Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! I love hearing what you guys have to say. As far as this chapter goes, I have once again neglected to proofread, because, really, who cares if it makes no sense, right:-) I do hope that there are no huge errors, but if there are, I apologize, feel free to yell at me. Anyway, I think some of you might like it, at least I hope so. Okay, off you go

A half hour later Temperance was kneeling in the floor of her apartment, her hands covered by latex gloves as she examined the skull that had been left in her living room. It seemed to be well intact, and as Temperance turned it in her hands she noted dark staining on one side. It was definitely human, and although the person had suffered a head injury, it was unlikely that that was the cause of death. However, based on the fact that the skull had been removed from the rest of the remains and strategically placed in Temperance's apartment, she felt as though she was most definitely looking that the skull of a victim of a homicide.

Police officers filled her apartment, but she took little notice of them. Random flashes went off around her as photos were taken, and she had already answered a few questions from one of the officers, stating that she hadn't moved or touched anything, and informing them that the door had been opened when she got home, despite the fact that the lock was in perfect condition. That was perhaps one of the most disturbing facts, in Temperance's opinion—there were no signs of forced entry, a fact that was fundamentally at odds with the state of the rest of her apartment.

She continued to look at the skull, but was soon distracted by commotion from the hallway.

"I'm a federal agent, alright, pal? Step aside."

"Sir, I'm sorry, this is a crime…"

"Hey, see the badge, Junior? Maybe you should spend less time harassing me and more time figuring out who broke in."

Temperance raised her eyes slightly as Booth angrily entered her apartment, trailed by a half-angry half-confused police officer. Booth was dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt, and he paused in front of her with his hands on his hips.

"What the hell hap…why are you holding a skull?"

Temperance, who had dropped her gaze back to the head in her hands, raised her eyes to him again. "Someone broke in."

"I gathered that," Booth answered, his voice testy.

"They left this here. If I had to guess, I would say it's male, but I'd like to do some measurements to be sure. It could possibly fall in the female range, though it would be at the larger end of the spectrum."

Another flash went off behind Booth, and as he turned, his eyes fell on the message on the wall. "What the…"

"Oh, and they wrote that."

Booth turned back to Temperance, his eyes boring into her. A tensely silent moment passed.

"Don't worry, it's not blood, just red paint. I checked it after I called the police. It was only about half dry then." Her tone was calm, and for a moment Booth thought he was going insane.

"Okay, so you're telling me someone broke into your apartment and didn't take anything, but trashed everything, wrote a message on the wall, and left a skull?"

"Yes. Oh, and they ripped up Ophelia's books. That's what the skull was sitting on."

Booth just stared at her for a moment.

"Excuse me, Ms. Brennan?" said a young officer.

"Doctor Brennan," Temperance and Booth corrected at the same time.

"We have most of what we need for now, but we advise you not to stay here tonight."

"No shit, Sherlock," Booth shot at the young man.

The officer gave Booth a quick look before returning his attention to Temperance. "Do you have somewhere you can stay for the night?"

"Yeah, I can stay with…"

"Me. Here's my card…" Booth scribbled his home and cell number onto the back, "and you will call me the second you know anything. Got that?"

Temperance looked at Booth and rolled her eyes. "I doubt they'll know much tonight, Booth." She turned her attention back to the police officer. "I can stay with a friend. You should know that based on the scene this is related to a case we're working on, so it's likely the FBI will be taking over the investigation."

"Yes, ma'am." His eyes flicked to Booth for a second before resettling on Temperance. "But we'll let you know if we find anything before the jurisdiction officially changes."

"Great, c'mon, Bones," Booth said as he possessively wrapped his fingers around her upper arm.

She shot him a look. "Calm down, Booth. Do you mind if I grab some things first?" Her tone was sarcastic enough to slightly elevate his irritation.

"Fine, just…" He didn't get a chance to finish as she walked away from him, heading toward her bedroom.

About ten minutes later, Temperance and Booth were headed out of the building. As Temperance started walking toward her car, however, Booth spoke.

"Whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?"

Keys in hand, Temperance gave him a quizzical look. "I'm…getting in my car. It's how I go places."

Booth shook his head. "No way. Get in, I'm driving, let's go."

Frustrated, Temperance felt her cheeks begin to flush. "I need my car, Booth!"

"I'm not letting you out of my sight, not after what happened."

"Fine, then I guess you're riding with me," Temperance shot back as she popped the door locks.

"Wait—no, we can't do that! What about my car?"

"Frustrating, isn't it? Ride wherever you want, I'm driving my car."

With an exasperated groan, Booth relented and headed to his SUV, making sure to follow Temperance closely as they left the parking lot.

Temperance and Booth made it to Booth's building without incident, and after locking their respective vehicles, they headed inside.

"I can't believe you didn't call me!" Booth said as he unlocked the door and let them both inside.

Temperance sighed. "I did call you, Booth, right after I called the police."

"I am the police! You should have called me first!"

