Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the story alerts and reviews, and everyone else for reading - it really means a lot! Here's the next bit - it's a STRONG T this chapter, so please be warned! Thanks very much for reading.

The weeks seemed to fly past. Booth knew that he had done serious damage to their relationship with his actions, Brennan finding every excuse possible to spend as little time with him as she could. She refused to talk about anything other than work, keeping Booth firmly on the outside. Grimacing every time she gave him the cold shoulder, he went to apologise so many times, but could never come up with a reason for why he acted as he did without giving up his true feelings.

"Bones, where in the hell are you?" he asked, standing outside her apartment block in the cold as he bounced from foot to foot.

"What do you mean, I'm at home," she replied, gripping the phone between her shoulder and head as she moved some papers from her couch.

"Well, I'm at your home, and you're not there! We have a case!"

Brennan gulped, knowing she should have told Booth a long time ago, but somehow she just couldn't bring herself to start another argument. Underneath it all, she missed having her partner around all the time.

"I moved in with Steve."

Her words fell like a lead weight, Booth feeling like all the wind had been knocked out of him. A deadly silence held over the line, Brennan fidgeting slightly as she fought for something to say to break it.

"What's the address?" came Booth's shaky voice a few minutes later, and Brennan cursed herself for hurting him like that. She gave her address without even really registering what she'd said. "I'm on my way."

The wait was awful. She didn't know what to do with herself, never having felt so useless and uncomfortable before. The knock that she was waiting for made her jump, and when she pulled it open she saw the look of absolute hurt on Booth's face. Sighing, she pulled the door shut behind her and turned her back to lock it, glad of the relief from the atmosphere.

"You moved in with him?" Booth asked quietly, only barely able to control himself when having Brennan so close.

"Yes. About six weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She sighed, meeting his eyes for the first time and hating the sad look she found there. "Because I was afraid of what your response would be."

Booth stopped, looking at his partner incredulously. "I mean, Bones, isn't it all a bit fast? I mean, do you really even know the guy?"

Brennan's eyes flashed angrily. "Booth, just because you don't take the time to get to know him, don't take it out on me! Steve is...the perfect guy. I find myself very happy with him. And I am so sick of you trying to pick fault and sniping at me all the time! You won't find anything to pick fault with, so just give up!"

Booth nodded, opening his mouth to say something before thinking the better of it. Holding out his arm, he waited for Brennan to walk down the corridor before him, filling her in on the case on the way so as to break the silence, and to keep his mind busy from the piece of information that had just destroyed any shred of hope that he had left.

Brennan wandered up to the apartment in an incredibly happy mood. After the case, Booth had taken her out for dinner to clear the air, and she had forgotten how much she missed being around him. She hadn't laughed like that in a while, and Booth had seemed much happier than he had been for a while. The only problem was that she had completely lost track of time, and although she had text Steve to let him know she was alright, she hadn't got a reply and figured that he was angry.

Pushing open the door, she found the apartment in darkness. Then again, it was twelve o clock, so Steve may well have already gone to bed. Walking through to the kitchen, she jumped violently when the light suddenly clicked on, and Steve stood behind her, his arms folded and a furious expression on his face.

"Oh, hi, I thought you'd gone to bed," she started with a smile, heading towards him only to be stopped by the look on his face.

"Where were you?"

"I told you, I was on a case with Booth," she replied, uneasiness filling her, especially smelling the alcohol on his breath.

"For the entire time? I wasn't aware a consultation could take so long."

"No, he took me out for dinner because we hadn't seen each other for a while and he wanted to catch up."

Brennan cocked her head, confused as to where the problem was. Surely it was normal for friends to go for dinner and have a chat?

"Your partner took my girlfriend for dinner, who he very obviously has feelings for, and you think that's OK?" he spat, seeing Brennan take a step back from his anger.

"No, Steve, it's not like that..." she started, landing hard on the floor as Steve's fist connected with her jaw.

Looking up angrily, Brennan went to hit him back, only to find Steve was stronger. She was so surprised by the whole situation that she hardly managed to comprehend what had happened. The beating was bad, Brennan in a pretty bad way before Steve stopped, looking down at the only half conscious woman before him.

"Now, you will give me what I want, like a woman should, and you won't complain," he told her as he pushed her towards the bedroom.

Brennan woke up at the implication, starting to fight back as she watched Steve pull off his belt roughly.

"No, Steve, not like this, I won't..." she started, only to be hit again, the blood pooling unpleasantly in her mouth.

"You will do as I say, and you will learn your lesson," he told her, moving over the top of her and seeing her fierce look. "If you don't, and if you tell anyone, I'll kill you. But first, we'll start with lover boy, and you can watch him die, knowing it was your fault."

"Booth," she murmured, looking back up with hatred at Steve. How could this perfect man have turned into a monster?

