Another chapter! Okay, I'm going to try to update atleast every Sunday, so you can expect the next chapter in a week. (hopefully...)

Well, enjoy!

He watched her calmly from a short distance away, his gaze occasionally drifting to keep an eye on that creep Thomson. He didn't care if the guy was doing a decent job or not. He didn't care if the guy gave them some miraculous evidence that put the criminal away singlehandedly. He cared that this guy had bothered her in the past, and that he was here again with an apparent dislike towards her.

But, as he'd promised, he was going to behave. He was just going to watch very, very observantly, and act discretely, without her knowledge if necessary, to resolve any issues that might arise.

He could tell that this guy was worried by his presence. Whenever he'd looked up, after all, Booth had been staring at him. Not glaring, not intimidating... just staring calmly. And he knew from experience that that alone could be enough to scare somebody. Good, he thought. This guy was going to learn a lesson, and when Hodgins got back he was never going to show his face anywhere near D.C. ever again.

But he couldn't keep his eyes off of her for long. She'd pulled her hair up into a tight ponytail and she was bent over the evidence table closely studying some aspect of the skeleton. She was facing him, even though her eyes were lowered at the moment, and he smiled softly as he watched the look on her face, filled with such concentration and total focus that he knew she wasn't even aware of anything else but the body before her.

He was fine with that... he knew that where she was right now she was safe and enjoying herself, fully in her element. That was enough to make him happy, knowing that she was content. And while she wasn't focusing at all on anything around her, he decided to simply turn his back on the Thomson creep. No need to bother with him when he most certainly wasn't bothering her. Why waste the energy when it was much more enjoyable for him to keep his eyes on something far more beautiful?

She leaned forward a bit, and her shirt's neck fell down a little, not revealing much since she didn't wear many low necked tops, but dragging his entire attention to the small golden piece that dropped out from under the fabric and hung lose, almost touching the table.

A soft smile spread wide across his features as he realized exactly what it was. She was wearing the necklace... had she always been? Or did she just start recently? He hadn't even noticed it, hadn't even seen it at all since he'd given it to her that night. He grinned wider as he realized that his first assumption was probably accurate. She would do that, wouldn't she? Wear it but not show it off... keep it close but hidden.

He considered pointing it out to her, and teasing her lightly about it to see if, just maybe, she'd blush, but he thought better of it at the moment. She wasn't even in the same universe as him at the moment, and he didn't want to spoil it. Maybe he'd bring it up sometime later when they were at the diner or driving to interrogate some new witness.

His head tilted slightly to the side as his focus slid to other thoughts, his eyes still on her but his mind slightly elsewhere. They hadn't really had any actual dates since being forced by Angela, and he wanted to change that. Sure, there had been plenty of trips to the diner, and late nights doing paperwork with Thai food, but no fancy restaurants, no trips to the movies, nothing like that. He frowned at his own lack of creativity, wondering if she'd want that sort of thing, or if she was happy with how things were going right now. She seemed happy... but she deserved the all-out date experience at some place he couldn't afford. Maybe that would be just the thing for this weekend... they could do something enjoyable Friday night instead of hanging out here at the lab until nine like she liked doing so much.

A grin formed on his lips and he chuckled quietly to himself as he pictured what her face would look like when he told her they were going to go somewhere nice. She probably wouldn't be too ecstatic, knowing her as he did, but she'd probably agree anyways because she was usually up for anything he wanted to do, and he was pretty sure she had learned a lot throughout the years about letting herself just go along. She was more understanding of the concept that she might not look forward to something, but it could still end up being a great evening anyways.

She didn't even look up at the sound from him, which didn't really surprise him. He just shook his head at her oblivious form, still smiling in his amusement.

"Hello Agent Booth," Nigel greeted him in a cheerful voice. Booth got the feeling he wouldn't have said anything at all if he hadn't been in the kid's way. He tilted his head in greeting, then slid to the side so the grad-student could get his tray of cleaning instruments past. Nigel nodded his thanks quickly and then joined Bones over next to the body. She finally pulled herself back to reality as he stopped the tray next to her, and she began instructing him to clean the wounds she'd found.

"Do you have anything yet, Dr. Thomson?" she asked, her tone very near condescending as she turned to stare emotionlessly at the entomologist.

"I'll let you know when I do," he answered levelly, not looking up. Booth was impressed that he kept any hostility out of his voice. The man learned fast, apparently. Bones swung her head back around to focus on Nigel and the cleaning of the skeleton.

"Cause of death, yet, Bones?" he questioned, coming away from the railing to lean over the table, his hands resting on the sides.

