Thank you to everyone who reviewed on my first chapter- I was quite surprised by the response.

So- thanks to sbfisher, .135, crossMyheartHope2Spy, mustanggirlz07, doctorsuez, standing-in-the-doorway, Fanpire88, bones83, crazycamera, Officer Rabbit, Gaia 469 csimesser1, gymcatgrl and Bonesxo. Sorry if I missed anyone. :)

For Disclaimer and Summary- see Chapter One.

I've got to admit- this chapter possibly isn't my best, but it was needed to get to the better stuff. :)

"Christine Sanders. Former ." Booth handed over a thick file, topped with a pictures held by paper clips.

"She's pretty. Matches Angela's sketch." Brennan pulled said sketch from her own manilla folder, slipped it into his hands, then fingered the polariods apart. "You know her?"

"Casual acquaintance."

Christine Sanders picture didn't do her justice. The top picture showed her sitting cross-legged beneath a large willow tree. Her smile shone, and the rising sun behind the drooping branches gave her an almost heavenly glow. Her long red hair fell mid-chest, and her bright green sparkled mischievously. It took Brennan a moment to wonder how a picture could capture someone so well, but her thoughts were interrupted with a sound like gravel hitting Booth's window.

The world outside Booth's office window was far from heavenly. The heatwave continued, but clouds had formed, and it now seemed they were entering a monsoon season. Torrential rain ricocheted off the ground, and propelled off of windows.

Booth sank down into his chair, closing his eyes and letting his head fall against the rest. Brennan watched him inquisitively as she flicked through the rest of her pictures.

The rain drummed rhythmically against the window, and Booth could almost find himself drifting off.

"Is this why you were so aggravated at the crime scene? Because you knew who it was going to be?"

He cracked an eye open at her.

"Doesn't matter." He sighed.

"Yes it does." She slipped a large photo over the desk. It was Christine's F.B.I photo. She grinned towards the camera- with bright white teeth. "It matters to me." She said softly.

He smiled lopsidedly at her compassion, meeting her soft gaze.

"Her parents are on their way in. Wanna come?"

"Sure." She pushed herself up out of her seat and followed him into the bustling corridors of the Bureau.

"I found particulates in the pond." Hodgins swiped his way onto the platform.

"Doesn't surprise me." Cam chimed, examining the woman's body on the platform.

Hodgins held up a small tub filled with dirty water. A small piece of moss swirled around the bottom. He looked at it briefly.

"Fair point." He laughed.

A small lock of wet hair fell from behind Cam's ear as she straightened up to look at the tub.

"What have you got?" He asked, approaching the table, placing down the water and snapping on a new pair of gloves.

"Not much more that Dr. Brennan." She said- exasperated. "Angela's working on the picture in the locket."

"What's this?" Hodgins pointed to a small stain on the remains of the blouse. Cam wheeled over a magnifying camera. She peered at the screen.

"GSR?" She asked- to no one in particular.

"Gun shot residue? I thought there wasn't a gun shot wound-"

"There isn't."

"I'll run it through the mass spectrometer. See if we can get a brand or something." He took a small sample on a Q-Tip and placed it into a test tube.

"What else have you got?" He raised his voice to be heard as he retreated from the examination table to a monitor on the other side of the platform.

"Not much. I'm running a Tox-screen, but there's haemorrhaging around the wounds on the chest."

"So she was alive when she got kicked in. Gang work?"

Cam rolled her eyes at his turned back while Hodgins pulled a file up on his monitor.

"Not awake. Unconscious." Cam corrected.

"Says here-" He turned to face her, pointed at the screen before stuffing his hands into his pockets. "-that Christine worked on a task force, and a hit was put out on her a few months back by a gang leader." He singsonged.

"Maybe." She smirked at him "I'll take a better look at the x-rays, but I'm pretty sure that Dr. Brennan can strip the flesh now. I've got everything I can."

"She'll be happy." Hodgins chortled.

Cam peeled off her gloves, chucked them haphazardly into a waste bin.

Booth watched from a safe distance as his partner attempted to sooth and commiserate Christine Sanders' parents. He had to admit, he was touched. Over four years, she had learned quite a bit. She learned how to be gentle, less forward, and more about the heart. His Bones was learning fast. Goodman was damn right about that steep learning curve.

He watched as Brennan produced a pack of tissues from her lab coat, extract one, and hand it to the weeping mother. She touched the older woman's shoulder gently, and said something inaudible to Booth.

"I'll do everything I can Mrs Sanders."

"When can we bury her?" The father asked and his large green eyes left his wife, and locked onto Brennan. She could see tears welling slowly in the man's eyes, threatening to fall.

"I can't say yet Sir. I want all this to be over as quick as possible. Just like you."

"Catch the bastard that did this. Please." He was pleading.

"It's what I do best." She attempted to lighten the mood slightly, and was awarded with a small smile from both parents.

"We're glad it's you Dr. Brennan. My daughter had told us about you once- about your work with the FBI. You're a brilliant anthropologist." He clutched his wife's arm, as she leant into his shoulder.

"Thank you." She felt a swell of pride in her chest. "There's a very nice café nearby if you would like to get some coffee."

"Thank you again Dr. Brennan."

"I'll keep in touch."

Booth sighed and turned away from the group, leaning against a wall enclosing one of the computer stations.

He cursed himself for being protective.

He heard the loud click of her tall heels on the polished floor as she walked to her office. He jogged a few steps to catch up with her.

"Well that was positively heartbreaking." Brennan dumped her bag onto her sofa, followed suit by Booth's long black jacket, still speckled with rain drops. "Why did you tell me to tell them?"

"You wanted to learn to read people. That's part of the job." He tilted his head to the side, running his fingers through soaked hair.

"Yeah- read people." Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she booted up her computer. "Not tell them their daughter has been murdered and dumped in a pond surrounded by daffodils."

"Seems a strange place to bury someone." Booth said quietly, rolling up his sleeves. Brennan pulled her hair back into a straggly ponytail, and rang out excess water.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Just seems...weird. You know? There was a forest about half a mile away. Why not there? Less likely to be found." He perched himself onto the corner of her desk.

"The killer was most likely running on adrenaline. Logic can suffer."

"Wouldn't for you."

"Nope." She laughed.

"You're doing well. With the whole people thing."

"Thanks." She smiled softy, their eyes meeting as always. He held her smouldering gaze for as long as he could muster, before he felt the overwhelming urge that he always did. He tapped her desk lightly, and pulled his poker chip out of his pocket.

"Coffee?"

Yeah- I'm not too proud. But please review all the same!