A/N: with all the bad stuff that's happened, I decided it would be nice to give Booth and Brennan a quiet evening at home. There is a tiny bit of steam in the chapter so be cautious if reading at work.

Unaware of the drama playing out on the other side of town, Booth and Brennan walked down a dark, narrow alley to the liquor store's back door. After checking their surroundings for any unwanted observers, he unlocked the door and pointed to a staircase. Seeing that his partner understood his instructions, they quietly crept up the stairs to the floor where his apartment was situated.

As he cautiously crouched down and peered around the landing's wall into the hallway, Booth put a finger to his lips before whispering to Brennan. "Okay...we gotta be quiet as mice…we can't afford to call attention to ourselves."

"Do you really think Vorstenbach could be lurking in this hallway?" She looked over his shoulder, trying to pick out details in the narrow, dimly lit corridor. "There's no place for him to hide…"

"He might be in one of the other apartments!" He turned to glare at her. "Shh! Just trust me, okay? Let's go."

Treading as softly as they could, they quickly moved down the hall to Booth's apartment. Pulling out his keys, he turned to Brennan, speaking in hushed tones. "I want you to stay out here while I check out the apartment for intruders."

Making little attempt to be quiet, Brennan vehemently disagreed. "What? No! That makes no sense, Booth! I thought you were worried about Vorstenbach being out here in the hall. Are you going to leave me alone to fend for myself?" She wore a slight grin as she held up her right arm. "I suppose I could hit him with my cast…"

"But he could be in there!," Booth whispered furiously, pointing to his door. "I want you out here where you'll be out of the way if things go bad."

"Given the way you normally lock up your apartment, I doubt he could get in, no matter how hard he tried, but even so, if I go in with you, it'll be two against one…"

"But then I have to worry about where you are if there's any shooting." Booth grunted in exasperation as he turned back to Brennan. "Why are you arguing with me about this? I know what I'm doing! I'm just trying to keep you safe!"

"And I'm trying to keep you safe as well!" Glowering at him, Brennan pointed at the door. "If you'd listen to me instead of arguing about it, we could've already been inside instead of being so exposed out here in the hall, you know…"

"Okay, okay…Jesus...calm down, okay?" Muttering softly, he inserted the key in the lock. "You can come inside with me, but remember...what goes first?"

Brennan nodded slightly. "Gun goes first."

"Exactly." He opened the door slightly and cautiously slipped into the living area before beckoning to Brennan. "I'm gonna go check my bedroom. You stay here."

Hands on hips, Brennan shook her head. "Again, that makes no sense! What if he's hiding in another part of the apartment, waiting until you leave the room so he can attack me?"

"Fine! We'll search the place together, okay? But no going off by yourself to look for him. You gotta stick with me...I need to know where you are." Grumbling to himself, Booth nodded toward the pocket door that closed off the bathroom. "As noisy as we've been, though, he doesn't have to hide anymore, does he? The element of surprise is completely gone. Let's go this way. Stay behind me, okay?"

She rolled her eyes as if that was a needless admonition. "Of course."

Walking quietly towards the bathroom, Booth reached for the handle and slowly pulled back the pocket door, sighing in relief. "No one in here...let's check my bedroom."

They tiptoed through the bath into the adjacent room. After checking the closet and under the bed, Booth nodded to himself as he checked the fire escape. "Nobody out there, either, so that's good news. Let's go check the other bedroom."

After moving down the hall to search the rest of the apartment, Booth was finally satisfied that there were no intruders, and he turned to Brennan as they returned to the living room. "It looks like things are good for now, so I'm gonna change clothes and then we can see about dinner."

"Okay." She glanced around the small kitchen. "I'll see what's in the refrigerator." Noticing his surprise, she shrugged. "I assumed we aren't going to order any food to be delivered because of unknown delivery persons who might be assassins."

"Oh...yeah. Well, I guess that makes sense. Good thinking, Bones." He grimaced slightly. "I may be out of vegan stuff, though…I just picked up the essentials last time I was at the store."

"I can adapt." She opened the door and peered inside. "I'll see what I can scrounge…"

"Okay. I'll be out in five minutes and then we can eat. I'm hungry."

