Wow! Okay, incredible response to Chapter 1!!! I'm so glad you guys like it so far! Anyway, I'm working hard to keep the creative juices flowing, so on with Chapter 2!

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me, blah blah blah! We all know this... LoL!

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Luckily, Brennan didn't have to worry about Angela coming back to finish their conversation immediately. She found out when she went to the platform an hour later that Cullen had called Cam requesting Angela for the afternoon. Apparently a witness in another case was uncomfortable talking to the FBI's all-male sketch artists, so Cullen thought Angela might be able to help. Since Jack had no current cases to work on, he decided to join her.

She spent the rest of the afternoon working with Zack on some remains from "Limbo." It was still strange to her sometimes to think of Zack as another forensic anthropologist and not as her grad student. However, since he received his doctorate, she found she enjoyed their new working relationship much better than before. He was truly a colleague now, although she was still his boss. Though sometimes she did have to remind herself to ask him to perform the tasks of another doctor and not the tasks of an assistant, but she was getting better.

Zack and Cam both left around 6:30pm, leaving her alone in the lab. She thought about her earlier conversation with Angela and contemplated going home, but ended up gathering another set of remains for examination. She and Zack had performed preliminary examinations on several sets of remains that afternoon, so Angela would have quite a few facial reconstructions to keep her busy throughout the next day.

Having gotten caught up in her work, she paid no attention to the time. When she finally glanced at her watch, she was shocked to see that it was already almost 4am. She finished up her exam, secured the remains, and headed to her office. She considered going home to shower and change, but she knew it was pointless to even think about going home to sleep. She'd have to wake up to early to even make it worth anything. That was assuming she'd even be able to get to sleep. Coming to the conclusion that the entire trip wasn't worth it, she decided to just rest on the couch in her office for a while, and then grab a shower in the decontamination chamber. Besides, she always kept spare clothes in her office.

She closed her office door and turned out the lights, leaving only the illuminated wall behind her desk to softly light the space. She knew sleep would be elusive, but maybe she could rest just enough to rejuvenate herself a little. Perhaps if she could at least APPEAR a little more rested, Angela would leave her alone for a while.

Making herself comfortable on her couch, she closed her eyes and laid very still, hoping sleep would claim her. No such luck, Temperance. After weeks of trying, you know it's not going to work that way. Heeding her own thoughts, she decided to try some light yoga breathing. If she couldn't make herself fall asleep, maybe she could get relaxed enough to slip into it.

20 minutes later, she was still awake. Her body was relaxed, and she could tell it craved sleep, but her mind simply wouldn't shut down. She tried counting sheep, but they were replaced by the image of a bloody Booth being held captive by Gallagher. Counting still figured in, but she was counting his numerous injuries. She tried to picture herself relaxed in a warm bath, but the bath water turned to blood with Booth lying dead in the tub instead of her. Suddenly the memory of her shooting Howard Epps's accomplice, Gil Lappin, to save Booth hit her. Only this time, she shot Booth instead.

Staring up at the ceiling, Brennan resigned herself to the fact that every time she closed her eyes, she saw Booth in danger, injured, or dead. Most people would probably suggest talking to a psychiatrist, but they'd find out very quickly that it wasn't going to happen. Talking to Booth directly was out of the question. How could she tell him that her current state was basically his fault? Well, not EXACTLY his fault, but... well, it was a somewhat twisted logic.

Tempe got up, went to her desk, and faced her blank computer screen. Powering up the computer, she figured she might as well try to pass her non-sleeping time by doing something constructive. Maybe using her brain to get lost in the world of Kathy Reichs and Andy Lister would allow OTHER portions of her brain to rest for a while. The time passed rather quickly and before she knew it, she had completed 2 more chapters of her new book. The clock now read 5:40am, and she figured it was as good a time as any to shower and change clothes. Rising from her chair, a slight wave of lightheadedness made her pause, but it passed just as quickly as it came. Probably just stared at the computer too long... She grabbed some clothes and her spare bag of toiletries and headed for the decontamination shower.

She returned to her office 15 minutes later feeling a little more refreshed. She knew she had some time before her colleagues arrived, so she began arranging the bones of another "Limbo" resident on the platform. For almost 20 minutes, she had been hunched over the remains, mentally cataloguing the details, apparently too focused to pay attention to her surroundings. She didn't hear Booth calling her name as he approached the platform, nor did she notice the familiar sounds of the security scanner as his card granted him access. It wasn't until he was right behind her, trying once again to get her attention, that she noticed his presence.

"Bones, didn't you hear me calling you?" Booth said as he came up behind her.

Brennan straightened up quickly and turned slightly to face him. Unfortunately, another wave of dizziness hit her, only much stronger than before. Before she could say anything, Booth watched as her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, unconscious.

Reacting quickly, he caught her before she hit the floor. Glancing around the platform, he spotted an empty exam table on the far end. He picked her up and carried her to it, laying her down gently. Seeing as how it wasn't made for the living, he knew it couldn't be comfortable, but he had to check her vitals first.

Speaking to the empty lab, he went through the common checklist. "Okay, breathing is steady, heartbeat's a little fast, pulse not quite as strong as it probably should be." Mentally assessing the situation, Booth decided that an ambulance or hospital was probably not necessary at this point. He gathered Tempe up in his arms again, and headed off the platform to her office. If she woke up soon, she probably wouldn't appreciate her body's reaction to the cold, hard exam table. The couch would make waking much more pleasant... or so he hoped. He hated not knowing what was going on with his partner. Being in the dark about anything having to do with Bones was just unacceptable in his book. He knew Temperance would just tell him that was an alpha-male, chauvinistic way to think, but at this point, he didn't care.

"Alright, there's something going on with you that I don't know about, and I think it's time we changed that," he said to her unconscious form as he pulled out his cell phone. He knew she would probably hate him for doing this, but he had no other choice. "Angela, it's Booth. I know it's early, but how fast can you get down to the lab? I need to talk to you about Bones."

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And there's Chapter 2!!! Once again, thanks so much for the wonderful reviews! Now, if you could just do me a favor and hit the little button again! I know, I'm selfish, I'm asking too much, but... eh, too bad! I thrive on praise! Just don't know how to explain it. I hear good things, and it spurs my creativity! LoL! Anyway, depending on how busy my weekend is, I'll try to get the next chapter out in the next couple of days. Happy reading, everyone!