Another weekend and another chapter, I want to thank those of you who have reviewed or favorited/alerted this story. I am pleased people seem to be enjoying reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it.

As usual I own no-one and nothing but how I wish I did.

Booth arrived at the Jeffersonian fifteen minutes after Dr Brennan had, he unlike her did not have the pleasure of a reserved parking space so he spent five minutes circling the complex looking for a space. It was just one of the many reasons why he hated the stupid, sterile lab where some of his favourite people worked, not that he would ever admit that to anyone. He slipped into the first space he found and actually smiled to himself when he noticed how close he had managed to park to the elevator. Jumping out of his car he all but ran to the elevator tapping his left foot and flicking his poker chip impatiently as he waited for it to arrive, he really wanted to talk to his partner and discover what exactly he was supposed to have done now. He stepped into the car as soon as the doors opened and punched the button for the lab floor. As the doors slid closed he felt a sense of claustrophobia, he had never suffered with it before so it surprised him now when he felt as though he couldn't breathe. He pulled at his tie slightly to loosen it and once the doors opened he walked out breathing a sigh of relief as he did so.

Entering the lab space he immediately took note of his surroundings, he noticed that Angela was leaning over Hodgins talking low in his ear as he did something on his computer; he also noted that Cam was nowhere to be seen. Assuming she was in her office he turned in the direction of his partner's office and headed towards it walking with a clear purpose. He felt eyes on him as he passed by Angela and Hodgins but he ignored them and continued on his trajectory.

"Sure, tonight would be fine." He heard his partner say quietly as he reached her door and wondered who she was speaking to.

"Okay, not problem. Bye Andrew," he shook his head at the words. Of course it's Hacker who else would it be? He thought to himself as he knocked lightly on her door jamb. He didn't usually knock but after this morning he thought it best to be cautious.

"Hey Bones," He greeted as she put her phone back into the cradle.

"Booth, have the remains arrived?" Temperance asked as she spun her chair to face Booth as he stood awkwardly in her door.

"Not yet, they should be here in a minute though. I just wanted to make sure that we were...you know...good."

"Of course we are," Brennan answered his non-question. She even flashed a smile at him but he noticed the slight tension which accompanied the movement, almost as if she really didn't want to smile. Temperance had considered her reaction to Booth's words earlier and decided that although it had annoyed her, her reaction may have been somewhat uncalled for.

"Alright...well the techs finished at the site." He said as he walked into her office and sat on the chair Angela had vacated not ten minutes before. He knew she had lied to him but didn't want to cause an argument by calling her on it. Brennan sat stock still as she watched Booth move with a grace he wasn't even aware he had, she took note of each muscle movement through the fabric of his suit and found herself enjoying the view.

"What did they find?"

"Nothing," Booth answered the question. Temperance took note of the angry tone to his voice and decided to tread carefully.

"What do you mean they found nothing? There has to have been something to find, no-one leaves a crime scene completely clean." Brennan said as she wrinkled her brow in confusion, leaning back in her chair.

"Well this guy did. There was nothing, not a fingerprint or footprint; hell there wasn't even a stray hair." Booth sighed as he watched his partner carefully, trying to determine what she was thinking.

"So someone with knowledge of skeletal anatomy and forensics placed a body inside a crypt at a cemetery. It seems an odd thing to do, especially as there was no guarantee that the body would be discovered."

"You got that straight Bones; I need you to find me something on that body that I can work with."

"I will Booth; I am very good at my job you know." Brennan responded lifting her lips in her famous half smile.

"I know Bones is it okay if I hang around until then? I know you said you would call me but if I go back to the office I will have to do paperwork." Booth pleaded with his partner, he didn't add that he would also have to face his boss who was possibly at this minute on a high from his night with Temperance.

"Sure, just don't get in the way." Brennan said just as a second quiet knock came from the door. The partners both span their eyes away from each other to look at their unwanted intruder.

"Mr Nigel-Murray, I see your rotation has come back around." Brennan said bluntly and without a trace of emotion.

"Yes Dr Brennan, the remains have arrived." He replied waiting anxiously for Dr Brennan to acknowledge his words before he turned away. He refused to look at Agent Booth, who was staring at him with a somewhat amused expression on his face. Deep down Vincent knew that when the decision finally came about who would get to be Dr Brennan's permanent assistant the FBI agent would have a big part in the choice. He hoped that his deference of the man would work in his favour when the time came.

When the young man walked away the twosome returned their gazes to each other and smiled shaking their heads. Each knew what the other was thinking without them having to say anything; Brennan stood from her seat, pulled her lab coat off the back of it and slid her arms into it.

"Are you coming?" She asked her partner, he nodded and stood from his seat. Straightening out his jacket and tie he followed his partner to the platform.

"Hey Booth," Dr Jack Hodgins called out to him as he walked to the table containing the remains discovered at the crypt.

"Hodgins, Ange looking good." He smirked at the artist who laughed in return. She knew Booth was a big flirt but essentially harmless, he was too in love with Brennan even if he was with Ashleigh.

"Same to you FBI man," Angela winked as she walked over to her friend who was snapping on a pair of latex gloves. "Can I take the skull?" She asked leaning towards Brennan.