Seeing her give up, Steve laughed to himself. There was nothing better to him than seeing a woman lose hope. Taking what he wanted, he left her curled up in a ball, silent tears shuddering through her body.

"Dr Brennan?" Zach called, looking to Angela for help. He had been trying to explain the work he had done to Brennan for the last ten minutes and she kept losing focus every few minutes.

Angela sighed and headed over to her friend, taking her arm gently and seeing her blink and look at her in confusion. Only the look was completely different to the one she remembered. It had been months since Angela could remember seeing her best friend smile, her eyes taking on the look of someone who had completely given up hope, and it killed her that she had no idea why.

"Sweetie, why don't we go grab some coffee?" she asked gently, trying to pull her from the platform.

Brennan shook her head. "No, Angela, we have a case, and Zach was telling me about the fracture pattern he found in the femur..." she started, breaking off when she saw Zach shake his head.

"That's OK, Dr Brennan, I've just realised that I don't have all the data properly formed yet. Perhaps I could show it to you later once I've finished a full examination of the skeleton?"

Nodding slightly bemused at Zach who was not normally one to not have his work finished, Brennan allowed Angela to lead her from the platform, Angela trying not to wince at how thin her friend's arm felt beneath her hand.

"Bren, what's going on?" Angela asked as they reached Brennan's office, watching sadly as she sank into her chair with a sigh.

"I'm not aware of what you're asking Ang," she replied, looking up to see Angela watching her dubiously.

"Come on, Sweetie, I may not be a scientist but I'm not stupid. You haven't been on the same planet as the rest of us for months. I want to help, I hate to see you like this!"

She was shocked when she saw tears form in Brennan's eyes and her face look so sad and hopeless, before she wiped it and the mask was back, shutting Angela out from her thoughts and feelings.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just...a bit tired."

Angela laughed, slapping her shoulder playfully. "I thought you'd have been out of the honeymoon period by now Bren. Jeez, how long can you guys go at it for?"

Brennan frowned, completely lost. "I don't know what that means."

"I mean, you always have that period of...you know...knowing each other...but I've never known anyone still be in that period three months later!"

Brennan thought for a moment, still confused before her face brightened. "Oh, you mean sex!"

"You're such a romantic, Brennan, when you put it like that," Angela replied, winking as she left her friend to it, please to see a smile on her face even if it only lasted a few minutes.

Stopping outside the door, Angela watched as Brennan let her head fall into her hands, the picture of despair. Determined to find out what was going on and help, Angela headed off to see the only person who could possibly get through to her. And if he couldn't, she was afraid they'd never get back her brilliant friend.

Angela knocked tentatively at the door, for once unsure of herself and whether Brennan would appreciate her efforts. All of her concern dropped away when Booth look up, grinning at her, obviously pleased that she was there.

"Hey, Booth," she said, wandering forwards and taking a seat opposite him.

"Hey, how are you? It's been a while," he replied, smiling happily at her. She nodded.

"I'm fine, we're all fine," she said, stopping awkwardly, suddenly unsure of what exactly she suspected.

"How's Bones?" he asked, seeing her head snap up in surprise at his question. "I think I've done something to upset her, she's avoiding me. It feels like I haven't seen her for years."

She nodded. "She's not good, Booth. I don't know what's wrong with her, but she isn't working, she looks dreadful and she seems constantly slightly...I don't know...scared of something. And she won't talk to me."

Booth looked worried, not having realised that it wasn't just him that Brennan was avoiding. Thinking for a moment, he looked up to see Angela watching him hopefully, as if he could just say something to make it all better.

"I'm struggling to get a hello out of her Ang, let alone for her to tell me what's wrong. I thought it was just me she's avoiding, but if it's something bigger than that..."

"Then what?" she asked, watching him anxiously as he rubbed his face.

"I don't know. I'm not sure I'm the right person to try and get her to talk. She seems particularly uneasy around me, and you know what she's like, she'll either clam up completely or bolt if we push her too far."

Angela sighed, moving around the desk and pulling Booth into a hug. She was still amazed that after all this time he still hadn't realised that he was the only person who could get through to Brennan, when nobody else could. And it was so nice to finally have somebody else sharing her worries.

Pulling back, she looked at him affectionately. "Booth, I think you're the only person on the planet who could help her right now. I'm sure you'll come up with something."

He nodded, giving what he hoped was a reassuring smile despite the worry on his face. "I'll try. That's the best I can do."

"Please try fast. I'm really worried about her. I don't know what's wrong, but it's something serious."

Booth nodded, Angela's words doing nothing but worrying him further. He had to find her that day, he decided, because his mind wouldn't have any peace until he'd seen her for himself.

So that's the next bit :) Hope that was OK, and thanks again for reading - please let me know what you think! Have a great weekend everyone :)