The Mason in the Mulcher

A Bones Fanfiction

1

"Tempie, its Sully. We've got to talk. Its taken two years, but I'm back in the states. I'm in my boat in the harbor. I've waited for you, Tempie. And I know you've waited for me." Beep. End of final message.

Doctor Temperance Brennan, or Bones, snapped her cell phone shut and stared blankly at it. This could not be happening. Two years after her brief relationship with Special Agent Sullivan, aka Sully, she had finally moved on and realized that she was meant to be with her FBI partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth. She and Booth had been dating for six months now and things were going great. But now Sully was back in the picture. Bones buried her face in her hands.

"Doctor Brennan?" Zack Addy blinked curiously at her. "I finished reconstructing the Bronze Age skull…" He looked like he wanted to ask why she had her head in her hands, but thought better of it.

"That's good, Zack. Thank you. Send it to the artifacts room please."

"Yes, Doctor Brennan." He shot her a look of pity as he left. Bones sighed and turned on her laptop. She had an email from Booth.

Hi beautiful. We got a case!
He had sent her attached pictures of the body. She clicked through them and wrote her own message.

Have you been to the crime scene yet?

She clicked send and her phone rang. She eyed it like a poisonous snake and checked the caller ID. It was Booth.

"Oh hi!" She let out her breath in relief. Thank god it wasn't Sully.

"Bones, I got your email. You're coming to the crime scene with me in a few."

"OK, I think we should bring Hodgins, too. There will be plenty of particulates for him to examine."

"Oh." She could hear Booth's disappointment.

"Its not like it's a date that he's intruding on, Booth. We're looking at macabre remains. We can go out to dinner tonight."

He laughed. "Alright." He paused. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," She quipped, a little too hurriedly. He sighed in exasperation. "Bones, how long have I known you?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Bones looked up as her best friend and colleague, Angela Montenegro, walked in, looking concerned. "Booth, I have to go."

Booth stopped talking. Bones had no idea what he had been saying.

"I'll be there to pick you up in a few. Love you."

"You too." She hung up and looked into her best friend's knowing eyes.

"Sweetie, what happened? Zack said you needed me."

Bones left herself a mental note to give Zack more credit when it came to reading emotions. In answer to Angela's question, she replayed Sully's message. Angela collapsed into Bones' couch.

"Oh crap."

………………………………………………………………………………...

"Oh crap!" Angela's eyes went wide.

"Yes Angela, you said that."

"I'm sorry Bren, but oh CRAP!"

"If you say that one more time…
"Don't call him back. Don't go to the harbor. Get a restraining order on him. Have Booth shoot him. You can-"

Bones broke across her rant. "I'm going to see him, Angela. And I'm taking Booth." She had decided this without really giving it much conscious thought.

"What?"

"I had feelings for Sully, but when he left, they left with him. I stayed here. I now know that that was because of Booth. I love Booth now, Angela. I need Sully to know that."

"Aww! That is so sweet! But seriously, Brennan," Angela turned suddenly sober. "When you see Sully again, old feelings are going to rekindle. Memories are going to fire up. Not to mention Booth and Sully are going to kill each other."

"I'm not going back to Sully. You know that."

"I do. But do you? You can't always be rational, Bren. This is going to be a tough one."

………………………………………………………………………………

Booth adjusted his tie and pulled up his flashy striped socks before entering the Jeffersonian lab. He had almost reached Bones' office when he was stopped by Doctor Jack Hodgins. He and Hodgins had always got along pretty well, and when Hodgins had asked Booth to be his best man at his wedding, Booth had been more touched than he had let on.

"Move it squint! Go! Run- get your stuff; you're coming with me and Bones."

"Field work? Excellent!" Hodgin's startlingly blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"And you'd better bring your, um, bootie things because this one's pretty messy." Booth wrinkled his nose. He hated messy cases. Hodgins, however, had no such qualms.

"Dude, I am liking the sound of this." He hurried off and Booth entered Bones' office. He wondered what had been wrong with her on the phone. It wasn't like her to get worked up.

"Hey Bones!" She was sitting on the couch with Angela. She looked nervous. He leaned down and kissed her. She kept her lips tightly closed and did not respond. He drew back, perplexed.

"What did I do?" He looked curiously at Angela. She winked.

"Nothing, hot stuff. Brennan has something to tell you, that's all."

"Ok, let's hear it." He sat down across from them. Bones grimaced.

"Sully's back."

Booth blinked. He looked at Angela, then Bones, then his shoes.

"Oh." He felt an angry fire radiating outward. He had felt this when Bones and Sully had been dating- it had made him want to shoot something. (Mainly Sully). He ground his teeth and looked up, forcing his mouth into a tight-lipped smile. "Great,"

"No Booth, it's not great. We have to go see him tonight."

