A month later, Zack was getting ready for Howie's return; the last month had been hard for them both, Howie being in Iraq and Zack being in Washington DC. However, their friends on both sides of the Atlantic helped them out, reminding them of what they could do when Howie returned.

On the day before Howie was due back, Zack was helping the team in the Jeffersonian lab with the latest killing in their serial killer case; the one where all the victims were homosexual, male high school students.

"So what time is Howie's flight tomorrow?" Angela asked as she glanced around the lab, trying not to look at the badly decomposed remains of the latest victim lying on the exam table. She hoped the rest of the team would
be finished with the skull quickly, so she could take it and scamper back to the safety of her office.

"The earliest he could get was 16.00" Zack replied as he cleaned the bones; little did he know that Howie was sitting in the cafeteria of the Jeffersonian Museum, waiting for a signal from Angela to make his appearance; he had conspired with the artist to make his arrival a surprise. It always helped to be the daughter of a rock star she thought to herself.

As she was talking to Zack, Angela subtly sent a message to the eager wing commander. He had missed Zack every minute of everyday while he was finishing his tour, but he was finally back, and at least this time he would be able to stay around for a while. He had asked for an extended leave of absence with the RAF so he could decide what he wanted to do.

When he received the message "give us an half an hour then come surprise him", he finished his coffee and headed towards the bathroom to make sure he looked
handsome enough for his beau.

Figuring that in his current state it would take him longer than the normal 20 minutes to get from the museum to the
laboratory, he got underway, not wanting to be late. Excitement boiled in his chest; in less than 30 minutes, he was going to see Zack after over a month of being apart.

Back in the lab, while Angela was working on the reconstruction of the latest boy, Zack sat on her couch telling her all the things that he and Howie would be doing on his week off.

"We're going to spend most of the time in bed hopefully, it's been a long time since I've slept with him" Zack mused as he leaned back against the couch with his eyes closed. He didn't see the smile that graced Angela's face at Zack's overly literal comments; it was one of his many charms.

About half an hour later, Angela was done with the reconstruction, so she sent messages to everyone to meet her on the platform. The others had been told that Howie was arriving today to surprise Zack, so they knew why Angela was
calling them to the platform and not her office.

When they were all there Angela presented her finished sketch. The victim had been identified as William Barstow, a 17 year old high school student who lived with his parents and was president of his gay/straight alliance. He had been reported missing 8 weeks ago by his boyfriend of the year, Liam. The artist then turned the stage over to Zack, to explain cause of death.

As he was talking, Angela noticed Howie enter the lab, as expected; but what she didn't expect was that he was wheelchair bound, plaster casts on both of his legs. She gasped in shock, causing everyone else to turn around. When
Zack realized that no one was listening to his explanation of how William had been killed, he pouted, trying to see past them to the cause of the distraction. It was then that he heard the words he had been longing to hear for 30 long days.

"I'm looking for a Dr Zack Addy" Howie said, unable to contain a grin. Zack flew past the others and down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He closed the distance between them quickly and flung his arms around Howie, as if to make sure he was not imagining thing.

"Hi, Baby" Howie said as Zack started to kiss him with all the love and longing he had.

"Hi" Zack replied shyly when they stopped kissing, making the others smile at the couple.

"Right, well we will go talk to William's parents and boyfriend. The rest of you do whatever you do" Booth announced as he dragged Brenan out of the lab, leaving the squints and Howie to themselves.

As it was Cam's day off, they could goof spend some time catching up before Booth and Brenan came back. Reluctantly, Zack let go of Howie and positioned himself behind the wheelchair, pushing Howie in the direction of Angela's
office, the artist and entomologist following close behind.

Upon arriving at their destination, they all sat down to talk, catching one another up with the events of the past month. Angela and Hodgins were intrigued as to why Howie
was in a wheel chair, but Zack took no notice of it; he was just glad to have his man back and in one piece.