Dr. Camille Saroyan walked into Brennan's office looking concerned. 'You're Angela's best friend right?'

'Yes.' She replied, hardly glancing up from her paperwork.

'So you would be the one to know what's wrong with her.'

As far as Brennan knew, nothing was physically wrong with Angela, which meant that Cam meant emotionally. 'She did break up with Hodgins.'

'I know that!' Cam snapped.

'And she misses him a great deal, which is considered very normal.'

Cam seemed to consider this explanation for a moment, and then her face clouded with more concern. 'Maybe we ought to try and help her.'

'It's her business, not ours.' Brennan pointed out.

'Bren, you and I both know that if either of us was in Angela's position, she would be right in there, trying to cheer us up, or even attempt to fix the relationship.'

It was true. Angela would never be at ease with herself, if any of her friends were upset, and she had not made an attempt to lessen it. So why should they not do the same? Even as Brennan thought it, her eyes found the stack of paperwork before her.

'I should really be doing some of these Limbo reports.' She sighed dejectedly.

'The dead wait,' Cam reasoned. 'They have tons of time. Angela needs us now.'

Booth came across Sweets hanging around outside his partner's office, and knew he was snooping. 'What'cha doin' Sweets?'

The younger man nearly jumped right out of his skin. 'Nothing! Just waiting for something to do; maybe a new case.'

Putting a hand on Sweets' shoulder, Booth began to casually steer him away from Brennan's office. 'So you don't have any other patients to talk to Sweets? I can't see why you'd only have Bones and me to analyze and…help.' The last word was a stretch.

'Well Angela asked for my help a couple of times, and of course I go to McKinley to work with Zack.'

At the mention of Zack's name, he felt his muscles involuntarily tense. That whole mess…it was too much like "Alice through the Looking Glass". Zack didn't belong in an asylum—not even for the crimes he'd committed. Not even for hurting Brennan so badly.

'Truth is,' Sweets continued. 'I'm so into just focusing on you guys, and writing my book. I've directed most of my other clients towards other Psychologists.'

'Why are Bones and I so interesting?'

A devilish grin crept onto Sweets' face, and Booth immediately regretted asking. 'Because both of you refuse to acknowledge that you are so into one another.'

'We are not!'

'Let me explain…'

Hodgins was idly playing with one of his beetles, while waiting for a particulate printout. Things in the Medico-Legal lab were slow lately. Booth hadn't brought in any cases in the past couple of months, and the days were taking on the lethargic quality they'd had before he'd been partnered with Brennan.

Then he noticed her milling around the base of the forensics platform. She was a petite brunette, wearing a light grey suit, and her dark curls clipped back casually. 'Can I help you miss?'

She turned, and Hodgins realized that she was young—very young. Certainly not a day over thirty; maybe even Zack's age.

'I'm looking for Dr. Brennan. I've applied to be her new assistant, and she asked that I come in for an interview. Of course, I can't find her anywhere.' She aid with the uneasy laugh of one not used to her situation or location.

'Well I'm Dr. Hodgins—the team Entomologist.'

'Dr. Kat Martin. I'm not actually one of Dr. Brennan's students—I'm already an Anthropologist and Archaeologist.' She said by way of introduction. 'I hope it doesn't sound like I'm bragging. I would never have even found out about the position if a friend hadn't let me know.'

Hodgins felt a smirk coming on. 'Aren't you a little overqualified?'

'I just got back from five years in Africa, and I need a job.' Kat replied slightly defensively. 'There aren't a million opportunities in my field, and one does not go from digging up early humans to flipping burgers. Even if they are twenty seven.'

So she was Zack's age. That meant she must have completed her degrees—without Zack's laziness—by the age of twenty two. Kat Martin was another "super genius" like Zack had been—was.

'Do you know about Dr. Brennan's former assistant, Dr. Addy?' Hodgins asked. He wanted to know just how much the general public knew.

'I know he was sent to a psychiatric facility for aiding a serial killer.' Kat replied tightly. 'Dr. Addy never saw trial, correct?'

'Correct. I don't like what happened to Zack; he was my best friend.'

The hardness in Kat's eyes softened a little. 'I'm sorry. I don't know how that must have felt to see your best friend sent there.'

The way she'd worded it, made Hodgins wonder. 'It's the same as having your best friend at McKinley Psychiatric Facility.' He said cautiously, waiting for her reaction.

'Then maybe I do know.'

He had guessed correctly. 'You're a friend of Zack's too.'