She glanced at his hands, and he quickly removed them. "Stabbing," she answered, indicating some markings on the ribs that he could barely even make out. "Cam's going to see if she can figure out how to work the Angelator so we can compare scenarios and possible weapons. If our temporary help gets anything done today, we might be able to narrow it down from the particulates I gathered before we began the cleaning process."

Booth nodded, recalling the short visit Cam had paid the lab area for an update a few minutes ago. So that was why she'd looked none-too-pleased when she'd left. Trying to figure out the complex machine wasn't likely to be an easy task, especially for someone who got as easily frustrated or impatient as he knew Cam could.

His attention slipped back into thoughtfulness, reflecting once more on the past few months and how far things had come, as her own attention headed back to the bones rather than him. He resumed his position against the railing.

She'd come a long way, a very long way, given all that she'd had to get through. She was getting stronger with each passing day, though, that much was quite clear. He'd watched the change, and every time he looked back it was harder and harder to imagine her ever being as vulnerable and terrified as she had been in those days following her release from the hospital. He hadn't seen a single tear in her eye in well over a month now, and that fact alone was enough to make him smile like an idiot.

Her smile had improved too, to the point that when she'd look at him over the table at the diner he'd almost forget what they were talking about just because of the glow in her eyes and the wide grin she'd give him, or the way she sounded when she laughed with him. She was still Bones, she always would be, but this... was different from the Bones she'd been before all of this had happened. She'd hardened again, but this time he was fully within the shell, along with all her other friends, and she was keeping them close rather than pushing them away. There were some days when he could tell she was more distant than he'd like, but they worked through them. Some mornings she'd wake up confused or shaking, but it was less and less frequent, and not at all in the week leading up the wedding. He had a feeling she'd been so tired from all the work she'd put in helping Ange that she'd slept more soundly than she had any other time.

Ange and Hodgins... well he knew she missed them, knew that she didn't feel completely at home here without their presence, but with the murder case and himself around he knew they'd get through this hardship too. And no doubt she'd strengthen from this as well, not that she wasn't already fully able to stand on her own two feet and take down anyone who said she couldn't.

But he was still worried about her, despite all that. He couldn't help but feel concerned whenever he left her side... it was just that the thought that it could be the last time he ever saw her was always present. Kenton, the Gravedigger, Jake... or even if he was the one who got kidnapped. He felt as though they'd almost had all their time stolen from them, and that it could so easily happen again...

What if they didn't have all the time in the world to be together? What if something happened, despite all his promises to her that he would never leave her again? He couldn't stop death if it really was coming for him, but the terror of losing her, or of leaving her in pain again, was truly overwhelming.

Mostly he tried not to think about it, but the words he'd said to Sweets all that time ago when he'd told her to wait outside before going back were still reverberating in his mind.

"Listen, Sweets, what you said before..."

"About which part?"

"Marriage," he hissed, lowering his tone even further. Sweets grinned like a little kid who'd just said 'I told you so,' and Booth barely refrained from smacking him on the head. "You said that you think, personally, that Bones and I..."

Sweets hesitated, but with a glare from Booth he quickly spoke up, "Yes, I'll stand by that, Agent Booth. From what I've observed... well it's a possibility that I don't think would end badly for either of you."

"And you think Bones would be able to function in a married relationship?"

"She adapts very quickly, and she'd just have to see that nothing really changes, overall. Um... are you planning on... proposing?"

"Shh, you idiot!" he hissed, glancing at the door in case she was anywhere near it. Luckily she wasn't, as far as he could see. "And that's none of your business. But thanks. And... uh, you can call me just Booth you know." The whole Agent title thing was getting a little old, even if he did enjoy the show of respect.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but don't let it go to your head; you're still twelve."

Sweets snorted a short laugh, and Booth quickly turned with a short wave. He stopped just before leaving, though, and turned back thoughtfully, having one last thing to say. "Oh, and Sweets... tell anyone about this conversation, and you will regret it for the rest of your life." He didn't stay long enough to see what must have been a nervous look upon the young man's face, but instead exited the office, rejoined Bones in the hall, and deflected her questions. No way he was telling her what he'd just discussed with the psychologist.

Of course he wanted to marry her... he couldn't really see his future any other way. He was never going to leave her, and he was certainly not going to lose her without a huge fight to get her back. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted to grow old with her, as the saying went. He smiled to himself as he wondered if she'd ever even heard that before. Probably not...