Loosening his tie as he walked down the hall, Booth quickly shed his suit, dress shirt and tie in favor of an old tee shirt and a pair of beat up sweatpants. As he hung up his suit, he ran through the security checklist for his apartment once again.

"We've engaged the deadbolt and fastened the chains on the front door." He heaved a relieved sigh as he put his dress shirt in the laundry basket. "I'm glad I talked my landlord into letting me get heavy duty doors for the entry and my bedroom, and I've got commercial grade locks on both of them..."

Walking over to the window, he surveyed the street below. "Extra sturdy locks on the windows and motion detectors by the front door and the fire escape window…" He pulled up on the window and shut it again, making sure it was snug against the frame and the locks were in working order. "Yeah, that'll work."

He opened the closet door and flipped on the light. "Heavy solid core door...double locks with deadbolts...a burner phone…plus a gun safe with ammo. That's probably the closest I can get to a panic room in a building this old, but it's better than nothing."

Satisfied that the proper security measures were in place, such as they were, his active mind switched into Ranger mode as he began to construct possible attack scenarios. "So if the front door is breached somehow, we'll retreat to my bedroom...lock the door...I'll put Bones in the closet, secure it, and then I'll be waiting behind the dresser with my service revolver for whoever it is as they try to gain access. She'll be calling 911 while I try to fend him off..."

A glint of light from a car passing on the street below bounced off the dresser's mirror, reminding him of another possible access point. "If he tries to come up the fire escape, I'll hear him...we'll call 911 and I'll have the advantage because I'll be able to take the better shot…I'll be able to shoot at him from above, which will give me greater accuracy...he won't have much of a route for a retreat..."

However, he knew the wild card in any scenario was going to be Bones. If the situation was a showdown between just himself and Vorstenbach, he'd be much more confident...not nearly as stressed as he was going to be if she was in the mix. Booth was hellbent on protecting her, whether she thought she needed protecting or not, but she definitely had a mind of her own, and he could imagine how she might want to enter the fray if the hit man showed up to wreak havoc.

Maybe I can convince her that staying in the 'safe room' is the best bet for both of us, since I'll need someone to call for backup...I hope so. God knows I don't need her waving around that big ass pistol of hers while I'm trying to take out the bad guy…we need to go over our plans, just in case, so I can answer all of her questions before something bad happens...

"Booth? What are you doing? Are you alright?"

His reverie interrupted by Bones, he tried to shake off his worries. "Yeah...sorry. Just thinking over how we're going to defend ourselves if we have an unwelcome visitor tonight." Quickly joining her in the kitchen, he pasted on a smile. "I guess I spaced out a bit...sorry." He pointed to the counter. "Find anything good to eat?"

"A loaf of bread and some processed cheese." She sighed as she held up her arm. "I'm afraid I had difficulty with my search. I'm still quite encumbered by my cast since I'm right hand dominant."

"That's okay." He chuckled as he stooped to look through the containers in the old fashioned refrigerator. "I don't exactly have the best system for organizing my leftovers in here anyway." After moving around various cartons and plastic boxes, he emerged with his prize. "Here we are. I got some tomato-basil soup from Mama's place the other day. It'll go good with some grilled cheese sandwiches, right? And I'll slice some apples and peel some carrots…"

"That does sound good." Brennan smiled as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Although I might make a mess as I try to eat soup with my left hand."

"No problem, okay? We'll just pour it in a cup and you can sip it like tea. After all, we don't have to be in a hurry to finish our dinner. It's not like we've got anywhere to go tonight, right?"

Seeing her nod, he went to work. After buttering some slices of bread, he placed them in a skillet to brown and turned on a burner to heat the pan of soup before unwrapping the cheese slices. "This is one of my favorite meals, you know? Nothing fancy...just plain, good food. This reminds me of Saturday night dinners at my grandparents' house. We'd have grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup and then me and Jared would watch some old movie or a western show on TV with Pops. It was so…" He hesitated, looking for the right word. "...you know…so..." He shrugged, gesturing with his spatula. "I don't know how to explain it…"

"Cozy? Pleasant? Comforting?" Brennan nodded. "Having family meals together helps to make good memories for everyone involved, right?"

"Yeah, they really do." He grinned as he flipped their sandwiches. "And when this shit with Vorstenbach is over, me and you gonna start making our own family memories...all by ourselves, okay?"

