They walked for about a half an hour. Bones was looking around, amazed at everything in the city. Suddenly, Booth stopped in front of a small motorcycle that was tied up to a street sign. He fiddled with the lock's combination until finally it clicked, and fell off. He grabbed a helmet and put it on, and then held out an extra to Bones. She reached out for it warily. He held on with one hand and forced her to meet his gaze.

"You have to trust that I'm not going to hurt you, Bones." He said, his voice soft and caring.

"Call me Temperance, or Tempe." Now Booth's smile was ear to ear. He held out his hand for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Bones." She rolled her eyes at him, ignored the handshake, and then glanced down at the bike enviously.

"Can I drive?" She asked.

"Nope. I'm the man, I drive." This got another eye roll.

"I'm perfectly capable of driving, Booth." She crossed her arms and stood nose to nose, challenging him. So she's not a pushover... he thought.

"Next time, Bones. Come on, Mum will be wondering where I am." They both hopped on the bike and Booth revved the engine. They took off, wind whipping their hair.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Ten minutes later, Booth pulled up to a small two-story house. It was a typical 'American Dream' house; white picket fence, Irish setter lounging on the porch out front, perfectly mowed lawn, slightly overgrown front flower garden, brick walkway leading up to a big red front door. Booth cruised into the open garage and parked the bike beside a large blue and white Buick.

"Dad!" he yelled. "I'm home!"

"Seeley! Go help your mother with dinner!" Came the muffled reply. Bones looked down and saw a pair of feet sticking out from under the Buick.

Booth bent down to see what his father was working on. "How's it going?" he asked.

"Don't worry, Seeley. I'm not touching anything. Just looking at what you've been doing to her. Great job on the engine, by the way." He replied.

"I'm refurbishing her." Booth explained at Bones' inquiring look.

"A '53, right?" She asked with interest.

Booth cocked his head at her while ushering her inside. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I know cars too. One-" she faltered. He put a hand on her back, encouraging. "One of my foster fathers worked as a mechanic, he taught me all about cars."

"Seeley! Who is this?"

Mrs. Booth had appeared in front of them. She was medium hight, and she had the same chocolate brown eyes that Booth had. Her hair was dirty blond, she sported a flour-covered apron, and she held a wooden spoon threateningly. Booth put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.

"Mum, this is Bon- Temperance. She's a friend. Can she stay for dinner?" Booth asked, almost nervously.

"Of course, dear. Seeley, please go out back and tell your brother dinner is ready."

"Yes, ma'am." He saluted. His mother gave him a slap to the back of his head.

"Don't be smart. Go get your brother!" Mrs. Booth walked back into the kitchen, leaving Bones and Booth alone again.

"Well, that's my mum; you met my dad; and the dog that was out front is the neighbor's dog, Philly. Let's go get my bother, he's in the backyard playing with Snap."

Bones looked at him curiously, and then followed him out to the large backyard. A tree in one corner had a rope swing, and there was a small kiddie pool in the middle of the lawn. A young man, a few years older than either of them, was currently attempting to towel dry a wriggling mutt. The man soaked and covered in bubbles. He was sitting in the pool and the dog sat on top of him, pinning him down.

Booth laughed before calling out, "Jared! Mom says dinner is ready!" The man and dog looked up. Bones estimated that he was in his early twenties. Booth snapped his fingers and said 'Come' and the dog came running.

Bones was trying to figure out what breed of dog Snap was, but it was impossible. He had ears that stood up half way strait, and then flopped over. His coat had every imaginable color, and his fur was long and flowing. His tail slightly corkscrewed, as if it couldn't decide whether to twist and flop over or to stand up strait. He was about the size of a lab, but had long legs. One eye was blue, one green. Bones laughed in spite of herself, this dog was such a mix, and he was so ugly he was cute. She petted his damp head shyly.

"Hello, Snap. Can you sit?" she asked the mutt. He cocked his head and remained standing. Booth snapped his fingers and said 'Sit!'. Snap sat.

