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This chapter was Beta read by jMiXjaded on Wattpad
A well dressed woman rushing toward an arrivals board in a busy airport.
"I'm late…" Looking up at a malfunctioning arrivals board "This board is broken. The arrivals board is not working. Uh, did anybody meet the flight from Guatemala? Aviateca airlines?" She recieves no answer from the rushing people around her. " What gate? Yeah, right. I'm late."
She steps up to a customer service desk.
"Excuse me, uh, you have a computer glitch at the arrivals board." the Customer service agent ignores her. "Hello! Sir, excuse me, yoo-hoo…" the Customer service guy holds up a finger to silence her. "Great." She rips open her shirt revealing a lacy bustier, getting young guy's attention. "Yeah. Hi. The flight from Guatemala?"
"Tell me you tried 'excuse me' first." says a woman dressed in a safari looking outfit with her hair pulled back into a ponytail.
"Sweeeeetie. Yes, I did." first woman hugs the second. " Welcome home. Are you exhausted? Was Guatemala awful? Was it horribly backward?"
"And yet I was never reduced to flashing my boobs for information." the second woman says.
"Flash them for any fun reasons?"
"I was literally neck deep in a mass grave, not romantic."
"You know, diving in a pit of cadavers is no way to handle a messy break up."
"Angela, nothing Pete and I ever did was messy."
Angela Montenegro laughs. "Then you were not doing the right things."
The second woman suddenly turns, dropping her bag, to confront a man dressed in a suit who has been following the two ladies as they walked through the airport
"Sir, why are you following us?"
The unknown man reaches out to take her arm. Moving quickly, she subdues the man with some well trained and strategic kicks and punches.
"Attack! Security! Hello!? Who runs this airport?" Angela joins in to the fight by hitting the man with her purse, "Kick his ass sweetie!"
"Police! Ma'am, step back now!" Security agents shout as they surround and aim their guns at the woman.
"He attacked me!" she responds indignantly.
"I'm Homeland Security!" replies the unknown man.
"Oh, little misunderstanding here." says Angela
Putting her hands in the air the unnamed woman says. "You can put away your guns."
"What, is she in charge now? No. I'll tell you when you can lower your weapons." says the HS Agent. "Hand over the bag"
She reaches down to retrieve the bag, unphased. "Is that what this is about?"
The HS agent opens the bag to reveal a skull.
"Boo."
The woman is now sitting at a table in a makeshift interrogation room at the airport.
"I am Doctor Temperance Brennan. I've been in Guatemala for two months identifying victims of genocide including him." She says gesturing to the skull.
"Most people in this situation, what they do is, they sweat it. " the HS agent responds.
"Guatemala, genocide? How are you scary after that?" Dr. Brennan remarks.
"You know who doesn't sweat it?"
A female agent who is also in the room responds. "Sociopaths."
"I am not a sociopath, I'm an anthropologist at the Jeffersonian."
"Who works for the FBI. Which I'd maybe believe if you had an ID that did more than allowed you access to the cafeteria."
Behind Dr. Brennan, another man in a suit enters the room carrying a book.
"You were illegally transporting human remains, ma'am and you assaulted a Homeland Security agent."
"Look, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of your friends but, next time you should identify yourself before attacking me." Turning to the man at the door, Dr. Brennan asks, "What are you doing here?"
"FBI. Special Agent Seeley Booth, Major Crime Investigation, D.C. Bones identifies bodies for us." Agent Booth anounces flashing his badge.
"Don't call me Bones. And I do more than identify."
Holding up the book, then sliding it across the table to the other Agent "She also writes books."
Picking up the book, the HS agent looks at it noting, Dr. Brennan's name "Fine. She's all yours."
"Great. Let's grab your skull and let's vamoose."
"What! That's it? 'She's all yours'? Why did you stop me?"
"Why does it matter? You're free to go. Let's just grab your bags, click, click, clang, clang…"
"You set me up." Dr. Brennan responds indignantly. "You got a hold for questioning request from the FBI didn't you?" The agent looks to Booth guiltily, Dr. Brennan looks at Booth incredulously, Booth knows he's been found out.
"I love this book." the HS agent remarks handing it back to Brennan.
Grabbing the book and then the skull, Dr. Brennan stalks past Booth who is holding all of her bags. "Come on."
Cut to the inside of an SUV, Booth is driving, Dr. Brennan is in the passenger seat.
"That's the best you can do?" Dr. Brennan asks indignantly.
"What?" replies Booth
"Getting Homeland Security to snatch me so that you can stage a fake rescue.''
"Well, at least I picked you up at the airport huh?" He gives her a charming little grin which only annoys Dr. Brennan more. "Hey, come on. I went through the appropriate channels but your assistant there, he stonewalled me!"
"Yeah, well after the last case I told Zach to never, ever to put you through. He's a good assistant. You can let me out anywhere along here."
"Alright, listen. A decomposed corpse was found this morning at Arlington National Cemetery down…"
"Arlington National Cemetery is full of decomposed corpses, it's… a cemetery."
"Yeah, but this one is your type of corpse, it wasn't in a casket." replies Booth
"If you drive one more block, I'm screaming 'kidnap' out the window."
"Do you know what, I'm trying to mend bridges here."
"Pull over." Dr. Brennan snarks.
Booth pulls the SUV over, Dr. Brennan and Booth both leave the vehicle.
"I'm going home." She starts walking quickly away form Booth who is following.
"Great! Could we… Look, could we just skip this part?" Booth asks.
"I find you very condescending." remarks Dr. Brennan
"Me! I'm condescending? I'm not the one who's got to mention that she's got a Doctorate every, five, minutes." Booth remarks sarcasticly.
"I am the one with the Doctorate." Dr. Brennan deadpanned as the sarcasm soars over her head and into the upper atmosphere.
"Yeah, well you know what? I'm the one with the badge and the gun, huh. You know, you're not the only forensic anthropologist in town." Booth snarks.
Dr. Brennan laughs. " Yes I am. The next nearest is in Montreal. Parlez-vous francais?"
"You've been gone for quite awhile Bones, apparently you didn't get the memo." Booth said cautiously.
"What memo?" Dr. Brennan asks sharply in her frustration.
"The Jeffersonian hired a Doctor Black as a secondary forensic anthropologist. Apparently he has three Doctorates."
"Doctor Harald Black? The European anthropologist who graduated and earned his first doctorate in record time, who specializes in ritualistic and occult homicides, and has doctorates in Forensic anthropology, theology, and mysticism?"
"Yeah, that's the one." Booth nodded sadly.
"Well then it will be a great honor to work with him."
"What's it going to take? I came to you not him."
Dr. Brennan stops and turning to face him. "Full participation in the case."
"Fine." Booth agrees
"Not just lab work, everything."
"What? Do you want me to spit in my hand? We're Scully and Mulder."
"I don't know what that means." Dr. Brennan deadpanned.
"It's an olive branch, just get back in the car." Booth replies.
