A/N: Here I go, entering new territory. This is my first real release in English ("51 Ghosts" had been just a kind of "test-drive") and I want to thank my wonderful beta Monisse for her help and advise: Couldn't have done it without you!

Disclaimer: As anyone here I'd like to own Bones but I don't. What a pitty!

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1. The Case

Bent over the examination table on the platform, in the middle of the Medico-Lab, Dr. Temperance Brennan looked at human remains.

Because of a flu-epidemic the D.C. coroners-department was under-staffed and they'd sent a request to the Jeffersonian-Institute to accommodate them. Thinking that it might be helpful to have them and to return a favor, Dr. Saroyan had answered affirmatively.

That's why Brennan was now examining a 'normal' unclear case of death that didn't went over the FBI desks first.

Some steps behind her, her partner Seeley Booth sat on a stool waiting slightly impatient for her to come to a conclusion.

He had come over to get her out of the lab for lunch, but she had wanted to finish the examination first and refused. Curious, for what she might find and because he hadn't had much work to do either, he stayed. Now, he waited for her to finish so he could, hopefully, have something to eat before he would starve to death (and become another case on her table).

He was rustling mechanically through some papers that lay on a desk while humming something completely out of tune.

Brennan frowned a little and tried to keep her voice as calm as possible when she spoke to him. "Stop that, Booth!" She said while turning into his direction.

Flashing a smile in her direction he feigned complete innocence. "Solved the case yet?"

"No, I haven't, and I won't do so anytime soon if you keep fidgeting around like an impatient child."

His smile widened into a grin.

"Am I making you nervous, Bones?" He asked her with his voice low.

Biting back a harsh answer, she just let out a snort and turned back to the remains. "I'm just trying to focus here, and your rustling is quite distractive."

Brennan knew that it wasn't the whole truth. In fact, she had worked on even more complicated cases in much more distracting situations. It wasn't his presence that distracted her. Considering the time he was around her nearly every day, she has gotten used to his presence. Gotten used to him so much that, truth to be told, she missed something if he wasn't around.

It was more the tingling sensation of his breath in her neck or the warmth radiating from him when he stood up from time to time, stepping right behind her and looked over her shoulder to see what she was 'squinting' at. Like he did right now.

He was a handsome and charming man and being attracted to him would be an absolutely normal reaction to any woman who had eyes to see. Even if Brennan wasn't like any woman, she had eyes to see, and she had to admit to herself that she liked what she saw. Unfortunately, feeling attracted to her partner was not a part of her assignment with the FBI.

Despite her intentions to stay calm around him, Brennan felt her pulse quickening and she turned her face away from him as she tried to hide her blush. She wouldn't feed his excessive self-confidence with her blush. No way.

Masking her embarrassment with annoyance, she turned back to him again and sent him an evil glare.

"Why don't you just go down to my office and wait there? Or even better, why don't you go and wait in your own office and I'll call you as soon as I'll find out if this is something to pass over to the FBI?" She growled.

Booth chuckled.

"And missing all the action? Nah, Bones, you should know me better. I'm staying right here with you. Protecting you from any harm that might come up and threatens you or keeps you away from your important work. "

She rolled her eyes at his solemn declaration.

"What kind of harm should threaten me here, on this platform? These are only bones." She pointed at the remains on the table. "The only thing that is keeping me away from my 'oh so important' work right now is you!"

Pretending to be in pain, Booth pressed a palm to his chest

"Ouch Bones, that hurts." He said taking a step back. Then he cocked his head still grinning. "But what if the ghost of this guy on your table gets onto you because you're poking in his remains, huh?"

He knew that he was absurd but waiting there for what it felt like an eternity made him bored, and bantering with her was always helpful against boredom. Even though he was sure she wouldn't appreciate it.

He was right. Brennan sent him another death glare.

"First: there are no such things as ghosts," She pointed out. "And I'm quite sure that fighting ghosts – if they would exist – wasn't part of your FBI training."

"I'm a self-educated person. I'm quite good at these things." He threw in and despite her former intention to be mad at him because he disturbed her focus; she had to stifle a grin.

'He always has that effect on me.' She mused. Every time she was mad at him he just did something silly or funny that would make her laugh or at least smile and her anger vanished.

"Good at fighting ghosts?" She smiled now and lifted a brow in disbelief.

