Disclaimer- I don't own Bones.


For the first time in two nights, Temperance was waking up in her own bed. Today is going to be a good day, she thought to herself. She rolled onto her stomach, very successfully falling off the bed. Or not… She sat up on her knees and ran a hand through her hair, realizing she hadn't taken a shower since before she left for Hawaii. Oh God! I must smell like the dump.

She took a twenty-minute shower then soaked in a bubble bath until her fingers pruned. Temperance stepped out smelling of apricot. She wrapped a dark blue towel around herself and combed her hair in the foggy mirror.

After getting dressed in a crisp blue shirt and black slacks, she decided to call Angela. She dialed her cell phone number and waited for an answer.

At the Jeffersonian, Angela just happened to be in her office when her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and answered, "Hey, Brenn! Is there a reason you're calling from your house phone? Here? In Washington D.C. and NOT in Hawaii where you should be?"

Temperance should have expected a bombardment of questions. She smiled, just happy to finally hear Angela's voice. "Well, Booth and I got called off the case."

"No! Oh my God? Why?" she sounded distracted.

"Some things happened. Do you want me to tell you now? You sound preoccupied."

"Oh, its just there's been so many murders around here. I'm surprised Dr. Goodman hasn't called you. He probably still thinks you're in Hawaii. Do you want me to tell him you're back?" Angela asked, shuffling papers around on her desk.

"No, I'll just surprise him. I'll be there soon. I'm curious about all these murders."

Zack stepped into Angela's office, waiting patiently. "Ok, well sweetie? I've got to go, but I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Alright Ange. Bye." Tempe disconnected.

Angela hung up. "Give me a minute, Zack. I'm trying to find those evidence transfer forms."

"Was that Dr. Brennan?" Zack asked.

"Yes. She's back in Washington D.C. She and Booth got taken off of their assignment."

"Really? Do you know why?" he asked.

"Well Brenn's gonna tell me when she gets here." Angela located the paper she was searching for. She left her office followed closely by Zack.

"Dr. Brennan's coming back?" he asked.

"Yes, thank God. We've been busy as hell around here." They stopped in Dr. Goodman's office to drop of the transfer forms then went on their way to the hologram room where they stayed for an hour.

Temperance dabbed a little make up on and left for the Jeffersonian. She drove into the parking lot and was shocked to see a car in her reserved space. She groaned and parked in an unreserved space.

She showed her ID to the security guard and was let in. The unnatural hustling and bustling in her sanctuary startled her. The Jeffersonian was usually busy, but this was outrageous. What the hell happened in the two short days I was gone?

She arrived in her office to a nauseating sight. Mr. Brown was seated behind her desk, which was heaped with paperwork. "Can I help you with something, Mr. Brown?" she asked, trying to sound calm.

"Well there's a lot you can help me with," he said flirtatiously. Temperance ignored that comment. He went on. "I just wanted to inform you that you and Agent Booth are being put on these murders."

"Ok." She wasn't surprised at this change of assignment. The Jeffersonian was a madhouse. She expected the FBI building was the same on account of these homicides. Mr. Brown didn't leave. "Did you need something else, Mr. Brown?" she asked.

"Actually, yeah." He slowly rose from the chair and walked toward her. "I have this problem." He continued advancing on her. Temperance didn't move from the door. The closer he got to her, the darker her eyes got.

Seeley Booth arrived at the Jeffersonian around the same time that Temperance did. He had to check in with Dr. Goodman, who was informed that Dr. Brennan had returned as well. Booth called Cullen to tell him where he was. Then he walked towards Tempe's office. He opened the door to a most amusing sight.

Mr. Brown was moaning on the floor, holding his groin. "Bitch…" he let out between gasps.

Temperance knelt by him. "What? You asked me to touch it. I did what you requested." She turned around to look at Booth and winked. Booth stepped over Mr. Brown to Tempe's desk. He was going to lean on it, but decided against it seeing all the dangerously high piles of paper. He settled with the couch.

"Were you clued-up on the new job?" Booth asked, ignoring the squirming body on the ground.

Temperance walked behind her desk and began organizing the paperwork. "I'm sure it's in here somewhere. But yes. Mr. In-The-Red over there told me all about it."

"What did he do, Bones?" Booth chuckled.

"He was asking me for sexual favors." She sounded unfazed as she continued separating the papers.

Booth grinned. "And did you favor him?" he asked.

"Yes. It didn't take long. We got really physical. He was on the ground in no time, struggling and thrusting. It was very satisfying." She didn't sound like she was teasing. Her voice was as level as it was when she talked to Zack about cadavers and viscera.

Booth stopped grinning. His face was white. He couldn't tell if she was joking or not. "Uh… Bones?"

"Uh… Booth? Yeah… I'm kidding. What? Am I not supposed to do that?" Temperance asked.

"No!" he looked away.

"You believed me, didn't you?" Her indifferent expression soon morphed into a grin. "You believed me!" She laughed quietly to herself. It took a moment for her to realize something. Her smile disappeared. "Booth? Where's your wheelchair?" she asked walking over to him.

"I didn't like it," he replied.

"I don't care! The stitches won't heal properly if you walk around too much. Why the hell did Cullen put you on this case? He knows you can't work too hard! Damn it! I'm calling him!" She turned to her desk, but Booth grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, his hands holding hers. He looked up into her periwinkle eyes.

"Cullen doesn't know and you're not going to tell him," he said. "Besides, I don't feel any pain."

"Yeah, Booth! Vicodin?" Temperance frowned.

He pulled her down to his level. "Please don't tell him, Bones. I asked to be on this case. Don't blow it for me."

She sighed. "I'm just worried that you're going to hurt yourself."