Arlington National Cemetery
Dr. Brennan and Booth walking down a grassy hill, filled with row upon row of headstones, toward a large pond.
"What's the context of the find?" Dr. Brennan asks.
"Routine landscaping, dropped a load in the local pond, one of the workmen thought he saw something." Booth replies.
A van door with Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab emblem, closes to reveal a male in his early twenties.
"Hi Zach." Dr. Brennan greets him kindly.
"This eco-warrior look works for you." He comments.
"Thanks."
"Very action oriented."
"Agent Booth, you remember my assistant Zach Addy?" Dr. Brennan asks sweetly with a hidden smirk.
"Oh yeah…" Booth replies with a head shake.
"How was Guatemala?" Zack asks Dr. Brennan. "Dig up lots of massacred victims? Learn a thing or two about machete strikes?"
"Zach, I need water samples and temperature readings from the pond."
"Right away Doctor Brennan."
"He's got no sense of discretion that kid. Typical Squint…" Booth remarks.
"I don't know what that means."
"When cops get stuck, we bring in people like you. You know? Squints. You know, you squint at things."
"Oh, you mean people with very high IQ's and basic reasoning skills." Dr. Brennan responds.
Looking well and truely chastised Booth nods with a short, "Yeah."
Brennan and Booth go out on a boat to the middle of the pond, and drop an underwater camera that feeds to a video screen on the boat.
"What exactly am I supposed to be squinting at?" Dr. Brennan asks.
"Oh you know, it's like pornography, you'll know it when you see it." Booth responds.
The video screen shows a skeleton under water, wrapped in what looks like chicken wire.
"Yeah okay. This is a crime scene."
Brennan is examining the skeleton on the shore, late at night, while Zach is taking pictures of the skeleton. "Remains are wrapped in four-milled, flat poly-construction sheeting." Dr. Brennan stated.
"PVC coated chicken wire." Zach stated.
"Weighted. That's why the body didn't surface during decomposition. The skeleton is complete but the skull is in fragments." Dr. Brennan remarked.
Booth joins Dr. Brennan and Zach at the body. "What can you tell me?"
"Not much. She was a young woman, probably between 18 and 22, approximately 5'3", race unknown, delicate features." Dr. Brennan replies sadly.
"That's all?" Booth remarks sarcastically.
"Tennis player." remarks Dr. Brennan.
"How do you get a pretty tennis player out of that yuck?" Booth asks.
"Epiphyses fusion gives age, pelvic bone shape gives sex…" says Zach.
"Bursitis in the shoulder, somebody this young, must be an athletic injury." Commented Dr. Brennan.
"When did she die?" asked Booth.
"Ehhhh….."
"Ehhhh…" Booth commented mockingly. "What does that even mean?"
"Means wait until our bug and slime guy takes a look." comments Zach.
"No clothing." Dr. Brennan remarked.
"You know, in my line of work, no clothes usually means a sex crime." Booth stated.
"In my line of work, it could also mean the victim favored natural fibers."
"Your suit, for example, will outlast your bones by decades." Zach stated firmly.
"Collect silt, 3 meters radius, to a depth of 10 cm." Turning to Booth "Your FBI forensics team can take the plastic and the chicken wire, we'll take the rest."
Jeffersonian
Dr. Brennan and Dr. Goodman, Director of the Medico-Legal Lab at the Jeffersonian, were walking inside with Zach trailing behind them.
"Dr. Goodman, I wish you wouldn't just give me to the FBI." Remarks Dr. Brennan.
"As a federally funded institution, the Jeffersonian must seize every opportunity to prove our worth to our friends in Congress which means, I loan you out as I see fit, especially to federal agencies." States Dr. Goodman matter-of-factly.
"'Loan out' implies property, Dr. Goodman, and the FBI will never respect me as property."
"I do not view you as property Dr. Brennan, you are one of the Jeffersonian's most valuable assets."
"An asset is, by definition, property." Zach prompted.
"What's the rule, Mr. Addy?"
Zach sighs "You only converse with PhD's. You realize I am half way through two Doctorates? Two halves make a whole, so mathematically speaking…"
"Go polish a bone Mr. Addy!"
Zach leaves. Dr. Goodman and Dr. Brennan enter an atrium in the museum. A dark haired man wearing a lab coat approaches slowly.
"Dr. Goodman. FBI agents will never respect any of us as long as you simply dole out scientists like office temps."
"Dr. Brennan, are you playing me?"
"You know I'm no good at that."
"Mmmm. Thus far, but you have a disturbingly steep learning curve."
"Excuse me, Dr. Goodman I need you to sign off on this paperwork to label a Jane Doe in the Bone room as classified." The dark haired man stated.
"Why would you need to mark a Jane doe as Classified Dr. Black?" Dr. Brennan asks.
"Um... It has to do with who her dental records says she might be." Dr. Black replies uncomfortably.
"And who, Dr. Black, do your findings say she is?" Dr. Goodman asks, Dr. Brennan looks on in intrest.
"Ruth Keenan." Dr. Black stated calmly glancing at Dr. Brennan out of the corner of his eye.
"And why would you feel the need to file her as classified?" Dr. Brennan asks.
"She was in the NCIC database, other then that I am uncomfortable releasing anymore of my findings at this time." Dr. Black said shifting uncomfortably. "I'm sorry Dr. Brennan, do you mind if I continue this conversation with Dr. Goodman in private?"
"Of course, I have a case to work, if you will excuse me. It was good to meet you Dr. Black." She walks off towards the medical legal lab.
"Is there a specific reason you asked her to leave, Dr. Black?" Dr. Goodman asked.
"Sir, Ruth Keenan DNA is 100% match for Christine Brennan."
"Good Lord!" Exclaims Dr. Goodman. "Have you found cause of death yet?"
"No, sir, without going to Ms. Montenegro or Dr. Hodgins, I have been unable to swiftly and quietly solve this murder. Which the hemorrhagic staining to the skull implies that this is." Responds Dr. Black.
"Why haven't you gone to them they are the best in their field and can certainly solve this quickly." Dr. Goodman queries.
"They are the best in their field, but they are also close to Doctor Brennan and would feel compelled to inform her about the case." Dr. Black responds. "She should be informed but I would rather solve the case before she finds out that its her mother, or that Brennan is not her birth name."
"My God man, do you have anything else? I feel any more of these shocks and I'll have a heart attack."
"Just that Doctor Brennan's birth name is Joy Keenan."
"This is Top Priority Classified. I expect you to either solve it quietly by yourself or somehow get Dr. Hodgins and Ms. Montenegro to agree to keep this quiet."
"Yes sir, Dr. Goodman, sir." Dr. Black salute clicks his heels together and quickly walks off in the direction of his office.
The Medico-Legal Lab at the Jeffersonian
"The pond is not only warm and teeming with microbes, which accelerated decomposition, but it houses black carp and coy which fed on the body." Jack Hodgins says.
"Can I, as the only normal person in this room, say, Ew?" Angela replies.
