A/N: Glad you guys are liking this story. Here's Chapter 8, hope you like it. It's kinda fluffy.

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Temperance listened as Booth rummaged through her bathroom in search of God knew what. She couldn't believe she had called him. It was funny how quickly old habits came back. She had needed help and her first instinct had been to call her old friend. And, just as he had done before, Booth had come to her rescue. She could still see the look of worry on his face when she had opened the door, only dressed in PJ pants and a tank-top, tears trailing down her face, eyes bloodshot.

"It's Seelia." She had whispered. "She just won't stop crying."

The baby's screams could be heard from somewhere in the apartment. Booth had only nodded and stepped in the apartment, later disappearing down the hallway and into the screaming baby's bedroom.

This had happened fifteen minutes ago. Now, Temperance sat on her couch, a blanket thrown over her to keep her from shivering, and waited. She waited for Booth to come back and demand answers from her. Because she knew he would, she knew he would find them. Nothing ever escaped him. Never.

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The cries pierced his eardrums and Booth was probably sure it would be deaf by the time he found what was wrong with his friend's daughter. He walked in the bathroom and immediately began to look for diapers but soon found that there was none. Did Temperance keep them here or in the baby's bedroom? He walked back to the room and set the baby back in her crib, making her cries rise once more. He rummaged through the room but found nothing. Where were the diapers? He had tried soothing the child back to sleep, had tried feeding her but Seelia had simply refused to eat. The only thing left he could think of was her diaper. He wondered if Bones had even though about it.

Give her a little credit. She's been raising this baby on her own for four months, she must know what she's doing.

Yet, as Booth looked around the room for diapers, he wondered if Temperance may have overlooked this aspect.

He finally found the half-empty diaper bag under the changing table. Fetching the baby from her crib, he set her on the table. The child screamed at the loss of human contact and Booth began to wonder if the baby just didn't simply want to be held. Pushing that thought aside, he undid the baby's PJ and open his diaper. Empty.

I knew it.

His eyes settled on tiny red spots scattered across the baby's area. Booth sighed in relief. Seelia had a rash, a pretty bad one at that, and it was probably what had been bothering her. Booth put back the diaper and grabbed the child.

He found his partner in the living room, at the exact same spot he had left her only minutes earlier.

"Do you have any cream?"

"Yeah. In the medicine cabinet."

Booth nodded before walking back to the bathroom. With one arm holding the young child against him, he opened the cabinet and began looking through it. Toothpaste, toothbrushes, shaving cream, and razors greeted him. His eyes scanned the cabinet in search of cream. He finally found some and grabbed the tube.

Setting the baby down on the counter beside the sink, Booth quickly undressed the child and took off her diaper. He squeezed a bit of cream into his hands and applied it to the infected region. Seelia's cries immediately stopped. She hiccuped a few times before stopping completely.

"Is that better?" Booth asked her, smiling tenderly at the baby in front of him.

As if in response, Seelia smiled at him and squealed softly. Booth grinned as a warm feeling spread inside of him. He put on the diaper once more, redressed her in her PJ and brought her back to her room. He kissed her head lightly before setting her back in her crib. The baby smiled once more before closing her eyes. Booth was pretty sure that by the time he turned off the light and walked out of the room that Seelia had already fallen asleep.

He went back to the bathroom to clean up. He screwed back the cap of the tube and was about to put it back in the cabinet when a pink bottle grabbed his attention. Frowning, he set the tube down and reached over for the bottle. His heart nearly stopped when he saw the name of the medication. In an instant, everything began to make sense. Putting the tube and the bottle back in the cabinet, Booth then walked out of the bathroom.

Temperance looked up at him the second he walked in the living room. She tried reading him but found that she couldn't. If he had seen the antidepressants in the cabinet, then he was hiding it pretty well.

"She's asleep."

Temperance nodded.

"Thank you."

Booth sat down beside her on the couch.

"So are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Temperance asked, innocently.

"Tell me why you broke down and called me?"

Temperance shrugged.

"Why not Jake? He seemed to be Seelia's appointed babysitter."

"You're the first person I thought of."

A smile tugged at Booth's lips.

"Well I'm glad you did."

Temperance nodded.

Booth examined her for a second. She looked tired, even more tired than she had looked the previous day at the Bureau. Her eyes were still red from all the crying she had done. His thoughts shifted to the bottle of antidepressants in the medicine cabinet and curiosity got the better of him.

