Okay, so this chapter is a little less about cases and more about personal issues. Thanks again for the reviews!

It was a few weeks after the whole kidnapping incident. Jared had been hanging around and feeling aloof. It had made being a couple rather difficult for Brennan and Booth. They were enjoying some time alone for once when Booth made a whimpering sound after standing up.

"What's wrong?" Brennan asked, concerned. Booth stood stock still, afraid to move. His back was suddenly killing him. "Booth?"

"It's nothing," Booth said, waving her off. He attempted to move, but it was quite obvious something was wrong.

"It's your back again isn't it?" Brennan asked. He simply nodded.

"Maybe your magic fingers can fix it?" he asked hopefully.

"I shouldn't have touched you in the first place last time," she said, crossing her arms. "I probably made it worse."

"Oh just try. Please? What could go wrong?"

"I could paralyze you," she said seriously.

"Right," Booth said. He considered this for a moment. "I'll take my chances."

"Booth! I'm not touching you."

"Bones, you gotta. I can't go around walking like this," Booth whined. He gave her the sad puppy look, which eventually wore her down.

"Okay, but if it gets worse, you need to see a specialist," she said. He clapped his hands together and smiled. She went up behind him and repeated the maneuver she did last time. There was a cracking sound, and Booth toppled to the floor out of her grasp.

"Booth!" she cried, kneeling down beside him.

"Oh God," he moaned.

"I'm calling for help," she said.

"Okay," he said weakly. He couldn't really move at all now. He wondered if she really did paralyze him.

Later-The Jeffersonian

"Is he going to be okay?" Angela asked, worried. Brennan was looking terrible. Even Cam was concerned.

"Fortunately, yes, but he's on Vicodin right now, so everything feels amazing to him," Brennan replied. She felt really bad for touching him. Damn his puppy eyes.

"You going to be all right to work this case?" Cam asked.

"If I could stay in the Jeffersonian, that would work best," Brennan replied. "Zack can go out in the field. I requested Agent Perotta to assist him."

"Wait, what?" Zack asked, looking up from his work. Agent Perotta made him nervous.

"Fine by me," Cam said. "Oh, and Fisher is our intern this week." Zack groaned internally. He didn't think he could handle Mr. Depression right now. He was trying to catch Dr. Brennan's eye and ask her if she could change the intern, but she was very distracted and wouldn't make contact with him. Disappointed, he turned to see Agent Perotta coming up the platform. She nodded to everyone.

"Nice to see you again, Dr. Addy," Perotta said.

"Likewise," Zack replied. He could already feel his palms sweating. She filled him in on the body found as it was wheeled in towards him. Brennan slipped away quietly. It went unnoticed. She wanted to see how Booth was doing.

At the hospital

Brennan walked into Booth's room and was surprised to see Jared there. He was snacking on something while Booth was lying there looking quite out of it.

"Temperance," Jared nodded towards her.

"Hi," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm unemployed. I figured I could keep him company," Jared shrugged. "Not that he knows I'm even here."

"What did they say? Can he go home?" she asked.

"Something about a herniation in the L-3 and L-4 disks," Jared answered. "He's to continue with Vicodin for the pain, but he can go home."

"I feel badly," Brennan said, sitting down in the chair next to him.

"Ah, you'll get over it. It takes time," Jared sighed. Booth made a snuffling sound and then opened his eyes.

"Hi beautiful," he said to Brennan. Brennan froze. Jared raised a brow at her.

"He's on drugs," she said, explaining it away. "He doesn't know what he's saying."

"Right," Jared said. He slowly popped another peanut into his mouth, watching.

"I get to go home?" Booth asked.

"Yup. I'm gonna stay with you and look after ya," Jared said, patting his brother's arm and grinning at him. Booth felt a slight twinge of fear at this. They both were going through their minds and thinking about anything that she might have left at his apartment as evidence of their relationship.

"That's really not necessary," Booth started.

"Nonsense! You've done so much for me growing up. It's the least I can do," Jared said.

"All right," Booth caved. He looked at Brennan longingly. If anyone should be staying with him, it should have been her, but he guessed he couldn't have everything.

Zack

He and Agent Perotta were standing still as people swarmed around them. If Zack thought he was uncomfortable around her before, this tripled it. He had no idea what the hell was going on. The half smile on Perotta's face was confusing him. He wasn't sure why she was happy about this.

