Red Fish, Blue Fish

Disclaimer: "Bones," and all associated characters, situations, and locations are copyright by Fox and Kathy Reichs. I make no profit from this fan-fiction and no copyright infringement is intended. The title obviously comes from a Dr. Seuss book, which I did not write.

Author's Note: The title, while borrowing shamelessly from Dr. Seuss, whom I also do not own nor do I claim to be, is in reference to the phrase "red herring". But you probably knew that already.

This story has been beta-read by ani8 (livejournal), and for that she has my eternal gratitude!

Finally, please review. It helps me to improve the story, and keeps me from abandoning it like a bad parent.

Chapter One

Graham Cavers backed the Bobcat into position, careful not to spill his Tim Hortons coffee as the treads rolled over the curb. It was a cold October morning, but with any luck the construction job would be finished before winter really set in, and one of the last steps to that end was to get this load of dirt trucked out of the way. Carefully, he set the coffee cup on the floor, and then reached for the shovel controls.

There was something soothing about the way the Bobcat responded to his commands, the heavy thrum and the smells of earth and gasoline. Graham was so intent, so in-tune with his vehicle, that he almost didn't notice one of the construction guys screaming at him to stop.

Frowning, he climbed down from the cab, snatching his drink as he went. "What's going on, Joe?"

Joe, under his bright yellow hard-hat, had gone completely white. He merely pointed at the shovel.

Graham's gaze followed his finger and he spat hot coffee over the side of the backhoe. Hanging from the side of the bucket was a desiccated human arm.

SEGUE

Leaning over the body of a 3,000 year-old mummy, Temperance Brennan pointed out barely-there details of bone and tissue development, noting everything from dominant hand to minuscule fractures sustained while it had still been alive.

"Based on the development of the humerus and the damage to the glenohumeral joint, this man was an agricultural labourer. Mummified abnormal tissue build-up suggests he may have suffered from adhesive capsulitis. You can see by the curvature of the spinal column that he spent much of his time bent over-"

"Can I talk now?"

Caught off-guard by the sudden interruption, Zach jumped. "Agent Booth! Do we have a case?"

Booth took the last three steps up in one. "No," he said patiently, indicating himself and Brennan, "we have a case. You have an old dead guy."

Bones rolled her eyes at him. "We have a case," she repeated, including Zach this time, "or you have a case."

("It's a mummy," Zach said petulantly, under his breath.)

"So?" she asked when Booth noticed his expression mirrored Zach's and wiped it from his face. "Who is it?"

Secretly, this was Booth's favourite part of the game. He pretended he didn't need her help, she pretended she would withhold her help, and in the end everyone's curiosity overcame their stubborn nature and the real work began. Today, he had a little extra hook. "Can't talk about it out here. It's full of all kinds of sensitive information. Can we get a conference room?"

Booth 1, Squints 0. One look from Brennan had Zach scrambling to round up the rest of the squint squad, beginning; he couldn't help but notice, with Angela, and finishing with Cam.

"You've got him well-trained," he observed, turning back to his partner.

"Zach is an incredibly gifted and competent student," she answered, deadpan. Booth was just about to sigh and shake his head when she added, "And an excellent judge of character. Come on, Booth, let's see what you've got."

He barely had time to wonder if he should be offended – for his own sake or for Cam's – but it was enough to make him flinch inwardly. After the first case they had worked on together, he had thought that maybe Cam and Bones could learn to get along, maybe even be friends, although he wasn't idealistic enough to believe they'd ever be close. But things between them had clearly deteriorated again, and he didn't hold out much hope for a friendship. Worse, he still hadn't told Bones that he and Cam were seeing each other, and as people-savvy as she wasn't, Temperance Brennan was not stupid; she would not be in the dark forever. When she did find out what he'd been keeping from her, she would undoubtedly see it as a personal betrayal, and that would set their friendship back months, if he were lucky.

Temperance Brennan's trust was not something to be taken – or broken – lightly.

Sighing quietly, Booth snagged his case file and dragged himself into the conference room with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. It was only ten o'clock in the morning, but he was suddenly very, very tired.

The case didn't make it any easier. He passed around a photo of the body, mostly decomposed with a few scraps of clothing remaining. "This is the body of Karen Adams," he said, and then held up a photograph taken of the girl a few months before she'd gone missing. "We think, anyway."

"You think?" Brennan frowned. "You haven't checked dental records yet?"

"And that's the problem." Booth sat one cheek on the edge of the conference table, ignoring the half-strength glare Cam sent his way. "We can't check dental records. Karen Adams was put under witness protection four months ago – we can't risk accessing any of her files in case someone is watching us."

