Chapter 10

"Yes!" Booth said to himself as he did a little mental happy dance as he entered Brennan's office. It was exactly one hour since he had dropped her off at the Jeffersonian's busy front entrance and there she was...sleeping. He had to concede to only a partial win on his bet with himself. Bones was asleep but not snuggled adorably under a blanket on her sofa like the image he had created in his mind. She had fallen asleep instead at her desk, her head resting on her crossed arms. Little did she know how much that was going to hurt when she woke up, he thought sympathetically.

He hoped to approach her desk without startling her but as he came close, she opened her eyes and raised her head with a short grimace of pain to look up at him.

"Hi," Brennan said sleepily, "...just resting my eyes." Her little nap was quickly turning out to have been a mistake. Her unhappy ribs, let alone her neck, were not thanking her for her chosen sleeping position. She should have laid down on the sofa.

"I can see that," he said, with an amused smile and twinkle in his eye as he sat down in one of the office chairs by her desk. "Did you find out anything about those fingers?"

"I gave them to Cam," she replied as she rubbed her sore neck, "since they still had flesh on them. She was able to recover the prints by rehydrating the skin and she's running them now. All characteristics indicate they came from the same hand, probably the left, and removed 5 to 9 days ago."

"I also heard from Salisbury on any unauthorized burials near my mother's original grave," she continued. She had told Booth during their trip to the community centre earlier about the details learned from her talk with her father of her mother's and sister's deaths. "The GPR survey came up with 22 possible hits within the 200 square yards search area. I asked them to go ahead and identify what they could and get back to me if any human infant remains are found. They expect most of them to be animals. Apparently, that area was used for pets in the past but never controlled by any kind of burial permit. What about our bomber?"

"The man we arrested is Eddie Walters from the same Walters family as Harold, our delivery man, and Robert from the bomb squad. They're all cousins," Booth explained. "We found Robert knocked out and tied up in his apartment. He'll be fine but he's getting checked out at the hospital now. Apparently our bomber looked enough like his cousin Bob under all the gear and knew enough of the emergency drill to impersonate him this afternoon. Bob told us that Eddie had gone through the bomb squad training program but failed the final psych test after a training incident that injured another trainee."

"Come on, Bones. I'm taking you home," he said as he moved around her desk and leaned down to take her hands when she turned her chair towards him.

She acquiesced reluctantly and placed her hands in his for him to help her to stand up. She would be glad when her body didn't hurt so much just moving normally but she appreciated his help. She stood up carefully and again found herself in close proximity to Booth. For someone who that very morning ...God, that seemed so long ago...had said she wasn't ready for more between them, she kept finding herself drawn to be near him. With her hands still in his, she leaned up and kissed him gently.

"So, what was that for?" asked Booth softly as he looked into her eyes with a quirky smile on his face.

"Ummm..no reason, just...thanks," she said, puzzled by her own behavior and mixed feelings.

"You're welcome. Let's get out of here," Booth said. He enjoyed the obvious effect he had on her and, at the same time, recognized her temporary vulnerability.

"Sorry to interrupt, you two," apologized a happily grinning Angela, "Cam sent me in with the fingerprint results from the fingers she was working on. Anyone want to guess who's on our current list for giving away his various body parts lately?"

"ArthurGraves," Brennan and Booth said in unison, both remembered how this crazy old man had pulled out all his teeth later used as shrapnel in a bomb. One tooth had become embedded in Brennan's shoulder.

"Yup, got it in one guess. DNA test results aren't in yet but Cam has confirmed that Graves had an 'unfortunate accident'," Angela shuddered in disgust at the gruesome details she was about to describe.

"He was found a week ago on the grounds of the seniors home where he lives. They believe he chopped his own fingers off his left hand with a garden ax. They sent him and his fingers to the hospital but the surgeon decided they wouldn't reattach properly due to his age and circulation problems. The fingers were supposed to have been disposed of in the hospital's incinerator."

"I'll have to find out why we weren't informed of Graves' accident. He is still part of an ongoing investigation. I guess if our bomber is involved with Graves somehow, it wouldn't have been all that difficult to steal the fingers," Booth said. "I'll check into that first thing tomorrow."

"I hope you're here to take Brennan home, Booth," Angela said, and turned to speak directly and seriously to her friend. "Sweetie, after what you've had to deal with the last couple of days, I'm surprised you're still conscious. You have got to look after yourself. Take the time to heal from everything and I don't just mean a few bruised ribs."

"Cam told me to tell you that she doesn't want to see you here tomorrow before noon," she added, in full agreement with their boss' instructions.

"I know and thanks, Angela. Yes, I'm going home and I promise not to be in early tomorrow," answered Brennan as she stepped away from Booth to get her jacket and bag.

After Booth helped her put on her jacket, Angela gave her a hug goodbye and watched the two of them leave the lab. She hoped that whatever was going on between them was helping and not adding to Brennan's current stress load. The kiss she had witnessed definitely indicated a certain familiarity. Although tentative in nature on Brennan's part, it was not a first kiss. Although helpful in the process, she discounted the mistletoe kiss as their real first. She told herself that tomorrow she would have to get all of the details as it was quite apparent she had missed a lot.

Booth and Brennan picked up Thai take-out and went back to her apartment for a quiet dinner. Afterwards, Booth gathered his things andassured himself that Bones would be all right. He gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek goodnight and went home.