A/N: This is a pretty tame chapter by all accounts, but the next one will be almost pure smut to make up for it! I'm hoping it won't take quite so long to write as this one did, but I am struggling post-100 right now. I have an angsty something started to counter-act that, so hopefully things will get better!

Reviews are like cookies to me. And I love cookies!

Also... Interaction! It's back!

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Some six hours after they'd left her apartment, and nearly eight since they'd gotten the call, Booth brought the SUV to a stop in the middle of a high school sports field. Cold, wet, and beginning to get dark, there was barely anybody left at the scene. Booth stepped out of the SUV and crossed the muddy pitch while Brennan stayed behind to suit up.

Professional face in place, he'd started with the best of intention, fully meaning to get straight down to business now that they'd finally arrived. But things didn't quite go to plan.

He was engrossed in conversation with one of the officers when he caught the movement out of the corner of his eye: the trunk of his SUV opening as she sat down in the back, a slight rustle carried on the wind as she unpacked her forensic suit. Booth wasn't listening to a word he was being told as he watched her roll the suit up first one leg, and then other. It didn't matter that she was putting on more clothes – that the suit was going over the top of her pants; it was a ridiculously erotic sight to be watching, how had he never noticed this before? She rose to her feet as she pushed her arms into the suit, jutting the swell of breasts forward as she did so, and all he could think about was the taste of those delicious pink nipples he'd been feasting on that morning. It felt like altogether far too long ago.

Subconsciously, Booth licked his lips at precisely the moment she bopped her head up and caught his gaze across the distance. Even in the dim light he could make out the piercing blue of her eyes and electricity went shooting through him. Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, he raised a hand and interrupted the officer, who was still droning on about … something.

"Can you just … wait one second."

He didn't give the guy chance to object before he'd strolled back towards the Sequoia, the grin on his face widening with every step he took towards her. Brennan was leaning into the trunk now, fastening her boot, when he approached her from behind. Plastering himself against her form, he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned his nose into her ponytail.

He felt her breathe in a long, deep breath beneath him.

"Erm… Booth?"

"Who else would it be?" He pulled her in tightly, flush against her body.

"What are you doing? Don't you see where we are?" She mocked him with the words he'd used on her in the car previously, but couldn't help allowing herself to settle into his embrace just slightly before logic threatened to make her think better of it.

"Don't care." He nuzzled tighter into her, drawing in deep mouthfuls of her scent. She squirmed against his hold and reluctantly he released her, but not before taking a firm grasp of her hand.

With her forensic jumpsuit still gaping open at the front, he dragged Brennan around to the hood of the SUV, out of sight from the cops milling around the field, and pushed her back against the warm metal. She stood with mouth agape as he dazed into her eyes, startling her with the sheer lust painted across his face. His breathing came fast and laboured as the seconds passed. Hands planted firmly on her hips, he leaned in close and claimed her lips before she could object again. Maybe he was being overly aggressive, and maybe he'd thrown himself onto her, but the moment his lips touched hers she was kissing him back hungrily and he knew; knew she wanted him as badly as he needed her; knew they were never going back to 'just partners' again.

Booth ground himself against her forcefully, and even through two layers of pants, he drew a moan from her lips. The sound immediately sent him flying and momentarily he forgot where they were or why they were there.

Eyes closed, his hand travelled upwards to cup her breast and he flicked at the pert nipple hidden beneath far too many layers of clothing. He felt himself grow harder with every passing second that her lips fought with his, tongues battling for access to the warmth denied to each other for so many years.

He was beginning to lose himself, to lose control, to let go of their last shred of public decency and give in to the urge to take her right there, when his cell phone rang in his pocket. Opening his eyes in frustration of being interrupted, he found hers virtually spinning in her head as the pulsations from his cell travelled straight to her core. Smiling, he indulged her, leaning harder against her, letting the vibrations rush through her, until she whimpered and –

"No." Slapping her hand on against his chest, she pushed him away, leaning further back against the car in an attempt to put more distance between them. Booth shook his head as he looked at her, eyes full of confusion and doubt. "Answer it." She slapping her palm against him again, softer this time. "We're at a crime scene and you need to answer it."

