"Ms. Julian, do you have a moment?" Brennan quietly got Caroline's attention as she walked down the hall. Brennan looked around twice to make sure she didn't see Booth or anyone else. She'd have been happy not to see anyone.

"What in the blazes happened to you?" Caroline said excitedly as she looked up at Brennan, who still wore the markings of the beating and accident on her face and body.

"A small automobile accident last week. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Caroline said with doubt.

"Do you have a moment?" Brennan repeated.

"I've only had one cup of coffee so far today, cher, so if it's super squinty I won't be keeping up."

Brennan gave a half laugh and stepped inside the Federal Prosecutor's office, sliding the glass door behind her. She needed to make sure that Vanik was right about the camera in her office. She needed to be sure that if anything happened there and was caught on camera that it could be admissible in a case against McGowan.

"I had a quick question. A legal matter. Should only be a moment of your expertise."

"I don't like the idea of squints and legal questions. I always think you are coming up with ways to plan the perfect crime," Caroline laughed, and Brennan wasn't quite certain if she was joking.

"I have no illegal intentions, I assure you," Brennan reassured her. "A quick fact check for something I'm writing." Caroline gestured to the guest chair in her office.

"Surveillance," Brennan opened. She said it was about her book, that she had written something about a case and her publisher wanted her to confirm that it was accurate. She stoked Caroline's ego by telling her that she knew Caroline would know the answer and asked when it was legal to take video footage of someone without their knowledge and have that video be admissible in court.

She could tell from the way Caroline regarded her that there was suspicion. This woman was impossible to fool. Bones watched as Caroline leaned back in her chair and considered the request. Caroline scrunched her face, and decided to answer.

Caroline had a very detailed explanation of that situation, but in the end Brennan was able to piece it together. If she wanted to catch something on tape as evidence it would need to be somewhere it was reasonable for security purposes for video collection to be taking place, especially in a place of business, for example.

As the door slid open Brennan heard the voice before she saw him.

"Temperance, what are you doing here today?" Danny sounded conversational, but she knew better. How had he known she was here? She hadn't told anyone she was coming. She hadn't brought her phone. She'd driven herself over. Was he tracking her car as well?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, remembering that she had to seem like everything was fine, and when she opened them, in that split second before she turned around, Caroline met her eyes with an understanding that left Brennan unnerved.

"And just what do you think you are doing, Agent McGowan, barging into my office uninvited?" Caroline barked putting him back on his heels. "If I need to go over squinty testimony for a case I can't imagine how that's any business of yours. I don't come into your office before you've had your second cup of coffee and interrupt you."

Brennan answered the original question.

"Just going over some of the scientific terminology for the Masters' case next week. Caroline is helping me use more easily understood phrases and I'm helping her with pronunciation."

"And we aren't done, cher, so since you aren't bringing me coffee or pastries and I'm on a schedule you can skedaddle."

Danny just nodded with a smile and backed away.

"And close my door," Caroline barked, and McGowan complied.

"Is there something we need to talk about, Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan just shook her head, her voice abandoning her under the scrutiny.

"I think there is, and I don't like it. And I've never liked him," the distaste obvious on her face.

Still, Brennan said nothing.

Caroline took out a contact card and wrote some numbers on the back. "You take this. Anytime. Day or night. Whatever it is that you're in the middle of, when you are ready to not be in the middle anymore, you call me and tell me you are ready to talk about the Alvarez file. I can bring down a world of pain in a very short amount of time."

"I'm sure you can, Ms. Julian. I'll take that under advisement. Thank you." Brennan stood and made her way out of the building, heading away from the direction of Booth's office, which was the direction that McGowan had headed off to when he took his leave.

Booth was working through his email. Leaving early on Friday to get Parker from school and not having checked in over the weekend gave him more than a few loose email ends from administrative to case paperwork. He saw Danny arrive at his door, and while he would normally be happy for the distraction, his conflicted thoughts on Bones and Danny made him exhale a heavy sigh before he gave his traditional greeting.