"Yes, I won't require it straight away." Temperance answered lifting the skull gently onto a tray for Angela to carry off to her office to do a reconstruction. With that Temperance turned to Hodgins and indicated with her head the sample bags which were in a box next to her.

"I need you to analyse these samples and see if you can find anything. The FBI techs found nothing." She said as Hodgins grabbed a hold of the box.

"Will do Dr Brennan," he smiled at her as he headed to his work station. He paused as he reached the agent leaning against the railing watching the exchanges with an amused expression. "Booth can I have a word later on?" He asked quietly and somewhat nervously because he didn't want Booth to shoot him before he got a chance to see his child. He was still in a state of shock that Angela was pregnant with his child; it wasn't the first time she had found herself so but unfortunately she had suffered a miscarriage whilst they were Paris.

"Sure, what's it about?" Booth asked as he removed his gaze from his partner who was now leaning over the table examining the remains and talking in a low voice to Mr Nigel-Murray.

"Nothing bad, I just want to ask you something." Hodgins said smiling brightly before walking off to his station, leaving a thoroughly confused Booth stood on the platform.

The platform remained quiet for about three hours as Dr Brennan and Vincent worked diligently, Cam had come out once to see if she was required before returning to her office to finish paperwork; Booth had long since given up his position and removed himself to Brennan's office. So it was no surprise to Brennan when she walked into her office and found him stretched out on her couch, fast asleep. She moved to wake him up; after all he would hurt his back if he stayed there. Just as she moved to lean over the back of the couch and shake him awake he moved so that he was facing her, her hand stopped it movement as she took in the structure of her friend and partners face.

Temperance sighed heavily as she remembered how many times during their seven month break she had thought about Booth. If she remembered correctly and she was sure she did, she had thought about him every day; she had all but accepted that maybe Booth had a point about them trying, when they met back up and she found out he had met someone else. It had hurt her more than she thought it would, Booth had introduced her to Ashleigh when she followed him back to DC and Brennan couldn't deny that she was pretty, intelligent and perfect for Booth. It annoyed her, however irrational it may be, that she found herself actually unable to dislike the woman. She had disliked Camille until she had stopped sleeping with Booth, she had always been indifferent regarding Rebecca and she had hated Tessa and Katherine. She never understood why she had such irrational reactions to the women in Booth's life; he was a virile, charming, well structured man and who wouldn't want to be with him but he was her best friend nothing more.

At least that had been her thinking until she had left for the Maluku islands with a certain Daisy Wick, only to find out that what they had gone there to dig for was nowhere to be found. In her opinion it had been a complete waste of seven months of her life and she had been pleased when Caroline had been in touch to say that she had to return immediately. Presently she had acknowledged that she felt something for Booth, more than the attraction she had long ago accepted, but he was with someone else and she refused to be one of those women. Which was why she had gone out with Andrew Hacker and agreed to do so again, he wasn't as handsome as Booth but he was charming and made her laugh.

"Booth, you need to wake up." Brennan said after five minutes of staring at her partner, she shook him gently and he jerked awake almost hitting Temperance with his head as he sat up.

"Bones, sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep. Are you done with your examination?" He asked rubbing his eyes and swinging his legs off the couch leaving room for her to sit down.

"Mr Nigel-Murray is still looking but I can tell you now that there is no cause of death visible on the bones."

"So she wasn't shot, stabbed or hit with anything."

"That would be correct, and without any soft tissue for Cam to analyse I am at a loss. We can't provide evidence of whether she was poisoned or died of natural circumstances." Brennan answered as she sat on the couch next to Booth.

"Okay so what do you know?" Booth asked pulling out his notebook to take note of what Brennan had just said.

"Well, she has stress fractures on her metatarsals; she broke her left arm approximately two years ago and received a distal radial stress fracture to her right wrist a year later." Booth took note of all of this silently before he spoke again.

"What does that mean? Was she abused?" Temperance heard the tension in his voice as he said the words, for obvious reasons abuse cases hit him harder than others. The same way that foster kid cases hit her harder than others. She placed a hand on his arm as the muscles clenched in his jaw, followed by his arm as his hand curled into a fist.

"No, I would say she was a probably a ballet dancer, gymnast or a cheerleader maybe all three. These are all typical injuries for those disciplines." She explained quietly, Booth relaxed at both her words and her touch letting go of the breath he had held in. He knew his reaction was stupid but after what he had suffered at his father's hands he hated the idea of other people suffering the same thing.

"Athletic, someone has to be missing her Bones." He stated sadly as he slid his notebook back into his jacket pocket. He had opened his mouth to speak when Angela walked into the office.

"Guys, I have a face for you." She said stoically, Booth immediately stood forgetting that Brennan had her hand on his arm. She moved it quickly back to her side but not before Angela raised an eyebrow at the movement and walked towards her office. The partners followed her and stood in front of her monitor looking at the face of the girl currently lying out on a cold steel table, surrounded by people she had never met.

I hope you liked the chapter, there will be movements in the case now I promise I just wanted to build up to the id.

The next one will be up next weekend when we have to wait less than a week for the Season Premiere of our favorite show XD