Hiya Guys!!

Yes, I'm still alive. Yes, I'm still here. I'm sorry for not updating the story, and thank you for the loyal reviewers! XD

Here is the next chapter for you guys!

Chapter 3

Hodgins watched Angela retreat into her office. He knew that Brennan's extended vacation was getting to her.

He sighed and returned to his station to finish searching for particulates in the clothes. There was enough soil on the clothes and from the rest of the crime scene to keep him occupied for weeks of examination and paperwork.

Suddenly, he smirked as he picked up a pair of ladies underwear.

"This is going to be fun."

--

Booth sat at Bones' computer, staring at the screen. The screensaver was randomly flashing pictures of Russ and his family and also the rest of the team the team.

Each picture brought up another memory. He grinned as a picture of Zach and Hodgins with the remnants from one of their "experiments." Both of them were covered from head to toe in soot, and they each had matching "deer-in-the-headlights" expressions on their faces.

The smile froze on his face when the next picture flashed up. It was Bones. Well, him and Bones, right after they had finished arguing. Huge grins were plastered on their faces, and she was glowing. He wondered who had taken this picture. Probably Angela.

Booth's hand twitched as her face suddenly vanished under another picture. His hand hit the mouse and the screen went to the password page.

It was a picture of Bones, and her family, from this past Christmas. She was smiling, a real, genuine smile. She was sitting with Amy's girls, Emma and Hayley, handing them each presents. Russ and Amy were holding each other, watching the girls. Max was sitting in a chair near the rest of the presents, with a serene smile on his face. A guard must have taken the picture.

The screen requested a password to access the content. The black bar flashed.

Daffodil.

Daisy.

Jupiter.

"I never told you that!"

The memories began to flow into his mind. He remembered her reaction when she found out that he knew every password that she came up with, and the shocked expression on her face.

The sudden onslaught of memories of her caused his heart to wrench. His chest began to get tight and it was getting harder to breathe. Booth scrunched up his face to stop the tears from falling. He bolted out of Bones' office to go see Angela, leaving Bones's chair spinning behind him.

--

Hodgins sifted through the clothing. He had put the underwear aside, until he sorted through the rest of the clothing. The shirt and bra, which elicited another smile from Hodgins, were also put aside with the underwear, and he turned to the pants for inspection.

The pants were a soft brown color, with an equally soft texture, as Hodgins fount out when he picked them up. He looked through the pockets for anything that could help identify the bones.

All of the pockets were empty, except one. In the right, back pocket, there was a folded sheet of thick paper. Hodgins pulled it out, highly curious. He unfolded the paper, and discovered the remnants of a photograph. The picture was barely distinguishable; Hodgins could only make out the outlines of a group of people. Maybe if Angela could restore the picture, then they would have the identity of the bones.

As Hodgins put the picture into an evidence bag to carry to Angela, he looked up, to see Cam and Zack speeding his way.

--

Ten minutes earlier

Zack bent over the bones. His mind worked in overdrive as he cataloged the anomalies on the skeleton. This young woman has had multiple injuries, many of which left marks on the bones. The multitude of bone remodeling showed that many of these injuries were not from the attack that killed her. Zack made his way down the skeleton, stopping at the vertebrae in her neck.

It was an odd discoloring on the inside of the bone that drew Zack's attention. He picked the bone up to examine it. As he turned over the bone, his eyes were drawn to two dark marks on the back of the bone.

"Find anything, Zach?" Cam called to Zach from across the platform.

Zach showed Cam the marks on the bone, "It's bone burn."

"My god, the Gravedigger."

"That's an assumption; Dr. Brennan doesn't like to jump to conclusions."

"I know, Zach. But it is a connection."

"There seems to be reconstruction around the outer edge of the burn. Maybe Hodgins can get something from it."

The two turned and headed towards Hodgins's station.

--

When Brennan passed through the door, she was blinded as she walked into the astonishing light. As her eyes slowly adapted to the brightness, she recognized her office. It was almost still, the only movement coming from the screen and from the twitch from Booth's hand as the picture of her family at Christmas appeared on the screen. Why the heck was he in her office, and how the heck did she get here?

Brennan moved towards the desk. Booth was sitting in her chair and didn't move away as she approached. He was staring blankly at her password screen.

"Daffodil. Daisy. Jupiter." he whispered, entirely lost in thought.

"I never told you that!" she said indignantly, remembering he had cracked her password before. As she said that, Booth's face scrunched up, as if he was going to cry.

What's wrong with him? Brennan thought as Booth bolted out of the room, leaving her chair spinning wildly.

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