"I got three larval stages of trichoptera, chironimidae…" Hodgins remarks.
"As we cut to the chase…." Dr. Brennan remarks.
"The body was in the pond one winter and two summers." Hodgins comments.
"Spring before last." Brennan said.
"You really think I'm Lesty?" Hodgins asked.
Looking confused, Dr. Brennan turns to Angela who responds "The book."
"No, No, No. You're not in the book." Dr. Brennan quickly corrects them.
"Sure he is! We all are…" says Zach.
"No, none of you are in the book. Those are fictitious characters based on…."
Dr. Hodgins interrupts gesturing to a computer screen showing the rib-cage of the victim. "I found some small bone fragments in the silt."
"We're out of the book now, we're back in real life…" Angela says to Dr. Brennan
"I guess Rana Temporaria." Hodgins say thinking out loud.
"Frog bones…" comments Dr. Brennan
"Also some tiny gold links, those from a fine chain…" say Hodgins.
Zach looks to Dr. Brennan and pointedly states "Point of clarification, I'm not a virgin. Nowhere near in fact."
"Who you captured perfectly, is Booth. Buttoned down but buckets of sexual confidence which, uhhh, I for one would love to tap." Angela remarks.
"It's not right to discuss tapping asses in front of a soaker." Zach states.
"I can't bounce back and forth between my book and real life. Since we're stuck with real life let's just forget the book." Dr. Brennan remarks.
"I haven't analyzed whatever it was the victim was holding in her hand but it looks like cellulose."
"Paper?" quries Dr. Brennan.
"Possibly."
"I found microscopic grit embedded in the skull fragments, I need you to identify those too." Turning to Zach, Dr. Brennan continues. "Remove the remaining tissue, I'll debreed the skull fragments myself, reassemble it so Angela can put a face on our victim."
"Good. I prefer holographs, they don't stink." Angela remarks
The group begins to disperse as Brennan walks over to Zach. "Zach, I don't like those terms for human remains; soaker, crispy critter…"
"Sorry, Dr. Brennan."
Dr. Brennan is alone in the lab reconstructing the skull piece by piece. The process is tedious and massively time consuming, as the bone fragments are small like a jigsaw puzzle. She continues through the night until she falls asleep slouched over on the exam table. The next morning as Zach places a cup of coffee in front of her and she wakes. Dr. Brennan walks across the lawn of the Jeffersonian carrying her luggage from the day before.
Booth is sitting in an office facing an older gentleman, his boss, FBI Deputy Director Cullen.
"So, you guaranteed a squint a field role in an active murder investigation." Cullen states.
"Yes, sir." Responds Booth.
"The one that wrote the book."
"Yes, sir."
"Thought you said that she wouldn't work with you anymore."
"Well, the last case we worked she provided a description of the murder weapon and the murderer but I didn't give her much credence."
"Why not?"
"Because she did it by looking at the victim's autopsy x-rays."
Cullen snorts. "Well, I wouldn't give it much credence either."
"Turns out she was right on both. Plus the pond victim, Brennan gives me the victim's age, sex and favorite sport."
Cullen chuckles "Which is?"
"Tennis." Booth replies.
"She's good." Cullen remarks in awe.
"Oh, she's amazing. If the only way I can get her back to my side is to bring her out in the field, I'm willing."
"Well, Squints like to stay safe, back at the lab. What's with Brennan?"
"Remember a case back in the early 90's, a couple goes missing on the interstate, car was found at a rest stop?" Booth questioned.
"Yeah. Upstate New York, upstanding citizens, nobody found anything…"
"Those are Brennan's parents."
Cullen thinks for a second. "Fine. She's on you. Take a Squint out in the field, she's your responsibility."
"Thank you, sir." Booth said.
Black Manor 1501 Capitol Heights, Maryland
Dr. Black enters the building and proceeds to shrug off his suit, the clothing disappears before it hits the ground. "Tippy, can I get a glass of Fire whiskey please." He asks out loud to no one in obvious particular as he sits in a recliner infront of the fireplace. Suddenly a glass with a redish tinted alcohol appears on the small table next to the chair. Dr. Black reaches for it and takes a long drink before setting it back down. "Thank you, Tippy." he calls out.
"Master Sir, is not needing to be thanking Tippy. It is Tippy's honor and pleasure to be Master Sir's House Elf." A small pointy eared creature says in a high pitched voice when it appears out of thin air next to the chair.
"Tippy please don't call me master. I've told you several times to just call me Harry."
"But Master Sir is the Great Harald Potter-Peveral-Black, Earl of Wessex, Duke of Montrose, Marquess of Northampton, decendant of Sir Galahad. Knighted by her ladyship Queen Elizabeth the Second for Master Sir's bravery and sacrafice in stopping Tom Riddle and his followers. Fastest person ever to get a doctorate is forensic anthropology. To call Master Sir anything but Master is to spit on Master Sir's family and accomplishments." Tippy said in a hushed and somewhat awed voice, pausing to catch his breath when he had finished listing the long title.
"Tippy," Dr. Black said in a caring voice. "You are part of my family. So please treat me like family and not as your master."
"Yes Master Harry Sir." Tippy bowed before popping away, making Dr. Black groan into his hand.
"You brought that onto yourself, Harald." a beautiful voice is heard from above the mantle. Dr. Black looks up at a painting of a beautiful bushy haired woman in a wedding dress standing in front of a cherry tree. "You look like you haven't slept in days, my love." says the painting.
"Between finding the dead mother of a colleague, not knowing how to go about telling her about her mother, or getting help from said colleague's close friends to solve the murder of colleague's mother, the nightmare returned." Dr. Black choked out, his eyes tearing up as he looked away from the talking painting. "The night I lost my family, the night I lost my friends, the night we lost our child, and the night I lost you constantly replay in my head over and over. Occulamency doesn't help except to make me remember everything, every curse, every stab wound, every single drop of blood. If I don't find some way to stop these nightmares I may go insane, love."
"My advice? Call Tippy and have him bring you a dose of Dreamless sleep." The painting said with a frown. "As for your colleague, are you a Gyffindor or aren't you."
Dr. Black nodded and laughed. "You were always right, Hermione, I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you. I miss you, love."
"And I will always love you, Harry."
In the Medico-Legal Lab at the Jeffersonian, Angela's office. Booth is considering a large piece of art on her wall.
"This is interesting, Angela."
Dr. Brennan enters the room "Good morning. Does Booth know how this works?"
"This computer program, which I designed, patent pending, accepts a full array of digital input, processes it and then projects it as a three dimensional holographic image." Angela explains.
"OK." Booth nods.
Dr. Brennan turns to Booth. "You get that?"
"Yeah, that and the patent pending part." Booth says sarcasticly.
"Brennan reassembled the skull and applied tissue markers." Angela explains.
"Her skull was badly damaged, but racial indicators, cheekbone dimensions, nasal arch, occipital measurements suggest African American." Dr. Brennan says looking at the Angelator with Hodgins, Booth and Zach.
