Booth turned to look at Caroline, confusion etched onto his face.

"You brought me in here to show me a set of bones on a table?"

"No Cherie, I didn't. This one is a surprise to me too. Bones on a table, what is that all about," Caroline muttered under her breath. Both she and Booth looked up however as someone stepped out of a shadowy corner of the room.

"It's a teaching skeleton used to show the jury how a crime was committed. It looks like your leg is healing up quite nicely. With some additional therapy you should gain full range of motion again."

"Zack, why exactly is the skeleton on the table?" Booth looked at the young anthropologist with one eyebrow quirked.

"We were going over some last minute evidence, and without the Angelator, we needed a different visual aide."

"Okay, so will anyone actually tell me what this little powwow is about? We've got to get into the courtroom."

"I wanted to wish everyone good luck. We all deserve a little right now." Booth turned to face Annie, whom he failed to notice as she sat quietly in a corner.

"You are the last person I want to see right now," Booth snarled. He still wasn't ready to forgive her for her deceit during the case.

"Booth, I understand you're upset; it's justifiable. Regardless of that, this is a major case and with luck and the evidence we'll nail these bastards. Tax evasion, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, a cover-up to make the JFK assassination look like child's play…"

"Well, I don't know about that," Hodgins threw in from his seat against the back wall of the room. Booth glared at him briefly before returning his attention to Annie.

"Annie, I don't care. A key player in all of this is dead, and that's what matters most to me."

"Look, it's been five months since the accident. You need to let go of the guilt. That accident wasn't your fault."

"Can we just not talk about all of this? We're due in the courtroom like now." No one said anything as Booth stalked out of the room. Why did everyone keep telling him the car accident wasn't his fault? If he hadn't convinced Temperance to go into witness protection, they wouldn't have been in that car accident. Of course it was his fault. When a hand grabbed hold of his shoulder, Booth turned to yell at whoever it was, but stopped short when he saw it was Angela.

"Sweetie, I know this is hard, okay? I know that, but being angry at yourself and others isn't helping anything."

"I know that Angela, but for a couple of days there, I really felt like Bones and I would have a future together. It felt like between her and Parker, I finally had what I wanted." The artist pulled him into a hug, holding him until she felt him relaxing. "Now come on, let's get the bastards that caused this mess."

XxXxX

"Can you state your name and occupation for the court please?" Caroline stood in front of the witness stand and looked at the man sitting there.

"My name is Gavin Maguire, and I run a shooting range in Clio, Michigan."

"And what happened on December twenty sixth?"

"I had gone to the home of Temperance Brennan to discuss some concerns with her regarding our relationship."

"You were seeing Dr. Brennan?" From his seat in the courtroom, Booth clenched his fists tightly. He might have been thankful of Gavin's quick thinking in regards to the shooting, but that didn't mean he had to like the guy.

"I had been, yes. She and I got into an argument and when she asked me to leave, I complied. Before I'd reached the street however, I saw a car coming toward us at a speed higher than the posted limit."

"Did you notice anything else about the vehicle?"

"I saw the barrel of a gun in the window sill of the rear driver's side window."

"You saw the barrel of a gun? The car was moving quickly, how were you so sure?"

"Ten years as an Army Ranger taught me to have great observational skills."

"And what did you do after you saw the gun barrel?"

"I ran back up the front porch and pushed Temperance out of their aim."

"Did you see who it was in the car?"

"No, but I did catch the license plate number."

"That was observant of you."

"Army Ranger, remember?" Gavin smiled at Caroline, turning on the charm.

"Do you recall that number?"

"Yes I do, it was 3ny966."

"I'd like to bring into evidence this photograph your honor." Caroline picked up the photograph t show the judge and jury before handing it to Gavin to look at. "This photograph was taken on December twenty sixth on the Ohio Turnpike several hours after the shooting in Clio. The car in question was rented out by Michael Randall, and had not been returned to the Flint agency. Mr. Maguire, is that the vehicle you saw?"

"Yes ma'am it is."

"And are the people in the vehicle present?"

"Yes, they are."

"Can you point them out to the jury?" Gavin looked up and pointed to where Michael, Antonio and Vincenzo sat with their lawyer.

"Thank you Mr. Maguire, that will be all."

XxXxX

"The first time I became aware of a problem was on Thanksgiving night. I went to Elyria, Ohio with my family to have dinner with my sister-in-law. When we arrived, I noticed someone was across the street watching us. Worried that I might have been followed, I called my FBI handler, Agent Charles Andrews to inform him of the situation."

