Booth sat in his new office at the Quantico training center with his feet on his desk reading though a comic book. The comic book might have looked silly to the trainees that kept crossing by his door but to him training was comedic so he found it very fitting. He remembered back to the last time he'd seen his partner…Brennan and his squints. It was Brennan's look of abandonment that haunted him every time he thought to stop by the Jeffersonian Institute.

Booth knew that he could go back there and not stay to help with the case but it would be too hard on both of them…all of them. He knew that she could compartmentalize, or claim she could compartmentalize, but he hoped the support from the rest of the squints would allow her to move on without having to do it. Booth hoped Brennan would find someone to fill his void. He hoped that she would keep helping the FBI put the bad guys behind bars, keep working on their list. But most of all, he hoped that under the emotionless exterior she put , she would find away to forgive him for leaving her. Forgive him for saying he'd always be there and then walking away.

As he walked down the hallway towards Booth's office Luke was frustrated at how badly his first interview with Dr. Brennan went. Nope, he rethought; it had gone completely from a bad interview to the worst interview ever in a matter of minutes.

Luke sighed as he walked into Booth's office and almost looked as if he had returned from the principal's office in middle school. He couldn't believe that Booth was reading a comic book with his feet on the desk. "You look very busy, Booth," he drawled out sarcastically announcing his presence.

Booth heard the footsteps long before Ryan ever entered the office. As an Army sniper his life often depended on hearing the enemies' location in the dark of night. His training didn't leave him just because he'd left the service and for that he, was thankful. He pulled down the comic book to look at Ryan, and concern washed over him. "Is Bones ok?" Booth quickly said as he pulled his feet down and stood to face his replacement. Booth always protected her in the field; made sure he walked in to the crime scenes first, had taken a bullet endangering his own life to keep her safe and something she didn't know was that he'd shoved a gun down the gang leaders' throat after her life had been threatened.

Luke's eyes reflected confusion as he looked at Booth, "Bones? You mean the bones that Dr. Brennan and my Squint Squad are looking at to help find out who killed your old army buddy?"

"Brennan. Is Dr. Brennan ok?" Booth said in a rapid, annoyed tone. Ryan had called the squints "his". Booth felt an unfamiliar pain inside at the mention of the squints. He quickly moved to push the feelings aside. Ryan was right, they were his squints now.

Luke nodded. "Dr. Brennan is fine. Well, she's fine in the physical sense at least. But, she hates me," he stated plainly looking at his friend and co-worker.

Booth sat back down and broke out in a laugh as he put his feet back on the desk. He stopped laughing and suppressed a smile as he looked up at Luke. "Now, what would make you think Brennan hates you?" he spoke in an amused tone. Booth remembered back to the beginning with Brennan. They hadn't always been friends. For that matter, they hadn't even talked much at first. But those were the times that he'd just admired her strength and determination. It was something he missed.

Luke sighed as he started to detail to Booth his current predicament with Dr. Brennan, "Everything started a week ago. . ." He began.

**********

Brennan walked around the table completely ignoring the man standing behind her. She wasn't going into the field with him, there was no question about that. She'd told Booth that she didn't want to work with any FBI Agent but him. Her days in the field were over.

Beyond her displeasure with the hovering FBI agent, she was angry at Booth. Brennan knew that anger was irrational but she couldn't push past the fact that Booth had said he'd always be there and he was gone. For a moment she reflected back to a conversation about betrayal. She'd asked Booth if he would ever betray her and he'd firmly said no. He lied.

Luke tried to talk to her for the last hour and had been stonewalled with words like epiphyseal plate. He attempted to spell epiphyseal in his notebook and planned to look it up later so he would at least know what in the hell she was talking about. "Dr. Brennan, we need to go interview the victim's wife. We have a murder to solve and I have a boss who is very annoyed with the progress on the case." He spoke in a low, calm and nearly pleading voice. It was the same phrase he'd used at least three other times in the last hour. He started with the demanding and bullying voice; followed by the angry and annoyed voice and lastly the exasperated voice. None of which worked and he doubted the low, calm and nearly pleading voice would either.

