Simplistically Complicated
Booth rubbed a hand over his face after pressing the send button on the email. The reply was almost immediate.
'Hey Seels.
Are you sure it's alright if I stay with you while I visit? I would hate to impose. I should be able to find sufficient housing when I arrive, but I do admit that staying with you will ease my mind a bit. I am very nervous about this new job.
You said that you work at the Jeffersonian? Your partner sounds really nice. I hope to meet her.
Any who, I should be arriving in a few days. Don't worry about picking me up at the airport. I'll grab a taxi and meet you at the Jeffersonian. PLEASE don't try to find out when I'm coming in, Booth. I know you. I just want to surprise you!
Thanks for understanding.
Love, Abby'
Booth smiled. Abby Cornwall. He missed that kid. He hadn't seen her in forever it seemed. She'd been a small, gangly little thing with glasses that were way too big for her face and a nose stuck in some book.
He didn't know what job she was taking that sent her across the country to come here but he was glad. He'd always been very protective of her when they lived in the same neighborhood. Then Booth had to move and they'd lost touch.
Not anymore. He was gonna make it up to her for all the years he'd left her. She was like a sister to him and he was gonna make sure that was kept safe. No killer would get to her like the ones he had to deal with at the Jeffersonian. Wait a second.
His eyes scanned the email again. WHAT? She was meeting him at the Jeffersonian? Crap. How was he supposed to explain this to everybody? A small smile formed on his face. On second thought, it might be nice to introduce Abbs to all the squints.
He vaguely wondered what Bones would think of her.
Bones! He cursed as he glanced at his clock and threw on his jacket. He was supposed to have met Bones at the diner 5 minutes ago.
ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK!
Angela sped into the room. Hodgins chuckled. "Woah. Where's the fire, Ang?"
Alarmed, Zack looked around for a fire. Angela smiled. "Sweetie, it's an expression. He's asking why I ran in here so fast. And wait till I tell you the news!"
She looked at them expectantly. "Well? Aren't you gonna ask me?"
Hodgins sighed and went back to studying a piece of clothing from the victim. "What's up?"
"BOOTH HAS A GIRLFRIEND!" Angela jumped up and down and squealed in excitement.
Hodgin's curiosity was piqued. His hands froze on what he was working on. "Why would he tell you that?"
Angela blushed. "Well, he didn't."
Hodgins smirked and turned to Angela, arms crossed over his chest. "And just how did you discover this little tidbit of information?"
"Well, I was dropping off some files of the facial reconstruction of the victim and… " Angela's voice dropped so low the two scientists had to strain to hear her.
"I may have looked at Booth's computer screen and he may have left his email open and I may have read an email that he'd left open from a girl that's coming to stay with Booth." Her head ducked in embarrassment.
Zack looked puzzled. "Why does this indicate that she is "dating" Agent Booth?"
"She signed it 'Love, Abby'."
"Why?"
Jack shook his head, ignoring Zack's question. "Whoa. I never figured Booth for the "moving in with" type of guy. Weird."
"Isn't it great? Oh, no. What will Brennan think?"
Silence stretched across the room as two people thought over the conundrum. The third was still trying to figure out the significance of moving in with somebody. He'd known it was a sign of the deepening of a personal relationship with somebody, so why was it so strange to think that somebody was moving in with Agent Booth?
"Hodgins? What do you mean that you don't think of Agent Booth as a "Moving in With" guy? How is this scenario, as you put it, 'weird'?"
Hodgins frowned. "It just is. I-"
Angela cut in. "Because Booth and Brennan are perfect for each other. They both might be in denial, but it's true and this could ruin any chances of that! They're head over heels for each other, but they're both to blind too admit it."
"First of all, were you not previously euphoric over this information of Booth having a girlfriend? Second I'd like to say that neither Agent Booth nor Doctor Brennan is blind. Though, atomically, their heads are positioned in such a way that it resides over their heels, I do not see how this pertains to their relationship."
Angela just sighed and shook her head. "Poor, poor Zack."
This annoyed him. He knew that his social skills were far from satisfactory, but he was trying and the only people he could rely on to help him were in the room and they weren't helping at all. Sighing, he turned his attention to the remains.
