The flight from Washington DC landed in Glasgow airport at nine am local time. I can't believe that I would be meeting this woman, I had somehow been volunteered to meet her. A week ago we sent off the letter and plane ticket in the post, and now today, Saturday morning of all things, I'm waiting in arrivals for someone who may not even show. I just hope the letter got to her in time.

There is a swarm of people coming through the doors now, all pushing or pulling suitcases. Most of them look very tired, I am too, seeing that I have been waiting here since half eight, and in Glasgow since yesterday. And now my foot has begun to tap, great. Also, the metal railing that I have been leaning on, is getting to be very uncomfortable, what else? Then, a woman comes out, looking all fresh but confused as to her location; I knew, that was her. She was young, beautiful, and very attractive, just like I remember her. Blue eyes like mine and flowing mouse brown hair that sat upon her shoulders.

She saw me looking at her, and came over. I straightened up, pushing myself up on the metal railing. She smiled as she approached. "Are you Dr. Brennan", I asked her as she set down her things.

"Yes I am. You're from Berk I guess then?", she asked as I took her carryon bag off her.

"Yeah, Bart McCullough", I told her as she ducked under the metal railing, pulling her suitcase behind.

"Chief McCullough's son?", she questioned as she stood up.

"Yeah, Fredo's rider if you can remember", I said as we made our way over to the departures.

"Oh, how can I forget", she laughed, "How long is the journey up there because I could do with some sleep if you don't mind".

"We have a two hour flight now to the Shetland Islands, then a wee boat ride, and we should be at Berk by about four this afternoon. You will get plenty of sleep", I told her as we joined the queue for checking in.

She smiled and started rummaging through her bag. It was four in the morning back in DC, and she was sending a text rather than phoning the person who was the one to be concerned about her. I always had to phone my father, he can't do texting, no matter what time it was. "My partner Booth", she told me after noticing me glance over, "Always worried about me. It is like having an over protective parent".

"Know the feeling all too well", I agreed with her.

It was a Saturday, and Cam never came in on Saturdays. But, since Brennan was away in Glasgow, and Booth had decided to take the week off, she thought it was the best time to recruit her friends to help sort through all the junk that had come with her room. She already persuaded Angela with anything she found that was not important she could have, and Booth had been dragged in after Cam gave him a speech on how she needed a strong man to lift all the heavy boxes. That always gets them. Hodgins was with his bugs at home, watching some sort of special butterfly hatch or something, and Sweets was with Daisy. And another good thing for Cam was that there were no interns for approximately two weeks. It was like being in seventh heaven.

She walked in through the main doors to the lab at nine, not expecting anyone to be there until ten. This hour to herself meant she could map out what needed doing, and analyse what were the best places to start. There was so much junk from the previous pathologist left behind, Cam had to wonder how much this person had taken with them. But her plan was ruined by the fact Booth was spinning himself around on one of the chairs on the platform. Men could always amuse themselves with a spinning chair.

He stopped as he saw her walk through the doors and up to him. "You're not meant to be here for another hour yet Booth", she told him as she set down her handbag on one of the tables.

"I know, but Bones not being here feels really... odd", he said as he stood to meet her.

"Well, you should be happy for her, going off like that. We all need a break from murder solving", she told him as she switched the computer nearest to her on, "Has she landed yet?".

"Yeah, she texted me at four this morning", Booth replied as he perched himself on the desk next to Cam.

"Good. Angela should be here in about an hour then we can start. Is she going to phone you?".

"Angela or Bones?".

"Dr. B, is she going to phone you later?".

"Yeah, she said she would call when she was settled in her room. Why?".

"We need her to bring some haggis back", Cam smiled.

"Oh yeah, then you lot can start experimenting on it and discover the cure for the common cold", Booth laughed with her.

"Dr. Brennan", Bart whispered at the sleeping woman.

"Hmmm", she said as she slowly came around.

"We are at Berk", Bart smiled at her.

They were travelling on a very expensive looking boat. It had three decks, two bedrooms, a small kitchen, seating area, and bathroom. Bart said it was enough for transporting a group of villagers to the other islands, and was the sturdiest they could find. Tempe was sleeping in one of the bedrooms, and it was kitted out with a good sized double bed, a decent sized wardrobe, and a way too small porthole window.

She looked at the watch on her wrist. It read half three, they were ahead of schedule, and the nights getting longer meant that it would be light for a while. Tempe swung her legs around and off the bed. She rubbed her eyes and stretched. She had really needed that sleep, and she now felt refreshed and ready to go. The movement of the boat had really helped her drift off, and now she could tell it was slowing down.

