Disclaimer: I only own the characters not normally seen on the show…

Previously: The KISS! Booth and Brennan shared their first--official--kiss and neither was really surprised by it. Zack, however, interrupted them from getting any further and has informed them that the first girl died when her neck was snapped. So, it's off to the morgue for the gang…meanwhile, Zack is earning brownie points…

(--)

"You know, one day, you look at a person and see something more than you did the day before, like a switch has been flicked somewhere; and the person who is just your friend,
is suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with."
-Unknown

(--)

Her nose was nearly touching the skeleton her face was so close to the table. She had stopped breathing for a moment as she inspected the tiny fractures that spider-webbed along two of the vertebrae. She was furious at herself for missing it before but she brushed the anger aside as she turned her head to the side and attempted to get a better view of the break.

"See, Dr. Brennan," Zack said, "I don't know how we missed it."

"Can't these things be overlooked?" Booth asked.

"But a fractured spine was the cause of death," Zack replied, "The examiner would've had to do a cursory examination of the body not to notice or report that. It's a reprehensible mistake, one which no properly qualified doctor should make."

"Maybe it wasn't a mistake," Booth suggested quietly, tossing a suspicious glance at Dr. Morgan sitting nearby. Zack followed his line of sight, surprised by the implication Booth was making.

"Agent Booth, you don't think someone deliberately ignored the spinal fractures, do you?"

Booth gave Zack a look and the forensic assistant didn't need a verbal answer. Booth was thinking conspiracy here, and that was Hodgins' area of expertise, not Zack's. The young man looked over at his friend. Hodgins and Angela were leaning against a nearby table, looking quite tired and both holding large cups of coffee.

He was surprised. Usually Angela and Hodgins were the party people and it was only eight thirty. Still, the pair looked liked they been dragged out of bed to get down to the morgue. Maybe they were, Zack thought, shivering a little; that would mean they'd have had to be in bed---Zack's mind cleared when Brennan stood up and turned on them suddenly.

"Booth, what're you thinking?" she asked.

Booth looked like he was about to say something off-topic when he caught himself. He looked a little embarrassed, perhaps his answer would've been about Brennan if he hadn't caught himself. Zack smiled as the Agent regained himself and stood up a little straighter--apparently that was typical behavior around the female population since Hodgins did it all the time too.

"That depends," Booth answered.

"I'd like you to form a hypothesis using the information we have," Brennan replied.

"You want me to guess."

"No, I want you to form a logical estimate of the events of this murder using the facts we have obtained from the victim's remains."

"But you want me to use my gut?" Booth mouth curved into a grin. Brennan felt her eyes travel to his lips and she started to feel a little light-headed. She was pretty sure there was still a floor beneath her feet but she could no longer feel it there anymore.

"Yes, use your intuition," Brennan felt the tiniest smile grace her lips as she caught Booth's eye. There was a bright twinkle there and Brennan felt like she was floating again. She grabbed the edge of the table behind her to ground herself. Booth moved past her and his elbow brushed her stomach slightly. The strongest electric current Brennan had ever felt rushed through her veins.

"Try and follow me here, Bones," Booth joked, "So, the girl is out one night. She hears noise in the alley next to her, she goes down it; I don't know, something like that. She sees some guys, some doing something not kosher, she freaks out, tries to run away, they see her. They chase her onto the beach--the guy following her grabs her arm, breaks it but she keeps running. She stops--."

"Why?" Temperance inquired.

"Maybe the other guy is standing there, she freezes, something along those lines, the guy behind her comes up and snaps her neck from behind."

"Okay, but what about the injuries to the face, and the throat? Why would have to disfigure someone so much?"

"That was passion, Bones, anger. He crushed her face with a rock."

"But slitting her throat?" Zack asked.

"Maybe it was faked?" Everyone turned around to look at Hodgins. Temperance looked confused but Booth's mind was working over the idea.

"What?" Temperance inquired.

