I spent a lot of time on it… and still I'm not really happy with it. I hope it will not be boring… That was not easy because I'm not a forensic anthropologist nor a FBI agent, not even a scientist or a doctor so I tried not to give too much details and I hope it does not ruin my story. But I really wanted to write about the case because I feared that without it the story would have been very poor.

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Chapter 2 : Horror in the zoo

Monday, June 4th
9:54 am

Temperance was staring out the window, trying not to exchange looks with her partner. Still kind of shocked by her dream. What did that mean? That she was in love with Booth? She let out a quiet laugh.

"What?" Booth asked.

"I didn't say anything" she replied.

"You laughed."

"Sorry, hum I… this is not about you. I was just thinking about something… not really interesting actually." Her gaze turned back to the window.

Even if he was finding her behaviour intriguing, Booth knew her well enough to understand she didn't want to talk about it. He kept on driving, remaining silent.

And so did his partner, lost in her thoughts, chewing her lip. MaybeI should talk to Angela about my dream. She could tell me what she thinks about it… and never leave me alone with the idea of Booth and I being an ideal couple… No, this was definitely a bad idea. She sighed. Damned stupid dream. I'd better forget it.

"Hey Bones, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, why?" she answered, without letting her eyes off of the window.

"I don't know, today you seem… upset."

"Well… I'm not."

He stumbled to form words. "If I had said or done anything wrong, you'd tell me wouldn't you?"

"Sure."

He frowned. "So why don't you look at me?"

She slowly turned her head to look in his eyes. "I didn't sleep much, that's all", was all she was able to find.

"Maybe because you were in your office a Sunday night"

"I needed to work on my book."

"You could have done that at your place."

"I work better at my office."

"Okay, then…" Booth parked the SUV in front of the zoo entrance. "Let's take a look at this body."

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10:12 am

The director of the zoo was waiting for them and lead them to the place were the body had been found. Booth grimaced. "What a smell!" he complained.

"This is the hyenas place", explained the director.

"Hyenas, uh… Pretty nice animal", Booth said ironically.

"Hyenas are carrion feeders", explained Brennan.

"Yeah, I know that, Bones", replied Booth, offended by his partner thinking he didn't know about it. "I often come to the zoo with Parker, I know a lot about exotic animals."

She wasn't listening, her attention caught by the remains on the ground. "The killer must have cut the flesh all over the body to make it more appetizing for the animals. Doing that, he was sure they did not leave much of the body, so that it would be difficult to identify."

Temperance placed latex gloves on her hands and began to look over the body. "Woman, end twenties to mid thirties. Tibia suggests she was between 5.3' an 5.5' tall." She kneeled down to take a better look at the remains. Booth let her doing her job and started talking with the zoo employee who had discovered the body. The woman seemed to be still in a state of shock. Her face pale and she was nervously wringing her hands together.

After a while, Temperance got to her feet and turned to her partner who was finished with the employee. "I can't say anything about injuries yet", she concluded. "I need all this to be brought back to the Jeffersonian. They didn't leave much of her but maybe Cam will be able to find some clues from the remains."

"Let's head back to the lab then."

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8:37 pm

Temperance was quickly typing on the keyboard of her laptop. This guy she had been chatting with for a few days, Adam Green, he seemed really nice. He asked her once more for a date. This time, she accepted. If he was a jerk, she would just left him standing there and jump into a cab. It would be no big deal. She was quite in a good mood this night. And she wasn't going to be dictated to by her fears, past experiences or dreams. Adam proposed to meet the next day at seven, in a restaurant she appreciated very much. Great idea, she thought. She really needed distraction.

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Tuesday, June 5th
11:03 am

Temperance had been working during hours with Zack since the day before. They had been studying every bone of the skeleton and they still hadn't found a cause of death.

"Maybe Cam will be able to tell us more about it", she explained to Booth. "She's currently analysing the blood in the remains. Angela is working on facial reconstruction, she'll be finished soon."

"I've got it', Angela announced, appearing at the door. "Her name's Natasha Foster, age 32. She has been reported missing by her parents six days ago." She handed the sketch to her friend.

"Good job, Angela", Brennan said.

Booth glanced at the sketch. "Have you searched for the parents' address yet?"

"James and Susan Foster, here it is", Angela answered, handing him the sheet of paper.

Booth took it, smiling. "You're wonderful, Angela." He softly placed his hand on her partner's shoulder. "C'mon Bones, let's go have a talk with them."

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11:29 am

"We're sorry for your loss…" Booth hated the moments when he had to announce parents that their child was dead. Especially when it did not even remained enough of the victim to identify. But for sure, it was easier when Bones was there. He turned to her and locked eyes with her.

"Our condolences", she added.

Booth lightly smiled to himself. Since they had been starting working together, her social skills had really improved, and he liked the idea of his partner learning from him. He was… yes, let's say he was proud of her.

"What can you tell us about your daughter?" Booth asked, turning his gaze back to the parents.

"Natasha worked as a nurse in a private hospital", the father started. "She was smart, she could even have become a doctor. But she loved this job, that was enough for us"

"Did she have any boyfriend?" asked Booth.

