The Royal Diner

Temperance Brennan had no idea the rain would take so long to stop. She was mad - she was losing every second she stood at that diner, waiting, and her pile of work at the Jeffersonian wasn't getting any shorter. She had had almost no time to work in the last two weeks. She had been at all the Universities in the city, test driving each and every one of their honor forensic anthropology students, selecting her new intern. Truth is: She would never find anyone who was able to live up to Zack's standards. More than an intern, Zack was a friend. His intelligence and eagerness were endearing. Everyone missed him. No one could ever replace him.

"Maybe I should sit down." She thought, silently, "My cuboids hurt." She sat on a table that faced the front door, now extremely wet from the pouring rain. She couldn't see very clearly between all the water, so she didn't even bother looking. Inside her purse, there was a copy of her novel. She took it out and started reading the words she wrote herself. So familiar. "This book is dedicated to my partner and friend, Special Agent Seeley Booth." She smiled.

Booth was a very encouraging partner to have. He was always telling her how brilliant she was and how much he would be nothing without her. She lacked people skills, which made it difficult for her to demonstrate she felt the same affection for him. Booth assured her that nothing would ever change between them. Despite her strong skepticism in many things in which Booth was a fierce believer, they had an incredible understanding. She heard a knock on the glass window beside her.

Angela Pearly-Gates Montenegro waited, standing under a wide black umbrella, wearing a colorful blouse and jeans that made her slim silhouette even slimmer. "Come on, sweetie!" She said, calling her with two fingers. She immediately stood up and left the diner. "What are you still doing here? Have you forgotten about the huge stack of work you have to do?"

"I'm sorry, Ange, is just that I didn't have an umbrella on me and it was raining too hard for me to walk back to the Jeffersonian." She said. They both started walking back to the Medical-Legal lab.

"Well, Cam is pissed. But, I'm sure you can explain it to her. So, any luck with the intern quest?"

"No, I've been looking at a lot of them, but, it's nearly impossible to choose! I may narrow my list down to about five interns, but that's the best I can do."

"Can't you figure out a rotational system or something? Like, a intern per month or whatever."

"I was thinking an intern a week, maybe. But, just for a while. Just until I get to know them."

"Well, we got a case. Booth just showed up at the Jeffersonian with a girl inside a cardboard box. Chopped up to pieces."

"That's awful."

"But, that's your job, sweetie."

"Who's gonna help me with it?"

"The American University sent an intern of their own. Wendell Bray, pretty hot stuff." Angela laughed and shook her shoulders. There was a long day ahead of them.

Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab

"Look who finally got here! It's Bones, the woman of sugar!" Booth yelled, when seeing Brennan.

"I don't know what that means."

"It means you can't stand the rain." Explained Hodgins, laughing.

"Dr. Brennan, this is our latest intern, Mr. Wendell Bray." Said Cam. Brennan hated to admit it, but, "pretty hot stuff" wasn't in any way enough to describe the new intern. Tall, muscular, blond hair and brown, warm eyes.

"Nice meeting you, I'm Temperance Brennan." She said, shaking his hands a little too enthusiastically.

"I've heard a lot about you, Dr. Brennan. You are very famous for your work."

"So, Bones, we've got a case! Focus here!" Booth was always so jealous when Brennan talked to attractive men. She found it flattering, but, sometimes, she had doubts is his behavior was of an older brother or a boyfriend.

"Mr. Bray already organized the remains in the autopsy table." Said Cam.

"Which means the box is mine for particulates!" Said Hodgins, grabbing the box from the table.

"Victim is female." Said Brennan, into her recorder. "Late teens to early twenties. Appears to have been chopped up by a saw. Ange, the skull is intact and ready to be reconstructed. Where did you find the victim, Booth?"

"It was sent all the way from the city that never sleeps! New York!"