It was business as usual at the Jeffersonian Institute; Dr. Temperance
Brennan and her team stood around the main laboratory platform, discussing
their most recent case. The body of a young man lay on the autopsy table,
waiting to be identified; he had been dumped in a garbage can behind a bar, to
be discovered days later by the unsuspecting tavern owner.
Everyone was eager to solve the case as quickly as possible, as everyone had
plans for the evening. Booth had his son, Parker, for the night, Angela and
Hodgins had a date, Cam was going to see a play with her boyfriend, and
Brennan was going to visit her brother and father in jail. The only one
without any plans was Zack Addy.
Ever since he had arrived home from Iraq, the young doctor had been even more
quiet and shy towards his co workers, not telling anyone about what had
happened over in the war torn country. He said nothing of the horrors he had
witnessed, of the devastation and destruction, of the pain and sorrow. But
above all, he definitely didn't tell anyone that he had fallen in love with
an English officer; he didn't know how his friends would react to the
revelation that the youngest member of the team was gay, fearing rejection by
the people who had come to be like a second family to him.
Zack helped Dr. Brennan piece together the biological puzzle that was once a
human being, as pointing out skeletal indicators and signs of trauma along the
way. He stole occasional glances at the rest of the team, ensuring that they
were still paying attention. Completely engrossed in his work, he was
oblivious to the entrance of a new visitor to the lab. It was until the
stranger spoke that Zack became aware of his presence. When he heard the
strong English voice he knew who was behind him
before even turned around.
"Hello. I'm looking for a Doctor Zack Addy," the English man said as his
eyes came to rest on the back of the younger anthropologist's head.
Spinning around somewhat gracefully, Zack turned tore his gloves off and ran
towards the guest, jumping down the platform's small flight of stairs and
into the man's waiting arms. Zack wrapped his legs around the taller
gentleman and crushed their lips together in an earth shattering kiss.
The other Squints looked on in shock as Zack, the shy genius, kissed the
tall blonde haired man in uniform, an outfit which Booth recognized as being of a
military nature.
When the two men pulled apart the other squints tried look nonchalant,
pretending not to listen in on the conversation that was being held between
both men.
"You're here" Zack gasped, slightly out of breath from their lengthy
kiss. He couldn't believe that the man whom he had fallen in love was
actually standing in front of him now.
"Yeah, I am" the RAF officer replied, wiping the tears that were
threatening to fall from the young forensic anthropologists brown eyes.
"Why… I thought I would never see you again" Zack whispered as he let
the tears fall, not caring what anyone else thought at that moment.
"I couldn't leave it like that Zack… I haven't stopped thinking of
you since you left, so I applied for 'RnR' to come see you. I wanted to
tell you that I love you, Zack Addy." A collective gasp could be heard from the general
direction of the squints, and Angela began to cry softly out of happiness for
her friend.
When Zack heard that he was loved by the Greek statue in front of him, he
did the only think he could think of, which was to kiss him again, desperate
to show how much he loved him in return.
"Dr. Addy" Cam interrupted, as she saw that Zack was getting in to
another make out session with the stranger who had come in and swept the
youngest member of the team off his feet.
"Sorry Dr Saroyan" Zack blushed as he pulled away from the man.
"So who is this Zack?" Angela asked.
"Sorry, everyone this is wing commander Howard Barnes of the British
RAF"
Zack said, with a hint of pride in his voice, taking Howard's hand in his.
He quickly recounted how the story of their love affair; how they had met in
the mess tent the day that Zack first arrived in Iraq, how they forged a
friendship then a romance, and how they had hated to leave each other when
Zack was shipped back to the states
"Right. It's nice to meet you and all, but Dr. Addy has work to do"
Cam stated, her tone of voice suggesting there was no room for argument.
"Right…of course, I'll leave. Shall I pick you up later, baby?"
Howard smiled down at his lover. All Zack could was nod in response. As he gave
Howard his cell number he smiled, thinking the end of the day couldn't come
fast enough. His smiled grew even bigger when Howard pulled him into a final
goodbye kiss.
"I'll walk you out, Sir" Booth said as he walked towards the pair.
"Thank you, Agent Booth" Zack replied as he watched the two men leave,
grinning as he went back to his work station.
The others were dying to know about the mysterious man in uniform, but Cam
had made it quite clear that any personal inquiry would have to wait until
break time. So they carried on working as if nothing had happened,
periodically nudging Zack out of a day dream concerning a certain 6'2'
Adonis with blonde hair and blue eyes.