Brennan heard the words come out of his mouth and they sounded like he was trying to accomplish something but the words died before they registered any meaning. She knew that she was failing to compartmentalize Booth's abrupt departure and the one thing she could focus on that wouldn't leave was the bones on her table.

Ryan was really trying to make this work with her but he was at a loss as to what to do. Ryan knew that DeWinter was micromanaging him. She had a vested interest in Dr. Brennan's acceptance of him as her new partner. He'd asked himself why she cared so much about Dr. Brennan's case as opposed to anyone else but he hadn't come up with much of an answer. Slowly, Ryan turned away from her and looked towards Dr. Saroyan's office, as if asking for help.

Cam stood looking at Brennan and Ryan from her office, her arms folded across her chest. She walked up to Angela. "So, what do we do? She has to go out into the field with him. Special Agent Ryan has been trying to get her to go out on the interview for days." Cam was concerned about Seeley and his departure for reasons that made no sense to her. Professionally, she knew that Brennan had to find a way to work with Agent Ryan. Personally, she intended to confront Kera and if she wouldn't give her what she wanted she would rattle Seeley's cage over at Quantico.

Angela sighed as she shook her head. Brennan didn't know how to deal with the loss of Booth and she was trying to move past it, to compartmentalize as she always called it. The problem as she saw it was that Brennan and Booth had a whole level of partnership that she knew couldn't be replaced. It didn't really matter who the FBI sent over, Brennan was going to ignore them. "Well, we could always call Special Agent Seeley Booth of the training squad. Sure, he's been reassigned and we don't know why but he'd tell Brennan to go out to that interview." Angela knew her tone came off as sarcastic. But, she couldn't help it.

Cam shook her head as she watched the interaction between Brennan and her new partner. "Or, you could go talk to her." She looked at Angela in an amused but knowing way.

Angela tried not to laugh as she smiled in a sarcastic way knowing that she was probably the only person, besides Booth, who could help Brennan. "Here goes nothing," she said walking briskly away from Cam and toward the platform where her best friend stood.

Luke looked at the pretty squint, as he called her, and walked up the stairs towards them. "Hey Angela," He spoke in a clear voice that reflected a slight annoyance with his current situation. He hadn't been around long but he knew that Angela was the one that was all heart. Luke wasn't sure what he felt for Angela, if it was anything at all. Besides, the bug squint really didn't like it when he talked to Angela. In fact, the bug squint gave him very angry stares and didn't talk to him. It seemed at this point that only Angela and Cam talked to him. He figured two of the four squints on his side wasn't a bad score for the short time he'd been here. Ryan heard from just about everyone how loyal the Squint Squad was to Booth and he figured eventually they would be that loyal to him.

Angela looked at the attractive man who had been such a pleasure to look at the past few days. Granted, she liked looking at Booth too. She smiled as she spoke, "Hi Agent Ryan. How are you today?"

Memories of how Booth fit into their team flooded though Angela's mind. Booth was strong; caring, protective, charming…the alpha male and now there was Agent Ryan. Agent Ryan was bold, direct, persistent, pushy but oddly charming all the while. Angela knew that both men had and would take care of Brennan while she was out crime fighting. But, she knew Booth. He was so much more. Booth was the one she trusted with her best friend and she wasn't sure she'd ever trust Ryan the same way. Booth had stood between a bullet and Brennan, never flinching at the thought of death to save his partner. Would Ryan do the same? She wished she had that answer.

Luke thought Angela was the odd-ball of the squints. She acted so friendly but when it came down to facts, she was a squint at heart. He'd watched her and that animation machine re-create a murder and its different scenarios. No average person could do that. "I'd be doing whole lot better if I could get my partner into the field. We have cases backing up," he explained trying to suppress the annoyance that he knew would be in his voice.

