The Girls In The Ground
Bones / Beauty And The Beast
by Thomas Mc

Author's Notes: A grisly discovery of several old skeletons uncovered at a new construction site in Upper Manhattan reopens several old cases. The discovery also brings up ghosts from thirty five years ago to haunt Catherine and Vincent and draws Catherine into the FBI spotlight. In the process of investigating this mystery Booth will be forced to face some of his demons resulting from his recent brain surgery.

This story is set between episodes 1 and 2 of season 5 of 'Bones'. It is also set a month after my story 'A Day In The Sun'. I know that this creates a slight time discrepancy between the two shows but for this story the year is 2005. Seeley Booth's brain operation, at the end of 'Bones' season 4, was a success but it has had some minor effects on his memory and personality. Booth also can't stop worrying that the hallucinations might return.

Chapter 1

A handsome well dressed middle aged man stood near the edge of the new construction site. His eyes darted everywhere as though taking in every single aspect of the ongoing work. His only apparent concession to accepted construction site attire was the blue and yellow hard hat that he wore. Those unique colors instantly identified him to everyone at the site as Elliot Burch, wealthy businessman, who happened to be both owner and primary building contractor on this project.

His gaze shifted down into the pit where the foundation would eventually be poured. This morning had been the groundbreaking ceremony. Now there was a forty foot wide by fifty foot long by six foot deep pit cut into the ground. Already there was a two foot gouge as the beginning of the layer of earth was being removed. With the roar of a diesel engine the great yellow earth moving machine plunged a massive scoop into the ground and continued cutting a large swath in the earth.

The dirt filled scoop raised up and the sound of the engine was suddenly competing with several shouts of surprise and horror. The well dressed man ran down the wooden ramp and over to the great yellow machine waving his arms and shouting for the operator to shut off his machine. Finally the operator, though confused, saw his boss and shut down his machine immediately.

The upper half of a human skeleton dangled from the teeth on the business end of that great yellow machine. Some of the hardier workers stood at the edge of the pit and peered down into the fresh gouge to see the two other partially exposed skeletons in the gouge just behind the machine.

After a moment Elliot Burch ordered all of the other machines on site shut down and had everyone move back away from the pit. He sent the machine operator and everyone that had witnessed the moment when the skeletons had been uncovered to the foreman's trailer. Everyone else he told to punch out and go home. He then made three quick calls. The first one was to the District Attorney's office to inform ADA Catherine Chandler of the grisly discovery. The second one was to the police to make an official report. The third one was to his project accountant to find out how much this delay was likely to cost him and find out how long he could afford to keep his crew on half pay furlough.

~ o ~

FBI Special Agent Seeley Joseph Booth glared at the source of his irritation which continued to be totally unaffected by said glare. He had vague memories of having done this kind of thing before yet he had no idea how to do it. The details of how to perform this type of repair were gone. Like his supposed hatred of clowns, his memory of how to do simple plumbing repairs had been erased from his mind by the benign tumor the doctors had removed from his brain eight weeks ago.

He knew that with a little bit of thought he could figure it out. He had done it with other things he had forgotten but he shouldn't have to relearn things that had once been second nature to him. The whole situation was so frustrating. He had lately often found himself doubting his own mind, wondering if he was even the same person he had once been. "I'm not even sure I know who I am anymore." He mumbled dispiritedly as he tossed aside what, he had decided, must be the wrong tool.

The sound of his cell phone jerked his mind back from the precipice of self pity he was teetering on. He whipped it out and glanced at the caller ID, it was the office, then he answered. "Special Agent Seeley Booth." . . . After listening for a few moments, he responded with a curt "Yes, Sir."

He disconnected then made an outgoing call to Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan.

"Bones, get packed. We're going to New York for a few days." . . .

"Three very old skeletons were found buried at a construction site in Upper Manhattan just north of Central Park." . . .

"They're not that old. This looks more criminal than archeological." . . .

"I'll pick you up in about an hour."

With one last annoyed glare at the troublesome water pipes, Booth headed into his bedroom to pack for the trip.

~ o ~

As Booth and Brennan entered the departure lounge they both spotted Avalon Harmonia. She was sitting at a table near the edge of the lounge with her ever present set of tarot cards. There She flipped over a card then looked up at Booth and Brennan in surprise. She motioned for them to come over and sit with her. Reluctantly Booth followed Brennan over to join Avalon. There was something about the uncanny predictions of the so called psychic that unnerved both of them.

As they approached Avalon remarked. "I'm on my way to visit my cousin in Albany." She grinned. "I knew you were going to ask." While they sat down she flipped over another card then looked up at them. "You are going on a journey of discovery that will challenge both of your perceptions of reality."

