Chapter 1: There Is No Love at First Sight
When Zack first saw Georgia, he was rushing. He was always rushing. Always trying to get from Point A to Point B so he could do something for someone. It was the sort of thing that came with the territory of being the assistant to a world renowned forensic anthropologist. Especially since Dr. Brennan had started working with the F.B.I on some of their murder cases.
Working with Dr. Brennan was an honor he held close to his heart – he still had the letter announcing his acceptance into the program tucked away in a secret place – but it was oftentimes a tiresome ordeal. All the rushing.
Georgia made him stop.
The murder victim had been discovered in a lightly wooded area near a prestigious private school, and Georgia was standing at the crime scene with some of the other faculty members. She was standing with them, but she was different. She wasn't purposefully averting her eyes from the decomposed body hanging in the tree. She wasn't running over to the nearest bush to empty the contents of her stomach at the pungent smell. She wasn't hightailing it back to her car to avoid the whole thing altogether.
No, Georgia was different. She wasn't reacting like any of the others. Instead, she simply stood and stared. Almost examined. Not grossed out. Not disgusted. Observant.
Long brown hair pulled into a messy ponytail. Big, blue eyes that were narrowed with intense interest. Delicate, symmetrical features.
He was drawn to her immediately.
And, fortunately for him, she was the person for whom they were headed. The headmaster led Dr. Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth directly to her. Zack followed, as obedient and unnoticed as always.
The headmaster was eager to introduce her. Even Zack, who didn't like psychology, recognized that he wanted the attention off of himself and onto another person. If Zack was the kind of person who interpreted a person's actions, he would have said that it was suspicious.
"Dr. Brennan, agent Booth, meet Georgia Regan. She's the one who discovered the body."
Booth stepped forward. Assertive. Dominant. He was the most obvious specimen of an alpha male that Zack had never met.
"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth, F.B.I. This is Doctor Temperance Brennan and her assistant Zack Addy. I'm going to have to ask you a few questions."
Georgia's hand was soft and warm, and she looked right into Zack's eyes when she said that it was nice to meet him. He knew it was a simple social formality to convey politeness and mutual respect, but still he entertained the brief fantasy that she truly meant it. Usually, he didn't do that sort of thing – fantasies were, after all, useless – but he found himself unable to resist this one foray into the realm of the ridiculous.
Their eyes connected for a moment longer than was normal. Zack knew that because Angela once told him to pay attention to eye contact. Too short of a time was considered rude and disrespectful, arrogant. Too long could be considered several things. One of which was sexual interest.
He was certainly interested sexually. And if Angela was correct, Georgia was not entirely adverse to the idea. Of course, there was no way to be sure, and he wasn't certain that Angela's theory on eye contact was even valid, but it didn't stop him from hoping.
Though hopes were as useless as fantasy.
Brennan instructed him to start videotaping, so he did without complaint. But he couldn't help but overhear to the conversation that transpired between Georgia and Booth. Partly because he was standing almost directly beside them, and partly because he was listening intentionally.
"I just thought I'd go for a walk. I was feeling cooped up at the dorm."
"The dorm? You're not a student here?"
Booth's skepticism was understandable. Georgia looked too old to be a high school student. But, of course, Booth had the social awareness not to say such a thing. Zack would have blurted it out. That was one of the many reasons why Zack worked in a lab and Booth worked with the people, he supposed.
"I'm a teacher," Georgia replied, folding her arms across her chest and smiling sadly. "Kind of relatively new here. I teach English, which to these kids is like the most useless subject ever." She laughed self-consciously and continued, "I've been staying here over the break to make sure the girls who don't go home are behaving themselves. The body, it's not one of my girls, is it?"
"The victim is male," Zack said before Dr. Brennan could. Brennan sensed his eagerness and shot him a look. A look that clearly denounced his lack of professionalism. He didn't care. The relieved smile that Georgia shone his way was worth the glare from his mentor.
"Fancy job. How'd you get it? Were you a student here before you started teaching?"
"Me? God no. I'm the daughter of a farmer from Texas and a beautician from Florida. I just got a really good internship and used big, impressive words in my interview."
Booth chuckled. Zack had noticed in his short time working with the older man that Booth liked people who joked at crime scenes. Zack didn't like psychology, but he knew that Booth behaved the way he did because serious emotions like grief or hurt made him feel uncomfortable when the body was right there. Especially in the cases when they didn't know who the victim was, yet. Because bodies didn't feel human to Booth without names. They couldn't. There was something preventing him from seeing them as totally human. Perhaps a fear of deterioration in his own body.
Zack didn't like psychology, but he liked to think that he was pretty good at it.
"You mind telling me why were you walking all the way out here? It's a pretty secluded place. Seems like there'd be safer places to take a morning stroll."
Georgia glanced at the headmaster, who was talking to another faculty member a few feet away.
"I needed to get away," she said pointedly. Booth smirked. Zack smiled.
And he turned back to his work.
Hodgins would most definitely have to hear about her.