A/N: Had a little trouble with this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. If you do, there might just be a beautiful new convertible in it for you... I said might...

Trust me, the next chapter's a lot, lot better!

Booth slid on to the stool and leaned his elbows on either side of the menu lying on the diner's bar. He flashed his charm smile at the waitress and tried to ignore Brennan's inquisitive stare.

"You'll have to answer me eventually."

He dropped his hands and looked at his partner, one eyebrow raised.

"No, I really don't. I could ignore you forever if I have to."

"I'd like to see you try…"

The pair of them ordered their breakfast. Brennan noticed the flush across the waitress's cheeks as she smiled shyly at Booth. He smiled back, flirting slightly with the young woman. Brennan just rolled her eyes.

"You promised to pay for breakfast so don't try and get out of it by getting the waitress to give it to you on the house. It's not fair. And you still haven't answered my question."

Booth shook his head, wagging an accusatory finger at her.

"It is fair. Women flirt and men clamber all over themselves to do what they want them to. Why can't it just be a friendly smile? And I have no idea what your question even was anymore."

She knew he was lying, just playing for time, and she regretted ever asking the question in the first place. Not that she could back down now. She was worried about him. She always worried about him. That's what partners were for.

Brennan took her coffee from the waitress and watched with slight disbelief as Booth poured a seemingly endless stream of sugar into his own drink. He was an incredibly healthy man, obviously believed in taking care of himself and working out, but he couldn't drink coffee without it containing a mountain of calories.

She sighed and asked again.

"Last night, when you got home, were you tempted to… Did you want to gamble?"

Booth stirred his coffee absently, purposefully not looking at his partner.

"You know why I didn't want to answer that?"

Brennan said nothing, knowing it was rhetorical. He sighed and continued.

"Because that's not the question you really wanted to ask me. You're asking if I did gamble, not if I wanted to."

"Ok, then did you?"

He looked her square in the eye.

"No. And you know I didn't."

Her smile was tight as she nodded.

"But I also know you were tempted."

"After a case like that, of course I was. I always am. I want that rush, the euphoria of it all, to wash away that dirty feeling and make me feel like I'm... Like I'm something better than what I am. Instead, I went home, had a beer, talked to you and went to sleep. I can't deny I have an addiction, Bones, but I'm fighting it."

He bit his tongue to stop himself from finishing the sentence the way he really wanted to.

Because of you, I'm fighting it. Because of you, I'm trying to be a better man.

She seemed to relax in front of his very eyes, her worries lifted.

"I know and I'm sorry if it sounded like I doubted you. I just wanted you to know that I was aware that there was a problem and that I'm here if you want to talk about it."

He took a long sip of coffee, feeling the heat burning in his chest and pretended it was just from his drink.

"I know you are. There's no need to apologise."

The waitress returned with their orders, cornflakes for Brennan and a mountain of sausages, bacon and eggs for Booth. He grinned at the waitress and winked, laughing as she hurried away with a girly giggle. He turned back to Brennan, still grinning.

"See, eggs and a smile. What more could you want?"

She rolled her eyes and picked up a spoon. About to start on her cereal, the cell phone distracted her.

"Doctor Brennan."

Booth couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the line but he didn't really care. He knew she'd tell him anyway.

"That's perfectly acceptable. Have arrangements been made for rooms for the whole team?"

Booth frowned.

Rooms for the whole team? Where were they going? Wasn't he basically part of her team?

"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you very much."

She hung up the phone and returned to her cornflakes, eventually bowing under the weight of Booth's stare.

"What?"

"Rooms for the whole team?"

"Yes, at Quantico."

"Quantico, Virginia? As in the FBI Academy?"

"Yes."

He looked at her, a mixture of confusion and exasperation playing across his features.

"Bones, just because you say it in that definitive tone doesn't mean it means anything to me."

She laid down her spoon with a sigh.

"I told you about this about a month ago."

"Well, let's just skip ahead to the you-reminding-me-about-it part then."

"Fine. What with all the work the Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab are conducting for the FBI, it was decided that it would be a good idea for the team to receive some federal style training. They're sending us to Quantico so that Hodgins and Zack can look around the Forensic Science Research and Training Centre, Angela can show the engineers some of her holographic technology and I'm conducting a seminar on the basic anthropological markers of ethnic groupings."

Booth just blinked slowly and shook his head.

"The squint squad on vacation, huh?"

"I'd hardly call it a vacation. We'll all be there to work."

Booth grinned as he shovelled a giant forkful of scrambled eggs in to his mouth.

"Admit it Bones, you're just going in the hopes they'll let you shoot something."

She smiled back over the rim of her coffee cup, putting on an air of innocence.

"Well, if someone would just let me have a gun in the first place…"

"It's not my fault if you've been charged with a felony."

Her jaw dropped and she punched him in the arm.

"Yes it is! You were the one that charged me!"