Kat nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. 'He's one of my best friends; we went to University together, though I didn't study much under Dr. Brennan. I think she would have remembered me if I'd taken her forensic anthropology course.

'But why would Zack not mention you to any of us? Not even his best friend?'

'When did Zack ever casually mention anything about himself? I bet you don't even know his eldest brother's name. If you'd known to ask directly, Zack probably would have told you all about me—from my eye color to my favourite restaurant.' Kat smiled. 'Hell, I've known him for almost a decade, and there are still things I don't know about him. That's just Zack.'

Angela was surprised to see her best friends and bosses, walk into her office looking worried. 'Guys, what's wrong?'

'That's what we were about to ask you, only not plural.' Brennan said. She seemed a little too interested in this coincidence, but was trying to stay focused.

'I'm fine.' Angela replied airily. Too airily—Cam caught on.

'You're not fine—you're miserable. You're moping in your office the same way Hodgins is moping around his workstation. Maybe it's the combination of losing Zack and Hodgins one after the other, but it's still not right.'

'I know.' She admitted. 'It's just…I really miss Hodgins. I miss never feeling alone, or like the other side of the bed is empty.'

The other two women nodded in sympathy. They had never had quite that level of commitment, but they could still understand. Especially about the bed feeling empty.

'As twisted as it sounds, this is all Sweets' fault.' Cam said bitterly. 'If that little pain in the ass had just kept his mouth shut—'

'It's not his fault.' Angela said wearily. 'Either one of us did something wrong, or maybe we were never meant to be.'

Brennan shook her head. 'I have never met two people more fated to be together.' She said with a small smile. 'Maybe the road of fate just has a few tough patches.'

'Rough patches.' Cam corrected. 'And I thought you didn't believe in destiny or fate.'

'Only when I need to.'

Booth had patiently listened to every one of Sweets' arguments, and dismissed them one by one. 'No wonder everyone thinks your profession is a joke.'

'They do? That's totally not cool.'

Booth rolled his eyes. 'That's exactly what I'm talking about. You don't sound professional at all. You're stuck in teenager mode.'

'I'm not the one wearing the belt buckle,' Sweets argued. 'And my suits are much better made than yours.'

'The suit doesn't make the man. The man makes the man, and you are not a man.'

'Fine.' Sweets shot back, fed up with the topic. 'What should I be doing then?'

Booth smirked. 'Use FBI-worthy lingo, back up your half-assed theories properly, and don't try to play love-guru. You really fucked it up last time.'

'I went by the book—'

'Nobody is by the book.' Booth cut him off. 'I mean, who'd use the same tactics on Bones and me?'

'Good point.' The younger man admitted grudgingly.

Bringing Kat a cup of tea, rather than a coffee like his own, Hodgins was reminded of his best friend. 'Zack didn't drink much coffee either. It was hilarious when he did, because he'd tweak out, like Brennan on meth.'

'Dr. Brennan?' Kat asked with eyebrows raised in disbelief.

'She accidentally inhaled some when a wall in a club broke open. Apparently this big cloud of meth came out, and then they saw there was a mummy back there.'

This bit of information brought a grin to the young woman's face. 'I don't know about Dr. Brennan on meth, but Zack always got wired from caffeine. It may very well have been linked to the mild Asperger's Syndrome. As for myself, I just don't like the jitters.'

'You don't have A.S.?' Hodgins guessed.

'Nah,' she shrugged. 'We still don't know how I turned out so incredibly brilliant. That's why I'm donating by brain to the best neuro-scientists when I croak.'

'So aside from the high IQs, you and Zack aren't all that much alike. How did you even get him to talk to you?'

Kat's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. 'First day of classes, we had a lecture, and you know how those lecture theatre aisles are really cramped? Well, Zack tripped over his own feet, and fell on top of me, face-planting into my chest.'

'No way.' Hodgins said in disbelief.

'Way. He was so sweetly apologetic; I got him to sit beside me just so I could get to know him better. Besides, I thought he was pretty cute.'

Hodgins waited until his laughter had subsided before trusting himself to speak. 'Poor kid…he never was especially suave, or coordinated. Though I tried to teach him all I knew.'

'And you know a lot?' She asked cynically.

'You're talking to a guy who nearly got married twice. Though last time my fiancée broke it to me she was already married at the altar. Then she got divorced, and her ex drove a bit of a wedge between us.'

Hodgins had let the words just tumble out. It was as if he were saying them to Zack, rather than a girl he'd just met. It was a good sign as far as Kat went.

