**First, as always, thanks for the reviews! Sorry for the delay in updating...been busy with school and all that jazz. (coughcough...I might update faster if I had the proper motivation (AKA more reviews!) coughcoughcough) :) This chapter has a little fluff and they open a can of worms in the case they're working on. Some slightly more adult scenes may happen soon ;) Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy!
"Are you serious that we need to go back to Jersey, because this is NOT the time to joke with me," Booth warned, pacing in her office. Driving three more hours was about the last thing he wanted to do.
Brennan nodded as she sat on the edge of her desk, eyeing Sweets across the room. "If you let someone else go talk to him, then have to go back to arrest him, he won't be there when it's time to arrest him," Sweets said as he sat on the couch. "It will go easiest if you go, confront him, and arrest him all in one sitting."
Booth glared over at the young psychologist. "How exactly do you know that?" he hissed.
"That's what I do, Agent Booth. And despite your lack of belief that I know what I'm doing…I actually do know a thing or two about sociopaths." Sweets raised his eyebrows, trying not to become frustrated.
"So what do you suggest that we do, Dr. Sweets?" Booth asked sharply. Brennan rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, knowing Booth was tired and worn down.
"Honestly, I say the FBI needs to go public. And I mean big." Sweets said, standing back up and pacing across the office. "Spread it around the media that this horrible crime is being investigated in DC because that's where you believe the murderer is. This guy…if he ever gets wind of you suspecting him, he'll be gone. If he thinks you're looking for someone in D.C., he'll relax more and go about his business."
"I think he's right, Booth," Brennan added with a shrug, trying to remain neutral. "We checked and Dr. Jack Rodgers has treated at least three of the patients, and probably the forth for osteoporosis. He has a boat, which is what Hodgins said was responsible for the metal flakes on the clothing. Patrick Riley's file said that he had complained about the work that Dr. Rodgers had done on him and his wife. It all lines up, Booth."
"I just don't get why we have to drive back to Jersey," Booth groaned, his head drooping.
Sweets turned on his heel, facing the sulking man. "Trust me on this, Agent Booth. Call Cullen and fill him in. Dr. Brennan, tell the rest of the Jeffersonian team that NONE of this leaves this building. Then, Agent Booth, call Whitney Stevens with the FBI. She handles all of the media information now."
Booth sighed and nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
"I'm going to go talk to Dr. Saroyan," Brennan said as she slid off of her desk and left the room. She didn't see Cam on the platform, so she headed for her office. "Dr. Saroyan," she called out as she knocked on the door frame.
"Come in, Dr. Brennan," Cam replied.
Brennan entered the office and saw Cam at her computer. "I need to fill you in on what is going on," Brennan told her as Cam turned her desk chair towards the anthropologist. "According to Sweets, we need to send false information to the media." Cam gave her a strange look. "He says that if this guy thinks we're after him, he's going to run. So we're going to tell the news stations that we're looking for someone in DC. Tomorrow morning, Booth and I will go back to New Jersey, find the guy, and confirm everything."
Cam nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll inform everybody that they cannot say a word about this." Brennan nodded, turning to leave the office. "Dr. Brennan," Cam called out, stopping Brennan in her footsteps. "After this case is over, everybody is taking a day off. No exceptions."
"Yes, Dr. Saroyan," Brennan agreed easily and left the room, returning to her office.
"What'd Cam say?" Booth asked, spinning around in Brennan's desk chair. She noticed that Sweets had left.
"She said that she understands and she will tell the Jeffersonian team to not say a word about anything. And that after the case is over, we all have to take a day off."
A nearly evil smile formed on Booth's face. "Cullen is handling the media," Booth told her. "So all we can do tonight is go home and sleep."
"Let's go, then," she told him and pulled her lab coat off of her shoulders, smiling towards Booth as she walked to the coat rack in the corner.
Booth pulled up to Brennan's building, parking his SUV. "What time do you want me here in the morning?" he asked, looking at the clock, then over to her. It was nearly 8pm as he stifled a yawn.
A simple smile formed on her face as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "I want you here now," she told him, pulling a grin from him.
"Are you sure?" he asked, his brown eyes staring into her deep blues. She nodded bashfully, still smiling, and opened the door, hopping out of the SUV. Booth followed suit, eventually meeting her at the back of the SUV.
As they walked towards the elevator, Brennan found Booth's hand with hers, smiling up at him as he looked down towards her. Stopping to wait on the elevator, Brennan pressed into his side, leaning her head against his shoulder.
In silence, they rode the elevator to her floor, walked to her door, and entered her apartment. Once inside, Brennan slipped her shoes off, still clutching Booth's hand, and quietly led him to the bedroom. As she took her jacket off and threw it across the chair beside the bed, Brennan walked up to Booth, falling into his arms almost immediately. "I love you," he said as he kissed the top of her head.
"I love you, too," she replied, looking up at him. Her eyes were electrifying as she softly smiled at him. "I'm going to change real quick," she said, pulling her outer shirt over her head.
"Whoa," Booth chuckled, turning around to give her privacy.
"Those pajama pants from the other night are folded in the bathroom," she said, lifting her tank top over her head. Booth shook his head as he left the room.