"When we say 'Snap' we mean it literally. It's all he will answer to, and we can't say our dog is named-" he snapped his fingers, "- So we just call him Snap. As you can tell, he's a mutt."

Jared had joined them. "Who's this, Seeley?" he asked, gesturing to Tempe.

"Bones, Jared. Jared, Bones. I'm hungry, let's go get dinner!" Seeley took off for the dining room with Snap hot on his heels, Bones and Jared remained standing. Jared held out his hand.

"I'm Jared." They shook hands.

"I'm Tempe. Booth just insists on calling me 'Bones'." When she got a confused look, she added. "Ask him where it came from." They set off for the dining room/living room and found Booth carrying food to the table. Went up the set of stairs to change into something dry. Ten minutes later, everyone was seated. Bones was observing the family with interest.

Booth's father had startlingly blue eyes, and the bright smile that seemed to run in the family. He was tall with dark brown hair, and his white t-shirt was covered in grease stains from working on the Buick. Mrs. Booth had taken her apron off and was currently fussing over Jared's hair.

It was comforting for Bones to be in such a 'homey' setting. As she helped herself to mashed potatoes, she felt Booth nudge her arm.

"You ok?" he whispered softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She went back to eating, and before she knew it, the dishes had been cleared and everyone was starting in on the apple pie. Once dessert was over, Booth and Tempe were the only ones left at the table.

"You want to stay tonight? I know that you don't have anywhere else to go..." She bit her lip.

"I... thank you for the offer, but-" she stuttered.

"Please, Bones? I don't want to just send you out onto the street..." Their eyes locked, deep blue challenging dark puppy dog brown. She sighed and smiled at him.

"Ok, just for tonight."

"MUM!" Seeley hollered. His mother popped her head around the kitchen door.

"What, dear?" she asked, a soapy dish in her hand.

"Tempe is going to stay the night, she can sleep in my room, I'll take the couch."

"Ok. Tempe, darling, can you come help me with these dishes please?"

"Sure, Mrs. Booth."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Tempe was drying the dishes while Mrs. Booth washed them. After a few minutes, Mrs. Booth asked "So, Tempe, how did you meet Seeley?" As she was stuttering for an answer, Booth came skidding into the kitchen.

"Bones, can you come help me with something?" She visibly sagged with relief and allowed Booth to usher her out of the kitchen.

"Sorry about Mum, she's kinda nosy. Come on, I'll show you my room." Booth smiled as he heard her mumbled 'Thanks'. He lead her up the stairs and to the door on the right.

The room didn't look as she had expected it to. She had expected posters of hot, leggy blonds and crazy rock bands, and a lot of clutter. At least that's what her brother's room had looked like.

Instead, the room had a twin bed against one wall, and a couch against another so that they formed a right angle. A Pittsburgh Steelers coffee table sat in the middle of the room, and an amour with a small TV and various DVDs sat parallel to the bed. A boom box sat on the coffee table and a collection of Cd's were neatly stacked on a rack next to it. The walls were painted a dark forest green and were decorated sparsely with family pictures. She looked closely at one and saw a young Booth playing with a puppy version of Snap.

"Nice room." She commented.

"You can have the bed, I'll sleep on the couch." He said, taking her bag and plopping it down on the bed.

"That's ok, I'll sleep on the couch-" She started.

"Bones." He said firmly. "Just let me be nice, ok? I really don't mind. I sleep on the couch most nights anyway."

"Why?" She asked.

He motioned for her to come and stand next to the window. When she was next to him, he pointed out it and down. She looked and saw blocks of wood nailed to the side of the house, forming a crude ladder down to the ground. She raised her eyebrows at him and he grinned.

"I sneak out at night and wander around. Tonight I can show you this really cool place I found last week. I usually get back late and just collapse onto the couch." He explained.

"What are you going to tell your mother about me?" She asked, shifting around nervously. He pretended to be deep in thought for a moment and then started out the door.

"Be right back."

She watched him leave, and then sunk down onto the bed, smoothing her hands over the soft fabric of a homemade quilt. What a nice family... she thought.