Fist clenching against his chest, she clearly wasn't going to give him any choice here. Reluctantly, he stepped back, head dropping forward into his hand as he brought the ringing device to his ear. He knew she was right but simply couldn't help the disappointment from coursing through him.

Released from his grip against the hood of his car, she stood forward and fastened the front of her forensic suit, drawing in several deep, steadying breaths. Snapping the phone closed, he turned to her and smiled weakly. Placing a hand on the small of her back, he made to accompany her over to the scene. Momentarily, she resisted, and he was forced to turn back and look at her questioningly. She dropped a delicate kiss against his cheek.

"Later." she whispered as they began to walk, "I'll make it up to you later." She smiled up at him, those deep blue eyes twinkling in the dusk, cheeks still slightly flushed. Booth found it was impossible to stay upset with her when she looked at him like that, all apologetic and vulnerable. He smiled back at her gingerly and watched as the anthropologist mask fell into place. Approaching the waiting officer, his hand slipped from her and no one would have known they were anything more than partners once again.

"Sorry, had to make a phone call" He flat-out lied to the guy. "Could you say all that again, so Dr Brennan can hear it straight from you?" Booth flashed his charm smile to the guy but it failed miserably. Looking distinctly put out and making no attempt to hide a scowl, the officer began explaining how the remains had been discovered and what action had been taken so far. Brennan listened intently.

"Agent Booth mentioned that the trunk is less than a week old." The guy nodded at her. "How could you possibly have identified such a detail before I had even arrived?"

Scoffing at her total lack of modesty the guy turned to the police cruiser a few paces behind him, searched for a moment, before producing an evidence bag.

"This," he thrust the bag towards her, "was pretty easy to interpret without your ever-so-valuable assistance." His tone was dripping with disdain and Booth ground his teeth silently, forcing his breathing to remain steady. He wanted to pop the guy one, but knew he'd get nothing but grief from Brennan if he did – she could defend herself after all. Not that she even appeared to notice the officer's mocking, taking his words at face value as she examined the evidence: a department store receipt for the trunk sitting just a few feet away from them behind crime scene tape.

"Thanks." Booth virtually spat the word at the guy, snatching the baggie from her clutches and pushing it back into his. "Come on Bones, your remains are over here." Booth ushered her away from the officer while he still had the restraint to do so without knocking his lights out first, directing Brennan towards the tapped off area.

Twenty minutes later she was poured over the open trunk, transferring various bones into a rigid body bag. He had just finished questioning the kids that found the remains. They'd been trespassing, and had broken onto school property, but beyond that he'd wager they had no further involvement.

The kids had left and Booth had paused momentarily, leaning against a wall to think things through, when the heavens opened. While the officers around them rushed to protect themselves from the unexpected onslaught, Brennan was clearly more concerned with her remains, issuing stern instructions to various soaked officers who were unsure whether to obey or ignore her. Relenting, they gave up the search for their own waterproofs and instead set about erecting an open-sided tent over the trunk. With each passing minute Booth could see her growing tense and increasingly angry.

Pushing off from the wall and out from beneath the sliver of shelter he'd accidentally found, Booth strode across the muddy field to the now-soaked Brennan. Her hair was matted and plastered across her forehead and Booth was sure that if it wasn't for the furious gnashing of her teeth, they'd have been chattering of their own accord.

Approaching from behind, he took just a moment to silently thank the designer of those ridiculous jumpsuits. Shower proof, in theory, this was way more than a shower and the deep blue material had painted itself to every inch of her form. His eyes traced up from her mud caked calves, along her toned thighs, and settled momentarily on her ass. His tongue poked out to moisten his lips subconsciously as thoughts of that perfect rear flooded his mind and every drop of his blood in him seemed to simultaneously shoot south.

