A/N: Thanks for the response to the last chapter! I am seriously overwhelmed with gratitude. A special thanks to GCatsPjs, who convinced me this story was not total crap : ) Enjoy and please leave a review!

Chapter 2

The Agent in the Argument

It was Monday. And Mondays generally tended to suck.

This one was no different.

After a weekend with Hannah in a beautiful little bed and breakfast in Vermont, he was back at work again and currently driving to a crime scene. In the bad part of town, in the rain. And perhaps the worst part of this whole situation was that Bones and Cam were going to meet him there.

And the hits just keep on coming, he thought to himself as the rain started falling horizontally.

He had woken up this morning with a sense of calm that he only felt after spending time with his girlfriend and that calmness that extended into the first couple of hours of work this morning. It was so nice to have that feeling again, the feeling that he could do his work without everyone looking at him, evaluating his competence at every step. He loved that Hannah gave him the confidence he needed to do his job and do it well, just like she did when they met in Afghanistan.

That feeling lasted all morning, until he got the call from Hacker that him and Bones had a new case. In the past when he called about a case, they would arrange to take one car to the crime scene. But this was not the past so when he called, he didn't offer a ride and she didn't ask for one, only asking about the address so she and Cam could drive themselves.

And this one sounded like a doozy. He could already feel the tension that this last weekend erased slowly seeping into his bones again.

A body had been found tied up and mutilated in a warehouse near the Potomac River that was once used by the Army. The military had long since abandoned this area of town but since the government still owned the land, the case fell into the laps of the FBI. And this body was so mutilated and burnt to a crisp; the agents who already were assigned to the case decided that this one needed to be handled by Booth and his band of squints.

Stopping his car outside the warehouse, he already saw the Jeffersonian car and also a crowd of people gathered around, trying to peer inside to see what all the commotion is about. Even better, Booth thought with a grimace.

Not bothering with an umbrella, he got out of his car and jogged to the opening of the warehouse, pushing past people as he went. Sure enough, Bones and Cam were already hunched over the body in their Jeffersonian suits and their gumboots. And this one would definitely require the use of gumboots.

As he walked into the warehouse, he saw something that was definitely out of place: a tiny head peeking with curious eyes out from behind one of the boxes that the military had left behind when they had moved out. Looking closer, he saw it was a little boy, probably close to Parker's age.

"Hey, kid, you can't be in here," he said as he walked over to where the boy was hiding out. "Go on, get out of here," he called after the boy as he ran out to the opening of the warehouse, where Booth could tell his dad was waiting for him. Booth had seen the look in that man's eyes before and he knew that it couldn't mean anything good. But he didn't have time to deal with that right now. He just wanted to figure out what the squint's preliminary findings were and then get back to the warmth and dryness of his office.

"What do you guys think?" he asked without any preamble, taking his index cards out of his breast pocket along with his signature naked lady pen.

"Nice to see you, too, Booth," Cam snarked at him and Booth was not amused.

"Cam, we are in the middle of a warehouse with a dead body, it is cold, it is raining and I'm pretty sure we all just want to do our jobs and get out of here so I didn't think it was necessary to start with pleasantries. Is that okay with you?" he returned, extremely annoyed with her.

"Booth, this victim is female, aged 35-40 years old, probably of African-American descent," Bones said as if nothing had happened. At least that was something he could always count on; Bones was ready to work.

"Anything else?" he said, keeping his eyes on his index cards, not visually acknowledging the two women yet.

"Nothing I can say with any certainty but it looks like there is an entry wound here, presumably from a high powered weapon from the pronounced beveling at the site, at the suture between the parietal and occipital bones and presumably, the victim was set on fire but I cannot determine if it was pre or pose mortem."

"Gee, Bones, even I could tell this person was set on fire," he snapped at her, still not looking up from his notes.

This time, Cam didn't say anything but he could feel the daggers coming from her glare as if they were really piercing her skin.

"There is nothing else I can discern about the body here, I need the equipment and the conditions back at the lab," Bones told them and Booth could hear the hurt in his voice. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to apologize to her.

"Okay, my work here is done then. Ladies, it's been fun," he said, slipping his index notes and pen back in his breast pocket and swiftly turning around to walk back to his car.

Even through the rain, he could spot a flurry of movement from around the back of the truck Bones and Cam had come in and while his friends were driving him crazy, it didn't mean that it wasn't his job anymore to protect them. And he took his job very seriously. Drawing his gun from his shoulder holster, he used his skills acquired by and recently honed during his tour of duty to sneak around the side of the car.

"I thought I told you not to attract any attention! These people work for the federal government, boy, and now that you just had to have a second look, you may have ruined everything you worthless piece of crap!"

At the sound of a slap, the only thing Booth saw was red.

Brennan packed up her supplies, directing the techs around the scene on how to make sure all the evidence she needed would remain intact. At least it kept her mind off the stinging rejection from her partner.

"Dr. Brennan, are you okay?" Cam asked her when she was finally alone, not wanting to confront her around the other people in the professionals at the scene.