Once he was inside the bathroom, he shut the door as he loosened his tie. After shucking it, along with his jacket, button up shirt, and pants, Booth searched for the pajama pants she was talking about. He finally spotted them sitting on the counter, as if she was expecting him to stay the night again. He shrugged as he smiled. 'I think I can get used to the new Bones…' he thought to himself.
After he changed, Booth returned to the bedroom to see Brennan lying in the bed on top of the covers. She smiled at him as he flipped the light switch off and climbed into the other side of the bed. Once he was still, she curled up next to him as he pulled her closer. Looking up at him, she smiled. "Hey you," he whispered with a grin.
"Hey yourself," she replied, still smiling. He kissed her forehead and put his head back on the pillow. After a few silent moments, Brennan finally spoke up. "Booth…"
"Hmm?" He pressed his lips to her forehead again, and then looked down at her. He watched as her eyes ran across his chest, but never looked up at his face.
"I…I'm sorry about last year." Her voice was soft as she noticed her own body somewhat trembling.
He lifted her chin up, making her look at him. "It wasn't your fault, Tempe."
"But…I should've told you, Booth." His eyes slightly widened, thinking she was going to finally tell him what happened the year before. "And not let you find out through my father. I should've told you that I was seeing Sully again."
He brushed his thumb across her cheek as his heart rose back into his chest, catching a tear before it hit his shoulder and sighing as he realized that she wasn't telling him anything new. "You seeing him again wasn't any of my business. And that doesn't have anything to do with why I snapped that day."
"Are you sure?" she asked, her blue eyes watering even more.
"Positive. I had a lot of things going on. And that's not any excuse for me blowing up the way I did, but I swear, it didn't have anything to do with you seeing Sully again."
"What was the reason then?" Brennan was confused.
Booth took a deep breath and let it out, running his hand through her soft hair. "That was after all the Hannah bullshit," he told her.
"I know that." Brennan's eyebrows came together as she tried to figure out what he was saying.
"The day before I snapped at you, I found out that Hannah…" he squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again, "was seeing another guy." Yes, he was over Hannah, but it still stung a little.
Brennan slowly lifted her hand up and ran a finger across his jawline. "I'm sorry, Booth," she told him.
"That wasn't even the worst of it," he told her. "I also found out that she was…um…engaged to the other guy."
"Are you serious?" Brennan asked, propping herself up on her elbow, her voice louder than usual. "That hypocritical bitch!" Booth chuckled and slid his thumb back and forth over her bare shoulder. After pausing a moment, watching Booth as he shook his head, she finally asked, "Why didn't you tell me that a year ago? You always used to tell me everything."
"It was just all…all crumbling at the same time, Bones. I was convinced that nobody would ever want what I had to offer. All I knew was that I needed a break from it all. I took some time off to focus on me and my life. I got to spend a lot of time with Parker, which was a major bonus."
Brennan's eyes were fluttering open and shut as she tried to listen. "Why don't we go to sleep, Bones," he suggested, brushing his hand across her hair. She nodded, finally letting her eyes close. "I love you," he whispered as he kissed the top of her head.
"Love you, too," her soft voice was barely loud enough for him to hear, but it caused him to smile, nonetheless. After he pulled her closer to him, Booth let out a deep breath and followed Brennan as he fell asleep.
As sunlight crept through the blinds across the window, Booth's eyes slowly opened, squinting at first to block out the light. Looking down, he saw Brennan still in his arms, not having moved much since the night before. 'I'm so lucky,' he thought to himself, watching her chest rise and fall.
He glanced over at the clock, seeing that it was nearly 7am, and by the time he looked back down, a pair of clear blue eyes were staring up at him. "Good morning," he whispered with a grin as he pressed his lips against her forehead. Brennan groaned, burying her face back in his chest making Booth chuckle.
After a few minutes of just rubbing her back, Booth smiled as she lifted her head up, this time slightly smiling. "You awake now?" he asked as he laughed softly.
"Morning," her voice was raspy as she pressed her lips to his. "I don't want to go to New Jersey again," Brennan groaned, stretching out her arm across his chest.
"Oh yeah you do," Booth told her with a grin.
"I don't understand…" Her eyes widened as his grin got bigger.
Kissing her forehead again, Booth chuckled. "Just trust me. You want to go this time."
"All we're going to do is drive three hours there, get the bastard, and drive three hours back here," she argued.
"You need to pack an overnight back," he whispered, pressing his lips against her temple, kissing his way down to her neck.
A small moan left her lips as he found her collarbone. "Maybe I do want to go back," she murmured, rolling herself even more into his body.
"Told you so," he nagged with a soft laugh, his breath warming her skin. As he nipped at her skin gently, Brennan ran a hand up his bare back until it grasped a handful of his short hair. "Bones," he groaned as she slid her hand down his chest, tracing over his rigid muscles, "Bones…we need to get ready and leave."
"Nuh uh," she disputed, tugging at his neck as her lips found his skin. "You have to finish what you started," she breathed heavily, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end.
