Author: QueenyC
Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or any of the charters or locations affiliated with it. If I did, I'd be doing more with them then posting stories in fan fiction.
A/N: Below is something that has been stuck in my head almost since I started The Feel of A Heartbeat, to be honest. Maybe that's why it only took me a day to get it all down. I'm pretty proud of the way it turned out, almost exactly as I'd intended it to the whole time. This is a re-imagining, if you will, of what the Gravedigger trail would've been like if circumstances had been just a bit different when it came around. It takes place about a year after the epilogue of Heartbeat and follows that universe.
Also, a lot of the dialogue during the actual trial is pulled from the show transcript, so it it sounds familiar, I didn't write it!
The Woman on Trial
"Daddy," a small, familiar voice squealed from his office door. Booth looked up in surprise as nearly two feet of auburn curls, blue eyes and a toothy grin raced across the room and into his open arms.
"Hey Happy Girl," Booth laughed, scooping his daughter up into his lap and turning to his office door curiously.
His girlfriend stood there, beautiful as ever, shilouetted in his doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a satisfied smile of her own.
"To what do I owe this surprise," Booth asked her, propping Joy on his hip and crossing the room for a chaste kiss.
Brennan screwed her eyes up in confusion. "Caroline didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. She called Cam this morning and asked the team to be here at two. I came a little early to pick Joy up from the daycare center and see you."
"You mean see if you could squeeze any secret information out of me," Booth teased her knowingly.
"Maybe," she smiled.
"Down, Daddy," Joy interrupted, squirming in Booth's arms.
"What do we say, Joy," Brennan replied for him, taking on that mommy-tone that made Booth's heart swell with pride and affection.
"Down, pwease," Joy tried.
"Good girl," Booth nodded, letting the toddler wiggle to the ground as the prosecutor in question walked in.
"Cherry," Joy called excitedly, the nickname she had coined for Caroline Julian as her best attempt at 'cherie.'
"Well hello, Cherie," Caroline smiled indulgently.
"Up!"
"Joy," Brennan admonished.
"Pwease! Pwease! Pwease," the girl danced on the spot.
"'Up' is our new favorite word," Booth explained to Caroline apologetically, scooping the girl back up into his arms.
"Followed closely by 'down,'" Brennan sighed. Still, Booth could see the corners of her mouth turned up. It was nice to see her always withholding smiles these days. So many years of her life had been filled with holding back tears instead.
"So what's with calling in my people behind my back, Caroline?" Booth asked with a quirked eyebrow at the prosecutor.
Caroline frowned and turned to Brennan, "You told him?"
"Told him what," Brennan scoffed, "I don't even know what's going on!"
"Well, I'm not saying it twice, come on, let's get to the briefing room. I'm sure everyone else showed up early too," Caroline groused.
As it turned out, Caroline was right. The squints were nothing if not prompt. Cam was seated at one end of the table with Angela and Hodgins to her left. To her right, two empty chairs waited for Booth and Brennan, who took them silently and turned to the prosecutor.
For a moment, the first one in Booth's memory, the savy lawyer seemed hesitant to speak, but her eyes fell to Joy, babbling absently in Brennan's lap and she squared her shoulders meeting Booth's eye first and holding it.
"I wanted to give you all advanced warning. The trial against Heather Taffet will begin next Monday."
Booth felt all the air suck out of the room and turned quickly to face his girlfriend's suddenly pale face. He grabbed her hand and sighed a little in relief when she didn't pull away and retreat.
Across the table he heard Angela saying, "What do you need us to do?"
"Your jobs, Cherie," Caroline sighed. "You'll all be testifying." At those words she pulled several packets from her bag and passed them out. "We'll meet tomorrow for a briefing on your findings. That's them there," she continued, indicating the papers she'd handed them.
"What is this, a refresher course," Hodgins scoffed, flipping haphazardly through the packet.
"You don't honestly think we've forgotten anything from that case, do you?" Brennan said, her voice calm but laced with a deeper panic that was almost palpable in the small space.
"No, Cherie," Caroline sighed, shaking her head sadly, "I'm sure you haven't. But we all need to be on the same page. I won't have this thing end in a mistrial."
Everyone nodded their understanding and agreement. Beside him, Booth felt Brennan's fingers squeeze his own.
