Author's Note: I am so sorry for the delay! School, and homework, and a new favorite show (Glee) kind of got in the way of my writing. Plus, there were all of these standardized tests I had to take (ACT, state standardized tests), which weren't fun at all and turned my brain into mush for a little while. Hopefully now, with spring break coming up in two weeks, I can write another chapter without months of waiting in between. Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and alerts, plus all of your patience! I really, really, appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, and I never will. Fox, and Hart Hanson do. This is just for fun.

She had been bent over the remains laid out on the examination table for over an hour when he walked in.

"Did you find anything new?" He asked, his voice startling her in the quiet of the room. She jumped a little at it, a blush reddening her cheeks as she looked over at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you."

"You didn't." She replied, even though the evidence was obviously to the contrary. "I just didn't expect anyone, especially you, to be here this early." She let her eyes drift back over the bones.

"Let's just say that I'm a creature of habit." He smiled gently and walked up to the other side of the table. "It's amazing you can get anything out of these."

It was her turn to smile as she glanced up at him. "Thanks. Booth wasn't nearly as appreciative."

"I'm sure it couldn't have been all his fault." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now, is there anything I need to know before I go see Derek Havelyn?"

She picked up the skull and waved him over. He made his way over to stand next to her. The air stirred around them, and she caught a whiff of his cologne.

Focus on the case, not the agent working it, she scolded herself when a wayward thought of how pleasing he smelled crossed her mind.

And what about Booth?

"Do you see these fractures?" She asked, pulling her attention back to the case. He nodded, and she continued. "They're consistent with blunt force trauma, but—" She turned the skull over in her hands. "—there is no blood staining the inner cranial surface."

"And what does this tell you?" He inquired, leaning forward and squinting in an attempt to see better.

"That whatever caused these fractures happened post-mortem." She answered, reversing the skull and setting it down.

"So, she was killed somewhere else, transported to the woods and dropped somewhere in between?"

"It's possible. Then again, given where the fractures occurred, it's also very possible that the killer had been dragging the victim through the woods and hit a rock or some other large item."

"Oh."

"It's also possible, while unlikely, that these could have been caused by a weapon of some sort. I'll get Wendell to determine if these were weapon-related or not, and tell Angela to start running reconstructions to determine the exact force needed to create these fractures, along with the most likely scenario." She pulled off each rubber glove with a snap, and turned, throwing them into the wastebasket behind her.

"Okay. I should have enough to talk to the mother's boyfriend now." He moved to walk out of the room, and she followed, nearly bumping into him as he stopped suddenly, turning around. "I think it would be better if you sat this one out."

"What? Why? I always come along." She said, a confused look on her face. "And my knowledge of the remains could certainly be useful. There has to be a good reason why you wouldn't take me along."

She missed the look that crossed his face, suggesting that he could think of many reasons why he wouldn't take her along. He sighed. "Will you promise me that you won't butt into my questioning at the worst possible moment and started demanding to know if the suspect was sexually assaulting the victim?"

"Will you promise me that you'll ask him if he was? In a timely fashion so I don't have to do it for you?" She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Fine. I'll get around to that angle, but I don't see why you're so stuck on that being the only possibility."

"I just don't think we should leave out anything that could potentially be useful to the case." She followed him out of the room, towards her office.

"What I'm trying to say is that getting information, especially true information, out of real people is not as easy as what you get out of the those bones in there." He gestured back to the room they'd just left. "And they get offended easily, especially when someone suggests that they are a sexual predator."

"I know." She said, entering her office and exchanging her lab coat for the light jacket she'd thrown on over her clothes that morning. "Booth told me something like that during our second case, although there wasn't any talk about sexual predators. Anyway, he said something about giving up a piece of yourself first before asking anything personal. Although I'm not entirely sure that that applies here."

"Well, good. Now, do you need directions, or do you want to come with me?"

They stood on the front porch of a small bungalow in Bethesda. Agent Douglass had been knocking on the door for at least five minutes by now, and it was becoming increasingly evident that no one was going to answer.

"Derek Havelyn! If you're in there, you need to open up. This is the FBI!"

Reaching up, Brennan tugged on the sleeve of his suit jacket. "I don't think he's going to open the door!"