"And…. We have our victim." A full upper body image appears in holograph form on the Angelator.
Booth wiggles his fingers through the hologram. "Whoa… Have to admit, that's pretty cool."
Dr. Brennan removes Booth's hand. "Ang, rerun the program substituting Caucasian values." The image alters slightly. "Does she look familiar to anyone?"
Booth shakes his head in disbelief. "No…"
Dr. Brennan turns to Angela. "Split the difference, mixed race."
"Lenny Kravitz or Vanessa Williams?"
"I don't know what that means." Dr. Brennan deadpanned. Angela makes the change and the image is altered again, and Booth is taken aback. "Angela, reduce tissue depth over the cheekbones to the jaw line." Booth looks from the skull to the image. "Does anyone recognize her?"
"Not me." comments Zach.
"Wait, is that who I think it is?" Angela asks.
"The girl who had the affair with the Senator?" Zach asks.
"Her name is Cleo Louise Eller." Booth announces. "Only daughter to Ted and Sharon Eller. Last seen approximately 9pm, April 6, 2003 leaving the Cardio Deluxe Gym on K Street, she didn't even make it to her car."
"Pretty good memory." Dr. Brennan remarks to Booth.
"Yeah well, it's my job to find her."
"Well, in that case, congratulations on your success." Hodgins says.
"This isn't exactly the way I wanted it to end."
The group eating lunch on some steps outside the Jeffersonian.
"Cleo Eller is not just some missing girl." Booth says.
"Yeah, she's a senate intern who was boinking Senator Allen Bethlehem." Hodgins responds.
"I was secondary in the investigation to the disappearance of that girl and we couldn't confirm that." Booth say looking pictures from Cleo Eller's file, turning to Brennan. "How did you recognize her before she even had her own face?"
"I recognized the underlying architecture of her features, the rest is just window dressing." Dr. Breenen explains
"I'm not an expert but, shouldn't he be happier?" Zach asks Dr. Brennan.
"Oh no, believe me, I'm happy." Booth acknowledges.
"He's not happy because Senator Bethlehem chairs the Senate Committee overseeing the FBI." Hodgins commented.
"You seem happy to me." Angela said with a smile.
"I need this kept quiet." Booth said to the group.
"Ha! Cover up!" Hodgins barked.
"Paranoid conspiracy theory." Booth said walking down the steps away from the other Squints with Dr. Brennan following.
"Is it paranoia that Monica Lewinsky was a KGB trained sex agent mole?" Hodgins called.
Dr. Brennan walking beside Booth across the Jeffersonian lawn. "So what do you do first, confront the Senator?"
"Listen, Bones, I know…" Booth starts.
"Don't call me Bones!" Dr. Brennan interupts.
"I know we talked about you coming out in the field and all…" Booth starts again.
"Ughh.. You Rat Bastard!" Dr. Brennan interupts again.
"A case this big and the Director is going to create a special investigation and if I line all my ducks up in a row I could maybe, maybe I can head it up." Booth explains.
"I don't know what that means but I think I could be a duck." Dr. Brennan bounces excitedly.
"You're not a duck, ok! On this one we stick to the book. Cops on the street, Squints in the lab."
"Well in that case, the Jeffersonian will be issuing a press release identifying the girl in the pond."
"You do that, I'm a dead duck. What are you trying to do?"
"Blackmail you."
"Blackmail a Federal Agent?"
"Yes."
"I don't like it." Booth frowned.
"I'm fairly certain you're not supposed to." Dr. Brennan admitted.
"Fine. You're in." Booth conceeded.
In FBI Director Cullen's office Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan are meeting with Director Cullen. "You're certain it's Cleo Eller." Cullen asked.
"The profile's dead on, age, race, height…" Dr. Brennan explained.
"Plus the timeline fits, I mean Cleo Eller did play tennis in college." Booth agreed.
"Talk to me about the Senator." Cullen stated.
Booth hands Cullen a photo of Bethlehem. "Cleo Eller, the victim, worked for Senator Bethlehem…"
"It was reported that they were involved sexually." Dr. Brennan stated.
"We couldn't confirm that." Booth says.
"Oh Bethlehem's a hound, everybody knows that." Cullen states.
Booth hands Cullen another photo. "Ken Thompson, Cleo's boyfriend."
"Thompson's still Bethlehem's aid. Thompson keeps Bethlehem's calendar, no way the Senator has an affair that Thompson doesn't know about. No sexual relationship, no motive. What about the ahh, nutcase?"Cullen asked.
Booth hands Cullen yet another photo. "Oliver Laurier."
"You like him for this?" Cullen asks.
"Well, he's a stalker." Booth stated.
"What's your first move?" Cullen asks.
"I'd like to inform the Ellers that we found their daughter." Booth said.
"It's better to keep this quiet, it's been what, two years? What's another few of days?" Cullen commented.
"With all due respect sir, I've come to know the family pretty well, especially the Major and two years is a hell of a long time in my book." Booth responded.
Dr. Brennan looks between Booth and Cullen absorbing everything going on around her jumps in to help. "I'll have details of cause of death by this afternoon."
Booth turns to Brennan. "Then that's where we'll get started."
Booth and Brennan are back in the SUV, with Booth driving, Brennan is looking at a Jeffersonian file with small sample bottle in her hand. "Hodgins identified the particulates embedded in Cleo Eller's skull as rolled steel most likely from a sledge typed hammer also there's concrete and diatomaceous earth." Brennan states.
"What's that?" Booth asks.
Dr. Brennan hands Booth the sample bottle with a white powder inside. "Looks like that. It's made up of prehistoric sea creatures, it's used as an insecticide, filtering agent, cleaning abrasive, ceramics… It's very common."
"Diatomaceous earth. Common or not, it's a clue." Booth said.
Booth and Brennan are sitting in a very formal living room with Cleo Eller's parents
"You're positive it's our Cleo." asks.
"We established 22 matching points of comparison…" Brennan states.
Booth cuts Dr. Brennan off and gives her a stern look. "Yes. We're certain."
"Did he do it? The Senator." Mr. Eller asked " One military man to another."
"Major Eller, we can't discuss the investigation in any way." Booth says.
"Can you at least tell us if our daughter suffered?" Mrs. Eller asks.
"Given the state of her skull…" Dr. Brennan starts.
"Cleo never saw it coming." Booth says giving Dr. Brennan a sharp look.
"Thank you." Mr. Eller responds sadly.
"Mrs. Eller, can you tell us what Cleo wore around her neck?" Dr. Brennan asks.
"Her father's Bronze Star. Ted won it in the first Gulf War then, he gave it to her for luck." Mrs. Eller then breaks down and Booth looks to Brennan.
Outside the Eller's home, Booth and Brennan are getting back into the SUV.
"Those people deserved the truth." Dr. Brennan states.
"Their daughter was murdered, they deserve the kindness of a lie." Booth replies.
"There'll be an inquest report."
