Disclaimer: A lot of people own parts of this show. I am not one of them.

Author's Note: Let's hear it for the fastest update in history! Actually, my computer was down for a few days, so I had finished chapter four and was working on five…it's done now, though. :-) Thanks for all the reviews, they're great!


Brian came by Temperance's office at about 6:30. From there, they left and went to see a romantic comedy about a woman who was falling in love with a man who refused to move out of his parent's house. After a long day at work, the movie was a welcome distraction and soon Temperance and Brian were laughing easily at the couple's antics and mishaps.

"Who's the dark-haired actress?" Temperance whispered to Brian after a particularly humorous scene involving a mockingbird and a BB gun.

"Um, her name is Zooey Deschanel, I think," Brian whispered back.

When the movie ended, Brian had taken Temperance's hand and the two had left the theatre. They walked around for a while, talking about the movie, talking about work, and pretty much talking about whatever else happened to come up. At one point they saw a group of pigeons attacking a young woman who had been giving them bread. That gave them a good five minutes of conversation on its own. The conversation was relaxed and unhurried, and soon the couple found that they had lapsed into long periods of silence, each a bit worn down from the day.

Although she was having a good time, Temperance had to admit that her thoughts were primarily centered on Booth, and the fight they had had earlier. She ran over the things they had said in her brain as she and Brian walked. And then, her thoughts drifted to how the fight had ended…she had almost kissed him. She had wanted to kiss him…it was that thought more than anything else that bothered her.

Brian must have noticed her pensive look, and he asked her if she was alright. She quickly assured him that she was fine, but she that it wasn't true. She was on a date with a funny, smart, good-looking, great guy who liked to talk to her and listen to what she had to say, but she couldn't stop thinking about the guy who had burst into her office and yelled at her until she was at the brink of tears. A guy who at this very moment was on a date with one of her closest friends. Something was seriously wrong.

At the end of their date, Brian drove Temperance back to the Jeffersonian to get her car. When they said goodnight, Brian had leaned in and given her a kiss that was long and deep. When the kiss continued and it became clear that Brian wanted to turn it into more than just a kiss, Temperance had quickly broken the contact. Brian had looked a bit disappointed, but simply smiled at her as he retreated back to his waiting car. He told her as he went that he would call her the next day.

Temperance nodded at him blankly, not really processing his words. Her thoughts were jumbled and confused. She climbed into her car and prepared to leave, but instead of driving home, she began driving aimlessly around the city, trying to sift through her emotions. She thought about heading home after a while, it was getting late, but the prospect of talking to Meg about her date with Booth made the idea unappealing. With a sigh, she pointed her car back to the Jeffersonian. She let herself in and spent the rest of the evening doing leftover work in her office before falling asleep on her couch.


Temperance woke up early the next morning, not because she was particularly well rested, but because her couch was not nearly as comfortable as a full sized bed. Her neck was slightly stiff and her muscles were a bit cramped, but as much as she hated to admit it, it was worth the pain just to have an evening where she didn't have to hear Meg tell her what a great kisser Booth was. I almost found out for myself… she quickly pushed the thought away.

Luckily, she kept a spare set of clothes in her office, along with a few essential shower items and a toothbrush. She knew Angela made fun of her for preparing for overnighters at her desk, but the truth was on mornings like today it was convenient be prepared. She cleaned up quickly and within twenty minutes she was back in her office, booting up her computer to start on another day's work.

Zach arrived at about 7:50, followed closely by Angela and Hodgins at 8:00. The group exchanged the usual morning banter, assignments were given, and soon everyone was beginning their work for the day.

Angela eyed Temperance all morning; she was dying to know what had happened with Booth the day before, and she had tried to confront her, but Temperance had effectively avoided her all afternoon. She knew Tempe couldn't hide forever, though, and she planned to find out what happened. Today.

Around 9:45, Temperance was leaned over a lit examination table, her eyes running over the skeletal remains of a person, male, discovered at an archeological dig in Egypt. The remains were well intact, thanks in large part to the fact that they had been buried for many years, and Temperance was so engrossed in her work that she didn't even notice when a new person swept angrily into her lab.

