Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! Here's your next chapter. Before you read it, just let me warn you that it is not proofread, re-read, or looked over in anyway. This is completely raw, because, yes, it's late, I'm tired, and I'm just that lazy. :-) Sorry for all the typos, and I'll do better next time. Maybe. If you're lucky :-) Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading

Temperance pulled out onto the main road after making the turn off the small side street that lead to Ophelia's house. Her eyes were focused on the road, however her mind was not on driving. Instead she was running over the conversation with Ophelia, the woman's words running like a loop through her head. It's all connected…is it all inevitability or is it pure chance? The words echoed through Temperance. She didn't know why the words had made such an impact on her—it was all rambling, really—but for some reason she found herself preoccupied. Her phone beeped loudly, reminding her that she had missed a call from Booth. Torn from her reflection, she picked it up and redialed his number.

He obviously saw her number before he answered. "Hey, Bones."

She had to smile. "Hey, I just went to see Ophelia."

"What'd you find out?"

"Her daughter's name is Haley, but she hasn't had contact with her so I don't know what her last name is now."

"Haley. Got it. Anything else?"

"Yes, she also received several fan letters from someone named Salvador Mongellio. She said she contacted the authorities about him, so he should be in the system."

"Great. What about the girl's father?"

"She didn't say his name, but she told me he was her therapist."

Booth was quiet for a beat. "Okay, we'll definitely explore that."

"How?"

"Well, if we can find the girl, we should be able to get a look at her birth certificate. What year would that have been?"

"Her story was slightly conflicting, the timelines didn't seem accurate."

"Beautiful. Anything else that would help us?"

"She doesn't have any family, didn't mention any friends or any lovers other than the therapist."

She heard the sound of Booth clicking his pen. "Alright, I'll check into it."

"Angela finished the facial reconstruction this morning."

"Yeah, I picked up a copy of it already. I'll run it through, see what we get."

"Call me when you know something. I'm going back to the lab."

"Alright, see you later."

"Bye." Temperance snapped her phone shut and dropped it into her bag which was resting on the passenger seat. She rode in silence for a few minutes, not bothering to turn up the radio. As she did so, her brain kept repeating why didn't you tell him about all the other things she said?

Temperance arrived back at the Jeffersonian and headed to her office. She groaned inwardly when she saw the stack of files that had been pushed aside while she helped Booth with his case; catching up on all of her back work was going to be difficult. She hung up her coat and sat down, moving the mouse on her computer to clear the screen saver. She figured she could get some work done on her book before Booth called her with more information on the case. Clicking the appropriate files, the small amount she had written flooded the screen.

She stared at the black line blinking on the right side of the last sentence she had typed. Write something she willed herself. Get something done. The words, however, would not come, and after twenty minutes of completely wasted and unproductive time, she clicked to open a new document. Sighing, she decided to at least attempt to do something constructive.

Settling back in her chair, she began typing out the facts of the case, beginning with the victims. The first victim had be buried on top of Harold Gibson, matching closely with Ophelia's book The Darkness Beneath. They had found that the victim was Debra Grey. The second victim had been a male, though he hadn't been identified yet. Booth had his information, though, along with the information he had acquired today about their third victim, the girl in the woods. Three dead bodies. A quick scan confirmed that all three deaths matched Ophelia Stone novels, though each was from a different book. Then, there were the notes. Two in all. Temperance studied them for a brief moment before retyping them on her computer screen. The first letter, 'how dArk tHE graVeyard grows. benEath the surface, because of The Stone, dEad she Lies. MigHty OPhelia, the river washed ovEr, Stealing her away' and the second letter, 'Cover Your DEAd wItH bramblEs aNd roOt. aNother foR tHe count. tIMe tickS againSt yOu.'

Temperance stared at the information on the computer screen. Other than the fact that all three deaths were related to Ophelia's books, there were no obvious similarities. It's all connected. Is it inevitability or pure chance? Temperance sighed, refocusing her attention on the screen and trying to will Ophelia's words away as she struggled to concentrate.