"Why did you feel you were being followed? The man could have just been a neighbor watching what was going on at the house."

"It was the way he was watching. The man kept to the shadows and practically disappeared into the night. I know when I'm being watched, and that man was watching me."

"Okay, so what happened once you contacted Agent Andrews?"

"A few days later, he flew out to keep surveillance on the house. On the fifteenth of December, he was attacked by an unknown assailant and ended up being left to freeze in the snow. He probably would have if I hadn't found him out there."

"What happened then?"

"Agent Booth was assigned to the case in Charlie's stead. He was assigned to protect me until the hit man could be apprehended. I insisted that Agent Booth stay with my daughter and me so he wouldn't have to travel back and forth from Frankenmuth everyday. On Christmas night, I stepped outside alone to get some firewood and was attacked. Agent Booth heard the scuffle and gave chase to the guy."

"Did you get a look at the man who attacked you?"

"Yes I did. He turned up in a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the shoulder."

"And who was this man?"

"Joey Pirelli. He's a known associate of Antonio and Vincenzo Costello."

"And you believe him to be the man hired for the hit on you?"

"Why else would he have attacked me? Besides, Agent Booth knew by that time that I was a target for the Costellos as it was."

"Do you have any idea why they put a hit out on you?"

"I can only speculate that they felt I might testify against them for some work I'd done for their 'business' years ago."

"Business?"

"Think of it more as fair trade. Salvatore Costello did me a huge favor, and in return, I did some work for him."

"And what was this favor he did for you?"

"He got my daughter out of the foster system and took care of her for two years. He's always had a bit of a soft spot for my daughter because of that."

"You mean to tell me that the nephews of Salvatore Costello, the man who was a father figure to your daughter put a hit out on you?"

"Seems that way, yes."

"Thank you Max. I have no further questions."

XxXxX

"Agent Booth, how did your role in this case begin?" Caroline stood hear the witness stand, her arms crossed as Booth began his testimony. The chair he was in was uncomfortable, but he fought squirming in the seat so he wouldn't look as if he were hiding something.

"About four years ago, my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan and I were involved in a murder investigation in which two members of the Costello family were found guilty of kidnapping and first degree murder. Shortly after that, I was informed that the Costellos were out for my blood."

"Out for your blood?"

"They wanted me dead. It wasn't the first time I'd dealt with a threat against my life, and my superior, Deputy Director Sam Cullen felt that we should go after the men responsible for the order to kill. I was assigned to work with Agent Annabelle Chastain, who was from another field office because of her expertise in the area."

"Well if your life was at stake, then what about that of your partner."

"She had an initial threat against her, but that was removed when she wasn't seen as a threat to the family."

"How exactly did you intend to go about the evidence collection?"

"An agent infiltrated the lower ranks of the family and was trying to work his way up in order to gain access to the chain of command. Agent Chastain and I worked out a plan to get the family in direct contact with her. We decided to fake a marriage. Agent Chastain would then go to the family claiming malcontent with me and set up a hit. Once the hit would be attempted, then we'd have an arrest and could move on from there."

"If Dr. Brennan wasn't seen as a threat, how did she and her family end up in the middle of this whole mess?"

"Dr. Brennan was the 'best man' so to speak at the faked wedding, and a member of the Costello family was there." Booth's gaze flicked momentarily over to Annie before returning to Caroline. "Dr. Brennan left the reception early when her father picked her up to go to the airport. The family member spotted Max and realized that he was connected to the FBI."

"Earlier Max said that the Costellos were worried that he would testify against them, and thus the attempt on his life. Was he wrong in his assumption?"

"No. Once the Costello's realized he was connected to the FBI, they did a little research and found he was under our protection as a state's witness. Even though he wasn't going to testify against the family for anything, they didn't want to take any chances.

"At the time I had no idea that there was a hit out for Max, and it wasn't until his FBI handler was injured that I was involved in Max's protection. Christmas night, he was attacked, and when his attacker was identified, the pieces all fell into place."

"What happened then?"

"Whether in retaliation for the arrest of Joey Pirelli, or in a botched attempt to kill me, Temperance was injured when Michael Randall fired at her and her friend, Gavin Maguire."

"How is it that you know it was Michael that shot at her?"

"It might not have been Michael directly. It could have been one of his step-brothers, Antonio or Lucenzo. The car used in the drive by was rented to Michael in Flint, and returned to another agency in Washington DC. That's when I realized how large this whole mess was."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Michael Randall was a pathologist for the FBI here in Washington DC, and was also engaged to marry Agent Chastain. Once I realized the scope of the problem, I needed to do something to protect my partner while I returned to DC to deal with the agents here."