Eyes roving further, he followed the outline of her narrow waist, mentally running his fingers up her soft skin and over those oh-so-god-damn-perfect breasts. She turned slightly to issue instruction to someone else, and he was treated to the silhouetted view of her form; slightly bulkier than normal due to the extra layers, but damn if she didn't look nearly naked in the dull light.

Swallowing hard, Booth shoved his hands in his pockets to disguise the bulge that had appeared of its own accord, and crossed the final yards towards her.

"How can I help, Bones?"

She turned and a quick smile flashed across her face, shining through the frustration for just a second.

"Make these imbeciles put the tent up faster, before my remains are utterly compromised!" He heard in her voice that she was ready to snap and thought better of pointing out that the officers were trying as best they could given the rain and gathering wind. Instead, he simply swiped some stray strands of hair from her face, smiled, nodded, and set about helping.

With Booth's guidance (well, control really) it took only a matter of minutes and Brennan had scurried under the tarp the second it was secured, attempting to salvage whatever evidence could still be of value. Booth could hear her muttering under her breath, occasional words reaching him through the drumming of rain on the tarpaulin above.

"Particulates … stupid cops … evidence … ruined … idiots … contaminated… everything …"

Booth stepped up to bat, fully expecting (and preparing) to strike out.

"It's okay, Bones …"

"No. It isn't." She cut in but he didn't stop talking.

"Hodgins will still find his particulates to analyse…"

"No."

"… You'll still be able to use your anthropologist super powers to tell me exactly what happened to him …"

"Her."

"… And Angela will make everything less gross with her computer magic, crystal ball, skills."

"Na-uh." He could see the corners of her mouth beginning to twitch into a smile, but still she kept her head down.

"… And then you and I will go arrest the bastard that did this. Maybe you'll even get to hit him."

She looked up at him and grinned, eyes twinkling in the near darkness now.

"Thanks Booth." She stepped towards him. "Sometimes I get … I get irrational when my remains are threatened."

"So I've seen." He sent her a smug grin and she closed the distance between them further.

"I'm sorry." She breathed a deep sigh, catching the slightest hint of his scent in the evening air.

They stood toe to toe beneath the canopy. Flicking his eyes side to side briefly, Booth looked to see who was still around before throwing professional courtesy to the wind and kissing her gently. After a moment, she pulled away and dropped her head to his shoulder as he hugged her in tight. Her gloved hands hung limply by her sides, although as she melted against his touch, Booth understood this was simply due to her respect for science, rather than any hesitation regarding him (them).

"Thanks Booth." She repeated into his shoulder.

"Tell me what you need." It was a simple enough request but it filled her with another, equally irrational, feeling inside – warmth? How could her internal temperature possibly be raising if she was not ill? Shaking her head sharply, she scattered the thoughts rattling around her mind and simply allowed herself to enjoy his embrace a moment longer before speaking.

"Light. Can you get me some light?"

"Sure thing, Bones."

Booth kissed her forehead softly, releasing her from his grasp and starting to walk away. The same officer from before stood outside the tent smirking.

"Oh, grow up." Booth growled in a tone usually reserved for Sweets and his ridiculously unhelpful observations of his and Dr Brennan's interactions. Crossing over to the SUV, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Rummaging for the portable floodlights he was sure were in his trunk with one hand, Booth snapped the cell open with the other. 'Bones' flashed across the screen, accompanied by the message icon.

He looked over towards her, once again hunched over, transferring the remains ready for transport, talking into her little tape recorder as she did so. Opening the message, his heart skipped a beat and his blood pooled in his pants once again:

"I suspect I will require Warming Up again later."

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Clearly its late at night now, they need to stay somewhere. Separate rooms? One room? Adjoining rooms (á la what should have happened ep101)? Anyone whose still here, it's your call!