"You know," he said, clearing his throat, "the third shelf of a medicine cabinet isn't the best place to store medication, especially since Gavin is tall enough to reach it."

No reaction. He tried again.

"Aren't you going to tell me about them?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Temperance lied.

"Bones, don't play dumb with me. I saw it. I saw the bottle of antidepressants in your bathroom. Either you be honest right now or else..."

Temperance looked at up at her friend, defiantly.

"Or else what?"

Booth smiled.

"Or else I'll tickle you until you blurt out that you're depressed and that's why you're taking meds."

"I'll admit no such thing."

"Fine then. You asked for it."

As he began to tickle her, Temperance let out a small shriek. She begged her friend to stop but her begging fell on deaf ears. The tickling intensified and in the middle of the attack, Booth managed to bring his former partner on her back. He watched in amusement as Temperance twisted beneath him, begging him to stop. Tears (of joy he hoped) began trailing down her face and she was breathing heavily. Finally stopping, he grabbed her wrists and pinned her down.

Temperance felt her heart stop beating as she watched Booth hovering over her. She could feel the warmness of his breath on her face. Her throat suddenly began to feel dry. His eyes stared down at her, searching her eyes for the truth she kept hidden far inside. In that instant, she felt like everything was how it was back in Washington.

"My doctor prescribed me medication about a month after I gave birth to Seelia for postpartum depression."

"Only for postpartum depression? Your partner's death has nothing to do with this?"

At the mention of her partner's death, Temperance felt the tears shoot to her eyes. A few managed to escape.

"So it's because of him you're like that?"

She struggled a bit but managed to push her friend off of her. She sat back up and violently wiped the few tears that had escaped. Without looking at Booth, she answered him.

"Let's just say his death doesn't help."

She looked briefly at him and saw the concern look his eyes often took back in Washington and suddenly she felt better. Sighing in relief, she wiped a few more tears before forcing a smile.

"Thank you for coming over."

"You're welcome." Booth replied, never taking his eyes off of her.

He could tell, simply by her reaction, that her partner's death had affected her more than she was letting him know and had turned her into something Booth thought she would never be able to be. He realized, in that instant, that the Temperance Brennan he had met years ago had changed drastically. Right now, as he watched her wipe her tears with the blanket, he knew that the change hadn't been for the better.

She turned to face him and their eyes locked. Booth felt himself drown in her sadness and began to feel her pain as if it were his own. He slowly reached over and grabbed her hand. She jumped, startled.

"I don't know what happened, Bones, but I just hope you'll feel better soon."

Temperance swallowed as Booth began to rub tiny circles on the top of her hand.

"Thanks."

Temperance tried to stifle a yawn, without luck. Booth let go of her hand.

"Come on, let's get you to bed. You're tired and you need your sleep. I'll take the couch. You go sleep in your bed."

"I won't sleep. Seelia is going to wake up in an hour."

"Not tonight. Tonight, you'll sleep because I'm here. I'll take care of Seelia when she wakes up."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

The two friends got to their feet simultaneously. Pulling her into his arms, Booth kissed her softly on the forehead.

"Good night." He said as they both stepped back.

Temperance nodded.

"Good night."

She was about to step into the darkness of the hallway when she came to a stop and turned around.

"Why are you so nice to me? And don't tell me it's because I help you catch bad guys because I don't anymore."

Booth smiled as he thought back to the first she had asked him that very same question. But this time, he would tell her. He would tell her the real reason why he was always so nice and compassionate with her.

"I missed you too much over the last two years, Bones. And while I was depressing because I couldn't see you anymore, you were going through some really rough times. If only I had known that, I would have flown to L.A. way before I did. Now that I'm here, I intend on helping you get better."

"You don't have to do that, Booth."

"Sure I do. The person you've become isn't you. What kind of partner would I be if I didn't stand by your side while you try to get back on your feet?"

"We're not partners anymore, Booth."

"You'll always be my partner, Bones. Always."

Temperance nodded.

"There's an extra pillow in the pantry."

"What about a blanket?"

"Just use that one." She replied, pointing the blanket she had been recently wrapped in.

"You really think I'll use the blanket you snotted on?"

"I didn't sn... There's another one in the pantry."

Booth chuckled. Temperance rolled her eyes. On that, she turned around and went to her room.

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I just couldn't resist the tickle attack. Sorry :-( lol