Chapter 1

3 weeks later

Jeffersonian Institute

1:13 p.m.

"Zach, clean these bones for me will you? We need to be quick about this. Goodman is putting pressure on me to see whether this is the professor's missing daughter," Brennan said with a sigh.

Zach nodded, shaggy brown hair moving with the head gesture. Her back was turned to the entrance of the lab, not able to see who came and went. Brennan heard the scanner beep, indicating he was there. Her heart fluttered but she tried to play it off.

"So how's the squint squad," Booth asked, leaning against the gurney Brennan was working at. She walked over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, maneuvering him away from her workspace and into a corner.

"You seem chipper," Brennan observed. "Usually you aren't one to be in close proximity to dead bodies."

"Geez, yeah. Didn't really notice," he frowned. Brennan put down her microscope slide and stared at him intently. She watched him as his eyes darted around the lab, hands drumming on the metal railing he leaned against.

"I work with dead bodies Booth. It's sort of my thing," she said, waving a hand in front of his face to get his attention. He brought his brown eyes back to her and she gave him a smile.

"Yeah, hi again. Why all of a sudden do you just not notice?"

"Hum?"

"Seriously Booth. You've been acting weird for the last couple of weeks. What's up with you?"

While his antics were slightly amusing, she did not have the time to banter back and forth with him right now.

"Nothing Bones. Everything is just fine."

"You aren't such a great liar, remember?"

A noise sounded from his pocket and he withdrew his cell phone, punching the button to answer. Brennan straightened and put her hands on her hips, watching him as he talked.

He stopped to see her watching and drew inward. "Yeah, see you in a minute," he whispered.

Quickly, he stuffed the phone back down into his pocket and rubbed his hands together several times. Brennan tilted her head in a questioning gesture and he threw her another lopsided grin.

"Here are those sketches you asked for," Angela interrupted. Hodgins and Zach walked up behind her and stood. "Jack also found some…junk for you to take a look at."

Angela's vision traveled over to Booth and she threw him a smile. "Hey there Seeley," she grinned. He gave a small wave and crossed his legs, still leaning against the railing. Her vision darted past Booth to the doorway and she began to frown.

"Who's that?"

"Who's who?" Brennan said turning around.

As if by queue, everyone else did as well. They watched intently as a tall, young woman walked through the door. Booth immediately jumped up and offered his goodbye.

"Hey, see you guys later. Bye Bones," he said quickly touching her on the shoulder, and then ran off. His shoes hit the marble of the lab rapidly, running to meet the woman at the door. Her head was down looking at a file as she walked. As Booth rushed to her side, he spun her around, ushering her back outside.

"What the hell Booth?" Blake growled as she locked her feet up. Booth shoved her along anyway, with perfect ease.

"When you called, I thought we were meeting at the little café. I didn't know you were coming here." He kept shoving her and eventually she twisted out of his grasp, stopping just short of the sliding door.

She looked over to the platform, where four sets of eyes stared at her and Booth. Leaning in, she began to whisper.

"What's going on Booth? Really…"

"Look, I didn't tell Brennan about you. She isn't that…eager for outside help. I mean, it took her forever to let me even look at…"

Blake let out a small laugh and then a huff, blowing a strand of her brown hair back wildly.

"So that's why I had four pairs of eyes burning a hole in my back," she mumbled. "Hey look, this isn't the way I work. Victim's families come to me and ask me for help or I look for people Cullen tells me to. You have to make it alright with her before you just hand this off to me."

"She asked me to do this so…"

"Precisely. She trusts you Booth, which is why she gave this to you," Blake explained, shaking the file in front of him. She brought it down to her side and rolled her eyes.

"Look, I have done some digging and I think I have found something out. First, make it okay with her Booth. Then come to me." She handed the file back to him and he took it angrily.

Why did Booth feel as if he were fighting a losing battle? He could never get a word in edgewise with all of these women around. What was their thing about having the last say in something?

"Don't you think you ought to tell me what is going on before we lay this all on Brennan?"

Blake shifted her weight onto her left foot and looked at the ground. Booth saw her quickly glance in the direction of Brennan and the other squints.

"Someone needs to tell her. I'm not sure I want to be the one to do it though. Which is better to believe in Booth? 'Hey your parents were murdered and we have no idea where they are' or 'Hey, your parents abandoned you at fifteen years old, but were still alive a long time after that under fake names.' Neither one of those things is easy to say."

Booth's heart tensed and he began to sweat. His hands curled into little balls and he shoved them in his pockets. "Well which one is the truth?"

On the platform, the gang stood and watched Booth go back and forth with the mystery woman.

"Maybe it's his new girlfriend," Hodgins suggested.

"Oh my God, how scandalous would that be," Angela said with a head shake. She felt bad for her best friend, who stood with a pained look on her face. She could see the thought run through Brennan's mind and felt instantly sad.

"You never know. That could be what Booth has been up to these last few weeks, all the weird actions and such. Guys always go for the young ones," Hodgins smiled. Angela sent an elbow flying into his rib and he wheezed. "But I'm sure that isn't what's going on."

"I wonder what's really going on" Zach mused. The three turned to Brennan who had a stern look on her face. Suddenly, she stripped the latex glove off her hand and threw it on the gurney.

"I don't know," Brennan announced. "But I aim to find out."