"And how exactly did you arrange to do that?"

"I arranged for Dr. Brennan to enter witness protection while her father remained under the care of another FBI agent."

"Why couldn't Dr. Brennan remain wither father? Why not have either both of them under FBI protection or both under witness protection?"

"Max Keenan was a direct contact to Salvatore Costello, the man in charge of Costello family business. He needed to remain available for contact. Dr. Brennan on the other hand could be used to get to me. She and I are quite close, and I didn't want to risk her life anymore than necessary, so she was supposed to go into witness protection."

"What do you mean supposed to?"

"We were involved in a collision on the way to meet the Federal Marshals and Dr. Brennan died from her subsequent injuries." At that statement, Booth saw Annie shift in her seat, and Caroline quirked an eyebrow up at him. Seeley frowned at the movement. It made him feel as though he was out of the loop on something, but he wasn't sure what it was. There was something they knew that he wasn't privy to, and that bothered him. He was getting tired of the intrigue and cover-ups.

"Thank you Agent Booth. I have no further questions."

XxXxX

Angela, Hodgins, Zack and Cam sat with Booth at the diner after court was over for the day. The artist looked over at Booth while he stared off contemplatively.

"Booth, how are you doing?" Angela gave a gentle squeeze to his arm and brought him back to the present.

"Something odd is going on."

"What do you mean?"

"Annie and Caroline know something about Bones, I'm sure of it." The squints all looked at Booth curiously.

"What are you talking about?"

"When I was giving testimony, both of them looked really uncomfortable when I mentioned Bones' death. They know something, I'm sure of it."

"Ha, I knew there was something odd about her body at the funeral," Hodgins said, rubbing his hands together. He stopped rubbing with such enthusiasm at the withering look Booth gave him.

"Did any of you view the body besides Hodgins?"

"I couldn't," Angela said, "I mean I know we see much ickier things on a regular basis, but I couldn't look at Bren. It made it too real."

"Zack?"

"No, I'm sorry Agent Booth, but any corpse with that much flesh…" Booth looked at him aghast.

"This is Bones we're talking about people! Cam, what about you?"

"I see enough dead bodies at work. I'm sorry Seeley." The pathologist shrugged and Booth practically growled in frustration.

"You know, I did get an odd phone call from Brennan a couple of days after the accident," Angela added. "You don't think she's alive do you?"

"No, she can't be. I'm the lead agent on this case and would have been informed if she was. No one's saying anything about it, but I just can't shake the feeling that they're hiding something from me."

"It's a conspiracy, I'm telling you."

"Jack, stop with the conspiracy stuff," Angela admonished gently. He ignored her as his eyes lit up excitedly.

"No, hear me out. What with all this mob stuff going on I'm telling you that organized crime funds the FBI." At Booth's glare, he held up his hand. "Dude seriously, think about it. Here's Michael Randall, step-son to a Mafioso working for the FBI. With the screening process you have to go through do you honestly think someone didn't know what was going on?"

"Okay, first of all he's a pathologist, not an agent, and secondly I resent the implication that organized crime has any pull over my FBI. This isn't the twenties."

"Yeah Booth, he's a pathologist who managed t cover up at least twenty crimes, probably more." Booth sighed and scooted from the booth. He threw some money on the table for his food and looked at the squints.

"Not that the whole conspiracy theory isn't a barrel of laughs, but I'm going home. I'll see you all tomorrow." With that, he left his friends and headed out.

When Booth arrived home, there was a package waiting on his front doorstep. He looked at it cautiously, its sudden appearance possibly signaling a bomb hidden inside. The labeling indicated it was from an online book website. As he continued his examination of the package he thought 'what the hell'. If it was a bomb, he'd most likely survive the blast. In the past four years, he'd been blown up by Brennan's refrigerator, Caroline Epps' body and a backpack thrown under a taxi. At this point, he didn't exactly expect to die in a fiery explosion.

Both picked up the package and carried it inside, wondering why a book was being delivered when he never ordered one. Once inside, he sat on the couch and opened the box. He picked up the book inside and flipped it open to the dedication page. To Seeley. We will always have Mackinaw and Gerard Majella. Booth frowned as he read over the dedication page.

"How the hell did Bones manage to pull a Tupac?"

"Because she's not really dead." Booth jumped out of his skin at the sound of the voice. He dropped the book and stood, looking in the direction the voice came from.

"Temperance," he breathed, and then blinked to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "How are you…?" Booth didn't finish his sentence as Brennan found her way into his arms and their lips crashed together.