Hodgins and Angela were about to reopen their discussion when Zack, eager to redeem himself from whatever social blunder he had committed, jumped up. He grinned. "I know what cause of death is."
Angela noticed his eagerness and smiled. "Sweetie, that's great. You wanna call Brennan and tell her or-"
"Tell me what?" The trio turned as Brennan and Agent Booth walked in. Booth stood beside Brennan as she walked over to the examination table.
Hodgins grinned at them both. "Speak of the devil…"
Zack looked alarmed. Angela noticed and put a comforting hand on his arm. "It's an expression, sweetie."
Zack nodded before turning to Doctor Brennan. "Doctor Brennan, I have cause of death."
She beamed at him. "That's great, Zack."
He explained it to her how he'd figure out the saw blade angle. "Fascinating. Very good work Zack."
Angela couldn't hold it in anymore. "Booth! When were you gonna tell us somebody was moving in with you?"
Brennan jumped. Whether from the revelation, or Angela's loudness Zack could not determine. Booth scowled at Angela. Despite his lack of perceptiveness concerning body language, Zack could tell Booth was very mad.
"Snooping is a federal offense."
Zack vaguely wondered if he said that about anything that annoyed him. He seemed to say it a lot. Perhaps it was Agent Booth's way of showing that he was in control. It was one of those Macho things Hodgins was trying to explain to him. It made no sense to Zack.
Angela shrugged. She was undaunted by the immense Agent. "I've done worse. So?"
Booth sighed. "I was going to tell you guys eventually. My old neighbor is coming into town for a job. She said if she makes it, she'll find her own place but she didn't find it reasonable to rent out a place if she was just gonna be packing up in a few days."
Zack nodded. Angela smirked. "So, how is she?"
Booth frowned. "What?"
"In bed."
Booth seemed to get angry for some reason. "Angela if you dare suggest anything like that again I'll make it so you won't ever be able to use your hands for anything, much less draw."
The entire room seemed startled by this threat. Usually the only one he was protective of was Brennan. Zack recognized the personal nature of the threat as well considering Angela claimed her one true love was to draw and paint. The harsh tone in Booth's voice was like a blade.
Zack smiled to himself, proud of his metaphor. The smile quickly disappeared when he realized now was not the time to speak it, so nobody would ever know.
"So, you're not together?" That was Brennan. She spoke it with forced casualty, not looking at Booth.
"No, Bones. Gosh, no! She's like a sister to me. I babysat her when she was 3. I would never think of her like that." He shuddered. "It's weird, like really never gonna happen. Let's just drop it, Kay?"
Zack had also noticed Booth tended to want to control the conversation by deciding which topics were appropriate and which were not. Again with the macho thing.
"So, she's your not sister sister. Cool. What's she like?" Angela must have decided she was safe enough to ask a question.
Booth frowned. "Don't know. To be honest, I haven't seen her in years. I moved when I turned 15 and we kinda lost touch. From what I remember, she likes animals. Oh, and she's kinda weird."
Angela smiled. "What's she look like?"
"Ah, she sent me a picture of her senior year of highschool or something. She hadn't changed a bit since she was ten. Weird. She's got this dirty blonde hair and its kinda , she's short and kinda lanky. Um, murky eyes, like pond water. She has these huge glasses that look like soda bottle glasses." He laughed a little, embarrassed to be so forgetful.
"Geez, Booth. Ever thought of going into a career as a life coach? I'm sure people would just love for you to comment on their appearance like that. You make her sound awful. I mean, pond water? Seriously?"
Booth frowned. "I didn't mean it like that. I've always called her eyes that. I haven't seen her in a while. For all I know she could have grown two other heads."
"I highly doubt that." Brennan spoke up.
"I wasn't serious, Bones. Anyways, she said she'd be showing up in a few days, so keep an eye out for me, will ya?"
Hodgins mock saluted. "Look for four eyed, awkward teenage girl with three heads. Got it. Anything else?"
Booth frowned, trying not to roll his eyes. "That's it."
"Not from me."
Everybody turned to see Cam standing there, arms crossed. "We have a new member of our team coming in a few days. I expect you to make it as easy on her as possible."
Everyone glared at Hodgins. He feigned innocence. "I know, Zack's just out of control, harassing female coworkers and all that. I tried talking to him about it, but he's just crazy!"
