July 21, 2012
"Alright, little man, make me proud," Jack Hodgins said as he placed his son onto the floor of the Jeffersonian lab. Michael Hodgins giggled as he was placed onto his stomach next to Madeline Brennan-Booth, Special Agent Seeley Booth and forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan's daughter. The two month old began drooling while Hodgins sat next to both infants. "Alright, you two," he said, "The race starts here and goes to Dr. B's office. Whoever gets there first, wins this stuffed zebra."
"Jack, what are you doing?" his wife, Angela Montenegro exclaimed as she exited her office. She glared at him as she picked up her son and Madeline.
"I'm not doing anything, babe. I'm just…racing babies," he answered in a shrug.
"You're racing an eleven month year old against a two month year old?" Michael giggled at his father's nervous look.
"Yeah, you are right- Daddy is in trouble. Jack, I leave you with these two for five seconds-"
"I didn't do anything!"
"You better not have," Booth said as he stepped from behind the platform. Angela jumped back and said, "How long were you back there?"
"Not long." He walked over to Angela and picked up his daughter. "You missed Daddy, didn't you? Didn't you?"
"Bren isn't going to like you talking to the baby like that," Angela replied, hoisting Michael up higher onto her hip.
"Well, she isn't here, is she?" he said to his daughter in a baby voice. Angela raised an eyebrow, which caused Booth to stop and respond, "Wait, you aren't going to tell her, are you?"
"I'm not going to tell your pregnant wife of your wrongdoings without any kind of payment, buddy." She started walking towards Brennan's office with an anxious Booth on her tail. Hodgins followed them with a smirk on his face, watching Booth attempt to reason with his wife. It was nice change in pace; the past week had been quite slow for the Jeffersonian.
"I don't know what I want for exchange yet," Angela told Booth as she stepped into Brennan's office. "Maybe money, but maybe a trip or talking to Cam about a raise?"
"I am not going to do that!"
"Do what?" Brennan looked up from her paperwork, curious. Angela walked past the desk and sat down on the couch. "Your husband just spoke baby talk to the infant."
"Seeley! I told you- no infantile dialect to our daughter. It is going to impair her development- we speak to her in normal dialect so she can develop cognitively and her auditory skills. The same goes for the growing fetus in my womb."
Hodgins laughed and leaned against the wall. "Sorry, I can't get used to you two calling each other by your first name."
"Well-" Booth started to say, but was cut off by Brennan, who said, "It will develop Madeline's social skill and knowledge of our nuclear family if we call each other by our first names around the baby and leave the nicknames for work."
"Aww, that's so sweet, I guess. I'm glad she doesn't think her mommy and daddy are names Booth and Bones." Booth held up Madeline and said to her, "No, that's when you get older."
He heard a chorus of chuckles before his cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket. "Let's go to Uncle Jack," he said, handing the baby to Hodgins. He answered in a professional tone, "Booth."
"Agent Booth, how good it is to hear your voice after all these years," the caller said. Booth gripped his phone tighter in anger and barked, "Who is this?"
"An old friend; I'm surprised that you don't remember me. "
"What do you want?"
"What I want, you cannot give me, Agent Booth. I will, however, leave you with this: do you remember Afghanistan- you served a seventh month term as a trainer in 2010?"
"Yes, I do. What about it?" Brennan stepped next to him and squeezed his arm in support.
"Do you remember Operation Delta-Fly?"
Booth swallowed and clenched his jaw. "I remember Operation Delta-Fly, why do you ask?"
"Does your wife and two month year old daughter know of your participation in this operation?"
"Listen, if you're a terrorist, get to the point."
"I'm not a terrorist, Agent Booth. I'm actually quite insulted that you would think that. Let's just say that I am here to remind the world about what really happened during that mission. I wonder how Dr. Brennan would feel about the lives that were lost because of you. "
"What do you want?"
"Atonement. Everyone around you is fair game, Agent Booth, including your precious baby girl. There is nothing that you can do to stop this; I will not stop to everyone involved and their loved ones are dead."
The caller hung up, causing Booth to nearly drop his phone in shock. Operation Delta-Fly was on a need to know basis…
"Booth?" Brennan called out softly, touching her husband's cheek. "Who was that?"
"I don't'-I don't." Suddenly Cam Saroyan appeared at the door and closed the door. She wiped a tear before stiffing her manner and saying, "I just received a call from D.C Metro…..there was a shooting outside a café a mile from here." She sniffled and wiped another tear from her face. "Seeley is there something you want to tell me?" she suddenly cried out.
"Cam, what happened?" Angela asked worriedly.
"Wendell and Daisy were getting coffee and-"Angela suddenly her hands to her mouth and screamed, "No!"
"Wendell and Daisy….they're dead." Brennan closed her eyes and let out a sad sigh; Hodgins crossed his arms and asked, "What? How did this happen?"
Cam ignored his question and looked Booth in the eye. "Is there something that you want to tell me, Seeley?"
Booth held his daughter close to his chest and asked, "Cam, what aren't you telling me?"
"After the shooting, a blue van with no plates drove by and dumped skeletal remains onto the street. There was a dog tag on the body for a Corporal Jeff Galston and a note."
"What did the note say?"
"He caused the deaths of one hundred and twenty Afghan girls. Now he has atoned for past mistakes. Sergeant Kyle Matheson, Private George Yale, and FBI Agent Seeley Booth are next. Go Delta-Fly."
"What is he talking about?" Brennan asked. Cam suddenly marched over to him and asked through tears, "Seeley, what exactly did you do in Afghanistan for seven months?"