Disclaimer: I do not own or profit of the characters from "Bones" they are the property of Fox and its affiliates. But if HH suddenly wants to give me something for Christmas…
Tuesday 7:00am
Dr. Temperance Brennan slid her ID card through the scanner to unlock the employee entrance to the Jeffersonian Institute. This morning her arms were full, she carried her usual morning coffee, several case files from modular skeletal storage and the first draft of a portion of the PhD. Thesis from her intern, Zack Addy. Juggling the items she managed to unlock her office door and deposit them on the work table near her desk. Brennan sat herself on the chair at her table and began sifting through the materials she had placed there. In short order the case files were laid out in alphabetical order on one end of the table and Zack's thesis was in front of her. Taking a sip of coffee she began reading his work…
"The study of the dimorphic attributes of the human skeletal structure has lead to the understanding that the skeleton is as unique as a singular finger print, the categorization of specific anomalies within the structures further supports the idea that each skeleton is distinguishable from others in terms of geography, race, age, and an innumerable amount of other variables…"
An incessant beeping from her computer alerted Brennan to a new "high priority" email in her inbox. With a growl Brennan stalked to her computer to reading the offending email. It was from her boss, Dr. Goodman.
"Dr. Brennan,
I need to see you in my office in five minutes. This is not negotiable."
Goodman"
With a belabored sigh Brennan pushed the chair in at her table and walked over to Dr. Goodman's office. His office was located in the administrative section of the Jeffersonian Institute, and required a brief trip out doors. The cool early morning breeze felt good to Brennan and briefly lifted her spirits as she walked to Goodman's domain.
The door to his office was well worn wood, with staining around his name, where his predecessor's use to be. Brennan briskly rapped on the door and waited to be called into the room. The answer was swift, "Enter."
"You wanted to see me Dr. Goodman?"
Dr. Goodman was seated behind his desk with a file folder in his hands, "Yes, Dr. Brennan please have a seat."
Taking her seat, "Is this very important Dr. Goodman, I do have several remains from Limbo waiting for me this morning…"
"Yes, I am afraid that it is…"
"Ok"
"FBI Deputy Director Cullen called me this morning asking for our help on a case. I agreed and he sent the file over. Having reviewed the file, I feel like you would be most valuable to the investigation."
"Dr. Goodman…"
He held up his hand to forestall any argument, "Dr. Brennan, this is not a request; the agent will be arriving sometime this morning. According to Deputy Director Cullen, he has never been here before, try not to scare him off on the first day…remember what happened last time…"
"Dr. Goodman, I cannot be expected to work at my full potential if I am paired with an inept field agent who can't tell the difference between an epicondyl and tuberocity…"
Leaning forward on his desk Dr. Goodman spoke with a warning tone, "Dr. Brennan, I am not above snowing you in with paper work…"
"I don't know what that means…"
"And you don't want to. Good day Dr. Brennan, I will expect a report this afternoon on the progress you make with this agent," this was said as Goodman handed Brennan the case file.
"Yes sir," with this reply Brennan left his office, trying her best to tamp down on her ire. Dr. Goodman rarely treated her with anything other than the utmost respect, the meeting had left her feeling like a chastised undergrad and she was having trouble dealing with this.
She was still lost in thought when she ran into Angela Montenegro, her best friend and local forensic artist.
"Good morning Sweetie, you look upset, what happened?"
"We've been saddled with another FBI case, and some idiot agent is going to be here sometime this morning."
Angela smiled, "Well maybe this time it will be a hot one?"
Brennan couldn't help but grin, "Somehow I doubt we would be that lucky. Besides are you dating someone?"
"That doesn't mean I can't drool indiscriminately."
Brennan drew closer to Angela to continue the conversation, "So I kicked Peter out last night."
"Brennan, what happened?"
"Angela, I'm fine. It was the same issues again, and I decided I didn't want the hassle anymore. He is supposed to come by sometime today while I am at work to collect his things."
"So are we going to go celebrate your new freedom tonight?"
"I don't think so Ang…"
"Oh come one Bren it will be so much fun. It will be a great way to get Peter off your mind."
"Let me think about it." With this Brennan darted around Angela to make her way to her office. She had several things she wanted to get completed before she was forced to work with this new agent. With the intention of working in solitude for as long as possible she closed the door behind her.
Angela watched as Brennan raced to her office and close the door, with a sigh the artist walked to her work station on the forensics platform to begin her work for the day. A skull from limbo was sitting on the work surface with newly placed tissue depth markers on it. Angela sat on her work stool and studied the skull, the markers were similar to Caucasoid characteristics, and with a basic image in mind Angela began sketching the person's head.