Outside, Bart was as far front as he could get on the boat. Brennan came out and walked over to him as he stared at the island before them. All around, there were dragons flying in the sky. The mountains reached upwards into the sky, almost touching the clouds, with houses clinging to the side and the cliff tops. Smoke rose from various wooden buildings, and there was a crowd gathering on the dock. Brennan smiled as she returned to the place that had made her question her rationality. Bart smiled with her, before shifting his body up onto the railing of the boat. She watched as he fell backwards and then a purple object whooshed upwards for a loop.

It came back down with Bart sitting on its shoulders, and hovered by the side of the boat. "Remember Fredo", Bart said as he stroked the dragon's head.

"How could I forget", she smiled back at him before Fredo roared with joy and flew back over to the island.

The boat docked before Tempe knew it, and as if she had blanked out, she now found herself standing at the top of stairs, confronted with a crowd well over a hundred of people and dragons. One hand on her suitcase, and the other on the railing, she made her way down to where a grey bearded man was waiting, in front of everyone else. How could she ever forget his face. "Temperance Brennan", he said, arms open, "My how you have bloomed into a beautiful woman".

"Chief McCullough", she said as they embraced a hug, "It has been a long time".

"It has indeed", he said as they parted, his beard moving as he spoke, "I know you have only just arrived, but there are matters which need to be addressed".

He pointed up towards a black object on the cliff above them. At first, Tempe thought it was part of the cliff face, but as she looked closer, she could see it was a dragon. It was pressed against the floor, flat out, and looked completely lifeless. And to add to things, it was where she had last seen it ten years ago.

It had followed her all week, investigating through all her stuff, watching her every move. But, even if it did keep its distance, she knew that it was interested. It watched her leave from that very spot, ten years ago, although back then, it had a lot more life. "Is it really that bad?", she questioned as someone took her suitcase off her.

The crowd parted as the chief led her through the village. "I know that you don't have as much knowledge as we do, but if it looks bad to ya, then it is hell from our point of view", he told her as they walked up the hill.

Bart and Fredo were waiting at the top. On the ground by them was a line drawn into the soil, and Bart was holding a large basket of something which was making Fredo go berserk. The crowd which had followed them up stopped a good ten metres from Bart and Fredo, as Tempe and the chief continued on. The dragon was a good fifteen metres away from the line, facing out to sea. "What is the line for", she questioned the chief.

"That is as far as we can get without upsetting it", he told her as he placed a hand down on his son's shoulder.

The basket was thrust forward at her. The stink of fish erupted under her nose, and Bart seemed glad to be rid of it if anything. "You might need these", the boy said as Tempe took the basket of fish from him.

The basket now counterbalanced the weight of her carryon bag on her back, and her back felt a little less strained. "What for", she asked as she pulled a face at the fish.

"Dragons love fish", McCullough said, as he pointed towards the line, "Good luck".

"There is no such thing as luck", she told him as she made her way to the line.

She took in a large lung full of air as she prepared herself to confront this beast. On her own as well, with a basket full of stinking fish, it was getting better and better. It was now or never, as she walked over the line and towards the dragon. There was a gasp from behind her, and it seemed pretty anti-climatic that the dragon didn't respond whatsoever as she approached it. Its long black tail hardly moved, twitched if nothing else and shuddered its wings as she passed its torso. The nerves were building as she came around to the front, and saw the longing blue eyes looking out to sea.

It was like it didn't even notice her as she stood before it. Temperance put the basket down, took of her bag, and sat down in front of the animal. She looked at it, wondering what to do next. Now she wished Booth were there with her, he would know what to do. Okay then Tempe, why don't we play Booth, she thought to herself, let's talk to it, even though because it is an animal it can't speak back.

"Listen right, I don't know what to do, and those people over there are getting worried about you", she said to the creature, "I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan, and I know you are not going to speak back to me, but I'm doing what my friend Booth would".

Its eyes shifted, and focused on her as she opened up the basket of fish and removed one. She held it out for the dragon, inches from its nose. It sniffed the fish, snatching it out from her hand and swallowing it whole. Brennan smiled as it shifted its weight slightly. "Okay, now what?", she asked it.

