I found this on my computer, apparently I wrote it sometime this fall and completely forgot about it… so more fun reading for you guys! It's a case-style story, with an OC that is sort of an amalgamation of me, a squint and one of my friends. You'll like her, she gets us some BB realizations and, very possibly, some action. Hmmmm…

………..

The sirens piercing the mid-day haze reached all the way to the Starbucks across campus. The manger, a large blond woman, stood outside listening as Booth turned the corner opposite her, sipping a coffee from a Starbucks about 50 miles before.

He reached the crime scene, a large taped-off section of woods between the dorms and science hall of Thompson University, just outside Baltimore. The woods were about 100 yards through and ran along a hill for about a mile until they reached the edge of the campus. So many cop and government- issue vehicles were crammed down the small paved road that ran behind the dorms, that they had started pulling onto the brick paths that criss-crossed the campus. College students littered the sidewalk, some interested in the proceedings, most just passing by on their way to class.

Pulling off into the fray and parking, Booth spotted the medico-legal truck from the Jeffersonian and headed over to the truck where his partner, her colleague and their boss were standing. Zach looked bored out of his mind, Cam looked the same but a little frustrated, and his Bones looked petulant and pouty like Parker after being denied ice cream.

"Hey guys, I take it something is wrong."

"It most certainly is Booth. They said I wasn't authorized to look at the remains until you got here. Who knows what the local PD could be doing to the evidence!"

"Well I'm here now" he addressed his partner, "so let the squinting begin!" "Why weren't you allowed to look without me?"

Cam broke in at this, answering "The normal chain of events was disrupted somehow, so we got the call before you did and arrived before local had even called you guys. We aren't exactly sure how this happened, but we have been here about 2 hours." Booth couldn't help but grimace; "yea, and we ran out of things to talk about almost an hour ago."

"I tried to stimulate a conversation about our experiences during our own undergraduate years, but it failed after I shared my anecdote about vomiting on a fraternity brother and being quite literally thrown out of a frat party." Zach offered.

Booth tried hard not to laugh and headed over to the local police chief.

……………………

"The body was found at the bottom of this hill near the bridge that connects the dorms to the rest of the campus. I'm thinking possible suicide, but we can't be absolutely certain given the state of the body, and since the university has federal funding we placed a call to you guys. Your squints got here a while ago but county regs. don't give them jurisdiction without you here…" Chief Miller related to Booth as the late fall leaves crunched underfoot. "…so I don't think your bone lady likes me very much." Booth chuckled in agreement and asked;

"Who discovered the body?"

"A freshman student here," taking a look at the paper on his clipboard. "Caroline Jameson." " She's still in there if you want to talk to her," he said pointing towards the woods. "She wanted to make sure nobody 'unqualified' touched the 'remains' until your partner got here for some reason."

Booth smiled to himself as he stepped over the yellow tape.

Meanwhile, Brennan had made her way into the woods and found a young brunette who stood, in what could only be defined anthropologically as a defensive ownership stance, in front of what she perceived as a cranium and several ribs protruding from the leaves. The girl's face softened considerably as she approached, evidently recognizing Brennan. She smiled and nervously tucked her shoulder-length hair behind her left ear as she greeted the anthropologist.

"Dr. Temperance Brennan? Hi, I'm Caroline. I quite literally stumbled over him on my way to class, taking a short cut through the woods."

"Him?"

"Yea, based on his pelvis and skull I'm pretty sure he is African-American and about my age, maybe a little older 'cause his crainial sutures are pretty much fused except for the coronal. Based on decomp I'd also say that he's been out here since June at least; probably just after the campus cleared for the summer, but that's a bit of a leap at this point."

"How… are you a forensics major?"

"Nope, I'm an art major. Was I right?"

Booth had reached his partner by this point and was amused by the look of what could only be confusion on Brennan's face. She turned to him and frowned.

"Booth is this a joke? Did you tell her that?"

"Did I tell her what Bones?"

A snort of laughter from the girl made them both look at her in astonishment.

"Sorry Dr. Brennan, I should have told you this before, Forensic Anthropology is sort of a hobby of mine… I read your first novel and thought the field was so awesome that I started reading about it, I've read almost every non-textbook on the subject and I'm halfway through a beginner's textbook." It was Booth's turn to be surprised as she continued, "I had read some of the released case files from the Jeffersonian, so after I contacted campus police, I called there and they said they'd let you know." "And I know how important evidence is, so nobody has touched anything, except for when I tripped over him to begin with."

Booth was even more surprised when Brennan smiled the smile that was usually only reserved for him and Angela. This girl had won his Bones over in a matter of minutes, when it had taken him nearly three weeks. But then again, Caroline had liked her to begin with.

"Thanks Caroline, I'm glad it was you that found our victim here, sometimes even he forgets about the crucial nature of good rational evidence." Brennan said as she tossed a look of triumph back to Booth. "This is Agent Booth, He's my partner from the FBI."

"Hi Agent Booth. Is that what I should call you?"

"You can just call me Booth, everybody else does."

The girl smiled and turned to Brennan and asked "Do you think I could stay and watch you retrieve? This is kind of a once in a lifetime thing for me, and I'll stay out of the way, promise."

"Sure. Be my guest."

Booth was kind of astonished as he watched this normal seeming college girl, wearing Ugg boots and a 'kenya dig it?' t-shirt, smile in delight and back away to sit on a nearby rock as Bones snapped on her gloves, crouched over the remains and began to carefully clear the leaves off the skeleton and speak into her tape recorder. Why was she so interested? I mean it's flattering, but kind of weird. Didn't she say she was an Art major? Yup, I think so 'cause she just took a sketchbook out and started to draw the scene. How the hell does she know all this stuff?

Brennan and Zach took about an hour to get the remains into evidence bags as Cam took samples for Hodgins, pictures for Angela and did some paperwork for Booth. Caroline was still sitting there, enthralled, when they finished. She had been evidently entertaining Booth with anecdotes about her mathematics professor and various other things. It was only then, upon spotting the girls sketchbook; that Brennan registered what she had said about being an art major. She's interested and artistic, like Angela; that must be why I like her so much. She's also more intelligent than any average undergrad I've met in a long time, probably since Zach; I mean she learned the basics of skeletal identification from a book with no instruction. Hmm... Brennan stood there watching her draw for a few more minutes and then heard a call that was obviously Booth from outside the woods.

"Hey Bones! Zach's all packed up. Let's hit it!"

"K Booth, give me a minute." She hollered back and then turned to the young artist who had stood up and begun to put her things away. She had an idea. "Caroline?"

"Yes Dr. Brennan?"

"Would you like to serve as sort of a shadow for this case since you seem so interested in our work? You can come to D.C. for a while and watch us process the evidence as well as see how we solve the case, the only thing you have to do is promise not to talk about it until the case is closed." Caroline's face broke into the biggest grin the doctor had seen since the Christmas Russ got a motorbike. Brennan thought for a second, then added: " If you wanted, you could come and stay with me since the commute to D.C. is so awful."

Caroline finally regained speech and gushed "Wow! Totally! I'd love to, this is so surreal!"

"Great." Brennan said with a soft smile "Let's go tell Booth."

Booth and Cam readily agreed to the plan. Booth liked this girl and Cam had been suitably impressed with her as well. They arrived at the Jeffersonian soon after a quick stop at Caroline's quaint suburban home and a more lengthy explanation to her parents.