught her eyes again.

"Hey," he said. "Don't even doubt that I'm going to be there for you."

"I don't. It's just, well, during the whole kidnapping thing the thought of…of you looking for me kept me calm. Then to learn another…" she went quiet, and then whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he told her. "I'm always going to be here. Always going to look for you. Always going to do ever thing in my power to protect you." Brennan watched his eyes go through the emotions as he talked and knew that he meant everything he said. She knew that as long as they were partners, then he always had her back. She smiled at him, letting him know that she got it.

"I need to go by my place and shower and change before going to the lab," she told him. He nodded.

"Yeah, just let me get showered and dress myself." He dropped his feet to the floor and was about to stand when Brennan put a hand on his arm. "What is it, Bones?" he asked, turning to face her. She leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Thank you," she whispered with a smile. His eyes shone as he returned the smile.

"For you, Tempe, anything...anytime."

Angela Montenegro was the first to see the anthropologist and the FBI agent walk in. To her trained eyes, something looked different. Something in the way they exchanged glances or in the way they leaned a little closer as they talked. Yes, to a matchmaker mastermind like Angela, something was different all right. However, she didn't have time to think about it. As the two walked toward Brennan office Booth called out, "Squint meeting. Bones' office." Hodgins and Zack looked up from their work and Brennan knew they were going to argue. Booth had no right to order them around. She was just about to say something when the two men and Angela fell in behind them. What happened when I was gone? she asked herself.

In her office, she took a seat behind her desk, Angela and Zack choose the couch, Hodgins leaned up against the door frame and Booth stood off to the side with his arms folded over his chest. "The Whitman case," he began. "What do we know?"

"We know that the baby Jeremy and the Jeremy that went missing are not the same person," Zack begun. "But the skeleton and the missing Jeremy are the same."

"We also know that that man the Mrs. Jones saw has a strong resemblance to the missing Jeremy. And using age progression, we found out that Baby Jeremy would look a lot like the Whitman dad."

"Good, good," Booth said. Brennan looked from her team to her partner. When did they start working together? And when did Booth start showing Zack any attention? "What else?"

"Well, we don't know what happen to Baby Jeremy," Hodgins said. "There are not missing reports or deaths. Missing Jeremy might be Kevin Wolffe and according to Ange's drawings…we can say it's so."

"We still don't know why the skeleton is taller than the missing Jeremy," Zack pointed out. "Did someone keep him alive? And if so, then for what?"

"He was alive, alright," Booth said. "But nobody kept him." The four squints looked at the agent.

"What do you mean?" Brennan asked. Booth ran a hand over his face in thought.

"Come on, Bones," he said, walking out of the office.

"Where are we going?" Brennan asked, standing up to follow.

"To see a man about a Wolffe and to get a search warrant," he called back. Brennan was out of the office following Booth when she made Hodgins, Zack and Angela all laugh by saying, "I don't know what that means."

Ok, so I know what you're thinking. "That was the kiss you were hyping at the beginning? A cute little kiss with NO tongue!" LOL...no that's not THE KISS. That kiss doesn't happen...until...later. Two more chapters. Where oh where is THE KISS! lol

Remember...no next cahpter until I reach 300 reviews. Yes, I'm bribing you. Deal!

TBC...