Disclaimer: Do I really have to keep saying this?

Author's Note: Sorry this update took so long, I'm working on finals for school. Thanks for all your reviews, you guys are great. Sorry for any typos that there might be in this. I try to catch them, but when I went back a re-read some of the chapters I saw that I have missed a lot. I'll do my best to type more accurately. And now, moving on to the reason why you clicked the link for this story in the first place...


Temperance finished her examination of the Egyptian bones around 5:30. There wasn't anything particularly out of the ordinary about the remains as far she could tell, the man seemed to have died of natural causes, so the process had gone quickly. She instructed Zach to repackage the bones as she pulled off her gloves and threw them in the nearby bio-waste bin. He replied that he would as she scooped up the file from the table where Booth had dropped it earlier.

She entered her office and tossed the papers onto her desk before shrugging out of her lab coat. She hung it up and then circled her desk to sit down and take a look at the new victim. She had barely begun to read the papers when Hodgins entered her office.

"Hey, Dr. Brennan, what's going on?" he asked with a smile. His hands were buried in his coat pockets, and he looked slightly uncomfortable standing in her doorway.

"What can I help you with, Hodgins?" she answered, barely looking up from the folder. She couldn't deny that she was slightly annoyed by the interruption.

"Nothing, I was just wondering, you know, how you were doing." He shifted his weight from side to side, swaying slightly as he did so.

Tempe looked up at him. Hodgins was wondering how she was doing? "What's going on, Hodgins?"

She heard an exasperated sigh from the hallway, and a soon the noise was followed by a very frustrated looking Angela. "What he's trying to ask is, what happened with Booth?"

Temperance stared at the new presence in her office. She sighed. "Guys, can this wait til' later? I've got work to do and…"

Her line of thought was cut off when Zach walked in. "I finished with the bone, Dr. Brennan," he said as he entered. "Is there anything else you need me to do?"

Temperance felt her pulse throbbing behind her eyes. It had been a long and tiring day, and she just wanted to get through the beginning of this file before she took off for the day. She was rapidly growing annoyed with all the interruptions. "No, Zach," she began. "Just make sure you…"

She was cut off yet again as another figure entered the room. It was Brian. "Hey, Tempe." He surveyed the room. "Is there a party going on in here?"

Now Temperance was irritated. "Is there anyone else?" she exclaimed, looking about the now crowded room.

Apparently, there was, as at that moment, Goodman entered the office. "Dr. Brennan, I was just coming by to make sure you got the file from Agent Booth."

Temperance stood from her chair, sighing loudly. "Yes. I got the file, and I would be working on it, however it seems that my office has somehow become confused with a phone booth at a college fraternity!"

Zach, Hodgins, Angela, and Brian looked back at her in surprise. Goodman apparently missed the sarcasm. "Very well, then," he said as he turned and left.

He almost bumped into Meg as he walked out the door. She looked around for a second before her eyes settled on Temperance. "Hey, Tempe," she said, brightly. "I was wondering if you wanted to go grab some dinner, I haven't seen you much since I've been here."

The appearance of a sixth person was enough to send Temperance fully over the edge. "NO!" she nearly shouted at the shocked faces in her office. "NO, I don't have anymore work for Zach, NO, I don't want to make small talk about my general health and mood, NO, I don't want to talk about what happened with Booth, NO, I don't want to have dinner, and NO, there isn't a party going on in my office! I want to finish this file so I can go home and relax! Please! Let me do that!" She paused for a moment, out of breath, as the others stared at her, stunned. She instantly felt ashamed. She dropped back into her chair. "I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just tired, and with this new file, I have a lot I need to do, and…I'm sorry."

The group stared at her, numbly, as they all nodded. Seeing their faces stunned faces made Temperance feel worse. She started to apologize again, but Angela spoke first. "We're sorry, Sweetie. Would it make you feel better if we all left and came back one at a time?" A faint smile played across Angela's face.

Temperance glanced at her, and had a moment when she wondered why Angela was now smiling. "Actually, that would be great," Temperance answered. Angela smiled again and began pushing everyone out of the office.

"Great. And I think we should go in alphabetical order."

Temperance had to chuckle then. "Okay. Alphabetical order. By last name."

Angela turned and shot her a quick look. "Fine. But I'm still coming in. You're not going to be able to hide forever."

