A/N: This is a little nonsense fic I came up with for some weird reason. Not my best work, a little OOC, but hopefully readable.
Who Are You?
Temperance Brennan was officially annoyed. "Who are you?! I know that you're in your mid- 30's, female, and have had kids, judging by iliac crest, probably more than one. I know you're Caucasian, I know you're approximately 1.76 cm tall, probably a basket-baller or a... fruit picker but who are you?!" She exclaimed, glaring down at the bones on her table, beginning to get frustrated.
Temperance Brennan gave justice. She looked at people's bones and gave them a name, a face, an identity. But this case was proving very difficult.
No bone anomalies, no unusual growths, dirt particulates are congruent with were the victim was found. Brennan had been pretty much staring at the bones for an entire day and found absolutely nothing. Isotope analysis proved she lived where she was found, after renovations to an old church in town, just bones in the attic, nobody knew she was up there.
The victim had been dead for approximately 50 years. Her bones showed no sign of struggle, no broken limbs, no crushed skull. She died peacefully, probably of natural causes. Over her heart she held a now rusted silver locket, the picture inside, whatever it was, was now completely rotted, so far gone that even Angela couldn't decipher what it had once been.
This woman had successfully erased herself from the face of the Earth. Until now. And Dr. Brennan was determined to find out whom she was, how she had died and if there was any family left to contact. She went over her findings once more. Everyone else in the lab had gone home for the night, and the security guards were on a coffee break, leaving the anthropologist completely alone in the lab.
As she picked up the skull for what felt like the hundredth time, a male voice came from the direction of the automatic glass sliding doors.
"Bones?" it questioned.
"Yes, Booth?" asked Brennan, not needing to turn away from her work.
"It's almost midnight," Booth stated.
"And?" Temperance prompted, putting down the skull and turning to face her partner.
"And this case isn't urgent, you need food and a good night's sleep," he insisted.
"Who are you, my father?" she retaliated, her rebellious side making a rare appearance, picking up the skull once again.
Meanwhile, he had scanned his ID card and joined her on the platform.
"No, Bones, I'm your partner, which is the next best thing," he rebutted, prising the skull out of her hands and removing her lab coat.
"But.." she started.
"No buts, Bones!" he cut her off, handing her her purse after she pulled on her casual coat and led her to his car with his palm resting on the small of her back, as per usual.
* * *
The next day, Brennan returned, refreshed and ready to give the family of her victim, if there was any, some closure.
"Come on, Bones, you have to eat something," Booth insisted when she strutted into the Jeffersonian that morning.
"No! Booth, I will not rest until I find the identity of this woman!" Brennan replied angrily.
"Montenegro to the rescue!" Angela exclaimed as she bounced onto the platform cheerfully, "I got here early and finished my sketch of the victim , ran it through the NCIC database. You're not gonna like what I found," she said seriously.
"Why not?" Bren queried.
"Meet Melinda Rye, three-time murderer, wanted back in '59 for felonies in over 15 states," Angela explained, holding up her sketch and the missing person's file.
Booth let out a sigh and Brennan had a look on her face that was a cross between annoyance, anger and exasperation.
"Any family?" she asked, skimming over the details.
"Husband Joe died in '62, son Walter in '03. But she has a daughter, Lynn, who is working at a library in Bethesda. She's 52," Ange informed.
"Wow. You've really done your research, Ange," Booth commented.
"I couldn't sleep," Ange replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Okay, we have a family to inform," Brennan excused both herself and Booth, and they started their trip to Bethesda.
* * *
After informing Lynn Rye of her mother's passing, the duo returned to the Jeffersonian where Dr. Brennan prepared the bones for the undertaker.
While the murderer's bones were still laid out anatomically on the table, Brennan had a little 'chat' with her.
"Thank you. I know who you are now. And while I may not like the things you did in your lifetime, I can forgive you. Because, well, I didn't really know you. I gave your family some relief. And while you may not deserve it, some justice," Temperance told the victim. She knew it was irrational, but she had spent over 24 hours with this woman's bones. While Melinda Rye may not be able to hear her, Tempe got to get her feelings out, let somebody know how she felt.
Temperance knew who she was now. She could rest.
END
A/N: Good? Bad? Opinions would be great.