Chapter One

People began piling into Ford's Theatre as many continued talking and conversing excitedly about the performance which was going on tonight. The performance which was being done was the play "Our American Cousin", which was coincidentally the same exact play which Lincoln had been attending at the time of his assassination by John Wilkes Booth.

Just before the show was about to start there was suddenly a blood-curdling scream which resounded throughout the entire theatre which caused security to run towards it. The sight which they beheld was of a skeleton which was completely devoid of skin dressed in army greens, but upon seeing a piece of paper lying there taped to the skeleton's forehead one man read what was typed out on the piece of paper. The words which were in all capital letters clearly spelled out the words in Latin "Sic Semper Tyrannis". Which were the same words which John Wilkes Booth had said to Abraham Lincoln before assassinating him on Good Friday, which was what today was. These words which Booth had said to Lincoln had been translated in English to mean "Ever thus to tyrants."

After taking another long look at the body of the skeleton, the main person in charge of security took out his phone and after flipping it open and calling 911, he said into the phone.

"Hey, yeah someone found a skeleton at Ford's Theatre."

5:00 a.m.

Booth groaned upon hearing the shrill ringing noise of his phone as it cut through the silence of his room, instantly waking him up, causing him to even grab the gun which lay underneath his pillow. Then after realizing that the sound was coming from his phone, Booth leaned over the gun still in his hand and said into the phone.

"Booth. Someone found a skeleton where?"
Booth said, all exhaustion instantly leaving him upon hearing that there had been a body found at Ford's Theatre, and after inwardly praying to himself that this wasn't some type of ritualistic thing Booth after hanging up started getting dressed.

After Booth had finished getting dressed and after thinking that whoever this was must have known that both Bones and him had just gotten back, he picked up his phone and began putting in Bones' number as he walked out the door.

Ford's Theatre

As the two of them began walking towards where the skeleton had been found, Booth yawned out loudly, and upon reaching the bones he heard Bones say to him, who was obviously in a cranky mood.

"Don't yawn on my remains Booth."

"Ah Bones, don't worry I'm going to stay right over here getting the transportation ready for our buddy here after you tell me how he died."
Booth said as he stifled yet another yawn fully planning to grab a cup of coffee from the Jeffersonian's kitchen as soon as they got there.

"A single shot to the back of the head, probably from up-close assassination style, a small hand-gun, definitely a murder Booth."
Bones after telling this to Booth turned around to look at the Special Agent after not hearing any type of remark or even statement come from him. Booth as a matter of fact seemed to be deep in thought, concerned by the statement which Bones had just told him.

"Booth?"
Then after shaking his head almost as if he was shaking himself off Booth then with a concerned look turned to look at Bones and then said to her.

"Lincoln was assassinated with a small hand-gun, on Good Friday Bones, I really hope that this is not some type of ritualistic thing."

"That is highly unlikely Booth, because while we both were gone, there were murders which have been going on. The remains which I was going to be investigating today had these newer one's not been found."
Bones said to Booth who seemed to yet again not have even heard what Bones had said to him before he after pausing a moment said to Bones that they needed to get the bones back to the Jeffersonian.

Jeffersonian

While Booth was on the phone talking to a man who was supposed to be bringing over any and all case files on the murders which had happened in both of their absences, Bones was investigating the remains. From what had been discerned, all of the skeleton's which had been discovered had been ex-military, which was the only connection which the FBI had figured out before passing Booth the case.

As Hodgins was examining the army greens which the skeleton had been dressed in, he found a liquid which he discovered to be Jack Daniels, he moved on to the piece of paper which had been left on the skull. Hodgins was also inwardly soaring at how the man was killed hoping that it would possibly be some conspiracy theory.

Angela was currently absent from the scene because while Zach was examining the skull she was waiting in her office so that she could create a drawing. Which could show them what the skeleton had looked like before he had been murdered as soon as Zach was done with it.

Booth who had just gotten off of the phone walked over to where Bones was examining a mark which had been left on the rib, causing Booth to immediately freeze. There was no way… And upon listening to Bones as she began talking his blood began to chill, all these men had been ex-military, no, he was stressing out, there was no evidence to point towards that.