"Grimoire 3.0 booth right over there," Perotta said, leading the way. Zack followed behind her, still looking around him.

"How can I help ya?" the man asked.

"I'm Agent Perotta and this is Dr. Zack Addy from the Jeffersonian. We want to ask you a few questions."

"All right. Name's Shiny Kopinsky. Shiny is fine," Shiny instructed. They shook hands.

"Shiny?" Zack asked, confused. Who would name a person Shiny?

"Can you identify this girl for me?" Perotta asked, holding up a photo.

"Sure can. That's Kendra Kim. She stopped showing up, so I figured she got fired for her attitude," he shrugged.

"Attitude?" Perotta asked.

"Yea. Acting all princess like and bragging she was out of here after this year since she was sitting on a gold mine and was gonna be cashing in big," Shiny explained. "You might wanna check out the blacksmith. She was hanging around him hot and heavy lately."

"Thanks, Shiny," Perotta said, flashing him a big smile. Zack felt useless here. There were no bones to look at or experiments to be done, so why was he here?

"Relax," she said to him, sensing his discomfort. "It's good to get out into the field. You'll learn new skills."

"I don't want to learn new skills," Zack replied. "I like the skills I have. Very much." He missed her look of disappointment.

"Okay, okay. Once we're done here, you can return to your hunched over position," Perotta sighed.

Brennan-Later

Brennan and Jared managed to get Booth inside together. He was laughing about something or other, the painkillers having taken root. They set him down on his bed, and he fell asleep fairly quickly.

"Aren't you needed at the lab?" Jared asked. He dusted his hands off and was heading to the living room to watch TV.

"I suppose I should check in and see what's going on," Brennan agreed. She looked back at Booth's room quickly.

"He'll be fine. I'm here, remember? I promise I'll call if anything happens," Jared said.

"Okay," she nodded. She left feeling wary. She really just wished she could stay with Booth. It wasn't that she didn't trust Jared, she just wanted to be around while Booth recovered. She made her way to the lab where she was filled in on the case.

"Dr. Brennan," Fisher said. "It appears this woman's face exploded." He held up the skull to show her.

"Huh," Brennan said, looking at it.

"I have no idea what caused this damage. I really am failing miserably at this case," Fisher told her. Brennan gave him a look.

"I've seen many strange weapons, Mr. Fisher. We use process of elimination. I haven't seen this type of damage before either, so it eliminates a lot of other weapons."

"Your vic stepped on a toad," Hodgins said, entering the room. He showed Brennan his results.

"What does a frog have anything to do with how she died?" Fisher asked.

"Toad. Toad people! Honestly!" Hodgins said, leaving in a huff without explaining further. He'd already received the same frog and toad confusion with Cam earlier. He'd had enough of it.

Later still

"Sweets!" Brennan called. She had fought off the knight and saved the sword. She ran around to the driver's side to see if Sweets was okay. He groaned. She wondered why she had bothered to accompany him at all, but now she figured it was best she was here after all.

"You just saved my life," Sweets said.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm...all right. I think," Sweets replied, wincing. "I don't know." Help arrived shortly, and Brennan slipped away to call Booth.

"WHAT?!" he shouted. "You could have been killed! I'm coming in."

"No! Booth, you're very hurt right now. Stay home and rest," she commanded.

"Jared!" she heard him yelling. "Jared!"

"No, don't you dare send Jared here. Booth!"

30 mins later

"This is totally unnecessary," Brennan grumbled as Jared stood military style behind her while she worked. "I seriously doubt that I'm going to get attacked in my lab."

"Seeley's orders," Jared shrugged. "Sorry."

"You could have been killed!" Angela said angrily, coming into the room. She ignored Jared's nod.

"Well, I didn't," Brennan replied.

"You really shouldn't be out there doing fieldwork. You belong in here with the rest of us and staying safe!" Angela said loudly, stamping her foot.

"It was an unfortunate incident, but I'm fine, Ange, really," Brennan reassured her. Angela didn't look convinced.

"Why can't you just get your rocks off on sex like a normal person?" she demanded. Brennan dropped the instrument she was holding. It clattered loudly.

"You okay?" Jared asked, noticing Brennan's face.

