Disclaimer: If I owned BONES, I would make Zack a series regular again.


"Hey," 28-year-old Michael "Mike" Wells greeted his younger sister as she got home later that night. "How was your visit with Doctor Addy?"

"You can call him Zack, you know," she rolled her eyes at her brother's pompous tone. "It was good. It was nice to see him again. Why?"

"You should be careful," he advised. "In his situation, if a potential employer were to see you associating with him…"

"He's not crazy, Mike!" she insisted swishing her caramel-colored hair over her shoulder. "And it's not like I can go around in public with him, anyway. I don't care what that article says. There has to be more to it!"

"He's an accomplice to a murderer, Ky," Mike said urgently. "Like it or not, he's not the same kid you knew five years ago. And you'd do best not to associate with him."

"You don't know anything. He didn't do it," Kylie shook his head. "He couldn't have. As physically strong he can be, he couldn't hurt a fly."

"What about that time he tackled that crazy girl, Shana, who tried to kill you?" he reminded his sister.

"He had the element of surprise on his side," she argued. "Because of how passive most people – including she – thought he was, she was too shocked to retaliate." She sat down on their couch and wrapped her arms around herself. "He saved my life that day. And my ass."


(5 years ago)

Kylie shifted nervously next to her attorney. The witnesses they had called all crumbled under the pressure from Mr. Pinkston, Shana's father and lawyer; she was going to be tried for assault and attempted murder, and she would undoubtedly lose.

"Ms. Wells, are you alright?" her attorney, Charles Estevez, whispered.

"I don't want to go to jail," was her simple reply.

"It's not over yet," Estevez assured her.

"Mr. Zachary Uriah Addy, do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

Kylie nearly jumped in her seat as she heard her partner being addressed by his full name. Zach? But I don't remember seeing him that night…

"I do not believe in God, but yes. I do solemnly swear."

"Mr. Addy, what happened between Shana Pinkston and Kylie Wells?"

"I was walking to my car after talking to Mr. Sanchez, our speech and debate coach, and I witnessed the two of them fighting, though it was more along the lines of Shana attacking her, with Kylie trying to defend herself, mainly her deflecting what she could. I only saw Kylie throw maybe two or three punches, but none were fatal whatsoever."

"From your observations, what was the fight about?"

"Shana has always envied Kylie and I, but mainly Kylie, because of our prowess during speech and debate tournaments. She never held back any expression of jealousy toward us, but she has always seemed to have a problem with Kylie, even if she was never unpleasant with her. I couldn't decipher their exact words as Shana threw punches at her, but due to her general proneness to jealousy and paranoia that I've observed from the time spent with her during our speech and debate meetings, I feel confident in deducing that she confronted Kylie because Jesse Tyler, her ex-boyfriend, was infatuated with Kylie and made advances on her."

"What kind of advances?"

"He sent her many text messages, but she would never answer him. One week after he started texting her, he showed up outside her classroom to ask her out."

"Did Kylie Wells reciprocate his actions?"

"No, she rejected him. She was quite annoyed with him, actually. She often complained to me that he wouldn't stop bothering her."

"How well do you know Kylie Wells?"

"We've been debate partners since our freshman year, but I've gone to school with her since we were 10, though we were not familiar with each other until high school. She is the only person during the entire time I've been in high school that never made fun of me or excluded me from social activities. Judging from the way she often confided in me, sometimes preferring me to her female friends that she called her 'best friends', I feel that I know and understand her quite well."

"If you are as close to her as you say, why didn't you call for help, or act quicker than you did? The report clearly says that you did not intervene until shortly before Shana was stabbed," Mr. Pinkston then asked him during the cross-examination.

"Shana is very strong," he explained. "She has black belts in judo and tae kwon do, and as I initially weighed the pros and cons, I was afraid that she would beat me up as much as she did Kylie. But when she had Kylie in a chokehold on the ground, I had this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that any more damage, given Shana's strength and skill, would've killed Kylie, so I tackled her, which immobilized her temporarily."

"In your good judgment, did Kylie Wells have time to regain enough consciousness to stab Shana Pinkston?"

"Absolutely not," he shook his head.

"Can you prove this?"

"She was losing consciousness when I had tackled her; I do not believe she even knows I was there until today."

"How can you tell that Shana's stab wound was self-inflicted and not from someone else?"

