Wow! I'm sorry for the late update! It was so not supposed to take that long! I hope you enjoy it! Special shout out to VallyDream for getting on my case about updating ;) and another special shout out goes to Mychakk for helping me with part of this chapter. And, of course, thanks to all of you reading it! :D

Two Days Later

Brrrrrr-iiiing! Brrrrrrrr-iiiiiing!

"No," Booth groaned, slapping his hand around his bedside dresser sleepily, trying to reach his phone.

Brrrrrrrrr-innng!

"Booth," groaned Brennan, snuggling into her pillow.

Booth finally grabbed the phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?" he mumbled.

Brrrrrrrr-iiing!

He forgot to answer it. Hastily pressing the button, he groaned, "Yeah?" It was too early. He glanced at the clock. 4:47 a.m. Yeah, much too early. He sat up immediately as he listened. "Yeah, no, of course. We'll be there." He gently shook his partner to get her attention then got to his feet. She propped herself up on her elbows, watching him, exhaustion and curiosity written all over her beautiful face. "Yeah, okay. Thanks for the call." He hung up and looked at her. "He struck again."

Bren nodded in response to him and began getting dressed, saving her longing for information for the car ride ahead of them. "You should wake Sweets and let him know we're leaving," she said, pulling on a long sleeve shirt. Booth finished pulling on his pants, grabbed the baby monitor, and jogged to Sweets's bedroom. He knocked on the door lightly before pushing it open.

"Sweets." He shook him gently to wake him.

Sweets opened a brown eye and stared up at him. "Booth?" He looked at the clock. "It isn't even 5!" He pulled his pillow over his head. "Go back to bed…"

"Sweets, the killer struck again. Stabbed two girls to death. We need you to stay with Christine." He set the monitor down on the kid's bedside table. "Call us if you need anything and just leave her with Max at the usual time when you go to work."

Sweets grunted a response and buried his face back in his pillow, reluctant to wake up. "I'm on it," he mumbled.

"Thanks." Booth patted him on the back and jogged back out of the room. Brennan was already by the door, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Ready to go?" he asked. She nodded and they walked out the door.

"What do we know so far?" she asked before he even pulled onto the road.

"Two girls, Amanda and Kelsey Jones, were camping by the Potomac River. This morning someone called 911 and reported a double homicide with exact directions to their bodies. He said he was the killer then hung up the phone. Seems like his kind of thing. In the original cases he used to call the police sometimes." He glanced at her quickly, trying to read her expression, before turning his attention back to driving.

She nodded, obviously thinking the information over. Booth glanced at her, reaching over and taking her hand then pressing it to his lips gently. He quickly turned his gaze back to the road, passing a particularly slow vehicle in front of them. "We'll get him," he told her.

"I know, Booth. We always do." Brennan gave him a soft smile, trying not to let her thoughts turn to the Pelant case. He was the one they hadn't caught. There wasn't a doubt that he was guilty but he always seemed to be one step ahead. That was something that was strange to her. Everybody on their team was excellent and yet he kept escaping. He was the one problem they couldn't solve. The killer that on her bad days she sometimes thought might really get away.

Booth seemed to read her thoughts, as he always did. He squeezed her hand, throwing her another glance before concentrating on slowing down for a stoplight and said softly, "You're right. They never get away." She wasn't sure if he meant Pelant or the Zodiac. Something told her he meant both. Either way, she appreciated his insistence that they'd bring the killer to justice.

Booth chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Do you think Sweets will even remember that we left when he wakes up? I bet you he'll call in a few hours and ask where we are." He was quiet for a moment before adding, "It's not bad. Having him around, I mean."

"I find his company to be quite pleasant," Brennan agreed. "I think that he has gotten very attached to Christine."

Booth smiled and nodded. "Yeah. He sure loves her. He's a good uncle, isn't he?"

Brennan nodded. "Christine has many good aunts and uncles."

"She's a lucky kid…" He cast her a quick, adoring smile. "She's got one great mom too…" He kissed her hand again softly, looking back at her long enough to see her smiling at him appreciatively. "I love you Bones," he told her.

"I love you too Booth," she replied softly and lovingly.

Angela stood in shock, marveling at what she had just accomplished. If she was Hodgins, she'd be proclaiming "king (queen, really) of the lab". She barely noticed Cam walk into the office. "Angela?" she asked. "You all right?"

"I cracked it," she croaked. "I cracked it. I got it." She motioned to the decoded message. "It doesn't say much but it could eventually lead to something. Every little bit helps, right?"

"Oh, absolutely. What does it say?" Cam asked, moving towards her.

"The ciphers he sent us say similar things to the ones first sent in San Francisco. He bragged about the army of souls that will be his slaves in the afterlife." She wrinkled her nose in disgust, wondering, not for the first time, what was wrong with this man.

"That sounds like the Zodiac. What else?"

"He said that he was on an admirable quest and that there is no way he can be stopped. That if something happens to him that it's inevitable that someone else with just begin again. Pick it up where he left off." Angela shook her head. "He seems to have more faith in the bad people out there than the good."