"Which they won't read because they don't want to, especially because toward the end, Cleo and her parents weren't even speaking." Booth comments.
"They told you that?" Dr. Brennan asked confused.
"You know, getting information out of live people is a lot different than getting information out of a pile of bones, you have to offer up something of yourself first."
"What exactly did you do in the military?" Dr. Brennan asks.
"See? See what you did right there Bones?" Booth responds. "You asked a personal question without offering anything personal in return and since I'm not a skeleton, you get zilch. Sorry."
Dr. Black is in his office waiting for someone, when agent Booth knocks on the door.
"Please come in, and shut the door behind you. What I want to say cannot leave this room yet." Dr. Black says from his desk. A painting of Dr. Black's wife (an exact copy of the one above his mantel) hangs on the wall above a comfy looking couch. Occult artifacts decorate the shelves in the room. Two chairs sit facing the couch. Dr. Black gets up and sits in one of the chairs. Booth sits stiffly on the couch.
"You said you have information involving a murder case." Booth said.
"Yes, Agent Booth, I am Doctor Harald Black." Dr. Black says introducing himself. "I have a few titles but the one you are here for is in my work as a Forensic Anthropologist."
"Yeah, I know who you are. I'm more concerned about the murder you mentioned."
"Yes, you would be at that." Dr. Black acknowledges. "Would you like a scotch?" he asks.
"No, thank you. Now about that murder." Booth presses.
"There is no easy way to put this, Agent Booth." Dr. Black says as he pours a glass of scotch and leave an empty glass near Booth. "I need your help in keeping the information about this murder from your partner Doctor Brennan."
"Woah! What possible reason could you have that would make me even consider doing that? The only way I could even get Bones to work with me was to allow her to be part of the case start to finish." Booth barks out angrily.
"The remains I was working on I was able to Identify with dental records as belonging to Ruth Keenan. She is in the NCIC Database with her husband Max Keenan."
"What does that have to do with keeping Bones in the dark."
"Ruth Keenan DNA was a match to the DNA belonging to her mother Christine Brennan."
"WHAT!?" Booth shouts, standing up.
"Hush." comments Dr. Black. "This cannot get out. I went to Dr. Goodman to have the remains and the files marked Classified Top Priority so only he or I could get to them."
"Geez. But why keep this from Bones? Shouldn't we tell her we found her mother?" Booth replies.
"How do we go about telling her that the mother she knew was a criminal in hiding, and was murdered after she disappeared from her life? How do we tell her her real name is Joy Anne Keenan not Temperance Brennan? How do you tell someone that you admire and respect that you have her mother's bones in a box in your office?" Dr. Black ranted. "Agent Booth, I would rather solve this murder quitely and give her all the answers there could possibly be when we catch the person that killed her mother. She deserves the closure."
"You're right." Booth sighs. "I'll do what I can when I can, no promises."
"Sure you don't want that scotch?" Dr. Black gestures to the empty glass.
"I think I'll need it, yeah, thank you." Both admits smiling.
"Of course."
Brennan and Zach are back at the Medico Legal lab in the Jeffersonian
"There are stab marks here and odd markings on the distal phalanges. Nothing I've seen before." Dr. Brennan comments on the bones.
"In a nutshell; anxious, depressed and nauseous." Hodgins say as he walks up.
"Take a sick day." Dr. Brennan suggested.
"Not me. Cleo Eller. Pupal casings show that she was on Lorazepam, Chloradiazepoxide, and Meclizine Hydrochloride." Hodgins states.
"Nausea. Show me those bone fragments." Dr. Brennan states. Zach pulls up the image on a screen showing the bone fragments enlarged. "These aren't frog bones, Cleo Eller was pregnant."
"Fetal remains…." Zach observes.
"Malleus, Incus, Stapes, these are fetal ear bones." Dr. Brennan confirms.
"The girl was pregnant." Hodgins comments.
"Not very far along." Dr. Brennan
"Do you want to try to get a DNA reading see if we can prove paternity?" Zach asks Dr. Brennan.
"You can try, lets hope there's enough genetic material to test." Dr. Brennan replies.
"This Senator, ahhh he is smart. He gets an intern pregnant and then murders her when it threatens his career and he has the connections to get away with it." Hodgins speculates.
"I hate it when you make paranoia plausible, it's like sliding off a cliff." Dr. Brennan responds.
"Special Unit? No way your FBI pal heads it up unless the dark powers in charge are convinced he knows where his political bread is buttered. Either way, this is where this investigation ends." Hodgins comments as Dr. Black walks up.
"Excuse me, Doctor Hodgins, if you are not busy may I have a few minutes of your time in my office please." Dr. Black asks.
"Yes sir," Hodgin turns to Zach and Dr. Brennan. "Let me know if you need me for anything else." After Dr. Brennan affirms that she will Dr. Black and Hodgins walk silently down the hall to Dr. Blacks office. Dr. Black gestures for Hodgins to sit on the couch while he closes the door.
"Is there a problem, sir?" Hodgins asks, suspicious of Dr. Blacks secrecy.
"What I have to say is classified and until I get the answers to a few questions, it will stay that way. If you answer my question honestly I may be able to inform you and have some work for you on a case I am working on." Dr. Black states matter-of-factually.
Hodgins eyes widen before he sits a little straighter and nods. "Absolutely sir, that sounds great."
"Please, when were are in a small group and not anywhere official call me Harald or Harry. Sir make me feel like I'm back in Britain." Dr. Black comments.
"Alright, Harry. Your parents must have been from a strict old family if you got saddled with a name like Harald."
"You have no idea how right you are," Dr. Black say shaking his head. Hermione is trying to hide the fact that she is laughing silently but Dr. Black notices and clears his throat. She straightens and stills though her smile is slightly larger. "But back to the matter at hand. Doctor Hodgins I have two questions for you. If you were asked to keep information pertaining to the family one of your colleagues away from said colleague would you be able to?"
"Are you saying the case you're working on in a family member of someone who works here?" Hodgins asks eyes wider then they were before.
"Unfortunately yes, however that is all the information you will get until you answer my question satisfactorily." Dr. Black states firmly.
"I would be able to keep any information I obtain as confidential as I received it, Sir." Hodgins nods firmly.
Dr. Black looks him in the eye. "Truth. Good, the next question I have for you is if you are able to keep your vow if you worked with the colleague on a daily basis?"
"Shit." Hodgins swears.
"I see, you are more emotionally attached to your immediate coworkers and would not be able to work with them without giving off cues that you know something you think they should know." Dr. Black sighs after using a bit of legilimency to read Hodgins' surface thoughts..
"How did you know what I was thinking?" Hodgins asks even more surprised then before.
"It is written all over your face, Doctor Hodgins" Dr. Black lies. "I'm sorry to have put you in this position. Please return to your duties."
Dr. Brennan is leaning on a swinging partition located at the Jeffersonian in one of the hallways, thinking as Angela walks up to her. "Want to get a drink? Non-topical application. Glug, glug, Woo hoo! Come on Sweetie…" They begin walking down the hallway.