*~BB~*
Brennan woke up with a startled gasp, pressing a hand to her heart and feeling it's insistent pounding as a reminder that she was alive, that things were okay, that it had all been a bad dream.
She crawled out of their bed without disturbing Booth and, feeling the practice was ridiculous but also very necessary, she crept into Joy's room.
The toddler was sleeping soundly in her crib, flat on her stomach with her arm curled around the teddy Max had given her. Her yellow baby blanket, the one that once belonged to Brennan herself, was pushed down around her footie-pajamaed feet.
Brennan sighed in relief, taking a moment to just admire the beauty of her little girl, sleeping sound and happy and safe. How many mother's took this moment for granted?
After several minutes she brushed the hair back from Joy's head, pressed a kiss there and stalked instead downstairs to the kitchen.
That was where Booth found her almost an hour later. "Couldn't sleep," He asked softly, fixing a cup of coffee from the pot she'd made earlier and joining her at their breakfast table.
Brennan shook her head. "Bad dreams."
"Me too."
"About her?"
"Yes. And...and about you," Booth admitted, reaching across the table to take her hand. "About the times I've almost lost you."
Brennan nodded. "Me too," she gave her own admission. "Normally I don't put much stock in nightmares, Booth, but when I dreamt that she had you... had Joy, I..."
Booth pulled her into his lap gently and she tucked her head into his neck, "Did you check on her?"
Brennan nodded. "She sleeps like you do," she said with a soft smile.
Booth chuckled, but she could hear his tension, feel it in his body as he held onto her desperately. "This is gonna be hard on all of us, Bones. We'll get through it though."
Brennan nodded. "Just hold me for a while?" She asked, allowing herself a few moments of self-pity to break down in. Booth was the only one she'd allow to see her this way and she relished the comfort he provided.
"Forever, Bones," Booth whispered into her ear, "I promise you that."
*~BB~*
It occurred to Booth Monday morning that if the evidentiary hearing had been this difficult, he couldn't imagine facing the trial. He knew that Brennan was a strong, resilient woman, it was one of the things he was most attracted to, but he had also seen her breaking along invisible hairline fractures all morning.
He'd been discussing tactics quietly with Caroline just after the hearing when his instincts kicked in and he found himself searching the courtroom for his girlfriend.
When he spotted her he understood his own unease. Taffet was grinning challengingly at Brennan, her lips forming words Booth couldn't hear. Darting in their direction quickly and ignoring Caroline's startled, "Where are you goin', Cherie," he reached Brennan's side just in time to catch Taffet's gaze as she was led away.
"You alright," He asked gently, gripping Brennan's arm like an anchor, "What did she say?"
Brennan looked up at him but he could already see her mind traveling miles away. "She says I missed some evidence."
"What evidence?"
Brennan shook her head, "She doesn't think I can find it."
*~BB~*
"I'm fine, Dad," Brennan sighed into her cell phone, her daughter was sitting in her lap at her office desk coloring bone parts in vivid green and blue. Brennan smiled.
"Tempe, I'm worried about you, okay. It's my job, I'm your father."
Brennan laughed. "Yes, you are my father and I appreciate the sentiment of your worry, but I'm okay. I have Booth, I have Joy, I have you and my friends. I can beat her, Dad, I just have to focus on the case and ignore the fear."
"So you admit you're afraid," Her father sighed in relief.
Brennan nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her, "Booth says I'd be foolish not to be afraid."
"He's right, that man of yours. I've always liked him."
Brennan laughed again, sadly. "No you haven't."
"Well, no, I haven't," Max admitted, "But lately he does me proud."
"I'll tell him you said so," Brennan teased.
"Don't you dare. Now, on a happier note, how is my Sunshine?"
Brennan grinned, gazing down at Joy's progress. "She's coloring a pink distal phalange at the moment."
In her lap the toddler looked up at her and started singing, "Fwan-gee, fwan-gee, fwaaaaan-gee!"
Her dad chuckled in her ear, "That's my smart girl."
*~BB~*
Booth stepped into Caroline's office after a cursory tap on her doorframe. "You summoned?"
Caroline raised an eyebrow and bit back a smile. "I did. These are for you," she added, indicating a file box on the floor by her desk. "More numbers than I've ever seen in my life," she added with a shake of her head.
