(Because although I agree with Cam-Zack is an adult and he did make his own decision-I also agree with the others-there were opportunities for them to make a difference. In fact, the only person I disagree with was the person who decided that writing Zack out of the series was a good idea).
A series of short AU tags for episodes from series one onwards. Together, the little things add up.
Disclaimer: If I owned Bones, there would be a lot more Hodgela goodness, Dr Goodman would still be around, and Zack would be the main character. So, clearly, I don't.
A Boy in a Bush
Hypothesis 1: Angela reaches Zack before Bones does.
"Zack, I need the-"Angela began, walking into the room where the young assistant was. "...Oh."
Zack was leaning heavily against the table, one hand cupping his face, staring blankly at the tiny skeleton. Angela was sure he would deny it, but she thought she could see the start of tears. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped about a foot in the air. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"That's okay, sweetie. I think you're entitled to be a little less than optimum function at the moment." She couldn't bring herself to look at the autopsy table.
"It doesn't aid the investigation," he muttered, with a great effort. "I know that." Sighing, he picked up the ulna, hand visibly trembling. "These are the smallest remains I've ever worked on, Angela."
"I know," Angela replied. "Me too." They stood there for a moment, Zack not able to face Angela, Angela not willing to look at the bone in his hand. "I'm going to give you some advice, Zack. Okay?"
He glanced up for a moment. "The last advice you gave me didn't work so well." Instinctively, he raised a hand to his cheek, which had borne a bruise for a week after his recent encounter with Naomi in Palaeontology.
"Not that type of advice, Zack." She removed the ulna from his hand with a little shudder, set it back in place, and turned him to face her. "What Dr Brennan will tell you is that you need to put your heart in a box."
"I am not good with metaphor, Angela." The look of confusion on his face was sweet; it would even have been amusing under other circumstances. Angela didn't think she would be able to laugh again until they got the bad guy.
"She'll tell you to detach. Focus on the details. Be objective." She could remember getting the talk herself shortly after she had taken the job. "It's not bad advice, really, but you're supposed to feel horrible about the case, Zack. You're designed that way. Don't detach completely, and don't detach forever." She smiled sadly. "You're allowed to be a little irrational. So, when something like this happens, you come and find me. And I'll do this." She pulled him abruptly into a tight hug, and felt his entire body go tense at the unsolicited contact... for about a second. After that, he relaxed, though his arms still flopped uselessly by his side. It made her kind of sad, that he didn't even know how to hug properly.
He took one or two shaky breaths, and then pulled away. "Thank you, Angela." His shoulders were no longer slouched, and he half-smiled at her. "I feel better now." He turned back to the bones, and picked up the ulna again, this time with a steadier hand. "I should get back to work."
She turned to leave, having completely forgotten what she'd come in for. "Oh, and Zack? Don't tell Hodgins about this. The hug thing, I mean. I have a feeling he might abuse the privilege."
Zack frowned in confusion for a moment, before it sank in. "Oh! No, I won't." He shook his head. "Silent as a rodent."
Angela actually laughed as she left the room. "Only you, Z-man."
NB: I only just saw series 3 (and enough of series 4 to make me realise how much Zack's absence hurts the programme!), so I have intend to deal with the "Zack issue" in every way possible-stopping Gormagon before it happens (hence this ficlet and those to come), visits from the others whilst he's in McKinley, and, eventually, a multichapter fic in which they bust him out of there (but not with the help of a Mary Sue, I promise).
So, review, please?