"I'll be fine, Temperance." He grinned. "I'm a tough guy."

"Don't use your charm smile on me." The ends of her mouth curved up involuntarily.

They were silent, smiling at each other, until, "Do you guys… have a thing?" The moaning had stopped. Mr. Brown was standing by the door watching them. They both glared at him. "I should leave."

"First good idea you've had, Blondie," said Booth. They watched him leave quickly. Realizing the position they were in, Tempe pulled her hands from his and stood up to carry on with her work.

Booth tried to hide the disappointment that shrouded his eyes when the contact broke between them. He didn't know why he was upset. He never really thought about his partnership with Temperance. He always thought of them as business buddies who flirted constantly. Of course he felt the sexual tension between them, but he never acknowledged it. He just pushed it away into his subconscious, always resurfacing in his very arousing dreams.

He got a reality check with that surprising kiss he received from her. Sure she shoved a very painful knife to his gut afterwards, but the kiss is what really plunged to his visceral core. Booth realized that Tempe cared for him more than just as a partner. He needed to know, more than anything, why she kissed him. There were reasons he wanted to believe, but he knew they were ridiculous.

He returned to reality by Tempe waving a hand in front of him. "Hey. Wake up, Booth." He blinked away his previous thoughts and smiled again. "What were you thinking about?" she asked.

"You," he replied with a grin. She rolled her eyes unaware of how authentic that short statement actually was. "So what do we do now?" he asked.

"Well I found some x-rays of the eight victims that everyone is killing themselves over. I figure I'll look them over before I examine the actual bones."

"What do I do?"

"I don't know. I'm sure Cullen has something for you to work on."

"He said that these cases are top priority," said Booth. "Don't you need help with something?" He was desperate to lend a hand in any way he could.

"I don't know, Booth. You aren't really well versed in the vernacular of forensic anthropology. And I already have Zack to help me with that. I guess we could look over the x-rays together," she suggested.

"Yeah, 'cause two heads are better than one," said Booth.

"Yes and three heads are better than two. Zack is going to take half of the stack." She walked to her desk and called Zack's office. He was there and would come as soon as possible. Not two minutes later, Zack appeared in the door. Tempe handed him four manila envelopes.

"I'll get right on it, Dr. Brennan," said Zack. And he was gone.

Tempe brought the other four envelopes to the couch. She sat down next to Booth. They opened the first one, 'Jane Doe 5'.

Fifteen minutes later, Tempe and Seeley were looking at the last x-ray: the skull. "Well what do you know?" Booth chuckled. "Looks like we're back on the old case."

"Don't get too injudicious, Booth. We don't know what this is." Tempe was referring to a tiny dark square in the back of the skull with a thin black line running from it through the back end.

"What are you talking about, Bones? This is the same wire that was stuck in your brain. Well… not the same exact one, but you know what I mean. This is a victim of the same murderer we were hunting down in Hawaii. I don't how it got here, but-"

"Booth! Stop… thinking, for a second! Well, think, but don't talk. Listen to me. Maybe the M.O. is the same. We have no way of telling unless we look at the actual skull, remove whatever this object is, and compare it with the wire that I had. It's still in Hawaii, but we can get it sent over. We also need the remains of the shark girl that I never finished examining."

"Well don't tell me all of this, Bones. Get the Hawaiian Medico-Legal Lab on the phone and get that stuff over here. I'll phone Cullen and tell him what we saw." Booth got up to leave, but Tempe put a hand on his shoulder to push him back down.

"No, Booth! We haven't looked at the rest of the x-rays yet. Maybe all of these victims have that same object in their skulls. Weren't all the bodies found together?" she inquired.

"Yes, but if it is the same guy as in Hawaii, how the hell did he get here faster than we did?" Booth asked.

"I have no idea… That's why I'm doubtful it's the same guy."

"Do you think he has an accomplice?"

"Well remember your Gale Shyam and his employer?"

"Oh yeah! I'd overlooked that… Selling sharks on the black market?"

"Yeah that's what we were thinking. The murderer was feeding girls to sharks and getting rid of the sharks by selling them on the black market. But why was he killing the girls in the first place?" she asked herself more than Booth.

"Uh Bones?" Booth was about to retort, explaining how some murderers don't need a motive and that they kill 'cause they're crazy.

"Don't answer that question. Ok so the murderer either left Hawaii after he wired me up and came here. Or he has a partner in crime who does the same dirty work."

"If it is the same murderer then why is he just burying the bodies and not feeding them to sharks?" asked Booth.

"Sharks in Washington D.C.?" Skepticism dripped from Tempe's voice.

"Well shouldn't he be getting rid of the bodies in some other way?"

"I don't know. That's what makes me think he's got a cohort here in Washington D.C. who has his own way of getting rid of the victims."

"It's not very original…" Booth stated. "It is a bit coincidental, though, isn't it?"

"Him being in Washington D.C.?" Booth nodded. "Do you think he followed me?"

"I don't know. If he left after he implanted the wire, he has no way of knowing if he succeeded in killing you and me."

"That's true." Temperance groaned. "I just want to find this guy… or guys…"

"Or girls…" Booth proposed.

Temperance raised an eyebrow. "Doubt it."

He held his hands up in defense. "Just an idea."

The rest of the day was spent looking at the x-rays. Zack came into Temperance's office with the same information Seeley and Tempe had been finding: teenage females with something in the back of their skull. It was time to get back to the case.


AN- Ok… so yeah… uh… I hope this is all being understood. If you're not really absorbing it, then ask me to explain. Thank you for your reviews. I've been trying to update really quickly for you all. Added a little fluff in here! Hope you liked that part. I know I loved writing it.