Zach noticed. And when he saw the menacing scowl on FBI Agent Booth's face, he mumbled something about having work to do and left quickly.

Hearing him mumble and leave caused Temperance to look up from her work. It was then that she saw Booth; his eyes instantly locked with hers.

"We need to talk," he said. His voice was solid and unyielding. His eyes were ablaze with unfiltered rage. "Now."

She stared at him, unsure of what was going on. She knew they had fought yesterday, but time was supposed to calm people down, not make them angrier. She looked at him for a moment longer and felt the familiar feelings of resentment toward him rise up again like bile in her throat. She shrugged. "Later. I'm busy."

He nearly growled in response. "Now." And with that, he spun on his heels and stalked to her office.

She groaned inwardly. She hadn't been lying; she was busy. She felt her own anger begin to grow. Who was he to tell her what she had to do? With this thought in mind, she bent her head back over the table and continued her work.

Booth returned a moment or two later. His footfalls were heavy, just barely short of stomping. 'He's just like a child,' she thought to herself. She didn't look up. She didn't want to encourage his little tantrum.

"Bones," he began. His voice was menacingly low. "We need to talk now. Come into your office."

She looked up at him. "I'm busy, Booth! Do you see all of this?" She gestured to the table in front of her. "This is me at work. I don't have time to…"

He cut her off with another frighteningly piercing look of rage. "Now." His voice was barely higher than a whisper.

Something about his tone startled her. It almost made her afraid. With an exasperated sigh, she removed her gloves and walked passed him, into her office.

She stood behind her desk as he entered and closed the door. "Alright, what?" she asked. Her tone was a bit more abrupt than she had intended.

He stood silently for a moment. "Where were you last night?"

His words made her feel off balance. "Where…what?"

He turned his head to face her, slowly. His eyes were still ablaze. "Where were you? You didn't come home. I want to know where you were."

She stared at him for a minute, dumbfounded. "I went out with Brian, and then we…"

He cut her off before she could finish. "I KNEW IT!" He threw his hands in the air as he shouted. Then he turned quickly and pinned her with a fierce gaze. "What did he do to you?"

All Temperance could do was stare. "What are you talking about, Boo…"

He cut her off again. "You know damn well what I'm talking about. What did that creep do to you?"

She felt indignation rise within her. "He is not a creep, Booth. He happens to be the man I am dating!"

He looked wounded for a moment at her words. When he spoke again, his voice was still laced with violent anger. "You didn't come home. Where were you? What did he do to you?"

"He didn't do anything to me, Booth! God, what is it with this whole "alpha male" thing! I could take care of myself if he forced me to do anything, which he didn't, I might add!"

"You know, you're not always as safe as you think! And you could have called or something, but nooo, not the great Temperance Brennan! She doesn't answer to anyone! She doesn't need anyone! Did it ever occur to you to just let someone know that you weren't going to go home last night, in case something happened?" He was waving his hands about wildly as he spoke, lost in his rage, not even fully thinking about the words he said before they were out of his mouth.

Temperance cut into his tirade. "What the hell are you talking about? Why would I have called you if I decided not to come home! It's no business of yours what I do, or who I do it with. I'm an adult, Booth, I can do what I want and with who I want. And as far as last night goes, you can back off because I slept here, okay? I wasn't having sex with Brian!"

He froze at her last statement, as if saying it made the idea somehow more real. They both just stared at one another for a moment, slightly out of breath from their shouting. In the back of her mind, Temperance wondered if everyone at the Jeffersonian could hear them; she silently hoped she hadn't been heard when she was screaming about her sex life.

Booth took a few moments to regain his bearings, but when he spoke again his voice was as forceful as ever. "You still should have called. You should have let someone know where you were."

She jumped in at this point, stopping him from going further as a new realization hit her. "How do you know I didn't?"

He froze for a moment. "What?"

"How do you know I didn't call someone?"