"Right," Booth sighed, bending down to retrieve the files. "You okay?"
"You mean because this case is a career killer," Caroline asked sardonically. She brought a hand to her hair with flourish, patting her curly locks. "I'm cute. I can always find a job," she deadpanned.
"They'll find something," Booth assured her.
"You really believe that?"
"Are you kidding," Booth sighed. "You've met my girlfriend, right? The squints, they will find it." He was sure they would. He just wasn't sure how much time they would have to do so.
"I sure hope you're right, Cherie," Caroline sighed.
*~BB~*
"Booth found the number last night, after dinner," Brennan was explaining over Angela's shoulder as the artist started keying the numbers into her algorithm program.
"It just seemed like a strange phone call to make from jail," Booth shrugged.
"Yes, I doubt very much she was ordering pizza," Brennan quipped sardonically.
"Look at that, Bones, you made a joke."
Angela's beeping computer ended any further banter as numbers began appearing on the screen, zeroing in on a location. "Oh my God," the artist breathed.
Booth's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "It's a GPS location?"
*~BB~*
Booth stood tensely by as his girlfriend and Hodgins slid on latex gloves and approached the small remains of 10-year-old Terrance Gilroy, found buried in a freezer in the Virginia mountains. Booth could practically feel the heat of emotion coming off Brennan's shoulders, but he knew better than to step in. This was one of those closure things that he figured she could only solve by handling the case like any other.
"Hands off," Caroline's voice echoed from the sliding doors of the Medico-Legal lab. Everyone stopped in surprise as the small, round woman cleared the space between herself and the forensic platform in record time, ignoring the guard who swiped his card to let her up.
"Caroline, what are you doing? We were about to begin examination of the remains," Brennan said in the tone she normally reserved for scolding Joy.
"Cherie, you cannot examine this body. You can't testify as an expert witness in a case where you're also a victim!"
"But this is a chance for some hard evidence," Hodgins protested.
"Not if you do the investigation!"
Booth saw the wheels turning in Brennan's head long before she said the words.
"Drop my case."
"What?"
"Bones!"
"You would do that, Cherie," Caroline asked in the gentlest voice she'd ever used.
"Look," Brennan sighed, facing Booth plantively, willing him to understand with her eyes. "I was pulled out of the ground. I have a...a life, I have you, we have Joy. Taffet failed to ruin me. But..." she turned back to the body on her examination table, her fingers gripping the edge of the hard metal surface. A set of remains far too small to stomach. "But Terrance Gilroy was only ten-years-old. He never got to live his life and...and it's my job to at least give him justice," she sighed.
Booth had always loved Brennan, always known the depth of her supposedly hardened heart, but sometimes, she just blew him away.
"Drop mine too," Booth found himself saying. His words meant for Caroline, but his eyes locked on Brennan's back.
"Booth you don't have to—"
"Hey," he told her, as she turned around to face him with shimmering blue eyes, "We're partners. We work cases together, right?"
Brennan smiled sadly and nodded.
"Oh, what the hell," Hodgins sighed. Booth turned to face the bug man with raised eyebrows. "Can't let you two take all the credit," he said with a grim smile. "You might as well drop mine too," he added to Caroline.
The prosecutor shook her head as if she didn't understand what she was hearing but after a moment a small smile graced her face and she nodded. "I'll get the paper work together. You can start in the morning."
*~BB~*
"Hey Bones," Parker's voice said through her cell phone the next morning as she stepped into her office.
She smiled in surprise. "Hey Parker! How can I help you?"
The boy sighed through the line. "Well, I know I can't come visit this week because you and Dad are working on that Gravedigger case—"
"Parker, how did you—"
The boy laughed. "We get cable, Bones, come on, I'm not stupid."
"No, you definitely are not," she couldn't help but agree. Booth would be livid if he knew that Parker wasn't fooled by their 'out-of-town case' cover-up.
"Anyways," Parker continued, "I know it's gonna be like a week or whatever before I can come visit because of all the drama, but I got this great idea for my science project next month and I was wondering if you'd help me."
"Of course, Parker."
"Cool," he said and she could hear the grin in his voice, "'Cause I wanna make a functioning replica of the human heart. Think we could do it?"
