A/N: WARNING!!! Things are about to get a little dark. Violence, abuse, just generally dark stuff. Starting into Casey's story, and it is not pretty! Lots of Angst in the future for Zack, and some for Booth as well. Sorry this is a little short, but we'll see about another update this evening. Hope you enjoy! Please review!

Hodgins knew something was wrong the second he set foot in the lab. Of course, it didn't take a genius; Angela's pretty face was streaked with tears, Dr. Brennan was simply staring down at a set or remains rather than examining them, and Booth was cradling his right hand in a manner Hodgins was very familiar with. It was obvious that he had hit something. Not a person, the way he was holding it said he had hit something hard and unyielding, a wall or door. Frightened, he rushed up to the platform to see what was wrong.

The body was gruesome, of course, most of the ones they got were, but he could see nothing that would have his friends so torn up. Burned beyond recognition, they would have to employ all their special skills to get an ID. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Angela burst into fresh tears. "Jack, we…" She had no idea how to tell him, but she didn't have to. Before her mouth was even shut, he saw it: A charred silver cross with the firefighter's symbol hung from the corpse's neck.

All color drained from his face. "Oh, God…" he began, then turned away. He was afraid he would be sick. Finally composing himself, he turned back to Booth. "What happened?"

Booth recited what he knew from the scene mechanically. "Police were dispatched to a report of a car fire over a hill outside of town. The found her Jeffersonian Institute Card and called me. The victim's-" He swallowed the bile in her throat. "Casey's car was burned. I brought her here."

Another terrifying thought popped into Jack Hodgins' mind. "Uh, where's Zack?"

Everyone froze. "He's not with you?" Brennan asked.

Hodgins shook his head. "I knocked on his door forever this morning, and he never answered. I assumed he stayed with-" He looked back at the remains, and fought once again to keep his breakfast down.

"You didn't go in?" Angela demanded. "As many times as you've barged in on him and dragged him out of bed? Why not today?"

He looked uncomfortable. "I quit doing that since they got together. Didn't want to walk in at a bad time and see…more than I needed to see," he explained miserably.

"What are we going to do?" Angela asked.

Brennan sighed. "I guess we start by determining the cause of the accident."

Booth knew. And he was going to find the person responsible, and chances of him actually making an arrest were very slim. Even this team wouldn't be able to identify the body when he was done. But first, he had a promise to keep, something Casey would have certainly deemed more important than finding her killer. "You guys see what you can find. Call me if you need me."

"Where are you going?" Brennan demanded. "We might need you here!"

"I'm going to find Zack!"

"Am I lost?" Came a confused voice from the doorway, his hair still wet from his shower. Sorry I'm late." He glared daggers at Hodgins. "My ride left without me."

"Zack!" exclaimed Dr. Brennan.

"Good," said Booth. "You're okay. No reason to panic."

""You're panicking because I'm late? I'm not usually so irresponsible, but it's no reason to worry…But there's something you're not telling me, isn't there?" He looked from one somber face to the next, and put two and two together. "Where's Casey? I called her for a ride, but she didn't answer so I assumed she was here. But I know you don't like us to make assumptions, Dr. Brennan, and this one was obviously wrong, so what's going on here?"

Booth finally took a deep breath. "Zack, I'm so sorry. There was a car crash this morning. It was bad."

Zack looked like he had been punched in the gut. All the air left his lungs, and Hodgins stepped quickly to his side in case he was going to collapse. After a second, he composed himself. "Is she here?"

Booth was confused. "Zack, maybe you didn't understand. She didn't make it, crashed into a tree and-"

"I got that, Booth! I asked if she was here! If she was dead, and if she was in a crash there was probably a fire, and then you'd bring her here. Is she here?"

Dr. Brennan nodded. "Yes. She's here."

"I want to see her."

Angela looked like she was going to cry again, this time for Zack rather than Casey. "Oh, Zack, that's not a good idea. She's…" How the hell was she going to finish that sentence?

His voice was a little stronger and more composed this time. "I want to see her!"

Dr. Brennan looked at him, decided that it was a sincere request rather than a masochistic obligation on the part of her young assistant. "Okay." She stood aside and pointed to the table.

He walked past her robotically, and she gathered everyone else. "Let's give him a few minutes," she said.

They walked about twenty feet from the young man as he grieved. They all watched him, trying to look like they weren't as he buried his head in his hands, wiped away the few stray tears, and shoved his hands violently into the pockets of his lab coat. Suddenly, he froze. His eyes got wide as saucers as he stared at something in his hand.

"What's he looking at?" asked Booth.

"I can't see it," said Angela.

He finally broke his paralysis, grabbed a pair of rubber gloves as he stumbled closer to the table. He had a scalpel digging into the body before anyone could reach him. "Zack, what are you doing?" asked Dr. Brennan.

He ignored her and continued the examination. "Zack, what's going on? What are you thinking?" Angela demanded, but it was as if he was in his own little world. Finally, after clearing away a large piece of the remaining muscle, he dropped the scalpel and turned to the rest of the team.

"It's not her."