A/N: I still own nothing. Thanks for all the reviews and please keep it up! Enjoy.

Chapter 2

"Bones! Bones, open up!"

Bones slowly woke up, her eyes lazily opening. Someone was pounding on her door, ordering her to open it.

Booth. Of course.

Climbing out of bed and stretching, she slowly padded her way toward the front door and opened it. "Hi, Booth," she said, leaning against the side of the doorway and yawning widely.

"Come on, Bones, I've got breakfast," he said, smiling and holding up a Dunkin Donuts bag. "We've got a case."

TSTLTSTLTSTLTSTL

"The shape of the pelvis indicates that the victim was female," Bones said aloud to no one in particular. "The bone structure and height indicate that she was between thirteen and seventeen years old."

"Jesus," Booth muttered, running a hand over his face.

"What's your issue?" Cam asked, looking at him curiously.

"Booth is more sensitive to teenage murder victims, especially females, because his sister is staying with him," Bones told her, looking curiously at the corpse. "Where was she found again, Booth?"

"She was found in a dumpster behind the local mall," Booth replied.

"Emma's in town?" Cam said, sounding excited. "Seeley, why didn't you tell me?"

"It's been kind of a hell ride ever since she got in, Cam," Booth told her. "Her best friends came in with her, and I wasn't expecting them."

"Drew and Kegan? Those two boys she was always hanging out with?" Cam asked. When Booth nodded, she said, "But Emma doesn't seem like the type of girl to spring that on you at the last minute."

"She's not," Booth sighed. "Emma says that Mom says she told me. My mother most certainly did not mention this to me."

"Ah," Cam said. "It's your mother that sprung it on you."

"No worries, though," he said. "I love Kegan and Drew like they were my own little brothers, and I trust Emma with them. They'll keep her safe."

"Wait," Bones said suddenly. "What's this?" She reached toward the cheek of the victim with her forceps and extracted something from the rotting flesh of the victim's cheek. She held it up to the light.

"I know what that is," Cam said, her eyes widening as she realized what Bones had found in the girl's cheek. "It's an acrylic nail."

Booth whistled. "Catfight."

TSTLTSTLTSTL

Meanwhile, back at Booth's apartment, the three teenagers were just beginning to stir. Emma was the first one up at around eleven o'clock. Yawning, she grabbed her clothes and stumbled into the bathroom from the guest room. After changing and getting dressed, she proceeded into the kitchen to try to find something to eat. After grabbing a bowl of cereal, she plopped down on the sofa bed between Drew and Kegan in front of the television. "Wake up, you useless lumps," she mumbled, nudging both boys in the back.

Drew groaned, his eyes still closed. "Emma… later."

"Five more minutes," Kegan pleaded.

"No way in hell," she said, turning in the television and spooning some cereal into her mouth. "It's almost noon. Get the hell up."

"Uhmmm," Kegan groaned.

"All right," she said, grinning roguishly. "But just remember, you asked for it." She carefully set her bow of cereal on her lap. Turning toward Kegan, she shoved him off the bed and then turned toward Drew and did the same to him.

"Ow!" Drew complained.

"Holy shit!" Kegan said, landing on the floor with a thump. Sitting up, he pointed an accusing finger at her. "You, Emma Booth, are truly evil."

"That's why you love me!" she chirped happily, spooning some more Trix into her mouth.

"Yeah, that is why we love you," Drew mumbled. His eyes brightened as he jumped up and said, "I call dibs on the shower!"

"No!" Kegan called, running after him.

Emma chuckled at the two of them. "Boys." Suddenly, her cell phone rang in her pocket. She pulled it out and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hey, Emma," said Booth's voice on the other line. "I just wanted to check on you and make sure everything was cool."

"Yeah," she replied. "Everything's good. The boys just woke up though. They're fighting over the shower."

"Sounds like them," he chuckled.

"So any cool new cases?" she asked.

"Yeah, we've got a new case," he sighed. "I don't really like it that much though."

"Why?" she said. "What makes you say that?"

"The victim is a sixteen year old girl named Riley Evans," he replied. "Usually, the victims don't bother me that much, unless they're a little kid or something, but with you around, I'm more sensitive to dead teenage girls."

"Aw, I'm sorry, Seeley," she told him.

"Don't worry about it, Emma," he said. "It looks like she died in a catfight though. We found part of an acrylic nail in her cheek."

"Ouch," she chuckled. "That's one way to go."

"We're going to look for anyone at her high school with a broken nail," Booth told her.

"No offense, Seeley, but that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," she sniggered. "First of all, that's going to be a lot of teenage girls to sort through. Second of all, and I don't blame you for not knowing this, it would be unbelievably easy to replace a broken acrylic nail between the time of the murder and now, unless the murder took place five minutes ago. Which I'm assuming it did not."

