The waiting room was nearly empty. Except for a lonely woman flipping through a magazine and a couple talking in hush voice, the others seats were unoccupied. Music, probably meant for soothing worried people, emanated from a speaker on the ceiling. Every now and then, a door from an officer somewhere down the hall opened and closed, making the five people present in the room look up expectantly, half-hoping to see their doctor coming down to get them. But, seeing no one, the five heads would go back to their previous activity.

Angela examined the faces in front of her. None of these strangers seemed half as nervous as she was. There were no nails left on her fingers and her breakfast was probably being thrown into the garbage by their cleaning lady at this very minute. She hadn't slept well in days and the dark circles under her eyes, present since her last miscarriage, had blackened even more. Her palms were sweaty, her hands shook, and a voice in her head wouldn't stop repeating that it was her fault they were in that situation. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't drown the voice.

She didn't know how Hodgins felt. She had trouble reading him; she couldn't figure him out like she usually did. He had closed up like a clam as soon as he had handed the plastic cup to the nurse a week earlier. She knew he didn't blame her, he had told her himself, but there was still a tiny part of her who thought, maybe, he had been lying.

A young doctor Angela recognized as being Dr. Ian Wells called the lonely woman. They had had a choice between him and their own doctor, Caroline Hampstead. They had chosen the woman.

Angela watched the woman get to her feet, her previously rosy cheeks now completely livid. Angela smiled sympathetically at her as their eyes met and the woman nodded politely, before following the young gynecologist down the hallway. Angela thought she heard the woman say that her husband hadn't been able to come down with her and Angela thought that, at least, she was lucky Hodgins was with her. She wasn't sure she would have been able to go through the meeting without him beside her. Seconds later, a door closed.

They didn't have to wait much longer. Merely minutes after the woman had stepped inside her doctor's office, a short, red-haired woman appeared in the waiting room and grabbed a file from the receptionist's hands.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hodgins?"

For a split second, time seemed to stand still.

The SUV doors echoed through the woods as Temperance and Booth closed them behind them. Twigs cracked underneath their feet as they followed a police officer down a path.

"The call came in at approximately nine o'clock this morning. A park ranger called it in. I've already got a team on site but one look at the body and you'll see why we've called you in."

"Where was it found?" Booth asked, lifting a branch for his partner.

Temperance walked past him, not bothering to thank him for his gesture.

"There's a small lake further south. The body was found about ten feet from it."

Booth turned to his partner.

"Weren't Angela and Hodgins getting their test results back today?" He asked.

Temperance nodded.

"Angela called me this morning. She seemed really nervous."

"Well, can you blame her, Bones? Wouldn't you be nervous if you were in her shoes?"

Temperance shrugged.

"I don't want children." She replied, matter-of-factly as she ducked under another branch. "I don't think I would be nervous because it is impossible that I will one day find myself in a situation like that one."

Momentarily stunned by her reply, Booth didn't react. He was about to comment on her answer when the officer in front of them stopped dead in his tracks.

"There she is."

"She?" Booth asked, surprised.

"I'm no expert but the long blond hair kind of gives it away."

The man stepped aside, giving the partners a horrific view.

The victim, still dressed in her clothes, was in pretty bad shaped. Though no members seemed to be missing and that her body hadn't been decapitated, unlike most other bodies thrown their way, most of it was already decomposed. A few strands of blond hair still clung to the skull, only sticking in place by small patches of scalp. Bugs had elected domicile on the cadaver and Booth forced himself not to gag. The air was thick with the scent of death, the stench catching in his throat. One look at the other officers around told him that he wasn't the only one affected by the discovery.

Calmly, Temperance stepped up to the body and crouched down beside it, waving her hand in the air to push some flies away. The officer raised an eyebrow at Booth who simply shrugged.

"Definitely female." Temperance said. "There's too much skin for me to examine her. Cam might be of a better assistance."

"Well Cam's not here right now. What else can you give me?"

Temperance stood up and turned to him.

"Approximately five foot five. She's definitely Caucasian and probably in her early to mid-twenties."

"You can tell all that from this?" The officer asked skeptically, pointing at the body on the ground.

"She's really good at what she does." Booth replied, his eyes never leaving his partner. "What else?"

"We'll have to bring the body to the lab. There's not much I can do without cleaning the bones."

Booth nodded.

"I really don't know what to tell you." Dr Caroline Hampstead said, after taking place behind her desk. "The test didn't find any abnormalities, per se. It just seems like your uterus can't hold a baby in."

"Is it normal?" Angela asked, her voice catching partially in her throat. "I mean, is it normal that you cannot find a cause?"

The doctor leaned back against her chair.