She held the deck out toward Booth. "Cut the deck." With a nervous shrug Booth complied. Avalon then took two cards off the top and flipped them over then began to speak. "Things go much deeper than you know and not everything is what it seems but you can trust your perceptions and you can trust Bones."

She next silently held the deck out to Brennan. After rolling her eyes Brennan cut the deck: Avalon again flipped two cards from the top then addressed Brennan. "Watch over him. You are his anchor to reality and he when he doubts his senses your truth will bring him back from the brink."

After a few seconds of uneasy silence Brennan opened her mouth to dispute the likely hood of her predictions, they were interrupted by the boarding announcement.

Avalon swept up the cards, placing them back in the deck in a well practiced maneuver then stood up. "Gotta go. It was nice seeing you again." Then headed toward the jetway

After a few bemused moments Booth and Brennan also headed for the Jetway.

~ o ~

Brennan and Booth were met at the New York Terminal by a man in a chauffeur's uniform. He retrieved their luggage and escorted them out to a very high class limousine. After a moment to admire such a fine automobile, Seeley turned to Temperance. "Is this your doing, Bones?"

Temperance shook her head. "I assure you, I did not have anything to do with this, Booth."

The chauffeur responded. "This limousine and my services are yours for the length of your time here, compliments of Mister Elliot Burch."

"Who is Elliot Burch?" Inquired Temperance.

Seeley and the chauffeur both looked at Temperance with a hint of surprise. It was the chauffeur that answered. "It was at the site of Mister Burch's latest construction project that the three skeletons were found."

"And where can we find Mister Burch?" Seeley inquired.

"I left him at the construction site, Sir."

Temperance spoke with authority. "Then I suggest we go straight there." She climbed into the limousine followed by Booth.

Booth glanced over at Brennan who was at that moment looking out the window. He felt a rush of love for her but he ruthlessly suppressed those feelings. He couldn't forget what Sweets had said about his feelings being a result of his recent brain surgery and would probably fade away in a couple of weeks. The thing was, he didn't really want it to fade away. With a sigh he forced his mind back to the case at hand.

~ o ~

A short time later Booth and Brennan arrived at the construction site. Seeley identified himself to the New York Cop that was guarding the gate to the site. The officer waved them through. A second uniformed cop pointed to a small knot of people that were standing at the edge of the pit near a large yellow earthmover. Booth and Brennan could both clearly see the partial skeleton dangling from the earthmover's scoop.

Booth and Brennan walked over to the group where Booth identified himself and Dr. Brennan.

The well dressed man responded to Booth. "My name is Elliot Burch. This site is my latest project." He then pointed out each person as he identified them. "This is Detective Henderson, New York Homicide. . . . Detective Hughes, missing persons . . . Joe Maxwell and Catherine Chandler, Manhattan District Attorney's Office."

At that point a distinguished looking middle aged man with graying hair and dressed in a suit similar to Seeley walked up to the group and addressed Booth. "You must be Agent Seeley Booth. I'm James McClendon from the New York FBI office. I'll be your local liaison during this investigation." He reached out to shake hands.

Booth took his hand and responded. "Glad to meet you. I believe I've heard of you." They both released hands. "You were involved in that big corruption case and that UN spy ring case in the early nineties."

James nodded. "That was a long time ago. I'm mostly administrative now. I don't normally go out to the field, however there may be a connection between that old corruption case and what happened here."

"How is that?" Booth inquired.

Agent McClendon waved his hand in a semicircle indicating the whole construction site. "The man that was at the center of that corruption had his headquarters on this site and before that it was owned by his father, who was just as corrupt and evil as his son."

"How many people have been down there?" Asked Booth, indicating the pit.

It was Elliot Burch who answered. "Only myself and the Bulldozer operator have been down there since he started his run on the next layer. I kept everyone else away from the pit until the police arrived."

Brennan turned away from the group, descended the ramp into the pit, and approached the business end of the earthmover. Booth followed her down examining the ground as he went. She tilted her head and her brows drew together in concentration as she visually scanned the skeleton. The others in the group shifted their attention to Brennan. After a couple of seconds she spoke. "Female . . . Caucasian approximatelyyyy . . . sixteen or seventeen years old . . ." She walked to the rear of the machine and glanced over at the other partially exposed skeletons then continued. "Based on the amount of decomposition, I would estimate that these bodies have been here more than a decade."

After another second she knelt down and glancing under the machine, spotting the other half of the bisected skeleton. To everyone's surprise she crawled halfway under the machine and started examining it. She carefully brushed some of the broken ground away from the partially exposed pelvic bone looked a bit closer then reacted. "Oh . . ."

Booth looked up from his notes at her soft exclamation. "What?"

Brennan wiggled out from under the machine and looked up at Booth. "Based on the shifting of the bone around the pubic region, this girl died within an hour of giving birth."

This pronouncement drew soft gasps from everyone that had heard it. There were also a few "Oh, my god!"s.