"Holy shit. Why didn't we think of that?"

"Well, I, for one, am glad that you know nothing about acrylic nails," she told him. "And Dr. Brennan doesn't seem like the acrylic nail type."

"That's for sure. So what should we do?"

"Why are you asking me?" she asked. "I'm the sixteen year old girl. But I think you should look for someone with a motive rather than someone with a broken nail. Besides, probably about half those girls have broken nails. Obviously, they're not all the murderers of Riley Evans."

"Thanks, Em. You've been really helpful. Anyway, I've got to go. Bones and I are going to the school. Love you."

"Love you, too, bro. See you later."

TSTLTSTLTSTL

"Who were you talking to?" Bones asked, coming up behind Booth in the lab.

"Emma," Booth replied. "She pointed out a flaw in our investigation."

"Flaw? What flaw?" Bones asked worriedly.

"It doesn't make any sense for us to look for a girl with a broken acrylic nail," he told her. "Whoever embedded that nail in her cheek could've easily gotten it replaced between the time of the murder and now."

Bones groaned. "Your sister's right. How did she pick up on that if we missed it?"

"She's still in high school, Bones," he reminded her. "It's been some years since we've been surrounded by high school girl with acrylic nails. That is Emma's everyday hell."

"I see," Bones said. "Emma's input could be a useful asset on this case."

"How so, Bones?" he asked.

"Well, it seems that we may find the killer among the student body of Riley's high school," she replied. "We like to think that we can still decipher high school students easily, but in reality, it's been years since we've been in high school. Emma, Drew, and Kegan all have that high school mentality, though they may be atypical. Perhaps their take on things will prove to be useful on this case."

TSTLTSTLTSTL

"Hey, Emma, I'm home," Booth said, coming through the door of his apartment.

"Hey, Seeley," she said, coming out of the guest room. "Drew and Kegan are getting lattes from Starbucks. Can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, taking off his jacket and sitting down on the couch. Emma sat next to him. "What's up?"

"It's about Dr. Brennan," she told him. "When are you going to make a move on her?" Booth opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, she cut him off. "Don't even try to lie to me, Seeley. I can tell when you like a girl, I could always tell. And you don't like Dr. Brennan, Seeley. You love her."

"How did you know?" he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm your little sister," she said. "I can read you like an open book. Your body language toward her… it screams love. And the way your pupils dilate when you look at her."

"Em," he said, "how the hell did you notice my pupils dilating?"

"I'm an observant girl," she said smugly, "if I do say so myself."

"Fine," he huffed. "I love her, okay? What do you want me to do?"

"What do I want you to do? What do I want you to do?" she spluttered. "You should confess on bended knee with a shining diamond ring in your hand!"

"What?" he said, looking at her, bewildered. "You want me to propose her?"

"No, ignore that," she instructed him. "I've been reading too many romance books. But you should tell her, Booth. One or both of you could die any day, especially given your line of work."

"You don't understand, Emma," he groaned. "You're just a kid, okay? You don't know what it's like."

"I know enough," she said coolly. "I know what it's like to have such a close relationship with someone that you feel like you simply can't risk it for something more, because if you lose it, you'll lose part of yourself. I know what it's like when the person you want to be with is difficult for you to understand at times, okay? I know what it's like."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to get that vibe," he said dryly. "Just one question. How do you know?"

"I don't feel like talking about it, Seeley," she muttered, getting up from the couch and heading into the kitchen.

"Oh, so my emotions are fair game, but yours aren't?" he questioned.

"First of all, love is a choice, not an emotion," she corrected him. "Second of all, yes, that is how it works."

"Emma, are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" he said. "You know I'm always here for you, right?"

"Yeah, I know that, Seeley," she said really quietly. "But… it's something I've got to work out myself, okay?"

"All right, sure, sis," he said, sounding uncertain.

"But," she said, cheering up visibly, "as for you, you need to tell Dr. Brennan how you really feel."

"Ha," he laughed mirthlessly. "No way. And you can't make me."

"Wanna bet?" she said, smiling deviously.

"Actually…" he said, "no, I don't want to bet. You're a brilliant girl, Em, and I am not going to put my ass on the line for my pride. Promise me you won't interfere with this."

"No, I refuse to make such a promise," she said, shaking her head firmly, her lips tightly.

"Emma," he said, his voice bordering on pleading, "please. Please, promise me."

"Fine," she huffed, turning toward him and holding up her right hand. "I, Emma Isabelle Booth, promise not to interfere in your relationship with Dr. Temperance Brennan, whom you call Bones."

"Thanks, Emma," he said. "I'm going to go relax in my room, okay?"

"Okay, Seeley," she replied. He left and narrowly missed the mischievous grin spreading across her face. And he never saw her fingers crossed behind her back.