Hey guys! Chapter two is here and revised from the original. Hope you guys like it, it gets to dig a bit deeper into our characters' past! R&R 3

He stopped about a foot away from her, not daring to get any closer until she had a reaction. But it was clear by the look on her face that she was just as shocked.

There was silence for a few minutes as the pair stared deeply into each other's eyes. Eventually the silence was broken by Angela who decided she could no longer take the suspense. "What's going on here guys?" No one answered her verbally but Brennan turned to her and shrugged. Nobody spoke for a few more minutes until Amy breathed, almost inaudibly. "Zack…?"

Then, almost as if he had been awaiting voice conformation, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "What are you doing here? And with them? And actually /here/? Is that a Jeffersonian lab coat? Are you here permanently? Are you on a case? How was Canada? What collage did you go to? Did you make the hockey team?-" At this Booth's head snapped up and his gaze fixed on Amy- "Do you have a doctorate? How many languages do you know? How is-" Amy quickly clasped her hand over his mouth to shut him up. He had been asking questions a mile a minute, not giving her enough time to even think of an answer.

"Zack, chill. On a case. With them. Yes it is. I don't know. Yes we are. It was cold. University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Yes I did. I have two and a half. And fourteen. But we have time to catch up later-" she glanced down at his pajamas and then around at their surroundings before continuing. "We're here on business. Though not technically, I believe." She glanced up at Dr. Brennan as if for permission, "We're here on duty." She led Zack over to one of the dusty looking brown sofas and sat beside him, absentmindedly letting her hand fall onto her lab. Cam sat on Zack's right while Brennan, Booth, Angela and Hodgins sat on the sofa opposite them. Brennan cleared the magazines and cups off, making room for the microscope Amy still clutched. She set down a cloth so as to keep any particulates and debris off of the coffee table. Brenan leaned forward and grabbed the bag Amy had with the rest of the equipment. She drew out a pair of latex gloves and motioned for Amy to set down the device. She extracted a vile with the flesh out of her lab coat pocket and placed it onto a tray. Zack instantly leaned forward to peer through the microscope.

Zack opened his mouth to speak then stopped, furrowed his brows and closed it. He looked slowly up at Dr. Brennan and Hodgins, finally muttering: "There's nothing here? Is this a test?"

Hodgins was the one that answered. "Yea, no particulates on the wound at all. This is a sample taken from the hole found in the victim's chest. Your apparent 'friend' here says it's a stab wound."

Zack nodded, though his face was completely puzzled. Why would they have come to him for this? "I'm not good with flesh."

"But you were our weapons expert. Do you know of any weapons that wouldn't leave particles behind?" It as Dr. Brennan this time that spoke.

Zack looked over at her for a few seconds before returning to the microscope. "The flesh is smooth, suggesting whatever penetrated the body was smooth as well, maybe a sharpened pipe but even that would leave behind traces of metal.

Hodgens was nodding now. "Yea, that's what I had been thinking"

"I'll keep thinking on it but without actually being able to look at the body I don't think I'll be much more help."

"Thanks, Zack. We should get back to the lab." Dr. Brennan replied.

Zack looked up at her. "Do you need to now? You guys just got here and I haven't seen anyone but Sweets in weeks." His voice was slightly saddened but it wasn't until Amy started to rise that he moved. He tried to grab at her coat but withdrew his black, gloved hands with a hiss of pain. Amy turned back to look at him, confused, but he had already recomposed himself and stood. "You're leaving too?"

"I have to Zack. They need me there, but I'll be back as soon as we solve it; maybe before. We can talk about 'way back when' during my next visit." She smiled and hugged Zack lightly before stepping back and heading out the door with the others. Only Angela remained behind, a smile on her face as she watched them.

The team reached the museum about ten minutes later. The trip had been silent yet again as it seamed no one wanted to ask the red-head about 'way back when'. The filed out of the van and back up to the lab on the third story. Brennan was in the lead and swiped her card before entering the platform; the rest followed. Brennan grabbed the blue coat over a chair and started to put it on. Amy put on gloves then headed over to the body on the silver tray table. "So now what?" Angela asked, looking at her best friend. "Where do we start?"

