A/N: my apologies for the delay in updating this story. The last conversation between Cam and Hodgins in The Flaw in the Saw threw me off kilter, and it took some time for me to figure out how to incorporate that episode into this story.

Hodgins sat in front of his computer, muttering angrily as he hammered on his keyboard. "I can't imagine why Cam thinks I'd falsify evidence! Can I work here any longer if she doesn't trust me? I don't see how..." He fumed as he read over his letter of resignation again, wanting to make sure his extreme indignation over her accusation was evident. "Does she really think I'd put Zack's freedom at risk that way? Unbelievable! I would never do that! I'm a scientist, dammit! I know better than to do that!"

"Dr. Hodgins?" Rodolfo stood in the office doorway with a cart filled with the slabs of wood that had been cut by the various chainsaws they'd tested for their most recent case. "May I have a moment, please?"

"Yeah? What is it?" Hodgins turned around quickly, glaring toward his visitor before he realized who it was. "Oh, sorry, man...what can I do for you?"

The intern pushed the cart into the small office. "I wondered if you wanted to keep these pieces of wood, and if so, I would like to know where to put them. Dr. Saroyan is anxious to have them out of the way."

Exhaling slowly to calm himself, Hodgins nodded. "Yeah, I guess we'd better keep them until I make sure Angie has taken pictures of all of them and catalogued the information. She can upload the information into a file and then we can use that file for comparison next time we have a case where someone uses a chainsaw to dismember the body. Just put them over there on that shelf…" Hodgins pointed to a shelving unit before he abruptly turned back to his computer and continued to type his letter of resignation.

Rodolfo nodded, wheeling the cart over to the shelving unit so he could stack up the slabs. "Are you alright, Dr. Hodgins? You seem upset about something."

Thoroughly frustrated by the interruption, Hodgins pounded his fist on his keyboard. "You're right. I'm upset, okay? Listen, just unload the wood and leave me alone, alright? I've got work to do."

"Are you still concerned about the injury I received from the chainsaw? Because, I assure you, it was nothing." Rodolfo pulled up his pants leg to show Hodgins. "See? Merely a scratch and a few stitches. We had fun running the tests with the chainsaws on the wood, si?"

"I suppose." Hodgins turned back to his computer and began typing again. "I guess that sort of concrete evidence is best."

Rodolfo nodded as he stacked up the wood. "I think so. However, it seems that you do an excellent job of compiling all sorts of evidence."

Turning his chair toward Rodolfo, Hodgins finally gave vent to his frustration. "I know, right? I mean, I'm really good at that stuff. I'm an expert, right? As an experienced forensic scientist, I know what I'm doing, and because of that I've helped various law enforcement agencies get hundreds of convictions, right?" He handed a file folder to Rodolfo. "Here, look at this. I'm trying to prove that Dr. Addy didn't commit a murder, but most of the evidence has been lost or compromised…"

Fuentes read through the file and grimaced slightly. "It appears to be a very convincing case…it seems he is responsible for the man's death."

"And that's the problem...so I decided to look for something different. I found something that even Dr. Brennan missed…"

"Wait…" Rodolfo was obviously surprised. "...how can that be? Dr. Brennan doesn't miss things…"

"This was something she wasn't considering. She wasn't looking for it. The killer's microbial fingerprint was on this bone." Hodgins jabbed his finger at one of the pages in the file. "It had anthrax in it. Zack doesn't have any anthrax in his microbial signature." Clenching fists, Hodgins was vibrating with anger. "But Cam…" He paused as he tried to control himself. "...she thinks I made this up to free Zack. She accused me of falsifying evidence, but I didn't do that. This is real…I mean, how could I actually get anthrax to make up this signature? Access to anthrax is controlled. It's not like I had a culture of the stuff growing on a shelf somewhere..."

"I understand, Dr. Hodgins, however…" Rodolfo sat on a stool as he looked through the file again. "...there is very little precedent for using a microbial signature to determine someone's identity. Unfortunately, there is very little proof to back up the assertion that microbial signatures are unique. It will most likely take several years before it is accepted as proof."

"That's true, but we've got to start somewhere." Hodgins looked at Rodolfo and shook his head. "I promised Zack I would help him, but this is all I've got so far…and then Cam thinks I made it up. Her standards for what is admissible evidence are almost impossible to meet…especially if she thinks I manufactured it."

"I'm not sure she actually feels that you manufactured evidence, but surely you must understand her need to proceed cautiously. It may seem that her standards are unattainable, Dr. Hodgins, but I must admit I'm very happy about that." Seeing Hodgins' dismay, Rodolfo held up his hand to interrupt his colleague's sputtering protest. "While I was living in Cuba, people were sometimes imprisoned for crimes for which there was no real evidence of their wrongdoing, or the evidence was gathered with questionable methods. I was asked many times to produce fake evidence against someone when there was no real evidence against them. I was expected to falsify evidence to reinforce the government's claim about wrongdoing against someone, and as a scientist, I found that to be most difficult." He swallowed hard before continuing. "At least in this country, the evidence must be concrete and thorough to prove guilt or innocence, and I'm thankful for those high standards."

"Yeah…" Hodgins nodded as he thought over what the intern said. "But what am I gonna do, Rodolfo? I promised…and this was the best shot I had. I just feel so helpless..."

Rodolfo laughed as he stood up and pulled the cart away from the shelf. "From what I've seen of you and how you've dealt with your paralysis, Dr. Hodgins, you are not a man who gives up easily. Keep looking at the evidence. You'll find something. You have excellent facilities at this lab to aid you in your search. I will see you later…"

Hodgins turned once again to his computer as Fuentes left his office. "We do have excellent facilities here...and if I quit, I won't be able to use them. There has to be another way…" Sighing heavily, he deleted his letter of resignation from his computer and picked up Zack's file, hoping to find something he might have missed. Time was running out, but Rodolfo was right...Hodgins was not going to give up easily.