"Angela, do you think I'm in over my head with this store? First, that flood ruined a tenth of our stock before we had even opened. Then those kids egged us, and now we're missing a whole order of books. It's too early in the week for this." Bones groans laying back on her couch, head in her hands.

"Hey don't worry, I'm sure nothing else will set us back." Angela says sweetly.

*Ding dong*

"Uh, did I just jinx it?" She asks worried.

"Angela, jinxes aren't real." Bones says standing up and walking towards her front door. "Hello, how may I help you?"

"Temperance Brennan?" A lady in a neat uniform asks.

"That is me." She says nodding.

"Good." The lady says with a tight smile before it falls and is replaced with an apologetic one. "I'm sorry to spring this on you but it appears you may have a brother."

"Of course, I have a brother, his name is Russ." Bones says confused.

"Ah..." The lady chuckles. "Yes of course. We know that I meant a younger brother. Lance, please come here." She says turning and waving down someone.

A young boy with curly hair walks up to the door with his head down. He stands next to the lady clutching a backpack.

"Right sorry. I'm Miranda from CPS, Child Protective Services. This is Lance Sweets, a 16-year-old who was in and out of foster homes until an older couple took him in when he was still little. They've however passed quite recently. Checking his file again it seems his DNA has matched with yours. Not sure why it didn't before." She says kinda uncomfortable.

"Is this your first day? You don't seem like you're used to this." Bones asks.

"Y-yeah, sorry. I'm still new. Could we come in and discuss this?" She asks as the boy beside her shakes.

"Of course you can. Come on in darling." Angela says softly, popping into the door frame. "I'm Angela, a friend. Come sit down." She says mainly to the boy, gently guiding him to the couch.

Miranda follows him in and sits beside him. Bones takes a seat across from them on the armchair and looks at them confused.

"Sweetie ask them gently." Angela says quietly to Bones before turning to the guest. "I'll be in the kitchen, give you some privacy. Would you two like a drink?"

The young boy shakes his head. "No, thank you though." Miranda smiles and Angela walks off to totally not listen in.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure how I can help." Bones states.

"All we ask is for temporary placement. We've seen your record, clean as far as we can tell. Unlike your older brother's. We would send him to a home..." The boy shivers at the idea. "But he doesn't have the best memories of those. It's just until we find a place, although preferably we'd like children to be with family."

"You want me to accommodate this boy? Someone I've never met? No offence, I'm just not comfortable around strangers."

Miranda sighs. "I know it's hard to imagine since I just sprung it on you but please, it's only for a few days."

"How are we related?"

"We know that your parents disappeared when you were nine. We believe your mother was pregnant with him during that time and he was left at a safe dropoff point a few months into his life."

"Oh, that seems plausible. Can I have someone else help me? I don't know how to take care of a child, especially one his age."

"Of course, we will have to run a check on them, however. Angela, I'm guessing will be your help?" Miranda asks.

"Most likely. Also what about school and other things?"

"Right, give me a list of people who might help you. As for school, here is all his information, we've already enrolled him in one, just make sure he gets there on time." She says handing over a piece of paper from her bag.

They swap important details and have a chat. Angela comes back once she knows all the important stuff is over and tries to talk to Lance, taking a seat next to him but he turns away from her.

"I know where she keeps her chocolate chip cookies." She whispers to him.

"I'm not a child." He mumbles.

She fakes gasps. "He talks!" She then looks at him sincerely. "Look, Bones may seem like an alien sometimes but she's a good person and a good sister, I would know she's basically mine. I can give you my number and if you ever need a normal person to talk to, or someone to save you, I'll be here."

"Bones?" He looks at her confused with a slight smile.

Angela chuckles. "Yeah, we call her that because she has a special interest in them. It's a surprise she didn't become an archaeologist or an anthropologist."

"So what does she do?" He asks, opening up a little more.

"We run a bookstore together. I mean she owns it but I help her. I make sure it's not just nonfiction. We wouldn't get any customers."

"Oh, that's cool I guess." He says defeated.

"Hey! Books are cool. I make sure we have the cool ones. Graphic novels too." She says. He shrugs and looks away.

Angela sighs. "Okay then. Good chat." She stands up and walks over to Bones and Miranda.

"That looks like everything. I can't thank you enough for taking him in on such short notice. If anything and I mean anything comes up please call. Even if it's something simple. You'll get a call by the end of the week, about whether or not we find someone to take him. But again we think it would be best for him to be with family. But no pressure, we understand not everyone can or should have children. And I'm rambling so I'm going to go now." Miranda says packing up her stuff and turns to Lance.

She walks over to him and rubs his shoulder. "You have our phone number. Please be nice to her and everyone in her life. If you don't think this is a good fit we'll listen to you. I'm going now. I'll see you soon. Goodbye, Lance."

He looks up at her and nods. "Goodbye." He mumbles.

She stands up and walks to the door. "Okay, I guess I'll be off. I'll see you in a few days." She says before walking out and down to her car.

"Are you okay with this honey?" Angela asks Bones.

"Of course, I am aware of how rough it can be in the system, and I understand the challenges of having an older sibling who is unable to take care of you and ends up letting you go into the system." She says taking a seat back in the armchair.

Lance looks up. "You were in the system too?" He asks quietly.

"For three years, yes. I was in a few foster homes." She says to him, the first proper sentence directed at him. "So Lance..." She pauses to think of what to say.

"Sweets. Uh, everyone used to call me Sweets." He says fidgeting with his hands.

Angela sits next to him and smiles. "It's nice to meet you, Sweets."

"Okay, Sweets. How are your grades?" Bones asks curiously.

"Bones. Don't ask him that." Angela scolds.

"What? What other things would I ask him?" She asks confused.

He chuckles softly. "It's okay. My grades are pretty good. Mostly As. I've skipped a grade. I get picked on because of it. Or, um I used to at my old school." He explains.

"Good. Children should always strive for excellence, especially during their teenage years." Bones says proudly.

He chuckles again. "I don't study. I'm just "good at learning"." He says using his hands as emphasis. "Or that's what one of my old teachers said."

"Oh, great another genius to add to our collection." Angela jokes.

Sweets tilts his head in confusion.

"This town is full of them. First your sister here, little miss know it all. And Zack who works with us part-time. Plus the little boys who read at our store every day despite there being a library a block away. The café next door is always full of high school and college students. Daisy in particular, Cam's pretty smart too. She runs the café." She lists off.

"Don't forget Hodgins. He knows a lot more than just vehicles." Bones points out.

"You mean that greasy man who forgets how to speak sometimes?" She jokes. "Point is, I think you'll fit right in. Sometimes I think I'm the only normal person in this town."

"Angela, you are smart! You're an artistic genius."

Sweets laughs. "Is everyone as agreeable as you two?" He says looking between the two.

"Oh trust me, sweetie. We don't agree on much. But we're best friends so we get over it. If you want to see her argue with someone though, just wait until you meet Booth. He's pretty normal too." Angela says as Bones scowls. She leans into the boy and whispers to him. "I think they secretly have a thing for each other though."

He gasps giggling. "You two seem okay." His face goes serious. "I just wish my parents could have met you. My adoptive parents." He looks down sadly and kicks his backpack.

Angela and Bones look at each other sadly. "Uh, hey. Why don't I show you to the spare room? You can unpack and get comfortable." Angela says softly to him.

He nods and follows her upstairs.

Bones leans back in her chair and looks up at the ceiling trying to think through what just happened.