'Well, I wish I had some advice for you, but the "motherland" isn't the best place for long term relationships. Out of twenty other crew members on the dig, fifteen were male. Ten of those were married, two were gay, and the other three were interns who were barely legal. Most of them were geeks anyways.'

Hodgins grinned. 'Gotta watch who you're calling geeks—this place is crawling with them.'

'So if you still love Hodgins, why did you break up in the first place?' Cam asked.

'We couldn't trust each other. He didn't trust I'd be faithful, I didn't trust he'd trust me—'

Cam was already lost. She liked to have things as straightforward as possible; not wordy. Brennan seemed to be just fine with it, however, and for once was the insightful one.

'Trust needs to be earned, and that doesn't happen right away. Booth and I worked hard at trusting one another as partners, and even still we have issues at times.'

'But Hodgins and I were together for a long time—'

'That doesn't mean you worked at trusting one another.' Brennan pointed out. 'I mean, you expended an awful amount of energy into finding your ex-husband. I wouldn't be surprised if that made Hodgins feel uncomfortable and insecure.'

'Hello—' Cam exclaimed. 'We're talking Grayson Barasa. You didn't meet him Bren.'

The fact that Cam could still drool over Angela's ex-husband seemed almost laughable to Brennan. Though it was true she'd never seen him in person. Would she find him as attractive as everyone else?

'If we're done discussing my ex, I want to know what I should do.' Angela sighed heavily. 'I just wish things were back to the way they were before the wedding.'

'Before Zack…' Cam started, and then stopped. 'I know what you mean.'

Brennan knew that Zack was another part of the problem. Everyone missed him all the time—despite what he'd done—and grieved him as if he were dead. But he wasn't—he was simply gone. Perhaps that was what made it all the worse; Zack was just beyond their reach.

'We can't go back there.' She said firmly. 'We just need to work with what we've got.'

After listening to him constantly, Sweets was really getting on Booth's nerves. The kid went on, and on, and wouldn't shut up. It was as if his mouth ran on Energizer batteries. Now he was rattling on about Daisy, one of Brennan's students, being fired so quickly.

'It wasn't fair, because Dr. Brennan didn't even give her a real chance. Daisy is an awesome girl, and pretty fine too…'

'I'm done talking Sweets.'

'Come on Booth. Not even dude to dude?'

Booth rolled his eyes heavenward. 'Dude is for teenagers, potheads, and rock stars; you are none of those. And don't tell me to "come on". That's all Bones could say as I was bleeding to death of a gunshot wound.'

Sweets grinned maliciously. 'You'd rather she'd professed undying love for you.'

'No!'

'So you don't want her to love you?'

'No…' He was cornered. Damn that sneaky kid.

'Why are you so afraid to open up Booth?' Sweets asked. The question, for once, wasn't probing, cocky, arrogant, sneaky, manipulative, or obnoxious. Sweets just wanted earnestly to know—like Dr. Wyatt had wanted to know.

'Sometimes, you want to present yourself like a rock—solid, and dependable. You can't do that if the world knows your weaknesses.' Booth admitted.

'That's what I'm here for; to know that kind of stuff. You and Dr. Brennan should be able to tell me just about anything.'

'You do realize we think you're full of crap, right?' He asked, wanting to make sure Sweets was aware of reality.

'Zack takes me seriously.' The young man replied defensively. 'He actually talks to me during our sessions.'

He'd hit a nerve. 'Zack is doing whatever it takes to get out of McKinley. That does not reflect on whether or not you're full of crap.'

'Do you even know why he even agreed to go there?' Sweet's question was more of an accusation. 'If you don't, I suggest you go and ask him, seeing as I'm full of crap!'

So he'd finally had enough. Sweets was taking no more of their abuse with a smile. He was tired of not being taken seriously—taken like a professional.

'I don't understand where Dr. Brennan would be.' Kat sighed. She was obviously impatient to have the interview that could begin a whole new career; which had been scheduled for almost an hour ago. 'What could she be doing for so long?'

'She's probably attempting to sort out an emotional crisis.' Hodgins replied, as if this were an everyday occurrence, which it really wasn't. 'I say trying, because she's not exactly the most emotionally with-it person.'

'That's what Zack told me. That she's almost as bad with feelings as he is, and that you and Angela were the best. And, that you two had a really strong relationship. A lot of really deep, passionate love; the kind that never dies. Soul mate love. '

Hodgins was amazed. 'Zack was that eloquent and poetic?'

Kat smiled sheepishly. 'Okay, so maybe I put it into better terms than he did; but you and I both know Zack didn't have a romantic bone in his body. Or an angry one.'