Down the hall, Angela was still pacing around her office. She knew she needed to tell him; he would be leaving soon. She sighed. "I can't do this," she said to herself.

"Can't do what?"

Angela jumped and quickly turned to find Hodgins standing in her office. "Hodgins! I, uh, didn't hear you."

"What can't you do?"

"I…nothing, I was just talking to myself."

Hodgins sighed and turned slightly so he could push the door shut. Then, he stepped forward and dropped into a chair. "Okay, you're going to tell me what's going on. It's Goodman, isn't it? He finally admitted that he and Cullen have been working together in some kind of entrapment plot to get us all fired and discredited. They're trying to cover up something, aren't they?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the conspiracy…what are you talking about?"

"I was just talking about…nothing. I was just talking to myself."

"Yeah, you've been doing that all day. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing's going on."

"Something's going on."

This is ridiculous. Just tell him. Angela sighed. "Okay. Fine." She took another deep breath and moved to sit down. Once she was seated, she began studying her hands. "Do you, um, remember that…night? About a month ago?"

Understanding clicked in Hodgins' head, and he nodded slowly. "Of course I do. Why?"

"How…um, how did you feel about that?"

Hodgins was quiet for a moment, studying her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, was that like a drunken loss of judgment, or…or something you really regret? Something you really just want to forget about?"

Hodgins continued to look at her, wishing she would look up so he could read her expression. "That was…we…" he sighed. "It was neither."

She glanced up then. "What was it, then?"

Hodgins shook his head. "Where are you going with this?"

She looked down again and mumbled, "Hodginsi'mpregnantwithyourbaby."

"What was that?"

She sighed. "I'm…pregnant."

Hodgins froze and she lifted her face to look at him. "With your baby."

"Christmas came early this year, Bones!" Booth announce as he walked into Temperance's office.

"Christmas can't come early, it's at a fixed time of year."

"Yeah, I know, but I meant…never mind. We have our id's."

Temperance picked up one of the files Booth had dropped onto her desk. "Both of them?"

"Both of them. The man was Jensen Bright and the girl was Cindy Osman. Everything checked out. But that's not all." Booth picked another file off the desk. "I was also able to find not only Haley Stone, but also Salvador Mongellio and Theodore Lyle."

"Who is Theodore Lyle?"

"The therapist."

Temperance leafed through the papers. "How did you do all this in an afternoon?"

Booth flashed a charm smile. "I'm good."

"And modest. So her daughter's last name is still Stone?"

"Yeah. And she was the easy one. She has a jacket thicker than War and Peace." He picked up a piece of paper. "Everything from petty theft to drug dealing. She's been busy."

"What about the others?"

"Theodore Lyle lost his license to practice almost six years ago. Can you guess why?"

"I might be able to. What about Mongellio?"

"Ah…Mongellio…" Booth leafed through some more papers. "Accomplice of Ms. Stone, she had a restraining order against him in '02. Not much other than that, some minor convictions, nothing major."

"Accomplice?"

"He was her boyfriend."

"No, that can't be right. Sal Mongellio is the man who was writing the fan mail to Ophelia."

"Sal Mongellio was dating Ophelia's daughter."

Booth and Temperance shared a look.

Booth pulled out his pen. "Looks like Mr. Mongellio will be the first one we talk to."

"The daughter should probably be next."

Booth flashed her a smile. "Why didn't I think of that?" He jotted down a note as Temperance rolled her eyes. "Haley Stone…why would you give your kid a name like that?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"It sounds like some freak weather thing…hail stones." He shrugged. "Just seems weird, that's all."

"Your parents named you Seeley."

"So?"

Temperance shrugged. "Some people would argue that that's an unconventional name."

"At least I don't sound like a destructive kind of weather."

" 'Seeley' is the name of a high contagious virus found in many wetland regions."

Booth gave Temperance a slightly hurt look. "It is?"