"Her stab wound is not as deep as it would've been if somebody else had stabbed her. It is physically much harder to inflict pain on oneself than another because of the body's natural reflexes, so the knife is therefore not likely to go very deep, and it would also take much longer because of the pain. Also, the weapon used was a standard butcher knife, as it says in the report, with a sharp tip but fairly wide blade shape. If Kylie had indeed stabbed her, the stab wound would be much deeper, wider, and more damaging due to the greater ease she would've had, despite her physical disadvantage to Shana."

Kylie held her breath as she awaited her fate. With just a few words from the judge, she could be put on an even bigger trial, thus potentially ending her dreams of being an anthropologist of some sort.

What have I done to deserve this? She thought miserably as she tapped her fingers impatiently on the table in front of her and looking back at Zack, who had reseated himself in the hearing room and given her a small, encouraging nod.

"How did we do?"

"I think we've got a good chance," her attorney whispered to her. "After his explanation of the knife wound, Pinkston looked the most flustered I've ever seen him. Definitely not his usual Vulcan self. Mr. Addy's testimony was Pinkston's undoing."

"I didn't even know he saw the whole thing," Kylie whispered back. "But I'm glad he did."

She glanced over at the judge, who banged his gavel on his podium.

"Mr. Pinkston has decided to drop all charges against Kylie Wells," the presiding judge said, before turning in her direction. "Ms. Wells, you are free to go. Ms. Pinkston, you have been charged with physical assault and attempted murder, and you will go on trial. This hearing is dismissed."


"If he didn't testify that day, I would've been expelled and probably gone on trial and then to jail, since Shana's father's wicked good," Kylie swallowed as her eyes watered. She turned to her brother. "Murderer's apprentice or not, he's still my friend, and he saved my life. Tell me how someone like that is capable of murder."

"You haven't really talked to him since you guys graduated high school," Mike pointed out. "A lot could've happened since then. Tell me, would you have tried to contact him if he didn't show up in the paper?"

She looked down guiltily, even though she knew she was terrible at keeping in touch with people in general.

"The point is, I owe him," she said, "for the rest of my life. We both got busy; I went to the University of Washington and he stayed local and went to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. You have a lot to thank him for, too. If it weren't for him, you would've been planning my funeral instead of watching me graduate, because I was pretty fucking sure I was going to die that day!"

"I understand, Kylie, but until this mess gets settled, promise me you won't visit him again," he pleaded.

"I can't do that," she shook her head. "I'm 22, not five!"

"I've also been your legal guardian for the past 10 years," he reminded. "And don't forget, you chose to live with me. You could've stayed with Aunt Helena in Seattle."

"Yeah, it was either Aunt 'holier-than-Thou' Helena or you. Besides, he offered to recommend me for an internship."

"Doing what?"

"What he did. It would basically be his old job. Staring at dead people under a microscope."

"…Seriously?"

"Analyzing the remains to help the FBI solve cases!" she gave him her 'duh' face.

"You mean, like Doctor Brennan, that author?"

"Exactly like her," Kylie nodded. "Did I mention I'd be interning under her?"

Mike looked up at the sound of the author of his favorite book series. "Well in that case, go for it."

"So I can still visit him?"

"Sure," he nodded. "But only twice a week at most."

"Fine," she shrugged.

"I'll be checking the sign in sheet at his mental institution to make sure you stick to that."

"Stalker," Kylie rolled her large hazel eyes.

"Sorry. Still your big brother."

"How could I possibly forget?"


Yay, 4 new followers! So it probably won't be till next chapter or the chapter after that until we meet the rest of the BONES gang. I thought it was important to introduce her older brother first. I also didn't mean for the flashback to be as long as it was, and I'd originally intended to have the flashback be the fight that almost killed her, but I'm terrible at describing fight sequences, so I decided on this. Some parts during the flashback were vague on purpose, but there will be more flashbacks throughout the story that will fill those gaps, since it's the way Kylie is remembering it and not . I've also decided where I'm going with the story, so it's safe to say it'll probably be longer than I thought it'd be. And if you guys want an idea of what Kylie looks and sounds like, picture Michelle Trachtenberg (Georgina on Gossip Girl and Dawn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but slightly shorter at around 5'4"-5'5" (with hazel eyes instead of blue ones like Michelle's). Hope y'all enjoyed!