So, I don't know how much stamina a forty year old (Booth is forty, right?) person has, but I hope that I've written his someone realistically. If not... it's TV Land, after all, and he seemed to be at it with Hannah at all hours of the day and this is his Bones, and there's got to be no aphrodisiac like her (for him, anyway)!

Chapter Eighteen: The Who in the File

The evening had passed by quietly – well, relatively quietly, if you discount Ella's non-stop talk. Booth had kept the girls entertained with stories and games, while Brennan, Al and Sarah had had quiet conversation over coffee. Now that the girls had gone to sleep, Booth joined Brennan on the couch, putting his arm around her.

Al grinned broadly. 'So, Temperance finally let someone into her heart, hey Booth?'

Booth looked at Brennan, smiling. He supposed that was a good way of putting it.

'It's physically impossible to let someone into their heart, Al.' Brennan said, before Booth could say anything.

There was a collective rolling of eyes.

'How's the case going?' Sarah asked, before adding, 'If we're allowed to ask that, that is?'

Booth smiled. They probably should go in to detail, considering that Al had been the prime suspect for so long.

'It's going... less than well at the moment. We're at dead end after dead end.'

Al smiled sympathetically. 'Well, you guys always catch the bad guy, right? You'll work it out in the end,'

Booth hoped so. He knew there was a first for everything, but he hated to admit defeat, and he wasn't about to do it here.

'Well, statistically, there is bound to be a case that we will eventually be unable to solve. It's actually anomalous that so far we haven't failed to solve a case.' She said, looking somewhat smug.

Booth shook his head. 'Don't jinx us, Bones!'

She rolled her eyes. 'You and your superstitions,'

Sarah and Al, again, looked rather amused by their antics.

'I can't believe you guys are still like this. I thought all the bickering was a release for sexual tension, or something,' Al said, grinning.

'That's an interesting theory, Al. Even if it's basis is in psychology. Maybe we just haven't been having sex long enough to have decreased the need for bickering yet?' She posited.

Booth coughed, giving Brennan a pointed look. She gave him a look back as if to say 'Whaaat?'

Booth was glad that Sarah and Al hadn't seemed to mind, instead just laughed quietly, before getting up as though Brennan's mention of sex had been a signal for them to leave.

'Good night, Seeley, Temperance,' Sarah said, smiling at them both as she left the room. Al just rolled his eyes before leaving.

As soon as they had left, Brennan drew in closer to Booth, smiling at him cheekily.

'Sorry Booth. I know you don't like discussing your sex life,' she said, leaning against him.

'Ours, Bones. Our sex life,' He corrected, grinning at the way it sounded despite his vague feelings of annoyance.

Ours.

'Yes, I suppose it is,' she said, interlocking her fingers with his, and planting a gentle kiss on his lips. He was struck by her tenderness, the delicate emotion behind her every move.

'You're beautiful, Temperance,' he said, smiling at her.

He'd expected her to say, 'I know,' or something along those lines, but instead, she just smiled.

They sat in silence for a moment, just sharing themselves with the other, before Temperance made the move to go downstairs.

'We should probably look over the files, you know. We need to have at least read them by tomorrow, don't you think?'

Booth knew she was right, but was hardly excited by the idea.

He gave her his puppy dog eyes and pulled her back down after she'd stood up, so that she was sitting in his lap. She laughed at him, rolling her eyes, attempting to get back up, but he had a firm grip around her.

'You know I can kick your arse, Booth,' she said, looking at him with a smile in her eyes.

'Doubtful,' he said, kissing her shoulder gently, before moving to her collarbone, and then her neck.

'Booth, we've got work to do,' she said, though she didn't sound too persuasive, due to the tiny, happy murmurs she kept making.

'Well you know how we haven't eased all this sexual tension yet?' He asked teasingly, running his hand up her exposed legs, before resting at the hem of her skirt.

'Yes?' she asked, almost grumpily, now that he'd gotten her all hot and bothered.

'We'll work much better if we satisfy it, just a little, don't you think?' he asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

She stared at him for a moment, not sure if she wanted to be stubborn with him and make him work just that little bit harder to convince her. But when his hand continued its path up her leg, she decided she didn't need any more convincing, after all.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Booth couldn't say that he was entirely surprised that she wasn't huge on snuggling. Sure, she'd cuddled up to him for a couple of minutes and basked in the after-sex glow, but before long she had put on his shirt and began leafing through the files that Martin had given them.

He sat and watched her for a moment, completely in love with the woman regardless of her overt lack of sentimentality. She amazed him with her warmth and her passion one moment, and awed him with her sense of commitment the next.

He smiled lazily as he sat back, feeling completely relaxed. Even with the case looming over their heads, it wasn't going to kill his mood.

Untangling himself from the sheets, he leaned over the side of the bed to grab his jocks, before turning to her.

'I'm surprised you're awake, Booth. You've got very good stamina, despite your-'

'I'm going to stop you there, Bones, before you call me old,' he said, kissing her on the neck before reaching over for the pile of papers that she wasn't looking at.

'I haven't found anything significant,' she said, turning another page. 'All this information seems to be just family history, there's nothing evidentiary about it.'

'It doesn't have to be evidentiary, Bones. We've got to figure out motive, and maybe an indication of a motive is in the family history. What have you found out so far about Paul?'

'Well, he's an average student from a medium income home. His mother died two years ago –'

'Well that could always screw up a kid...'

'And his father had a nervous breakdown,' she added, passing him the file.

'So... history of mental illness in the family, as well as some pretty traumatic events for the kid to deal with?' Booth clarified, reading over the information.

'His mother was a Doctor, too. Probably some pressure there to succeed intellectually.'

'She was a Doctor?' He repeated, looking over the very limited files on the boy's parents.

His mother had been attacked at the hospital she was working at by a patient, and the boy's father had witnessed the attack.

Why was the father there?

Booth started reading the man's file, and within a moment the reason became very clear.

The father was a nurse.

'Would you say that a nurse would have a good enough knowledge of the human body to have attacked the two victims in the way that you described?'

She nodded, a look of realisation on her face. 'More than enough knowledge,' she added, looking at Booth.

'But why?'

Booth shrugged. He really had no idea.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Booth had rung Martin, who said he'd make some calls in the morning to try and hurry through the DNA results. They'd be able to compare the results with Paul's DNA – if there were some identical markers in the pattern, then the case against Eric Wentworth would be set.

Booth placed the phone down on the bedside table, laying back, his hands behind his head.

Brennan remained sitting, a slight frown on his face.

'Why the frown, Bones? The case is in the bag,' Booth said.

She lay down next to him, resting her head on his chest.

'Just trying to figure out why,' she murmured, placing her arm around his waist and pulling him towards her.

He smiled. 'That's not really your thing though, is it?'

He felt her shrug, before she sat up to look him in the eye.

'People change,' she said, before giving him a kiss and trailing her hand down his body.

Grinning, he kissed her back.

They certainly do.

So, I spell 'arse' and 'Mum' like an Australian... because I am an Australian and if feels wrong to write it any other way! Sorry if it pulls you out of the story or whatever but... it's the way it is.

Hope you liked the chapter :)