Chapter one. Lack of Confidence
Doctor Temperance Brennan stepped out from the black SUV dressed in her crime scene gear, her brown hair tied into a ponytail. Her partner and boyfriend FBI special agent Seeley Booth stood alongside her, wearing his suit, shoes, tie and cocky belt buckle. In front of the couple and the rocky drive way stood a two story brick house with a chimney and a front porch. The house was surrounded by FBI agents, several standing just behind the yellow tape trying to keep both intrigued locals and hungry reporters beyond it.
Cam and Hogans both appeared at the front door deep in discussion. While she wasn't Sweets, Brennan noticed that their faces were extremely pale and covered in sweet like they had just woken from a nightmare. Booth also apparently noticed and frowned.
"Hey Bones you see Hogans and Cam?" Booth asked, his eyes fixed his co workers.
"Yes so?" Brennan inquired, clueless as ever.
"Something's got them spooked." It wasn't a question.
"What you mean they're not alive and have come back as ghosts to haunt us?"
Booth rolled his eyes and was about to explain what he meant when he caught Brennan's smirking face and quickly knew she was joking. "Got you again."
"Yes you did Bones really funny." This is the seventeenth time she's got me this week!
"Moring Doctor Brennan."
"Hi Wendell, I need photos of the body and tissue samples now."
"Right away."
Wendell Bray, Brennan's grad student nodded and moved off towards the house.
Brennan mentally frowned. Under layers of logic and intelligence, she knew that Wendell had the most potential out of all of her grad students. While far from the smartest intern, Wendell was dedicated to his work and got along with his colleges a lot. He also was hard working, maintaining two other jobs to support himself and to pay back his neighbours who had dipped together what little they had so he could attend school. Also showing how appreciated he was to them. Something Brennan personally understood from her years spent in an orphanage since she was fifteen.
Brennan was brought out of her thoughts by Cam approaching her and Booth. Changing her focus, Brennan inquired on the identity of the body.
"Name's Stella Higgins. Twenty seven years old. Unmarried. No criminal record, Lives alone."
"Alright who found her?" asked Booth.
"Stella's father Marcus came for a visit. When she didn't answer the door, he used a spare key to open the back door and found his daughter's body in her room on the bed."
"Poor guy." Booth grimaced, while Brennan frowned slightly. That she could to relate to, discovering the body of her own mother completely by accident over seven years ago. Managing to keep it together, Brennan asked Cam "and what of the remains?"
Cam sighed and shook her head, "the body's over six months old. In advanced state of decomp."
"So what's the cause of death?"
Cam was about to answer when Angela appeared, her usually cheery self. Or even happier.
"Hi guy's!"
"Morning Angela, what are you so happy?"
"Michael said his first word."
Cam muttered something under her breath the others didn't catch.
"Sorry Cam what did you say?"
Cam looked Booth in the eye and said:
"The only reason Angela should be happy is because she hasn't seen the body yet."
Brennan, Booth and Angela looked at Cam like she had grown an extra head. Cam turned and led a very confused trio into the house. Walking into the hallway, Brennan, Booth, Angela and Cam climbed the stairs, their feet making each one groan in protest. Something suddenly hit Brennan with the force of a train. Brennan gagged and brought a gloved hand across her face in a vain attempt to stop the smell of death, pain and blood.
They reached the stairs and walked towards the first bedroom on the left. Standing aside, Cam let Brennan, Booth and Angela enter ahead of her.
What they saw caused Angela to scream, Booth to swear the F word and trip over while Brennan's eyes widened in horror.
Stella Higgins lay on her bed, her eyes opened. Her blonde hair was sprayed out like fan. Her clothing consisted of a collared shirt and black pants. Her skin grey, lifeless and decayed. She was cut up like a animal. Her throat, stomach and chest were mutilated with so many stab wounds Brennan couldn't count them. Not a single inch of Stella's clothes were free of her blood. The entire bed and some of the wooden floor surrounding the bed was also covered blood.
Angela sighed a second before fainting, Brennan and Booth just managing to catch her.
Then something else caught their attention.
On the wall in front of them right next to the window painted in Stella's dried blood using two fingers, the murderer had left a smiley face.
Hi everyone, this is a crossover between the Mentalist and Bones. If you WANT me to continue the story then leave a review. Otherwise, I won't post the next chapter and abandon this story. This takes place a month before Bones and Booth married and six months after the Mentalist episode Red John. Oh and by the way, in my fic Red John wasn't Thomas Macalister. The REAL Red John is still alive. Jane got the wrong guy AGIAN!?