Brennan tried to hide the panic in her eyes. She wished she knew what to do in these situations. Her need to talk to Cam about what just happened overwhelmed her but as usual, she couldn't find the words to adequately express her hurt and betrayal over Booth's actions. She hated psychology. So instead of being inarticulate and embarrassing herself by stumbling over her words, she did what she was used to doing in these situations: run.

"Cam, I need to get something from the car. Can you make sure that they don't forget to bag the victim's hands so that any trace evidence still remains?" she asked, already walking away, not seeing Cam's nod to her statement.

Not even noticing the rain that was still pouring, seemingly now with greater intensity, she walked straight to the passenger side of the car, wanting to escape people for a few minutes. But for some reason, the crowd of people that had been curiously looking into the door of the warehouse had migrated over to the car.

"Stop it! You'll kill him!"

The woman's voice finally brought her out of her Booth-imposed trance. Running to the vehicle, she saw something that truly terrified her.

"Booth, what are you doing?" she said, running to him and trying to pull him off the man that he would have surely beat to death without her intervention.

He didn't seem to hear her though and brought his hand back and punch the man in his bloodied face again. Only this time, his fist caught another target and Brennan fell back to the ground as he accidently hit her in the eye.

She knew it was really bad when not even that could draw him out of his rage. The Booth she knew would be devastated if he ever hit her, accidently or otherwise. Instead, he didn't even flinch.

Getting back up, she grabbed his arms with the skill of someone beyond her years of karate experience and managed to finally drag her still swinging partner away from the man on the ground. In a move she had seen him perform in a countless number of times, she was able to use her body weight to swing him against the car, effectively stopping his movement.

"Bones, get off of me, damn it! That bastard deserves everything I'm dishing out. Let me go!"

She refused to listen to him, trying desperately to keep him from getting back to the man on the ground, who looked like he hadn't regained consciousness yet. But it as then that Brennan saw the reason for Booth's justified, yet overzealous attack.

Sitting ten feet away was the boy who they caught in the warehouse not 20 minutes ago, holding his side and now sporting a busted lip. Oh, Booth she thought sadly, her grip subconsciously loosening at discovering the reason why her partner had attacked that man, wondering if when he was a little boy in that exact same situation if he hoped some person would come and do the same thing he just did. To save him from the man who was supposed to love him.

"That man assaulted me!" the man on the ground yelled, one of his eyes already swelling shut.

"You're lucky I didn't shoot you, you son of a bitch! Is that what you call disciplining your kid? Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Booth yelled, finally freeing himself from Brennan's hold, his rage returning full force.

"Hey, pal, what I do is my business, okay? And how I want to raise my kid is none of your concern!"

Brennan quickly stepped in front of her partner, trying to stop him from attacking again.

"Booth, stop it!" she yelled, but he was deaf to her pleas.

"If I even think you are going to hit that child again, I will not hesitate to kill you, do you understand?" Booth threatened, still advancing on the man on the ground.

"Booth! Dr. Brennan! What is going on here?" she heard Cam scream from besides her, obviously just arriving on the scene. Thank goodness, Brennan thought, thinking that maybe Cam could help her hold Booth back. Brennan turned to Cam, feeling helpless and hating the feeling but she tried to turn away when she heard Cam's gasp. "Dr. Brennan, what happened to your eye?"

This finally seemed to draw Booth's attention away from the man on the ground and for a minute, she saw a look of concern in his eyes, a look her old partner used to get whenever she was hurt. But then she also saw when it dawned on him that he was the source of her probably already black eye. The hardening of his jaw and the blank, distant look he adopted reminded her more of the man she knew now.

"I've got to get out of here," he muttered, digging in his pockets for the keys to his SUV.

"Booth, wait, where are you going?" she asked, trying to grab his arm but he pulled away, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Leave me alone, Bones," he said, his voice scaring her with the deadness of it.

"Booth you shouldn't be alone right now," Brennan pleaded with him, following him to the driver side of his car.

"Yeah, well I shouldn't be with you either right now."

"Booth, what happened? You used to trust me," she told him, not able to keep the hurt out of her voice or her face. But Booth continued to avoid looking at her and she was convinced that he stopped listening to her a long time ago.

"No offense, Bones, but it's been a long time since I've trusted you with anything. Now leave me alone. I'll call you when I need more details about the case."

Brennan stepped back from the door like he had slapped her, this blow more painful than the one she sustained earlier when he accidently hit her in the eye. And with that, with even sparing a glance at her or Cam, he started his car and sped away, leaving smoke from his hasty exit.

"Do you want to press charges, sir? Before you answer that, though, think very carefully about if you want the investigation into your personal life that such charges will bring about," she heard Cam asking the man, finally realizing that she was still staring in the direction that Booth left in.

"No, I don't want to press charges. But that guy is seriously crazy! He should not be carrying a weapon around!" the man told Cam, finally getting up off the ground as the crowd around them dispersed. The man grabbed his son and then dispersed with the rest of them.

"Booth better not come around the lab for the rest of today, or tomorrow for that matter," Cam told her as they got in their own vehicle to head back to the Jeffersonian.