Temperance had to smile, giving away her lie. "No. I'm going to look at the bones again."

Booth had to smile as he followed Temperance out of her office. She was joking with him. It felt nice. He mentally wiped his forehead, relieved that she seemed to have forgotten about his kissing her on the cheek in the parking lot. But you didn't really want her to forget it… He told himself to shut up as he followed her onto the platform.

Hodgins sat stunned, not speaking. After about ten minutes of excruciating silence, Angela, growing agitated, began speaking rapidly. "You don't have to be involved with this if you don't want to be. I mean, you are involved, obviously, but I know that you might not want to be a dad right now and so if that's what you want that's okay…well, I guess you're still a dad, but you can handle it however you want to. And I know this comes as a shock, but it's not something I planned on either, even though I know that doesn't make it any better, and I know we used protection, but it doesn't always work…I mean, have you ever seen Friends? It happened to them, too…even though it didn't really happen because it was just scripted, but you know what I mean…and they were fine! And…Hodgins? Hodgins? JACK, can you PLEASE just say something?"

"A…baby."

Angela sighed. She had been ready for all his responses. She had it all covered. But she hadn't been prepared for a complete lack of reaction.

He pointed to her. "I mean, in there…now?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"My baby…is right there?"

Something about his tone gave her pause, and when she spoke her voice was softer. "Yeah. Right now."

He didn't say anything for a moment. "Jack, are you okay?"

She noticed then that his eyes were moist. "I'm…I'm going to be a dad?"

"Well…only if you want to be."

"A dad."

"Jack…"

"A daddy."

She had to smile. "Yeah. Yeah, a dad."

When he looked up her, he was smiling. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled slightly. "Tired. Jack…are you okay with this? I mean, I know we didn't plan this…"

He nodded slightly.

"And, we aren't even really a couple…"

He nodded again. "I know. But we'll figure it out, won't we? I mean…" he gestured toward her again "…it's a baby. It's our baby."

"You're taking this amazingly well. Much better than I did."

He smiled again. "I'm going to be a daddy."

Temperance stayed in the lab until after midnight that night, searching the remains for any clues she might have missed. By the time she packed up her things to leave the lab was dark and everyone was long gone for the night.

She climbed into her car and drove home, hoping that the long day would make sleep come easier for her that night. Her eyes were heavy by the time she made it to her apartment, so much so that she was relived when she finally made it to the door. As she fished in her purse for her keys, her shoulder hit the door and, much to her surprise, the door opened.

Temperance stood at the doorway, her momentary confusion switching to shock and fear as her brain went on high alert. Someone had been in her apartment. With muscles rigid, she inched forward, pushing the door open a bit more as she noiselessly entered. A light was on in the kitchen, casting the main room in an eerie glow as she gazed in. Her breath hitched in throat. The apartment was trashed. A lamp lay shattered on the floor, its bulb exploded into millions of jagged pieces. A couch cushion was thrown across the room, slashed open, its fillings spilling out onto the floor which was covered in books and papers. Her CD's were strewn about everywhere; her CD player was smashed and spread around the room.

He could still be here she thought as she moved in a step further, but even as she did so, another part of her mind asked how could someone have done all this without being heard? She reached for her cell phone in her bag. When she pulled it out, however, she found that the battery had died. She hadn't charged it all day. Her only choice was to get to her phone, located on the far side of the room. She took another tentative step, flipping on the light as she did so. Brightness flooded the room and her breath hitched as she waited for someone to leap out. When she saw and heard nothing, she began to step again, her fear of attack dissipating slightly.

She was halfway across the room when she saw it. Laying in the floor, ripped to shreds, were copies of Ophelia's books. But this was not what shocked her. Lying in the middle of the bouquet, in the middle of Temperance's apartment, was a human skull.

Temperance grabbed the phone and called 911. As she hung up the phone, she turned and froze again. Written in bright red on her wall, she read the words "hEll haS no FearS of YOU, TEmperAnce bReNnAn."

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