So this story takes place between "Wannabe in the Weeds" and "Pain in the Heart."
Its kind of like an event that may or may not have taken place, but one I could totally imagine happening.
Kind of a downer, but then again, everything was OK by the begging of the next episode anyways...
Oh, and I don't own "Bones.", although I do own bones. *hardee har har*
The lab was a stone cold scene. Dr. Temperance Brennan was standing over a pile of, well, bones, Zack at the opposite end. They were the only people actually working. Hodgins was sitting on an examination table, staring blankly like he had been doing for the last hours, like he had been doing for the last couple of days. Cam had her head down next to a computer, whether asleep or not, nobody knew. Angela was still out of the office taking the sick days that she had never used.
All was quiet. No joking around. No data beeping on the computer. Nobody was talking, because what was there to talk about now?
The loudest noise in the lab rang out just then- the doors had opened. A couple people, Hodgins and Cam, looked up excitedly when they heard this noise. But no heavy footsteps or sarcastic remarks followed. Instead...
"Auntie Temperance?" Parker had run in, and then had gone up the stairs of to the autopsy table. He stood in front of the team, a big grin on his face.
"Parker!" said Cam, lifting her head and standing up towards the boy. "What are you doing here?" It made her heart ache, it made everybody's heart ache, to see him, to be reminded that he had no father anymore. That a mere six days ago, his father had been shot and killed, while they all watched...
"Mommy says that daddy should be home now, and it's his turn to take care of me," said Parker, scooting over to peer above the autopsy table. "What are you doing, Auntie Temperance?"
"Parker, where is your mom?" asked Cam, pulling Parker away from Brennan and the bones. The rambunctious child then ran over next to Zack before saying-
"She left me off outside. I told her I knew where Daddy was," said Parker proudly. In the meanwhile, he was examining the shiny tools next to Zack as Zack nervously hovered over him. He didn't know what to make of this hyperactive child.
"Don't let him touch that!" said Hodgins, from his perch on the table. He got down and smacked Zack on the back of the head, taking a sharp scalpel from Parker's hands. "You, don't touch this," said Hodgins gently to Parker.
"Well, what are we supposed to do with this infant?" asked Zack, rather flustered.
"He's not an infant! Parker is six years old, and he is Booth's son..."
All eyes in the lab were turned on Brennan ( besides those of Parker, who had gone back to playing with lab tools). These were some of the only words, besides lab-speak, that she had spoken in six days. It was the first time since then that she had said Booth's name.
"I was simply trying to say that Parker is old enough to fend for himself," said Brennan.
"Even so, somebody needs to tell Rebecca," said Cam, "I'm assuming she doesn't know, or she wouldn't have sent Parker here. Does anybody have her number?"
Apparently, nobody did. "Wait, I've got an idea. Parker?" Hodgins bent down to the boy's level, "Do you have your mother's cell phone number?"
Parker looked Hodgins straight in the eye and said "Where's my daddy?" He withdrew and looked down at the boy. His eyes started feeling itchy, which wasn't a good sign. Hodgins blinked about and saw that Cam already had tears leaking down her face, while Brennan had gone back to work. Zack was just looking at Parker.
"Your dad, he's not here," Cam picked up for Hodgins. Her voice sounded muffled. "Can you please tell us your mother's cell phone number, so we can call her and, um, tell her where your dad is?"
"I don't know her phone number," said Parker, "But Daddy, he hasta' be here!"
Cam sighed. "Ok, well Zack is going to look up your mother's phone number, right Zack?" Zack nodded, dropping a probe on the floor. As he bent down to pick it up, Cam hissed at him, "Call Sweets first. Tell him to get here ASAP." When Zack looked at her blankly, she said "As soon as possible. Please." Zack then walked back down to the offices, and Cam turned back to Parker.
"Why don't you, uh, go to the vending machine?" Cam scavenged her pocket for coins, which she deposited into Parker's hands. "It's around that corner and through the doors." Parker skipped happily away, change in hand.
There was a long pause, broken by Brennan asking "Why did you send him to the vending machine? The amount of money you gave him was unusually large, and beings as children have low self control, Parker will most likely spend all of it on unbeneficial foods-"
"Exactly, it'll keep him out of the lab until Sweets comes," Cam said, her head buried in her hands.
Hodgins started, "What can Sweets say, though? I mean, you would have thought that somebody told Rebecca his father was dea-"
Cam cut Hodgins off loudly, saying "It's not our problem what Sweets tells Parker, or what Rebecca does or doesn't know. Right now, we just have to, um, get back to work."
"Work on what?" asked Zack, who had just returned, "There are no new cases to study, now that the FBI has severed communications to us."
"Don't you have any old work to finish up on?" Cam asked exasperatedly.
"Yes, there are old remains to identify, but what about after that?" Zack persisted.
"Here comes Sweets." Hodgins looked towards the sliding doors to see the young psychologist, looking oddly eager, walking towards them at a quick pace.
"Dr. Sweets," Cam greeted, "Thank you for coming. Parker is over by the vending machines. It seems that Rebecca hasn't heard yet, or else she hasn't told her son."
Sweets nodded. "I'll deal with him. First, how are you guys coping with this tragedy?"
"Deal with him? What do you mean, deal with him?" Asked Brennan, looking up from her work. She looked slightly angry.
"I'm a trained psychologist, Dr. Brennan. I know what to do in this situation. More particularly, I was wondering how you are doing. Agent Booth was, after all your partner."
"I'm fine, Sweets. And I would appreciate it if everybody would just stop asking me that question!" A scalpel in Brennan's hands fell clattering to the floor. "Right now, Parker should be your first concern. Has nobody even bothered to inform him of the situation?"
Sweets opened his mouth to argue, but Hodgins silently advised him not to. "You are right, I will go speak with the boy right now. If anybody needs my help..." Sweets flashed the sign of a phone before going down the hallway to catch up with Parker.
"Poor kid," sighed Cam, shaking her head.
"You mean Sweets?" Hodgins said incredulously, "That kid is a complete-"
"No, I meant Parker," Cam sighed. "He was just getting his dad back, too." Cam heaved another sigh, "Booth didn't deserve any of this-"
A great clatter echoed around the lab as Dr. Temperance Brennan marched from the lab, not even bothering to remove her gloves. Her remaining team exchanged worried glances, deciding against following her. She needed to be alone.
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And each time somebody reviews, I pinky swear that I will treat my family to a happy dance that involves 5 socks, my dog, and a couple sumersaults.
Gracias!