"Angela, why are you still up? It's already midnight... Shouldn't you be getting rest?" Hodgins was worried about his girlfriend. He knew how much it pained her that she had to lie to Booth. He walked over to her, she was lying face down on the floor of the kitchen. "Ange, look at me?" He sat down beside her and started to rub gentle soothing circles on her back. "Baby... Please look at me..."

When she finally looked up at him, he saw her red rimmed eyes and the dried tear stains on her cheeks. "Jack... I can't do this... Booth has a right to know... What if he doesn't forgive her? What if...?" She choked on her words and Hodgins pulled her closer.

He softly whispered into her ear: "Hey, Ange... Shhh, Bren forgave him after the whole Pam fiasco... He WILL forgive her..."

Angela shook her head. "Oh Jack don't you see??? Bren never forgave him... She just compartmentalized and forgot the whole thing ever happened... But that's not what Booth will do... He won't understand... Their entire relationship will be ruined..."

Hodgins didn't know what to say, so he gently picked his girlfriend up off the floor and carried her to the bedroom.

Booth woke up as a the sunlight gently filled her office. He turned around and pulled the blanket over his head, hiding from the world. He kept his eyes shut as he remembered the nightmares that had filled his sleep. When the horror of having Parker's little body in his arms finally became to much to bare, he threw back the woollen blanket and sat up straight.

He wasn't surprised to find Angela standing in the open door of her office.

"Can I come in?"

She was wringing her hands and she didn't look at him. Booth immediately knew that Angela was suffering almost as bad as he was.

Almost... At least she knew that Bones loved her. At least she knew that Bones knew that Angela loved her... Now she'll never know that I loved her too... I'll never know if she loved me...

"Sure... Bad night?" Angela softly entered her best friends office and sank down on the couch next to him. For the first time she made eye contact.

"Yeah... I didn't sleep at all... I just kept tossing and turning... How 'bout you?"

Booth felt empty and afraid and guilty as he thought about his dreams.

God, I hope I can keep him safe...

"Nightmares?" Her gently voice brought him back to reality.

He nodded. "Yeah... I..." He stopped. He didn't know if it was such a good idea to talk about his nightmares.

It will only make them feel real...

She gently grabbed his hands in hers and squeezed them.

"You know, keeping them inside is only going to make it worse, Seeley... Please tell me... Was it about Bren?"

He looked up at her and shook his head. His eyes slowly filled with tears. "No... uhm..." He cleared his throat. "Uhm... no... it was... Parker..."

"OH Booth... I promise we will get whoever is responsible for this." She let go of his hands and threw her arms around his. She felt relieved when he hugged her back.

"I'm so sorry, Booth.... I'm so sorry..."

Booth was so overcome by his emotions that he couldn't reply, he only hugged her tighter to his chest, relieved that if only for a few seconds, he didn't feel so empty... so alone...

When they finally pulled back, Booth got up and walked over to the printer. He picked up the piece of paper and walked back to the couch. He handed over the piece of paper to Angela and said: "Could you do a background check on them? It's a list of all the people I killed as a sniper... Maybe one of them has a strong motive to go after Parker..."

Angela wiped her tears away and smiled at him. "I'll get right to it..." Before she walked out of her office she turned back and said: "You should get a copy to Sweets... Maybe he can do a profile on them or something like that..."

Booth nodded and said: "Yeah... that's a good idea... thanks Ange..." He walked to her desk and turned on the computer.

He opened the file that he had written last night and after quickly rereading it he hit Print. While the printer started to make noises, signaling that the requested document would be printed out soon, he felt a shock travel through his body when a message loudly stated that Ladybug was online. He felt torn in two, unable to decide if he could start a conversation again or not.

Brennan had a huge smile on her face when she realized that Booth was online again. Without thinking about it she quickly clicked on her own name to send her partner a message to her computer. The knowledge that he preferred to work in HER office, close to HER lab, filled her with a strange warmth.

Ladybug: Is that you, Seeley Booth?

Booth felt grateful that he didn't have to make the first move.

Dr. Brennan: Yes it is. Good morning Ladybug.

Brennan's smile grew even wider. Even now he still takes the time to be a gentleman... Alpha Male... But Brennan also knew her partner well enough to know that he was lying. It was defenitely NOT a good morning. He was just trying to be polite. "Well I won't have it... How am I suppose to help him if he lies to me?"

Ladybug: It is not a good morning... You told me a few hours ago that your partner died... And know you tell me that it's a good morning? Are you kidding me? Did you even care about her at all?

Brennan didn't actually like having to say that, but she also knew that Booth needed someone that he could trust... Someone who wouldn't judge him if he let his guard down. And she wanted to be that person for him... Even if she couldn't be by his side.

Booth felt a rage built inside of him. Who the hell does this Ladybug bitch thinks she is? She doesn't know anything about me or my feelings for Bones...

Dr. Brennan: OFF COURSE I CARE ABOUT HER! I was just trying to be polite, but if you're going to judge me for every single word that I write, than I don't think this conversation is a good idea. Bye Ladybug...

Booth went offline.

Brennan's eyes filled with tears when she saw him going offline. She opened the file that was titled "Diary" and wrote every little feeling that was coursing through her body down.

Booth, who still felt extremely angry, snatched the piece of paper out the printer and left the Jeffersonian. When he arrived at the Hoover Building, he immediately made his way to Sweets' office. Without knocking he entered.

Sweets was surprised when Booth just walked into his office, but when he saw the anger hidden in the Agents eyes, he decided that it would be best to let it slide.

"How can I help you, Agent Booth?"

Booth threw the piece of paper on his desk and fell down onto the couch.

Sweets picked it up and scanned through the list. " I take it you would like to know who I think would be capable of threatening your son?"

Booth simply nodded. He was preoccupied by his short conversation with Ladybug. The anger was slowly disappearing.

It's not her fault that she is gone... I shouldn't have said that... She's just upset like me... Everyone is upset about her dead... I shouldn't have taken it out on a stranger.

Sweets who had figured out that Booth wasn't listening, sat the piece of paper down and looked at the man in front of him. His shoulders were slumped, his tie and shirt were wrinkled, his hair was a mess and he clearly hadn't shaved. This led to one conclusion. "You didn't go home last night, did you?"

Booth looked up at Sweets. "How..."

"How do I know that? Booth look at yourself... You clearly slept in those clothes and you didn't shave. You brought me a list with possible suspects and you're deep in thoughts... It's kind off obvious that you didn't go home... You slept in her office didn't you?"

Booth felt as if the air was being sucked out of him and out of the room. I need to take control of the situation before I have a breakdown in front of Sweets.

"Sweets, I didn't come here to be analyzed. Now, can you help me or not? I have stuff to do..."

Sweets looked up at Booth and doubted. Maybe I should just let it slide? I don't think that I can make him talk about it anyway. So he cleared his throat and answered: "Do you have a background on them? If you do, I can probably bring your list down to a few suspects..."

Booth got up and said: "Angela is running background checks as we speak. We should head back to the Jeffersonian."

Besides I have to apologize to someone...