"That is an excellent idea," Brennan said in admiration, "I've got some thoughts but I suggest we call in Hodgins and Cam for some assistance. What do you think?"
"Excellent. It'll totally blow Jimmy's lame volcano out of the water!"
Brennan laughed. "Metaphorically, yes, I'm sure it will."
"Hey Bones," Parker added after a second, his voice suddenly hesitant.
"Yes, Parker?"
"The kid you're investigating? He was ten, right?"
Brennan held her breath for a second. "Yes, Parker, he was."
She could hear the nervousness in Parker's voice. "Did he fight back?"
"Yes, he did."
"I would've too."
"I know you would," she sighed sadly. If only fighting back would've been enough for Terrance Gilroy.
"I would've kicked and screamed and bit—"
"You would've bitten your assailant?"
"Well, it's not like I'd be strong enough to beat 'em up, right?"
"I suppose not."
"So, yeah," Parker concluded thoughtfully, "I'd definitely bite."
"Oh...Parker, I...I have to go..." She said, her mind flying far away already, considering the possibilities.
"That's cool, Bones. Me too. I just wanted to make sure you'd help with my project."
"Of course, Parker."
"Call me when the whole case-thing is over?"
"Deal."
"Bye, Bones. Love ya!"
"I love you too, Parker." Brennan said hanging up her phone. "You're a genius," she added to her empty office.
*~BB~*
"Terrence Gilroy's left greater cornu of the hyoid was compressed, indicating that the assailant strangled the young boy using only one hand-the dominant left hand, in this case," Brennan testified, willing her voice to be steady and strong.
"He also sustained a fracture of the lateral epicondyle and the shaft of the left distal humerus," Brennan said, gazing at the jury and then down to Booth in the audience. She cleared her throat, "Perhaps I can be clearer. Terrence Gilroy's bones could only have been broken by someone kneeling on top of him as they pushed him into the freezer. The radiating fracture lines show that this assailant had to be between 125 and 135 pounds- the weight of the defendant."
"Objection, Your Honor," Taffet's voice interrupted. Brennan turned her icy gaze to the woman who'd caused her such pain. "This is speculation."
"Overruled."
Brennan caught Booth's eye once more before continuing, her heat racing. "Since these broken bones were caused by the assailant's knees and the chipping on the boy's kneecaps was caused by the toes of her heavy boots, we can determine the length of her shin which in turn gives us the height of the assailant, which is five feet, four inches. The same height as the defendant."
"Objection, Your Honor," Taffet called again. "This is circumstantial evidence at best."
For the first time in her career of testifying, Brennan felt something break inside of her . "The five-foot-four assailant," Brennan said with a shaky voice, "crushed the boy's chest, choked him and finally caused him a torturous death by burying him alive," Brennan turned to the jury desperately. "He was ten-years-old and he was left to die."
"Objection. This is grandstanding, Your Honor," Taffet said coldly.
"Sustained. Just the facts, please, Dr. Brennan."
*~BB~*
Booth felt his insides clench as he watched Heather Taffet approach Brennan at the stand, fighting every muscle in his body not to leap over the railing and strangle her where she stood for causing his girlfriend, causing him, so much pain.
Even from this distance, Booth could see Brennan falling apart. Her usual cool exterior had fallen away and in it's place was a wounded little girl who'd once spent the night in the trunk of a car and years later had fought not to run out of air while buried in a quarry.
"Dr. Brennan," Taffet said, approaching the anthropologist predatorily. "Is it true that you are currently dating Agent Seeley Booth and, in fact, have a child with him."
"Objection, Your Honor," Caroline shouted, standing, "Relevance?"
"I'm simply trying to bring the expert's motives to light," Taffet said with false innocence.
"I'll allow it, for now, Counselor."
Brennan's eyes were steely as she met the defendant's gaze. "Special Agent Booth," she corrected, "and yes. Though I'm unsure why it matters."
"Does Agent Booth not have a ten-year-old son who, if I recall correctly, has already been in danger once before in relation to the type of work you do as partners."
Booth fought the urge to stand up in his seat, his arms shaking. Beside him, Cam rested a discreet hand on his bouncing knee.
"Booth's son is ten, yes," Brennan replied curiously.
"The same age as the victim?"
"Obviously."