Dr. Brennan looked up. "I'll have Amy clean the skull so you can give our victim a face." Angela just nodded and headed off of the platform. "Hodgins I need you to take a look at the bugs and try to find a more narrow time of death. Amy, I need you to strip the skull of flesh and take it to Angela, then keep looking at the body for any other signs of damage." Amy and Hodgins nodded. Amy and Cam carefully lowered the table down the stairs and over to the boiler. Once down the stairs, Cam left and Amy wheeled the body into her office. She prepared the boiler and checked the timer, noting that it would be approximately twelve minutes before it would be ready for the skull. With a few minutes to spare, she sat back in the rolling chair beside her desk and buried her face in her hands.

She was suddenly unsure of everything now. When she had first been told by her father that they where moving to Canada, she had thought it had been a joke. Then he had told her that she could stay until her birthday, to stay with him for as long as possible. Obviously she had thanked her father for the opportunity but reluctantly, after her birthday she found herself parting with her only friend at the airport, possibly forever. She had spent seven months trying to get him out of her mind. Constantly his face kept entering her thoughts. Finally, she had buried herself into her school work and, though she never truly forgot about him, she was able to keep his voice out of her head. She had graduated high school a year later, and within five years she'd obtained her first doctorate in forensic anthropology. Then she had gotten a job at the Skarlath Lab in Montreal and started for her degrees in entomology and recently psychology. She had also gotten a job on the Canadian Police Force to aid her lab as their Agent. It was a lot of work, but she had to keep busy all the time. When she wasn't working, she was at the rink, playing goalie for the Montreal Hawks, one of the highest leagues in the area; she and one of the centers where the only girls on the team.

The call to the Jeffersonian had come as a surprise but she booked it and, by the time she had found herself at the asylum she had all but forgotten about her childhood in Michigan, making her surprise at seeing Zack all the more…real. But seeing him again, hearing his voice had almost sent her into shock. Deep down she had always known that she would see him again, to find some knowledge of his existence in a science magazine or something. He wasn't the type of person to come in second best at what he enjoyed, but she had never expected to find him checked into a psychiatric ward with bandaged hands and a guilty look lingering in his eyes.

She had just told herself that she would be back over there the first chance she got, even if it was before this case was finished. She didn't have to work the police angles, Booth had that; she didn't have to worry about the bugs and soil either, that was Hodgin's area now. And profiling criminals was taken as well. It seamed all she really had to do was strip the skull and look for additional wounds.

She was halfway through her thoughts when the timer beeped, making her jump nearly out of the seat. She stood and headed over to open the lid to the boiler, carefully placing the skull into the water with a pair of large tongs. Once done, she closed the lid and set the timer for forty-five minutes. That should give it enough time to boil and strip the flesh, as well as let it run through the 'rinse' cycle to remove the fleshy water from the case.

She then turned and walked over to the table with the rest of the body and started to look over the corpse. There was the snowboarding injury she had noted earlier, at the scene. She also noticed an anti-mortum wrist injury that was consistent with the victim using his wrist to block over his head, probably fighting back against his murderer. But there where no other stab wounds evident. She shook her head thoroughly confused; this was unlike anything she had seen before. What could possible have created the wound but left nothing behind.

She'd spent a good forty-five minutes examining the body when the boiler beeped yet again. Amy withdrew the skull from the platform inside and placed it on a tray. she'd quickly glanced it over but there was no damage done to it at all. She shook her head, somewhat confused and left the room with her new treasure. She snuck into Angela's office and gently placed the metal tray on her desk, attempting to sneak out of the room. Amy knew that if she was caught int here,s he would be forced to explain what was going on and Amy wasn't even sure herself. The doctor tip-toed out of the room only to be stoped in the hall.

"Dr. Hollister. No escaping." Angela pointed at her office door. "Inside."

Finding no escape route, she turned and shuffled back into the room. But she didn't say anything until Angela's direct order. "Explain."

