A/N: Hello there! I managed to write the next chapter. *Yeah* A thank you to Jsboneslover, Kareneb and Lachelle Nepper for reviewing. And another thanks to the people who put my story on alert. I can't believe I am writing this story AND that there is a faithful audience. Call me happy :).

Lilly was awesome. He really liked her and it definitely helped that his job didn't freak her out. Like Angela used to say, working at the Jeffersonion Medico Legal lab was hard to describe on a dating site, or in Wendell's case, when meeting someone new. It seemed that there was no middle ground, either the women he met thought he was a freak or they were so interested in his studies and internship in forensic anthropology that he found them freaks.

He could only imagine how much easier it would be for Lilly to explain her job. If she wanted she could leave out the more gruesome parts of her job that meant looking at corpses in every possible state of decomposition. Every guy would be impressed with the sole fact that she worked for the federal justice department. She was also funny, sarcastic on occasion, smart, heck she probably made valedictorian or was going to soon and not to forget she was stunning.

However, she didn't seem to be the picking up guys type. More like the exact opposite, actually, which was exactly why he hadn't dared to make a move. It would be a risky endeavor if it would go wrong and he enjoyed the time they spend together studying or just talking when she came to the Bone room or Limbo. A risk he wasn't willing to take when the outcome was so uncertain.

It was weird because he thought they had instantly hit it off when they had met and when they were spending time together. He had plenty of girlfriends, friends who were girls, but it felt different with Lilly. Like there was some real romantic potential. He could only hope that if Lilly felt the same she would be modern enough to make the first move.

Which made him feel like a weakling, a softy, unmanly even. His dad was a classic gentleman who believed in making the first move was a man's task and that influenced Wendell's believes on the matter. He knew what his dad would tell him. Putting a cigarette behind his ear wasn't even necessary to figure that one out. But he wasn't ready to take the advice he knew his father would have given him unsolicited, if his old man was still alive. So, for now, he would settle on just finding ways to spend time with her. Which was exactly what he was planning to do now, between his classes and the Jeffersonian.

From the corner of her eye, she saw someone standing on the doorstep of one of the brand new flex work spots. The soft knock on the open door was enough to conclusively break the spell of her concentration. Looking up at her visitor she could help but smile. "Wendell", she said surprised but happy to see him.

"Hi, you got a second?" Wendell said as he stepped inside.

She nodded. "Always." Glancing at the time on her computer, she added. "It is almost lunch time, so if you want we could go and get out of here for lunchtime."

"I actually don't have that kind of time," Wendell said. "I'll have to be at the Jeffersonian soon. Dr. Brennan is expecting me as it is my turn to be the squint of the brand new murder case. We might be private contractors with the government, but we don't have the kind of lengthy lunch breaks like civil servants do." He teased.

"Awh, you poor baby." She said with mock compassion. "Another good reason why you should have studied those boring law books instead of those decomposing corpses." She threw back with a smile.

Wendell answered her smile. "Touché. I was just at our shared University, where I found this envelope with your name on it in the grade mail box." Seeing the look on her face he added. "Hey, you're not the only one who still has classes and is interning." He stepped closer to Lilly's desk and after she got up he handed her the envelope.

"You didn't open it?" The white little rectangular encasing was burning a hole in her hands.

"Nope. That is for you to do. There is this pesky little legal notion called… secrecy in correspondence that prohibits me from opening mail addressed to other people than myself."

Amused by Wendell's statement Lilly smiled, momentarily forgetting how nervous the papers she was holding were making her. "Did you just Brennanize me?"

"Well, naturally, just because I didn't go to law school, doesn't mean I am clueless about some of the protections that the Bill of Rights offers. Now, will you please open the letter?"

Lilly looked back at the envelope, once more looking at her name that was scribbled on it in a neat handwriting by the sweet secretary from the Anthropology department. Determined, she stretched out her hand to Wendell, almost poking him with the sheets that held her newest grade. "No, I can't. I am too nervous to find out whether I failed or somehow magically passed with flying colors. You do it." Lilly bounced nervously from one leg onto the other, gesturing for Wendell to take back the envelope and to end her Schrödinger's cat dilemma for her.