It tilted its head like a dog does when it is playing. Slowly, it began to sit up. From behind, the crowd watched on, and Fredo moved forward. The dragon turned around its head sharply and growled at its sibling, warning it to stay away. It turned back to Tempe, and waited for her next move. "Okay, maybe I can read you something out of my book to calm you down", she said as she rummaged around in the bag and took out her latest novel.

The dragon stood and moved forward to sniff the object; it snorted at it, and picked up the bag in its teeth. It then began shaking the bag, letting everything fall out. "Hey", Tempe said as she stood to remove her bag from the dragons mouth.

Before she even touched the fabric, the dragon dropped it on her head and began sniffing the contents of the bag. It found her plastic gloves and black light pen; the pen fascinated it as the dragon started rolling it about. "Here", Brennan said as she picked it up and turned it on.

The dragon sniffed at the light, and Tempe stared as the light seemed to illuminate the dragon's skin. It highlighted patterns in the scales that she would have never guessed to be there, swirling all over its body. Then it attacked her laptop, scratching at it, trying to get it open. "Oh okay", Brennan said as she sat down and opened it.

As she switched the device on, she turned it around for the dragon to see and as the desktop popped up, it made the dragon jump. She reached around to the front and brought up the latest case file and photos. "I investigate murders for a living. I'm a forensic anthropologist working in the Jeffersonian in conjunction with the FBI", she told it as it watched her flick through all the different pages, "Look, here it is".

She opened up a file on the laptop, containing the photos she had taken with the camera Angela got her for her last birthday. They had all insisted that she used it that day and take photos of the lab. They served a good purpose now as she showed this dragon everything; the lab, her friends, her friends mucking about, even a skeleton in the bone room. The dragon was inquisitive about all of them.

After staring at each of the photos for a good while, it jumped around to the other side of her and started nudging her in the back, pushing her forward. "Hey, let me get my stuff, then we can go and see the others", she said smiling as she looked at the crowd who all seemed very pleased.

She bent down to pick up the contents of her bag and started stuffing them back in. She could sort it out later, these people didn't judge a person by the state of the contents of someone's bag. She zipped it up, and threw it onto her back. As she stood, she glimpsed the crowd backing off, and Fredo was getting rather excitable. But before she knew it, the ground from beneath her feet disappeared.

In a moment of shock, Temperance screamed and clung on to whatever she could find. This happened to be dragon scales, and she could feel the air rushing past her, and the force from the dragon beating its wings. And for some reason, she daren't open her eyes.

"Hey, there is nothing to be afraid of", she heard someone shout, "Look!".

The voice seemed to snap some logic into her. She had once laughed at Booth when he closed his eyes when he thought they were going to be blown up in the Gormogon Vault. She opened her eyes, and found that she was sitting on the shoulders of the dragon as it flew around the island. Next to her was Bart and Fredo; who seemed very happy to have his sibling flying with him. Bart was sitting on what looked like a specially designed saddle with handles for him to hold onto and stirrups for his feet. He seemed to be a lot comfier than Temperance was right now.

"Hey, can tell you that she is a girl now", Bart shouted, "You can name her now, she is yours".

This news made Brennan smile. This dragon had chosen for her to ride it, no her. And now, she could name her; a special way of the two communicating with each other. Temperance couldn't believe how quickly it had taken for this dragon to come out of its shell, just for her. It must have chosen her all those years ago, and just needed a kick-start. Out of happiness, the dragon shot out a stream of purple light that erupted into flame after a distance. The dragon flew over it, and swooped down to land on the green where it had stayed for the past ten years.

Chief McCullough came running over as a windswept Tempe hopped off the dragon. Fredo and Bart landed next to them, and as soon as Bart was off, the two dragons started interacting; rubbing and sniffing each other. McCullough was speechless to the situation. "I don't know what to say. Fifteen minutes and you are flying", he said as he watched the two creatures play.

"Well dad, it's a girl. Looks like it has chosen which rider belongs to her", he said looking at Temperance who was high on adrenaline.

"Have you thought of a name Dr. Brennan?", the chief asked the woman, who was enjoying the effects of her adrenaline rush.

"What no. I've only been here less than half an hour and you think I should have a name formulated in my brain", she stared at him, and it was like talking to Sweets in some aspects, the expectancy for her to come up with something childish.

"Well, it would be nice to call her something else than just Night Fury. Give it some thought, and then we can have it engraved into your saddle", McCullough said as he led her to a familiar looking cabin at the top of the hill.

"What... my saddle", she squeaked, still in shock.

"Yes, if you can get her to be still later, we can measure up and have a saddle ready for you to start flying tomorrow", he said as he pushed open the door to the chief's cabin.

