Willow closed her eyes and tilted her head back against the headrest of her seat on the airplane that carried her back to L.A. She reflected on her journey and on the memories she had created... visiting the lab, going to the park with Parker, the snowball fight that she, Parker, Booth, Zach and Sweets had all participated in on New Year's Day, the smiles that broke out on the faces of Booth, Parker, and the Jeffersonian team as they opened up her gifts for them, the grins of anticipation on their faces as Willow opened up the small gifts the team had gotten her. Willow had been surprised when Angela, Zach, Hodgins, Sweets, Bones and Cam had all given her a gift.

Willow lifted her hand, feeling the warmth of the green scarf that Hodgins had given her (having confessed that Angela had picked it out for him) along with a sketch Angela had drawn of Willow, Booth and Parker together. Willow was already planning on framing the picture and hanging it up in her bedroom in Sunnydale. Her gaze dropped to her carry-on bag, stowed safely under the seat in front of her, which contained her gift from Dr. Brennan, two of the forensic anthropologist's books, which she had signed before giving them to Willow.

Cam's gift to Willow had been more personal, however. A small photo album containing photos of Willow's mother, both alone and with others. Hodgins had laughed at a few of the images that had Booth in them but the other squints all thought it was a touching gift. Willow knew that she would treasure it forever, images of the mother who had been forced from her comfortable life because she had fallen pregnant with Willow and had later died alone, sick and malnourished from her inability to support herself financially.

Zach too had chosen something deep and meaningful to give to Willow. The little carved wooden animal he had shyly presented to her was tucked in her suitcase, along with the note on which Zach explained that in some cultures, the wooden carvings was presented as a token of friendship. It was a very sweet gesture and, as Angela commented, so very Zach-like.

Now, though, she was leaving the Jeffersonian behind and returning to California. Willow had called Buffy, Xander and Giles the previous day and had been relieved to discover that things had been relatively quiet on the hellmouth over the Christmas break. Still, Willow knew that it would most likely be the calm before the storm and that the next supernatural menace to threaten the world's continuing existence was never far away.

Shifting restlessly in her seat, Willow retrieved her book and opened it up to where she was up to, immersing herself in the story that Dr. Brennan had weaved using clever plot points and the knowledge she collected through the cases she solved. One day Zach had told her about Angela's belief that Brennan based her characters on her teammates. Now that she knew the members of the team more, Willow agreed with the artist completely and wondered if, in a future book, there would be a character based on her. She felt her face go red at the prospect. The idea of thousands of people reading about her, or a character based on her, made her mouth feel dry. Still, it would be something to talk about back in Sunnydale. Willow was certain that Cordelia hadn't been the inspiration behind a character of a novel written by a widely known and read author.

BtVS/BONES

Zach hesitated before he tentatively knocked on the door to Booth's office. He knew what he was about to do would probably lead to him being fired from the Jeffersonian and could get him imprisoned, or even killed if the master... Gormagon learned of it before he was captured. Despite all of this, Zach knew he had to do it. It was his duty, to his country and to his friends and family.

Initially, what Gormagon had told Zach had made sense and had appealed to Zach's logical nature but then Zach had met Willow, at some point during their discussions while they toured the Jeffersonian had Zach realized the truth... that Gormagon was grooming him to become a murderer and Zach had been, in a way, rationalizing murder.

Zach didn't know what would have happened had he been unable to talk about things with Willow. Ever since his return from Iraq, he had been so confused and emotionally worn out that he hadn't been able to think logically and it had almost proven to be his downfall. Zach knew that he'd been foolish. He had needed to talk to someone about his experiences in Iraq. Although his trip had not been long, Zach felt that the tour of duty had left a stain on his psyche, one that no matter how hard Zach tried to repress the memories woke him up every night with nightmares that had left him gasping for breath and covered in sweat. It hadn't been like he could talk to Hodgins or Angela or Dr. Brennan or Dr. Saroyen about how he felt. Zach knew that Hodgins and Angela wouldn't be able to understand how he felt and Dr. Saroyen would try and mother him but at the same time question his ability to work. Zach didn't want that. His work was the only thing, other than Willow's friendship, that was keeping him from dwelling on his memories from Iraq 24 hours a day. Sweets was a possibility but Zach was unsure of the psychologist and he knew that Dr. Brennan would not approve. She hated psychology, labeling it a soft science. As for Dr. Brennan herself, both she and Special Agent Booth had spent far more time in conflict zones than Zach and the youngest squint knew that they would think less of him if he told them he wasn't coping and couldn't compartmentalize. Zach longed for the approval of both his mentor, Dr. Brennan, and Special Agent Booth and he had always felt that by telling them his struggles would make them think less of him than they already did.

Now, with the Gormagon situation, Zach knew that he needed to do something, so he'd tried to do what he thought Special Agent Booth or Dr. Brennan would do. He had fitted a video camera to his shirt and gone to meet with Gormagon. Zach knew that Gormagon had suspected something was amiss, the murderer had been more aggressive than he had ever been in the past towards Zach, going as far to say that if Zach didn't help him, then someone who Gormagon would have killed had Zach been helping him would kill someone that Zach cared about. It had been a threat and Zach knew it. Gormagon had warned him, "Do as I say, or I will kill someone you care about." The threat had been punctuated by a beating that meant that Zach was, in fact, currently nursing bruised ribs from where Gormagon had kicked him. Still, Zach hadn't complained and he hadn't said anything to anyone at the Jeffersonian. A case had come up and Dr. Brennan had thrown herself into it with her usual determination and Zach had known that he could not say anything.

Now though the case had been wrapped and Zach took a steadying breath, wincing as his ribs throbbed in protest.

