It was all becoming apparent to the Jeffersonian crew that this was all the working of a single killer.

"Our total is nine victims." Hodgins muttered. He hated the idea that there was someone out there terrorizing women, pregnant women no less. He looked over at Angela. They weren't trying for a kid, but the thought of her out on her own against this guy scared him.

"In many cultures, pregnant women are considered almost god-like because they are allowing life to be brought into the world." Brennan replied, naming off a handful of regions where this type of action would never be allowed. "The punishment for killing a pregnant woman would be much more severe in these areas." She continued and Hodgins nodded along. He loved Dr. Brennan, she always had knowledgeable facts, which many found annoying, but he found endearing. After their time buried alive, he had made it his mission to look out for Brennan when Booth couldn't, he knew it was the least he could do after Brennan had saved his life and pushed him in the way he needed to tell Angela how he felt. "Dr. Hodgins, were you able to find anything from the swabs of the knicks on the ribs in boxes 3782, 2764, 2553, and 1238?" Brennan asked as Vincent walked onto the platform.

"I found small traces of tamahagane, or Japanese steel." Hodgins reported back.

"The killer used a katana!" Vincent murmured. His eyes sparkling with intrigue.

"Mr. Nigel-Murray, please do not jump to conclusions. If you review the scenarios provided by Angela, you will see that each of the women were hunched over, meaning the measurement of the sharp object was about 4 inches or about 101 millimeters in length." Brennan rattled off. Hodgins smiled as the intern bowed his head.

"Of course, Dr. Brennan, how foolish of me." Vincent then turned to Hodgins. "Do they make miniature katanas?" This question caused Hodgins to laugh.

"Not sure that's a good lead for the murder weapon, but Dr. B, I have more. The particulates led me to a specific brand and when comparing the measurements to the products they sell, I found out that the likely weapon was manufactured as part of a knife set, which was highly coveted. These things have a resale price in the tens of thousands. What we're looking for is the paring knife from this set." Hodgins had pulled up the information. Due to the short time it was on the product line, there were only about 5,000 of these specific paring knives manufactured.

"Yea, well we have a problem with that." Booth's voice rang through the Jeffersonian and Hodgins and Brennan looked over in disbelief. Brennan could feel her cheeks burning, she tried to stop her pounding heart as she watched her very handsome boyfriend walk onto the platform and swipe his credentials.

"Booth -" She said, but he just held up his ID card.

"This has become an all hands on deck case. Cullen wants me to work closely with the Jeffersonian since I have an established relationship." He winked at Bones, who scowled. Her look screamed no funny business. "Bug boy did a great job in finding out what the murder weapon is, but even with the company giving us the list of initial buyers, these knives have been resold all over the place and they're selling to users who are mainly anonymous."

"What about looking at any of the sales listings that are incomplete sets?" Whitford was now coming up to the platform. Hodgins could sense the tension between the two agents and it all seemed to engulf Brennan. He knew that his friend was sought after, hell he had to listen to Angela complain about how many men looked at Brennan and Brennan had no idea. But they all knew that she and Booth held something special and rejoiced when they became a couple. Now having Booth back on the case, it would be hard to remain unbiased toward Whitford, which the squad had been attempting. This feels like a pissing contest for Dr. B's attention. Hodgins thought to himself as he looked between the two agents.

"We already have a couple guys working on that, they have found 5 sets in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas, they are going to see if they can locate the sets and see if the paring knife is missing." Booth responded coolly. The agents continued back and forth on theories, while Brennan walked past them and off the platform. Hodgins could only snicker as the two agents turned and followed her, both attempting to walk right next to her.

"Angela, can you pull up the knives from this set and place their dimensions into your system?" Brennan asked, not paying attention to the two agents standing on either side of her. Angela's eyebrows shot up at the sight of Booth and Whitford. Bren always has the hot ones going for her. She smiled at the thought as she pulled up the specs of the knife set. She watched as Brennan looked at the different dimensions. "Now can you change the simulation for victim 1, have her standing upright, with her arms in front of her defensively?" Angela changed the simulation.

"The paring knife wouldn't work if she was like this." Angela responded.

