A/N: Well, here we are. The end. I do hope you all enjoyed the ride.

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Brennan watched Booth pace back and forth in front of the windows in her hotel room. He had taken off his suit jacket and tie, and had undone the top buttons on his shirt. She could tell he was furious, and the smiling face and Avery Sterne didn't help. After they had talked to Kaitlin and Booth had called Eric that left nothing for them to do but wait. Brennan tried to focus on the papers spread out on the small desk but Booth's movement's- Lack of movement, she corrected, distracted her. Booth stood still, his hands on his hips and his gaze lost somewhere outside. Brennan stood from her chair and walked over to him. "Are you alright?" she asked, but was answered only by a heavy sigh. "Booth?" Nothing. "Seeley," she said, and placed a hand on his arm.

"Why can't I get to him?" he asked, never taking his eyes off of whatever he was looking at. "Why can't I get him to talk?"

"You've only had one go at him," Brennan said. "You'll get him next time." Booth turned his head to look at her. "You will." He nodded as his cell phone began to ring.

"Booth," he said into it. Brennan offered him a small smile and then went back to her papers. "Guess who all visited Disney World at the same time," he said, closing his phone some time later.

"Um, Dahlia, Pleasant and Kaitlin," Brennan answered.

"Very good, Bones. Now, who worked there at the same time the girls were there?"

"That's a tough one," Brennan teased. "But I'm going to say Sterne." Booth offered her a wide smile of thanks for playing along.

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner," he said.

"Okay, I have one for you. Who has a daughter that was killed when she was six?"

"Sterne?" Booth questioned, and Brennan nodded. "The same time he worked at Disney World."

"Yeah, so?" Brennan asked. Her partner's face was drawn up in thought. "What are you thinking, Booth?"

"That Sterne worked at Disney World at the same time our victims were there. His daughter would have been about the same age as the girls he took." Booth stopped a moment. "What happened to his daughter?"

"Alona," Brennan offered. "Some kind of fire at the place they lived."

"Fire?" Booth rubbed a hand over his face. "Where did they live?" Brennan flipped through the papers.

"A bed and breakfast called Ocean Shell Shimmer. Sterne was the maintenance man there." Booth skimmed through his notebook.

"I have that named," he said. "All three families stayed there." Booth looked up at Brennan to see if she was making the connection.

"So Sterne would have met the girls with their families," Brennan said. "Not only because he worked there."

"But because of his daughter," Booth finished. "That has to be it. His daughter died, but the other three girls lived."

"I think," Brennan said. "You just got what you need to crack the bastard." Booth smiled at her.

--

"You're a very clever man, Mr. Sterne," Booth said, as he leaned back somewhat in his chair.

"Oh?" Sterne said. "How so?" Booth sat forward, arms on the table.

"It really did take us a while to connect you to the girls you took," he said. Sterne blinked at him. "But like all criminals, you left evidence behind." Sterne didn't say anything.

"Like the fact that you use to work at Disney World," Booth went on.

"And that you used a Mickey Mouse shirt as a gag," Brennan threw in.

"Not a very smart thing to do," Booth said with a shake of his head.

"That doesn't prove anything," Sterne said.

"It doesn't?" Booth asked, looking over at Brennan. "Really? Because I thought it proved that this jerk was at Disney World the same time Dahlia, Pleasant and Kaitlin was." Booth looked back at Sterne. "Funny, isn't it?"

"Do you know how many people go to Disney World every year?" Sterne asked.

"True, true," Booth began. "But the fact that they all stayed at the Ocean Shell Shimmer Bed and Breakfast proves something, right, Bones?"

"I think so," Brennan said. "Since Sterne worked and lived at the same place, with his daughter." She placed a sheet of paper in front of him.

"See," Booth said. "Now that's interesting. Considering that there was a fire that year."

"Shut up," Sterne warned.

"A fire that claimed the life of a certain little girl," Booth went on.

"Leave her out of this."

"Who was it again?"

"Alona Sterne," Brennan said, placing another piece of paper down.

"That's right, Alona Sterne. Your daughter, correct?"