"You are not the police, Booth! You're an FBI agent! Just having a badge doesn't make you a police officer!"

"Whatever, I still should have been the first one you called."

Temperance sighed again, heavier this time. "What do you want me to say, Booth? I'm sorry? Please excuse me, because after all, I should have stopped to consider your ego before I reacted in a logical way to the fact that my apartment had been wrecked and someone had left a human head beside my couch!"

"A human head that was resting on a nest of Ophelia Stone novels! You knew that this was related to our case, you should have called me!"

"Why? So you could swoop in and catch the guy who had trashed my apartment and left?"

"You didn't know that he had left! Christ, Bones, anything could have happened to you! What were you thinking? No, wait, that's just the problem, you don't think! You just act! What if he had still been here? What if he was waiting for you?"

"Booth…"

"And you would have just walked right into him! It wouldn't have even been a fight!"

"Booth…"

"You wouldn't have had a chance to defend yourself, no matter how well trained you are! Do you have any idea? Do you even care? I just don't understand, Bones. When you saw that the door had been broken open…"

"BOOTH!"

At the sound of her shout, Booth paused and took a breath.

"I know, Booth, it was stupid, okay? What do you want me to say?"

"I want you tell me why it happened!"

"How the hell should I know?" Temperance nearly shouted. "I come home after a long day only to find out that someone has broken into my home. Do you think maybe there was a chance I wasn't thinking clearly? What was I supposed to do?"

"You should have called me."

"What difference would that have made? If he was waiting for me, he would have heard me come home. There would have been nothing you could have done."

At the sound of these words, Booth almost visibly flinched. He knew she was right; logically, had someone wanted to attack her, he probably couldn't have been there in time to save her, but somehow hearing it out loud just made it worse.

"You still should have called me."

"I did call you."

"I mean you should have called me before you walked around an apartment that had been recently been broken into and trashed. When you saw the door, you should have gotten out of there and called me."

"Booth…" Both of their voices were softer now, the shouting lessening.

"It's not always going to be an empty apartment, Bones."

"I'm fine, Booth."

Booth sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Let me ask you a question, then."

"What?"

"What if he had still been there? What if he had been waiting for you?"

"I'm fine, Booth. Nothing happened." Booth gave a slight grunt and turned his head away slightly. Temperance shook her head and dropped into one of the chairs with a sigh.

After a pause, Booth ran his fingers back through his hair and spoke again. "It would kill me if something happened to you, Bones. It scares me that you aren't more careful."

"Why?"

"Why? What do you mean 'why'? You're my partner. And you're my friend."

"Why did you kiss me?"

Booth froze. "What?"

Temperance felt a slight blush rising to her cheeks. "In the parking lot. Why did you kiss me?"

"I…um…I didn't. I mean…"

Temperance pushed up to her feet and tentatively walked toward him. Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him a hard look. "Why?"

Searching for words but not finding any, Booth just looked at her.

After a few more seconds of silence, Temperance took another step forward. "Booth…"

Booth, still silent, averted his eyes toward the floor.

Temperance looked at him for a moment, thinking back over his earlier words. You don't think. You just act. And then, closing the distance with one last step, she did just that.

The kiss was slow and tentative at first, but even in the small amount of time that their lips were touching, Booth realized that it was all he had thought it would be. He felt his hand rest themselves on her sides, and he felt the wonderful light pressure of her hands resting gently on his chest. It was, by all accounts, a chaste kiss and for a moment Booth was transported backwards through time. It feels like a first kiss he thought. Not a first kiss with a new girl or in a new relationship, but a first first kiss…the kind of kiss you have after giving a girl a bunch of cheap wilted flowers and fumbling through an evening of self-conscious conversation and then awkwardly leaning in…that wonderful, confusing, mind-numbing moment when you truly believe that this is all that is important and the rest of the world just sifts away…

Temperance pulled back slightly, her eyes still mostly closed, and Booth took a moment to take in her face. She's perfect he thought. Completely. And yet, even as this realization swam lazily around his hazed mind, she opened her eyes fully, and at the moment they locked with his, his mind produced a single word. Stop.

Stop? A rapid fire war raged in his brain in the two seconds that followed.

Why stop?

Because she's had a hard night. She's scared. You can't take advantage of her.

Take advantage? She kissed me.

She's looking for comfort. Just comfort her. If you take this any farther, she'll regret it. Do you want that to happen?

Who says she'll regret it?

Because we live in a little place called reality. You can't do this right now. Not when she's this vulnerable.

But…

Temperance began to lean in again slightly. STOP! his mind shrieked, and somehow catching up with the thought, he pulled back slightly.

Her eyes opened, locking once again with his, confusion clouding the rich color.

"Bones…" she pulled back a millimeter more, her gaze now completely falling under his. "You're scared. You've had a bad night. We shouldn't do this…" He cursed himself as a hurt look crossed her eyes. "I mean, I just don't want you to do something you'll regret…"

She took a full step back, slipping from his hands. He could see confusion in her eyes, even though she kept her face from showing any emotion.