"Fine", Wendell said with a dramatic sigh. "You are such a wuss." After he ripped open the top of the paper he slowly pulled out the single piece of paper. Quickly he read the import parts and he met Lilly's eyes. With an as serious as he could muster voice he said: "Oh, yes, this is going to impact your grade average."

All of a sudden Lilly had overcome her angst of failing the class, grabbing the paper from his hands to see for herself. Surprise crossed her face as she looked up back at Wendell. She was met with another amused look that was accompanied by a sly grin. Lilly shrieked. "OMG a B minus. I thought for sure I got an F when you frowned. It isn't nice to yank my chains, you know."

Wendell grinned. Enjoying the victory dance she was currently doing. "I ran into Dr. B. this morning and she told me that she had just handed in her tests to administration. She also told me that your grade surprised her. But as you know, with Dr. Brennan that can mean literally every possible grade known to men."

Nodding, Lilly hummed agreeing and resumed her exited bouncing. "I can't believe I passed. Spontaneously closing the distance between them, she threw her arms around Wendell and hugged him tightly. "I couldn't have done it without you and all your help! Thank you so much for explaining everything I failed to understand on my own."

That hug came unexpectedly for Wendell. Was it weird that it felt absolutely amazing to him to have her wrapped around him, her arms around his neck? "Anytime", he managed to get out. "You're a quick study and you've done most of the work yourself by studying for the test anyway."

Lilly grinned. "All I did was bug you for your wisdom." She turned cheeky. "Now I owe you that extra-over-the-top-uber-romantic-dinner by candle light and roses, if I remember correctly."

"That would be a home-cooked extra-over-the-top-uber-romantic-dinner if I remember correctly," Wendell said with a big grin.

"Right….", Lilly said. "I kind of hoped you would have forgotten about the home cooking part of the deal."

"How could I when I've been looking forward to that so much? You promised." He reminded her. Feeling a little exuburant as he teased her. "I believe it's called pacta sunt servanda."

Lilly rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. "Ugh, you show off."

Chuckling Wendell was quick to respond. "I am willing to give in a little by letting you off the hook with all the candles and the flowers. You know, so you have some more flexibility in how to create the romantic vibe."

She grinned. "Well, that is so generous of you. Though, if we'd go out for dinner tonight, we could celebrate the awesomeness of our combined nerd-ness." Lilly counter-offered.

"I don't think I'll actually be free tonight. With this new case, I'm sure I'll be working late tonight. Probably even most of the other days of this week as well."

Lilly nodded. "Ah, yes of course."

Both were silently disappointed that nothing this week was going to work for the both of them. Especially since Lilly was going to need time in order to prepare the meal. Putting their planners together, they quickly learned that it was a lot harder to find a night that would work for the both of them. Which was surprising, considering they both worked together on many occasions and were living the same sort of life. Eventually, they settled on next week's Friday.

It didn't take long before the new case made its way to Lilly's desk also. The body had been found a week before near the river. No one had assumed foul play since the spot was frequented by the homeless. So after the discovery, the body had been placed at the city's coroner, that had a serious backlog. When the coroner finally got to the body and made X-rays he had found a bullet lodged inside the head of the victim. The bullet had bumped status from natural causes to murder, meaning involvement by the FBI, aka special agent Booth.

Still, all that didn't naturally mean involvement of the Jeffersonian and thus the triangle that Lilly was hired for to operate within. But then the case had gotten more interesting, apparently, because the son in law of a crime loving family had been missing and the victim's wife had made the brave step to come forward and file a missing person's rapport.

Apparently, mob-like families kept their own dental records and the woman had handed those over to the police as well. The police rapport also stated that the woman had mentioned that dental records were the only way to ID her husband if his body ever showed up. For a minor league crime family, they had gone pretty far in covering their tracks, because her husband had burned off his fingerprints and was meticulously about his body hair. The woman had pleaded for police protection. From what Lilly had read, it seemed that the woman suspected her adopted brother of murdering her husband or at the very least being involved in his disappearance.

