A/N: Ok, some people liked the OTT angst in the last chapter, some people really didn't. All your comments (and theories on where I'm going with this) are very much appreciated. I'm in a better mood today so it should hopefully be a little less angsty. As usual, please let me know what you think! Or else….!

It took Temperance a few minutes to realise just what she was doing. She was kissing Agent Rouse. She was kissing her partner's mentor.

Booth's words echoed in her mind.

"It might all be anthropology to you, Bones, but there are some people you just can't sleep with."

Pulling away, she tried to offer him a smile although she knew it wasn't too convincing. For a moment, he looked surprised but it was soon replaced with a smile and a look of understanding. He sighed and shuffled a small distance away from her, trying to show her some respect in giving her space.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let that happen. It's just... It's just not a good time."

He smiled and shook his head.

"No, Temperance. It's me that needs to apologise. After everything you've been through today with this case, the messages and all of that, I was out of line. I just find it hard to resist a woman as beautiful and intelligent as you."

She smiled at the compliment but the reminder of the case had brought it all flooding back. She had been looking for comfort, some sort of reassurance that she was still wanted in the wake of this murder. It was unsurprising to her that she had found it with the dominant alpha male, an older man with authority and power in his surroundings.

Brennan ran her hand across her face, swallowing hard. Nate just laid a friendly hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. She knew he was just being supportive, nothing more.

Turning to look at him, she struggled to find the words she needed to say.

"I just don't understand what's going on. The fact that someone has been killed purely to pull me in to some kind of game… It makes no sense to me."

Nate just nodded slowly and when he finally spoke, Brennan could tell he was picking his words carefully, doing his best not to make her feel uncomfortable or awkward.

"Temperance, I'm here if you want to talk it all through with me. I mean, I brought you out here for a walk so we can do both if you like."

She paused, considering her options for a minute. Although he was suggesting a stroll through a deserted patch of woodland in the middle of the night, she had little concern for her safety. She knew she could easily defend herself against an attack, not that she thought he was actually going to try anything. He genuinely seemed concerned and wanted to help.

Sighing, Brennan got to her feet. Talking to Booth about the case would be full of his gut instincts and assumptions, while a conversation with Angela would be more concerned about dealing with her friend's feelings. With Nate, she knew she could be both analytical and honest.

He stood up beside her, offering her his arm. She took it with a smile and they wandered off through the tree line.

After walking in silence for five minutes, she could feel that Nate wanted to start the conversation again. Sighing, she saved him the trouble.

"I guess I'm surprised that something like this could ever happen at Quantico of all places."

He snorted with laughter in the darkness.

"You're not the only one. It's been a shock to everybody here. The fact that one of us could do something like this…"

"Did you know Agent McAvoy well?"

She felt him shrug beside her.

"Pretty well I suppose. He was here before me and retired last year. Katie and him were pretty close though."

"Were they romantically involved?"

Nate took a moment to think about this.

"No, at least I don't think so. They spent a lot of time together, but then so do you and Booth and you're not 'involved' so to speak."

Brennan knew he was fishing for information and decided to instead focus on the evidence that they had garnered.

"I assume you've read the message in McAvoy's book?"

He paused, obviously not sure how to broach the subject.

"Yes. I've also seen the photograph and the ring you retrieved. I'm so sorry, Temperance."

She felt her jaw clench as she remembered the happy faces staring up from the picture. She shoved her heart back in its box. She had to stay detached.

"What do you make of it all?"

"Well, it's obvious that whoever's doing this is intent on putting you on the defensive. Your reputation is that you're practically a miracle worker when it comes to solving these sorts of crimes so the killer's likely trying to put you off. That said, he also seems to have focused his attentions on you. You're the opponent in this twisted little game of his, the one he's both giving clues to and trying to beat."

He laughed hoarsely in the darkness.

"Listen to me, I sound like Katie."

Brennan shrugged slightly.

"I assume the profile that she's working on will largely focus on the fact that he appears to have some kind of obsession with me. I've been forced to play games with killers before. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now."

They broke through the tree line, wandering down towards Hogan's Alley. Nate sighed heavily.

"Well, hopefully we won't have to play his games too much longer. We'll find out who did this."

His confidence did little to reassure her so she focused on the facts.

