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The steady smack of the rubber ball against the wall was the only noise that could be heard in the otherwise still room. The ball had been brought to the house by an agent at Booth's request. It was more of a stress ball than anything else and helped to stem the anger that he felt at being cooped up for so long. To some people being stuck in a house for 2 weeks would be easy, but for him, someone that was so used to being active and hardly ever confined to 4 walls, it was like his own personal hell. It didn't help that the house had gone eerily quiet after Olivia had left with agent Broyles. It was as if all the life inside the house had died down, everyone feeling the effects of having one of them missing from their ranks. To him it felt like they were preparing for a funeral like this time she would never come back. Nothing seemed to interest anyone as hunger and entertainment seemed like foreign things to them, their bodies on autopilot as they waited in what felt like the calm before the storm. The last time he had felt anything like this was when he had been in the army, he didn't the feeling at all.

"Damn it!" He swore under his breath throwing the ball as hard as he could against the wall and hearing the satisfying smack it made on contact. He watched the ball roll away, not caring where it went.

"Booth?" He heard behind him. He didn't have to turn around to know it was bones. "Are you okay?" She asked after he hadn't made any move to acknowledge her presence.

"Olivia is out there somewhere and you're asking me if I'm okay?" He ground out, but schooled his attitude when he saw the hurt look on her face. "I'm sorry, I'm just stressed."

"You care about her." Bones said with a touch of hurt in her voice.

"She's my friend Bones, so yeah I care about her."Booth snapped instantly regretting it when her eyes filled with pain. "I'm sorry Temperance, please come here." He asked, smiling at her a little when she complied.

"She will be okay Booth." She said as reassuringly as she could.

"I know Bones; I just can't stop worrying though. She is my friend like Angela is your friend. I care about her safety and when she is potentially in danger all I can think about are the bad things that could happen to her."

"Do you love her?" Brennan barely whispered.

"I love you Temperance, but yes, I do love her. But not like I love you. I love her as a friend, kind of like a younger sister." He explained.

"I care about you too Booth." She responded. It wasn't the 'I love you' that he longed for but it was as close to it as she could get to at the moment and he understood that. He pulled her to him and kissed her softly.

Cookies, various types of bread and fat pies sat on the kitchen island in various levels of cooling. Everyone had their ways of dealing with stress and nerves; Astrid's was to bake everything she could think of. Her nervous habit may be a little annoying to others but it was nothing compared to Walter's which consisted of pacing continuously muttering to himself. Booth's nervous habit was almost just as bad what with the rubber ball bouncing off of everything every five seconds. Brennan didn't seem to ever be nervous and Peter had taken off to his room again so who knows what he did to calm his nerves.

Picking up one of the cooled pies, she grabbed two forks and walked past and oblivious Walter and up the stairs to the third floor where she knew she would find Peter. She went to his closed door and knocked a few times, hearing a muffled noise in return. She pushed the door open and found him sitting on his bed with a dozen or so books open in front of him.

"I brought pie." She said holding it in front of her like a peace offering. He gave her a half smile and cleared away a few of the books so that she could sit. She took the seat and handing him one of the forks before taking a bit. They stayed in complete silence for so long it was starting to become deafening.

"She will be okay." Astrid said confidently, breaking the silence.

"I won't believe that until she's back and this case is over."Peter sighed taking a bite of the sweet, sticky treat. "With everything that's happened, I just can't take the risk of staying calm. It feels like if I stay calm she won't come back this time."

"Broyles will keep her safe." Astrid pointed out. "He wouldn't have brought her out of the house if he couldn't keep her safe."

"I know that, I do, it's just…" He trailed off taking another bite.

"You love her." She finished for him and saw him nod slowly. "You just have to keep faith in the fact that she will be okay."

"Yeah, you're right." Peter weakly smiled. "Just keep believing that she'll be okay."

"Yes." Astrid smiled, turning her attention to the door where Walter walked in.

"I was wondering where you were." He stated, walking over to them. "When is agent Dunham supposed to be back?"

"She shouldn't be gone for too long Walter." Astrid said, seeing the concerned fatherly look in his eyes.

"Okay." Walter said sadly but then noticed the pie. "Oh pie!"

"Here you go Walter." Peter chuckled handing him his fork which Walter eagerly took, digging into the treat.

"Where are Booth and Brennan?" Peter asked, realizing that neither the agent nor doctor had been down stairs for very long.

"They took off to one of the rooms around here a while ago." Astrid smirked.

"Like you and Olivia last night." Walter pointed out with a suggestive look on his face, making Peter turn bright red. "About damn time too."

"Walter." Peter stammered embarrassed.

"What it's about time you two stopped being so afraid and just went after each other. Everyone could see it. Even Broyles noticed how you feel about each other." Walter explained.

"That's true actually." Astrid nodded remembering the numerous times she had seen a knowing look on the senior agents face when he watched the interactions between Peter and Olivia.

"Great." Peter grumbled causing Astrid to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Booth asked from the doorway.

"Nothing really, where have you two been?" Astrid asked happily and smirked when they both blushed.

They soon joined the others on the bed, each seeking comfort from the others to help them deal with the feeling of lose at having Olivia out of the house. Each of them gaining small bits of reassurance that she would be fine.