AN: So I've done some investigating (meaning Wikipedia and Google) on forensic anthropology and FBI protocol, but I'm pretty much fudging a lot of stuff, so please don't be too harsh on the cold hard facts. While I want the case to be interesting, my main focus and past writing experience are on relationships.

Also, 532 hits, 14 alerts, but only 5 reviews? You guys can do better than that!

Anyway, enjoy part 2…

Dr. Temperance Brennan was bent over the remains of a Spanish-American War soldier when Booth came sauntering into the lab as per usual. He swiped his security card and hopped up the steps.

"Bones, let's go. We've got a case." She shot him her patented glare.

"I'm in the middle of something, Booth."

"Zack can put this guy away. He's a doctor now. Let's go."

"I can do it, Dr. Brennan." Temperance smiled at her ex-graduate student, now colleague.

"All right, Dr. Addy." She turned to Booth. "Let me get my kit." After swinging by her office, they left the Jeffersonian. Booth smirked inwardly at how nothing had changed in their partnership and no one at work would suspect there had been a shift in their relationship. But there had been. When they got into his SUV, he leaned across the seat and pressed a kiss to Brennan's lips.

"What's the case?" she asked as he started to drive.

"Body found in the basement of a restaurant in Adams Morgan. Nice Italian place. Just got their liquor license, went to stock their wine cellar and got a nasty surprise."

"So the suspects are the restaurant workers, probably the owners?"

"Not necessarily. The place was under construction for a while. Conflicts with the contractors, etc. so there was a lot of people in and out, not all documented."

"So why is this FBI jurisdiction?" Booth frowned.

"It's a kid." They arrived at the crime scene and went down into the cellar. The body had been hidden in a large crate and was still wrapped in plastic which Brennan carefully peeled back as she went to work. She examined the remains in silence for a few minutes before speaking.

"Female. Early stages of puberty. Preliminary findings show blunt force trauma to the head." She turned her head and locked eyes with her partner who had been watching her intently. "I'm going to need samples of the wood and the plastic for Hodgins."

"On it." Booth went to instruct one of the FBI forensic guys to do the dirty work and then went back to Brennan's side where she was carefully bagging the remains.

"These are ready to be sent back to the lab." Dusting off her hands on her lab coat, she accepted Booth's hand as he helped her to her feet and they headed back out to the SUV.

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Brennan had bent over the table, examining the remains, for almost two hours when she felt Booth's eyes on her. His appreciative gaze traveled over the slope of her back and the curve of her ass and she felt a shiver go up her spine. She turned her head with a reproach on her lips, after all her team was around here somewhere, but found herself smiling at him instead.

"What have you got for me, Bones?"

"What I thought at the scene. Female, aged 12-14. Date of death approximately four months ago. Death resulted from blunt force trauma to the back of the skull. From the location and degree of the injury, I would say that she fell back against something instead of being hit with a weapon."

"Where are we on getting a name?"

"Zack is running the dental records and Angela is working on a face. We should have an ID within the hour."

"Anything else?"

"Her arms and wrists show wear that indicates that they wear bound behind her for an extended period of time. However, there aren't any other signs of abuse. Only a healed-over fractured fibula, probably a childhood injury." Booth's face darkened while he mulled over the facts Brennan gave him. He had a picture in his head of a young girl held against her will and terrified. Yet he didn't have any leads on a perpetrator, a motive, or a murder weapon. They needed to get a name.

Luckily, Zack had a name and Angela had a face within the hour. Booth examined the print out that Angela had handed him. The brown-haired girl in the picture was smiling, a little bit of baby fat still clinging to her face. "Amanda Liddell. Age 13. Missing 6 months."

"According to my observations, she's only been dead for four months."

"But you said there was evidence of her being bound. Would two months do the damage you saw?" Booth asked.

"Could be." The agent nodded grimly, meeting his partner's eyes.

"Keep investigating. I'll find her parents and swing by to pick you up on my way there."