"I don't think the perpetrator only used a paring knife. It's a 10 knife set. I think the killer used a different knife for every kill." Brennan replied. This caused both the agents to stop glaring at each other and look at the screen. They watched in awe as Brennan changed the simulation for each of the victims. Each change caused the knicks in the bones to match perfectly to the alleged injuries received.

"Bones, how did you-" Booth started, but Brennan interjected.

"Serial killers have their own customs and practices, similar to any cultural group. They have a specific group of people they prey upon, but they don't come out knowing exactly what they're doing. They usually prey on vulnerable populations until they can feel comfortable going after stronger individuals." Brennan explained. Booth noticed how Whitford watched Brennan with an intense gaze. A gaze he had when he first started to fall for Bones.

"Okay." Booth murmured, egging Brennan to continue, a small smile gracing her beautiful features.

"Well, it occurred to me that the killer might find that a larger knife might be easier to use toward the beginning, more intimidating, so why pick the paring knife?" She proposed the question, but didn't leave time for an answer. "I think the killer began with the larger knives and slowly worked down to the smaller knives. It also plays into a killer's desire to keep something from the victim, it wouldn't surprise me if the killer kept a piece of each of the victims with the knife used."

Brennan didn't like gut instincts or theorizing, but she had learned from Booth that it was okay to theorize and try to think of every possible solution. When Whitford and Booth started going back and forth about the knife sets, it made Brennan begin to look at the cataloged injuries in her head, she sifted through and realized certain wounds didn't match up.

"But Booth, we have a problem." Brennan spoke in a stilted way. "If this theory is correct, he's going to kill another woman, similar in stature and weight, likely pregnant, so he can complete the set."

Booth looked at Whitford, who nodded in silent agreement. Whitford put his phone to his ear and began calling the agents who were out. He explained the theory and requested hourly updates. If they could stop one murder, they were going to bend over backwards to do it.

-BB-

Out of the 5 sets, 2 had been resold, 1 to a buyer in California and the other to someone in Canada, and 1 had been shoved into a box in someone's storage unit. The other 2 were not home at the time of the call.

Booth was sitting in his office looking at the profiles that Sweets had created for the 2 individuals when he heard a knock. He wanted it to be Bones, but was met with Agent Whitford.

"I just wanted to stop by to see how you felt about those profiles." Whitford began speaking the moment Booth looked up from his desktop.

"Good, one has a prior record for a couple violent offenses, nothing close to murder, but killers can jump. The other one is squeaky clean, which also disturbs me, so many killers we've met have clean records. So really, it all comes down to the feel on these guys." Booth replied.

"I was wondering if we should bring Dr. Brennan." Whitford said. Booth felt his breathing catch slightly. He always worried about bringing Bones to different crime scenes and questioning witnesses. It had become second nature in the past 5 years to have this constant feeling of dread when he worked cases with her but he got used to the feeling. But having her go into a suspected serial killer's home? He thought to himself and shook his head.

"I don't know, Whitford, she doesn't always have the best filter when speaking with suspects. Hell, she should have multiple assaults on her record because of the times she's went after individuals." Booth responded with a chuckle. "She's an asset, but if I can keep her out of danger, I will."

"Didn't you bring her with you before?" Whitford asked and Booth nodded. "So you have changed since you two started dating." He stated and turned on his heels and walked out of Booth's office. Booth stood there and wondered if he was right. This wasn't the first time he tried to not allow Brennan to go to a perpetrator's home, but it was the first time since they were dating. Am I really already putting up roadblocks? He thought. What Booth couldn't see was the smirk on Whitford's face as he left the office.

Whitford wanted to keep on as a liaison for the Jeffersonian, and the only way to do that was by keeping Booth and Brennan apart. The moment Booth came back onto the case, he saw firsthand how easily they worked with him. The entire crew spoke freely. Whitford couldn't get Brennan to theorize on any possibilities, but the moment Booth steps into the lab, she's got an ironclad idea about the killer. He knew that the FBI would see the two of them still worked well together, so he needed to do a little sabotage of his own. He said it was for the sake and betterment of his career, but at night when he thought about Brennan's blue eyes staring at him, he wondered if his career was the only reason he wanted to stay on the Jeffersonian crew.