"Zach should have the victim's bones ready for examination by the morning and Hodgins will likely have the tox results back too. We'll know more then, hopefully before the killer keeps his promise."

Nate frowned, stopping to look at her face on.

"His promise?"

She nodded, reciting part of the rhyme he had left for her.

"'One for sorrow, two for Joy, three for an answer, fourth is the toy.' He plans on having four victims."

Nate almost seemed to shiver at the realisation of the riddle as he bent down to tie his shoelace.

Standing at the head of Hogan's Alley, movement caught Brennan's eye. Glancing back down the street, she saw a familiar figure exit the brightly lit casino, the poker chip he was flicking in his right hand glinting under the neon lights. She felt her heart sink as she watched Booth disappear in to the darkness.

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The alarm clock buzzed angrily on the bedside table. Flinging an arm out from under the covers, Booth's fist practically beat it into submission.

Rolling on to his back and staring up at the sterile ceiling of the dorm room, he ran a tired hand across his face as he tried to shake the groggy feeling from his mind.

Slowly, he remembered where he was and why, the case they were working flooding back to him.

But then he remembered what had happened the night before. Seeing the two of them together had hurt and he wasn't willing to explain to her why. That's why he'd ended up back at Hogan's Alley, staring up at the faux casino that had started all his problems.

He flung his legs over the side of the bed, hunching over as he dropped his head in his hands. He could hear the whir of the roulette wheel, the clinking of chips, the chiming of the one-armed bandits, the thud of the dice, the exhilarated laughter of the punters…

He had stood there for what seemed like hours, watching the recruits learning the ropes. He had hoped they wouldn't use it like he did, that it wouldn't become their escape and their curse.

He had moved to the black jack table to watch, automatically counting cards in his head, doing the calculations of necessary risks that needed to be taken in the game, his pulse racing. He hadn't even noticed that he'd sat down until the dealer smiled at him, asking if he wanted to play.

He wished that he'd said yes.

Instead, he politely declined and walked away, flicking the poker chip he always kept with him as he returned to his dorm.

Just because she'd turned away from him, it didn't mean that he was going to turn away from her. He was stronger than that.

Grabbing his towel slung over the back of a chair, he padded across the old carpet to the bathroom. Turning on the shower, Booth clambered inside and sighed as the hot water washed over his shoulders.

He just wished it was as easy to wash away the guilt.

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Temperance enjoyed her new morning ritual, her feet pounding across the obstacle course. It gave her time to think, to evaluate the situation at hand.

As soon as she had woken up that morning, she had wanted to call Booth. Sitting there on the bed, her finger had hovered above his speed dial for at least five minutes before she finally replaced the cell phone on her bedside table.

I only saw him leaving the casino. That doesn't mean he gambled.

She sighed as she ran, weaving through the trees as the morning light reflected off the honey-coloured buildings at the top of the hill ahead. If he wanted to talk about his problems then he would, she didn't want to force him. After all, he had other friends here. Like Katie…

I only saw them being friendly. That doesn't mean he slept with her.

Brennan swallowed hard, charging onwards, the cold air burning her throat. It wasn't like she could be mad at him if he had relented. She had looked for comfort too, finding it briefly in the arms of Agent Rouse. And anyway, she was only his partner. It was none of her business.

Her thoughts turned back to the case at hand. After breakfast, she was going to return to the autopsy suite. Zach had left her message the night before saying the bones and the tox reports would be ready by then. She needed to find the answers, figure out the truth.

Although she was still worried about the reasons for the clues the killer had left, the conversation she shared with Booth the previous day had reassured her that her father was not involved. She cursed herself for even considering the possibility that he had been.

What other choice did I have? His wedding ring, the photo… He had a man killed in prison, he deserted me and Russ. Who knows if he's actually a good man?

Shaking her head, she turned her thoughts back to the case. The message scrawled in the book implied that there would be more victims. She wondered when the next one would come.

Breaking through the trees into an open area, Brennan found her answer.

A/N: Sorry this is shorter than normal but I'm really meant to be doing other things and I just wanted everyone to know that Booth did NOT gamble. See, he's a good boy really! And yes, dead body number two is in the next chapter which will hopefully be up sometime this evening. I'm not going to beg today but please do review!