A/N - Sadly this is the second to last xhapter of this story and I am sad to see it go. It was so easy to write and now I have to go back to thinking about what I want to say with my stories. Thank you for all the reveiws and I hope that this story has met your expectations and maybe even exceeded them.

Chapter Five – Gift's and Curses.

When Temperance woke up the following morning, she knew that Booth was gone. She felt the same odd sense of loneliness she found herself gaining when he wasn't around. She missed him. So she took her time showering and brushing her hair and even had time to give Angela a quick call. She was just fighting the temptation to call Booth's mobile when the man himself came stumbling into the room, blood running from his nose to his chin.

"Booth, what happened?"

Booth tried to stem the flow of blood with the sleeve of his shirt, tilting his head back slightly.

"I asked the wrong person for a favour. Don't worry though, I hit him back."

Temperance let out an angry sigh as she headed to the bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit she had spotted earlier as well as a glass of water.

"I don't care about that. Why did you go out? I thought we were waiting for Macca's call?"

"Well I couldn't wait. It was taking to long."

Temperance said nothing as she gently poked and prodded at his nose until she was satisfied that there was no permanent damage.

"It's not broken, thank goodness. Pinch the ridge and I'll clean up the blood."

She tried to do it as quickly as possible, as gently as possible but Booth kept flinching.

"Sit still you big baby."

He glared at her as she wiped away the blood around his mouth and his nostrils. By the time she was done, her knees were aching slightly from kneeling in front of him and her hands had smudges of his blood on them.

"All better. Please don't make me hurt you to make you sit still. We wait for Macca's call, it's that simple."

Booth shook his head as best he could.

"No, I don't want to wait. I made a promise and I need to keep it."

Temperance continued to clean up the blood before sitting back at her heels ad looking him in the eye.

"You made Angela a promise and I respect that. But if you get yourself hurt or killed she's going to be really pissed off. And I don't need to deal with that. So please sit and wait for Macca's call ok? Let them do their job then we can do ours."

Booth gave a heavy sigh and let Temperance finish cleaning up his blood. He was not known for his patience and he wanted nothing more then to hunt Samuel James down himself but he knew that Temperance was right. He leaned forward slightly, his thumb resting on her jaw. She leaned into his touch, her eyes falling closed. Her breath caught in her throat and she could feel the burn from his touch penetrating her skin. She didn't realize that Booth had moved until his hot breath was on her cheek. She opened her eyes and fell into his and they stayed that way for a little while. Minutes, hours, she wasn't sure, all she knew was that there was something about Booth that made her world grind to a halt, that made her forget anything that troubled her. She moved first, knew that she would. She still had feelings that she hadn't dealt with regarding Angela's attack. Anger, hatred, sadness and even regret. But Booth had been at her side the entire way; he had always been there for her. Made her feel safe and protected even though she kept insisting she didn't need it. He awoke long dormant feelings that had been gone for far too long and despite her reservations, she could feel herself falling for him. She pressed her lips against his, keeping it light and simple, allowing him to make the decision. Booth deepened the kiss quickly and soon gentleness was traded for desperation and the kisses became a fight for dominance. Tongue attacked tongue, hands sought out the comfort of the heat of covered skin, the air around them heavy with desire. His hands were buried deep in her hair, keeping her mouth firmly against his. She could not believe how much she wanted this or how much her body was shaking with need.

"Temperance."

Her name was a breathless whisper against her mouth before he closed the gap, claiming her mouth as his own once again.

When she woke up, he was gone. She could feel his absence like a physical kick in the stomach. She sat up slowly, her body aching from the unexpected activity. She didn't know why Booth had left, only wished she had thought to have done it first. She made her way into the bathroom, dropping the sheet along the way to examine herself closely. She had an incredibly faint mark on her shoulder and small 'love bites' on her stomach, inner thigh and right breast. She felt slightly disgusted by what she had done but it was over powered by the memories of what had happened. Her lips looked swollen and her entire body smelt like him, a sensory imprint on her skin. Temperance turned on the shower and hopped under the hot spray, scrubbing slowly and thoroughly, trying to make the smell of him, of sex wash down the drain with the soap studs. But it didn't go away; they hung over her like a heavy cloud. She wrapped herself in a towel, got dressed and began to hunt down her clothes that had littered the room, stuffing them quickly into her suitcase. She stripped the bed and brushed her hair, the desperate almost animal urge to leave the room reaching breaking point. She was almost relieved for the distraction when her phone rang.

"Brennan."

"Hey Temperance, it's Macca. We got him."

"Thanks Macca, I'll be right over."

Temperance clicked her phone closed and with a sigh left the motel room and the memories behind her.