"What if Booth's right. What if I'm only good with bones and lousy with people?" Dr. Brennan say thinking out-loud.
"People like you." Angela says.
"I don't care if men like me." Dr. Brennan replies.
"Okay, interesting leap from people to men but I'm sure it means nothing." Angela chuckles.
"I hate psychology." Dr. Brennan says chuckling disbelievingly. "My most meaningful relationships are with dead people!"
"Who said that." Angela asks.
Dr. Brennan sits down on a bench. "It's true! I understand Cleo, and her bones are all I've ever seen. When she was seven, she broke her wrist probably falling off a bike and two weeks later, before the cast was even removed, she got right back on that bike and broke it all over again. And when she was being murdered, she fought back hard, even though she was so depressed she could hardly get up in the morning. She didn't welcome death, Cleo wanted to live."
"Honey, you ever think you come off kind of distant because you connect too much?" Angela suggests.
"I hate psychology, it's a soft science." Dr. Brennan states emphatically.
"I know but, people are mostly soft." Angela responds.
"Except for their bones."
"Yeah… You want some advice?"
"Glug, glug, woo hoo…" Dr. Brennan remarks sarcastically,
"Offer up a little bit of yourself every once and awhile. Just… tell somebody something you're not completely certain you want them to know."
Dr. Brennan laughs. "God! That's the second time I've received that advice."
"Well, you know I give great advice."
"I'm gonna have to push this to the next level."
Hart Office Building of the US Senate.
Dr. Brennan is meeting with Thompson and Senator Bethlehem in an atrium of sorts. "I'm a little confused as to why the Director of the FBI would send you to speak to the Senator instead of coming himself." Thompson asked.
"Probably because I'm the one who found out that Cleo Eller was pregnant." Dr. Brennan replied.
"You can tell the girl was pregnant from her skeleton?" the Senator asked.
"We found fetal bones, The only question now, Senator, is which one of you is the father. Are you willing to submit to a DNA test?" Dr. Brennan asks.
Thompson turns to Senator Bethlehem." You know what, given the sensitivity, don't say anything on the subject without your attorney present. That's my advice."
"Advice I intend to take. Ken, we have a vote to get to." The Senator tosses some gum into a trash can Dr. Brennan runs to retrieve it. "Ummm, hehe, what are you doing?"
"Saliva, say from chewing gum, is an excellent source of DNA. I intend to compare it to the DNA in the fetal bones." Dr. Brennan replies.
"You need a warrant for that. Ken, she needs a warrant."
Thompson walks up to Brennan and grabs her wrist intending to take the gum however, she turns and swiftly elbows him in the stomach causing him to drop to the floor. As she is walking out of the building she turns to the men. "If we have any further questions, we'll be in touch."
"Ken, you okay?"
FBI Director Cullen is in his office, standing with his arms crossed looking very pissed at Booth and Dr. Brennan. "When you work for the FBI, Dr. Brennan, you're a Federal Agent, government property, I own you."
"I'm not certain that's accurate sir." Dr. Brennan replies
"Well how's this for accurate. I could place you under arrest on a Federal charge right now for uttering threats against a United States Senator."
"What…"
"Bones…" Booth says.
Cullen turns to Booth. "I own her, but she was your responsibility."
"Yes sir."
Cullen speaks into the intercom. "Send in Special Agent Furst." Then to Booth. "I warned you about taking squints out to the field but you vouched for her, said she wouldn't screw up."
"Yes, sir."
"She accosted a Senator, assaulted his aid, that counts as screwing things up."
"No! No! Booth didn't know I was going to see the Senator, I wanted to get a sample of his DNA."
"Exactly." Cullen says pointedly while looking at Booth.
"Not helping…." Booth says to Dr. Brennan.
Agent Furst enters the office as Cullen sits down behind his desk. "Tomorrow morning I'm announcing the formation of a special unit to investigate the murder of Cleo Eller at which time your investigation will be officially terminated." Cullen looks at Booth "You will not head the new unit."
"Congratulations Patrick." Booth says addressing Agent Furst without looking at him and not trying to hide the disdain from his voice.
"No hard feelings." Agent Furst replies.
"Right." Booth grumbles
"I need the complete case files in the morning." Agent Furst states.
"Of course, they'll be ready." Booth responds in compliance
"Thank you Agent Furst." Cullen says dismissively.
"At least Dr. Brennan found out that the Senator Bethlehem was having sex with Cleo." Booth says as he stands to leave.
"I did?" Dr. Brennan responds with shock.
"Report said there wasn't enough DNA in the fetal bones to determine paternity." Cullen states.
"Senator Bethlehem didn't want Dr. Brennan to take that gum, he's hiding something." Booth states.
"He didn't know there wasn't enough DNA." Bones realized
"I suggest you ummm, go back to your lab Dr. Brennan and get used to being there." Cullen suggested.
"Come on Bones…" Booth says as they are leaving Cullen's office. "You okay?"
"Don't be nice to me after I got you in trouble."
"Your heart was in the right place."
"No, I'm not a heart person, you're a heart person, I'm a brain person. You vouched for me."
"Forget it…"
"No, I won't. You think it was the Senator?"
"Look, the Senator has had sex with a dozen of these interns and he hasn't killed any of them, our best bet is still the stalker."
"You want to check him out, we can, I don't, what do you call it, roost him?"
"Rouse." Booth says smirking.
"Rouse. Well the murderer snatched a Bronze Star from Cleo's neck so…"
"I've got twelve hours before this case is over and I'm off it so, let's go rouse."
Dr. Brennan knocks on Oliver Laurier's door, he opens the door as far as the security chain will allow. "Mr. Laurier, we have a warrant to search your apartment…." The door slams in her face and Oliver turns to run but is stopped by Booth who grabs him by the wrist and puts him to the floor.
"Don't run Oliver." Booth states calmly.
Oliver reads the warrant thoroughly as Booth is taking a look around the apartment.
"Agent Booth is under the impression that you may have something that is pertinent to a case he is working on." Dr. Brennan says.
"You're looking for a Bronze Star? Like the one that Cleo wore?" Oliver acknowledges.
"Exactly like that one Mr. Laurier." Dr. Brennan agrees.
"I don't have it." Oliver states.
"Sometimes stalkers retain keepsakes." Dr. Brennan remarks.
"What the hell are these things, huh?" says Booth picking up a tiny booklet.
"Miniature Lives of the Saints, I hand them out…." Oliver says
"Heads up, Bones." Booth says as he tosses one to her.
"I hand them out for donations, I'm not a panhandler, help yourself." Oliver says to Booth then turns to Dr. Brennan. "I never stalked Cleo."
"Then why did she get a restraining order?" Dr. Brennan asks
"Okay, okay, no." Oliver shakes his head. "First of all no. Ken Thompson, her supposed boyfriend, got the restraining order with his boss, the Senator, but Ken is only concerned with his job and his tropical fish. They colluded to ruin my reputation with this specious, stalker label when in actuality, I was Cleo's close friend."
