Title: Dichotomy
Sequel to: The Princess in the tower (posted here as well)
Author: moonie
Pairings: Booth/Brennan, Jack/Angela
Rating: PG to PG-13
Spoilers: Not so much... mostly rests on season 1 info... Also means no Cam, and still some Goodman :D
Disclaimer: Wish it was mine, but it's not... honest :)
A/N: Heey, I know I said I'd start posting this in february, but well I got all busy ;) But now here we are! I haven't decided yet if I'll start the monday postings of chapters either this monday or the one next week, but well I wanted to get this going, so...

PROLOGUE - The Man in the Blaze

"Daddy, look!" Mary Goodman ran up to her father with a flower in her hand. A moment later, her twin sister Emma came about with a similar plea to 'look!', aimed toward their mother. They came to sit with them on the ground of the park.

"Beautiful they are," Dr. Goodman nodded and smiled. His happy daughters were a true remedy to any blue he might feel.

"You two hungry?" his wife asked them. They nodded with glee.

It was a bright day, the best he could ask for on a day off. Though he hadn't been too much into the idea of a picnic, seeing how much the girls were enjoying themselves and the time they were spending with him turned the whole thing around on him.

His phone rang, drawing him back out of his thoughts. He reached for it, seeing the flash of a let down in his wife's eyes - their perfect day was being breached. He passed on a look of apology before answering.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Goodman, sir..." he closed his eyes.

"Mr. Addy. This is my day off. Unless you have a good reason to..." he started. He looked to find the girls were running off to play again. He sighed.

"I'm sorry, but we really needed to run something by you."

"What is it?" he asked, relenting.

"That shipment from the cave-in over in Texas, we found some bones that didn't belong with the rest."

"I still don't see how..."

"They were dated as being more than a hundred years old. That, added to what we know about the location seems to indicate..."

"Alright," Goodman interrupted him. He looked to his wife. "I'll see about coming in this afternoon." Now she was closing her eyes.

"Thank you. Again, we're sorry..."

"Not as much as I am..." he spoke before hanging up.

"One day, Daniel..." his wife sighed.

"I know. Believe me, I wish I didn't have to leave you three like this." A small smile managed its way to her face, which in turn made him smile.

"Admit it, you love the picnic."

"I will admit to no such thing," he spoke with a barely contained smirk.

"Mm mm," she nodded. "Next time though, you'll have to raise to 'picnic and a movie'."

"Hard bargain." She laughed.

Then there was a scream. Both looked up at once, recognizing the sound as their daughters' voices. They were running back towards them. Goodman and his wife stood to receive them.

"Daddy! There's fire!" Emma proclaimed. "There!" she pointed toward a rocky area of the park.

"It smells bad!" Mary continued. Goodman's skin crawled. He was getting the distinctive feeling it wasn't a simple fire. He looked to his wife.

"Stay with them," he told her before running toward where they'd pointed.

"Daniel!" she called.

"Stay here!" he insisted as he ran.

Coming around the rocks, he found the fire, which originated in an almost cave-like hole in the rocks. He shielded himself as he tried to see into the flames.

Then he saw it, poking out to prove his fears - someone was burning in there.

TBC