They had found the girl on the security tapes and sent the image off to FBI HQ to get identification. Jack Brithe's story had checked out, but Booth and Brennan still had no explanation as to why his card had turned up with the body. Dinner was short-lived, as Brennan had said that she had to get home, much to Booth's protest. He seemed to be enjoying Brennan's company as much as she was his. She couldn't stop thinking about how well they'd got on together. But, she promised to call Sully, and her loyalty had to be to him.
She arrived back at home late, 1:30pm, quite exhausted by her day. She had a few to drink at dinner with Booth and now her head was throbbing. He dropped her off at her apartment and offered to walk her up the stairs, but she declined, fearing that the drink would tell her to do things to Booth that she wouldn't usually do in a sober state. Drunken Temperance was severely different to sober Temperance, as she had first found out from Prom Night all those years ago. Since then, she had rarely had more than two glasses of champagne until tonight.
She stumbled through the door, locked it behind her and switched on the lights. Her apartment was how she left it – clean, tidy and normal. Sometimes coming home to an empty house was unnerving, especially after Howard Epps broke in so easily that time, but tonight she was just relieved.
She kicked off her shoes and reached for the phone, dialing Sully's number. He answered, "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me." She smiled.
"Oh, hey." He replied, seemingly happy to hear from her. "How'd it go?"
"Ok. Just another case." She shrugged, unwilling to admit that each dead body affected her more than she'd like.
"I know it's late, but have you eaten?" He asked, Brennan knowing what he was about to suggest and felt sort of glad that she had.
"Actually yeah, got dinner with Booth before he drove me home." She answered, grabbing an orange juice out of the fridge.
"That almost sounds like a date." Sully nervously laughed.
She headed to her bedroom. "Sully, I –" She stopped out of shock. Her bedroom was a mess. Everything was thrown off her tabletops, lamps broken, pillows ripped apart, her clothes scattered all over the floor; and on her bed, a note written using magazine letters stuck onto paper. She held her breath as she read it: 'Leave this case alone, or you'll be seeing me soon.'
"Tempy?" Sully's voice rang through the phone. She couldn't move for a moment, for fear that if she turned around she'd see the person who had infiltrated her personal space. "Tempy?"
"Sully, someone's been in my house." She whispered, more shocked than scared now.
"I'm coming over. Lock the door until I arrive." He hung up before she could say anything else; she just backed out of her bedroom slowly, listening intently for any sound that might alert her that the culprit was still there. The words on the note echoed in her mind: 'You'll be seeing me soon'. There was a still silence for a moment. Someone knocked at the door and she jumped, slowly walking to the door and looking through the peep-hole: Booth.
Opening the door, he said, "You left this in the car." He handed her jacket to her, noticing how scared and pale she looked. "Bones, what's wrong?" He stepped through the doorway, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Someone's been in my house. In the bedroom, it's all…" She trailed off and he took out his gun as he walked to the bedroom to see for himself.
He came back out again, though not quite as disoriented as Brennan. Before either could say anything, Sully crashed through the unclosed door. "Tempy, are you alright? The door was open and…" He saw Booth. "What are you doing here?"
"I was returning her jacket, she seemed upset, then I saw this on the bed." He held up the note for Sully to read. "You should see the bedroom, it's a mess."
Sully left Temperance's side to see for himself. "I was on the phone to him when I saw it." Brennan explained to Booth.
Sully returned and got out his cell. "I'll call the boys to pick this stuff up, there might be some prints telling us who did this." Sully spoke to 'the boys' on the other end and made the arrangements. "That takes care of that. Tempy, I think you should stay with me until this is sorted out."
"You shouldn't stay here until we catch this guy." Booth agreed.
"No psycho is going to chase me out of my own home." Brennan defied.
"Bones, it's too dangerous, you read the note, they may come back." Booth reasoned.
"Right, I can protect you at my place." Sully promised her.
"Actually Sully, whoever did this knows where Bones lives, so we should assume they know about you too, your house would be the next target. Bones needs to lay low, I know a place." Booth offered and Sully scoffed.
"And how would your apartment be laying low?" Sully argued, annoyed by the insinuation that he couldn't protect his own girlfriend.
"Guys, I don't need protecting." Brennan interjected.
"Yes, you do." Booth and Sully said in unison, then Booth turned to Brennan. "I really think you should come with me, I have a bad feeling."
There was a desperation in Booth's voice which made her say, "Ok." without even realizing it.
She faced Sully who looked hurt and dumbfounded as to why she didn't pick him. He gave Temperance a disappointed look and left silently, Brennan following after him out of her apartment.
"Sully." She called after him. He kept walking, but stopped on the staircase on the lower floor and turned to face her. "He's probably right, they would come for your house next if I wasn't at mine. You know that too, and the last thing I want is for you to get hurt."
Sully softened his gaze barely at all, considering what she said. "I'm just saying he could back off a little."
"He's my partner Sully, he's just looking out for me." She argued, a little confused at why Booth seemed to always come up in their conversation recently.
"It is not his job to protect you!" He almost yelled.
"Actually, it kinda is." She replied and met his hard gaze with hers.
"Tempy," He took a deep breath. "I think the Bureau should assign you another partner."
"What?" She took a step back, at first thinking it was a joke, but then caught his serious expression. "Why?"
"It's obvious his feelings for you are getting in the way of his job, putting both your lives at risk." Sully disputed, raising his voice a little.
"Booth doesn't have feelings for me, Sully, we're partners, he cares for me as a partner, and he watches out for me because he doesn't want anything to happen to me." Brennan retorted, slightly enraged by her boyfriend's attempt to control her life. "He's saved my life on numerous occasions, why would I want another partner?"
"I don't like you working with him." Sully confessed, then dropping his gaze. "Tempy, I want to get away for a while, a few months, maybe longer. And I want you to come with me." Temperance stayed silent, unable to form words. "And this is a one-time offer, because I need you to choose: him or me."
Temperance stared at him with disbelief. "Sully, you are my boyfriend, Booth is my partner, just what exactly am I supposed to choose?"
"Whether spending time with me takes president over spending time with him." Sully answered, his attitude calm.
"You're asking me to choose between my career and my boyfriend." Brennan stated, confused as to why he was doing this.
"No, I'm asking you to take some time off work for a well deserved holiday, and I'm asking you to leave Booth and everyone else behind." Sully answered.
"Sully, I…" Brennan started. "I can't leave my job."
"You mean you won't leave Booth." Sully stated, rolling his eyes. "Why are you so obsessed with him anyway?"
"I'm not, why are you so threatened?" Brennan challenged him, angry at the turn this conversation was taking.
"Oh, come on, Tempy, it's so obvious that he's in love with you. I saw it from the very beginning, but I chose to ignore it, hoping it wouldn't matter." He breathed. "But I see now, he influences you more than I do."
Temperance was stuck on everything Sully had just said, words were stuck in her throat and nothing was forming in her brain. "What?" She sputtered. "What?" She took a breath. "Booth isn't in love with me, that's ridiculous."
"Tempy, don't be blind. I've seen the way he looks and talks to you, and I've seen the way you look at him. You have never looked at me that way." Sully observed with a sigh.
"Sully, I don't look at him in any special way." She said, completely unaware of how convinced he was of this.
"Do you love me?" He clasped her hands in his. "Because I know I'm in love with you. But you aren't, I see it in your eyes. I just think we need to get away, start afresh."
"When are you leaving?" She asked, avoiding his prior question.
"Tuesday. On the boat." He answered. "Let me know. I love you." He kissed her hand, and she was too stunned to do anything but watch him leave the building.