Author's Notes (CatherineJosephineMarie007): This is a Grey's Anatomy/Bones crossover. To make it interesting, this story takes place at Seattle Grace Hospital, about the time Mark and Derek started to be friends again. That is to say, McSteamy is still single, and McDreamy and Meredith are still in the dark and twisty place after her almost-death.
Bones and Booth are in their usual state of sexual-tension, want-each-other-but-can't-admit-it, Cam and Booth are over, and Angela and Hodgins are off-again, on-again.
A/N (Queequeg417): This story was talked about for awhile before it sprung out of the mutual insanity of mine and CJM's minds. You know you're jealous :P.
As she has said, it's a Grey's/Bones crossover, but we're contemplating putting House in later so he can make his priceless comments on the Seattle Grace staff. We're shaking up the romantic pairing, but fear not, young grasshoppers. We will put everyone back with their respective people in due time.
Disclaimer: So, we pooled our resources, and once we'd subtracted tuition, groceries, and DVD box sets, we couldn't afford to buy Shonda Rhimes, Hart Hanson, or David Shore out of the controlling stocks in their respective programmes. Thus, we do not own House, Grey's Anatomy, or Bones. Big surprise, this sent us into a dark and twisty spiral of depression. That is, until new episodes aired. Please fuel our delusion, and FEED WENDELL!
Love, CatherineJosephineMarie007 and Queequeg417
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON MARCH 2007
Derek stepped out of the trailer into the cool March air. The pine trees had only recently lost their snowy caps and the ground was soft with moisture. He slid his green rubber boots on and sat for a while on the porch with Doc. It was so quiet out that you could hear the ferry boats in the distance.
Doc charged immediately forward with an energetic pace Derek couldn't bring himself to match.
One foot in front of the other. Just keep walking he told himself. Never, never close your eyes.
Dizziness overcame him in waves. Sleep, his rational brain told him. You need sleep. Sleep is a necessary process. It helps neurons in regenerating, reboots the immune system, everything…
Derek shook his head wearily and continued on. No sleep. He couldn't sleep. Sleep brought the nightmares, and the nightmares….they brought it all back.
The water, so deep, so cold. Reaching down, down, down….just when he thought his lungs would burst his fingers brushed something.
Up.
She was cold, so cold. And blue.
And not breathing.
Didn't swim.
Didn't fight.
Didn't live.
A sharp bark from Doc nearly bowled Derek over as he fought to chase the images out of his head.
The dog raced up to him, what looked like a stick in his mouth.
"What's that, Doc?" he asked the dog, bending down despite the screaming pain in his knees. Doc sat dutifully, setting the object down. Derek picked it up, only to drop it again in shock. His dog had brought him a right femur.
"What the hell?" he muttered, standing and looking around. Nothing was recently disturbed as far as he could see.
Derek grasped his dog's collar and led him out of the forest.
Meredith was driving up to the trailer as Derek emerged from the forest. She was in the rubber boots that matched his, approaching on the uneven ground, feet squelching.
Her soft smile at seeing him slipped some as she registered the shocked expression on Derek's face. She had barely opened her mouth to ask what was wrong before he held up a hand, and in it, there was a bone.
"Call Callie," was all he said.
Two Hours Later
"Derek!" Callie called as she jogged up to Derek and Meredith, her dark hair whipping in the breeze.
"What's wrong? You sounded pretty weirded on the phone. There a bear or something?"
Meredith and Derek shook their heads mutely.
Callie gave a nervous chuckle.
"Then….what?"
Derek dropped the bone into Callie's hand, his face still a mixture of shock and horror.
Callie's hair fell into her face as she bent over to examine the bone. When she looked back up at them, her dark eyes were wide.
"Dude! This is a human femur! Where'd you find it?"
"Doc found it. In the woods."
Callie stuttered. "Well…well did you call the police."
"They're on their way," said Meredith.
Another nervous chuckle. "Then….why do you need me?"
"My idea," said Derek. "I thought you could maybe give us some information, maybe tell us if you see any disease or anything in the bones?"