Angela gave him a knowing look as she spoke, "Why don't you go get a cup of coffee? I won't be long but you know I want to talk girl stuff with my best friend." She knew that the informal talk would have been an indication for him to leave. No real man wanted to hear about periods and bras.

Luke took her subtle hint and nodded, "I'll be back in a few minutes. Excuse me Dr. Brennan, Angela." He quickly turned and headed off the platform. Before he went in the office to pour the coffee, he stared at the women and hoped that Angela, the pretty squint, could help get Dr. Brennan in the field.

He walked up the ramp to the catwalk where the coffee was brewing. Ryan filled a paper cup and turned to prop himself up against the rail looking down at the two women. He'd had partners before that pissed him off but they had worked it out over beer and baseball. Brennan wasn't the type to work it out over beer and baseball. Perhaps he'd be better off to get her hard liquor and a shattered skull to reassemble and that would open the door of communication with her. People talked at the office about Booth and Dr. Brennan's relationship. So far, he hadn't seen what the big deal was and maybe the talk was just talk. He hadn't seen Brennan favor Booth above himself since he had been here. For that matter, she hadn't even said anything about Booth. He found that very interesting since they had been partners for four years.

Angela looked at her best friend as she put her hands on her hips. She'd decided that she needed to be firm with her best friend since nothing else was working. "Bren, sweetie, this is crazy. He's trying to do his job and he needs you to help in the process."

Brennan stopped her work on the bones as she met the eyes of her friend. She was hurting and it was a hurt that she couldn't isolate nor disregard. "Angela, I don't see why I have to go out at all with Agent Ryan. The FBI solved murder cases…"

Angela scoffed at her best friend, she'd heard this line before, "The FBI solved murder cases before you came around. I get that, but, I know you're hurting about losing Booth as a partner, over him disappearing into the FBI training program, and now being nonexistent in your life." Angela pulled her best friend into a hug. "We all have a job to do, sweetie," she said as she released her. Angela was teary-eyed and Brennan was biting on her bottom lip. "You're the crime fighting go-to girl of the FBI and if nothing else, the guy on that table is Booth's friend. He'd want you to solve the case. " She paused. "Bren, a child out there may never know what happened to his father without you."

Brennan sighed. She knew that when Angela had a point to make, she always made it even when someone didn't want to hear it. Knowing that she was beaten she pulled off the gloves and looked at her friend. "Fine. But only because assisting with the interview is the most logical way to go about solving murders." Walking off the platform towards her office, she attempted to keep her composure, focus on the task ahead and not break down.

Temperance was exhausted. Booth had been gone for nearly a week. To help her compartmentalize everything she felt, she'd jumped into working on all the cases in limbo. Angela and Cam had made her stop to eat and shower. But, it was easier to keep her mind on the goal of taking the lost bones out of limbo and giving them a final resting place than it was to focus on her feelings.

Angela watched as Agent Ryan walked down the stairs and toward her. His eyes met Angela with hope that he would finally have his partner on the case with him. Angela nodded in a slow motion with a reassuring look, tipping her head slightly to show where Brennan was.

**********

Booth looked at Ryan, trying to wipe the amusement off his face. He knew that Ryan needed his help to figure out Brennan and that if he didn't get serious about helping him that Hunter's murderer would walk. "Luke, Brennan has a process. She's complex, deep, and incredibly intelligent. You have to honor all those before she'll work with you. You can't rush her and you can't push her because it will only keep her in her complex shell." Booth realized how much passion was in his voice as he described her and it shook him at his core. He'd called her Bones for four years. Brennan sounded odd to him. Then again, he'd left that partnership. He didn't deserve to call her Bones anymore. But it was reassuring that Ryan didn't know the nickname. It meant no one else was using it.

Ryan sighed at the realization of just what being Dr. Temperance Brennan's partner meant. He wasn't sure he could ever live up to the expectations that Booth had just described to him. "Booth, I don't have that kind of time. I have to solve this case. We went to interview the victim's wife and she wouldn't let me get a word in. I know I was in the room, I know I tried to lead the interview but I'm pretty sure I was invisible." Ryan recounted the interview they'd gone on a little over three days ago.