She laughed as he set a plate in front of her. "I think we've already started." She pointed at her sandwich with a smirk. "Why did you cut my grilled cheese sandwich into four smaller pieces?"

"Oh, I don't know...that's how Nana always did it, I guess." He took a big bite from one of his sections, chewing it slowly to savor the cheesy goodness. "She used to say it made the sandwich last longer." He shrugged as he winked at Brennan. "I guess the only thing that's missing is the Oreos we used to have for dessert. Pops would dunk some cookies in a tall glass of cold milk before handing them to us to eat...and then me and Jared would end up with cookie crumbs all over our faces, and Nana would have to wipe us down with a wet dish rag before we could sit on her nice sofa." He paused as he saw Brennan's wistful expression. "I'm sorry. I guess I shoulda been more thoughtful. I forgot that maybe you don't have that many happy family memories from when you were a kid."

"No need to apologize, Booth. I have a few memories of my parents from my childhood, but they seem to be fading as the years go by. I don't remember my grandparents at all." She reached over to take his hand. "Thank you for sharing your memories, and your grandparents, with me."

"No problem, Bones." He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing it lightly. "I'll be glad to share whatever I have with you...memories, bad jokes, colds...you name it. We'll share everything."

They ate in a contented silence for a few minutes before Brennan cleared her throat softly. "You know, I've missed this, Booth."

"Missed what? Tomato soup?"

"No...I've missed 'us'...the way we used to spend time together just enjoying a meal and talking about all sorts of things. It seems like it's been a long time since we've done something this ordinary together...although I suppose this may not qualify as an ordinary meal since we have a hit man hot on our heels."

"Eh...normal for us, right, Bones? Just another day at the office for the FBI's finest. I mean, don't we normally talk about stuff like how to defend ourselves if our apartment is under attack?"

"True." She sniffled slightly. "You know, when I thought you were dead...well, it's silly, really, but I remember thinking that I'd have no one to eat lunch with...no one to bring me Chinese food at midnight…no one to make sure I remembered to eat..."

Staring into his soup bowl, Booth nodded. "I know how you feel...when I thought you weren't coming home from your Costa Rica trip, all I could think about was spending a lot of lonely nights by myself…" He shrugged self-consciously. "I was all messed up by that news when I heard it from Sweets, okay? My first thought was to go get you and make you come home with me, but then I thought it might be that you didn't want to be around me since I'm not at a hundred percent…"

"Make me come home with you?" Brennan giggled quietly. "Did you actually believe you could do that?"

"Um, no…" Booth chuckled as he raised an eyebrow at her. "I knew better than that...but I thought it might be worth a try all the same. After all, I hear that women love that alpha male caveman shit..."

She laughed at his silly joke, but then her expression became more serious. "And as for me not wanting to be around you if you weren't at a hundred percent, that's ridiculous. Even if you were at, say...35 percent...or even less...I'd always want to be with you, Booth. You should know that by now."

"Yeah, I do know that now. I shouldn't have let that slimy little weasel get to me like that. I should've seen through his bullshit."

"Unfortunately, Sweets has become quite adept at lying and manipulation." Brennan frowned suddenly. "His prevarications make me quite angry…"

"Look, let's not think about that loser anymore tonight, okay? I'll take care of him when this shit is over. I'm gonna file a formal complaint with Cullen, you know? I'm gonna give Sam an ultimatum...either it's gonna be Sweets or me in the DC office, but not both of us, because I can't work with that son of a bitch anymore. As far as I'm concerned, he's lost all credibility as a psychologist or a profiler. I hope they kick him out on his sorry ass, but if they don't, I'll request a transfer to the Baltimore office or somewhere else nearby."

"I think that's more than fair, Booth. It's not like it's the first time he's done this sort of thing."

"Exactly. Anyway, Cullen is no fool. I'm pretty sure he'll see things my way, and Sweets will be gone." Nodding resolutely, the agent rose from his seat and began clearing the dishes from the table. "I tell you what...let's get these things put away and we'll find some movie or a ballgame to watch on TV, okay?"

As she handed him her mug, Brennan beamed happily. "An excellent idea, Booth. Perhaps we can find a Nova documentary."