"The mark on the tenth rib appears to have been here before this man died. Booth were any of these other men ex-military?"
Booth having immediately been pulled out from the stress of his mind answered Bones with a simple nod, being unable to find the words to say as he inwardly hoped that he was just over-thinking this.

"Yeah all the FBI found out before we returned and got assigned to the case was that every single one of the bodies was ex-military."
Then after looking down at the file which he had in his hand Booth after walked over and standing by the first set of remains which had been found while they had been gone, then started talking about the victim.

"Adam Richardson, ex-army, has two sons who are also in the military, Trent Richardson and Sean Richardson, both are on leave right now in D.C. The coroner said that Richardson died from being point blank shot in the back of the head, very similar to how our most recent victim was killed, except that the gun which was used was a .38."
Then as Booth walked over to where the second victim was laying he glanced once again to where the most recent one was laying and then stopped, staring at the man's leg, then suddenly Booth's phone began ringing. After Booth had finished talking to whoever had been on the other end of the conversation Booth looked over to the entrance of the Jeffersonian where two men had just walked through the door.

Upon walking up to the two Booth asked them why they were here which the older of the two responded by saying to Booth that they had been told that they're father's remains were here.

"We cannot release you're fathers remains at this time, but I do need to talk to you about your father, so if you could follow me upstairs."
Booth said to the two men as he motioned with his hand for them to follow him upstairs so that they could have a little bit of privacy, away from the rest of the squint squad's ears.

Upstairs

"What was your father like, did he act unusual or even oddly after he came home from the war?"
Booth said to the two brothers as he started trying to find a possible link between all of the victims which were lying on tables not too far from the three of them.

The younger of the two brothers started talking to Booth saying that their father was fine after he had returned from Vietnam, and that he would sometimes get mad at how people were ungrateful. Then suddenly the older of the two tensed up , and then slammed his fist down onto the glass table making the coffee cups sitting on the table to shake.

"Don't try and cover for our father Sean."
Then after turning away from his brother Trent turned to look at the Special Agent, anger clear on his own face as he began talking to him.

"Our father was a bastard, Agent Booth. He was abusive, a drunk, and a son of a bitch. The week after he got back from Vietnam he began hitting me, and would have done it to my brother too if I hadn't protected him, when we both got word that we were being sent back here because our father had been found dead, I rejoiced. That I would no longer have to worry about him."

Upon hearing that their father was abusive, Booth's blood instantly began to freeze, because this was seeming to become less and less like a coincidence.

"Do you know what it's like having to protect your own little brother from the very man who should not be hitting you. From the very man who should be your role model, and not the man who makes it so that you have to hide bruises from your school growing up?"
Were the words which Trent said to Booth, his face showing a look of an almost need to be understood, and even a look which wanted an explanation as to why this had happened.

"Yeah, I do. Listen just stay in town while we check into the alibis that you gave us, or in case we have any other questions. Understand?"
And after the two men had nodded and Booth had escorted them both back towards the entrance of the Jeffersonian Booth looked back to the file.

Out of the men which had been killed there had been an ex-army, an ex-navy, now an ex-air force, and then two ex-army veterans before that. Whoever was killing of these veterans probably knew about the abuse which had been going on or had guessed, and was murdering these men. Booth had an incredibly bad feeling as he walked back over towards were the most recent remains were being examined, and then after taking a breath asked Brennan.

"Is there a line of three old bullet wounds almost in a perfect line on the most recent victims left leg, making it so that he would have walked with a limp?"

Bones' look was enough to tell him that there obviously was so before Bones could ask him exactly how he had known this Booth pulled out his phone dialing his younger brother's number.

"Booth how did you know that?"
Bones asked him as she looked at him trying to figure out how exactly that Booth had known about the three bullet holes on his left leg.

"Because I think that this man was my father."

Booth said before walking away to call Jared on the phone to tell him that their own father might possibly be dead, trying to decide if he was even upset about his father's death. Leaving all of the squint's standing there with open mouth's and Cam standing there with a serious look on her face, trying to decide what to do.