-BB-

Brennan noticed that Booth was strangely quiet at dinner. They had grabbed a drink at Founding Fathers with Hodgins and Angela before heading back to Booth's apartment. She wondered if it was the case, but they had talked about it in-depth with Hodgins and Angela, and Booth seemed fine.

Then she wondered if it was something between them. They had a healthy, if not overactive, sex life. They couldn't keep their hands to themselves. A couple days ago, he mentioned wanting to tell Parker that they were a couple. Maybe Parker didn't want Booth dating me. She thought. Maybe Booth is getting over the intense levels of serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine. Maybe he's realizing that love is simply brain chemistry.

Booth watched from across the table. Brennan had suddenly started to shut down. He wasn't the most active conversationist tonight, Whitford's words were bouncing around in his head, but he didn't understand why Bones was worried. He hadn't told her about not wanting her to come to the two suspects houses, so it couldn't be that. He wondered if it was because he mentioned telling Parker about their relationship. Maybe she doesn't want people knowing about us. But the entire lab and FBI know. Then again it wasn't our choice to tell them. Now Booth began to spiral. Did she not want people to know we were together? But why?

"Uhm Booth, I think I'm going to go back to my apartment. I have some files at my place that I want to bring to the lab." She took him out of his trance. They had been splitting their time for the past couple weeks between his place and hers, They hadn't spent a night alone since they started dating. Oh God, she is having second thoughts! Booth thought to himself.

"Oh! I can grab some clothes-"

"No, that's okay, you're already in your own home. I'll just drive myself home." She responded quickly, taking her dish to the sink and throwing on her shoes. Booth sat there stunned. She was out the door without so much as a kiss goodbye.

"What the fuck just happened?" He asked the empty air, throwing a hand through his hair, he began cleaning up after dinner.

-BB-

"Hey, sweetie, what's up?" Angela answered the phone in her usual happy tone. She looked at the clock. 9:07 p.m.

"Uhm, I just left Booth's" Brennan responded, sounding nervous. Angela looked at Hodgins, who was giving her a quizzical look from the other side of the table.

"Sweetie, usually when you go to a boyfriend's house, you stay the night." She giggled and Brennan sighed.

"He's mad about something." Brennan took another deep breath. "I'm scared he's having second thoughts."

"No, Bren, that man is completely and utterly in love with you." Angela looked at Hodgins with a bit of nervousness in her eyes. "He seemed totally fine at drinks." She offered, but Brennan was already mumbling.

"It was bound to happen, the brain chemistry would wear off, usually it takes a 3-month period though. Hence the idea of falling in love, it all stems from the chemistry of the brain. I must not be what he expected and now he's second guessing."

"No, no, Temperance, that's not it!" Angela was beginning to see the writing on the wall. Brennan was about to shut down. "Hey! Why don't I meet you at your place? We can throw on a record and drink a bottle of wine?"

"We have a full day at the lab tomorrow, I'll just … I'm almost home. I'm sorry I bothered you so late at night."

"Bren, never apologize for calling me, and it's not a big deal, I can stay in your guest room, we can carpool into the office?" Angela offered, but Brennan was shaking her head.

"No, it's okay, I think I need to be alone." She then said her goodbyes to Angela before ending the call.

"What's going on?" Hodgins asked and Angela sighed.

"She's shutting down on us, something must have happened to trigger her fight or flight and she's flying like a bird." Angela sighed. Brennan was so excited when she talked about her and Booth. What the hell just happened?

-BB-

Booth felt like a zombie walking into his office. They had only been dating a couple weeks, but sleeping without Bones was nearly impossible. He could get comfortable, his bed felt too big, too cold, too empty.

Plopping into his chair, he checked his phone for the millionth time. Bones hadn't reached out to him since she left his place. It took him texting Angela to find out she got home okay.

"Why don't you just call her?" Angela asked, but Booth sighed.