Cam rolled her eyes. "Never mind, Hodgins. Just don't freak her out, kay?"
Zack was nervous. He didn't do good socializing with people, especially new people. "Um, what's her specialty?"
Angela tried to hide a smile and Hodgins laughed outright. "Kinky, Zack, but gutsy. Get right to the, uh heart of the matter."
Zack didn't know what he'd said that was wrong but Cam seemed to understand because she answered. "She a Biochemist."
"Ah. That will be a very useful addition."
"We'll see." That was Doctor Brennan.
Cam called Angela into her office while Booth and Brennan went for their session with Sweets. When they'd gone, Hodgins turned to Zack with a grin on his face. "Zacko, do you know what this means?"
At Zack's silence Hodgins continued. "Fresh meat!" He pumped his fist in the air.
Zack decided not to ask about the strange word phrasing. Instead, as Hodgins was walking out, Zack called to him. "Oh, and Hodgins?"
"Yah, Zack?"
"I'm King of the Lab."
Hodgins scowled. "Yah, for today, buddy. Only today."
ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK!
Abby brushed her hair back over her shoulder. The stupid curls weren't practical at all, but after finally getting out of that horrid awkward stage she wasn't about to flatten her golden blonde hair or cut it. No way.
Maybe she should have told Seeley that her job offer was at the Jeffersonian in the forensics anthropology department. Abby laughed. Nah.
After Booth had left, she didn't have a safety net anymore. He'd always been the one that protected from the cruel words of her classmates but suddenly she didn't have that anymore. She'd tried to socialize with others, but somehow she would botch things up and get laughed at. She hated the kids in her class, but also pitied and feared them. They just didn't understand.
Then she'd found out she was smart. Well, smart was putting it mildly. She was brilliant.
Her parents had sent her to a psychologist after she started acting depressed when Seeley left. The psychologist had given her several tests and discovered her I.Q. was way above normal. It really wasn't surprising considering the two people she'd gotten her genes from.
Her father was an Electrical engineer- the best in his field. His work was highly regarded as some of the most brilliant work in his division. Her mother was a lawyer who'd passed the bar exam her first try. Both of them were smart, just not exactly parent smart. After she was deemed a genius her parents used that as her excuse.
"Smart people have harder times socializing than others." They would say. "Even Einstein had trouble."
Though her parents tried to console her, Abby knew somehow it was her fault for her lack of social skills. It wasn't because she didn't try. She did. But Seeley had always been the one to tell her when she was rambling, or using words nobody understood, or spacing out. After he'd left she didn't have any measure of normality.
So she threw herself into her studies. She'd graduated high school at 11 with perfect grades. Her teachers would ask her if they were unsure what something meant in a report or test. The feeling of being smarter than everyone gave her some power. She'd never had power over anything and it scared her at first.
She smirked when she remembered the photo she'd sent Booth of her senior year at high school. It hadn't been a lie, just a misleading piece of evidence. He probably would have his team looking for the scraggly adolescent of her former days. Abby sighed and glanced at a mirror.
She used to hate looking in any mirror. Her eyes had been magnified to the extreme by hideous glasses too big for her face. Her dirty blonde hair had hung limply around a chubby child face. Her arms and legs were too thin and her figure had been nonexistent.
Abby closed her eyes in a silent prayer. "Thank you God, for puberty."
During the next couple of years while Abby worked on her doctorate she changed dramatically. Large, wavy curls sprung from her head and flowed like a water fall down her back. Her murky eyes (pond water eyes, Seeley had always called them) had cleared to a sparkling emerald green with flecks of gold and contacts had replaced her glasses. Her baby fat washed away to show a nicely proportioned face. Her figure had filled in enough to make her college professors talk.
Before and after she had turned 18.
To this date, Abby had had 12 marriage proposals ranging from original to classic. Her favorite was when Charlie Sanders had written her a note in her statistics class asking for her hand in the form of a mathematical probability word problem.
Unfortunaltely for him, he didn't calculate the fact that Abby had no interest at all. The worst one was a guy named Tyler Moore, who made creepy Cousin Collins from Pride and Prejudice seem like gentleman Mr. Darcy. Abby shivered at the memory.