Booth found himself laughing with his partner. It was a welcome return after the trauma of the last few days. He just hoped it would last.

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Arriving at the lab, Cam was waiting with the Federal Prosecutor. Booth felt his good mood quickly beginning to fade.

Entering Brennan's office, he stood beside Bones on one side of the desk, facing down Cam and the lawyer. He knew his ex noticed the division and the side he had automatically chosen but she didn't question it. She never did. Not even when he turned up on her doorstep in the middle of the night. She never questioned it.

The prosecutor dropped the enormous file on to Brennan's desk. She didn't need to pick it up. The sinking feeling in her stomach confirmed her fears.

"He's going to get away with it, isn't he? He killed four little girls, tortured and abused them, and he's going to get away with it."

The lawyer sighed heavily.

"Not exactly."

Booth shook his head in disbelief.

"And what the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"He's offering a deal. Instead of the death penalty, he wants life with the possibility of parole in return for him telling us where his other victims are."

Brennan's eyes widened.

"There are more?"

"At least fifteen from over the past ten years."

Brennan sunk in to her chair, even Booth's usually comforting presence beside her doing little to help. Cam watched her with a sympathetic eye before turning her gaze on to Booth who stared back, his eyes cold.

"What do you think? I mean, with the forensic evidence that we have now, would we be able to find these other girls?"

Booth looked at his partner, expecting an answer. She was just staring in to space. He crouched down beside her, his voice soft.

"Bones? Could we find them without his help?"

She shook her head.

"No, I don't think so. I can get the team to re-examine the evidence and see if anything sticks out but I don't think we can."

The prosecutor nodded.

"You have until the end of today then I'm taking the deal."

She moved to leave the office but Booth blocked her way.

"You're going to give him the chance of parole? Give him the chance to get out and do this all over again?"

"Agent Booth, his parole is only a possibility. The likelihood is he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars."

He sighed heavily as she moved past him, Cam close behind, pausing at his side.

"We need to find them, Seeley. We need to give their family answers and the chance at some peace."

She directed her last words at Brennan who just nodded back mutely. Booth just watched her go before turning back to his partner.

"You ok, Bones?"

She smiled tightly.

"I will be. At least he's not getting out altogether. He's still going to be in prison and Cam's right, the other families will have the answers they've been waiting years to get. That's just going to have to be good enough, isn't it?"

She rose to her feet, pulling on her lab coat and gathering up the file. Booth just shook his head.

"That shouldn't be good enough. The things he's done…"

Brennan laid a gentle hand on his forearm, her stomach sinking at the despair in his eyes.

"Yes, but we have to find those girls. We'll do what we can, Seeley. We always do."

She left him there, scared what else she might say to comfort him, and approached the forensics level where the rest of the group were milling around and joking amongst themselves.

Booth just watched her go, his fists still clenched. His frustration clawing at him, he marched through the lab towards Cam's office. Kicking the door closed hard behind him, he slammed his hands down on the desk.

"How can you go along with this? That man deserves to die."

Cam stood up slowly, her eyes full of sympathy as she approached him.

"Seeley, I understand what you're feeling but - "

He cut her off, turning on her with eyes that flashed with rage.

"No, Cam, you don't understand. You weren't there. You didn't see what he did to her, you didn't hold her in your arms, you didn't see…"

He tailed off, his anger subsiding as she took his balled fist in her hand and untangled his fingers, giving them a reassuring squeeze. He raised his eyes to hers, his heart beating rapidly.

Grabbing the tops of her arms, he yanked her forward, pulling her mouth to his own. She didn't resist, she didn't question it. She knew what he needed.

Pushing her backwards against the wall, his kiss became more frantic, more urgent, more desperate. In return, her kiss was hard and forceful, betraying the intense passion she still held after all those years without him.

With her legs clamped around his waist, he moved away from the wall, still lost in her embrace as he swept a powerful arm across her desk, swiping it clean in one easy movement. He threw her down hard and she gasped. He didn't feel any guilt about it, she'd always liked it a little rough and today that was how he felt.

His hands fumbled across her shirt buttons as her fingers scrambled with his belt buckle. Their kisses became more frantic, his desperation for comfort, for reassurance, driving them on.

It took him a while to notice that his cell phone was ringing. Slowly, he pulled away, his face still only inches from hers. She offered him a sheepish smile.

"You'd better get that."

Booth nodded, moving off from on top of her and crossing to his jacket that lay crumpled on the floor. He looked around the office and sighed. This had been a very bad idea.

Flicking open the phone, he watched as Cam began to rescue her belongings from their scattered positions on the floor while buttoning up her shirt. He took a deep breath and barked in to the handset.

"Booth."

There was a long pause on the other end before it was replaced by a familiar deep voice.

"Agent Booth, I'm not sure if you'll remember me. This is Nathaniel Rouse."

