Character Bio:

Name: Alice Owens

Age: 23

Specialty: Forensic Anthropology

Hobbies: Cooking

IQ: 183

INFO: Alice and Zach grew up together in Michigan. Whilst in high school, Zach had to leave to go to college early. They remained friends, but lost contact when Alice went to college. Her parents, who didn't want her to graduate high school early, allowed her to skip two years in college and she went on to get a degree in Forensic Anthropology. Like Zach, she is a genius, but with social skills.

Story Begin:

3rd person

It was a slow day. This was unusual for the crew at the Jeffersonian Institute. Angela and Hodgins had gone off to lunch, Dr. Saroyan was at a meeting, Booth was with his son, Brennan was writing and Zach was taking inventory on bones. Brennan got a page from the security up front. She hurried to meet their newest addition to the team.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Brennan."

"Dr. Owens, it's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Brennan! I love your books!" she said with a small squeal.

"Let me show you around."

Alice's POV (this is how it will be for the rest of the story)

It was just like the pictures, a beautiful open space with an elevated platform for work, second floor walkways with a lounge. I was so excited.

"Zach!" Dr. Brennan called out, "Come meet our new Anthropologist!"

The young man who'd been busily working on something on the platform turned around and began to walk down the steps. The both of us gasped at the exact same moment.

"Zach!" I ran towards him and hugged him tightly, "I can't believe you're here! I thought after I went to college we'd never see each other again!"

"I missed you so much, Alice." He hugged me back.

"I suppose I don't have to introduce the two of you." Dr. Brennan said.

Zach and I parted rather awkwardly, remembering that Dr. Brennan was there.

"Zach, if you want you can join us as I give Alice a full tour."

"I need to finish the inventory. But I promise I'll see you later, ok Alice?"

I smiled widely, "Definitely, Zach."

Dr. Brennan's tour only took us a while.

"Here's your card, you'll need it to get up on the platform, and here's your lab coat."

"Ok, so… what do I do now?" I said as I put on the blue lab coat that I had dreamed about for so long.
"I suppose you could help Zach with the inventory since we don't have any cases currently."

"Cool!" I was really excited.

I swiped my card at the base of the steps to the platform. After a little approving beep, I walked up to Zach.

"Dr. Brennan told me that I'm supposed to help you with this."

"Ok, you can start on the next skeleton." He said as he pointed to a box on the other table. I laid out the bones, making sure they were all there. Writing it down, packing the bones up again, and proceeding to do the same with the next box. We worked silently for a good hour.

"Zach?" I said suddenly stopping.

"Yes?" he said, continuing the inventory.

"Have you eaten lunch yet today?" I said knowingly.

"No…" he said meekly.

"Zack. You need to eat lunch." I said taking the clipboard out of his hand, "C'mon, I'll go ask Dr. Brennan if we can go to lunch, ok?"

"Fine." He said with a hint of hurt as he put the bones back in the box.

Dr. Brennan said yes, so he and I walked to the Diner, which he said had really good food. We ordered our lunch and caught up on each other's lives. When our food came, Zach dug in, as if he hadn't eaten in a few days instead of a few hours.

"It's a good thing I'm here to make sure you don't starve, huh?" I smiled.

He paused, "Yes… thank you for getting me to lunch, Alice." He smiled at me. I loved his smile. It was rare when he was in his zone, but once he'd loosened up a bit, the adorably awkward grin popped up all the time.

"So, what's everyone at the Jeffersonian like?" I asked excitedly.

"Well, there's Dr. Brennan, whom you've met. She's brilliant!" he said with total admiration in his eyes, "Hodgins, our entomologist, he's my friend, I live in the apartment above his garage. Angela, facial reconstructions, she has an odd on-off relationship with Hodgins… anyways, she's super nice and always gives me tips about socialization. Then there's Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan's FBI partner, he helps us with cases, and Angela says that he and Dr. Brennan should be going out because it's obvious that they like each other but I'll let her tell you that, and we also have a psychological profiler, Dr. Sweets. He's annoying…" he ended with a semi-frustrated frown.

I smiled after the mini rant of information was over, "Cool! Oh, and Zach? Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure"

"Can I stay at your place until I can find a place to stay?" I said hopefully.

"Of course!" he said happily.

"Great! Thank you so much Zacharoni!"

We finished our lunch, went back, took more inventory and then it was finally time to leave. Zach and I walked over to Hodgins as he was putting the last of his things away.

"Hodgins? Can Alice stay with me until she finds an apartment?"