"But we were going to have dinner?" He turned it into a question when he saw her stony face. "Never mind. How did you know he was back?"

Bones played him the message. Booth's fists clenched. "Sonfofa-"

Angela smiled grimly. "This is gonna be interesting."

The three of them fell into a tense atmosphere, broken by Hodgins, who poked his head into the office, looking excited. "Ready guys?"

"Yeah." Booth yawned as he stood, then he helped Bones to her feet, keeping his hand in hers. "We're ready."

……………………………………………………………………………….

Hodgins placed several squirming maggots into a jar and firmly screwed on the lid. "These babies should give me time of death," He said, his voice echoing oddly in his HAZMAT suit.

"Great," Booth crossed his arms, averting his eyes from the mangled corpse in front of him.

Bones twisted the body's wrist, and it broke off in her hand with a horrible squelching sound. "Male, late forties to early fifties. African American. Cause of death uncertain."

"Gee, Bones, you don't think it was the mulcher over there? The one with the hunks of flesh in its blades?"

She gave him a dark look. "He was most likely dead before he was mulched. His head was removed first."

"So that's the cause of death? Decapitation?"

"No…. I think he was shot first. In the back of the neck."

"Execution style."

"Yes." Bones raised her voice. "I want these remains, the mulcher, and everything within a five foot radius of the mulcher sent to the Jeffersonian."

The FBI forensics teams scurried around to accomplish the tasks set to them.

"Booth, you and I need to get out of these HAZMAT suits and over to the harbor."

…………………………………………………………………………….......

The boat Temperance bobbed in the dark harbor, the light from its windows sending shimmering yellow caps across the waves. Seeing the ship Sully had named after her brought a flood of memories back for Bones, and apparently, for Booth. He glared sullenly at the vessel, his thumbs in his belt. Bones was hesitant to knock. She had to steel herself. She was going to break someone's heart, someone who had been very close to her. She squeezed Booth's hand and knocked three times on the small door. Muffled noises echoed from within and they heard someone fumble with the lock. The door flew open, and Sully was staring at them.

As far as looks went, Sully was nowhere in Booth's league. He wasn't as muscular either, and he didn't have that smoldering look that made Bones want to melt, but still, there was something pleasing about him. His face broke into a smile when he saw Bones.

"Tempie! You came!" He moved forward as if to kiss her and Booth flung out an arm, blocking her from Sully's reach.

"Nice to see you, Sully." His eye's narrowed.

"Booth." Sully picked up on Booth's defensiveness and returned the greeting with equal coolness.

"Tempie, is something wrong? I thought you were coming alone." He made it sound intimate. Bones' stomach clenched.

"I- we- need to talk to you, Sully."

"OK. Come in. You remember your way around, right?" He walked them back in, holding the door open for Bones. Yes, she remembered her way around the cramped ship. The tiny kitchen was to the left, bathroom right across the hall, and the bedroom… she tightened her grip on Booth's hand. Sully's eyes zeroed in on their linked fingers.

"Am I missing something here?"

"Yes." Bones looked at Booth. "We, um…"

"Ah. Say no more Tempie. You and Booth now, right? Yeah. Yeah, I should have known. Well, congratulations, Booth; You got your wish." His voice held little or no emotion. Booth glared at him. Bones met Sully's eyes. She had always thought they looked like Booth's- dark, brown, and thoughtful. Puppy eyes. Booth eyes. Maybe it was his similarities to Booth that had made her fall for Sully in the first place.
"Tempie, if you're happy."

"I am."

"Then there's nothing more to be said here."

Bones turned away, anxious to leave.

"Booth? Could I have a word with you?" Sully put his hand on Booth's shoulder. Booth shrugged it off, looking homicidal.

"Yeah. You go on, Bones. I'll meet you out there."

"Alright." She dragged her feet, but she knew they wouldn't begin their conversation until she was back on the dock. She was right; as soon has she had gone, Sully shut the door. He stared at Booth. For a moment, neither of them said anything, then; "I hope you know what you have, Booth."

"Course I do." He said gruffly. He headed for the door. He didn't need this conversation. He loved Bones. He always had. He didn't need someone who had left her to tell him how great she was.

"Then you know I'll be fighting for her."

Booth looked back at Sully. "What?"

"I said I'll be fighting for her."

Booth bristled. "So will I. Always."

"Then may the best man win."

"With pleasure."

………………………………………………………………………………...

There it is- reviews, please! The next few chapters are already written- I just have to type them up! Thanks to everyone who is following this series! ~ Lizzy88