A/N: I've been inspired by all of the case fics recently so I decided to take a stab at writing my own. I hope you enjoy it!
The harsh sunlight burned into Booth's retinas as he walked alongside his wife to the crime scene. The victim had been found by a jogger at 7am and had been dumped in the middle of the park, exposed. As they crossed the yellow tape and politely greeted the FBI techs, Booth privately wished the sunlight had succeeded in blinding him. The victim laid splayed on the grass, in the later stages of decomposition, with their skull badly damaged. Booth averted his gaze from the body and greeted Cam, who was retrieving evidence bags from the Jeffersonian van.
Brennan crouched down next to the victim and addressed her intern. "What have you determined so far, Dr. Bray?"
"The victim is a female. The wear on her incisors suggests she is in her early thirties. Furthermore, the angle of her pelvis suggests she has given birth before. Lacerations to her carpal bones also suggest that she was bound by her killer."
"I concur, very good Dr. Bray." Wendell smiled slightly and caught Hodgins' eye, who was examining the insects found on the body.
"These blow fly larvae suggest that the victim has been dead for 5 to 6 days. Any sign of cause of death?"
Brennan sighed. "No. Her skull is very badly damaged, meaning a facial reconstruction will be very challenging. I imagine the killer wanted to obscure the victim's identity."
"Oh no!" Hodgins exclaimed in horror.
"What is it, Hodgins?" Booth queried.
He inhaled sharply and slowly raised his hand from the victim's maggot filled oesophagus, a small object held between his tweezers. Everyone exchanged looks of worry and fear.
"Shit." Booth mumbled. "What does it mean, Hodgins?"
Hodgins swallowed. "Uh… It's a black begonia. It means beware." Hodgins examined the flower more closely and discovered something. "Hey you guys, this was hidden within the petals."
He handed a platinum wedding ring over to Booth, who held it with an evidence bag. "Hey, there's an inscription on the inside. The 31st of August 2016."
"Perhaps this will help us determine the victim's identity." Brennan said hopefully. "Dr Saroyan, is Dr. Vaziri scheduled to work today?"
"Uh no, Arastoo is giving a lecture at the University of Virginia on how to determine the signs of abuse on a badly degraded set of remains. But I can call him and ask him to come to the lab when he's finished."
"Thank you, that would be helpful. I feel that we are going to need as much help as possible on this case."
"I'll call Daisy." Booth offered. "She can drop Lance off at ours, Max won't mind." Brennan and Cam nodded in agreement.
Cam cleared her throat and began to rise. "Well, I'll get the techs to prep the body for the lab. Dr. Hodgins, can you please call Dr. Wells to assist with gathering particulate evidence?"
Before everyone had a chance to protest, Cam interjected. "Yes, I know. Dr. Wells is a pain in the ass but he is genius. He also happens to be the only intern qualified to assist Dr. Hodgins in cataloguing such evidence which may prove vital to solving the case."
Everyone sighed and gazed at the body, knowing that Cam was right.
As Booth drove himself and Brennan back to the lab, he glanced sideways at his wife and noticed her jaw was clenched.
"You okay, Bones?"
"I'm fine." She lied.
"Come on, Bones, you know I know you better than that. What's wrong?"
"I just-" she began and sighed, her voice becoming emotional. "I know it's impossible but-"
"You think Pelant is back. Bones, he's dead. I shot him, you examined his body yourself and Cam signed off his autopsy and we watched him be cremated. There's no way this is him."
"I know that, Booth. I just can't help thinking of the terrible things he put us through. And our friends." She blinked back tears, feeling guilty. "Booth, there is something I need to tell you. I now realise I should have told you this a long time ago. But it was at a point in our lives where telling you wouldn't have mattered because we would no longer be associated with such a person."
"What are you talking about, Bones?" he asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"At the end of our last case before our retirement 2 years ago, Angela was able to fully reconstruct the data on Cooper's microchip. She found a video she thought I should see. It was Pelant. He said that if we were watching the video it meant that he was dead, but he warned that his legacy would continue. Perhaps this killer intends to carry on Pelant's legacy."
Booth sat in stunned silence, focusing hard on the road in front of him. He couldn't believe this. How could she have kept this from him? After everything that they had been through, did he not deserve to know?
"Jesus, Bones! Were you ever planning on telling me this?" He asked, clearly annoyed.
"I had thought about it several times, but there never seemed to be an appropriate moment. We were leaving this life behind so I didn't see fit to worry you with it when it would be completely out with our control, especially when nothing ever amounted from it… Until now at least. I had hoped it was just an empty threat."
"Well it clearly wasn't, was it?" he tightened his grip on the steering wheel and avoided her gaze.
"I don't want to fight with you, Booth. That's probably what the killer wants. We should just focus on the case and not worry about the details."
He relaxed his grip. "You're right. We're going to need that ID asap. Knowing who the victim is might help us gauge who the killer could be. I'll head back to the Hoover and look over Pelant's files. God, I wish Aubrey was here. He told me he had gone through the files with Sweets while I was in prison, so he might even remember some of Sweets' insights." He sighed deeply. "But I can't interrupt his honeymoon when we don't even have anything to go on."
"I know how you feel. Dr. Warren is the best out of my interns at reassembling the skull, as well as the entire skeleton. Her expertise would be invaluable to this case." She admitted.
Brennan swiped herself onto the platform and was greeted by Wendell, Clark and Daisy. "What have you all determined so far?"
Daisy perked up. "The victim's teeth were almost entirely destroyed barre three but luckily for us she had a rather misshapen third molar."
"I dissected the other third molar, it appears the victim was born and raised in central Los Angeles. We've sent the data to Angela to see if she can find an ID based on the victim's height, weight and marital status."
Just as Arastoo had finished speaking, Angela swiped herself onto the platform, a slightly distressed look on her face.
"Angie? What is it?" Hodgins asked.
"It's Genny." She said emotionally. "It's Agent Shaw."
The platform fell silent. Agent Shaw had assisted on many cases throughout the past 8 years, the most notable of which was the capture of Jacob Broadsky. Her determination made her an excellent agent but over the years she would join the team after a case for dinner or some drinks, and they had come to consider her a close friend.
"Oh." Brennan said sadly, breaking the silence. "Booth will be very upset to hear this."
"The bastard." Hodgins said angrily. "He's targeting us, just like Pelant did."
Before anyone had a chance to respond to Hodgins' remarks the Jeffersonian lost all power. There were then two loud thumps on the platform behind them. No one had time to react before both canisters rapidly emitted strong gas, leaving everyone unconscious… exposed.
Oooooooooooo
Booth pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat slumped over Pelant's thick files. He wiped his face with the back of his hand as he rose to get his seventh coffee of the day. He stopped short when his phone rang.
"Booth." he answered automatically.
"Seeley! Oh my god Seeley-"
"Cam?" He was about to object to the use of his first name but thought better of it when he heard the distress in her voice. "What's the matter?"
"I just got back from the crime scene and I was about to tell Dr. Hodgins to go back and meet Dr. Wells to finish gathering trace when I found the lab in total darkness." She began to cry. "Everyone on the platform was knocked unconscious by an unknown substance, and they're being attended to by medics just now. But, Booth…" She inhaled slowly. "Dr. Brennan isn't here. She's gone."
Review? :) I'd love to hear what you think, and if you want me to continue with the story.