After about thirty minutes Angela was satisfied with the shape of the head and began sketching the nose. Her drawing was interrupted by the shrill beep of the alarm system signaling someone was coming up the platform stairs. Setting her sketch pad on the table she swiveled in the chair to face whoever was coming up.
Whatever greeting was on Angela's lips were quickly lost, as she took in the man striding toward her. He was tall, dark, and drop dead gorgeous, the badge hanging on his belt identified him as the FBI agent Brennan was expecting. 'She is one lucky duck' Angela thought as the agent came closer.
The man held out his badge and introduced himself, "Special Agent Seeley Booth, FBI; are you the bone lady?"
Angela's mouth gaped open for just a second before responding, "No, I'm Angela Montenegro, the Forensic artist. You are looking for Dr. Temperance Brennan, "this was said with an emphasis on Brennan's name. Angela didn't want to deal with the blood Brennan would spill if she heard this Special Agent Booth call her 'bone lady.' "I'll call her for you. " Angela picked up the office phone on her table and dialed Brennan's number.
"What is it Angela?"
"The agent is here." Angela hung the phone up.
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Ok sweetie," Angela turned from the phone to relay the message, "She'll be out in ten minutes."
Agent Booth nodded his head, and began scanning his surroundings. The lab was certainly everything the other agents had told him it would be like; shiny, clean, and supper creepy. The platform was in the center of a large room surrounded by offices lining the walls. He could tell some rooms were private offices, because those windows were covered in blinds. In one of the open rooms stood a tall gangly youth measuring something on a skeleton and in another was a man studying a projected picture of a bug of some kind. 'Yep this place is definitely creepy,' Booth thought silently to himself.
As he continued waiting he thought back to the advice the older agents on his floor had given him. Agent Perenky had been particularly helpful, "Booth, heard you were going to the Jeffersonian to work with the super squints. The best way to handle them is let them do all the talking and don't ask questions. Oh and if you can help it don't work with the head bone lady, she's the worst."
The shrill beeping of the platform security brought Booth back to the present as a woman walked up on the platform. Booth studied her as she walked toward him, 'was this the anthropologist?' In all the advice his fellow agents had given him, no one mentioned that she was hot.
The woman walked over to where Angela was seated and faced him, "You must be Agent Booth."
Booth stepped forward and extended his hand in greeting, "Yes, Special Agent Seeley Booth, I'm pleas.."
Brennan quickly interrupted him, "Agent Booth, I am Dr. Temperance Brennan. You can have the remains and the complete case file sent here. We will call you with our conclusions within the week." Brennan started to walk away, confidant in the fact that the agent now understood that his presence was neither needed nor wanted here at the lab.
His arrogant voice carried across the platform, "What makes you think I will be sending the remains or case file here?"
This made Brennan stop and turn to have him again, "If you want our help solving this case, you can have those items shipped here. Agent Booth we are very efficient here, if you want our cooperation you can follow my instructions, if not then feel free to find another forensics lab to work with." Once again she started to walk off.
"Dr. Goodman assured the FBI we would have your full cooperation in this investigation and that we could maintain full custody of all evidence."
"Agent Booth if you will follow me, we can go to Dr. Goodman and have this obvious misunderstanding alleviated."
Brennan strode off the platform and toward the door, assuming that the agent was following her. Agent Booth quickly close the space between the two and followed Brennan to Dr. Goodman's office.
Brennan rapped loudly on the door and shouted through the wood, "Dr. Goodman, we need to speak with you."
"Enter," was the muffled reply.
Brennan whipped the door open and strode angrily into his office, "Please inform Agent Booth that we will be unable to aid in his investigation if he will not send the evidence we need to our lab."
With a deep sigh, "Dr. Brennan, I am sure you recall the incident with Dr. Jaimison. The FBI is, understandably, reluctant to make the same mistake, therefore for the time being we work with them under their terms. Which means, Dr. Brennan, you will go to the FBI lab for initial examination. "
Agent Booth smiled smugly at Dr. Brennan. Seeing this Dr. Goodman spoke to him, "However, I am sure your supervisor would agree that allowing our lab access to the tissue samples and x-rays would be a perfectly acceptable compromise in this situation."
"I can certainly ask D.D. Cullen and email you his answer."
"That would be a most acceptable solution. Thank you Agent Booth."
Seeing that Goodman wasn't going to be any help to her Brennan walked out of the office and began pacing in the hall. Booth followed her out, "Alright, I parked my car in the visitor's lot. Grab your bag and meet me there in five minutes Bone Lady." With that he strode down the hall to the exit to wait for the good doctor out in the parking lot.
Brennan stood in shock for a few moments, "What did that Neanderthal just call me?" Shaking her head she walked back to her office to grab her bag, before the agent came back to get her. She had a thousand thoughts running through her head as she went out to where Booth was standing, one kept coming to the forefront, 'this is going to be a long case.'