Although she knew exactly what Angela meant, she attempted in a last ditch effort to skirt it. "I didn't think you were here so I just brought the skull in and-"

"Not that. You know what." Angela's arms were crossed over her chest as she leaned against the Angelatron.

Amy sighed. She was out of options there was no way to get around it now. "Zack and I went to preschool through high school together before I moved to Canada. That's about it really."

Angela looked anything but satisfied as she stared the younger woman down. But before she oculd say anything, Amy spoke up again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go inform Dr. Brennan of my findings." Amy walked past the older woman and out the door.

She stepped out into the hall and headed down to Dr. Brennan's office. "Dr. Brennan. I've taken the skull to Angela as well as looked over the body again. I was only able to find breaks constant with the victim fighting back but the single stab wound was all there was weapon-wise, suggesting when he was stabbed when he was unconscious."

"Ok, good. You know," She looked up from her work. "I don't really have anything else for you right now. You should you tag along with Dr. Sweets on his visit to see Zack."

"Why is he going to see Zack?"

"Because Sweets is his therapist."

Amy nodded, still confused but decided not to further her line of questioning. "Where can I find him?"

"Probably on the platform."

Amy nodded and turned to leave, passing Hodgins on her way out. She didn't stop to listen to what he had to say. She was getting the chance she wanted to go back and see Zack and she hadn't even needed to work for it; she wasn't going to blow it. She headed for the platform.

She sighed in relief when she saw Dr. Sweets standing on the platform talking quietly to Angela. Amy only got one step in before a horrendous siren started. She gasped and her hands fled to her ears. The guard next to the platform reached for her. It all happened so suddenly but somehow Sweets managed to make it down the stairs to swipe his card through the machine. He grabbed her from the guard and helped her up the stairs. "There's an alarm on the platform."

"So I noticed!" Amy snapped. Sweets' face fell slightly. "I'm sorry, it just startled me." An apologetic look filled her eyes as she looked at him. Angela hurried off the platform. Amy continued speaking to Sweets. "Dr. Brennan told me to go with you to see Zack." Sweets smiled lightly then nodded.

"All right then. Let's go." He turned to head off the platform then over to the elevator. Amy followed glairing lightly at the guard. Neither spoke as they headed down to the ground floor then out to get a taxi. Sweets started looking through a file, no doubt on Zack. He didn't seem to be in the same circle as the others. Perhaps he would be more willing to tell her what was going on.

Amy started to ask then lost her nerve and closed her mouth. Luckily, Sweets seemed to notice and looked up. "Did you need something?"

"What did Zack do? Why is he in the ward?"

Sweets took a deep breath. He knew the truth but due to patient confidentiality, he couldn't tell her. "Zack fell victim to a cannibalistic cereal killer's mind tricks and killed a man."

Amy's face was full of shock. Then, suddenly she laughed. "Zack couldn't kill anyone."

Sweets just nodded. "He confessed."

"We're here." The driver said.

Both looked over at the driver. They hadn't been paying attention to what was going on outside. They opened the doors and stepped out. The driver rolled down the window and Amy reached into her pocket to pull out her wallet. "It's ok." Sweets said, grabbing the money from his own pocket and giving it to the driver. They turned and headed into the building. Amy straitened out the lab coat she was still wearing and flattened her hair, the file under her arm. They entered through the sliding doors and walked to the desk. "We're here to see Dr. Zack Addy." Sweet's said, handing over his badge. The lady nodded and led them through a different door then they had gone through before. They where led to a small room, almost like an interrogation room. A few minutes later, Zack entered and his face lit up when he saw Amy.

"You came back quickly. Is the case over?" She grinned back at him.

"Not yet, Dr. Brennan said to tag a long with Dr. Sweets." Amy wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. A few seconds later she stepped back.

"Why?" Zack was obviously happy she was there but still interested as to the means behind her showing.

"Because if I get the full job at the Jeffersonian, I'll be studying under Dr. Sweets to continue my degree in Forensic Psychology." Zack sat next to her and she let her arm fall over his shoulder, while Sweets sat across the table. Of course, it was mostly a guess but probably not far off from the truth. "But first, as long as it is fine with Dr. Sweets…" she glanced over at the young psychologist who nodded. "What have you been up to? It's been so long. We didn't really get to talk earlier."