**********

"You're saying you were having sexual intercourse with another man?" Brennan spoke in a clear and direct tone towards the woman.

Ryan looked at his partner, his eyes wide and his hand covering his mouth trying to suppress words that would have just been completely inappropriate in the victim's home. The woman was too direct. He was beginning to wonder if she had any sense of how to make a possible suspect trust her to get information. "Dr. Bren…"

Brennan began speaking before the FBI agent was able to finish speaking. "When is the last time that you saw the man you were having sexual intercourse with?"

Diana Hunter looked wide eyed and terrified. She was now a single mom with a small baby and she was overwhelmed. "Garrett…he was by here a couple nights ago. He wanted to see how the baby was. We just talked for awhile and then he..."

Luke realized that the women was scared of their presence and was even more concerned for her child. "Dr. Brennan…." he sighed, exasperated as she again started to speak over him.

"What you're saying then is the baby isn't the victim's child? And that the man you were having sexual intercourse with is your baby's biological father?" Brennan stated and stared intently at the women.

Ryan had heard enough. He stepped in between the two women to defuse the hostile environment he felt Brennan was creating, "Okay…Okay…" He said firmly and in a concerned manner, "Enough." Ryan focused his attention on Mrs. Hunter, "Thank you for your..."

Brennan was outraged that he was just going to leave without thoroughly interrogating the victim's wife. She stood up and looked at him eye to eye, "Why are we leaving when we have not completed our interrogation of her?" She put her hands on her hips looking angry. Brennan realized that while she was angry at this mockery of a man pretending to be Booth, she was actually angry at the real Booth. She could feel the irrational emotions boiling to the surface and quickly tried to refocus herself on the case and the hard facts.

Ryan thought back to his training days and channeled the man he was before he'd taken sensitivity training, before he'd learned being direct and bull-headed never worked, before he cared about what people thought. He turned to his partner, "Dr. Brennan." He watched as she went to speak and put his hand up, "Don't say another word. Just go to car and I'll follow behind you as soon as I clean up your mess."

**********

Brennan sat in the front seat of the SUV fuming from the fall out with her new, untrained partner. She was steamed. He'd thrown her out of the house and he'd stayed to clean up her mess. What mess? She thought. Booth had never had any issues with her being direct in interviews and now the new Booth did. Was she really trying to rationalize him as the new Booth? No one was the new Booth. He was irreplaceable.

Ryan opened the door to the car and sat down slamming the door closed. He looked at Brennan, "What the hell were you thinking? Do you have clue what trauma that woman has been though?" While he and his irritating partner hadn't had much time to talk it was easy to see she had no idea what it was like to live on the streets. No idea what it was like to live with a mother who over-dosed when he was 8 and a father that wasn't around. He was pretty sure Brennan was completely clueless on hurt, loss and suffering other then what she saw when it came to bones.

Brennan, who was angry but trying to rationalize it, broke her normally rational composure. "She could have caused her husband's death by having a relationship and sexual intercourse with another man. What kind of FBI agent doesn't take her for a real interrogation? Did you just get your badge or are you just that bad of an agent?" Her chest was heaving in anger. She wanted Booth. He was good at the personalization aspects and she knew she wasn't.

Ryan took a deep breath as he threw the SUV to the side of the road by a mall completely intent on putting her in her place and setting the rules of this partnership. Booth might have allowed her to walk all over him but he wasn't Booth and wouldn't put up with her nonsense. He didn't expect that Brennan would bolt the way she did. He looked up as he got out of the SUV, "You have got to be kidding me." He quickly threw off his seat belt, opened the car door and ran after her.

Brennan walked in a fast pace away from him. This made her flash back to the day when she'd agreed to work with Booth. Booth had chased after her and offered her the partnership to get her to work with him. "Just go back to the Hoover building, Agent Ryan. I'll walk back to the Jeffersonian."