"Maybe he wanted it took look ritualistic? Maybe that's why he added the theatrical accessories?" Hodgins suggested.

"You're saying that someone killed a girl by accident, and then to protect themselves, made it look like a serial killer?" Brennan asked in disbelief.

"Some people have reputations to uphold, Dr. Brennan; some people would do anything to protect themselves."

"Even killing three other girls just to make it look like a pattern?"

"Why not?"

"That's illogical. Instead of getting charged with one murder, you're being arrested for four."

"Hey, personally," Angela interrupted, "anyone who kills someone is definitely not on the logical end of the scale, Bren."

"But I don't understand. Why would you subject yourself to the conviction and sentencing for more than one murder instead of an accidental one. You could plead temporary insanity or emotional distress."

"People don't think like that when they're in the moment," Booth said, "they don't consider the consequences, they just act."

"But these murders took place a week apart, one would have plenty of time to calm down after killing her. The next three murders would then have been premeditated."

"And this is why I don't think this guy is in his right mind," Booth stated matter-of-factly.

Brennan gave him a look, to which he responded with a charming grin. Brennan rolled her eyes and turned back to the file folder that held the notes from the original autopsy. She scanned over the signature at the bottom and her breath caught in her chest. The report had been cosigned. Her eyes flickered upwards toward, meeting Booth's, before straying toward the young woman who was attempting to leave the room without being heard.

Dr. Morgan pulled the handle of the door ever so slightly before someone stepped in her way, smiling wickedly. Angela leaned against the door, her grin like the Cheshire cat, as she crossed her arms over her chest and nodded toward the other way. Morgan turned reluctantly, her head bowed in shame, to face Brennan and Booth.

"Were you going somewhere Dr. Morgan?" Booth asked casually, he pulled up and chair and patted the back of it, "Have seat, if you would." Morgan complied but didn't say anything. Temperance stepped in front of her and leaned down so her face was just inches away from Morgan's, a tactic she had learned from Booth.

"Dr. Morgan, can I ask why your signature is on this autopsy report, the one which we have noted to be falsified?"

"Please, I didn't hurt anyone…" Morgan cried pitifully.

"She didn't ask if you had, she asked why your name was on the fake report," Booth corrected, his voice sharp.

"Did you do the autopsy for this victim?" Brennan inquired.

"No," Zack spoke up drawing their attention from Dr. Morgan to him, "she was just the cosigner, she didn't actually perform the exam."

"Then who--oh…" Angela stopped mid-sentence. All eyes in the room had been turned on Brennan. Her face remained calm and just a little bit cold. She looked down her nose at Dr. Morgan and frowned.

"Did Dr. Long ask you to sign the false reports?" Brennan asked.

"Yes."

"Why did you comply?"

"I thought he was the killer! I have a nineteen-year-old sister, Dr. Brennan, I was afraid he's hurt her!"

"So you allowed a possible serial killer to walk free because you were too scared to call the authorities?"

"It was the first body, Dr. Brennan; I didn't think he was going to do it again! God, if I had known--."

"You did know. You knew that Dr. Long was unstable. You saw him falsify the report, you knew that the girl had died from a severed spinal cord, and still you let him walk. He committed three more murders and you did nothing!"

"I was frightened! Look, Dr. Brennan, I'm not proud of what I did, but I couldn't actually conclude anything. I didn't know if he was really the killer or not, I had only seen the fake report, I had never seen him kill anyone. I had nothing to go on."

"Nothing but a piece of paper and his signature," Brennan snapped.

"Along with mine! If I had told the police about it then I would've been suspected of being an accomplice."

"Yeah, well, right now you're just an accessory," Booth answered cheekily.

"You cared more about your own career than saving the lives of innocent girls, your sister even; you were too worried about keeping your name out of the papers," Brennan looked at Dr. Morgan in disgust.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Morgan cried.

"Tell that to them," Brennan nodded to the bodies lying on the examination tables. Without another word, Brennan turned away from the woman and strode over to Booth. He was leaning against the empty steel table and grinning approvingly at her.