"Then why'd you run from the warrant?" Dr. Brennan asks
"My fight or flight response is heavily weighted toward flight. If there is anything I can do to help you catch Cleo's killer, just tell me." Oliver stated.
"Oh! Full confession, that would be great." Booth snarked.
"I love Cleo. Why would I hurt her?" Oliver questioned.
"If you don't mind, I'm gonna keep one of these little books." Dr. Brennan said.
"Whatever you need, Dr. Brennan." Oliver agreed.
As Dr. Brennan leaves Booth narrows his eyes at Oliver, contemplating the new infatuation that Oliver has formed.
Jeffersonian, Angela's office
Angela, Hodgins, Zach, Dr. Brennan, and Agent Booth are looking at the holograph of Cleo Eller "This is a rough composite but, you get the idea."
"Skull trauma was not the cause of death, Cleo was stabbed first. She was stabbed 5 to 8 times with a military issued K-Bar knife." Dr. Brennan said.
"And I just completed this rendering. The defensive wounds to the bones of her hands suggest that it wasn't until the third or the fourth penetration that…." Angela stared
"That's likely the fatal stab right there." Dr. Brennan interrupted referring to the simulation of Cleo being stabbed,
"..that Cleo stopped fighting back." Angela finished.
"I believe that the distinctive damage to her distal phalanges, the tips of her finger bones, was caused by the murderer using a knife to remove her finger pads. Cranial fragmentation suggests a 20lb hammer striking four to five times while the victims head rested on a cement floor containing traces of diatomaceous earth, that's the best explanation for the particulates found in her skull. This was not a crime of passion." Dr. Brennan commented.
"Cleo never saw the first stab coming, it didn't arise out of an argument. Why smash Cleo's face, why whittle away her finger tips, remove her clothing and her jewelry?" Angela questioned.
"Sink her body." Zach added.
"The murderer put more effort into hiding the victim's identity than he did into the murder itself." Dr. Brennan states
"In case Cleo was identified," Hodgins remarks. "The murderer planted evidence. The little book that Brennan got from the stalker matches the cellulose I found in Cleo's hands"
"Military cemetery, military knife implicate her own father. More misdirection." adds Angela.
"Sound like any conniving, son-of-bitch senators you know?" Hodgins asks.
"You expect me, to declare war on a United States Senator based on your little holographic crystal ball." Booth questions.
"It's not magic. It's a logical recreation of events based on evidence." Dr. Brennan states.
"No more valid than my gut." Booth responds.
"A good hypothesis withstands testing that's what makes it a good hypothesis." Zach comments.
"It's not a hypothesis, you have a dead girl and a United States Senator. This is exactly why squints belong in the lab, you guys don't know anything about the real world." Booth says as he shakes his head.
"Come on, we're done here." Dr. Brennan says glaring at Booth as she leaves Angela's office.
"Wow. Touchy…" Booth remarks to Angela, who stayed in her office.
"You must know about her family. Both parents vanish when she's fifteen? Probably counts as the real world." Angela replies
"Yeah. I know the story, read the file, cops never found out anything." Booth states.
"Yeah. Brennan figures that if maybe somebody like her had been there…" Angela sighs
"For someone who hate psychology, she sure has a lot of it." Booth comments then he glances at Angela. "What do you know about Dr. Black?"
"He is British. He's really smart, like almost smarter the Brennan smart. He got his three doctorates in record setting time testing out of classes skipping courses entirely because he passed the finals on the first day. He is or was married. His wife's painting is hanging in his office, which in itself isn't odd but the fact that its her in her wedding dress and so well done as in almost like it will come to life good, leads me to believe it was horribly expensive." Angela says. "He is also a hunk under those expensive Armani suits he wears, I caught him changing in the decontamination room once he has no body fat at all. He caught me before he took off his under shirt and kept his back to me but I saw a tattoo of two cross arrows under an upward pointing dagger which itself was beneath a grim reaper wearing a beret with a horseshoe shaped ribbon with the words..."
"De Oppresso Liber, on his left shoulder" Booth interrupted.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Angela asked.
"That is the Symbol of the British Twentieth Special Forces Airborne." Comments Booth causing Angela to gasp.
Dr. Brennan is shooting a gun at a firing range.
"Thought I'd find you here. You know, you being a good shot and doing martial arts, it's all your way of dealing. Who knows better than you how fragile life can be?" Booth asked.
"Maybe an Army Ranger sniper who became an FBI homicide investigator?" Dr. Brennan asks.
"Ah, you looked me up, huh?" Booth asks and gestures to the gun. "Do you mind?"
"Be my guest."
"Thank You." Booth picks up the gun and purposely makes a lousy shot.
` Dr. Brennan laughs. "Were you any good at being a sniper?"
"A sniper gets to know a little something about killers. Senator Bethlehem, he's no killer."
"Oh, and Oliver Laurier is?"
Booth backs Dr. Brennan against the wall of the firing booth, and gets right in her face. "The way I read Laurier, he's unhinged. That makes him dangerous."
"That'd be your gut telling you that, correct?"
"You know, homicides, they're not solved by scientists. They're solved by guys like me asking a thousand questions a thousand times, catching people telling lies every time. You're great at what you do, Bones, but you don't solve murders, cops do."
"Cleo Eller was killed on a cement floor sprinkled with diatomaceous earth. Traces of her blood will still be in that cement. One of us is wrong, maybe both of us. But if Bethlehem wasn't a Senator, you'd be right there in his basement looking for that killing floor. You're afraid of him. Your hypothesis is that squints don't solve murders and cops do, prove it. Be a cop." Smirking, Dr. Brennan turns and leaves. Booth, with impossibly fast reflexes, pulls his gun out of his holster and fires two quick shots with his own gun both being perfect kill shots.
Booth is sitting at his desk watching home video of Cleo Eller and her family. Dr. Brennan knocks on the door and clears her throat. "They look pretty happy, don't they. Otherwise they wouldn't turn on the camera I guess."
"Zach said you wanted to see me?" Dr. Brennan stated.
"That something you don't like to talk about? Families? Temperance, partners they, share things, builds trust." Booth says.
"Since when are we partners?"
"I apologize for the assumption." says Booth as he hands Dr. Brennan a piece of paper.
"You got a warrant to search Bethlehem's place?"
"You were right. If Bethlehem wasn't a Senator, I'd be in that basement, looking for that killing floor. But you're wrong, I was never afraid of that guy and I'm not doing this because you're a genius, I'm doing this for Cleo."
Outside Senator Bethlehem's mansion
"The warrant says they're searching for blood traces, a sledgehammer and diatomaceous earth." Thompson says.
"What the hell is that?" Senator Bethlehem asks.
Thompson angrily storms up to Dr. Brennan. "You're making a big mistake."
Dr. Brennan ignores him and looks over to where Booth is in a heated conversation with Agent First. Sensing she is being watched, she turns to see Oliver Laurier behind the gate. "What are you doing here?"