He hesitated. "I called Angela and asked her, and she said she hadn't heard from you…"

"What about Meg? How do you know I didn't call Meg?" Her voice was angry and insistent.

"You didn't," he answered simply.

"How do you know I didn't?" There were only two ways he could know. She was desperate to know which one was true. When he didn't answer, she asked again. "There are only two ways you could have known whether or not I called. Either Meg called you because she couldn't find me, or…" Her voice trailed off when his gaze shifted to the ground.

"Oh my God."

"Wait a second, it's…" Booth began, but he was quickly cut off by Temperance's angry voice.

"You hypocrite! You come here, yelling at me because I didn't go home when the only reason you know I didn't come home is because you were sleeping with one of my friends!"

Booth didn't seem to have a response to that at first. Before he could formulate one, Temperance rallied on. "How dare you come here and give me that "holier than thou" routine!" She froze, and stared at him for a moment, as the second part of the puzzle clicked into place.

"Oh my God, and it was at my apartment, wasn't it? You sleep together in my apartment!" She sudden felt very dizzy, as if she was going to be sick. "You know I didn't call because you were having sex in my house!"

Booth jumped in at this point. "That's not true! Yes, I stayed at your place last night, but I did not have sex with Meg!"

Temperance stared at him. "Right. Because so often when two people who are dating spend their first night together, they spend their time playing monopoly."

"I didn't sleep with her! I just stayed there!"

"And, to think, you had the nerve to come here today and yell at me because you thought I might have slept with Brian! How dare you!"

"That's not what happened!" He approached her quickly and placed his hands on her upper arms. "Listen to me, what…"

She moved her arms violently, pushing him away. "Don't," she said as her gaze shot daggers at him.

"I did not sleep with Meg. I brought her back to your place, she invited me in, and we talked. Then, she fell asleep and I realized you weren't back yet, so I waited to make sure you got there. Which, I might add, you didn't. I mean, God, Temperance, would it have been so hard to call or to let someone know if you…"

"What is wrong with you! You spent the night in my apartment, with my friend, without my permission! What right do you have to be angry with me?" The heat of her rage made her wonder if she was about to set the sprinklers off. Her entire body was tense and rigid with anger.

His voice was slightly quieter as he spoke, but not at all gentler. "I was worried, okay? I mean, what do you know about this guy? In your line of work, it's not like you don't have a line of people who would love to see something happen to you! I mean, c'mon, Bones, be reasona…"

"Do not call me that." Her voice was low and primal. "I am not your 'Bones', agent Booth."

They stared at one another for a moment in silent anger. Finally, it was Temperance who spoke. "Get out of my office."

He continued to stare at her for a moment. "Now." She said. And with that, he turned and slammed the door behind him as he left.


Angela knew something big was going on. She had heard Tempe and Booth fighting in her office, but she hadn't been able to hear what they were saying. Then, when it was all over, Booth and stormed out of the Jeffersonian. And he was angry; angrier than Angela had ever seen him. She had tried to talk to Tempe about what happened, but she wasn't very forthcoming with information. She had just made some comment about how Booth was "incorrigible", which made Angela smile slightly. Then Temperance had referred to him as an "asshole", and Angela's smile faded. Something big was going on.

Around 4:00, Temperance was once again leaning over her lighted examination table, her eyes going over a set of bones while she and Zach wrote down details. Angela and Hodgins stood nearby. Neither had much to do, so they had decided to spend their time trying to get Tempe to talk about what happened. She hadn't been very open about what had happened.

Just as they were about to try asking again, Booth swept into the room. His eyes showed that he hadn't exactly calmed down from what had happened earlier. Temperance looked at him with hard eyes, betraying nothing.

"Yes, Agent Booth?"

"We have another case, Dr. Brennan," he said, dropping the folder onto a nearby table.

She turned her head back to what she was doing. "Fine," she said, without looking up. And with that, Booth gave and imperceptible nod and left.

Angela, Hodgins, and Zach shared a look. They were beginning to believe that setting Brian up with Tempe as a means of making Booth jealous had been a bad idea.


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