"I'm fine. Angela, I'm fine. Stop worrying about me. I like going out into the field. That won't change," Brennan said firmly.

"Then you need to start carrying a gun again," Angela muttered as she turned to leave.

"Is she single?" Jared asked.

"No. She's currently dating Roxie," Brennan replied.

"Roxie? As in, a woman?" Jared asked. "Interesting."

"Not interesting," Brennan replied.

"Oh, but it is. It makes her hotter," Jared smirked.

"I don't want to discuss this any further," Brennan said, stopping him short.

"Okay, okay," he said, holding up his hands. "You'll hear no more from me." He couldn't stop thinking about Angela. She was definitely gorgeous. He wondered if she dated men too. He also wondered why Brennan's face had gone all strange when Angela mentioned sex. There were a lot of mysteries around here.

Zack & Fisher

"This is the murder weapon," Fisher said, holding out an instrument to Zack. He took it carefully, examining it.

"You're certain?" Zack asked. Fisher nodded. Cam came up behind them just then.

"You got the murder weapon?" she asked.

"Yes. It is the Pear of Anguish," Fisher explained. He went into further detail, making Cam cringe and swallow hard in horror. Zack hid his disgust well. It no longer surprised him how cruel people could be. When Fisher was done talking, Cam was thoroughly disgusted.

"So how did you know Valerie had one?" she asked, picking up on that part of the story.

"I'd rather not say," Fisher said.

"Oh, I think you have to," Cam responded.

"All right. After the auction, Valerie and I made a connection, and it, well, lead to other things," Fisher said slowly.

"You slept with a suspect?" Cam asked. "You're in a lot of trouble, Fisher."

"Love never lasts," Fisher sighed.

Zack & Perotta

"Case solved," Perotta said, smiling. "Good work, Dr. Addy."

"Thank you. I had a lot of help from everyone," Zack added.

"Of course," she said, eyes twinkling. She stood there, making him feel more awkward.

"So," he said.

"So," she echoed. "I guess I'll see you around then? Maybe? Unless you're free now?"

"I have to finish writing the report and cleaning up," Zack replied.

"Oh, okay," Perotta said, disappointed. She turned to leave. She had hoped he would have picked up on her hints by now, but it seemed he wasn't. Zack breathed in relief when she was gone. He had no idea why she made him so...on edge. It was unnerving.

Booth & Brennan

"He killed her because he loved her too much?" Booth asked, referring to the knight who had killed Kendra over trying to sell the sword.

"I don't get it either," Brennan said. "You've been misdiagnosed." She was peering at Booth's xrays.

"What?" Booth asked.

"It's simply a misalignment not a herniation. I can fix it for you," Brennan offered.

"I dunno," Booth said. "Last time it hurt pretty bad."

"You begged me to help. Now you don't want me to?" Brenna asked, confused.

"Okay, okay. Be gentle," Booth said, cringing as she got behind him and got into position.

"Hey so I got the twin pizza deal cos I figured you'd be hungry...whoa," Jared said, stopping. "What are you doing?"

"Ahh," Booth whimpered as she cracked his back again.

"I fixed his back. He was misdiagnosed. He'll be fine now," Brennan said. She picked up her purse.

"You leaving?" Jared asked.

"Yes. He's fine now. I'll see you later," she said. Jared turned to Booth, who was standing there looking scared.

"Well?" Jared asked.

"I'm kind of scared to move," Booth admitted. Jared snickered and went to put the pizzas on the table. Booth wished she had stayed. He had missed her.

A Week Later

Jared was looking for Booth at the lab when he stumbled across Angela hurrying across the floor in tears. Without thinking twice, he followed her. She flicked the light on to her office and crashed onto a chair, sobbing.

"Hey," Jared said, stopping a few feet away. "Are you all right?"

"Oh!" she gulped, startled. "Jared. What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Seeley when I saw you crying. You all right?"

"N-no, not exactly," Angela confessed. She wiped her eyes.

"You wanna talk about it? You'll find I'm a very good listener," Jared said, pulling up another chair. Angela smiled weakly.

"You really wanna know?"

"I do. So spill," Jared encouraged.

"Roxie broke up with me. She said I'm too into the moment and not enough into the future," Angela said tearfully.

"That's rotten," Jared said. "She's missing out on something great."

"Right?!" Angela asked.