"Look at him, for all his politics he's got nothing. He should have loved Cleo properly like I would have. Will you sign my book?" Oliver asks.
"Stalk me, Oliver and I will Kick. Your. Ass." Dr. Brennan stats emphatically. An agent brings an evidence bag holding a sledgehammer out of the Senators home.
"I don't recognize that, that is not mine. That is not mine!" The Senator shouts.
"At least we got the hammer." Dr. Brennan says to Booth as he walks up to her.
"Yeah but that's all we got."
"The cement floor in the basement?"
"Yeah, no blood, diatomaceous earth. We needed a trifecta Bones. Physical evidence, murder weapon, crime scene…"
Jeffersonian Lounge
"They won't even arrest him?" Zach asked.
"Don't worry, if that's the hammer used on Cleo Eller, he'll get arrested. A toast to getting this bastard. " Hodgins cheered.
"The hammer's not enough. He's gonna get away with it. And maybe Booth is right, maybe outside the lab I'm useless." Dr. Brennan grumbles.
"Let's take guidance from the lives of the Saints."Hodgins says holding up Oliver's book.
"Albertus Magnus, Patron Saint of Scientists." Angela reads.
"I thought Magnus was the Patron Saint of fish mongers?" Zach questions.
"Two separate entities. Albertus Magnus was a 13th century philosopher, the fish monger saint was a …" Hodgins begins to explain.
"Fish!" Dr. Brennan exclaims, everyone stares at Brennan. "You said that diatomaceous earth could be used as a filtering agent."
"Yeah, for swimming pools, water filters…" Hodgins confirms.
"Or tropical fish. Oliver Laurier said that Ken Thompson kept fish." Dr. Brennan says as she jumps up, and starts to rush away.
"What's your hurry?" Angela asks.
Dr. Brennan turns back "Thompson read the warrant, he knows we're looking for diatomaceous earth. Get in touch with Booth, tell him where I'm going, okay?."
"She didn't actually say where she was going, did she?" Angela asks Hodgins.
Dr. Brennan pulls up to Thompson's home and sees him through a window spreading gasoline all over the floor. "Stop! You can't destroy evidence." She picks up a planter at the front door, Dr. Brennan throws it through a glass panel then reaches in to unlock the door.
"This is a private residence, I don't suppose you have a warrant?" Thompson calls from the basement.
"I'm working with the FBI, if I have reasonable suspicion of a crime being committed, I don't need a warrant." Dr, Brennan replies.
"What crime?" Thompson questions.
"Destruction of evidence pertinent to a Federal investigation." Dr. Brennan states.
"I'm just cleaning up. Is that alcohol I smell on your breath?" Thompson accuses.
"This linoleum looks fairly new, what's underneath, cement? The same cement that was embedded in Cleo's skull when you bashed her head in." Dr. Brennan assumes.
"You might want to get out of here." Thompson suggests.
"I can't let you destroy evidence." Dr. Brennan says standing her ground.
"How are you going to stop me?" Thompson goads.
"I'll stop you." Dr. Brennan states firmly.
Thompson laughs. "Not before I burn this place down with you in it."
Dr. Brennan quickly pulls her gun and shoots Thompson in the leg, then rushes over still holding the gun on him in order to keep him on the floor. "I don't get it, it wasn't jealousy, it wasn't passion, Cleo wouldn't get rid of your boss's baby and so you got rid of her. What kind of psychology is that? What kind of person are you?"
Oliver Laurier appears in the doorway. "Temperance. Are you alright?"
"Oliver, I understand you're here out of a misguided concern for my safety but I apparently don't read people very well and you could be in some kind of psychotic collusion with Ken so I'm going to ask you to go over there and apply pressure to his wound until the police get here, you understand?" Brennan commands.
"Okay. Okay. Did he kill Cleo?" Oliver asks.
"Yeah…" Dr. Brennan confirms.
"Okay. Well, I'm down with him bleeding to death." Oliver admits.
"Did I mention that applying pressure to a gunshot wound is extremely painful?" Dr. Brennan states looking at Oliver pointedly. A somewhat rightous look comes across his face and he slowly moves to do as Dr. Brennan said to.
All the squints have attended as well as Dr. Black, Dr. Goodman, Booth and Dr. Brennan. Dr. Brennan leaves the group to place a rose on Cleo's coffin while the rest watch.
"Is the FBI going to lay charges against Brennan?" Angela asks.
"She only shot him in the leg. Once." Hodgins replies.
"She didn't give him a warning. She just shot him, with alcohol on her breath." Booth states.
"It was her first shooting, you can't expect it to be perfect right out of the gate." Dr. Goodman comments.
"How much warning did you give people before you sniped them?" Zach asks Booth.
"Mr. Addy that was inappropriate, and uncalled for." Dr. Black says reproachfully. Shooting Zach a dirty look, Booth leaves the group to catch up with Brennan. "Anima eius in ceteris lenibus ulnis mortis: amat et amplectitur pariter in."
"Well said Doctor Black." Dr. Goodman acknowledges.
"Can someone translate for those of us who don't speak dead languages?" Angela asks.
"May her soul rest in the gentle arms of Death, for Death is loving and embraces all equally in time." Dr. Black replies.
"That's beautiful and some what morbid." Angela comments.
Dr. Brennan is walking across the cemetery toward the road. Booth catches up with her and falls into step beside her with a smug grin on his face.
Dr. Brennan laughs "What?"
"Told you it wasn't the Senator." Booth grins.
"And I told you who it was, so we're even." Dr. Brennan states.
"Except we work on the same cases and you end up on the New York Times Best Sellers list."
"I didn't know that!"
"Number Three, with a bullet."
"That's good right!? The New York Times with a bullet…"
"It means you're rich, call your accountant."
Dr. Brennan laughs "I don't have an accountant."
"Well, get one."
"Okay, how does that work?"
"Ughh, you need to get out of the lab you know, watch TV, turn on the radio, anything! Pick up the phone and…." Booth stops and looks with Brennan back to the funeral where Mr. and Mrs. Eller are laying roses on their daughter's coffin. "You know, if it weren't for you, those people would never have known what happened to their daughter. That's got to be worse than the truth."
"I know exactly how the Eller's felt about Cleo. My parents disappeared when I was fifteen and nobody knows what happened to them."
"You know, being a sniper I took, a lot of lives, What I'd like to do before I'm done is try and catch at least that many murderers." Booth says uncomfortably knowing what he knows about Bones' mother.
Dr. Brennan laughs. "Please! You don't think there's some kind of cosmic balance sheet…" Catching herself with her foot in her mouth, she stops. "I'd like to help you with that."
"Ehhhh…."
Laughing, Brennan smacks Booth on the arm and they begin walking away
Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review, criticism is welcome, how ever flames will be used to cook my special "I don't care" chili which goes best with a side of "Fuck off" cheese fries and nice tall lass of "Don't give a Fuck" beer.
