The doorbell rang in Temperance Brennan's apartment.
"Bones, Bones open up." Special Agent Seely Booth rapped on the door with his free hand, the other balancing a heaping box of Wong Foo's. He sighed, laid the box on the floor outside the door, and knocked again. "Come on, Bones. I know you're awake."
Pause.
Silence.
Booth smiled his charm smile, although he knew Tempe couldn't see him, and added as an incentive, "I brought Wong Foo's…?" He pressed his ear to the clammy door of room 2B, listening for footsteps, breathing…anything.
Pause.
Nothing.
It was too quiet, he thought to himself. Something was wrong. He dug around in the pocket of his jeans, extracting a platinum silver credit card from his wallet. Sliding it through the door and under the lock in true FBI fashion, he heard the click of the lock pop open. He rested his palm on the handle and stopped a moment, glancing down at the box of Chinese food at his feet before opening the door. It creaked in displeasure as he slowly stepped into Brennan's apartment. "Bones?" He peered into the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom.
Pause.
No one.
Booth drew his gun from its holster on his belt and walked around the apartment once more. There was a beer bottle on the coffee table, half empty. The cushions on her couch were displaced, and still warm. She had been there.
He walked into her bedroom once more. A slight breeze ran over his forehead as he turned to face an open window just off to the side of the bed. A bird chirped outside.
Bones did not seem like the type of person who liked listening to birds chirp. She would not keep her window open, not when she was trying to figure out a case as she was today. It had been a trying case for them all, as they dealt with a new kind of serial killer named Blake. He would locked his victims in a freezer in his basement, then went about living his normal life as if nothing was wrong. As if there wasn't a human suffering from lack of oxygen, and probably hypothermia, in his basement. It had made Angela sick, as usual, but had seemed to get under Brennan's skin as well, Booth had noticed.
Striding towards the window, Booth noticed a little pink object stuck in the blinds. Looking closer, a smile spread across his face. It was Jasper the Pig. Booth had given Jasper to Bones ages ago when she was particularly upset about a case. Booth started to walk away, paying the little pig no more notice.
Pause.
Wait.
Bones always kept Jasper with her. He lived in a special pocket in her bag, the bag that contained her current files. The bag that went with her everywhere. That way, he was always there to comfort her. What was Jasper doing stuck in the window if he never left that pocket?
Booth's eyes grew wide as he whipped out his cell phone.
"Hello?"
"Ange."
"Booth?" Shocked to hear his voice on the other end, Angela quickly began to expect the worst. "What is it, sweetie, is Brennan alright?"
"That's the thing. I-" He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "I don't know." He proceeded to tell her about Jasper and the open window, but Angela seemed quizzical.
"Well, maybe she just went for a walk. I mean, Booth, it's only a toy pig. Maybe he just fell out of her bag when she was changing out of her work clothes or something." Always one for gossip, Angela smiled to herself and raised an eyebrow. "What were you doing at her place this late, anyways?"
"Ange, this is serious, okay. Bones is missing; can you try to focus here?" Angela could here the frustration in his voice, and decided to temporarily let him off the hook. But she would ask him again later—he couldn't dodge her that easily. "I'm gonna go check the lab, will you come over here and wait?"
Angela agreed and promised to call him the instant his partner came back or made contact with her. "Hey, Booth," she added before hanging up, "We'll find her, okay? It's gonna be alright."
"Yeah," Booth replied quickly. "I know." He clicked off his cell phone and ran out the door of Tempe's apartment, the box of Wong Foo's still waiting patiently outside the door.