"She didn't talk much about them. She preferred focusing on her work at the hospital. She loved her job." answered the father.

"She had a boyfriend last year, a surgeon. She broke up with him several months ago", the mother added. "His name was Chris. We never met him, though…" She stopped, getting overwhelmed.

Booth turned to the father. "Did she have a lot of friends?"

"She spent all her time at work. She often told us about one of her colleagues, Tracy. I think they were friends. She's the one who called us when she began to worry about Natasha", the father explained. "What's more, I think she was regularly visiting a former patient, a 17-year-old girl named Hannah."

Booth nodded, mentally taking notes.

"Poor girl", said the mother, wiping the moisture from her eyes. "My daughter told me she became blind after a surgery, one year ago. I think Natasha felt guilty, even if she had no reason to. I mean, they did everything they could, and anyway she was only assisting the surgeon."

Booth stood up. "Thank you very much, you helped us a lot," he said, sympathetically looking at them. "We'll let you know when we have anything new."

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1:12 pm

"I'm starving", Booth said, crunching in his hamburger.

Bones put a French fry in her mouth. "So am I."

"What do you think about the case so far?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know yet, I'm waiting for new elements from the lab before making assumptions."

"When we are at the hospital, we'll…" He interrupted as his cell rang. "Damn it, they're not gonna let me eat in peace." He picked up the phone. "Booth"

"I've got some news for you" That was Cam speaking. "I'll spare you the details but we have determined a cause of death. She was drugged. I found a huge amount of narcotics in her blood. It would have killed an elephant."

"Elephants do not take narcotics", pointed out Zach.

"Thank you Zach", said Booth, rolling his eyes. "Anything else?"

"Not for the moment."

Booth hung up the phone and finished his hamburger.

"So…?" asked Bones.

"Natasha swallowed a huge amount of narcotics, they believe that's what killed her", explained Booth, his mouth full.

Bones shook her head. "She committed suicide and somebody moved her body?" she asked, not convinced.

Booth raised his eyebrows, smiling playfully. "Sounds like we're dealing with a murder."

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2:27 pm

"I hate hospitals"

"Nobody likes hospitals, Bones", said Booth, his hand in the small of his partner's back.

"Except the people who work in it", she replied.

He chuckled. "How can you say that, you work on dead people."

"Well, at least, they do not complain."

They headed to the office of the director, who was waiting for them. "Please take a seat", the man said. "Tracy is with a patient, she'll come as soon as she can." He told them about Natasha, a model employee, never late, really concerned with her job and her patients. Then, the door opened, and a brown-haired woman entered. The director lightly smiled to her. "Come in, Tracy. Please meet Agent Booth from the FBI, and Dr Temperance Brennan."

"The FBI?", repeated the woman, eyes wide in shock. "It's about Natasha, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid it is", replied Booth.

Tears began to fill Tracy's eyes. "What happened to her?"

"She was murdered", Brennan answered quickly, gaining herself a black look from her partner.

"I'm sorry", said Booth. "I know you two were colleagues and friends. But we have to ask you a few questions."

"I don't understand… Everybody loved Natasha. The staff, the patients…" Tracy sniffed. "She was a nice person. I mean, I knew something had happened to her. She was not the kind of person who was used to disappear without telling anyone. But murder… I don't know how this could have happened…"

"Her parents told us about a former boyfriend, Chris. They said he worked here but they weren't able to give his last name. Can you tell more about him?"

"I guess they were talking about Chris Sanders. They broke up months ago. Chris is a surgeon. He doesn't work here anymore, he had a job opportunity and moved to New York. However I saw him here last week. In the parking lot. I think he wanted to see Natasha. I saw them fighting. I think she didn't want to talk to him anymore."

"Did you hear anything?"

The woman shook her head. "I'm afraid I didn't. She didn't told me about it, so I supposed she didn't want to. And then, she disappeared."

"Did you know she was still visiting a former patient named Hannah?" asked Booth.

"Yes, Hannah Ward. She came for eyes surgery one year ago, but it didn't succeed. She's blind now. Chris was the surgeon, and Natasha was one of the nurses who assisted him during the operation. They both knew it was risky. I don't know why she felt so guilty. Natasha and Chris broke up a few weeks after this."

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4:41 pm

Temperance was meticulously studying the victim's skeleton when footsteps broke the silent of the lab.

"I called the hospital where Sander works in New York." She recognized Booth's voice. "They said he's currently on vacations for three weeks. And he left on May, 26th.

"It doesn't mean he's the killer", she retorted, looking up from the table.

Booth shrugged. "I'm just saying. Anyway, we'll have to talk a little more with Natasha Foster's former colleagues. I'd like to learn more about this guy, Chris Sanders."

"Okay", she answered, her attention focused on the skeleton. "I'll let you know when I'm finished."

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I hope you liked this chapter even if I'm not really happy with it. If you find anything that didn't made sense, please tell me. Chapter 3 will come very soon, I promise! Thanks for reading me, and please review!