"My advice is she didn't deserve you in the first place," Jared told her. Angela felt warmed by his empathy. If this was how Booth was with Brennan, she couldn't understand why they weren't in a relationship. She met Jared's eyes then.

"You want to get a coffee?" she asked.

Booth & Brennan

"I can't believe Clinton is the baby daddy for all those girls," Booth muttered as they ate their lunch.

"Physical appearance isn't always everything," Brennan noted. Booth gave her a look. "But it does help."

"I just don't get it. Why do something like that? Why...?" he trailed off, seeing his brother walking along with a laughing Angela and looking a little too close for comfort.

"What?" Brennan asked.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking," Booth said. He looked again to see Angela on her tip toes giving Jared a kiss. He was very confused now.

"So what do we do next?" Brennan asked.

"You do your thing, and I do mine," Booth replied absently.

"That makes no sense," Brennan said, bewildered. She turned to look out the window since he seemed so absorbed in whatever was out there. Nobody was standing there. She turned back to him, and he was finishing his sandwich.

"I love you," he said when he was finished. "I gotta go check something out. I'll see you later." He kissed her briefly on his way out, leaving her confused and wondering what was going on.

Later

Booth found Jared at the Founding Fathers grinning like an idiot. He plunked himself down on the stool beside Jared and bumped his shoulder.

"Hey, bro!" Jared said, glowing. "What's up?"

"What were you doing with Angela today?" Booth asked, getting to the point.

"She got dumped. We were hanging out," Jared replied. "Didn't know that was a crime."

"You think it's smart to kiss a recently dumped girl?" Booth pressed.

"Ohhh that," Jared said. "She initiated it. She wouldn't have if she didn't want to. I wasn't making any advances."

"Sure you weren't," Booth said.

"Seeley, it's my life and Angela's life. Butt out," Jared said, swigging his beer.

"Thought you had quit that," Booth said, gesturing.

"I've cut back significantly," Jared said, wiping his mouth. "I swear to God."

"You better have," Booth warned.

"Seeley, I'm a big boy. I know my limit," Jared reassured him. Booth leaned in closer.

"Maybe you do, but Angela, she's a good woman. She's best friends with Bones, and she has a big heart. If you crush it or hurt her in any way, I swear I will hand your balls to you on a sliver platter," Booth threatened. Jared looked at him for a moment before laughing.

"Seeley, she's the one who's not wanting to be serious. She's like me, living in the moment. This moment will pass. We agreed on that. We hold on to the moment for as long as it's there, then we let go," Jared explained.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Booth snorted.

"Stupid to you, but it works for us. I'm not pressuring her. She wants casual, so I'll give her casual. Casual is my thing," Jared grinned.

"Just...remember my warning, okay?" Booth asked.

"Sure will. Balls on a platter," Jared reiterated, hiding his smirk.

"Good," Booth grunted. He got up to leave. He had a sinking feeling about the whole thing. He wasn't even sure if he should tell Brennan about it.

The Jeffersonian

"Hey, kid," Max said, sitting down next to Zack, who was taking a small break.

"Hello," Zack replied.

"Big case huh?" Max asked. He couldn't help but overhear some of the things going on. Cam had him working as security as well as doing tours with children. He hadn't been convicted of murder, so it was a little easier to get that job, and Cam knew he'd be great for the job.

"Yes. It would appear that the victim was trying to rally all the other girls to have a baby and raise them together," Zack explained. "I don't understand."

"Girls are always hard to understand," Max said. "How are things going with Agent Perotta?" Max had seen the two of them in a conversation that looked more personal than professional, and he had meant to ask sooner about it.

"I don't know what you mean," Zack said.

"Oh cut the crap. You two had a connection! Did you act on it?" Max asked.

"She hinted about seeing me again, but I didn't act on it," Zack replied.

"Why not?!"

"I'm not very good at dating," Zack explained.

"I can help," Max offered. Zack looked skeptical. "What? I had a great relationship with my wife."

"Until she was murdered because you were on the run from criminals," Zack pointed out.

"Do you guys have to keep bringing that up?" Max asked.

"Sorry," Zack said.

"You want my help or not?"

"What help can you offer me?"

"First step, call her! Ask her on a date. If she says yes, get in touch with me and I'll help you from there," Max promised.

"How do I ask her?" Zack wondered.

"Really? You need a play by play?"

