Thanks for the reviews guys, this one isn't coming to me as easily as my last one, so bear with me. 

Chapter 2

Dr. Temperance Brennan's keys jangled in her hands as she slowly made her way up the stairs to her 2nd floor apartment. It had been a late night at the lab, finishing up some findings on a pair of entwined Civil War Soldiers, dictating and writing up the report to follow. She was done until Monday. She was, of course, the last person to leave the lab. Again. Angela had invited her to go out clubbing tonight, but she was more interested in untangling the bones than partying in a loud, smoky club.

She use to think she was better with dead people than communicating with people who were alive. Until recently, she had a tendency to be more focused on the dead, not paying attention to the voices and lives of the living. The living hurt you, could be hurt, or could disappear. The dead could do none of that. She felt safe dealing with the dead. It had been hard for her to venture out into the land of the living. She was doing better though, even she had to admit that.

Glancing up, she was startled to see Booth casually leaning against her doorframe. Brows furrowed, trying to recall if they had something they were to be working on, or if she was supposed to have met him, she met his gaze, "Booth? What are you doing here? Is there a new case?" She wondered idly how long he'd been there.

"No no no, nothing like that, I just stopped by to see how you are, I haven't seen you in a few weeks or so, and so…" shrugging, he gave her his best charm smile

Staring at him, hesitating a moment, she reached across and unlocked the door; he casually followed her in, striding in like he owned the place. "So what you been up to Bones? Staying busy at the lab? Working on anything exciting?" he started conversationally, following her into the kitchen.

"Yes, I have been quite busy, but tomorrow I have a book signing to go to, and David is going to keep me company, isn't that thoughtful? I mean, book signings can be a long boring day, and yet he offered to sit with me and keep me company" she smiled to herself, as she walked into the kitchen to offer Booth a beer.

"My agent thinks this book could triple the sales of the last, and public appearances can really help, it helps the reader identify more with the author." she finished, handing him a beer. She tried to read his expression, but he seemed distant, distracted somehow.

"Oh….so Dick431 is going to hang out with you tomorrow huh?" Booth stated, trying to keep his tone light, suppressing the plethora of sarcastic comments that zipped around his mind. 'keep it cool Booth, remember, you are just testing the waters here…' he reminded himself, as he struggled to keep his face expressionless.

"Don't call him that. His name is David; he is a very smart, handsome, intellectual, caring man. I am lucky to have met him, we have a lot in common," she countered back good-naturedly; she wasn't going to let Booth ruin her good feelings about David. He just didn't know him as well as she did, that's all she told herself. Walking into the living room, and plopping down of the sofa she looked up at Booth, who was slowly pacing in front of her.

Booth snorted, "intellectual, caring? Jeeze Bones you sound like you are describing the hero of a romance novel. How well do you know this guy anyway? Have you been to his place yet? Visited him at work? Done any back ground checking?" He queried, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously, stopping in front of her

"Of course not Booth, our relationship is based on trust, and while its true we have been dating for a few months, I haven't made it to his place yet, or seen him at work, you know how busy I've been, with the lab, and my family stuff" she finished quietly, not meeting his eyes, taking a long swallow of beer. "Plus, background checks are more your thing, not mine" she added

"Oh, so you haven't told him about your family issues yet huh?" Booth felt a small surge of satisfaction knowing he was in the know about it, and her "boyfriend" wasn't.

"Not yet, but I was thinking of talking to him about it soon. So was that all you came over her to do? Badger me about my relationship with David" she asked, her tone getting edgy, anger filling her voice, her eyes shooting fire at him.

"No, I should go anyway, I just stopped over to say hey" he said, struggling to keep his tone light. He was dying to tell her what he found out about David, or Mark, whoever the hell he was, but he knew he had to bide his time, and see if he could dig anything up himself before breaking the news.

He glanced at her; her skin was just glowing, her eyes bright, and her dark shining auburn hair cascading around her shoulders. She had the look of a woman in love he thought miserably. 'Great. This is going to be harder than I thought. I didn't know they had gotten that close.'

"I'll catch you later, okay Bones?" Booth said, setting his beer bottle on the table and throwing her one more smile over his shoulder before he left.

Temperance sat there a moment, not quite knowing what to think of that last scenario. Why did he come over anyway? Just to pester me about David? That didn't seem like him. He couldn't be jealous could he? 'Of course not Tempe, don't be ridiculous, you are simply co workers, and he was expressing his concern over a new person in your life, as any friend would' she assured herself. 'Then why hasn't Angela asked any of those questions?' a nagging voice pestered her

Shaking her head, she stood and picked up the 2 beer bottles, and decided to take a nice hot shower before bed. She was really looking forward to seeing David tomorrow. Maybe I'll call him now and see if he is still up. Smiling, she threw away the beer bottles, and reached for the phone.

Dialing his number, she got an answering machine, and left a brief message: "David, hi, its Temperance, just thought I'd call and tell you I am looking forward to tomorrow. I will see you around 8am. Have a good night!" and she hung up. She was mildly surprised that he wasn't home, but he must be working late or has a business dinner she told herself. No matter. I will see him tomorrow.

End ch. 2