"Is it not possible that, as a former victim of the Gravedigger yourself, and as a caretaker of a ten-year-old boy, you are projecting much of this case onto any circumstantial candidate to achieve closure."
Brennan rolled her eyes and Booth saw it, the moment she became annoyed and stopped being afraid. Was it possible that Taffet had just helped their case instead of her own?
"No," Brennan replied with a curled lip. "I don't believe in blind justice. I believe that criminals should pay for what they have done and that the wrongfully dead should have their stories shared. As has been called to the court's attention on more than one occasion," Brennan added rather smugly, "I am skillfully adept not only at what I do, but at keeping myself compartmentalized so that I do not confuse Terrance Gilroy for my boyfriend's son."
*~BB~*
"The bug was between his teeth," Booth asked with a curled lip, leaning closer than comfortable to the tweezered creature Hodgins was displaying.
"Can we not call him a bug," Hodgins sighed, "He just saved our case."
"And where did we get the idea to check his teeth?"
"Your son," Brennan replied, grinning at him. "He's brilliant, by the way."
"Well, yeah," Booth agreed readily. "But I'm still confused."
"Parker reminded me that children have their own methods of protecting themselves from larger assailants," Brennan explained, giving him a smile and converting to what Booth liked to call 'normal speak.' "He said, in Terrance's shoes, he would've bitten Taffet."
Booth chuckled. "That sounds about right."
"If that's the case," Hodgins sighed, "This little baby might have some DNA. Can't call that circumstantial, can they?"
*~BB~*
"The dust mite," Cam said confidently, "was found wedged between Terrance Gilroy's teeth. It contained human female epithelial cells. When we extracted those cells and ran them through DNA databases we discovered that they belonged to Heather Taffet."
Brennan grinned and gripped Booth's hand beside her as the jury murmured in surprise.
"However, it seems that you have neglected to include a sample of the evidence that I could have tested independently," Taffet questioned.
"Since there were so few cells in the mite, the testing destroyed the sample, but the procedures and results are all contained in our documentation," Cam replied.
Taffet turned to the judge. "Your Honor, I would like to file a motion to have this unverifiable DNA evidence dismissed."
"Protocol has been followed, Ms. Taffet, "The judge ruled. "It's up to the jury to decide how the evidence will figure in the outcome of this case. Your motion is denied."
"Let's just hope the jury gets it right," Booth whispered into her ear.
*~BB~*
Booth smiled as he stepped into his daughter's room to find Brennan in the corner rocking chair with Joy curled into her lap snoozing.
As he watched, Brennan brushed a hand across the toddler's soft, fine hair and hummed wordlessly as they rocked. It was good to see her so relaxed when their week in court had seemed to be taking such a toll.
When Brennan became aware of his presence she smiled and held an unnecessary finger to her lips for silence. Then she stood up, settled Joy into her crib and followed him out of the room, baby monitor in hand.
"How are you doing," Booth asked gently as soon as the door closed behind them.
"I'm okay," She nodded, smiling at him softly. "I really am. I've done everything I can and..." she shrugged, "No matter what happens, I've still got you, right?"
"Of course," He nodded, wrapping her in a hug.
"Then I guess there's nothing to worry about," she chuckled softly.
"God, I love you so much," Booth sighed, a wave of content washing over him in spite of the past week.
"I love you too, Booth."
*~BB~*
"The defendant will rise for the reading of the verdict," The judge called into the deafening silence of the courtroom. Brennan gripped Booth's hand in her right and Hodgins' in her left, holding her breath.
"In count one, the kidnapping of Terrence Gilroy, the jury finds the defendant, Heather Taffet, guilty."
Brennan felt like all the air in the room was suddenly filling her lungs as she gasped, relief in the form of tears sprung to her eyes.
"In count two, the murder of Terrence Gilroy, the jury finds the defendant...guilty."
"Thank you, God," Booth breathed beside her, turning to face her and dragging her into a tight hug.
"The defendant is remanded into custody until sentencing. We are adjourned," The judge finished.
Brennan, grinning triumphantly, turned as they began leading Taffet away.
"This isn't over," Taffet said smugly.
"Yes," Brennan replied, her voice as strong and confident as she was. She allowed Booth to slip his hand into hers, gripping reassuringly. "It is over."