He turned to look at her. "Why are you yelling?"

"I thought that a significant amount of volume would make it more likely that you would stop knocking on the door." She replied, letting go of his arm. "I don't think he's home."

"Thank you, Dr. Obvious." Sighing, he plopped himself down onto the front step of the porch.

"Wait, we're just going to wait here?" She asked, looking down at him with her arms crossed over her chest. "You don't know how long he's going to be gone. He could have left for work right before we got here. And if he did, it's likely that he won't be back until five, or maybe not even at all. What if he's—" The slam of a car door interrupted her tirade, and they both looked over to find Derek Havelyn standing next to his car in the driveway, a perplexed expression on his face. Douglass was on his feet and walking over to him in a second, Brennan following just behind.

"Excuse me, are you Derek Havelyn?" Douglass asked, flashing his badge. "I'm Agent Douglass, and this is Dr. Brennan. We're going to have to ask you some questions."

"Is this about Melissa?" Havelyn asked, pulling out his keys and making his way up the front of the walk towards the house.

"Yes. How did you know about that?" They paused on the porch and waited as he inserted the key into the lock and opened the door.

"Ella already called and told me." They entered the foyer, and he gestured to what looked like a living room off to the left. "You can sit in there. I just have to change out of my work clothes." He walked down the hallway and Douglass ushered Brennan into the room.

"I do not need to be led." She said, pushing away his hand where it floated over the small of her back. "I am perfectly capable of directing myself where I need to go."

"It's better than shoving you in here, isn't it?" He replied, holding up his hands. "I could have done that, you know."

Instead of replying, she directed her attention to the room as he sank down onto the couch. "You'd think that people would get tired of living in an untidy house." She said, in reference to the clutter filling the tiny room.

"He lives alone. Why would he need to clean up after himself?" Douglass replied, looking over at her. "I mean, who's going to see it?"

"Is that your philosophy?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest again. "He's in a sexual relationship with a woman twenty years older than him. You'd think that he would want his house clean in case she dropped by."

"For your information, Dr. Brennan, we spend a lot of time at her house." Havelyn stood in the doorway, a glass of water in one hand. "Can I get you two anything?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks." Douglass replied while Brennan muttered a 'no'. Havelyn sank down into a chair across from the couch and Brennan sat down next to Douglass.

"What was your relationship to the victim?"

"I was her mother's boyfriend. I saw her when I went to see her mother."

"Were you two ever more than acquaintances?"

"We were…friends. She was nice."

"And twenty years younger than her mother." Brennan commented. Douglass glanced over at her, shocked, while Havelyn cleared his throat.

"What did you say that for?" Douglass hissed.

"I was just making a comment." Brennan whispered back.

"Yes, she was, but I would never cheat on Ella. I'm not that kind of man." Havelyn interjected, bringing the conversation back on topic.

"What kind of man, exactly, are you?" Brennan inquired, being completely serious.

"The kind of man who falls in love with an older woman. Is that a problem?" Havelyn asked, setting down his glass of water on the table next to the armchair.

"Not at all." Douglass said, sending a warning look towards Brennan. "You said that you were friends with the victim. Did she ever mention anyone to you named Jacob Dorian?"

"Was that the guy in her organic chem. class?"

"Yes."

Havelyn nodded to himself, his lips set in a thin line. "She was really into him. I'd go over for dinner, and she'd be going on about him with 'Jacob said this' or 'Jacob did that in lab today'. The guy was apparently some kind of genius—he never studied for his tests, and tutored other students. At one point, she was even considering failing a few tests and getting help from him. Thankfully, her mother and I talked her out of that one."

"Why would she do something like that?" Brennan questioned, a quizzical look on her face.

"She wasn't exactly the flirty or really socially active type. She was more the kind of girl who would wait until someone started a conversation with her, rather than instigate it. Especially when it came to guys. She once told me that even she thought it would be a miracle if she could ever talk to someone she was attracted to. She turned into a bundle of nerves every time she even thought about talking to a guy she found attractive."

"Well, why could she talk to you?"