Zack nodded. "It's been weird, all of it. Right after you left I wasn't really able to…function properly. But after a month I realized there was nothing I could do and I knew I had to hold up my end of the promise." He smiled lightly, recalling the memory. "I started working really hard on school, took a few night courses and summer courses and graduated a year later. Then I went on to collage. I stayed in Michigan because they had a great Forensics school and it was cheaper in state. It wasn't long until I got a letter from Dr. Brennan saying she would like to take me on as her grad student. I flew down here to D.C. no charge and started a new life. It was boring for while. Then Booth came along and Dr. Brennan got to go out into the field and we started getting better cases. I've seen some really odd stuff but it's been great working with them. I've learned a lot at the Jeffersonian." He sighed heavily and his eyes had glazed slightly as the memories flooded over him.

Amy nodded. "It was like that a bit for me, too. Once I got into Canada, well, it didn't really take long for me to fit in. Oddly enough, I was more popular in a new school than I ever was back in Michigan. Maybe it was because I wasn't stereotyped there, I was able to start over…and I was –still am- into hockey. It's bigger in Montreal than in Michigan. I got a lot of attention for that, for playing, like people in America do for playing football. It was weird to them, in a good way. Oh sorry, I'm sorta babbling…"

Zack shook his head wildly. "No, no it's fine. I like your babbling."

Neither seemed to remember Sweets, who just sat there, watching, waiting, listening.

Amy smiled and continued. "Anyway, I spent a lot of time working on school. I, too, took extra classes, a lot of on_line courses and I graduated about a year after I got there. I got a full scholarship for my playing, and also for graduating early and a few other things. I went to community collage but only stayed there for half a year before moving on. I majored in physical anthropology, minored in forensics, got a job with the police force and took as many classes as I possibly could. I aced most of them and got my doctorate a few years later. After that, I switched my focuses and started majoring in entomology and minoring in psychology. I'm still working on the psyche degree. Any way, I got a job at the forensics lab but ended up working practically entire cases. I was my own anthropologist, agent, entomologist, photographer, and profiler. The only help I had was my mentor who only did the anthropology and the resident pathologist. Then I got a call from Dr. Brennan and, despite how much I loved it up there in Canada I couldn't refuse her. She's famous and brilliant and the best I've ever read about. I was packing my bag before the call disconnected. Then I had to tell my boss about it and he said go for it. They could deal without me and that I would love it in D.C. I got on the plane and came in this morning. And…that's my life up to today."

Zack smiled. "Wow. Guess we didn't differ too much after we got split up." He laughed lightly. "But you'll like it at the Jeffersonian. It's a good place with a lot of great cases. After you left I never really had much fun. It was all work and no play, but there it's different. The work and play is intertwined so much you can't differ one from the other."

Amy's smile faded a little. "They miss you, you know. They don't really say it, and I wasn't there when you where so I can't compare the way they act but I can see it in their faces. They miss you."

Zack's gaze fell from her face to the floor. "I miss them too. It's incredible, how you don't realize how much you want or need someone or something until it isn't around anymore." His eyes flicked back up at her. "But they'll do well with you on the team. You're…you can take my place just fine."

"I'll never replace you Zack. No one will ever be able to replace you."

"That just makes everything I did seem that much worse." He sighed and looked back up at her.

"What…did you do?" Amy glanced up at Sweets. Though he had told her, she wanted to hear it from him. Her eyes filled with curiosity then changed as they reflected the pain in Zack's.

"So many things. I did so much wrong. But it all seemed right at the time. He spun it to make it sound like what he was doing was right, that the world needed to be rid of these people. I knew he was wrong, I knew who he was and I was going to tell Dr. Brennan and everyone else as soon as I got back but the more he talked the more sense he made. What he said was rational and logical but I knew the others wouldn't see it that way. I had to protect him, even if it meant…pain." His eyes shifted down to his bandaged hands.