"That was good," Booth said quietly.

"Yeah, you thought so? I was trying to be, you know, like you."

"I think you pulled it off. Adequate amounts of anger and disgust mixed with just a hint of forcefully abrasiveness," Booth joked, smiling brighter. Brennan grinned, suddenly embarrassed, she looked down at her feet, before gazing up at Booth through her eyelashes. He was still looking at her, though his smile had faded back into a lopsided grin.

A strangled cry emanated from somewhere inside the building, drawing everyone's attention sharply to the door. They looked around before Brennan's eyes rested on Hodgins and her face froze. Her eyes darted around but they couldn't find their target.

"Hodgins, where's Angela?" Brennan asked the fright in her voice was rising steadily.

"She went to get coffee--oh, my God!" Hodgins replied as his face turned white as a sheet.

"Zack stay here with Dr. Morgan!" Booth announced pulling out his gun, as Bones and Hodgins took off at a run out of the room, "Bones! Damn it!"

"Angela!" Brennan yelled at the top of her lungs. She could feel them constricting in fear. She was having trouble breathing and she was glad that the door to the break room was quickly approaching. She skidded to a stop in front of it but before she could pull the door open, Booth grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.

He kicked the door in, left slightly ajar, to see Angela lying on the floor. She was slowly sitting up as Brennan and Hodgins threw themselves down onto the floor beside her. Meanwhile, Booth still had his gun at the ready, checking the closets and out the windows.

"God, Ange, I was so scared. I thought something had happened to you," Brennan said, throwing her arms around Angela's neck.

"Oh and getting knocked unconscious happens to me all the time," Angela replied smartly.

"You know what I meant," Brennan replied, her voice filled with exasperation.

"Yeah," Angela smiled, "and it's nice to know you guys care."

"Of course we care," Hodgins said. He was gripping Angela's hand so tightly that she thought she might not be able to feel it again, but she didn't say anything. She normally would've snapped about the loss of circulation but she decided now was not the time to be a pain in the ass. Her friends helped her to her feet, she felt a little dizzy but the feeling went away quickly.

"You okay Angela?" Booth asked.

"Yeah," she answered smiling charmingly.

"Thought we might have lost you there for a minute."

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Yeah," Hodgins interjected, "she's like a cockroach; not even a nuclear winter could kill her."

Angela glanced at him, a little disgusted, "Thank you, Jack, for just comparing me to a bug."

"It's what I do best. I am the Bug Guy."

"It's probably best not to flaunt that," Angela joked smiling. Suddenly, the lights flickered dangerously. All four looked around suspiciously. Booth held his gun tightly as they stepped into the hallway. They moved in a compacted line, Hodgins behind Angela behind Brennan who had a hand placed comfortingly on Booth's back.

The shattering of glass startled them and Brennan rushed forward. Booth tried to grab her arm but he missed as she threw all her weight at the door into the lab. She fell forward, catching herself in a couple of steps.

Dr. Morgan was still sitting in the chair, facing away from the door. Brennan didn't register anything wrong but the blood pooling from behind one of the tables drew her immediate attention. She rushed around the table and fell to her knees beside Zack.

He was still breathing but his throat had been cut and he was bleeding heavily. She felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes and dripping onto her cheeks as she clasped her hand over the wound. Booth, Angela and Hodgins burst in almost a moment later. They saw Brennan on her knees beside Zack. Angela's hand flew to her mouth and Hodgins stopped short.

The scene was horrifying. Booth rushed to Brennan's side, removing his jacket and putting under Zack's head. He ripped a section off the corner and moved Brennan's hand way so he could replace it with the cloth. Brennan pulled her hand away and stared at it in horror. She was pale and looked like she might want to throw up. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks but she didn't say anything.