"It wasn't like that at the beginning. It took a few months before she really started having in-depth conversations with me—and I mean more than one-word answers to questions I would ask. I considered introducing her to one of my buddies who was single, but he's more of a bed 'em and leave 'em kind of guy, and I knew she didn't need that."

"Did she have any other close friends that she hung out with?"

"I'm not really the best guy to answer that. She really only talked about Jacob with me. Her mother would probably know that, though." Havelyn stood, picking up his glass. "I don't think I can really be of any more help, and I need to get to bed. I have classes this afternoon."

"Okay. If you remember anything that could be helpful to the case, don't hesitate to call." Douglass extended a business card, and they made their exit.

"Did you really have to make that comment?" Douglass asked as they made their way back to his SUV. "You really had to break in at that point in my questioning?"

"I was just making a comment." Brennan replied frostily.

"Can you try to refrain from doing that? It's distracting, and doesn't exactly add anything to our investigation. People don't like being insulted for their lifestyle choices."

"I wasn't insulting him."

"Maybe you weren't, but that's what it sure as hell sounded like, and probably how he took it. Now, would you get in the car?"

"Fine."

"So, how's it going?" Brennan looked up from the paperwork she was finishing up to find Angela framed in her doorway.

"How's what going?" She asked, putting down the paperwork.

"What do you think, sweetie?" Angela asked, lowering herself carefully into the chair across from Brennan. "All right, that's the last time I work out that much before coming into work. What I meant was, how are things going with Agent Douglass?"

"Fine. He's a decent investigator, although he doesn't enjoy taking me along with him to see individuals who knew the victim." She spoke to her computer, pretending to check her e-mail. "He thinks I interrupt him at the worst moments, when I'm just commenting on the situation."

"Maybe you could try not commenting, and see what happens. I think he would be much more willing to bring along if you did that."

"Are you suggesting that I change my behavior, and who I am, just to please some sub agent?" Brennan said argumentatively, glaring at Angela over the computer monitor. "I don't hide my thoughts on a situation."

"I'm not asking you to change who you are, all right?" Angela shifted in her chair, setting her sketchpad on the desk. "I'm just saying, that maybe this time, it would be better to keep your mouth shut."

"I didn't do that with Sully, and look where it got me."

"Really, Brennan, that's the best you can come up with? Look at me." She reluctantly lifted her eyes to Angela's. "Booth's gone to Iraq, and I know it's bothering you, and you're keeping it all inside like you usually do, but it's not working. You're short with pretty much everyone, and this whole 'commenting' thing you've got going on with Agent Douglass is just a way for you to get those feelings out. Would you want to work with someone like that?"

"No." Brennan admitted, however forced. "But I was nicer to him."

"Sweetie, it's not just being nicer to him. It's respecting his authority in those situations. He's the one with the badge, so he's the one who gets to comment on the situation, not you."

"Booth lets me say whatever I want."

"Booth has also known you for almost five years, and is head over heels in love with you. I do know, though, that he tells you when you're being out of line. And right now, I'm Booth telling you that you're out of line."

"It is physically impossible to turn into someone else." At the glare Angela sent her way, she sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll tone down my comments."

"I would appreciate that. And I'm sure Douglass would, too." Angela picked up her sketchpad and stood. "You're not the only one who misses Booth."

"I know, Angela, you already told me that. Is that all you wanted? I need to get back to work." Brennan returned her attention back to the screen in front of her, while Angela walked out of the office, heels click-clacking against the lab's floors.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Agent Douglass stood just in her doorway, case file in hand.

"Yes." She replied, turning away from her computer. "What did you find out?"

"Not much. Her mother was a little irritable with me, but I did manage to get a list of the friends her mother knew about. It wasn't a very long list, and most of them either weren't home, or didn't live at their addresses anymore, but I did manage to find one of them. Her name's Jane McIntyre, and she's coming in around two."

"Is that all?"

"Well, I thought maybe we could get something to eat, go over what we have so far, maybe figure out something we missed?" He shifted on his feet, uncomfortable.

"Okay. I haven't eaten yet today, anyway." She stood, reaching for her coat and slipping it on.

"Well, don't we have to decide where we're going before we leave?" He said as she strode past him.

"I know a place." She grinned at him over her shoulder. "Now, are you coming or not?"