"She has nothing to do with this," Sterne said.

"But she does," Booth told him. "Since Alona was playing with three little girls that day. Three little girls that made it out alive. You killed Dahlia and Pleasant for revenge Avery," Booth said. "And you were going to kill Kaitlin as well."

"They deserved to die," Sterne said. "They killed my sweet one."

"Wrong," Booth said, slamming his hand down on the table. "A fire killed Alona. Not Dahlia. Not Pleasant. Not Kaitlin." Booth and Brennan stood.

"Kill me if you wish," Sterne said. "At least I'll see my sweet Alona." Booth turned back at the door and looked at the man.

"I don't think you'll be going to the same place as your child," Booth said and then left the room.

--

"I'm so happy to be back," Brennan said, as she and Booth walked into the Medico-Legal Labs of the Jeffersonian.

"Just can't leave your skeletons, eh, Bones?"

"You guys are back," Angela said, jogging up to meet them. "How did everything go?"

"I think we have enough to lock Sterne away for a long time," Booth said.

"That's good," Angela said. "Listen, me and the boys are meeting up at Wong Foo's. You two want to come?" Booth and Brennan looked at each other before answering.

"That sounds great," Brennan said. "Just give us a little while."

"Okay," Angela said, and pushed pass them. "Oh," she called, turning back. "Did you ever figure out why fire ants as a weapon of choice?"

"From what we can gather," Booth began. "The fire part came from the fact that his daughter was killed by fire. A fire ant bite can feel like your skin is on fire."

"But why ants?"

"Easy," Brennan said. "Avery Nathaniel Thomas Sterne." Angela ran the name through her mind.

"ANTS," she said. With a shake of her head she left.

"He was one sick bastard," Booth said, following Brennan to her office.

"That he was." Brennan flipped on the lights and her eyes were drawn to a package on her desk.

"What's that?" Booth asked.

"I don't know." She walked over to it. "The card says to Brennan and Booth." She picked it up and turned to face him.

"Well, open it," he said. Brennan smiled, went to her couch and sat down. She pulled the card off and read it out-loud.

"To Brennan and Booth," she began. "The best partners we know. Signed Angela, Hodgins and Zack." She looked up at Booth who just shrugged. "Why are they giving us a present?" she asked and then dropped her eyes back to the card. "Oh, PS- It's been one year." Again she looked up. "Did you know that?"

"Hadn't thought about it," Booth said. "But I guess it has. Open the present." Brennan sat the card aside, and carefully pulled back the wrapping paper. "What?" he asked when he saw he eyes grow wide. "What is it?" Brennan turned it around for Booth to see. In her hands was a drawing done by Angela of Brennan and him.

Brennan stood tall with most of her weight on her right foot, her left one was slightly forward and turned a little outward. She had her arms crossed over her chest in a stance of strength yet not of annoyance- a completely natural and relaxed pose. Her face was done perfectly, her eyes shining with secrets and her lips turned up in a slight smile. Booth stood just behind Brennan and was turned ever so slightly toward her. Angela had drawn him with one hand you couldn't see- On Brennan's lower back, Booth thought- and his other hand on his hip. His suit jacket pushed out the way, showing his badge. He had a cocky half smile, which was barely there, his eyes and stance both reflecting his protectiveness. The background of the drawing was white and the only colors were their eyes. His- a chocolate brown, hers a magnificent blue. The rest was pencil shading.

"That's amazing," Booth finally said. Brennan turned it back around to look at it. Angela had captured them perfectly.

"She did a great job, but," Brennan stopped. "How do we share a picture?" Booth walked over and sat down beside her.

"We share by you hanging it in your apartment," he said.

"How is that sharing?" Brennan questioned, looking over at him. He offered her a smile.

"Because every time I stop by, I'll see it." Brennan returned his smile and nodded.

"Yeah," she said, and then turned her eyes back to the drawing. "You will."

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L'estremità li ringrazia ed arrivederci

(The end. Thank you and goodbye)

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Remember, keep an eye out for my new fics. A special 'Thanks' to Goldy. You the woman!