Giving into her pull, Booth rolled to where he hovered over her barely-covered chest, craning his head down to crash his lips into the soft exposed skin. A gasp escaped her lips as her blue eyes rolled back every time he ran his teeth across her collarbone. As he ran a hand down her side and back up, he bunched her tank-top up as he did so, grasping at anything he could get his fingers on.
While tracing her visible skin with his lips and fingers, Booth was suddenly jolted out of the mood by his cell phone ringing. "Dammit…" he groaned, lifting his head up to look down at Brennan.
"You should get that," she told him with a grin. He shook his head and rolled off of her, reaching for his phone.
"Booth," he answered out of breath.
"Seeley," Cam's voice on the other end sounded rushed. "Are…are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Camille. What is it?" Brennan rolled to her side, grinning up at Booth as she moved her lips to his bare chest. His eyes fluttered shut as he breathed deeply, wanting to keep his voice steady to avoid Cam finding out what was going on.
"Cullen just called to tell me that our suspect is withdrawing money from his bank accounts. He said that you need to leave within the hour in case the bastard tries to go anywhere."
"Thanks, Cam," he told her, gripping a handful of Brennan's hair as her fingertips traced his arm. "We'll be leaving soon."
Ending the call, Booth slid his phone back onto the nightstand. "We have to leave, don't we?" Brennan asked, resting her chin on his chest.
As he looked down into her blue eyes, he sighed. "Rodgers is showing signs of running. We need to get ready and head to New Jersey."
With a sigh, Brennan nodded and sat up in the bed, Booth following suite. "You promise we'll finish this later?" she asked, a meek smile on her face.
"Absolutely," he assured her as his lips met hers before he climbed out of the bed.
"Booth," she called as he approached the doorway.
"Hmm?" he asked, returning to her side of the bed and sitting on the edge.
Brennan smiled as she leaned over to him. "I love you," her voice was soft as she kissed him again.
"I love you, too, Temperance. More than you know."
"Where are we going first?" Brennan asked, slightly stretching inside the SUV.
"Well," Booth started, looking around for the right street to turn on, "We're going to his office first. If he's not there, we'll head to his house. We've got guys sitting on both places, but he's MIA at the moment."
"So…we haven't even started chasing him, but we've already lost him?" she asked pessimistically.
Booth rolled his eyes behind his dark sunglasses. "We haven't lost him, Bones. We're…just not exactly sure where he's at right this moment." Looking up at the building in front of them, Booth shuttered. "This is a doctor's office? It looks more like a crack-house in the ghetto."
Chuckling, Brennan opened her door after he pulled into a parking spot. "Let's go…" she called out, a few steps ahead of him. Booth followed her, taking a few extra steps to catch up to her in time to open the door for her. She shot him a glance as she walked in, deciding not to protest.
"Can I help you?" a lady behind the front desk asked.
"Uh, yeah…" Booth told her, reaching for his badge. "I'm Special Agent Booth of the FBI, this is Doctor Temperance Brennan. We need to see the good doctor," he said, thick with sarcasm.
"Dr. Riley is in surgery right now," she said with a confused look.
Brennan's eyes widened. "In this building?" she asked, scared that he was actually operating in the slimy conditions that the building was in.
"No, over at Saint Mary's Hospital on Ash Street."
"Okay, Miss…"
"Jessica Martin," she filled in.
"Miss Martin, here is a warrant," he handed her the paper, "We need files on these four people, along with any files that have complaints documented in them."
She nodded, backing away from the desk. "Give me a minute and I'll pull them for you."
"How many others do you expect will be added to our list?" Brennan asked, looking up into Booth's brown eyes.
"If this guy's as big of a sociopath as Sweets says," he told her with a sigh, running a hand gently across her back, "Probably more than we imagine."
"Here you go, Agent Booth," the lady returned, handing a stack of files to him.
"Geez, there have to be twenty files here!" he complained as she nearly threw them into his arms.
She looked up, pointing behind her with a thumb. "Uh, there are more coming," she informed him.
Booth's eyes widened as he turned to look at Brennan, her eyes narrowing. "How many more?" she asked.
"Well," the redhead told them, "Most of our files were damaged in a water accident three years ago."
"Convenient," Booth mumbled, earning an elbow from Brennan into his side.
"But we have all of the files that were salvageable from then plus all the ones that have happened since then. So, I would guess around two or three thousand in all."
"And how many with complaints?" Brennan asked, taking half of the files from Booth's arms.
The lady sighed, tilting her head slightly. "I would estimate around five hundred." Booth and Brennan's jaws dropped. "What exactly are you two investigating?" she asked, popping her gum.
"Murder," Booth replied, not sure of how to handle that many possible victims. The woman stopped smacking her gum as her green eyes got as big as half-dollars.
"But…Dr. Riley would never do such a thing! He's a sweetheart!" she took up for him.
Booth rolled his eyes. "We'll be the ones to determine that, Miss Martin. For now, do you have a room we can start checking these in?" Brennan's heart stopped, just knowing that they were going to be looking through files for hours. She wanted to know what Booth had planned for that night, but with five-hundred files to go through, his plans would never have a chance to happen. "Let's go, Bones," Booth called out behind him, noticing she was in the same position as she was in before he walked away.