Temperance nodded slightly as everyone but Zach left. He looked slightly uneasy after her outburst. "I'm sorry, Zach. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You did great work today, and you're done if you want to go."

Zach smiled at her compliment. "Are you alright, Dr. Brennan?" He asked, his voice a bit hesitant.

Something about the innocence in his voice made Temperance smile. "I'm fine, Zach," she said, reassuringly. "Really. Thanks for today." She bent her head down, signifying that the conversation was over. Zach nodded and left.

Meg was next on the list to enter. She eyed Temperance as she sat down on the couch. "What's going on?" she asked.

Temperance looked over at her. "Nothing. I'm just a little stressed. I'm sorry I haven't gotten to see you much since you've been here." Even though the reason I haven't is because you are spending all your time with Booth…she pushed the thought away.

Meg nodded. "I'm sorry, too." She hesitated for a moment. "What did you mean before when you said you didn't want to talk about what happened with Booth?"

Temperance remembered her earlier statement and had to fight the urge to slap herself out of stupidity. "It's nothing. Booth came by earlier, and we…had a disagreement. It's not a big deal."

Meg didn't look like she believed her, but she also knew her friend well enough not to push. Temperance would talk to her in time. "So, was it a definite no for dinner, or were you just venting when you said that?"

Temperance laughed. "What did you have in mind?"

"Booth was talking about going to some Italian place…"

Temperance's thoughts jumped. Booth was going? The idea of spending an evening with Meg quickly lost it's appeal when she learned that she would have to watch Meg and Booth flirting the entire time. "You know what, I actually don't think I can go tonight. Sorry. I have to work on this new case, and…"

Meg nodded. "Right. The case." She smiled knowingly before adding, "Booth isn't coming with us."

Temperance smiled at her friend's perception. "Are you sure? I don't want to force you to break plans with him or anything…" Yes. I do. I want to force you to break all your plans with him. I don't want you to date him.

"You're not," Meg answered, as she stood from the couch. "After all, I came here to see you, not him." She smiled as she headed for the door. "I'll see you when you get home, we can leave after that."

Temperance nodded as Meg left. Brian entered the room a moment later.

"Hey, baby," he said as he walked in.

Temperance froze for a moment. Baby? "Um, hey, Brian."

"I was thinking you could come by my place tonight and I would make you dinner." He smiled earnestly.

Temperance's thoughts were drawn back to the kiss in the parking lot the night before. And now he wanted her to go to his house? You didn't have to be a genius to figure out where his mind was headed. "You know, I can't tonight. I just made plans with Meg."

Brian looked disappointed. "Oh, I understand, well, maybe another night, then?" She shoved his hands in his pockets.

When Temperance answered, she was aware that she was addressing more than a dinner invitation. "Maybe," she said. And with that she returned her attention to her desk. Brian nodded curtly before walking out the door.

Angela nearly knocked Brian over as she bounded in. Temperance watched in mild amusement as she pushed him out the door and closed it behind him. She then practically jumped on Temperance. "Okay, it's my turn now. Tell me what happened."

"Your last name is Montenegro. Shouldn't Hodgins be next?"

"Oh, don't give me that, you know Jack only came in to talk to you because I sent him!"

Temperance had to smile at her friend's honesty. "Nothing happened with Booth. We had a disagreement. That's all."

Angela balked at this statement. "Yeah, right, and Zach was voted "most personality" at his high school prom. Look, I know it has to do with where you were last night; he called me, sounding all possessive and pissed. Now tell me what happened with you guys these past two days!"

Temperance sighed. "Do we have to do this right now?"

"Yes."

"It's not a big deal. Booth and I had a difference of opinion, our discussion got a little heated, and he left. End of story."

"End of story, my ass. When are you guys going to drop this Ross and Rachel routine and just talk honestly about your feelings?"

Temperance looked back at Angela blankly. "I don't know what that means. Who are Ross and Rachel?"

Angela let out a frustrated sigh. "They're characters from a very popular sitcom called…you know what, never mind! That's not the point! Please just tell me what actually happened."

Temperance sighed again; it was becoming her action of choice that day. "I don't really feel like getting into it now, Ange. Its been a long day. I just want to forget about it and finish up here so I can go home and relax. Who cares what I fought with Booth about? It's over now. Let's just drop it."

Angela was frustrated with her lack of progress, though she did feel she had a small victory in that she had finally gotten Temperance to admit that there had in fact been a fight. She nodded. "Fine, but this isn't over. See you later, Sweetie."