He felt a question welling up inside of him, but was almost afraid to ask it. 'Kat, do you think Zack could have killed anybody?'

The young woman shook her head with a determined look etched onto her face. 'Never. Not in a hundred years. And if he had, I would begin to question if Zackary Uriah Addy had ever returned from Iraq.'

'I made sure of that. Fingerprints and DNA.' Hodgins chuckled. 'I just want you to understand, though, that you and I are pretty much alone in this. The rest of the team believed his confession, and no one has ever questioned it, so far as I know.'

She nodded slowly, her eyes a little too bright. 'I was afraid that was the case.'

Brennan had been running through her sparse mental collection of advice, looking for something to help Angela, when it hit her. It was simple, but might very well be the hardest thing to do.

'Ange, you're going to have to tell Hodgins how you feel, in person.'

Angela looked utterly stricken. 'You want me to do that?'

She was desperately looking from Cam to Brennan, in search of a way out of this. But they knew it would be only for the best. 'I can't…'

'If you love him enough, you can.' Cam assured her. 'He wants you back so badly.'

Admitting defeat, Angela seemed to realize it would be better to do it now, while she still had some courage left. She marched out of the shelter of her office with her friends in tow. Hodgins would be up on the platform, she knew, and was so determined, she missed passing right by Booth and Sweets.

'Something's going down,' Sweets observed with interest. 'And I am so going to check it out.'

Booth hesitated to follow, then gave in. Truthfully, he was just as curious as the younger man, but didn't want to seem too eager. It was time to start setting an example—maybe.

They caught up with everyone just as they reached the platform, and Booth noticed Hodgins was up there with an unfamiliar young lady.

'Dr. Hodgins, who is this, and what is she doing up on the forensics platform unauthorized?' Cam asked disapprovingly.

Hodgins jumped to his feet. 'I, uh, let her up here. Seeing as we have no active cases. She's—'

'Dr. Katherine Martin.' She said, extending her hand to both Cam and Brennan. 'We had an appointment, Dr. Brennan, which we are running an hour behind on. Dr. Hodgins was kind enough to keep me company while I waited for you.'

She was cool, calm and collected—the factors Sweets obviously lacked. This young lady was professional; something all of Brennan's grad students weren't. Booth hoped that she was applying for Zack's empty position. She might even fit it.

'We may as well have that meeting now, Dr. Martin.' Said neutrally, not displaying any sign of embarrassment over forgetting the appointment. 'Cam, would you like to join us?'

'Absolutely.'

They left the platform, and, realizing what was going to happen, Booth dragged Sweets off towards the break room. Time to give Angela and Hodgins some privacy.

'Um…' Unspoken words seemed to clutter the air between them, now that they were alone. Hodgins felt he might very well choke on them, before any were verbalized.

'Jack…' Angela began too, them stopped. She seemed at a loss as to what to say, possibly for the first time in her life.

Unable to stand it any longer, he took the plunge. 'I miss you Angela. I miss you, I love you, and I just want you to come back. I want to make this work.'

The minute the words were out, Hodgins knew he had no reason to regret them. Angela looked so relieved. 'I know we can learn to trust one another.' She said, finally finding her voice. 'We have to—I don't want to lose what we have together.'

'That's the beauty of what we have Ange; I don't think it can be lost.'

Later, when Angela had to her office and the awaiting mountain of paperwork, Kat reappeared at the base of the platform. 'Hodgins, you're still here?'

'Yeah.' He replied, quickly catching the beetle he'd let loose. 'How did the interview go?'

Kat held up a shiny, new M.L. lab pass card, and a clip on I.D. 'I got hired. Apparently Dr. Brennan can fire me later if she wants to. How did things go with Angela?'

'We're back together.'

She swiped her new pass, and raced up to the top of the platform. 'That's awesome!' She exclaimed, and clapped him on the shoulder in an almost Zack-ish way. 'Now we just need to keep everything this way, at least until Sunday.'

'Why?' Hodgins asked. 'I thought you might want to stay awhile.'

'I want to have some good news to tell Zack when I see him on Saturday. I just wish they'd let us visit more than once a week…'

A flicker of a cloud passed over her pretty, young face, and Hodgins knew he'd just caught a glimpse of Kat's inner turmoil. It was a similar turmoil to his. A similar turmoil to that of all Zack's friends, despite how well they tried to hide it. He'd ripped a hole in their lives.

'I'll see you here tomorrow.' He said, as Kat turned to leave.

'Yeah, tomorrow.' She replied, already walking away.