She got to her feet slowly and took a deep breath before closing the distance to her door, she didn't need to look through her view hole to know that it was him, she knew he'd be upset, but the sight that met her was more than she had expected.

His eyes were red and streak marks lined his cheeks, his eyes never once lifted from the ground to meet her own, he simply stared at the ground just past the threshold of her door. She felt numb for a second and fear seemed to grip her, but then she reached out and pulled him into her apartment by the lapel of his rumpled suit jacket. As he crossed into her apartment he all but fell into her arms, she wrapped her arms around him and pushed the door shut with her foot, as he cried into her shoulder and neck she whispered words of comfort and condolence that she wasn't sure she truly believed, it didn't matter though because she was certain that he didn't hear a word. Minutes or hours had passed before she realised that he was deathly silent, his breathing calm and even and yet his grip on her hadn't loosened, biting her lip before releasing her grip on him he too responded and began to move back. When his eyes met her she could see the guilt, the hurt and the confusion spill from them, she hoped that he could see the concern mirrored in her own. She pulled him towards her bedroom and when she looked at him she could see a panic in his eyes, she simply smiled and shook her head. "You need to rest Booth, we'll talk when you are rested. I'll be here." He went to protest but she held a finger up in warning. "Sleep first." He nodded in acquiescence. She moved him to the bed and then pulled an old oversized shirt from her dresser, it was old and grey and had obviously had years of use. "An old boyfriend's from college."

One side of his mouth lifted slightly and he nodded, when she handed it to him he held her hand longer than needed and when she looked into his eyes she could see a silent thank you in them. She smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her. Outside her bedroom door she paused and massaged the back of her neck letting out a quiet sigh. This was going to be tough on him, she knew that, and she also knew that seeing him hurt was going to affect her in some strange way.

As he slid under her covers, the events of today seemed to disappear from his mind, his eyes were heavy and he quickly marvelled at how she had known what he needed, she always knew what he needed, his last thought was of how her pillows smelled just like her and then he drifted into the blackness.

He awoke to the smell of coffee and something else that he couldn't quite place, he rubbed a hand over his face and into his hair as he waited for the grogginess to dissipate, after a few minutes he slid out of the bed and pulled his dress pants on. When he left the room to find her she was standing at the stove cooking pancakes. He smiled sheepishly as his stomach growled and she turned to greet him with a smile. "Hey."

"How did you sleep?"

"Yeah, yeah really good thanks... I think your pancakes woke me up."

She looked to the pan and back to him apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't think..."

"The smell Bones, the smell woke me, guess I was hungry enough that they could lure me out of sleep."

She smiled gently and grabbed a mug from the counter, pouring a fresh cup of coffee for him she laid it in front of him "Grab a seat, I'll just be a sec." He pulled up a stool to the breakfast bar and watched her contentedly over his mug. She was good at this, caring for him, and he knew that she'd brush it off as nothing... but it meant something to him and he was grateful to have her here at a time like this.

They ate their pancakes in relative silence, there was no need to speak, they were comfortable like this. When they'd both finished eating, he picked up their plates and moved them to the sink as she wandered back to the sofa in the lounge. He followed behind her and sat across from her, eyes suddenly sad as he realised that his secure bubble was about to burst, now that he needed to talk to her about Tessa. She tried to smile sympathetically at him but he could feel the tears welling up behind his eyes, burning hot with rage and guilt. He couldn't get the words past the lump that had formed in his throat and she seemed to sense his difficulty so she broke the silence first.

"You've made arrangements for Rebecca and Parker?"

He was grateful for the reprieve "Yes, I've sent them far enough away from here... a little vacation if you will."

"Good, I think that you'll be more help to the case if you aren't worrying about your family. I'm glad that they are safe, that nothing happened to them before you were able to make arrangements."

She sounded so clinical, but he knew that she was struggling to ensure that she was objective in this case, and he knew that he was threatening that objectivity. "I've made arrangements for all of them... The Bureau needed a list of all the women I've dated. I spent this morning giving statements, SAC Johnson has asked me to be part of the task force, not in the field, purely research and checking the files. Guess he just wants me to let them know if anything rings a bell."

"And does it?"

"No... I only really got to skim the files and then I heard about... " His eyes dropped to his hands and her face fell in understanding. "It's my fault.. all of this, I should never have..."

"What? Never have what? Allowed yourself to love... Kept your defences up and not let anyone near you." She had almost laughed.

"Seems to work for you Bones.." When he looked up he almost regretted it, she looked hurt and he hadn't meant for that statement to seem harsh. "I didn't mean that like it sounded."

"You're right, I do shut myself off, and maybe I keep them at arm's length, but it doesn't mean that no one gets hurt Booth... this is not your fault. Whoever is doing this is sick, and obviously either obsessed by you or insanely jealous." He nodded solemnly. "I have a meeting with SAC Johnson tomorrow morning. He wants to talk to me about you and you're involvement in this case."

"Yeah I thought that he would."

"I've got to present him with my findings by the end of the day." She looked at him cautiously. "Maybe you could help me with those findings"

"You want to know about Tessa..." She nodded and he clenched his jaw. "I thought I'd taken measures to protect these women, Cam, Rebecca, Tessa... I thought they'd be safe."

"This isn't your fault." She placed a hand on his cautiously. "Blaming yourself isn't going to catch whoever did this Booth." She watched his eyes lift from her hand on his to hers and something passed behind them, she couldn't read the emotion after all that wasn't her strength in this partnership. "Where are the files?"

"In the car... I'll go get them." He sat for another beat before pushing himself to his feet and heading for the door. As the door closed behind him she allowed the breath that she'd been holding to release. She felt so connected to Booth, she felt like she was feeling what he was feeling... she knew that that wasn't possible, that he was feeling the pain acutely and that she was simply hurting for her friend who seemed to be being dragged into a dark place without any reason or choice.

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Sorry they are so short and that it's taking a while to update... busy busy time at work.