Cam nodded her head a little. "Well, he hasn't met our team. We'll take him down."

Angela nodded. "Listen, there's a little bit of it that I couldn't quite get. I'll email you all of it."

"Thanks Angela." Cam walked out of her office, already pulling out her phone to call Booth.

Angela sighed to herself. What kind of human being could do any of this?

Both of the girls had fought back. They had wanted to live. Amanda Jones had a new break in her arm, most likely from the struggle. Kelsey probably died first. The killer had sneaked up on them while they slept and began stabbing Kelsey first, waking her twin. Amanda fought against the killer for a while but had been struck with a rock on the head, which is the blow that killed her. However, she was still alive long enough to wrap her arms around her dead twin in a last embrace.

It was things like this that made Clark want to lock his private life away and not let it touch his work life. When he was completely focused it made this easier. It made it easier to not think about the pain and the fear the victims felt. It made it easier to not think about the family and friends left to mourn. It made it easier to not imagine how he would feel if this set of remains was someone he knew. One of his friends.

"There's remodeling on the rib here," he said softly, pointing to one of Kelsey Jones's ribs.

"The remodeling indicates that her rib was broken about three years ago," Fisher replied.

Dr. Brennan always said that the bones told a story no person could. They could tell you everything about a person. Kelsey Jones played a lot of sports. She had broken bones before, all throughout her life actually. She had played basketball, baseball, soccer, and some others. She had fallen out of a tree when she was ten years old and had broken her arm and her leg. Clark looked at the bones, taking in everything about this young girl.

"Another one of life's cycles left uncompleted," Fisher said dully, not taking his eyes from the bodies. He was right. More people who were murdered unfairly. He hated murder. That's why he stayed here. He didn't have to work with murders anymore. He could simply focus on his archeological work. But he couldn't seem to leave this behind. It made him feel sick inside but he couldn't look away. He had to do what he could to help, even if it was painful.

"She was quite the daredevil," he muttered under his breath.

Abernathy nodded. "Unlike her sister," he noted. "Amanda Jones was more careful. She doesn't have near the number of remodeled bones her sister had. In fact, the only broken bone she ever received was from the attacker. It's as sad as a newborn calf separated from the herd with no way home."

Clark had nothing to say to that. Surprisingly, the other four interns didn't seem to either. He let a small half smile slide onto his face for a second as he realized that Abernathy had really become a part of their little group. They were a strange group really. A bunch of misfits. They had nothing in common other than work, on the outside anyway. But maybe that was why they got along. Granted, they didn't used to.

"You all right, man?" Fisher asked, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah." He looked from Fisher back to the bodies, still struggling with separating himself from these girls. They dealt with death of young people all the time. But very rarely did they find the bodies holding each other. It was just a reminder that they could be one of his friends or family members. They were loved; they were someone's family. Although he did not speak the words floating around his head, he knew the others were thinking the exact same thing.

Someone's world is falling apart right now.

Lance Sweets flipped through the channels, looking for something to keep him occupied. It was late at night and he should be in bed but he couldn't stop himself from thinking about the case. Go to bed Lance, he told himself. You won't be able to do a good job on the case tomorrow if you don't. He was about to shut off the TV when he spotted the movie Zodiac playing. It would be over in an hour. Glancing at the clock, he decided that he could stay up and finish. For research purposes of course, not pleasure, he told himself, not that he bought the excuse. The truth was that he was fascinated and this movie had one incredible cast. He leaned against the back of the couch and watched as Jake Gyllenhaal worked to solve the mystery they were now working on.

About forty minutes later, a dog started barking in the yard next to theirs and Lance jumped before chuckling at himself. He shook his head, scolding himself for being so stupid, trying hard to slow his racing heartbeat, and turned his head around, just to make sure no one was behind him. When he saw Booth standing there, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Oh my gosh," he mumbled, breathing heavily. "You scared the crap out of me."

"What are you doing up?" Booth mumbled, slouching into the kitchen. Lance slowly got up and followed him.

"I'm watching a movie," he mumbled, running a hand through his messy hair. "Gonna go to bed when it's over. Why are you awake?"

Booth got a glass of water and held it up. "Water. I'm thirsty. And what movie has you jumping like that?"

"Zodiac," he replied.

Booth scoffed a chuckle, shaking his head. "Yeah, that was a great choice," he said sarcastically.

Lance nodded his head. "I know. Not my best decision." He craned his head to look back at the TV to see what was happening. "It's just about over."

"All right. Get some rest. And don't keep us up with your screaming." Booth set down his cup, grinned teasingly, and went back to bed.

Lance finished his movie then went to bed, thinking about the case. They'd solve it. Honestly, though, he was feeling shaken. The Zodiac was someone you didn't want to mess with. That fact, freaky as it was, made him want to solve the case that much more. This guy needed to get off the streets. Lance would start looking back over the case files first thing in the morning.

He changed into a T-shirt and a pair of sleep pants then sat on the bed. He set his alarm, mind still reeling with different possibilities. And even though he had a lot on his mind, he was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

I hope you guys liked it! Please review! I'll try to update soon!