Driving around aimlessly was doing nothing to curb her desire for a drink or Booth. It was her fourth trip down his street before she consciously realized what she was doing. She wanted nothing more than to see Booth but that was not possible.

Brennan passed a small bar and quickly drove into the parking lot. For ten minutes she sat in her car watching the door. There had only been one person enter while she waited. She thought to herself that the drinking had to stop but the sex was also a problem. She knew there was no substitute for Booth but what did it hurt to try?

Finally, she got out of the car and went in. She should have been wary of the small burly crowd that was there but she was focused on a scotch and sweet oblivion. Temperance was completely unaware of the stares that she got as she walked to the bar. Had she took noticed, she might have turned tail and left quickly. The bartender was a tall, dark headed, young man and he smile widely when she came in.

"Gotta say lady, you got some balls comin' into this place." She responded with her order and said nothing else. "Look, this is really not the place for a lady. These guys aren't the kind of crowd…"

"Are you going to fix my drink?" Her tone was cold and hard and she gave him a pointed stare.

"Just tryin' to help," he mumbled. He turned his back to her and fixed the requested drink. "Here you go," he said laying it down in front of her.

"Thanks," she mumbled. She felt relief with the first sip. After the small taste, she downed the rest of the scotch and requested another. The bartender looked surprised but filled her order just the same.

Thirty minutes and six drinks later, Temperance was feeling little pain. She was nursing her seventh scotch and thought that she should probably head home. The bar was filling with some unsavory looking characters. Not heeding her advice, she ordered another scotch and a patron came to sit beside her. "This seat taken?" The burly man asked.

"I was just leaving," she slurred slightly.

"No need to do that. Let me by you another drink."

"I think I should quit now." He kept on until she relented to have a drink. She quickly downed her eighth drink. She noticed that another was quickly placed in front of her. The bartender looked at her carefully.

"This is the last call for you sweetheart. Can I call you a cab?"

"I'll give her a lift home Burt."

"Bill leave the lady be. She's obviously had a rough day."

He sneered showing a few missing teeth. "Well I have just the right medicine to help her relax. Burt leaned into her and whispered in her ear.

"I told you these guys don't play. Is there someone I can call?"

"Don't go warning her off of me Burt. I ain't never had company like her."

"Sp-special A-Agent Seeley B-Booth." She carelessly threw her phone on the counter. Burt quickly went through the contacts until he found Booth listed. He hit the call button and waited, hoping there would be an answer. After several rings, there was thankfully an answer.

"Bones?"

"Who?" Asked Burt.

"Who the hell is this?"

"Look is the Agent Booth?"

"Yes, where is Bo…I mean Dr. Brennan."

"Pretty lady with killer eyes and auburn hair?'

"Yeah," Booth responded.

"McGill's on…"

"I'll be right there." Booth grabbed his jacket and bolted out of his apartment. It didn't take Booth five minutes to jog down the street to the bar. He walked in knowing the type of cliental that the place catered to. He immediately saw Bones sitting at the bar with a large burly man beside her trying to get lucky.

"Hey honey, I'm sorry I had to work late." Booth smile at her and she looked at him with blurry eyes. He looked at the man beside her and smiled brightly. "Special Agent Seeley Booth," he said holding his hand out for a shake. "Thanks for looking after my wife."

Bill acknowledged him gruffly and took his hand in a quick shake. "All yours buddy," he said and walked back to the table with his buddies.

"Come on Bones. Let's get you out of here."

"I-I'm n-not going any-any-anywhere w-with y-y-you," she said drunkenly. He grabbed her firmly by the arm and hefted her to her feet.

"Temperance, this is not the place to discuss this. There is any number of men in here who would be happy to take you home. You would definitely need to see a health card before that happened." She tried to jerk her arm back. "You may be pissed at me, hell, you might even hate me but I refuse to let anything happen to you. Now come on." He intensified the pressure of his grip and she walked, or more like stumbled out with him.

Once they were outside she stopped walking and tried to pull free of his grip. "M-my care is h-here. I-I can d-dr-drive home."

"Like hell you can! You aren't about to take off in a car. You are drunk off your ass!" He replaced his hand back on her arm and pulled her along towards his apartment.

"Stop!" she yelled. Booth turned around and got right in her face.

"No, you stop Temperance. You want to ruin your career and your life? You're on the edge. Whatever the hell is going on with you is about destroy you." He leaned in as close to her as possible without touching her. "I know I'm the last person you want to see or be with at the moment…"

"You've got th-that r-right." Her speech was difficult to understand but Booth more than got the message when her hand arced in the air and landed on his cheek.

Booth yanked her hard and walked quickly dragging her behind him. She stumbled several times and he slowed his pace. "Why are you doing this?"

"You…" she started and took a deep breath. "left," she finished.

He couldn't say anything to that. He had left but he had felt justified but he had done the one thing he had promised he would never do. "Come one, we're almost here. " He continued to drag her along with him. When he stopped outside his door, he let go of her to unlock his door. He sighed heavily when she started to slide down the wall. Booth caught her just before she hit the floor.

"Come on Bones," he hooked his arm around her waist and guided her inside.

"W-why d-didin't y-you take m-me h-home?" Her speech was becoming increasingly difficult to understand.

"Because you don't need to be alone and because we need to talk about what is going on with you." He watched as her eyes began to close. "I don't think it's going to be tonight though." He reached down to pick her up and carried her to his bed. He undressed her and put an old t-shirt on. She would be pissed when she woke up but he didn't care. If this was his fault he had to fix it. He simply could not stand by and let her destroy her life.