"She left here like she was on fire. I don't know what happened. We were eating dinner and it was quiet, but nothing crazy, we didn't fight, we didn't even talk, she just got up and said she needed to go."

"Well … I probably shouldn't tell you this since she's my best friend and there's a girl code, but Bren called and was nervous you were having second thoughts."

"WHAT?!" Booth bellowed. "I'm not, Angela, I'm not at all!" He pleaded and Angela chuckled.

"Calm down, big guy, I said the same thing. I just don't know why she's all of a sudden thinking this. If you guys didn't talk, then I don't know what's triggering this." Angela responded. Booth's heart rate was through the roof. He contemplated running to her place and setting the record straight, but he knew Bones. If he ran over there, she would feel like she was cornered.

"What do I do, Ange?" Booth asked. He hated feeling this way. They were beginning their relationship, they shouldn't be having these issues.

"Just give her a little time. You guys had a lot happen in the past couple weeks. You started dating, got told you wouldn't be working together, we have a suspected serial killer case, she has to get to know Agent Whitford, you get brought back on the case, and she's confused about what that means for the pause in your partnership. She's dealing with a lot, and maybe she needs a night to herself. Just try and get a good night's sleep and come back in the morning, ready to go."

Booth tried to take Angela's advice, but no matter what he did, his mind drifted to Bones. What she was up to, whether she missed being around him, whether there was something he could say to make all of this go away. He turned on his computer and started working for the day. He planned to stop by the lab after some morning meetings. All of this would just have to wait until then.

-BB-

Brennan wasn't doing much better. She walked into the lab and felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. She had spent years sleeping alone in her bed, yet somehow now she couldn't stand it. She missed Booth's arms that would envelope her body. The way he stole the blankets in the middle of the night. The soft sound of his breathing. She missed all of it. Yawning, she walked into her office to find Agent Whitford standing there.

"Hey, Dr. Brennan, rough night?" He looked at her expectantly. She had circles under her eyes, which were duller than usual.

"Just couldn't get to sleep." She replied. Before she could shrug off her jacket, Agent Whitford stopped her.

"Actually, I was thinking you could accompany me to the two suspects' houses. Maybe you'll be able to find traces of blood in the home." He looked at Brennan with a hopeful gaze. He could see her weighing the options and wanted to make it difficult for her to say no. "We can make sure that Booth joins us after his morning meetings. I already ran the idea by him." Technically, Whitford wasn't lying, he just didn't tell Brennan that Booth didn't approve of this idea. She looked at him and gave a short nod.

"Alright, uhm, I can just text him to let him know-"

"That's alright, I'll let him know where to meet us. Those director meetings are pretty intense, wouldn't want his phone going off in the middle of the thing." Brennan felt a bit uneasy, but if Booth agreed, then who was she to stop them.

-BB-

Booth clicked his pen and boredly stared around the table. Listening to the amount of highlighters used by the bureau really wasn't his idea of a good time. A call had come in for Cullen so the meeting was stalled until he came back.

"Booth, can you step outside for a minute?" Cullen's voice sounded stern. Walking out of the conference room, Booth looked at Cullen's face. Worry etched the older man's features and he could tell his boss was dreading what he was about to say.

"I just got a call from backup that Agent Whitford had decided to question the suspects on the suspected serial killer matter." Booth felt his blood begin to boil. This guy needed to be patient, I was going to go with him after the meeting. Cullen continued. "A fight ensued at one of the residences and well, a hostage situation is underway."

"Well, Whitford has training in taking down captors." Booth started, but Cullen held up a hand.

"He brought Dr. Brennan. She's the hostage." Booth felt the blood drain from his face and his feet began to carry him down the hall.

"Send me the address and I want backup with me." He began ripping off his tie and throwing on his tactical gear.

Once I have Bones back, I'm gonna kill Whitford.

Author's Note: I feel like Whitford and Haze for season 8 are similar, they are both upstanding guys, just a little frustrating because they aren't 100% on Booth and Bones side. BUT I don't want anyone hating Whitford lol. Also, I'm rewatching season 7 and 8 right now, because I love when Booth and Brennan are a couple, but gahhh couldn't they have gotten together just a little earlier lol