At the same time, the police had been interviewing the woman, the coroner had come to pretty much the same conclusion: the man on his slab didn't have fingerprints and barely a hair on his body. The problem the coroner however encountered was that the teeth of the victim had been shattered by the bullet. And that is where the Medico Legal Lab had come in. From what Caroline had told Lilly when she had come to drop off the case file, Booth and Dr. Brennan had been spending their workday (which had started way too early if you asked Lilly) going over everything the uniforms that had caught the case the previous week had done.

The crack FBI team under Booth´s command had done some digging and found out that there was a nearly abandoned house near the crime scene owned by the woman´s father. The file Caroline had handed Lilly also contained said father´s criminal record and it was over 4 pages. Apparently, an agent had gone by the father's mansion to ask for his cooperation, but the man had declined. Go figure.

And that was where Lilly´s involvement came in. Booth had asked for a search warrant, which Caroline seemed to think was the perfect opportunity for Lilly to see a judge for with Booth. The criminal record of the father combined with his daughter´s testimony would be more than enough for a judge; as Caroline phrased it: only an idiot can screw this up and I know you're smarter than an idiot, cher. So get to work, you and agent Booth have an appointment with the judge in an hour and a half.

Lilly had been positively thrilled that Caroline had given her this task, but also slightly nervous that within ninety minutes she would be standing in front of a judge. To plead for a warrant instead of standing in the judges' chambers to listen to Caroline plea. The hour to prepare had flown by. Thankfully Booth would be going with her. She was sure that if she somehow had managed or was going to manage to screw up Booth would come to her aid and safe the warrant from falling through.

A nervous Lilly was a sight he honestly hadn't expected to ever be privy to. A smile curved his lips as he saw her fumble with her hair that she had done in an up do. "Are you ready?" He asked, clasping his hands as he held out his arm, pointing toward the end of the hallway where the judge would be waiting for them.

The intern feverously nodded, careful to swallowing her nerves away before responding. "I think so. I did my best to prepare and if the judge goes easy on me I'm sure I'll survive."

Booth smiled a comforting smile. "Okay, preparation is good. I am sure you'll do fine. Caroline doesn't just send every intern to a meeting with a judge. Especially on so short notice. There have only been a few interns that have made it down these hallways in their first six months, even fewer in their first three months. So listen carefully to what the judge says and just tell him what you've practiced."

Lilly nodded as she mentally went through the list of points she definitely wanted to bring up.

Keeping his gaze on her, he saw the moment the nerves lessened. Anyone who wouldn't have his people reading skills wouldn't be able to see past the wall of confidence she had created within the past few seconds. "Good, now tell me, how does my tie look?"

"Great as always."

And they were off to the hardwood door.

So far, the attorney's day had been pretty boring. Standing against a pillar, he was waiting for his next hearing with a federal judge. It would be his third pro forma hearing this day, boring. Those hearings were so predictable. If it wouldn't get him in trouble with the judge to have his eyes closed, he would go through them in his sleep. Those hearings always followed the same script. His' client would be brought in by the court officers, most likely still wearing their orange prison jumpsuit, while he would argue with the federal prosecutor to move the proceedings of the investigation along just a little faster. Tedious and boring.

To kill his time, he looked around at the conversations that were happening around him right at this moment. The federal courthouse was a busy place, with all sorts of people running everywhere. After over five years of being a lawyer here, he knew most of the players of this lovely game and he was well versed in the gossip on the inside of the federal legal system.

And then he saw them walking towards him, towards the steps of the courthouse as they were on their way to exit the courthouse, talking happily. Always interested in the new, unconquered faces, he pushed himself off the pillar enough to still be leaning against it casually.

"Ah hello miss Johnson. Did you change your mind about giving me and the first of best nights of your life a shot?" Steve Stein asked the legal intern, intentionally ignoring the agent walking right next to her. A smug smile curved around his lips.