"Angela, call Hawthorne; tell him to send an ambulance," Booth said, tossing his cell phone to her. She nodded, opening it and walking out into the hallway. Hodgins stepped around the chair and cringed. Dr. Morgan's throat was also slight. There was blood covering the entire front of her clothing and some of it was beginning to drip onto the floor beneath the seat.

"Bones," Booth said, calmly trying to draw Brennan's attention away from the blood that had he so shaken, "Temperance." She looked at him, "Bones, I need you to help me. I need you to put your hand here, hold the fabric down. I'm going to try and wake him." He had to physically place Brennan's hand on the cloth to make her do so but she blinked a few times and settled to the task of impeding the blood flow.

"Zack," Booth shook the forensic assistant's shoulders ever so slightly, "Zack, c'mon buddy, wake up. You gotta wake up." Zack didn't stir. Brennan felt her heart constrict painfully as the she felt the cloth saturate with sticky, warm blood. She pulled it away but the wound had not clotted yet. She was starting to panic; if the wound wasn't cauterized soon he would bleed out before the paramedics showed up.

"Hodgins!" She said suddenly, "find me a lighter!"

"Excuse me!" Hodgins replied, surprised.

"What!" Booth looked over at her.

"I need to cauterize the cut, or he'll die," Brennan explained.

"Temperance, you can't cauterize a wound with a lighter," Booth said through clenched teeth.

"Well, what the hell else are we going to do?" Temperance asked, giving him a questioning look.

"We, well, oh, Jesus Christ, Hodgins get a lighter!" Booth exclaimed with enragement. Hodgins scrambled over to the cabinets at the back of the room and tore them open, looking for a lighter. Angela suddenly burst into the room. Her cheeks were damp from crying and she looked frazzled.

"What the hell is going on?" she inquired watching Hodgins rip through the supplies of the morgue.

"We have to cauterize the cut," Brennan replied.

"You don't have a lighter, do you Angela?" Booth asked.

"Yeah, sure, I carry one around everywhere. No! I don't have a lighter!" Angela exclaimed, "I'm sorry, a lighter? I don't think you can cauterize a wound with a lighter!"

"Ha!" Booth exclaimed, "I told you!"

Brennan glared at him as the door burst in for the second time. Hawthorne stopped just short of running into Angela. He stepped aside and held the door open for the paramedics as the bustled in, carrying supplies and a collapsible gurney.

"Oh, thank god!" Hodgins said, ceasing his search.

(--)

Brennan sat on the steps outside the morgue a little while later. She was staring off into space, her mind wandered. The sickening thought that Zack had almost died that night was starting to sink in. She brushed her hair away from her face as she felt a new wave of tears and nausea come on.

She could hear Booth yelling instructions to the multiple police officers and Federal Agents running around the building. Apparently, Dr. Long had escaped through the back window. Brennan rubbed her eyes. Zack had been airlifted to the hospital. He was in stable condition but they were going to fly him back to DC in the morning.

Oh, those poor medics, Zack will be throwing up again, no doubt, Brennan smiled at the sight of Hodgins' face in San Francisco when they'd first gotten off the plane. That day felt like an eternity ago, but it was in fact only a few days. So many things had changed just in such a short time.

The most prominent thing seemed to be the new relationship with Booth. But Brennan knew that it wasn't that new. She had been sensing a change in their relationship for a while. Most obviously when she had been attacked by Kenton, and when she was in New Orleans. She should have known...Angela had after all.

But she didn't care that it had taken this long for her to realize, she was happy that she finally had. She looked up. Booth was doing the cop-thing. He was directing people to rear of the building and giving orders to the men taking photographs.

She smiled; he looked so at ease doing this, doing his job. He was in charge and he was comfortable with it. She wished that she had the same courage that seemed to radiate from every one of Booth's pores.

Sighing quietly, Brennan got to her feet. She stretched her arms and rotated her head, relaxing her neck muscles. She strode over to Booth's side. He wasn't facing her and hadn't seemed to notice she was there. Brennan didn't mind, she slipped her hand into his and squeezed it.