"Why is that, Cam? I thought you would want the case solved quickly," Brennan asked as she started the ignition and drove off, truly curious.

"Because if he does, I'm going to kick his ass! What the hell is he thinking?"

"I wish I knew, Cam. He is behaving very irrationally right now." She paused for a minute, debating whether or not to disclose what was really on her mind. "He said he didn't trust me anymore," she finished quietly, ashamed at the thought that she may have lost her partner's trust and worried that it might be true.

"Brennan, I am absolutely, one hundred percent positive that he didn't mean that. Right now, he just doesn't know which way is up."

"But the sky is always up, Cam. How could he not know that?" Brennan asked, even more worried than before. Maybe he was more far-gone than she realized.

"No, Brennan, I mean that he is just confused and angry and is taking it out on the easiest targets. We've all seen changes in him since he got back from the Middle East and none of us know what happened over there. Has he talked to you about it?"

"No, and normally he would have by now. Booth's overly development feminine side causes him to want to express his feelings more than other alpha males," Brennan stated factually, relying upon her experience as an anthropologist when everything else became too confusing for her to analyze and compartmentalize.

"Pft, I wouldn't let Booth hear you say that," Cam retorted.

The women spent the rest of the drive in silence, each trying to figure out what was wrong with their friend.

The minute they walked into the Jeffersonian though, the silence ended abruptly.

"Brennan, what happened to your eye?" Angela asked, coming over to her to examine her more closely.

"Nothing, Ange, I'm fine. Booth just got a little carried away-"

"Booth did that?" Hodgins interrupted, coming down off the forensic platform that dominated the majority of the lab. "He has gone too far now, Dr. B. I don't care that he is bigger than me and that I have seen him shoot cantaloupe with deadly accuracy right in front of me with an old rifle, when I see him I am going to, well, I don't know but I'm going to be mad!"

"Hodgins, dear, don't strain yourself too much, okay?" Angela told her husband, rubbing his back to try and calm him down as she spoke. "What happened today, Bren? And don't you dare try and defend him."

Brennan sighed. "Booth must have witnessed a man slapping his son because when I walked around the car, he was beating the man, he was beating him really badly. When I tried to stop him, his fist came up to strike him again and instead he accidently clipped me. But it's not a big deal, the other man is not pressing charges," Brennan added quickly at the end, trying to convince herself that that fact alone made the whole situation better.

The silence in the lab was so awkward that even Brennan felt it, each person trying to figure out for himself or herself what was happening to their friend, if he was even the same man they had come to know and respect. The rest of the afternoon passed in a similar fashion and for once, Brennan was thankful that there was a body on the table that they could all focus on. This made sense, this was ordered; everyone had a job to do and they were well versed and proficient in completing it. Bones she could read and through them, she could help the victims find peace even though it was after death. She had no idea how to do any of these things with her very alive partner.

Like usual, she was the last one left at the lab that night, going over the X-rays one more time before she closed up for the night when her phone rang.

"Dr. Brennan," she answered, hoping for and dreading that it could be Booth on the other line.

"Dr. Brennan, it's Cam. Are you still in your office?"

"Yes, why?" she asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Turn on the television."

"What channel?" she asked, getting suspicious and grabbing her remote off the coffee table in her office.

"Any channel."

Heart rate increasing, she did as Cam instructed and was horrified by what she saw.

"Cam, is this what I think it is?" she asked, unsure any of this was really happening, desperately hoping that it was not.

"Dr. Brennan, according to the reports, the man on the screen, the same man that Booth violently beat and argued with today in front of 20 witnesses, is dead. Shot with a round from a high-powered sniper rifle."

"Sniper rifle…of course! Why didn't I see it before?" Brennan said, running out of her office and onto the forensic platform to get another look at the skull, still on the phone with Cam.

"See what, Dr. Brennan?"

"The victim today. The beveling in the wound to the skull is so pronounced that it only could have been caused by a sniper rifle. I'll get Hodgins to analyze the particulates he scraped from the bones first thing in the morning. Cam, thank you for calling me about this. It could help break the case. We should call Booth and tell him that we could have a possible sniper out among the populace," she finished. But when she did not hear the click on the other end to signal that the call was over, she became suspicious as to her boss' motives for calling. "Cam, was there something else?"

"Did Booth ever contact you after he left the crime scene today? I already tried calling his phone but I couldn't reach him."

"No, he didn't call me. Why, Cam, what are you saying?" Brennan asked, figuring out where she was going but refusing to go down that road.

"Dr. Brennan, he is not himself right now. And he is one of the few men on the planet who could make the shot the police are describing."

"No, he would never, ever do this. Even if he is not himself, he is still not someone who would kill when it was not required. I'm sure the reason why he didn't call is because he spent the day with Hannah," she reasoned.

"Then why isn't he answering my calls now?"

She had no answers for Cam. She just hung up the phone and frantically tried calling her partner, hoping and praying for the first time since finding out about her existence that Booth had spent the afternoon in bed with his girlfriend.