The problem is she had never dated any of them! In fact, Abby hadn't dated much of anybody. She'd been on a few dates but they'd all ended rather quickly. It was official. Her social skills hadn't improved at all since she was 11.
Abby pulled on her favorite jacket and shut the computer case. Her flight number was about to be called. She smiled at the stewardess kindly. She felt sorry for anyone with a job that required heels, especially with the crazy people that flew everyday. Abby shuddered as she tried to imagine having to talk to strangers all day, and night.
As she found her seat she hugged her briefcase to herself. It wasn't a very professional position, but that was the least of Abby's worries. She was terrified. She hoped and prayed that she would get this job. It was the one thing she'd really needed.
ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK!
Zack looked at Hodgins suspiciously. This entire idea seemed… wrong. "Are you sure this is what Cam meant by 'taking it easy' on the new-"
Hodgins cut him off. "Yah, dude. Totally. It's time honored tradition to prank the new guy. This chick would be insulted if we didn't prank her. Hazing is, like, mandatory."
Zack wasn't convinced, but he agreed to help one of the few people he considered a 'friend'. They set up the prank as best they could. When they were done, Zack could not share in his friend's excitement.
"Hodgins, we don't even know when she is coming. Why should we set this prank up so far ahead of time?"
"Ah, Zacky. No time like the present."
Zack was confused. "I know that to be a true statement, yet I've also heard the phrase that 'History repeats itself'. If this is true, is it not possible that there has indeed been another time similar to our present?"
Hodgins frowned. "Uh, yah. Sure. I don't really know how to explain it. Um…"
Zack was even more confused when Hodgins left, but he tried not to show it. Instead, he decided to get back to work.
Work wasn't as complicated as people. He could understand why bones were the way they were. People had too many metaphors and strange ways of speaking. They could say one word and it could mean various things. If a bone was broken in a certain way he could without doubt say how and by what it had been broken by.
Sometimes Zack wondered what it would be like to be "normal" like Angela or Hodgins. Even Dr. Brennan was better at socializing than he was. What would be the price of being more social? It had to be better than being looked at like a freak.
He shook his head in order to concentrate better. Doctor Brennan would be disappointed if he got behind schedule.
ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK! ZACKATTACK!
The next day Abby stepped out of the airport after being detained for the third time. Apparently, she looked very much like a terrorist and it didn't help that she had bones lining her carryon luggage.
She checked her watch. It was about 10. She had time to eat before she headed towards the Jeffersonian. She thought it might be easier to check into a hotel for as long as it would take to change, and eat.
She took a taxi to the closest hotel and paid for her room. She straightened everything in her bag. She put her comfortable traveling clothes in her bag and took out the outfit she had chosen for her "first impression" outfit.
It was a lovely button blue button up shirt that she had been told brought out her eyes. She donned a nice pair of black pants, and then traded them for her pinstripe ones that her roommate had suggested before Abby had left. Normally Abby tried not to listen to Sarah's advice considering her, um 'reputation' around the college campus, but the pants seemed like a safe choice.
Her favorite jacket was a must. It had belonged to her great grandmother. It was a long coat with buttons all the way up to the collar. It was warm and comfortable. It was mostly red with criss-crossing threads of various shades of orange and brown.
She chose nice black shoes. They were comfortable, but they weren't, as Sarah had so bluntly put it, "boring and nerdy like you usually wear". Abby sighed. She was unlikely to find another person like Sarah that was able to put up with her. She knew for a fact that Sarah was not considered a "friend" but she wasn't rude to Abby like the other students, especially because of her age.
Being a 16 year old student when others were nearly 30 was a horrible experience in Abby's opinion. Of course, she didn't have a prior experience to compare it with, but she felt safe in her hypothesis that being looked on as a freak was not a proper college experiment. Most people had either thought of her as a joke or a know it all.
Sarah had tried to explain social stuff to Abby, but was unable. In return, Abby didn't embarrass Sarah by talking to her in public. Abby didn't take it personal, but it reminded her of how Seeley had stood by her no matter what.
Abby sighed. She pulled a brush through her hair and repacked her bags. "Time for lunch."
She slung her bag over her shoulder. She only had her carry on and her other baggage would be sent to Booth's apartment. She grinned. She could only describe the feeling she felt as excitement. She'd be starting her dream job as a biochemist consultant at the Jeffersonian.