"Danny-boy," Booth said with no enthusiasm.

"How was your weekend, man?"

"Good. Had Parker for the weekend. We had a good time."

"That's great."

"How was yours?"

"Insurance paperwork," he said with annoyance, and then continued in response to the confused look on Booth's face. "Paid the price for chasing Tempe down on Thursday night. I let her drive us back to her place and she totaled my truck."

Booth shot up to standing before Danny had finished speaking.

"Is she ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, too, brother. Thanks for asking," Danny replied.

"Why didn't you call me?" Booth's agitation was obvious, but he had no interest in tempering it.

"I handled it," Danny told him.

"I'm her partner, Danny. How do you not call me?"

"And I'm her boyfriend, Booth. Calm down. She's fine. She got cleared at the ER and I took her home."

"She voluntarily got medical attention?" Booth said skeptically.

"It took some convincing. I can be very charming."

"What happened?"

"She swerved to avoid some kids on bikes who got stupid near the overpass support on 14th and D. She drove my Bureau truck into the overpass stanchion."

"She seemed really pissed at you on Thursday," Booth said, trying to draw intel out of Danny on what happened.

"She was, although I don't think she totaled the car on purpose," he said, laughing.

"What'd you do?"

"I may have made some comments critical of the book series."

Booth cringed. "Ooh. That's a long stay in the doghouse."

"Lucky for me she is out of town for a few days – leaves this afternoon for some guest lecture gig. Philly, right?"

Booth nodded as if that was information he already knew, but he was certain that he didn't. If Bones had told him she was heading to Philly they would have talked about cheesesteaks and the Fliers and he would've tried to go along with her. He steadied his face with the realization that Danny was actually looking for intel on Bones from him – and Booth didn't like it.

Well then, maybe you shouldn't have all but told him to ask her out and all but begged her to say yes. What a disaster.

"Is that this week? I'd forgotten it was coming up so soon. Those kids pack those auditoriums to hear her talk about the bones." He added a charming smile for good measure.

That should be enough, he thought. It would cover for Bones if she needed it, and give him some space to back-peddle if Danny was just fishing. But why would Danny be fishing? And why would Bones be heading out of town on short notice?

"I'll have to see if I can get back in her good graces when she gets home. Suggestions?"

"Not insulting her books would probably help." Booth said with a little attitude. He wasn't going to help.

Danny made a face that let Booth know his smart ass comment hit home, and after telling Booth he would catch him later, Danny hit the road. Booth picked up a baseball on his desk and started gripping it, pacing while the gears in his mind started to turn.

"Do you know what your job is, Mr. Special Agent?" Caroline Julian barked from the doorway while he paced.

"To catch the bad guys for you, Caroline," he said with a charming smile.

"And apparently look damn good doing it," she added. "But you are the only one who makes sense of all that brain stuff from the Jeffersonian and turns it into actual trial-ready evidence that keeps the bad guys behind bars once you catch them. I hated the squints, and you made me like them. I even learned their names."

"Don't worry," he said laughing. I won't tell anyone."

"And now I even worry about them." She crossed to where he was standing and looked him square in the eye. "They are your responsibility, Booth. You make sure they are looked after."

"I do my best, m'lady," he said with a mock bow, still not sensing the weight of her words.

"Well do better, cher, 'cause I saw that pretty scientist of yours this morning, and she looked many things, but alright wasn't one of them."

"Bones was here this morning?"

"Dropped by my office."

"Does she do that a lot?"

"Never, cher. Never. Asking questions about security footage, and looking all bruised up. Listen to me, you keep an eye on her."

"Uh, yeah, Caroline. Will do."

Booth pulled out his phone and texted Bones.

Booth: Heard I missed you at Hoover today.

Bones: Had to speak to Caroline.

Booth: Everything ok?

Bones: Philly trip is today. Back Thursday. Talk then?

Booth: Of course