Temperance nodded and response and once again dropped her eyes to the folder on her desk. Angela shook her head as she walked out the door, down the hall, and into her own office. Much to her surprise, when she entered she found that she wasn't alone.

"Is she okay?" Meg asked. Her eyes betrayed that she was slightly worried.

Angela smiled. "Yeah, I guess so. You know Tempe. She refuses to not be okay." Meg nodded, and Angela smiled at her. "She'll be fine."

"It's Booth, isn't it?"

Angela just nodded.

"I was afraid this was going to happen. I was afraid my dating him was going to lead to problems. They both said it would be fine, but I shouldn't have listened. Now everything is completely screwed up." Meg stood from Angela's desk, where she had previously been sitting.

"It's not your fault," Angela countered. "They told you it was okay. You didn't do anything wrong."

Meg nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, I guess." She paused and looked down for a second, and then looked up and met Angela's eyes. "They don't even realize it, do they?"

Angela paused for a moment, confused by Meg's words. "What?"

"That they're in love with each other. They refuse to see it." Her voice was quieter.

Angela was dumbfounded by Meg's words. "Yeah. They refuse to admit it."

Meg nodded again. Angela was at a loss for words. A few moments later, she found her voice. "If you knew, why did you date him?"

Meg shrugged. "I didn't know right away. And then, when I realized it, I figured that it didn't matter since Tempe was already dating that Brian guy." She sighed. "And, I didn't want to see it. I mean, Booth's a great guy. He was fun to date. I guess a selfish part of me was just hoping things would work out with Tempe and Brian so that I could date Booth."

"That's not so wrong. Booth is a great guy."

Meg smiled. "Yeah. But he's Tempe's great guy."

Angela nodded. The two were quiet a moment longer. "So, what are you going to do?"

Meg shrugged. "What can I do? I'll call him and tell him that it's over."

Angela nodded again. "You okay?" she asked Meg.

Meg almost laughed. "Yeah, of course. I mean I went on, what, three dates with the guy? He's a good kisser, but not that good."

Angela laughed as well. She was finding Meg that she really enjoyed Meg's company.

Meg felt the same way. "Hey, Tempe and I are going out to dinner tonight. Do you want to come? Make it a girl's night?"

"Yeah, that sounds fun."


Temperance leafed through the file one last time before pushing it into her bag and heading out the door. She'd gone over the fact several times, and she felt confident that she knew all the pertinent information. Bones had been found in Assateague, VA, on a federal wildlife refuge. A preliminary evaluation had concluded that the bones appeared to be human. Assateague was situated near Wallops Island and rested directly beside Chincoteague. The case was receiving immediate attention because the area was located directly beside a Navy base and a branch of NASA. It was considered to be a highly sensitive area. Chincoteague Island was a major vacation location, it's main clientele being families as it was a beach town. The small island was overrun with people in the summertime; the remains had been found by a family who were taking a bike ride down one of the nature trails on the refuge.

Temperance turned off the lights and shut her office door. This case would be time consuming. Even if the remains were well preserved, the report had shown that no skull was found with the corpse. Unless it was simply moved to another location by animals, the lack of dentals would make identification difficult. On top of this, Chincoteague's high tourist population meant that these remains could be from anywhere—it wasn't hard to gain access to the refuge. The body could have simply been dumped there, or someone could have killed a family member or friend while on vacation. People from all over the country came to Chincoteague in the summer. Temperance sighed. From what she knew so far, this case was going to be tough.

As she walked to her car, she dialed Booth on her cell phone. He didn't answer, which made her feel a bit relieved, and she left him a brief message, letting him know that she had finished the file and she would be ready to get to work on it whenever. She very formally referred to him as "Agent Booth", and her tone was cool and professional. She kept her message brief. When she had finished, she clicked the phone off and plugged it into her car charger before turning the key in the ignition and speeding off.

She was glad she was having dinner with Angela and Meg. The truth was, she really had regretted the fact that she hadn't gotten see Meg since she had come to see her. It would be fun to have a girl's night. She smiled as she felt herself relax into the plush car seat. She turned the radio up and listened to the singers melodically chant. As she pulled into her driveway, her phone rang sharply. She glanced at the ID. It was Booth. She hit the button to ignore and shoved the phone into her purse before heading up the stairs to meet her friends.


Feel free to review if you are so inclined.