Booth kept walking even though his legs ached; he had been walking for hours. Weaving into and out of predestination traffic, his mind on one thing and one thing only. She seemed to have settled herself permanently in his thoughts and he found himself reliving the entire thing over and over again. The way her hands felt, the way her body moved against his, every sound and every look she made was etched in his mind. And yet somehow he had still left the room. Why he had left her, he didn't know. He just needed air and time to think things through. He needed to decide whether what they did was a mistake or whether it was something he wanted, had needed all along. It was a hard time for both of them and Booth hated to think that he could have hurt her or taken advantage of her when she needed a friend not a lover. It was dark before he turned on his heel and headed back to the hotel, still trying to figure out how he was going to talk to Temperance. His phone rang sharply and he talked as he headed up the short flight of stairs.

"Booth."

"Booth, it's Macca. We got him."

Booth hang up his phone and turned back to the street, heading back to the dark alleyway. He didn't even bother to knock, just slide back the false wall and headed inside. What he saw unsettled him deeply. Samuels was shackled by his wrists to a large piece of piping hanging from the ceiling, his body stretched to the maximum length. And his beautiful Temperance was beating him with quick punches, targeting the man's kidneys and abdomen. She didn't stop when Booth walk in, seemingly blind to all but beating her best friend's rapists. Booth moved quickly, pulling her away from Samuels, twisting her towards him. She struggled hard against him and he could feel the sweat of her body through her clothes. Her hair was plastered to her head and her eyes were hollow with anger.

"Bones, what are you doing?"

Temperance gave him a hard glare and pushed some damp hair off of her face and that was when Booth saw her knuckles. The skin was scraped and battered, little drops of blood seeping to the surface. She had beaten him so hard that she had torn up her own fists.

"Look at your hands Bones."

She pushed past him and headed deeper into the dark room. Macca sidled up to Booth, a small smirk on his face.

"She definitely gave him a working over. Look at all those bruises."

The smirk fell from Macca's face as Booth grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, pushing him against a wall.

"What the hell were you thinking Macca? What did you let her do that?"

Macca shrugged.

"She insisted and she's so small I didn't think she would do any harm. Then she really started into him and I wanted to let her do her thing. It's good to get rid of all that anger."

Booth released Macca with a sigh.

"Did he confess?"

Macca nodded.

"With some help from the boys, yes. You can take him to the police station whenever you're ready."

Booth nodded as he approached the hanging Samuels, feeling the disgust and anger rise in his throat. It would be so easy to pound him while he's sitting all defenceless like the women he raped were. But Booth knew he had a job to do and he had done it. The promise he had made was almost complete and all the women he had hurt could rest easy.

"I was meant to kill her."

Samuels voice was rough, almost as if he had been yelling for hours. Booth looked at him.

"Who?"

"Angela. But I was interrupted. She was so sweet though."

Booth's fist hit Samuel's jaw without any conscious thought but he still felt a rush of satisfaction as he heard the cracking of the bone under his fist. Samuel's would be eating through a straw for weeks.

"Rot in hell you sick prick."

Booth turned his back on the man, his next thought was to find Temperance and make sure she was ok.

He came back to the motel and found her sitting on the bed roughly washing the blood of her fist's and hands. Booth stilled her hands with his, gently taking the cotton swaps from her and beginning to clean up the blood. She said nothing, just watched him as tears continued to make their way down her cheeks. She couldn't stop crying, Booth's gentle understanding making it worse. She didn't deserve him, didn't deserve just how well he treated her. She would end up hurting him, it was inevitable.

"You should not have beaten him up like that Bones. What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't. He hurt Angela and I wanted to hurt him."

Booth nodded as he put some antiseptic on her knuckles, making her wince slightly.

"I understand that. I broke his jaw."

Her eyes widened, the tears stopping mid flow.

"You what?"

Booth shrugged.

"He said something about Angela and I wanted to shut him up. So I broke his jaw. He won't be able to say anything for a little while."

Temperance began to laugh, one driven out of desperation and relief. Booth caught on and they were soon sitting on the floor, tears streaming down their faces, the laughter making their sides ache.

"Is this one of those situations where you can either laugh of cry?"

Temperance nodded as she struggled to catch her breath. Booth gave her a wide grin as he dried his cheeks with the back of his hand.

"I'm glad we chose to laugh."

When the laughter had died down, Booth decided to make a stab at the one thing that was still bothering him.

"Did we make a mistake Bones? By sleeping together did we ruin everything?"

Temperance shrugged, all the happiness gone from her face.

"I don't know. Let's not talk about it ok? Let's get home. I want to see Angela."

