AN: Sorry for the delay in this. I wasn't sure where I was going to take this story, but I figured it out now. Enjoy!
It had been a week since he'd kissed her. She'd been avoiding him ever since. In fact, she decided to take another trip back to Guatemala. Apparently this was her country of choice for avoiding awkward moments between them. Booth thought back to the last time she'd left him. He'd been trying to separate fact from fiction; his wife from his partner. He'd told her he was fine, told Sweets that he was fine, and so she left to go on a dig. But the truth was that he hadn't been fine. He had still felt like he was in love with her, and that feeling had never left.
Booth knew from that conversation they'd had last week that she was starting to feel the same way. She'd sort of admitted it… and then there was that kiss. It had started out soft and gentle and had ended with Brennan pinned against the wall and Booth trailing kisses down her neck. He'd pulled away and stared at her, her arms still pinned above her head. She returned his gaze before slipping away and heading all the way to Guatemala.
He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. Now he was just wondering if she would call him. She usually did the day before she left whatever country she was in, confirming a ride home from the airport. But he was normally the one to drop her off too and this time she had called on Angela for that task. Then his cell phone started ringing and he noticed it was her.
"Ready to come home already?"
He was answered with silence.
"Bones? Are you there?"
"Yes."
"Is something wrong?"
Silence.
"Bones?"
"Just…talk to me."
"About what?"
"Anything."
Something was definitely wrong. It couldn't be that she missed him so much, that she just needed to hear the sound of his voice, could it? No, of course not. That would be completely unlike her. So what was it then?
"Umm…Parker's school called me today telling me that he was pulling some girl's hair at recess."
"You know that could be a sign that he likes her."
"Yeah, I know that he does."
"From experience?"
"I did my share of pig-tail pulling back in the day if that's what you mean."
She was silent again.
"Seriously, Bones, what's on your mind?"
"My plane lands tomorrow morning at 10. I'll see you then."
"Wait I –"
It was too late. She had hung up on him. Booth couldn't figure out where he'd screwed up. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if the reason she was so upset was him.
~*~
Booth waited impatiently outside of gate B2 for her arrival. Her plane had been delayed, and the longer he waited for her, the more scenarios his mind was able to construct about what was really bothering her. Just as he considered the fact that maybe she'd met someone she liked better in Guatemala, he saw her brown curls bouncing out of the gate.
"Bones!" he called, waving her down.
Her blue eyes lit up immediately when she saw him and she abandoned her carry-on luggage to engulf him in a hug. He held her to him tight, wanting nothing more than to hold on forever. He wanted to tell her that he had missed her, but he was afraid of pushing her away.
"How was your trip?" he asked instead.
She remained silent, not moving out of the hug. Reluctantly, he moved away from her, trying to get a read off of her face. She was avoiding his gaze.
"Something is clearly wrong. Talk to me, Temperance."
At the mention of her first name, he head snapped up and her eyes finally locked onto his.
"I'm fine," she said, softly. "Just glad to be home."
Booth sighed dropping the issue…for now. Instead he moved on to another pressing topic.
"So then why did you leave?"
"I just…I had to."
"Because of me?"
"Booth –"
His phone chose that moment to go off. Try as he might to ignore it, the person calling was persistent.
"Hello?"
He followed Brennan as she wondered off to retrieve the rest of her luggage.
"We've got a body," he told her, hanging up his cell.
She sighed, hoisting her suitcase off of the baggage terminal.
"It all seems kind of pointless, doesn't it? No matter how many murderers we put away, more and more people continue to take innocent lives."
"Bones, what's gotten into you?"
"Nothing," she replied, heading towards the exit. "Can we stop by my place first so I can change?"
"Yeah. Sure."
Okay, something was definitely wrong.
~*~
"Radial fractures on the skull suggest cause of death."
"Why won't you talk to me?" Booth asked, coming up beside her.
"I am talking to you. I just told you that this man died by a fatal blow to the head," Brennan replied.
"I meant about your trip to Guatemala."
"It was warm."
"Bones…"
"One sec," she told him, answering her ringing cell phone. "Dr. Brennan."
"Did you like my gift?" asked the man on the phone.
"I'm sorry, who is this?"
"A fan. So did you like my gift?"
"What gift?"
"Answering a question with a question, you should know better than to do that Temperance."
"Who did you say this was?"
"Enjoy the gift," was the last thing he said before hanging up.
Brennan stared at her phone, confused.
"Who was that?" Booth asked.
"Good question."
"Dr. Brennan!" Nigel-Murray called. "I think you should come see this."
Booth and Brennan exchanged a look before walking back over to the remains. Nigel-Murray had one of the femurs under the microscope.
"Here, look at this femur," Nigel-Murray instructed.
Brennan looked into the eyepiece. What she saw shocker her. She backed away from the table, thinking about the strange phone call she had just received.
"What is it, Bones?" Booth asked.
"Someone managed to carve 'To Temperance' into this bone," she explained.
"With what?"
"I'm not sure. Mr. Nigel-Murray, get Hodgins to see if he can find any particulates in the carving that might suggest what it was carved with."
He nodded and went off to find Hodgins. Brennan turned to Booth.
"The guy who just called told me to enjoy the gift. I think it was the killer."
"Give me your phone," Booth told her. "Maybe we can trace the call."
She nodded and did so, looking bewildered.
"Don't worry, Bones. We'll figure this thing out, we always do."
AN: Sorry this was so short… Reviews are the key to my heart! ;)