Work. That was the only thing she wanted to think about right now. If she thought about her life, it would only depress her to the point where she shut down. But Temperance Brennan was excellent at doing something that many people could not: Compartmentalizing. And compartmentalize she would.

It had been two weeks since Booth's funeral. She had taken leave until now and with today being her first day back, she was determined to catch up on the work she had missed. She would stay cooped up in the office all day until a majority was done.

'He wouldn't have let you.'

Shaking her head, she flipped on her voice recorder, picked up the four hundred year old skull and started to note all of its markers so that Angela could later create a facial reconstruction. But as she moved to inspect the mandible, she paused her mind drifting back to the funeral.

There had most definitely been something off about Booth's mandible at the funeral. She hadn't thought much further on it since, mostly because she had been preoccupied with herself. Crying to sleep every night and sitting around her apartment had been unproductive, but somewhat ameliorating.

There hadn't been any facial hair on the body, which she supposed could have made it look smaller, but still, something bugged her. Her gut was telling her something and she wanted to allay the anxiety before it overtook her.

Setting down the skull, she moved to her desktop and pulled open a folder containing pictures of her and Booth. Tears slowly began to well in her eyes and she smiled at the various assortment of photographs they had taken together.

'Never again' A voice in her head reminded her.

Swiping at the tears, Brennan refocused on her search for a proper picture. Scrolling through, she finally found the one she was looking for and quickly inserted a flash drive into her computer. Angela could put it on her large screen for her to better examine it. Waiting for it to transfer, she recalled the moment it had been taken.

Booth had gotten tickets to go see the National's game and had pushed her into going with him. She had only relented because they were playing the Phillies, and Brennan knew there would be plenty of fodder for her to egg him on with, especially if by some miracle the Nat's could pull out a victory.

The picture had been taken midway through the game, when Booth's camera had dropped to the seat in front of him. The person who picked it up had turned around and offered to take their photo. Their happy faces were the result and she felt even more sadness pull at her heart looking at the memory. The drive binged its transfer completion and Brennan pulled it out and stared at it.

She was going with her gut here, something she had refused to do on many other occasions, including the night that had ended any chance of a relationship between them. But for this, she had to be sure. He had faked his death once and this time could have just been a better attempt.

It sounded ridiculous, she knew, but she had to be sure. Because a life without Booth… It wasn't going to be much a life at all.

With renewed confidence, she strode off in search of the artist. Temperance Brennan was a woman on a mission and she was going to find out what she needed to know.

Shots rang out in the dark as Booth ducked through another alley. Sprinting along, he turned into another alleyway and slowed before ducking behind a dumpster. Catching his breath, Booth wondered what in God's name had possessed him to take this job.

This mission was far more difficult than any other he had ever been on and for an ex-Army Ranger, that was saying something.

He heard noises coming from behind his position, and he snuck a quick glance to see what he was up against. There, ahead two of his "associates" were moving toward him. With any luck, they would walk right by him, but Booth knew better than to rely on dumb luck. He was always prepared.

Pulling his weapon out, he inspected to make sure the silencer was still on properly. He didn't need more unwanted company. Once assured it was properly in place, he slid onto his stomach and pulled himself under the dumpster. He could see their feet approaching quick and knew he had to time this just right.

He only had to wait a few more seconds before they slowed, nearing the dumpster to peek around where he had been hiding just moments before. One moved to the front and swung around to make sure he wasn't hiding in the corner. Booth took advantage and pointed his gun at the first man's leg. Shooting it out, the man fell yelling in pain while his partner swiveled.

Booth put another bullet in him to silence him and then turned his attention to the other, quickly disposing of him with another two bullets.

Dragging himself out from underneath, Booth grimaced at the pools of blood while putting away his weapon.

"Sure hope no kids come around here." He muttered to himself as he turned around and walked towards the streets of the city. He had more work to do and the "bosses" wouldn't be happy if he didn't report back in. He had gotten the job done in taking out those two but he hadn't gained their trust just yet.

As he walked, his mind wandered to his partner, and he wondered how she was doing. He glanced at his watch, 8:32 PM, and realized she was probably either at home or with another man. The latter thought particularly stung, but he knew that was more than likely the case.

With the body, he assumed it had been a much more convincing funeral this time, which had no doubt allayed any of her thoughts as to whether this was a hoax or not. Knowing Bones, though, if she had caught even the slightest discrepancy, she wouldn't be afraid to cry foul.

Regardless, his cohorts at the FBI had assured him no one, not even the famous Dr. Brennan, would be able to notice that it wasn't really him. And he had no reason to doubt them, especially considering how their intel had been nothing short of spectacular on this mission.

Clearing his head, Booth walked on with his head down. Time to go make nice with some more bad guys.

And that's another chapter. This is going to be a fairly long fic and honestly, I'm so surprised at how much I've already written. Drop me a line and tell me what you think! Trust me, it helps me a lot and also keeps me inspired. We want that, right? Yeah, so review! Please :)