"Who? Zack…" She let her arm wrap around his, careful not to touch his hand.

"He didn't tell me his name, though latter, after Booth caught up with him, they identified him as a man named Gerald Darby. He was a murderer, a cannibal-we at the lab had nicknamed him Gormogon- who made me kill a lobbyist. He had said that I would be made to dine with him after the next victim. Thankfully, that never happened. But after he was caught and I had had the sense talked into me by Dr. Brennan I realized that there was nothing I would have been able to do. He would have killed me and the people I loved if I didn't do what he said. It isn't an excuse, I know but…" He shook his head and a single tear rolled down his cheek. Amy reached up to brush it away.

"Is that what happened to your hands?"

"It was because of that, yea. I switched a few chemicals in the lab and an experiment exploded giving the Ma…Gormogon time to steal a trophy. But it was worse than I had calculated because Hodgins wouldn't get behind the glass. I got third degree burns on my hands. They've healed as best they could and the doctors bandaged them but it hurts incredibly to do anything with them. Eating is difficult, getting into bed, opening a door. Any physical touch, even with the bandages, hurts immensely."

Amy's gaze fell to his hands. She felt bad for him, but an idea popped into her head. She might be able to help him. But she would worry about that later. She could tell this subject was eating away at him and decided to talk about something else. A different case. "We're waiting to identify the victim now." At the mention of the new case he had composed "Without info from the current scene or evidence I won't be much help."

She nodded. "There isn't much I can do about that now. I'm really not sure how they would feel about us bringing a corpse in here."

Zack laughed.

The silence that followed was awkward until Amy looked over at Sweets. He had been writing something down but stopped when they did. "Oh you can continue this is really very fascinating. I've never seen him converse like this with someone. Perhaps you can help him to understand that what he did was wrong."

Zack sighed. "I know it was wrong, Dr. Sweets."

"Then why are we still here?"

"Because I refuse to tell the truth about what happened. I can't tell anyone the truth, you know that and you know why."

Now it was Amy's turn to be nearly ignored. She wasn't sure what was going on but by the common signs, they had been down this path before. The pair's bickering was cut short when a cell phone went off. Amy reached into her pocket and looked down at the caller ID. It wasn't a number she recognized but she answered it anyway. "Hollester." There was a mumbling on the other end that Zack couldn't quite make out. Then Amy nodded a few times, muttered "Thanks" and hung up. "They've found the victim and Dr. Brennan wants me to go with them to talk to the parents. I'm sorry Zack, I have to go." A sense of pain filled Zack's eyes as he watched her but he nodded. He had had that job once. Amy stood but left her arm wrapped around his, forcing him to rise as well. Then she dropped his arm and wrapped her other around his neck. Her arm was rested over his shoulder while her other was against his back. She held him tightly for a few seconds and Zack's cheeks reddened as the heat rose. After a few seconds she let go of him. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Tomorrow, I promise…tomorrow." She smiled lightly and turned to leave. She was halfway to the exit door when she turned her head back around and waved at him. He waved back. She smiled and turned back to head out the door. 'Well that was fascinating!" She could hear Sweets say.

She waited on the curb for a taxi but she didn't have to wait long. It wasn't a taxi that picked her up. A shiny red corvette turned the corner and stopped in front of her. The window was rolled down electronically from inside and she saw Angela's smiling face looking out at her. She motioned for Amy to enter. Slightly unsure, but unable to resist she opened the door and stepped into the passenger seat of the incredibly expensive car. She closed the door and grabbed for the seat belt, the whole time watching Angela closely. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong of course. I'm just here to take you back to the lab. I heard you're in the same boat as Zack was with no car or house."

"Oh…" Amy frowned but nodded. "Yea, I hadn't really thought much on that."

"Well, Hodgins is willing to extend the same deal to you as he did to Zack. You can live in the garage, its big enough for you. There's a bedroom, a bath room, a kitchen a living room, everything you'll need. No rent and he'll drive you to work every morning as long as you're waiting by the car at seven. What do you say?"