"I guess…" Callie fell silent briefly, studying the bone. "Was it just this bone?"
Derek shook his head. "Just this one…so far."
Just then, the wail of sirens penetrated the still air as blue police cars swung into dirt path, heading towards the trailer.
Two uniformed officers exited the car and walked up to the group. One of them was tall and lanky, the other short and Hispanic.
"Sir, if you could show us where you found the bone…"
"I didn't find it," Derek protested. "Doc here did." He patted the scruffy fur proudly.
The cop's face dropped.
"Then could you show us where the dog found the bone?"
Derek nodded and led he group back into the forest. It was still wet even though the sun had risen completely, and soon Callie and the two officers were up to their ankles in mud.
They passed the spot where Doc had brought Derek the bone, and headed up and small incline with a thin ravine on one side. Doc went crazy, barking and running in circles around Meredith.
"Doc, hush! Shut up!" Meredith chastised the dog, bending down in an attempt to keep him still. Doc broke away, bolting up and down on the filthy ground. A few yards further down the trail, the ravine widened and Doc rushed down.
"Hey!" Meredith cried, running to the edge. "Come back up here, boy! Doc!" the dog came back at his mistress' call, bringing something else up with him.
"What now?" the taller police officer asked, stepping up beside Meredith. He bent, taking the hard plastic object from the dog's mouth. Meredith and Derek each placed a hand on their dog protectively. "Oh, damn," the officer muttered, handing the object to his partner.
"What?" Callie asked, one brow raised.
"It's an ID card… FBI Special Agent Trisha Finn."
"I guess we'd better call the feds."
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Temperance Brennan sat on the couch in her office, examining the bones of recently discovered World War One veterans. Bach was playing softly in the background, and there was no disruptive noise coming from the Jeffersonian lab behind her. She had just raised Calvin Simons' mandible to eye level when her peace was interrupted.
"Dr. Brennan," Camille Saroyan said brusquely, striding into her office without knocking. "We've just received a call from an old school friend of mine, Richard Webber. He's the Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital in Washington now, and he said there was a situation."
Cam sat down across from her in one of the armchairs and began to recount to Brennan the story of the femur recovered in the woods by Richard Webber's chief of neurosurgery. After she was done, she looked at Brennan expectantly, who simply looked blankly back at her .
"This was in Seattle, Washington, Dr. Saroyan. I don't understand why you are telling me this."
Cam looked back at Brennan steadily.
"Because the victim was found with an FBI ID card, someone that you know. An agent - " Cam checked her notes quickly. " - Tricia Finn."
The pathologist watched Brennan's eyes spark with recognition.
"Agent Finn....Booth and I worked with her on the Allison Holmes case in California."
Cam saw sadness briefly across Brennan's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by her usual stony expression. She cleared her throat, turning her eyes to Cam again.
"The Seattle branch of the FBI want me and Booth to take the case?"
"Actually, they want all of us." Cam corrected. "Chief Webber wants to fly all of us out to Seattle to take the case."
"Why would they want you?" Brennan questioned in her usual tactless manner. "You're a pathologist, and from my understanding, the remains consist of bones. You would be of no use for cataloguing the evidence."
Cam ducked her head to hide the wry smile. She had long since gotten used to Brennan's blunt manner, long enough to know that Brennan honestly didn't mean to be rude, just direct.
"Chief Webber's an old friend, Dr. Brennan. He asked I come to supervise all of you."
Brennan's brow furrowed in confusion.
"As I'm sure you're aware, Cam, 'all of you' connotates a large group of people. You, Booth and myself only adds up to three people."
This time, Cam couldn't hide her smile.
"They want all of us, Dr. Brennan. You, me, Booth, Hodgins, Angela, and Mr. Nigel-Murray. "
She stood, handing Brennan the file and turning to leave.
She hadn't got farther than a few steps when Booth strode into Brennan's office, nearly running into Cam.
Booth rocked back quickly. "You're not Bones," he observed.
Cam smirked. "Wow, FBI guy. You really are freakishly perceptive."
She smacked him in the chest lightly. "Pack your bags, FBI guy. We're Seattle bound."