A/N: So there is no excuse for my long absence from this story except for life, school and the fact that this is now my only active story since I have just finished Burdens That Allow Us To Fly. Now that that's done, I'll be focusing on this more, but school comes first, obviously, and things are getting kind of hectic around here. I promise I will update when I can. To attempt to make up for my long span in updates, here's a new chapter that slightly longer than the last few.

"Bren, what is Drew doing here?"

Brennan looked up to see Angela walking up the platform steps. She was talking to Bren but staring at Drew who was sitting on Hodgins' worktable holding on to a plastic model of a maggot.

"Our security system is extremely inadequate when compared to the security here. Booth and I both feel safer if Drew was here."

"What's going on? Why is your place suddenly not safe?"

Brennan explained to Angela what had been going on with Russ and Max.

"Well, do you want me to take Drew into my office so Hodgins can get some work done?" Angela suggested.

"Please," Booth said, standing at the foot of the platform steps, "I don't want my son playing with giant plastic bugs. That's too…"

"Nerdy?" Angela tried.

"Squinty," Booth finished.

"Squinty?" Brennan was confused.

"Yeah, you know…Squinty. You guys are Squints."

"I don't understand," Brennan told her husband.

"Yeah, I'm lost," Angela agreed.

"You guys…you squint when you look at things. Look! Just like that! Look at Hodgins," Booth cried, pointing at his friend. Jack was indeed staring at a microscope slide, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes barely open.

"Leave me alone. I, apparently, am the only one working around here," Jack called back, not taking his eyes off of his specimen. Drew watched, curious as to what was going on. But when he heard his father's voice, Drew pulled himself up to stand on the worktable and shouted to his dad.

"Whoa there, buddy," Booth jogged over and took Drew off the table, "Don't stand on that. You're gonna fall and get hurt." He passed Drew to Angela.

"Come on, little man, let's go watch Sesame Street."

Booth waited for Angela to disappear into her office with Drew before he spoke. His voice was hushed and it set Brennan into near panic mode.

"I still can't find your dad or Russ. I have a few agents trailing Amy and the girls, just for protection. I gotta head out though. It seems like Ted and I have switched places for the time being."

"What do you mean?"

"Teddy's been assigned to work your dad's case. Now that he's missing again, Teddy's still looking. I gotta cover Ted's post in homicide. A burned body on top of some building downtown. I gotta head to the scene but I just wanted to let you know what was going on. I'll call you if I hear something."

She nodded and he kissed her. It was a tender kiss. He was worried about her, scared things were getting to be too much for her to handle. She gave him a gentle smile back as Booth headed toward the door.

"Doctor Brennan!"

Doctor Goodman's voice boomed from behind her. Brennan spun around and came face to face with her boss and a young man she vaguely remembered seeing before.

"Doctor Brennan, this is Mister Zach Addy. Surely you've seen him in one of your classes before."

"I can't know for certain," Brennan told him, "I have many students. Very few I actually get to know on a first name basis."

"Ah, well, Mister Addy is your assistant now. I suggest you get to know him. He's going to be very helpful with the number of cases we have backed up in Modular Skeletal Storage.

Brennan looked Zach over and made an assessment.

"Mister Addy, from this, can you tell me any discernable details of the body in…" she walked to Hodgins' station and picked a certain file. She returned and held out a few photos for him to look at, "…this set of remains?"

Zach looked the photos over for several minutes before looking up at his mentor with extreme certainty. "These remains are undergoing autolysis with evidence of adiopocere. Putrefaction is evident and there are also teeth marks which indicate scavenging. Raccoons or maybe rats have gnawed on this bone. Soil samples, plant life and insects should all be collected to best determine time of death and perhaps cause of death."

Brennan nodded, seemingly impressed with what he had told her. "From the photos can you give me cause of death?"

"No, Doctor Brennan, I would need to thoroughly examine the remains before I could give a definitive answer."

"I am impressed, Mister Addy. Most students would try to impress me by outright stating their beliefs on cause of death."

Zach said nothing, only smiled at her praise.

"I will leave you in capable hands, Mister Addy," Goodman said, "Doctor Brennan is a wonderful teacher."

"Mister Addy, do you have an access card to our platform?" she asked when Goodman left. Zach proudly held out his security badge for her to see.

"Very good. I would like for you to start analyzing the remains on the exam table. I will join you in a few minutes."

Zach nodded once and left for the platform. Brennan headed straight to Angela's office, hoping to check on her son.

"Mom!" Drew ran to her as she walked in the door and collided with her legs. He latched on tight and he barely let her pick him up.

"Has he been a trouble, Ange?"

"No! We watched some Sesame Street and a few episodes of The Wiggles. I'm going to have those horrible songs stuck in my head all day."

"I do not understand his attachment at the moment. I'm going to bring him with me for a little while. I believe he is quite confused about what has been going on lately."

Angela nodded. "Hey, do you want me to run to your place? I could pick up some things for Drew during my lunch."

"If you would like. I'm sure Booth had been planning on that as well, but now it seems like he will be dealing with a case all day. It seems out of his guild."

"Huh? Oh, you mean league? Out of his league? Why, what kind of case is it?"

Brennan shrugged. "Since Teddy is working on finding my father and Russ, Booth is taking on a case Teddy would normally have. It's homicide. Booth will be fine, but I believe he is worried about proving himself."

"Probably. Are you sure you don't want me to watch him while you work with Jimmy Neutron?"

"Who?"

"Your new assistant. You know, boy scientist?"

"You mean Mister Addy. His name is Zach, Angela. It might be beneficial for you to learn his name before you really meet him."

Angela laughed. "You have a son and you don't know who Jimmy Neutron is? You gotta invest in some quality TV time with your kid."

Brennan started debating with Angela about the pros and cons of watching too much TV when she was cut off. "Bren, sweetie, I was joking. I'll run by your place and pick up some things for Drew, okay?"

"Yes, Angela that would be wonderful, thank you."

She left Angela's office with Drew on her hip as she swiped her access card to let her onto the platform. Zach looked up from his work and watched as his mentor set her son on the ground next to her. Drew stood there, hanging onto her pant leg for dear life.

"Mister Addy?" Brennan said, attempted to draw Zach's attention away from the toddler and back to the task at hand.

"Um, I apologize," he muttered, his eyes still on Drew, "I found hair line fractures on the ulna."

Before Brennan could even say anything, her husband's booming voice echoed throughout the lab. "Bren!"

"What is it, Booth?"

"Why the hell is our son next to a dead body?" he shouted.