Okay, so I decided to try and write a Bones episode plot-ish…
Here it goes, this is set after Mayhem on the Cross, and we're assuming that the scars on Sweet's back were worse than originally shown.
I do not only write torture fics! I promise!
Bones – The missing boy in the media
It was late afternoon, Dr Temperance Brennan was running the necessary identification of old skulls held in 'Limbo' while Angela Montenegro was making sketches to aid her. Dr Camille Saroyan was drinking a cup of tea on the balcony overlooking the Jeffersonian laboratories, while Dr Jack Hodgins was admiring a particularly fine specimen of Ichneumon wasp, which had just flown in through the window and was now sitting on his work place.
'Look at you, you beauty! What brought you into this little lab, hey?' he cooed to the wasp, which buzzed it's wings waspishly in annoyance as the entomologist slowly moved a glass jar above it in an attempt to catch it. Dr Lance Sweets was watching the insect, his eyes widened childishly as he grinned at the bright colours and long ovipositor. He'd originally walked into the lab to speak to Dr Brennan about matters concerning her father; but the brightly coloured arthropod had caught his attention.
Finally, Hodgins trapped the insect under the glass and slipped a piece of paper underneath to catch it. He raised the glass to eye level and stared into it, his huge blue eyes twinkling with excitement as he laughed, pleased with himself.
Sweets tapped the glass with a finger, also fascinated by the insect inside. Hodgins looked up to him.
'This is a large specimen of the common ichneumon wasp or driller wasp… just look at those colours baby!'
Booth walked into the lab through the doors shouting. 'Bones! Hey Bones! Take a look at this!'
Some other FBI agents who were carrying a large, black body bag accompanied him. They dumped the bag on the laboratory table and Brennan rushed to take over. She unzipped the bag and peered in, and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
'Male. Mid forties…' She looked up at Booth. 'Booth, this body has too much skin for me. This is more Cam's field…'
Cam appeared at Dr Brennan's shoulder, pulling on a pair of plastic gloves. She leaned over to look into the bag, and then turned her face away. 'That may just well be one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen.' She said, grimacing.
'I agree.' Responded Brennan. 'The skin on the face has been entirely removed and it looks like the teeth have been ripped out with… Pliers.' She looked up at Booth. 'Where did you find this?'
'It was given to me.' Booth stated.
'What?' both Cam and Brennan exclaimed at once.
Angela moved in for a look, immediately she regretted it. 'Oh my God!' She said, disgusted. 'Wait, this was given to you? Oh God!'
'We have an identity, and we have a suspect. But you're not going to like this…' Booth started.
'Why am I not going to like this?' Brennan asked, examining the areas of skull that were showing through the face.
'You ever heard of the Dante Masters case?' Booth started. Brennan shook her head and unzipped the body bag further. The word 'Payback' was cut deeply into the chest of the corpse.
Hodgins shoved the Ichneumon wasp into Sweets' hands and walked quickly to the table. 'Did you say Dante Masters? Oh whoa…. Whoa whoa whoa!Major conspiracy there!' He exclaimed.
Sweets fumbled the glass and put it on the side, his face sullen. He absentmindedly watched the insect buzzing to be free of the glass, to make it's existence known to the world and to escape it's transparent prison. In fact, he was listening intently to the conversation.
'Easy there Hodgins…' Booth stated, waving his arms to shut his colleague up.
'I don't understand.' Brennan stated, looking up from the body for the first time since it had arrived.
Booth sighed. 'You should really get a TV Bones…'
'No. I shouldn't. Being distracted by television shows and…' Brennan began, but Booth interrupted her.
'Well, if you owned a TV, you would have seen the Dante Masters case from years ago, and you'd know what we were talking about.'
'Oh God… THE Dante Masters? As in that poor little boy that…' Angela started, Booth merely nodded. Cam mouthed the word 'damn' and looked down.
Brennan looked around her, confused. 'I… could someone please enlighten me?' She asked.
'Dante Masters was the biggest mistake the Foster care system ever made…' Booth began.
'But the Foster system is always making mistakes. It's a system based…' Brennan interrupted.
'No. You don't know Bones.' Booth continued. 'The Masters case was in public view seventeen years ago. Masters was listed as one of the worst child abuse cases ever.' He glanced up at Sweets, knowing that working on a case to do with this subject could be painful for the psychologist. 'Dante was abused horrifically until he was about six. There was a huge news scandal when it was discovered and it rocked the media for ages. After that, no-one ever heard about the boy again. He seemed to disappear from the surface of the earth…'
Sweets stepped in. 'Basically he either died or was given a new identity as protection from his adoptive parents.'
'Precisely!' Booth agreed. Then paused, 'How do you know that?' He turned to Sweets.
'Agent Booth, I became a psychologist to save people. To help them get over past experience and to change their lives. The Dante Masters case is an exact example of why I went into this career; a child who needed to be saved or his life would become a disaster.'
'Yeah. But lets face it Sweets, any kid who went through what that child went through is beyond saving. No offence, but a kid like that, well, lets just say I've seen killers with a less screwed up past.' Booth said, doing his weird half smile and making a clicking noise as he cocked his head to the side.
'Not necessarily Booth…' Sweets challenged. Again, Dr Brennan interrupted.
'I still don't understand. Is this body Dante Masters or what?'
'Yes. Booth I'm confused.' Cam agreed.
'No. Dante Masters is the suspect. This is Philip Masters. Dante's adopted father. His wife requested that the Jeffersonian find out what happened.' Booth replied.
'Wait, so those monsters were let out of jail?' Brennan asked.
'You see Bones, this is why you need a TV. They were released last week.' Booth sighed.
'God… I hate the legal system sometimes! And the adoption system! The whole governmental failings are just so… unfair.' Said Brennan, clearly distressed by the case at hand.
'Hold up people.' Cam interjected. 'If Dante Masters is the suspect… that means we have to find him, right?'
Brennan picked up on what she was saying. '… But he's been missing from media and public records for seventeen years. How do we find a man who's very existence has been wiped?'
Sweets turned away, and returned his attention to the wasp, and seeing it's trapped frustration, lifted the glass and let it fly free. It headed directly for a window, but Sweets did not watch it long enough to see it leave.
Hodgins looked excited. 'My peeps… we have a conspiracy!'