"It would be helpful, yes," Zack nodded. Max sighed.

"Okay. I'll be her. You be...you, but less so," he ordered.

"I don't know what that means," Zack said.

"Just be a normal guy, okay? Here we go," Max said. He gestured for Zack to pretend to hold a phone.

"Oh...oh, okay," Zack stuttered. "Hello, Agent Perotta."

"Did you forget my first name?" Max asked, imitating a woman's voice.

"N-no," Zack stammered. "What does that have to do with...?"

"Ah, cut!" Max said. "Never address a love interest by their professional name. It's cold and unfeeling."

"But..."

"Use her first name and first name only, trust me," Max said. "Okay, let's try again."

"Hello, Payton," Zack started. "I was wondering if you'd like to have coffee with me sometime."

"Cut!" Max said again.

"What now?" Zack asked.

"Coffee? What are you...friends? Dinner! You do dinner dates with those you're interested in! Come on now," Max said, cuffing him. "And don't say 'I was wondering' it makes you look unsure of your own idea."

"Ow," Zack said, rubbing his arm.

"Again," Max ordered.

"Hello, Payton," Zack started again. "Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"

"Better," Max said. "But make the date. Give an actual date and time so it makes it concrete. The 'sometime' card makes you sound vague and unsure that you even want to do it."

"I should be writing this down," Zack muttered.

"Smart guy like you doesn't have to," Max replied. "Now come on, once more!"

"Hello, Payton," Zack said. "Would you like to go to dinner with me on Friday night?"

"Why yes," Max replied, imitating a woman again. "That sounds lovely!"

"Your voice is creeping me out," Zack said, breaking character.

"The point is, you nailed it. Now just go do it!" Max urged. Zack felt nauseous suddenly.

"I don't think I can," he admitted.

"Be a man," Max ordered. "Now get! I'm expecting an update!" Zack scurried away, leaving Max sitting there chuckling to himself.

Booth & Brennan

They were finally alone. Jared wasn't shadowing them for once. Booth suspected he was on a date with Angela. They were at Brennan's apartment and had just finished a very satisfying round of sex.

"I missed you," Brennan said, kissing him again.

"I missed you too. Hey, I saw your dad today with a gun. Who gave him that clearance?" Booth asked.

"Cam. She researched into it, and since he wasn't convicted of any crime, he was cleared to be security," Brennan sighed. "Not sure how I feel about that."

"At least he's making an honest living now," Booth said.

"That's fair. I just feel awkward with him at work all the time. He checks in and tries to help solve cases. It gets annoying at times," Brennan explained.

"He just likes to help," Booth said. "Give him a chance."

"I am. I did! I promised he could stay, and he's still there," Brennan said.

"Good," Booth smiled. He kissed her again. He kept thinking about Jared and Angela. "Hey, I have some news."

"News?" Brennan asked, intrigued.

"Yea. I think my brother is dating Angela," Booth told her.

"That's...interesting," Brennan said. "She seemed in a good mood today when we were talking. She was a little sad about Roxie but not as sad as I thought she would be. Makes sense now."

"I told Jared if he hurt her I'd hurt him," Booth said. Brennan laughed.

"I'd like to see that," she said.

"You would, cos I'd win," Booth grinned. They wrestled for a moment, laughing. He kissed her hard afterwards.

"They might be a good match," Brennan said, thinking about it.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't get your hopes up," Booth said. "He'll be off on the next thing soon enough."

"He seems different, your brother," Brennan noted. "More...humbled or something."

"Well, losing your career and almost losing your brother has an effect on people," Booth told her. He didn't mention the long conversations he and Jared had lately involving their past and how Jared was working on being a better person. He looked over at Brennan as she made herself comfortable and curled into him. He hadn't confided in Jared about Brennan. He just couldn't. It was too precious of a relationship to jeopardize. Booth felt like his future was looking very bright, and he didn't want to jinx it.

Two things: 1. please don't hate me for the whole Jared/Angela thing. I thought it was an interesting twist, and I didn't like how Angela just used Hodgins in that episode, so I changed it up. Sorry if it's already been done. 2. I tried to research about becoming a security guard in the states and it seemed to only say "convictions" and nothing about dropped charges, so please forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought it would make a cool addition to the storyline having Max as a guard too.

Thanks for reading!