"Yeah...woohoo, right? Maybe we can find something about earthworm migration...or the life cycle of the walrus..."

"Earthworms don't migrate.," Brennan began, only hesitating when she heard Booth's snicker. "You're teasing me…"

"Maybe a little. Come on...let's see what's on."

############

Sitting snuggled up together on the sofa, they'd watched a couple of episodes of Blue Planet before dozing off in each other's arms. Opening a sleepy eye, Booth glanced at his watch before he gently nudged Brennan. "Hey, why don't we get you situated in the bedroom, okay? I'm gonna stay out here on the couch tonight."

Giving him a drowsy glare, Brennan yawned and shook her head. "I don't think you should sleep on the sofa. It'll hurt your back, and then you won't be at 100 percent when you get up tomorrow. You should take the bed…"

"Bones, I can't let you sleep out here on the couch! What if Vorstenbach shows up and breaks down the door? You couldn't handle him by yourself!"

"I imagine that if he attempts to break down that sturdy door, the noise will be enough to awaken you, right?" She stuck out her chin in defiance. "Anyway, I don't care! You won't be able to defend us if your back is injured in some way, correct? You'll be unable to move quickly if you're sore! How will that allow you to be effective against him if he makes an incursion into this apartment?"

He sighed as he considered her logic. Dammit...of course, she's right. "Okay...I guess that means we're both gonna stay in my bedroom." He pushed himself up from the sofa and took her hand in his. "Come on...let's go. Time for me and you to go to bed."

She rolled her eyes at his territorial display "Fine."

"Fine." Slightly annoyed that he'd been beaten by her flawless logic, Booth grunted softly as he walked back to his bedroom. Going over to his dresser, he pulled a tee shirt from a drawer and handed it to Brennan. "Here...put this on. I think this'll be more comfortable to sleep in."

"But Booth…," Brennan began softly. "I…"

"But Booth, nothing. You have to trust me, okay? I know what I'm doing." He pointed to the bathroom. "I'm gonna go shower and brush my teeth and stuff, and then you can have at it. Be out in a few minutes."

After stripping down to his tee shirt and boxers, he finished his nightly chores and came out to find Brennan sitting on the foot of the bed with her jeans down around her ankles. She was still wearing one of her boots, and was obviously upset, much to his surprise. "Bones...what's wrong? Listen, there's no need to worry. We're gonna be fine, okay? I've got things under control."

Groaning softly, she glared at him. "I know. I'm not worried about that...I'm just so frustrated! I actually feel like crying, which is silly, but..." She moved her right arm slightly so he could see her wrist. "...I can't do anything for myself with this annoying cast on my arm! I can't even finish undressing myself because I'm so right hand dominant. I can't get out of my left boot or unbutton my shirt!" Wiping her eyes with her left hand, she looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Could you please help me?"

"You...want me...to...help you...undress…you mean...like…for bed?" Swallowing hard, Booth pinched his lips together. "I dunno, Bones. I mean, yes, of course, I want to help you and all, but…" He closed his eyes, hoping to rid himself of the delightfully carnal thoughts entering his mind, but it wasn't working. "I mean...you know...it might lead to...other things…"

"You mean you might find it to be stimulating in a sexual sort of way?" Sniffling again, she shrugged slightly. "We've decided to become a monogamous couple, Booth. I would expect there to be sex involved in our relationship...at least once in a while."

"Well, yeah...me, too...and more often than once in a while." Sighing softly, he sat down next to her. "And I'm really looking forward to that, but I know you're still sore...you know, with your bruised ribs and all, and I'd never dream of hurting you in any way just to satisfy my...biological urges...especially since it'd be our first time together..."

"And you think helping me undress is going to cause you to have intense urges?"

"Well, duh...being with you while you have clothes on makes me horny...ridding you of your clothes is gonna probably make me...you know…even hornier...uber horny..."

"I see...and I don't want you to be uncomfortable, either..." She smiled slightly as she considered their situation. "As you may remember, Booth, I've studied kinesiology for several years, and I've used the knowledge I've gained to make sexual encounters quite satisfying for both my partner and myself. What if I told you that we could have intercourse and I wouldn't be injured any further. All you would have to do is let me take the lead in our lovemaking. Would you consider participating?"

There was no way Booth was going to turn down that opportunity. "Um...sure...why not? What's the first thing you want me to do?"

