At the Jeffersonian . . .

Temperance burst through the door practically running as she sped walked towards the stairs. It was nine o clock and she was officially an hour late, which she never was. Her and Booth had talked for a while about semi-normal stuff amazingly and she knew that it was just his way of trying to get her to relax and it worked, which she was grateful for, but it was hard to think of anything else other then the bones in the back seat of her car. They had talked about a lot of things including Parker and that brought a smile to her face. Parker was a cute kid and she smiled when she saw Booth's face light up at the mention of his son, but now she had to concentrate on the bones that she was carrying in front of her. She knew that Angela was going to tease her endlessly about being late AND being late with Booth but she'd deal with that later.

"Hey Bones, wait up. Geez, you're killing me." Booth complained as he ran to catch up to her and sped walked with her to the steps that led up to the examining table among with other things.

"Can you get that?" She asked him, nodding towards the card reader that was attached to the railing.

"Yeah, sure." Booth said as he pulled out a card from his pocket and then swiped it downwards through the reader.

"Thanks." She said and she walked up the stairs.

"Yeah no problem." Booth said as he followed her up. As soon as she reached the top of the stairs they were confronted by Angela who was holding a clipboard to her chest.

"Ah, you're finally here. And where have you two been?" She teased, a grin spreading across her face.

"We went for coffee; nothing happened Ang but nice try." Temperance said, a small smile spreading across her face as she placed the box on the steel table a few feet in front of her.

"Really. Then why is Booth standing so close to you then?" She asked a sly grin on her face. Tempe turned around and jumped as Booth stood only a foot away.

"Booth, you don't need to be standing that close. I kind of need my space. It's not like someone's going to just waltz in here with a gun and mow me down." She said.

"That's not funny Bones." Booth said seriously, his arms folded across his chest.

"It wasn't meant to be a joke." She found herself snapping back.

"Are you sure nothing . . .?" Angela began.

"Nothing happened." They both snapped at her, turning their heads to face her. She threw her hands into the air.

"Okay, okay." She said, barely stopping from laughing.

"Booth's only like this because I got his note . . ."

" . . .along with a skeleton." Booth interrupted, getting a glare from her.

"Anyways, I found them at my doorstep this morning. It's nothing." She said and then turned her attention towards the bones. Booth strode over, snatched the note and handed it over to Angela.

"This isn't nothing." He said grimly. Angela looked up, her face pale.

"Sweetie, I agree with Booth on this. No one in here told anyone anything about you really being Joy. Trust me. I made sure." She added.

"Well it's two against one Bones so I guess I'll be your shadow for the rest of the day. So, what do we got?" He asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and shot him a glare and he immediately let go. She turned back to the skeleton and bent down closer.

"She's young. Four, maybe five at the most. See here?" She pointed towards the neck and Booth leaned in.

"Her neck looks like it was broken. Angela, can you get me an I.D. on her?" She asked, picking up the skull.

"Sure." Angela said and she took the skull out of her hands and walked off to her office. Tempe let out a tired sigh and placed both of her hands on the table. Booth placed a hand on her shoulder and this time she didn't shoot him a glare as she turned to face him.

"Hey. You okay?" He asked her softly. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just . . . I can't believe how people can be so . . ." She trailed off, trying to find the right word.

". . . evil?" Booth suggested and she smiled wearily at him.

"Don't let this get to you. It's what they want." Booth said softly and she nodded. It was then that she realized how close he was to her. She was close enough that she could smell his aftershave and she cleared her throat, taking a step back.

"I'm going to go see how Angela is doing." She said.

"She just left though." He said a confused look on his face.

"Well, I thought that I could be more help there then just standing around and doing nothing." She said, stammering out a reply.

"Okay but no without me." Booth said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Booth it's like two steps away. I'll be fine." She argued, copying his stance. The two of them stared at each other for a few minutes until Booth let out a sigh.

"Fine, go." He said.

"Thank you." She said calmly and strode past the FBI Agent who continued to look at her as she walked away.

(Thanks for all the awesome reviews! If you keep them coming, I'll keep the story coming! Thanks!)