Brennan turned and approached the other two partially exposed skeletons and quickly examined the nearest one. "Female Caucasian approximately eighteen years old . . ." She looked closer. "This girl also died within an hour of giving birth." Shaking her head, totally unaware of the shocked looks on the faces of those around her, she immediately shifted to the third skeleton and after another quick examination looked up at Booth. "Female Caucasian approximately seventeen years old . . . also died within an hour of giving birth, just like the other two." She stood up talking rapidly. "I want the remains and the surrounding soil sent to the . . ."

She was interrupted by a voice not more than ten feet away. "I think I may have another body over here." They all looked over to see Elliot Burch standing at the edge of the trench and pointing at a spot twelve feet away from Brennan and Booth.

What looked at first like a round rock embedded in the ground had apparently drawn his attention. Brennan walked over and looked down at the object. She immediately noticed the lines where the sections of a skull grow together. Brennan carefully worked at the hard dirt around the skull until it was loose enough for her to lift it out of the ground. She turned it over in her hands giving it a quick once over. "Caucasian . . . female . . . approximately fifteen or sixteen years old." She carefully placed the skull back in the depression it had come from.

Brennan stood up." She faced Booth. "That makes a total of four bodies in this small section. All four are teenage girls and we already know that three of them died within an hour of giving birth." A shiver went through her body. "I want to bring in the ground penetrating radar to sweep this whole area for any more bodies and we need a full crew in here by morning to excavate all the remains." She glanced at the big yellow earthmover. "And we need to get that thing out of the way." She looked over at the mound of excavated dirt over near the far edge of the construction site. We will also need to sift through that loose dirt as well." She looked back down at the other three skeletons. "Whoever did this was a very evil twisted person."

Only Brennan was close enough to hear Elliot mumble under his breath. "That describes Gabriel and Julian to a T."

A short distance away Booth had noticed the pained looks pass between James and the two people from the DA's office in response to Brennan's description of the three skeletons. He also had noticed some rather peculiar looks pass between Catherine Chandler and Elliot Burch at Brennan's evaluation of the person responsible.

Booth faced the small collection of police officers and raised his voice. "Alright, we have what looks like a serial killer. This entire construction site is now a crime scene."

"For some decade old murders?" The construction foreman exclaimed.

Booth faced the man that had, until now, been standing quietly in the background. "It wouldn't matter if these were six decades old. There is no statute of limitations on murder." Then he stepped off to the side and pulled out his cell-phone.

Elliot Burch laid a hand on the foreman's shoulder. "Don't worry, Hank. I'll make sure that your crew will be taken care of until this thing is settled."

~ o ~

That evening Booth and Brennan were sitting in a corner table at a diner near their hotel discussing the case. Booth was speaking. "Just how old do you think those bones really are?"

Brennan responded. "I can't be any more accurate that what I've already stated without closer examination and testing."

Booth sighed and Brennan looked more closely at him. "Something is bothering you. What is it?"

Booth looked down at the table mulling over her question for a second or two then looked up and responded. "I don't know for sure. There's something about this whole situation that bothers me." He pause a moment. "Why were two members of the New York District Attorney's Office even at the site? Who called them in and why?"

"Is that what is bothering you?" She inquired with a worried frown.

"Yes . . . No . . . I don't know." He blew out an exasperated breath. "There's something about the way they all kept looking at each other that bothered me but I don't know why. I feel like this hole in my head has dulled my instincts and I'm overlooking something important.

"I don't know if it will help but I overheard the names Gabriel and Julian mentioned." She looked him in the eye. "It might be something worth looking into."

~ o ~

On the rooftop garden of a very expensive brownstone across the street from Central Park another conversation was taking place between two very different individuals. Catherine Chandler stood looking out into the park. She was enclosed in an embrace by a large, powerful and fearsome creature that actually appeared to be a cross between a human and a lion. The arms gently wrapped around her ended in very deadly looking claws and when he spoke his fangs could be clearly seen.

Catherine sighed deeply. "Four skeletons. . ." She paused and shook her head. "Four young girls." She let her head fall back against the creature's massive chest.

The creature gently nuzzled his furry cheek against the side of her head. "There was always a possibility that others had fallen victim to Julian's evil."

"Maybe so but that doesn't make the discovery any less disturbing." She responded with another sigh. She turned in his arms to face the creature. "And what if the investigation somehow leads back to you or Jennifer?"

The creature shook his head. "How could it? That was over forty years ago and no records survived the fire that burned down Gabriel's estate."

Catherine shrugged her shoulders. "I know, Vincent, but I still worry."

The creature responded by hugging her reassuringly tight. "We will be alright." He remarked quietly. "And you know how resilient my mother is."

Continued in part 2

'Bones' and its characters are owned by Twentieth Century Fox.

'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures.

No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.