The trip home was a silent one and Booth dropped Temperance at her apartment with a tight smile, driving off only when she was safely inside the complex. She had never felt so happy to be home before and she knew instantly that Angela had indeed stayed. Not only was the place spotlessly clean but there was also a TV in her living room.

"Angela, you still here?"

Angela came bounding out from Temperance's room, a wide grin on her face. She pulled her into a tight hug.

"Hey you! How was Nevada?"

Temperance sat heavily onto her sofa, letting the soft surface swollow her. She breathed deeply, noticing for the first time the smell of cooking coming from the kitchen.

"You're cooking?"

Angela nodded.

"Yup. Lasagne and garlic bread as well as a self-saucing pudding for dessert. So how was Nevada?"

Temperance shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Angela's eyes widened.

"Oh, now you have to tell me."

Temperance closed her eyes tightly.

"I slept with Booth."

"Fuck."

Temperance opened her eyes again, taking in Angela' shocked expression.

"It was an accident."

Angela shook her head.

"You don't just 'accidentally' sleep with a guy Brennan. That's like 'accidentally' eating the last slice of cake. You know you did it, you just don't want to admit it."

Temperance shook her head hard, as if trying to mentally shake out the images and thoughts in her head.

"I don't want to talk about it. All I wanted to do was come home and see you. How are you anyway?"

Angela shrugged.

"I'm ok. Hodgins has been keeping me company while you've been gone. He lugged the TV up those damn steps of your's."

"That was nice of him. Thanks for tidying up."

"I kinda had to after the mess I made."

Temperance frowned.

"What mess?"

Angela pulled Temperance off of the sofa and dragged her up the hall before covering her eyes near the entrance of her bedroom. She gently guided her forward until Temperance could feel the doorframe brushing her hand.

"SURPRISE!"

Temperance didn't know whether to cry or to grin. Angela had used the time in Temperance's absence to transform her best friend's room entirely. A large fan that Temperance had gifted to her by a South African king was fanned out in its multi-coloured glory, taking up almost the entire wall above the bed. Rich brown shelves dotted the freshly painted walls, covered in things Temperance had collected over the years. Shells, statues, plates and masks reminded her of all the cases and people she had met in her travel's, each one infused with a rich and deep memory. Along the top of the far wall near the end of the bed, sat all the skeletons she had also collected, ranging from a possum to a human one that she had been given from a cannibal tribe some years ago. Pride of place beneath that was a large TV and DVD player and her own very meagre DVD collection. Her dresser had been revarnished and now shone with deep warmth, her jewellery, make up and other knick-knacks all organised neatly into jewellery boxes. Temperance sunk onto the bed with a surprised sigh, jumping up again when unfamiliar fabric greeted her hands. She gave an amazed sigh as she took in the luxurious new velvet bed cover.

"Oh Ange, it's the one from Tallulah's that we were looking at."

Angela smiled and pointed to the pillows.

"Matching pillowcases and sheets. The cashier said it was the most wonderful thing to sleep on."

Temperance pulled Angela into a hug, tears coming to her eyes. This was one of the nicest things anyone had done for her.

"It's incredible Angela. I love it."

Angela nodded.

"I knew you would. The TV is set up with all the stuff you like as well as a few extras but I'll show you later. Hungry?"

"Starving."

Temperance set the table and poured the wine, while Angela served up the food. They ate in silence for a while before Angela broached her new favourite topic again.

"I know you didn't want to talk about it but I want to know something's."

Temperance gulped down the rest of her glass of wine before filling it back up to the rim again.

"Ok I'm ready. What do you want to know?"

Angela put her fork down, every atom of her body focused on her friend.

"Do you regret it?"

It was a question Temperance knew would come eventually but she had hoped she had more time to process what had actually happened. Her and Booth hadn't spoken at all since leaving the motel and she could feel his need to ask her the exact same question but he didn't for some reason.

"I don't know. I happened so quickly and I've had hardly no time to process it myself."

"Well then answer with your heart. For once in your life Brennan, let your heart do the talking."

Temperance sighed and waited for the answer to come to her. She could analyse the situation for days, taking in all the things that had led up to this event, trying to decide if there was anything she could do would do to change it. But if she was honest with herself, which she rarely ever was, she knew that the only part of her that regretted was the cynical part of her but even that voice was starting to change it's tune.

"No I don't."

"And does Booth know that? Did you actually talk afterwards?"

Temperance shook her head.

"Not about that, no. We talked more about my hands."

Angela frowned as her eyes fell to her friend's hands and for the first time noticed the battered and scraped knuckles.

"Oh please don't tell me that's from beating up Booth."

Temperance smiled slightly.

"No, it's from beating up Samuels. I did nothing really, but Booth broke his jaw"

Angela raised her eyebrows.