"Help me out of my boot so I can take off my jeans."

With that step being accomplished, he nodded, inhaling deeply to steady his nerves as he helped her slip out of her jeans. He'd forgotten just how long and shapely her legs were. Jesus...she's trying to kill me, isn't she? "Okay...what's next?"

"Remove my sweatshirt…slowly." She closed her eyes as he gently pulled it up over her head.

She shivered slightly, and Booth pulled her close. "Are you cold?"

"No…" She snuggled against him as he stroked her hair. "Just happy…"

"Yeah, me, too." He sighed as his fingers ran gently across the smooth skin of her arms. "I'm glad we're finally together…"

She looked up at him with a dreamy smile. "Help me with my tee shirt, Booth…"

He kissed her tenderly as his hands slipped underneath her shirt, trying to avoid her bruised ribs as he helped her maneuver her arms through the sleeves. Throwing the shirt aside, he gasped audibly as he gazed at her. "Jesus...you are so beautiful, Bones…"

She nodded as she tugged at his tee shirt. "You're also well structured. However, you appear to be wearing too many clothes for our encounter to be truly enjoyable."

He quickly took off his shirt and threw it on top of hers. "Now what?"

"Remove your sweat pants and lay down on your back."

He complied, and she reclined next to him, gently stroking his abdominal muscles and running her fingers under the elastic waistband of his boxers. "Very nice…these muscles are so well developed..." She kissed him as she moved her fingers slowly down to his thighs. "As are your quads…"

Groaning softly, Booth turned pleading eyes towards her. "Bones, you're making me crazy…"

"Excellent. Now...remove your boxers." Smirking at him as he tossed them aside, she quickly shimmied out of her panties and straddled him. "Bra or no bra?"

He studied the vision before him. "No bra." Reaching behind her, he undid the clasp, grunting in pleasure as she removed it and tossed it aside. "Oh my God, Bones…" He reached up to caress her breasts. "This can't be real. I must be dreaming...or else I've died and gone to Heaven…"

"I assure you that you are both alive and awake." She bent down to kiss him, enjoying the feel of his well muscled body against her skin. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Oh, yeah...I've never been more ready for anything in my life…"

"Alright…put your hands on my buttocks, and gently guide me into the proper position…"

He eagerly complied and she moaned softly as she enveloped his swollen member. "Now...start slowly...you know what to do now, right?"

Booth tried to nod, but he found that apparently he'd lost control over most of his body. Pure instinct had taken over, driving his thrusts upward...upward...again and again...until at last he spasmed in ecstasy...filled with joy at finally being one with the love of his life.

Arching her back, Brennan shuddered, calling out his name as she reached her peak. Smiling as she let the rush of endorphins wash over her, she leaned forward into his embrace. "Booth...that was wonderful. Now I know what you meant by breaking the laws of physics…"

'I know, right?" Wearing a sleepy grin, he brushed her silky hair away from her face. "I love you, Bones…"

"I love you, too, Booth…"

#######

Waking suddenly, Booth glanced at the clock on his nightstand. 4 AM. Looking around his room, he struggled to figure out what had awakened him. He was aware of an unsettled feeling...he wasn't quite sure if what he was experiencing was real, or if he was having another nightmare.

He glanced at the beautiful nude woman curled up next to him. Bones was sound asleep. He could hear her breathing...he could feel her warmth...so this couldn't be a dream. It was real, right?

They'd made love for hours, and it had been glorious. While it had always been his dream to make love to her, he'd definitely been wide awake while it was happening this evening...no doubt about that. He couldn't help but smile as he stared at the darkened ceiling. They'd finally gotten together. Had his dreams really come true?

He tried to make sense of everything he was feeling, but he was still drowsy. Shrugging, he rolled over and put his arm around Bones. There'd be time to figure things out in the morning…

He drifted off to sleep again, only to be jolted awake by the ringing of his phone. After fumbling in the dark, he finally answered it. "Booth…"

"Booth...It's me, Sam…listen, sorry to call you so early, but...I need your help...it's awful...Jesus..."

Surprised to hear Cullen sounding so frantic, Booth sat up on the edge of his bed. "What's wrong?"

"It's Andrew Hacker...he's been murdered."