Lilly looked at him. Internally rolling her eyes. "Nope, sorry", Lilly casually responded. "You do know I work here too on occasion? It is not your personal court house." And I've just got my first warrant so I'm already more than over the moon already, thank you very much.

He looked at her. "Oh yes, I am aware, but a man can hope that a beautiful young woman comes out to seek him out right?"

"Hey pal, simmer down, if she tells you it isn't gonne happen you better let her be. Respect that answer."

This was interesting. The closeness between miss Johnson and that no name FBI agent had been visible when they were walking towards him, but until the response from the agent he hadn't thought much of it. After all, it was his specialty, to read body language clues and to notice the subtle changes between people. And right now his tingly senses told him he was onto something.

"Oh I see", being the snake he was, always able to zone into those clues and to maximize his profits accordingly. He looked from Lilly to the agent and back. "You're one of the down dating types, how very feminist of you. I wouldn't have expected you're the type for a 'practical' man."

As soon as he had muttered the words Lilly's eyes turned into liquid lava, a darkness, and rage no one had ever seen in the intern's eyes. "No, you've got that all wrong. Down dating would be lowering my standards to going out with you and get laid like some sort of inflatable sex doll." Lilly's response was faster than Booth could have slugged the trial lawyer. "Now, if you can't stop being suggestive and downright insulting towards me I'll file a police report against you and you'll get to stand in front of a prosecutor yourself instead of across from one."

Darn, this girl was feisty and he liked that in a woman. He could live without her trying to show him up though. Stein glanced toward agent Booth. He was not yet impressed by the agent. After all, an agent was like a handyman with a gun and a badge and some undeserved privileges. The fiery look in her eyes told the lawyer that he hadn't been far off with his first estimated guess. Though she mentioned sex, so that told him dating wasn't the only thing that happened if a date had even occurred between her and the agent. Which actually surprised him: the man in black was a little over 15 years older than Lilly, where he himself was at max ten years older and at least three times richer. So it seemed that his age wasn't the problem. If she didn't have a problem putting out, why wasn't she willing to take chance on his boyish charm?

"The police you say?" He almost laughed at her. The fact that she thought the police could do anything about just a conversation was laughable, but he tried his best to keep from snorting at her. She had so much yet to learn and he'd like to help her learn a couple of those lessons. "If your colleague here hasn't yet slammed his cuffs on me, the Metro PD won't either. Come on you know find me attractive." He sing-sang his last sentence.

Booth shot her a look that told her he was about to actually get his cuffs out or to hit Stein's head against one of the nearby marble walls. With her eyes Lilly tried to tell him not to bother. Lilly looked back at mr Stein. Unbelievable how the man couldn't take a hint. Too bad that he saw right through her empty threat. "I actually did," Lilly admitted.

A satisfied smile broke out on the lawyer's face.

"But then you started talking and in my book, it takes more than awesome looks. You lack a pleasant personality and the right character, maybe even basic respect." She could see him hearing the sound of a record scratching in his head.

Then his name was called by a court clerk, his sign he had to back to work. Before walking away he shrugged while acting like she hadn't bruised his ego once again. "Okay, suit yourself, but you don't know what you are missing." This was not over.

Now it was time for Lilly to smirk while turning towards Booth. "Yeah right, the 'privilege' of hearing two minutes worth of moans and seeing him fall asleep right afterward," Lilly said dryly to Booth but apparently loud enough for Steve to hear. The latter turned around and shot an angry look at Lilly, which she missed as her back was now facing the retreating lawyer.

Booth, however, caught the foul look. He waited to speak until the lawyer had moved through the court room doors and was out of sight. When the doors were shut again and the clerk moved back to his desk, Booth met Lilly's eyes. "Not that I disagree with what you just told him, but you should be more careful, you shouldn't bait him like that."