He didn't know how Booth dealt with constant arguing and constant counterproductive feedback from her. And this, running away from him like a criminal, was not at all rational for the proclaimed rational woman. "Dr. Brennan. I'm not Agent Booth and I will not back down because you're trying to make a mockery of me and our partnership. If you want to yell at me then let's get it done and get back in the car."

Brennan turned around toward Ryan and walked back, standing as close to eye-to-eye as they could be. "The only one of us making any kind of mockery is you, Agent Ryan." Her eyes reflected cold, unfeeling emotions toward him.

Ryan stood eye to eye with Brennan trying to get a read on her, "Is that what you think? You think I want to fight with you? That I am trying to mock you?" He's voice was low, deep with a hint of repressed anger.

Brennan didn't flinch. She wouldn't. Her eyes, against her wishes did start to cloud over and she fought it. "Logically speaking, Agent Ryan you have everything to gain from this case-respect, position, honor, merit. None of which you have earned nor do you deserve. I've done my research on you, Agent Ryan and you aren't even in my league."

Ryan felt like he'd been slapped. The woman was brutal and direct but he decided he had to make it work. "Are we done?" He said in a clipped and sharp voice, his eyes burning his anger into hers.

Brennan looked at Ryan and decided he didn't even deserve a response. She slowly turned on heel and walked rapidly away from him.

**********

Booth's eyes reflected shock, clear concern and annoyance at Luke. He wanted to punch the man square between the eyes. Instead he took a deep breath, walking around the desk to stand eye to eye with his replacement. "One, I'd suggest not telling me if you act like rookie with Bones again or I will shoot you. Two, the first thing you're going to do when you get back to the Jeffersonian is apologize to Brennan for being less than professional at the interview…"

"Excuse me Agent Booth but…" Ryan quickly closed his mouth as he saw the anger in Booth's eyes. He wondered for just that moment why Booth had really given up the position at the Jeffersonian. It became clear to him that Booth didn't just look at Dr. Brennan as a partner…he looked at her as a woman, his woman.

"I don't recall saying you could speak. The last thing is, I did not agree to this arrangement just to let you go destroy the team I built. I suggest you man up and act like the FBI agent I trained you to be," Booth said curtly as he burned his point into Ryan's eyes.

Ryan flinched and took a step back away from Booth. He'd pissed off his former mentor in ways he didn't even know Booth could be pissed. "Alright, I'll go back and make it right. Don't worry about it. I'll fix it." Ryan backed away toward the door and only turned his back when he was completely in the hallway.

Booth sat back down in his chair and kicked his feet on the desk with a loud thud. All he could think about was Brennan. He should just go down to the Jeffersonian and help with the case. He should just go see Brennan and his team. And since Ryan, was acting more like a rookie than an agent he was pretty sure they would be happy to see him. When he'd last talked to his baby duck, Brennan was struggling to adjust to the new partner. But, he knew Brennan. She would pull though this and the cases would get worked on. They just had to respect her process and the rest would fall into place…he hoped. A part of him wanted to go see his partner….his former partner and let her know he was still here for her. Maybe a trip to a hockey game or meeting up for another banana split that she'd like so much. Booth shook the idea of meeting her off. He had promises to uphold and duties to focus on. But, he missed her. It wasn't math or science it was heart something that ached to see her again.

He sighed as he put the comic book back in front of him. Kera's ex was still calling and leaving messages ever couple days. He was treating to take the girls to Mexico as soon as he found a chance. Booth knew Bryan wasn't stupid. While he hadn't seen any PI types lurking around, Bryan would have hired one to keep tabs, or so his gut told him. Booth sighed; he was a former soldier, former field FBI agent, and now he was training the future of the FBI. He shook his head trying to figure out how his life had become so complex by sitting in the safety of a training building, when it hadn't been this complex when he was dodging bullets in the field.