"Of course I remember you sir. You never forget your favourite teachers."

Wood laughed at the other end of the line.

"Nor do you forget your favourite students. And please, don't call me Sir. It's Nate."

"I'll do my best, Sir. Can you just hang on for one second?"

"Of course, Seeley."

Booth glanced at Cam rearranging things on her desk. She smiled at him and nodded, giving her silent approval for him to leave. He slipped out in to the corridor and fell back against the wall with his eyes closed, letting a long sigh escape him.

He put the phone back to his ear and tried to force a smile on his lips.

"Sorry about that sir. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

There was a deep chuckle on the other end.

"You're really never going to be able to call me anything other than sir, are you?"

Booth's smile spread slowly.

"I don't think so, no."

"You damn army boys and your discipline. Anyway, the reason I called is that I hear you're partnered up with that bone lady who writes the books, Doctor Brennan is it?"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm sorry sir, do you have a case you want her to look at because I thought you were still teaching at the Academy."

"That I am, son. But I know she's heading up here tomorrow for a few seminars and I just wanted to check that you were coming too. Thought we might grab a beer or something and reminisce, make me feel young again."

Booth paused, his brow furrowed as he frowned.

"Well, actually sir, I don't think I've exactly been invited. As far as I know, I'm staying in DC."

His former teacher tutted down the phone.

"Well, that just won't do! Someone's going to have play interference between the Feds and the squint squad, and it might as well be you. I'm sure you've had plenty of practice in that area. Who's your boss these days?"

"Special Agent Cullen."

"Tell him that you think it would be a good idea for you to go, an opportunity to brush up on your training and forensic techniques with the squints. If he gives you any hassle, let me know and I'll get on it. He owes me a favour or two."

Booth ran a tired hand through his hair. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go. The idea of trailing round Quantico after a bunch of geeks wasn't his idea of a good time, even if it was with Bones. That said, after this case, the change of scenery might do him good. He nodded decisively.

"Then I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Nate."

"By Jove, he did it! I'll have a beer waiting for you, Seeley."

Shaking his head in slight disbelief, Booth rearranged his clothing and with a furtive glance back towards Cam's office, he headed off to tell Bones.

Seeing her bent over a microscope, he wandered up behind her.

"Good news."

She jumped about a foot in the air before turning and glaring at him.

"You scared me!"

He shrugged and flashed her his broadest smile. She just shook her head, smiling slightly.

"Fine, the charm smile still works. What's the good news?"

"I'm coming to Quantico with you."

She frowned at him suspiciously. Not quite the response he was hoping for.

"Why?"

"Because my old teacher called and this is the perfect excuse for us to meet up for a drink. Plus, I really want to hear your lecture on anthropological markings on pigs or whatever the hell it was."

She rolled her eyes as she returned her attention to the microscope.

"You just want to stop me getting to shoot things."

"Well, there's that too…"

He grinned at her as he slumped in to the chair next to her, his smile quickly fading when he realised what she was working on. He felt his anger begin to rise again and he balled his fists under the table.

"Any progress?"

She shook her head absently, still staring down at the evidence in front of her.

"Not at the moment. Zack, Hodgins and Angela are all still going over everything we've got and hoping we missed something. To be honest, Booth, I think the prosecutor's just got to take the deal."

He nodded slowly, his jaw tight.

"I know. I just… It feels like he played us, like he won."

She smiled at him.

"Except he's the one behind bars. And if he ever gets a parole hearing, we'll be there to tell the board to let him rot in that cell."

Their eyes locked and Booth felt a surge of guilt for what he'd nearly done with Cam yet again. He couldn't deny the fact that he wanted Cam, there was something about her that just pulled at him, but she wasn't the one he needed.

The only woman he needed was the one standing right in front of him. His friend, his partner, his colleague. And that was all. He got to his feet quickly, not wanting to dwell on what he was thinking.

"Well, I've got to go back to the office, clear a few things with Cullen before I get packed. Want me to drive you to Quantico in the morning?"

She considered it for a moment.

"Your car would be a better option seeing as you're going to have to drive me, Zack, Angela and Hodgins. There's hardly room in my convertible."

Booth's eyes widened.

"All of them? I have to drive all of them?"

She nodded, trying to keep the amusement off her face. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, just make sure that Zack doesn't talk to me. If he starts reciting a load of nerdy statistics about the history of Quantico all the way, I might just have to shoot him."

"And they tell me I'm the one who shouldn't have a gun…"

He wandered off, wondering if it really was worth an hour stuck in the car with the squint squad just to get away from the city and this case. Glancing over his shoulder at Brennan, a few tendrils of auburn hair falling across her face as she stared down the microscope, he knew it was always worth it for her.

A/N: Please don't hate me for the Booth & Cam pairing. It's only cos he's upset. Please, no death threats... And don't forget to review if you want a chance at that convertible!