Lilly looked at Booth. His face sported a difficult, worried look. "He started it, last time I was here with Caroline and he kept making his bedding offers," Lilly whined. "Be it a little more subtle than now, but still. I agree with you that a normal person would have backed off by now." Lilly conceded.

"Yeah, and I kind of get your reaction, but be warned, he has a reputation of being relentless, unstoppable even. He has never lost a Grand Jury case and he isn't used to being turned down by anyone. Maybe you should file that report you were talking about."

"And ask for what? A restraining order? In that case, I better also start looking for another job, because he and I are both going to run into each here in the future. Now can we please go back to the justice department, because Caroline will be waiting to hear about how we got that search warrant."

Seeing that she wasn't taking this seriously enough, Booth captured her arm to keep her focused on his next words. "Yes fine, but if he starts following you or anything, you call me okay?"

The worried and protective look that was all over Booth made her worry a little. Would she have gauged the lawyer incorrectly? Lilly nodded. "Okay, I'll try to be more careful."

Booth looked at her weighing her words. He had dated enough lawyers in the past to know there were times it was important to spell out exactly what you meant. "No, not just trying, you are going to be careful, understood?" He said forcefully.

"I just told you I will", Lilly said starting to get a little annoyed that Booth was talking to her like she was an unruly toddler.

Feeling a fight was about to cloud the air, Booth tried to lighten the mood a little. "Okay good, I was just checking. Bones always says she is going to be careful before she runs off and endangers her life, I don't want you to do the same."

Lilly accepted his explanation and attempt to defuse the discussion, though she wasn't fooled by his sudden lighter tone of voice. "I feel like we've had that discussion before. Unlike Dr. Brennan, I can hardly defend myself. I'll take your advice, be more cautious and try not to piss him off any further."

Booth smiled wryly. "I honestly hope you do and that I am wrong about him. But he gives me a bad vibe. As for not being able to defend yourself, you were pretty quick on defending your and my honor."

Lilly gauged Booth, something obviously was nagging him about her conversation with Mr. Asshat. "Maybe, words are my weapon for sure, but that wasn't what I meant just now. I am sorry if I said something to Mr. Stein that you disagree with."

To be honest he wasn't sure what exactly bothered him. He ran his hand through his hair. Maybe it was his protective nature and that Lilly had robbed him of the chance to protect her from the insults the lawyer had bestowed upon the both of them. "It's just that you didn't exactly confirm or deny his accusation of us sleeping together." He nearly whispered the last four words.

Lilly stared at him for a second. "His wording made it possible to sidestep that point, so I didn't feel it needed a responding to… But apparently, you do…" She said matter of fact, trying to work out how she had upset him by maintaining their privacy. "Question is, would you have liked me to deny or confirm his suspicions?

"Listen if you want me to shout of the roofs that we had sex and for a short while considered dating, I'd do that, because no, I am not ashamed. I just thought you wanted to keep this something between us. Not because it was a mistake but a thing that happened but is nobody's business. You're reading too much into my wording. I had seconds to think of a somewhat stingy comeback and this is what I came up with. I think I didn't consider confirming it because we decided it isn't going to happen again."

"No, you are right. I am overreacting. There is no need to defend ourselves against a noisy bastard like him. Though, I don't think I have ever seen you angry."

Embarrassed about losing her cool, she blushed. "He doesn't have the guts to be an agent, so he should have shut up instead of insinuating that it isn't a worthy profession or that I am somehow more than you."

"That part, I definitely was fine with you defending me on."

Dodged a bullet, Lilly thought. Sometimes talking to Booth was harder than walking through a minefield. Time to enjoy their win for the case and use that brand new warrant.

A/N: Did I manage to squeeze in quite some stuff into this chapter or didn't I? It turned out to be way harder to say ' envelope' in multiple ways than expected. Also the return of the smart mouth handsome lawyer XD. Now the first question is: why did Lilly stop to talk to Steve Stein in the first place? Because she can't stand it to just walk away and leave when someone talks smack about her and someone she considers a friend. The second question is: will this lawyer be causing any more problems or is he too smart for that?