"Yeah?" Booth called and Zach cautiously cracked the door open.

"Zach, what's up?" Booth asked.

"I... I need to talk to you about something," Zach said nervously, clutching the video tape he had recorded in his hands. Booth groaned.

"Zach, if you're going to ask me for sex advice, the answer is no."

"No... It's not about that," Zach said hesitantly. Booth frowned and beckoned the young scientist into his office. Something was bothering Zach... the kid was obviously terrified and, if Booth was reading the squint's body language right, injured as well.

"Come on in, take a seat, Zach. Are you okay?"

"Not, really, Special Agent Booth, my ribs are quite painful at the moment."

"What happened?" Booth asked.

"Er, I was beaten," Zach said truthfully, wincing at the look of anger that crossed Booth's face.

"What! By who, Zach? When did it happen?"

"Earlier this week. As for who it was... well, I should start at the beginning."

Booth got up and walked around his desk, leaning against the front of it as Zach sidled nervously further into the office, sinking slowly into a chair in front of Booth. For a moment, Zach understood what it must have felt like to be summoned to the principal's office at school.

"Tell me, Zach. I promise I will help, if I can," Booth said sincerely, knowing that it must be something important. If someone was hurting, Zach then Booth was going to be pissed. No one hurt his squints and got away with it... especially Zach. The others all viewed him as a little brother and, although Booth would never admit to it, he had begun to as well. At least Zach wasn't quite so prone to getting into trouble as Jared had been.

"Last October, I was going for a walk when I was intercepted by a man. He said he recognized me from a photograph of the team in the paper. We talked about my work and he seemed to be quite interested. We arranged to meet for lunch a few days later and he again seemed to be quite interested in my work. He began to talk about his work and its importance and how it was vital for the betterment of society. I found myself agreeing with the logic behind his thought process. It sounded like it made a lot of sense. He asked me if I would like to help him in his work and I said yes, however he has never asked me to do anything. He says that I'm not ready yet but I will be when the time comes. It was when I was talking to Willow that I realized how faulty my logic had been, how I had been deceived, and how I had in turn betrayed you all. What he told me had sounded so logical, but then I realized how misguided my judgment had been, how my logic had been flawed. I know and understand that I've done the wrong thing. I know that Dr. Brennan will be highly disappointed in me, as will my colleagues. Dr. Saroyen will in all likelihood have no choice but to fire me and should you feel that my activities have been enough to warrant my arrest, I shall not protest."

Booth simply stared at the squint. "Zach, I have no idea what you just said," he told the younger man. Zach sighed sadly.

"The man I met, the one who I said I would help... he is Gormagon. After I realized that my logic was flawed, I tried to reason what you or Dr. Brennan would do in this situation. Gormagon... he had arranged a meeting between us for a few days' time, so I went. I used this video camera to record everything." Zach put the piece of equipment in Booth's hands.

"Zach... you went undercover and met with Gormagon without backup. That is the stupidest thing you've ever done... you know how dangerous he is. It could have been you that he was eating next."

Zach shook his head. "I did not feel as if I was in danger at first but I do not believe I was skilled enough at being undercover to convince him that my loyalties had not shifted. He was rather aggressive and became violent, saying that if I did not help him then someone who I ought to have helped him deal with would go on to kill someone I cared about."

"And he was the one who beat you?" Booth asked, putting the camera to one side carefully. Zach nodded, his gaze downcast. Booth got to his feet.

"Get up, Zach," he told the younger man. Zach nodded, rising to his feet slowly, his eyes remaining fixed on the carpet of Booth's office. He automatically moved his hands behind his back so Booth could cuff them. Shaking his head at Zach's actions, Booth instead enveloped the younger man in a gentle hug, being careful with Zach's ribs. Booth had known instinctively that Zach needed reassurance and as the alpha male of the team, Booth knew that he was the one that needed to do it in order to ensure that Zach knew that everything was going to be alright.

"You've done the right thing, Zach. Dr. Brennan would be proud of that, I know I am. I know it hasn't been easy for you these last six months and I know we've all been too caught up in things to really make sure that you were okay after Iraq, but that'll change now. You did good, kid."

Booth drew back and, remembering Brennan's words, patted Zach on the shoulder with an open hand. He knew that Bones would be proud of her former student at that moment, because he knew that he definitely was. Sure, Zach had made a mistake, but from what Zach had said the squint had not done anything illegal and he had made up for any wrongdoing on his part by risking his life to get enough evidence to seal up the case. Booth decided that he was going to get the kid a drink once this was all over..

For the moment, though, he had a cannibalistic serial killer to catch.

A.N. Hi there. I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. Sorry again for the gap between chapters, but real life got chaotic with university assignments and other things coming up, and i didn't have much time for writing, unfortunately. I'm on holidays now, though, so i will be able to update more regularly (I hope).

There is a time jump in between Willow going home in the first part and Zach going to Booth. I haven't planned how much of a jump at the moment but at this point of the story we can definitely say that Angelus is now on the loose.

An interesting note regarding the first section... In the Kathy Reichs books Bones is based on the "Booth" character finding out he has a teenage daughter he didn't know about... only in the books she is a drug addict and is in and out of rehab. Just an interesting fact I realized while I was writing this chapter and thought I would share with you.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading. For those of you who were wondering how the Zach and Gormagon plot line (which is personally my least favourite bones plot lines ever) would be overcome, i hope you liked it. I think it kind of draws parallels between the thing with Willow and Xander at the end of season six, don't you think?

Anyway, the next chapter will be up soon. I hope you enjoyed. Reviews are much appreciated.

R.W.