"Um…No rent?" Angela nodded. "Ok. Sounds good for now." Angela's foot slid onto the gas as the car rolled silently forward. "I need to get back to the lab though. Dr. Brennan wants me to go with them to the victim's family."

Angela glanced over at Amy. "About earlier. I'm sorry for seaming so harsh. I was just confused. He'd never mentioned you or much at all about his life before us."

"No, I understand. You didn't know he had friends and you were curious."

"Sweetie, I know a thing or two about friendships and interests and you two aren't just friends."

Amy opened her mouth to speak, probably to defend herself then closed it. Then, after a few seconds she spoke again, obviously trying to change the subject. "Is the kitchen stocked?"

"Stocked? I'm sure I don't know what you mean." Angela laughed and took her eyes off the road for a second to look over at Amy.

"Well…I need simple kitchen things like pans, mixing bowls, plates, silverware. You know…I can buy all my own foods. Unless you have biscuits…chicken biscuits are good…The best actually. I like fried chicken, too, and chicken wings and –"

"Okay, I get it." Angela laughed as she cut Amy off. She had been rambling on, trying to distract Angela from the whole 'Zack' topic. She bit her lip and inhaled sharply, afraid to speak as she slowly tucked herself behind her mental wall. Angela smiled again. "He likes you, you know."

"What? Who?"

"Zack. I know you probably don't want to talk about it. You don't seem like that kind of person, but I know about this stuff. They way he looked at you when you first came in."

"We where best friends and I haven't seen him in ten years, of course he's going to look at me." She was starting to lock the gate to the wall.

"Of course, but it wasn't the gaze that an old friend would have. It was the gaze of an old lover watching someone come back from the dead."

"I was never dead."

"I don't know the whole story, but I know what I've seen and even from the one time I know he loves you. And you love him, Amy."

Amy closed her eyes and turned to face out the window. She couldn't deny that she wanted more from him than friendship. "I can't lie. I've never been able to lie, therefore I will say nothing."

The car stopped and Amy opened her eyes. They where at a red light. Angela turned to look at the girl seated beside her. "You don't have to lie, Amy. And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. You've known me less than a day and already I'm finding a way into your personal life. I'm sorry."

Amy inhaled sharply. She wasn't able to speak, afraid that she would confess all. She didn't even know what was going on with her. After ten vacant years with nearly no social life the only person that had ever mattered to her suddenly appeared again. She didn't know what to say or how to act. She had loved him more than anything, more than her own life and she would have done anything to help him. But she wouldn't risk their friendship over something as trivial as a relationship. She had held back her true emotions. It had been hard, watching him go out with other girls but then again, he had never really had a knack with dating. But she had always been there for him. Then she moved. She was going to tell him but she didn't want to depart on something like that. She had sworn that she would tell him if they ever met again but now, after actually seeing him…she couldn't.

"Let's just get back to the lab so you can go with Booth and Brennan." Angela said after a few seconds silence.

"Yea...Thanks" She smiled and a small giggle escaped her lips. She would push Zack to the back of her mind, if that were possible, until she was alone and could think about the situation in the proper manner. Then a thought struck her. "Is Booth at the Jeffersonian now? There's something I need to talk to him about."

"Um, yea." She glanced over at the clock in the dashboard. "They said they would wait for you."

"Good."

It was only a few more minutes back to the Jeffersonian. Once there, they both stepped out of the car and headed in. Amy spotted Booth in the lobby, waiting for Dr. Brennan. Angela continued up to the lab while Amy walked over to talk to Booth.

"Hello, Agent Booth. I had something I wanted to talk to you about. And I wanted to ask you a few legal questions."

"Legal questions?" His voice shone with curiosity and suspicion.

"Zack went to court right? For the…murder?"

"Yes, he did. He pled guilty and was given a deal."

"Did you testify?"

"Yes." He was getting impatient. "As the arresting officer I had to."

"Who was his lawyer? And judge?"

"Miss Caroline Julian was his lawyer. And the judge was a man named Harold Encino. Why?"

A look of pure fire spread across her face. "Because I'm going to get Zack out of that asylum."