Booth, surprised by feeling someone holding his hand, turned and glanced at it, before his eyes flickered upward to her face. At first he gave her a look of confusion, but when she only smiled, he relaxed and gripped her hand a little more.

The coroner from the morgue of a nearby research hospital walked out of the building with Dr. Morgan's body on a gurney. The black bag was in the process of being zipped up as it passed Booth and Brennan. Temperance glances at it before releasing Booth's hand and walking over.

She stopped the morgue attendants and leaned down closer to the cut on Morgan's neck. She held her hand over the body and imitated the movement across her throat. After doing so, she frowned and moved to the other side of the gurney. She repeated the pattern before standing up and turning to a young attendant standing beside her. By this time, a frowning Booth, and smiling Angela and Hodgins had all moved over to see what Brennan was looking at.

"Where the injury the deepest?" Brennan asked the young man. He looked surprised that she was addressing him at all but leaned down to inspect the body.

"It looks like the left."

"Bones, we really don't have time for a lesson right now," Booth said.

"Give me a minute," Brennan replied, asking Booth to trust her, she turned back to the young man, "and when the wound is deepest on the left, what does that mean about the killer?"

"Um…he's right-handed?" the attendee offered.

"Exactly. Thank you." The body was wheeled away as Brennan crossed back to the others.

"What're you getting into Dr. Brennan?" Hawthorne inquired, looking at her skeptically.

"Dr. Long is right-handed, but the other four girls were killed by someone who was left-handed," Brennan explained.

"Well, Long faked the part about how she died, maybe he faked that part too?" Angela suggested.

"No, Zack and I did the other examinations ourselves. The killer was definitely left-handed," Brennan countered.

"So he's ambidextrous! What's your point Bones?" Booth said.

"He can't be ambidextrous."

"Why not?"

"Because the strength needed to severe the carotid artery can't be achieved by an ambidextrous person."

Booth looked at her, knowing the answer before he asked the question, "So there's another sick fuck out there killing girls?"

"Yeah," Brennan answered.

"And I thought we had this one sealed," Hawthorne said rubbing his eyes.

"Tell me about it," Booth agreed, "okay, Bones, you're gonna hate me, but…I think we need to move you out of the hotel."

"What! Why?"

"Because Long's still loose and he's been to the room. It's too dangerous for you to go back there."

"And where am I gonna go?"

"Actually, I was thinking you and Angela should go somewhere else."

"What?" Angela exclaimed.

"I agree," Hodgins added.

"Shut-up!" Angela snapped at him before turning back to Booth, "Why do I have to move?"

"Because he already tried to attack you," Booth answered.

"So where do you plan on shipping us off to?" Brennan asked her voice sharp and her arms crossed.

"You can stay with me and my wife," Hawthorne said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him, "we have a guestroom. You two can stay there until we apprehend Dr. Long, if you'd like."

"I--."

"We'll take it!" Booth interrupted her. He stepped forward and took Hawthorne's hand, shaking it, "Thanks. I really appreciate this."

"No problem. I can send someone to the hotel and have them get your things," Hawthorne began.

"Actually, I was thinking we could get the girls over there and then take them to the hotel in the morning," Booth answered.

"Works for me," Hawthorne said, "I'll take you there now."

He walked over the SUV and climbed into the driver's side. Booth got in next to him as Brennan, Angela and Hodgins scrambled into the backseat. Booth looked at them but Brennan made it a point to ignore him. He smiled and leaned forward again.

"You'll thank me for this, Bones," he said.

"And we're off," Hawthorne said pulling away from the curb.

(--)

TBC in Chapter 13: "We'll Stay Forever This Way"…

A/N: I hope you liked it. Sorry I haven't updated but after posting the kiss chapter I was suddenly hit with a bout of writer's block. However, with the posting of this chapter, I believe I have successfully overcome it and can move on. Hopefully, it doesn't come back! (Hehe…) Anyway, review and blah, blah, blah…I like reviews. They make me smile. : )