"Yes and no. About one third of the cases of infertility are due to female factors and another third to male factors. The remainder is of combined factors but there is still about 15 of these cases that are of unknown cause. It seems that you are part of that small percentage. It is not rare that a cause cannot be determined but it is still not very common."

Angela nodded.

"So it means that it will never happen for us?"

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes but Angela forced them in. Beside her, Hodgins remained silent.

"As I said, there is nothing wrong with the two of you. Your chances of conceiving are the same as regular couples. The problem seems to reside in the uterus itself. You could always try to get pregnant again but the chances of another miscarriage are high. Extremely high."

"So what are our options?"

Surprised to hear his voice, the doctor turned to Hodgins.

"As I said, you could always try conceiving again but I highly discourage you from doing so. You have already lost two children, I don't think you deserve to lose another one."

The couple nodded.

"In your case, surrogacy and adoption are your only options."

There was a brief silence.

"We'll keep conducting tests to see if maybe we could find something but in the meantime, I suggest you start considering your options."

"What have we got here?" Hodgins asked, as he and Angela joined Cam who was hunching over an autopsy table.

"Twenty-something-year-old woman found dead in a wooden area." Cam replied as she snapped on latex gloves. "The bones will need to be cleaned. Dr. Brennan and Zach are preparing everything while I remove the vital organs."

Angela's nose crunched in disgust.

"Anything for me?"

"Bugs have already been sent your way. They should be on your desk."

Jack nodded.

"How about me?" Angela asked in a low voice.

Cam looked up from the body and her usually business-like expression turned more sympathetic.

"Nothing for you yet." Cam replied.

Angela nodded, numbly.

"I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."

Cam watched the artist walk away before sighing and looking back down at the cadaver.

"I'm guessing the doctor's appointment didn't go too well?" She asked, grabbing a scalpel and beginning the V-shaped incision.

She glanced up briefly at Hodgins who hadn't moved an inch.

"She blames herself. Apparently, her uterus is the problem. For some reason they don't know yet, it won't hold a baby in."

Cam nodded.

"What are your options?" She asked, her eyes never leaving the skin she was carefully cutting.

"Surrogacy or adoption."

"Oh."

Hodgins sighed.

"Anyway, I'll be at my microscope if anybody needs me."

"Okay."

Putting the scalpel away, Cam listened to Hodgins' retreating footsteps. Then, opening the stomach, she began taking out the organs.

"Dr. Saroyan?"

Cam sighed loudly before looking up. Sandy, the newly hired technician, was standing a few feet from her.

"Yes, Sandy?"

"I have the X-rays you asked for. There's something you really need to see."

Temperance walked in her office and went straight to her desk. She rummaged through the files on her desk, oblivious to the fact she wasn't alone in the room.

"Pregnant. She was pregnant."

The voice startled her. Looking up, she found her best friend sitting on her couch.

"I know."

"Cam said she was five months pregnant."

"I know."

A tear slid down Angela's cheek.

"How can someone kill a pregnant woman? Who would be twisted enough to do something like that?"

"That's what Booth and I are going to find out."

"Does she have a name?"

Temperance nodded, slowly.

"Evelyne Courteau, age 33. She was a French-Canadian who moved here about ten years ago with her ex-boyfriend. Booth got in touch with her best friend. We're going to interview her tomorrow. He's now trying to locate the victim's parents."

"Poor girl."

"Are you okay?" Temperance asked, frowning. "Maybe you should back away from the case."

"It's my fault Jack and I can't have children. There's something wrong with my uterus. It can't carry children."

Temperance opened her mouth to speak but found that she didn't know what to say. Angela didn't seem to notice. Her tears had begun to fall freely once again.

"Doctor Hampstead said that I'd just have another miscarriage if I tried to get pregnant again. She said that our only options were surrogacy and adoption. We haven't talked about it yet but I know that Jack isn't really up for adoption. I know it's selfish but neither am I. I want a child that's half me, half him. I want a child that has my artistic side and his paranoia."

Temperance raised an eyebrow.

"I want a child that's our completely, that we made together. It's selfish, I know, but it's how I feel."

"If that's what you want, then surrogacy would give you just that."

Angela nodded. Then, wiping her tears with the back of her sleeve, she turned to her best friend.

"If Jack and I decide to go for surrogacy," Angela began, sniffling, "would you consider being our surrogate?"

Temperance's heart skipped a beat. She felt stunned, as though someone had smacked her hard on the head.

"You don't have to decide yet since Jack and I haven't talked about it yet. But it would really mean a lot to me if you agreed. I would need someone I could trust and you're the only person in the world I would trust with a mission like that one."

"Angela..."

Her voice caught in her throat.

Angela got to her feet.

"Just think about it, okay?" She said, before walking out of the office.

Temperance simply nodded, numbly.