Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the reviews/favorites/etc., I appreciate them all. : ) I'm also ecstatic that you guys think they're staying in character, that's my goal.

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The only word that Booth could think of that was fitting enough to describe the car ride out to Annapolis was really, really, awkward. Any conversation he started fizzled, any joke he made was met with silence, and any attempted eye contact was all but ignored. Even on a bad day Brennan would have said something by now, even if it was a simple 'don't you ever stop talking?' or some sort of exasperated snort and the fact that she hadn't yet was bothering him more than he cared to admit. That coupled with Angela's earlier worries were almost distracting him from the road. There had to be something he could do...

"Booth... Booth?"

Snapping his head over in her direction, his mind came catapulting back into reality as he prepared to lend a caring ear to his partner, "Hey, Bones, what's up?"

"Watch it, you're drifting."

Oh. Well that hadn't been the conversation he'd been expecting. Steering the car back between the yellow painted lines, he attempted to turn his focus back to the road but no more than a minute passed in silence before he finally spoke.

"Are you alright?" He asked with all the subtly of a wailing siren, eyes narrowed and brow furrowed, "First at the lab, now here. I haven't heard more than six words out of you all week."

As soon as he could chance it, he shifted his eyes from the road to her face, scanning them with concern as she remained silent. Her own eyes were averted to the view outside of the window next to her as cars and trees sped by and her arms were crossed over her chest as though she was doing the best she could to avoid his question regardless of their close proximity in the SUV. Booth was nearly about ready to tell her to just forget it when he heard her take a deep breath and, to his astonishment, reply.

"I'm fine." Was her answer, but she must have seen Booth's unconvinced glance because the semblance of a forced smile crossed her face and she repeated, "I am fine, Booth, I am. It's just—you wouldn't understand."

How could he when she never gave him the chance? What did he have to do so that she would let him in, even a little?

Then he felt the hand on his shoulder and nearly did swerve them off of the road. Next to him, Brennan was now facing him and giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze as though trying to find some way to reaffirm that everything was alright, even if they were both aware it was otherwise. Had he not been so surprised, he probably would have found it entertaining how the one who needed the comforting was being the comforter.

Pulling back her hand, she shook her head and spoke as though she'd been waiting to say the words all week, "When I went out to talk to Will, I didn't feel so..."

Safe? Out of harm's way? Booth almost finished for her, but decided against it, especially now that he was finally getting something. The last thing he wanted to do was make her regret talking to him and start that whole cycle again.

"I don't know, alone I guess." She finished and Booth caught the shift in her voice that always seemed to come out when she talked about her own emotions as though she were uncomfortable even sharing them, "It doesn't make sense, I know, but I just hoped that maybe because he'd stayed and raised his brother that he could take care of... Oh, even I think it's ridiculous."

Booth considered what she said momentarily and felt his stomach churn unpleasantly as he made the connection to what she was trying to say. He'd made her feel like she could be cared for. That killer had managed to put her at ease in the course of two days when it had taken Booth weeks- months to get her to trust him. But he had to focus. Now was not the time to worry about the big ball of crazy that was their relationship, not when Brennan needed him.

"No, it's not ridiculous." He disagreed seriously and his tone indicated that he was not going to argue about it as he continued, "And I'm glad you told me. You know you can always talk to me, right? I swear I won't make fun of you too much, Bones."

As he finished he flashed his trademark grin, more to cheer her up than anything else.

Brennan smiled back before turning her attention forward again, "I know."

A moment of silence passed again, but it was far more amenable than it had been before.

"And Booth?"

"Yes?"

"Don't call me Bones, I hate that."

Booth caught a small, sly grin spread across her lips as she kept her attention to the front window.

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"This? This is the body?" Brennan asked, stooping above a hole surrounded by dirt and rocks, the repugnant smell of burning asphalt hitting her nose as she frowned down at what she saw, "I though I'd made this perfectly clear, Booth- I do not work with skin ever, no exceptions. None."

"Good thing that's not your body then, huh?"

She turned at that comment and narrowed her eyes as she scanned Booth up and down to see if he was making some sort of joke. Obviously this was a dead body, a recent one at that, and here she was in this god-forsaken, torn up old parking lot, so what else was she supposed to conclude... unless there was another body.

Booth must have caught her expression as he nodded over to a smaller group of agents already clustered around another hole jutting into the blacktop. Frowning, Brennan stood and immediately turned her attention in that direction, sliding and excusing her way through officers and other government officials on the way. The place was a zoo- she hated it when she was that late to arrive to a crime seen, there was always the chance one of evidence on the bones being destroyed that could prove invaluable to their case, not to mention that it was simply harder to concentrate with that much background chatter. Finally, however, she managed to make her way over and get a good view of the body down in the ten or so feet deep pit that she'd climbed down into.

"Oh..."

This was not something she had seen before, not in the United States anyway. The body looked like some sort of giant pincushion even though it was already mid-way through decomposition. She could make out large puncture wounds about the size of her fist erratically throughout the victim as though he, for it was a young male, had been attacked using something like... a pike? It was too early to be sure before the body was sent back to the lab for analysis. That wasn't even the part that caught the majority of her attention, however. In fact, it was something that wasn't there that was now distracting her so thoroughly.

"Booth, where is the head of this victim?" Brennan asked, her eyes scanning the pit as she wondered if it was moved or if she'd merely missed it, not that it was a very small thing to just pass over.

"Good question- that's how we found the both the bodies. What do you make of it?" Booth asked from above her, staring down with his arms crossed and a look just short of disgust on his face.

In all honesty, Brennan wasn't quite sure what to think, not that she would admit to that until having a better look at the body back at the lab.

"Right now all I can tell for sure is that our victim is male, probably mid to late twenties and he was a runner." She began, bending over the bones again as a large stretcher was carried down to pack up the remains, "Cause of death may have been stabbing done with something large and round, like a pike."

"Or losing his head." Booth pointed out.

Brennan sighed and nodded, "That may have done it as well."

Dusting the dirt off of her jeans with her hand, she exited to pit to join Booth and watch the remains get placed on the stretcher, her analytical mind attempting to explain what she had witnessed. Separately, each injury could easily be the cause of death, but why would a killer use both? If the stabbing killed him, why decapitate him, or vice versa?

"So, back to the squints, then?" Booth asked, breaking her from her thoughts as he tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention, "Bones?"

"Yes," She nodded in agreement, tearing her eyes away from the scene and following him back to the SUV, "Hopefully we'll get more answers once the bones have been cleaned."

When there was no answer, sarcastic or otherwise, from her partner, Brennan paused and turned over to face him. He was standing almost completely still and keenly scanning the horizon where the tree line met the parking lot as though he were looking for something. However, as soon as he noticed her watching him, he shrugged lightly and directed her towards the SUV again with a gentle push to her elbow.

"Just thought I saw something for a second there- guess this case is already making my jumpy, huh?" He grinned, although she could tell he wasn't quite certain of his own words.

"Booth, if you see something you should go-" Brennan tried to cut in, halting in her tracks again. He would have none of it, however, and was quickly redirecting her yet again.

"The other agents have the scene under control. If there's anything here they'll find it- let's just get you back to your people and get this thing done with already."

Brennan sighed but didn't bother to argue, although she was dreading taking this body back to the Jeffersonian already. If an ex-army sniper was feeling 'jumpy' over this case, she had no idea how 'her people' would handle it.