Cam frowned, pushing the girl's picture away. "Shouldn't the FBI have secured that information when she was put under federal protection?"

"Should have being the operative words. Someone lost their job for that oversight, believe me." Booth had been in the room when Cullen had chewed the guy out; he wouldn't have wanted to be a fly on that wall. "This is where you come in. Once we have a positive ID on the body, we can go ahead and start looking for a suspect."

Auburn head bent low over the image of the remains, Brennan asked, "Has foul play been established?"

Wasn't she listening to anything he was saying? "Karen Adams was placed under witness protection because she's a key witness in a federal fraud and tax evasion case worth literally millions of dollars. She vanished from witness protection at the beginning of September, just two months before the preliminary hearing. I don't know about you, but that sounds suspicious to me."

"You think her protection was compromised?"

"It happens." Booth didn't bother disguising the bitterness in his voice. "Some hotshot takes an hour off and heads to a bar, gets it into his head he'll be a hit with the ladies if he flashes his badge around. It's not unheard of."

"You obviously need more female FBI agents," Angela observed, rolling her eyes.

Zach snickered quietly, earning a glare from Angela and Brennan both. "What? Agent Booth, don't you find it ironic that it's Angela implying that women are less susceptible to their bodies' biological imperatives?"

Once Booth had translated that into plain English, it was pretty funny. Even Brennan was smiling.

Hodgins snatched up the photograph and eyed it, impressed. "Man, why go to the bank when you're guarding the vault?"

Right, that was far enough off-topic. Booth sent Hodgins a glare that went unacknowledged. "People, can we focus on the case for two minutes, please?" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Angela, do you think that skull could match the girl in the picture?"

It was a lot to ask for, and he knew it, but the remains wouldn't be here for another twenty-four hours; it had to be brought in from Canada and the sort of paperwork that went with this kind of thing always took ages.

The artist compared the two photographs, shaking her head. "Sure, they look like they could be from the same girl. They have the same general facial shape..." She shrugged. "I won't know for sure until we have the body here in the lab. Sorry."

Well, it had been worth a shot, anyway. Booth pulled out a chair and sat, leaning his elbows on the table. "Okay, then. Since we have some time before the body gets here, this is what we know about the case." He drew a handful more pictures and writs from the folder. "This is Daniel Klagenfurt, CEO of ComTech Industries." He passed the paperwork to Cam. "They're under investigation for defrauding the government of more than ten million dollars."

"Chump change," Hodgins dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Zach sent Booth a commiserating look. There was no question about it; things were bad if he was starting to identify with the kid.

Cam was clearly less than a hair's breadth away from hitting Jack over the head with whatever happened to be closest – in this instance, probably Zach. "Can we continue?"

"This is Karen's boyfriend, Brad Callum. Also under witness protection – this time because ComTech's trying to pin the scam on him. We're not sure of the extent of his involvement; he's been working for ComTech for the last year and a half as an industrial engineer."

Bones frowned. "You think he's a suspect? But I thought you said he was in protective custody."

Booth rubbed his forehead. Sometimes he just hated Michigan. "He is. But so was Karen, and she's gone, probably dead. So nobody can be ruled out."

"You always think it's the boyfriend."

"And I'm usually right!" Brennan had always been a little sensitive on this particular topic, since to be more specific; he usually thought it was her boyfriend. There were probably reasons for that, psychologically speaking, but even Booth didn't want to analyse those. "I'm going to head back to the Bureau. Let me know when the remains arrive."

He had made it to the door and was so sure he was home free when he heard Cam's voice behind him. "Seeley!"

Swearing to himself, Booth took a second to attempt to wipe the frustration from his face. "What's up?"

She gave him a too-warm smile. He tried to ignore the fact that it didn't affect him in the slightest. "Dinner at my place? I'm doing oysters."

I'll bet you are. "Ah, I can't," he excused, relieved even though the physical release would be welcome. "I've got Parker for the night – swimming lessons and then Cartoon Network. Maybe Friday?"

"Sure," Cam agreed. He could tell she wasn't entirely happy with this outcome, but she was trying her best to disguise that. "It's a date."

He made a face as soon as his back was turned, barely resisting the urge to bang his head against the glass door. Cam was nice. He'd liked her, back in the day, and he still... appreciated her company. But he hated speaking to her here, in the lab – in Bones' domain. It felt suspiciously like betrayal, which didn't make sense. After all, he'd known Cam longer.

He pushed the thoughts from his mind. All of that could wait – for now, he was going to concentrate on making the most of his time with his son. Smiling, Booth stepped out into the sunshine.