His attention went to her once again as he considered how she might react to such an idea. She didn't believe in marriage, and she had been far from shy about that fact, constantly attacking the idea of spending a lifetime with one person when it wasn't practical and such. But... she'd changed her mind about monogamy being ridiculous, he was pretty sure, after the whole situation with the deep-sea welder and the botanist. And she did love him; she'd said it enough times by now that he could never doubt it or the truth behind the words whenever she said them. She couldn't possibly think that they'd ever lose each other, except of course in her scientific way of saying nothing lasted forever and death was inevitable and such... but otherwise, she surely thought they wouldn't leave each other willingly.

He might be able to use all of that to his advantage, now that he thought about it. She would probably need a lot of convincing, and he was well aware that he'd need a list of the positives and the reasons why they should get married. She might be perfectly fine with just living together, and see no reason for anything official. He was almost afraid of the logical reasoning she'd use to refute his explanations.

And... sure, she'd be right about them being able to live together and be happy without being married... but he couldn't drop the idea of a wedding and taking her someplace wonderful for a honeymoon, and then that same image from his wishes of so long ago... with the small house away from all the murders, and the picket fence, and the kids playing in the yard...

One thing at a time though. If he was brave enough to suggest both marriage and babies at the same time he might as well be begging her to leave him and run back to the safety of being single and relying only on bones. Not that he thought she'd do that... not really... but the fear was still ever-present in his mind. There was always a slight chance that he might overestimate how much she could handle.

Now wasn't the time, though, to even consider a proposal of any sort. It was still too soon for anything like that, and Ange and Hodgins were only just married, and still on their honeymoon. Despite how amusing Angela's reaction would be if she got back to find them engaged, he shoved the whole concept out of his mind for the time being. A new one took its place, branching off from that idea a bit.

She'd been getting more and more insistent lately that she wasn't being fair to him, that he must have biological urges and that she should, as his girlfriend, be able to satisfy them. She was upset, he knew, that he was thoroughly denying all of it. She seemed so determined, though, that she was doing something wrong, and he knew that no matter how much he tried to comfort her against it, she still believed it.

He frowned, the smile he'd still had on his lips vanishing in an instant as his brow furrowed and he continued along that line of thought.

He wasn't going to sleep with her, in the non-literal sense, since they'd technically been sleeping in the same bed for months, until he was absolutely certain she could handle it. There was no way he was pressuring her, or giving in to her own concerns, unless it was because she wanted it. And even if she told him she did, he wasn't buying it. She was so easy to read that he could tell the idea still frightened her a bit.

Now if only she'd understand that he could care less about biological stuff when her welfare was in the picture. That she was safe was his number one concern; it always had been, and it always would be. And there was no way he was going to be the one to make her unsafe.

"I've got something," a voice from behind him announced dully. He turned to look at the fill-in entomologist, who had a hand resting on the side of the microscope he'd apparently just been looking into. "It's the fragments collected from the largest stab wound," he added, addressing his words to Bones.

She nodded and came around to his station. Booth followed her, and stood on the opposite side of the microscope, watching her face as she peered in.

"This was the sample collected from the T6 vertebrae?" she asked, not looking up.

Thomson nodded, then, realizing she couldn't see him, said, "No, from the ribs; the deepest wound." Booth snorted softly to let him show his stupidity had been fully noted. Thomson sent a glare at him, but turned his attention quickly back to her.

She nodded slightly, finally pulling her eyes away from the microscope and straightening up to look at them both, frowning slightly. "That is very... interesting."

"What? What's so interesting?" Booth asked slightly impatiently.

"Did you already look at the particulates gathered from the other stab wounds?" she asked the entomologist as if she hadn't heard him.

"Right before this one. No signs of this in that one."

"What is it?" he repeated, getting her full attention this time. Her eyes met his, concern and a bit of confusion shining in them.

"I'm... not sure. Can you run an analysis on that?" she questioned, her eyes flicking back to Thomson. He nodded and pulled the slide from the microscope. Finally she turned back to Booth. "It appears to be some sort of fabric strands... but they're sort of... wound around the larger fragments of metal and the particulates of dirt that were embedded in the bone. The weapon, probably a knife from what we know so far, forced them into the bone when it stabbed in... but the way they are..."

"What?" he asked once more, getting frustrated with the cliffhangers she was leaving him with.

"I think the bits of fabric came from the weapon," she finally answered.

Don't expect a whole lot of casework; sorry if anyone really enjoys that aspect. I'm just not very good with all the coming up with murder scenarios and evidence and such. So, what do you think of the idea of them getting married eventually? I think Booth has very good reasoning for it, but then again... I wrote his reasoning, so I'm not a very credible source of opinion, now am I? :)

Hopefully things will start to pick up soon. I'm trying to get back into the groove of writing this again, and so the chapters will most likely be longer the further we go. Thanks for reading!!