"What? You've got a girlfriend Zachie? Lemme see her!" Hodgins pushed Zach aside and looked me over, "Nice, Zach! Of course she can stay with you!"

"I'm Alice. Zach and I were friends in High School and I kinda work here now, so… yeah." I said awkwardly as he looked me over some more.

"If I am correct, your staring is making her uncomfortable, Hodgins." Zach said, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Sorry Zach." He turned to me, "It's just amazing that my little Zachie is finally growing up!" he wiped away an imaginary tear. I giggled.

"Seriously? I'm just gonna sleep on his couch for a few days, we're just friends."

"That's what they all say, baby."

I glared at him when he said baby.

"I-I didn't mean t-to say that…" he cowered a bit as we walked out to his car.

**at the apartment**

He opened the door to reveal a very tidy little apartment.

"Oh my gosh, Zach! This apartment of yours is adorable! You can't have picked all this furniture out yourself."

"Angela and Hodgins helped me." He said setting our bags by the couch and sitting down.

I sat next to him and snuggled next to him.

"I'm glad we're still friends, Zacharoni." I inhaled his smell of isopropyl alcohol and a hint of cologne.

"Me too, Ally."

We sat there together, enjoying each other's presence for a while. The silence broke.

"I'll go get you some blankets, so you can sleep here." He slowly got up, almost painfully.

"Alright, I'll get my stuff out."

We both went to do our separate things and then bid each other goodnight.

I laid there on the couch, thinking of him. High school had been so boring without him. People talked to me, but I could never have a good conversation because nobody could understand what I was talking about. My best friend had left. I was lonely. It was then that I realized how much he really meant to me. It was as if we were meant to be together. The both of us blessed with extreme intelligence and thirst for knowledge. I realized that I loved him. As I lay there, thinking of my old realization, I knew that I still did love him. I love him.

I drifted off to sleep.

A flash, BOOM.

I awoke startled. It was storming outside. I looked at the clock, 2:39 AM. Another flash, another boom. I was terrified of thunder. Always had been. Dead bodies and rotting flesh didn't scare me in the least, but thunder and lightning? I grabbed the blanket and dashed to Zach's room, gently shaking him awake.

"Mmm…. What is it?" he asked groggily.

"Thunder." I whispered, terrified.

He instantly realized my problem and threw the covers up so I could climb in. I snuggled close to him, trembling at every flash and boom. His arms were around me, stroking my head. He whispered reassuring words as I fell asleep in his arms.

(2 hours later)

Hodgins came bursting into the apartment.

"Zach! Alice! Get up! Booth's got us a case and we can go to the scene if we get ready in time!"

Zach and I were instantly awake. We tried to get out of bed, but Hodgins suddenly burst through the door, a large grin on his face.

"Just friends my ass!" he laughed at us.

"I'm afraid of thunder okay?" I said as I stormed to the bathroom to shower.

I heard Zach calmly explaining the situation to a smug Hodgins. I dressed quickly and walked out.
"Are we leaving now or not?" I asked impatiently interrupting their conversation.

"Ok, let's go!"

**at the lab**

"Victim was female, Caucasian, approximately 20 years old."

"Good, Dr. Owens, you and Zach can work on IDing the body." Dr. Brennan nodded approvingly.

"Please Dr. Brennan, can you call me Alice?"

"Sure Alice." She smiled as she and Booth left to talk to the guy who found the body.

"Dr. Brennan thinks you're adorable." A female voice I assumed was Angela said from behind me.

"You must be Angela! Zach's told me about you." I turned and shook her hand.

"All good I hope!" she smiled warmly as she shook mine back.

"Of course, and I agree that Booth and Brennan are so in love with each other."

"So he's told you my theory!" she giggled taking me aside, "Please, enlighten me. What exactly is your relationship with little Zachie?"

"We've been friends since high school, but we lost contact when he went to college early. I'm staying at his place until I can find an apartment. Why do you ask?"

"Hodgins told me this funny story about walking in on you two in bed together." Her smile grew.

"There was a storm last night. I'm afraid of thunder, so Zach let me sleep in his bed with him. That's all." I was a little annoyed that it was my first whole day and I was already at the butt of a rumor.

"Okay, Sweetie, I believe you." She smiled knowingly and whispered, "do you wish that it was what I'd thought it was?"

I blushed a deep red.

"I take that as a yes, sweetie! I'll see you around!" Angela walked off as I turned back to the body. This lab was going to be a combination of my greatest dreams and my worst nightmares. I was ready for it.