"Bones…"

She nodded. "You're right…I just…I don't know what I was thinking."

The words struck him, even though he could tell they weren't true.

She grabbed the handle on the duffle bag she had packed. "Listen, I appreciate you letting me stay and everything, but, uh, I don't think…I think I'll go to Angela's."

"No—I mean, you don't have to leave, I just didn't…"

She was already moving toward the door. "No, really, Booth. It's okay."

She was twisting the handle when he exclaimed, "you can't leave! What if something else happens? I have to make sure…"

"I'll be fine, Booth. Whoever broke into my apartment wasn't trying to get me." She stepped into the hallway. "I'll see you later."

He stood dumbly, staring after her. Say something, stupid! But no words came as he watched her retreat down the hall and out of sight. Smooth, man. Way to put a stop to the thing you've been dreaming about for months.

Temperance pulled her car onto the main drag, heading no where in particular, her mind racing. Why had she kissed Booth? Why had she thought that would be a good idea? What had possessed her? Now she had wrecked a friendship. A damn good friendship. She wasn't worried about work—sure, it might be awkward, but they were both professionals. They could deal with that. But their friendship? That was effectively ruined. She groaned aloud, even though there was no one in the car to hear her.

After driving around aimlessly for a while, she decided that she should head to Angela's. She glanced at her clock, noting that Angela was probably be asleep by now anyway. As she began making the appropriate turns to get to Angela's, however, her eyes saw the neon sign for a bar. God, I could use a drink, she thought, and flipping on her blinker, she turned into the parking lot.

The bar was dimly lit and only a few people were scattered around. The bartender looked tired and only showed that he acknowledged her presence by slightly lifting his head as she walked toward in. She scanned the crowd quickly and, much to her surprise, her eyes fell on a familiar figure, hunched over a glass on a stool.

She approached the counter and ordered, slipping into the seat beside Hodgins. At the sound of her voice, he turned his head to her.

"Hey, Dr. Brennan," he said. His voice betrayed the fact that he had been in the bar for a while.

The bartender brought her her glass, which she downed almost immediately. "Another, please," she said, pushing the glass back toward him.

The bartender picked up her glass and began preparing her a new one.

Hodgins appraised his boss with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged, opting to take another sip from his own drink. The bartender reappeared, sitting another drink in front of the doctor.

Temperance and Hodgins sat in silence for a few moments. "So why are you here?" Hodgins asked.

"Bad night."

"I hear that." Hodgins took another swig of his drink.

Temperance glanced at him. "What about you?"

Hodgins rested the glass between his hands, letting the cold seep through his skin. "She pregnant."

Remembering, Temperance nodded.

Failing to notice her lack of response, Hodgins continued on. "And so I'm going to be a dad, but I don't know how the hell to do that. And she was all freaked out about it, and after she told me I tried to talk to her and she kept brushing me off and telling me I didn't have to be involved. And I want to be, you know? But it got me thinking—what if I'm no good at this? I mean, it's a kid. I have an opportunity here to…to…and what if I just screw it up and one day my kid is telling all everyone what an awful father he has…"

"You'll be a fine dad, Hodgins."

"Yeah, but what about Angela? She was so freaked out, I know she doesn't want to get involved or anything, and call me old fashioned, but I feel like a kid's parents should be a team. I'm not saying I think we should get married or anything, but we need to at least be together, you know? And I don't know if we work as a couple, but it seems like we should find out now before the kid gets here."

"Give her time."

"Yeah, yeah…it's not like you and Booth, you know? If he knocked you up I bet you two would just ride off into the sunset." Hodgins took another swig of his drink.

Temperance downed the rest of her drink, signaling for another. "That's wrong on multiple levels. First, I don't want kids, and second, Booth and I would never be a couple."

"Why not? You're hot."

Temperance faced Hodgins and he met her with a wide grin. "Just lookin' for a reaction."

The two laughed easily, the first time either had laughed that night.

"So, you didn't say, what happened to you tonight?"

The bartender handed Temperance her third drink. "Someone left a head in my apartment."

"That sucks. Human?"

Temperance nodded, watching as she swirled the liquid around in her glass.

Hodgins shook his head, taking another drink. "A human head…that's a bitch."

The two continued talking and drinking for an hour and half, until they were both drunk. When the bartender approached them and told them it was last call, they finished what they had, paid their tab, and after a quick assessment, called cabs.

They bid one another goodbye when their respective rides arrived, and despite that fact that it was almost morning, Temperance called Angela and in a slurred voice asked if she could sleep there. Angela, still groggy, said she could, and a short time later she opened her door to give a stumbling Temperance Brennan admittance.

"What's going on?" Angela asked.

"My apartment got broken into."

"This late at night?"

"No."

"You're drunk."

"Yeah." And, with that, Temperance fell fully dressed onto the couch and went to sleep. Confused, Angela shook her head and pulled off Temperance's shoes before draping a blanket over her and heading back to her own room where she passed the short amount of time that was left before her alarm went off.

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