A/N: So here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy. The drama/angst hasn't started yet, but its about to!
Chapter Two
He'd been staring at the case file for an hour and his thoughts always drifted back to the photo on the edge of his desk. It was of a smiling fifteen year old Temperance, shortly before her parents went missing.
"Booth?"
He looked up and saw Cullen in the doorway.
"Yes sir?" he asked.
"Are you working on the Keenan case?" Cullen asked.
"Uh…yes." Booth replied. "But it's after hours sir."
"Has the status of your relationship with Dr. Brennan changed?" Cullen enquired.
The question took him off guard. "I don't know sir." He replied honestly. It was true. After he kissed her she had simply put her hand in his and walked in silence back to the Jeffersonian.
"Let me know when it does." Cullen said. "I have no doubt that the two of you can keep it professional however I will need to keep an eye on you. You will have to tread a careful line, especially with this case. It took a lot for me to put you back on it."
"I know sir." Booth replied. "And thank you."
Cullen nodded and then headed out the office. Two seconds later, Brennan walked in.
"What are you doing here?" he said, hastily gathering up the papers from her file.
"I was going to ask you the same thing." She said, moving towards him. "It's almost ten o'clock. And you say I'm a workaholic. Oh and the answer is yes."
"Yes to what?" he asked.
"To whether our relationship has changed." She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "The answer is yes."
He started grinning. "Okay then." He said.
"Right. Now that's out of the way, let's go to Wong Foo's. I'm starving. And you can fill me in on my parent's case." She said, nodding towards the case file in his hands.
"Look Bones…" he started.
"I want to help. Officially or unofficially." She said. "We are partners after all."
"Okay." He conceded. He knew that he would never convince her otherwise. He could stand here and argue or he could kiss her again. He chose the latter.
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"So.." she said, once they were settled into a booth at Wong Foo's. "Tell me."
"There's not much to tell." He replied. "Willie Franklin was definitely a member of the gang that your parents were apart of. Personally, I think he was fairly low level, but after McVicar ratted everyone out, he moved to the top of the food chain."
"I think he cut a deal with McVicar and someone at the FBI to kill your mom and dad. McVicar takes down your mom but your dad disappears. The trail goes cold until we find your mother's remains and discover your name is Keenan." He continued.
"Willie's out for revenge after all. Your parents screwed him in that heist. The gang was supposed to get the evidence, not your parents. And the dirty FBI agent wants to keep the whole Marvin Beckett thing quiet. They strike a deal and go after you and Russ to get to Max."
"But now that my father's.." she paused. "…killed there shouldn't be any danger."
"The FBI knows I'm investigating this, meaning that whoever this dirty FBI agent is, he knows everything we are doing." He said. "I'm trying to keep it quiet but I need the resources that the FBI has in order to track people down."
"Well nobody's tried to kill us." She pointed out.
"Exactly." He replied. "It means we aren't even close." He let out a sigh. "And we have no evidence."
"What about Cullen?" she said bluntly.
"I don't think he is involved." He replied.
"How do you know?" she asked.
"My gut." He said, noting the sceptical look on her face. "Cullen's a hard ass, but he wouldn't be involved in this."
"I think so too." She said. "What about Pete Norris?"
"I have nothing." He replied. "His record is completely clean, no surviving family, no contacts. I really wish McVicar was here, he could have answered a lot of questions."
"Or my father could've." She said bitterly.
"Temperance…" he said.
"I'm fine, Booth." She replied automatically.
"I know you aren't." he said, "But that's okay. It's only been two and a half weeks." He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers.
She down at their hands, away from his penetrating gaze and blinked back tears.
"What about Russ?" she asked.
"I've been looking." He replied. "But mostly waiting."
"For what?" she said, looking back up at him.
"For him to contact you." He said. "It's going to happen eventually, probably sooner then later. He must know what happened to your father, but even if he didn't he would want to check in with you to make sure that you are safe."
"What do I do?" she asked.
"Well one option is to tap your phone." He winced, knowing she was not going to like the idea.
"Absolutely not!" she said firmly. "I don't need half the FBI listening to my phone calls."
"Well then, let's hope I'm around when he calls." He replied. "Listen, let's stop talking about the case okay?"
"That's what we always talk about." She replied.
"Yes but now that we are dating.." he paused, seeing her blanch at the word. "…we should talk about things other than work."
"Dating?" she said, trying to hide the uncomfortable tone in her voice.
"Yeah." He said quietly. "Is that okay?"
"I don't know what the means." She stammered. "What I mean is I'm not good at that. Booth, we have something but I don't know what it is. We've changed but…I just don't know."
He saw the uncomfortable look on her face and he regretted saying anything. He knew that in order to make this work, he needed to move slowly. Otherwise she would get scared off.
"I didn't mean to…let's not call it anything right now okay?" he said. He saw her visibly relax. "Want to get out of here?"
She nodded and after throwing some bills on the table and waving goodbye to Sid, they headed outside to the car. The drive was silent and by the time he pulled up at her apartment he thought she had gone to sleep. She turned away from the window and looked at him.
"Well…" he said.
"Do you want to stay?" she blurted out. "Not sex or anything, just stay?"
The surprised look on his face turned into a grin.
"Sure." He said, reaching over and squeezing her hand.
They got out of the car and made their way inside the apartment.
"Do you want anything to drink?" she asked, stifling a yawn.
"No." he replied, moving towards her. "Let's just go to bed."
"I really need to check my ema…" She let out a huge yawn.
"Bed." He said firmly, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her towards the bedroom. When they reached her doorway, she leaned back against him and sighed.
As his arms encircled her waist, she felt her eyes grow heavy. She always found comfort in his arms, they were the one place where all her problems went away.
He was about to move her towards the bed, when he realized she had fallen asleep against him. He turned her slightly, carefully lifted her up, walked over to the bed and laid her down. He removed her shoes and socks as well as the jacket she was wearing. Then he tucked her in and moved to the other side of the bed. He removed his shirt, tie and pants and climbed in next to her. Pulling her close, he pressed a kiss into her hair and fell asleep.