"Knowing me for years now, Bones, and I'm still able to surprise you." He laughed and Brennan couldn't help but joining in.

"I don't think that any ghost will haunt me, but thanks for your offer." Still chuckling she pointed at the remains on the table again. "I'm sorry that I have to let some air out of your over sized ego, but that guy on the table is female. Approximately 60 to 70 years old. There are signs of osteoporosis and malnutrition. Also, there's a blunt trauma on the back of her parietal bone, but the autopsy results said that the cause of death was a fatal heart attack."

Booth crossed his arms in his chest and sent Brennan a glare. "You're lucky I'm letting you get away with that over sized ego comment. But why didn't you tell me already about the autopsy results?" He took a deep breath and shook his head. "Why is she here at all? I don't think that this is murder. Old lady, heart-attack, the head trauma might be caused by the fall and, no offense, but I don't think that this is a case for the FBI to be involved."

"Her body was found in a dumpster. No papers or other details for her identity. So, the least thing we could do is find out her name." Brennan answered slightly surprised about his quick assumptions. For her, there were still some unsolved details about the death of the old woman.

"A dumpster?" Booth asked dumbfounded. "The old lady got a heart attack and somebody disposed her body in a garbage container? How sick is that? Did her family wanted to save the costs for a funeral?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Do we have a match with the dental records yet?"

"You should stop speculating about the circumstances of her death until we have collected and assessed all evidences. You're jumping from one conclusion to another." Brennan declared. "And no, we don't have any dental records because she hadn't had a single tooth in her mouth, but during the autopsy, Cam found marks on her gums which indicate that she might have worn bad fitting dentures."

"Did the forensics found her dentures in the dumpster?"

"No, they put the whole thing upside down but found none."

"Bones, if you were an old lady with dentures, would you leave your home without them?"

Brennan lifted a brow. "In consideration of the fact that I'm taking good care of my health and my teeth, I don't think that I'll need to wear dentures when I reach that age."

Booth rolled his eyes. "Just imagine, please!"

She lightly shook her head in answering to his question. "No, I don't think I would go out without them. But then, she had marks on her gums, so I assume that the dentures might have caused her pain and so she might have avoided wearing them."

"So, the missing dentures are not going to bring us any further." Booth muttered when the beeping of someone scanning in for the platform caught their attention.

"Well, maybe I can help you." Angela entered the platform, her sketchbook in hands. "Hi, Booth." She smiled at the agent who returned that smile

"Hello, Angela. Do you have a face?"

"Sure I have one, and some say it's quite appealing." She answered with a twinkle before she became serious again and showed them the sketch she had made. "That's her. I took the liberty to send a copy over to your office. They got a match right away and sent back what they have found. Her name was Beverly Moyer. No permanent address, she was living on the streets."

Booth looked at Angela.

"Hey, seems like I'm quite dispensable here." He pouted, "Angela is doing my work and Bones doesn't inform me about autopsy results anymore. So, what do you need me for here anyway?"

Angela sent him a mischievous smile. "To give us something to look at, handsome? It's truly undeniable that you are way more attractive than the guys who are usually lying on these tables here." She smirked and Booth suppressed a smile.

"Just somethingto look at, huh? You know that this is really sexist and discriminating? You're diminishing me to my looks and you're ignoring my outstanding abilities as an investigator! You know I could sue you for sexual harassment?" He playfully threatened her and only got an unimpressed shrug from the artist as she answered still grinning:

"You won't! You're much too flattered that I've called you 'attractive'."

"Homeless." Brennan pointed out ignoring their banter. "That explains her state of undernourishment and why she was there at the dumpster."

"She was looking for something to eat." Angela's voice became sad. "How desperate does anybody have to be to look for food in other people's garbage?"

"I think that she was digging the dumpster for something to eat or anything else that could be useful. Holding the top with one hand and digging with the other. Somehow she lost her balance and fell into the container and the top closed. She cracked her head when she was trying to get out. That would explain the trauma on her skull. She might have panicked, which could have caused the fatal heart attack with her poor health." Brennan recapitulated.

Angela shook her head sadly. "What a gruesome way to die." She said quietly.

"What a sad way to live." Brennan replied thoughtfully.

Booth nodded in agreement and cleared his throat before he asked "So, who had reported her missing? Did she have any relatives?"

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