Bart followed shortly afterwards, and the two dragons in quick succession behind him before the door was shut. Inside, he showed Tempe to her room, a spare one they had put in after his cousin came to visit a few years ago, and her dragon followed after, looking at everything and anything on the way. Bart smiled as he watched the dragon shoot upwards to cling onto the roof, just like they all did. "We are having a feast in an hour, in the main cave. Are you going to join us?", Bart asked her as she sat down on the single bed.

"Yes, but I have to phone home first. Let them know I'm okay, I might change into something more appealing for the situation", she told him as she took out her mobile, "You do have signal here?".

"Yeah, and Wi-Fi", he told her at the door, "there is an en-suit in there", he said, gesturing towards a door on the other side of the room, before leaving her in peace with the dragon.

Brennan flipped open her phone, and chose the first number in her speed dial. She listened to the ringtone, waiting for the familiar answer. "Booth", her partner answered.

"Hey Booth", she said to him.

"Oh hey Bones".

Booth had been waiting all day for this call. Unpacking boxes of junk that didn't belong to any of the three people in the room was very boring. Angela had accumulated a pile of ornaments and other little knick knacks, while Cam was feeling better by the minute as the pile of junk sitting in the cupboards of her room quickly depleted. Booth had had enough half an hour in, but being the gentleman he was, he wasn't going to let his friends down.

"Yeah, so, well, I'm here, in the hotel room", she was lying through her teeth for these people.

"Good, are they nice there, or do I need to come and protect you?".

"No, you don't need to come. The people here are really nice, and the local wildlife are interesting and different", she said this looking up at her dragon swinging back and forth on the roof.

"Bring us back some haggis", she heard Cam shout from somewhere in the background.

"Why does Cam want haggis? It isn't very nice", Brennan told Booth.

"She is just being stupid Bones don't pay any attention. Now get an early night okay, because it was a long flight, and you probably haven't slept since early this morning, plus you will have jetlag", Booth told her on the other end, always overprotecting her.

"Don't worry Booth, an early night is on the way", more lies, a feast would go on forever and it is not like she has to get up tomorrow.

"Have fun".

"Oh, I will", and with that, the conversation ended.

An hour later, I came back to knock on her door. I too had had a shower and changed for the feast. Fredo also seemed to have preened himself and was now lying flat out on the living room floor; happy to have his sister back. I had changed into a more appealing jeans and shirt with a leather jacket, as this was quite a momentous feast. Oh, and did I mention I would have to accompany Dr. Brennan as part of me volunteering involved me looking after her? I'm going to look a complete fool looking after a woman twice my age.

I took a large breath before knocking on her door, it was worse than going on a first date. After I did, there was a lot of crashing coming from in her bedroom. I heard her cursing as something landed with a thud on the wooden floor. Then there was the rush of air as her dragon lifted off the ground to perch on the beams above. She opened the door, slightly, looking back and up into the room, then opened the door fully when she saw it was me. She had changed into a very stylish black jeans, white blouse and black jacket, complete with large chunky metal jewellery. Her makeup, even though I have no clue when saying this, seemed just right.

She smiled at me, and I smiled back. Her dragon then appeared from behind her, holding some item of clothing in its mouth. It stared down at me, then out to Fredo who had sat up. Before either of us knew, she jumped over us, dropping the item as she went, and playfully attacked Fredo.

"It is like babysitting a toddler", Dr. Brennan said as she bent down to pick up her top and threw it back into the room.

"They do get better. If ya think 'bout it, she has been deprived of social interaction and is now releasing it in one big burst", I told as we walked over to the living space, the dragons darting gracefully around the room.

"I hate psychology, but I suppose you are right. A lack of social contact for anything can be frustrating", she told me as we reached the door.

As I opened it, the two dragons burst out past us and went straight up into the air to continue their game. I produced my arm, and Dr. Brennan took it. The village was empty, as the whole village, except maybe the odd few with you know small kids, were waiting for us in the cave. As we walked through, our dragons made all sorts of noises above us. It was a strange sight to see a male and female Night Fury together as normally they only came together to do the deed. Our two are the only ones on the island; the other local ones live in secluded places up north, or in the abandoned caves of the old dragon nest.