"Really? I guess Booth really is a knight in shining armour then. I guess the next question is do you want it to happen again?"

"Yes."

The answer was out before Temperance had even gone over the question and Angela started to laugh.

"Ladies and gentleman I believe the Ice Queen is beginning to thaw! You had sex with Booth and you don't regret it, you want it to happen again and yet somehow you are still sitting across from me. Why aren't you with him?"

"I don't know. It's all too new and I don't know what to say to him or do with this situation."

Angela shook her head, her eyes filled with sympathy.

"Oh sweetie you have so much to learn."

"Ok let's not talk about this now ok? I want to be able to sleep tonight."

Angela smiled.

"Ok. Do you want to have a sleep over? I've got Pirates of The Caribbean and you can finally watch it. Two very sexy men in it, what more could a girl want?"

Temperance shrugged as she swallowed another mouthful of Lasagne.

"A plot maybe?"

Angela rolled her eyes and continued eating her dinner, wondering how in the world she had met the one straight woman on earth who questioned the need for a plot when two sexy guys were involved.

It had been the hardest two weeks he had ever had in his life. After they had returned from Nevada, Booth had managed to get another two weeks off and instead of relaxing, like he knew he should be, everything he did was based around Temperance. He could still smell and taste her and it was making him insane. He was just about to settle down to a ham sandwich and beer for lunch when a knock on the door interrupted his meal. He swung it open and felt a broad grin chased it's way across his face.

"Ange! How are you?"

Angela moved further into Booth's home, carefully putting a large wrapped box on the table before turning to hug Booth.

"I'm good Booth. How are you? I thought you had disappeared off the face of the earth."

Booth smiled.

"Nope just taking some time off. Wanna join me?"

She nodded and Booth went into the kitchen and whipped up another sandwich and bottle of beer, placing them in front of Angela before sitting again.

"So how have you been Angela?"

She nodded as she took a bite of sandwich and a deep swallow of beer.

"Good. Great even. I've started painting again and all my counselling and support group stuff is going well. I've joined a self-defence course, so you had better watch out. I'll be kicking your butt in no time."

Booth laughed.

"I'm sure you will be. So what brings you here?"

Angela pushed the box a little closer to him.

"I come baring gifts. Open it."

Booth gave her a quick glance before doing a he was told, tearing at the white paper and red ribbon to the box underneath. He lifted the lid and pushed aside the tissue paper and felt his breath catch in his throat. Inside was a large trophy and he pulled it out to see it clearly, his fingers brushing the words on the base. It was a large purple heart, his face engraved into the centre, balanced on a large gold base. The words were in delicate, curved writing and Booth could feel the tears spring to his eyes as he read the script.

Seeley Booth

Friend and Hero

"I know that soldiers in wars receive a purple heart for saving other peoples lives. Well, you saved mine so I figured you should get one too. I designed it and an old friend of mine made it. I hope you like it."

Booth nodded, swallowing hard to.

"I don't know what to say. I was just keeping my promise to you."

Angela smiled.

"I know but you didn't have too. You saved me from myself and from him and for that I am forever grateful."

Angela pulled him into another hug, tears spring to her eyes. She was so lucky that she had her friends here for her, lucky that they were willing to risk their careers and lives just to protect her.

"You're welcome Angela. It was my pleasure."

Booth carefully placed the trophy in the centre of the table, wiping his eyes with his hand.

"Damn allergies! I really should get it looked at."

Angela just smiled at him, wiping her own eyes before continuing with her sandwich.

"So I heard what happened with you and Brennan."

Booth spluttered slightly on his beer.

"She told you?"

"Of course she told me. I'm her best friend remember?"

"I thought you would wanna kick my ass."

She smiled at him.

"Believe me I would if you had hurt her, but you didn't. You my friend rocked her world and now she doesn't know what to do with herself. Why have you been avoiding her?"

Booth took another drink of beer before answering.

"I wanted to give her space to think, that's all."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"The last thing that girl needs is more time to think."

Booth rolled the now empty bottle of beer in his hands.

"So what do I do then?"

"I'll ask you the same things I asked her. Do you regret it?"

Booth sighed as he shook his head.

"No I don't. I've had time to think and I know I never could regret it."

Angela smiled widely.

"Good answer. Do you want it to happen again?"

Booth nodded.

"Yes."

Angela's smile got wider.

"Then that's all you need to know. Now you just have to do something about it."

"Like what?"

Angela shook her head.

"I'm not here to do the dirty work for you. You want her, go and get her. Now, be a dear and make me a cup of coffee will you?"

Booth started to laugh as he moved into the kitchen to start the coffee machine. It was good to see the old Angela back again, he had missed her more then he had realized.