Booth ran into the FBI building, headed for the elevator. He paced the small box impatiently, then practically dove out of it when it arrived on the 5th floor with a *ding*. He sprinted down the hall, slid around the corner, walked into a room with screens lining the walls. Some were TVs, some were computers. There was about 12 other people in the room, either working at a screen, talking on the phone, or studying a document.
"Booth! That was fast," one of the men said quickly. "Well, this is important, John." Booth replied, still catching his breath. "Right. So, we think we've found the plane," John said, "but there's no promising it didn't head for another outpost after the drop off." Booth nodded, "show me," he said, heading for the screen John was standing at.
"See there? That's the plane, the serial number is right. Fortunately, we have an inside man in that area, but she can't get to this base for a couple if days." "Sooner than us," Booth said, adjusting his bet buckle. "If she's there, I'm on that team-and Arastoo, we need a translator." "I can try, but there's no promises, i-" John cut off as Booth interrupted with, "Make it happen." John nodded and turned around. Booth sighed and headed for the lab.
Arastoo held up the victim's femur, noticing slight abrasions all down the length of the bone, just as all the other appendages. "Is it safe to assume that all the extremities show this type of damage, Dr. Brennan?" he questioned. "A good scientist never assumes, Mr. Vaziri. I thought you were past that by now." Bones scolded, setting down the skull and passing the camera over it.
"You're right, Dr. Brennan, I apologize. My mind has been on other things." Arastoo replied. "It's quite all right, Mr. Vaziri, we've all been thinking about her. Look at this crack running down the occipital bone. It could be the cause of the bone bruising inside the skull."
"It does look that way. It also appears that their mandible was crushed, their ulna has comminuted fracture, and most likely a result of that fracture, there is a slight greenstick fracture to the radius. Do you have any word from Booth about progress? They said they were getting close," Arastoo questioned.
"Nope no word yet. You are correct about the fracturing, but do you see how they match up with the bone bruising?" Bone commented. She grabbed the victim's arm and held it up to their face, and the wounds lined up perfectly.
"They were defending themselves." Arastoo realized, and Brennan nodded. "She was protecting herself," Angela confirmed, swiping he ID as she headed up the platform stairs, "although the mandible was crushed, I got a match. Cameron Tilly. 25 years old, from NYC." She clicked a button on the platform computer and a picture popped up of a young girl with jet-black hair and bright blue eyes holding a husky puppy.
"She was so beautiful," Brennan said, "we need to figure this out, serve her justice." "I know honey, but first- Booth sent me some files. He's on his way here right now to brief us on our upcoming few days. Arastoo- you're gonna be busy. Also, Fishers taking over for you on this case." Angela said, motioning toward her office.
"What?" Arastoo and Brennan said simultaneously. "No time, we gotta go now," Angela called, not answering any questions or waiting for more. Arastoo shrugged, heading down he stairs after Angela. Brenna stood by the remains, wondering how anyone could confuse her in this way, then just gave up and followed them.
Booth met them all in Angela's office, a few minutes later, once again catching his breath from running. Angela had opened up the files, and Arastoo had just asked, "Did you find her? Is that why we're all staring at a map of Kandahar?" "We believe we did, this is where the plane we tracked is grounded. We don't know if she's there, but we're hoping that they still haven't figured out how we're tracking them."
"Please God let her be there, and let us get her back soon, please, please, please," Arastoo's voice faded to a soft whisper, a small tear leaking out of his eye. Angela set a comforting hand on his shoulder. After a couple seconds of silence, a phone rang.
"It's John," he said. Arastoo's eyes flew open. Booth answered the call and turned on speakerphone. "Hey, John," he said. "Hey Booth. So we just got a message from our inside man- turns out she was already at the base we're surveilling. She was already at the base under cover interviewing a mullah for a story," John said. "All right then, anything?" Booth asked hurriedly. "She's there Booth. Cam's there." Everyone let out there breath and cheered. Arastoo sunk in the couch and placed his face in his hands.
Angela sat down next to him and put her arms around his shoulders. He was sobbing. "Thanks man," Booth said to John. He was about to hang up, but John said, "Wait! I talked to the guys in charge, and words in- Arastoo's on the team. Also, they requested we have a specialist in identifying remains tag along, if we could find anyone. Anyone you could recommend?" John said. Booth and Brennan shared a look, and Brennan nodded. "Doctor Temperance Brennan," he said. "I thought so," John replied, "talk to you three later." They hung up.
Booth headed for the couch. Arastoo was no longer crying but Angela was slightly. She looked up and said, "Well, it looks like Michael Vincent is going to have a temporary sister for a while." "Thank you, but we don't expect you to watch Christine for such a long time." Bones said. "What are you gonna do then, take her with you?" Angela questioned. "Call my dad," Brennan corrected.
"Out of the question. We want to. Right, honey?" Angela said demandingly. "Of course," Hodgins agreed, having arrived just as they found out, "I can't think of a better idea." "Thank you," Booth said, looking down at Arastoo, who was leaning back with his eyes closed. "So, Arastoo, how's your Arabic?"
11 months earlier
Ring! Ring! Ring! Cam dug through her purse, and of course her phone was at the very bottom. She pulled it out right as it beeped to let her know she had a missed call. She sighed and checked the number.
Blocked. 'How curious' she thought. 'Oh well, if it's that important they'd leave a voicemail, and probably call back.' She put her phone back in her purse, which she placed on her shoulder. Straightening her dress, she heading out of her apartment and down to the lobby, where Arastoo would be waiting with coffee, as he always is.
She stepped into the elevator and pressed the lobby button, then waited. When the car hit the 3rd floor, it stopped and the doors opened. A dark-skinned man with a few days' stubble stepped in. Cam moved aside so they could both stand comfortably. When they passed the 2nd floor the man turned to her and asked, "Are you Camille Saroyan?" "That I am, can I help you, sir?" She asked. "That you can," he replied in a deeper voice, and he whipped out a handkerchief and thrust in her face.
She screamed and ducked, but he grabbed her by one arm and pinned them both down, using his other hand to force the cloth in her face. The elevator stopped with a lurch, and the doors opened to the lobby. Arastoo stood up and smiled, heading for the elevator to meet Cam.
He smile vanished as he saw her kicking and heard her muffled screams, caught in the violent embrace of a random man. He dropped the coffees and ran for the elevator. The man kicked the P button, and the doors slammed shut as Arastoo skidded to a stop less then a foot away, staring helplessly as the love of his life went unconscious, slumping down in the man arms.
He turned and ran for the stairs, noticing that the arrow above the elevator still pointed down. He jumped the stairs 3 at a time, slamming open the Parking garage door. He ran out into the garage to see a van speeding away.
He ran his hands through his hair and headed for his car. He jumped in and sped out of the underground garage, heading after the van. He pulled onto the man road, and saw a black van hit the highway. He didn't follow; he knew his beat chance was government help. So he called Booth.