Our Night Furies were born and hatched on the island. A mother comes here every century or so to lay eggs in a nest of pure fire on the mountain somewhere and ours were hatched within days of my birth. My dad called it destiny, but I call it pure coincidence. The mother would then leave them when they are about six months old, and by this time they are strong and big enough to fly. So Fredo has been with me since birth, and his sister was very much independent, guarding the island. Now it seems they have switched roles, Fredo being the mature one, and his sister the inquisitive child. I looked at the doctor as she watched them fly above.

"How did you get her interested in you?", I asked her, the thought just popping in, "No offense or anything, it is just none of us have any clue 'bout how to deal with that situation".

"Suppose that is a valid question. Well, my partner Booth told me this thing about animals liking books being read to them. I thought it was better to take his strategy as he knows more about these things than I do", she told me, watching the two as they dived down to the sea, "But she was not interested in having my book read to her, so she went through my things and pulled items of interest out. She seemed to very much like the pictures of the lab where I work, and the bodies I investigate".

As my brain took this information in, I began to put two and two together, and yes, I got four. "You're the Dr. Temperance Brennan! The writer and one who works in that Jeffersonian place solving murders! And now you ride a dragon!", my poor teenage brain went into overload as soon as I got four, "Your life is so cool".

She seemed a bit shocked by the outburst. Very understandable, teenage outbursts are very... what is the word... confusing at times. "Thank you. But being me is not all that 'cool'", she started, me looking at her confused like, "I have been kidnapped, buried alive, shot and shot at, had stalkers and death threats, and have been blown up".

"That is quite a list", I told her: now thinking how much she must enjoy getting away like this.

"I can't wait to get back to it though", thanks for completely defying me, "What about you? You are young, there must be some exciting things going on in your life".

Talking about myself, yippee! The worst thing in the world, ever, I promise you. It is okay when you start doing it subconsciously in a conversation, but when you are asked to, it is the most difficult thing in the world. "Well, I have just finished my GCSE's, and will be going to the college on the Shetlands in September. I have fallen off Fredo so many times it is not worth counting, and have been set fire to, but that is an occupational hazard".

"Oh", she hadn't consider the safety risks in having a dragon, "What are you studying?".

"Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Maths".

"That is very impressive. What field of work are you considering to enter with those qualifications?".

"Well, I think I'm going to go down the scientific path because I would really like to find more about the dragons and their biological makeup".

"I could help you there", she popped in; this was getting better and better for me.

"How?", I know that may seem rude, but my brain wasn't really up to speed.

"I could help you out with the anatomy. Then all you have to do is work out muscle density and genetic makeup", well, at least she could point me in the right direction.

"Thanks", I said as we walked up the hill to the doors of the cave.

The doors to the cave were well over three stories high, and had a small space at the top for the dragons to go in and out. They were made of wood, and held together by steel, and were impressive to everyone who laid eyes upon them. Two large dragons were carved into the wood, and their tails curved at the bottom to create the knobs. Fredo gracefully landed beside me, while Dr. Brennan's dragon bounded up behind her like an excited child.

"She is worse than Angela", the doctor said as we prepared ourselves to enter.

"Who?".

"My friend back in DC. Are we going to enter?".

I nodded and took one large breath. The door was heavy, and Fredo helped me by pushing it with his head. The crowd inside became quiet as the door creaked open, and the doctor and I entered in together. Like they had prepared it, our dragons flew over the top of us, and both breathed a purple blue flame that erupted into orange in the centre of the room. My village cheered, and music along with the feasting continued.

Before I could do anything, the poor doctor was pulled away by my dad as he introduced her to everyone. Being Dr. Brennan- less meant that I had to now go over to what the patronising adults called the 'kiddies table'. Well, it is quite a few tables actually. The kids who were just old enough to be here sat at one table, they would be gone by eight. There was a heard of tweens on one, the hormonal thirteen and fourteen year olds on another, and my age group, fifteen and above sat together across two tables.

There are seven of us, three girls and for boys. I was welcomed by the boys with digs and handshakes, and the girls acknowledge my presence with smiling, waving and giggling. Before I sat to join them, I checked on the dragons. There were enough perches all the way up the cave wall for every dragon on the island. But instead of looking there, I looked straight up. Above the flames of the Viking chandelier, was a metal grating for maintenance. Snuggled up together, were the two Night Furies, grooming one another. I smiled and sat.

Before I got completely overwhelmed in beer and food, I noticed Dr. Brennan putting up with my father. She looked like she wanted to just sit down and observe rather than be the centre of all attention. Finally my dad got into a deep conversation with another villager, and went to sit down at one of the tables with a glass of wine.