Bones
"Paternal Instincts"
Summary: Bones' young new assistant has a secret…he is Booth's son.
Author's Note(s): Takes place after the whole "Widow's Son" storyline, so Zack is gone.
Warning: This story will contain spanking of a teenager.
Disclaimer: The only character I own is Seth. Booth, Bones, and the Squints I don't own.
Chapter Two: The Girl under the Apple Tree
"Appears to be a female in her late teens, early twenties," Brennan stated. "She's been a dead awhile…more than ten years, at least."
She was kneeling down to examine the skeletal remains that had been unearthed at the local university.
"There appears to be no signs of fractures or abrasions on any of the appendages," Seth commented, as he took pictures, "which probably means she never once had a broken arm or leg."
"True," Brennan agreed. "There also appears to be no signs of head injury…"
"Well, that's good for her," Booth commented, "but how exactly did she die?"
"It's too early to tell for sure," Brennan said, "but…"
"She appears to have been struck in the rib cage by some blunt object," Seth said, taking a picture of the rib cage.
"This caused several of her ribs to puncture her lungs. Blood would have pooled inside them—drowning her from within."
"Very good, Seth," Brennan nodded, in approval.
"Thank you, Dr. Brennan," the boy said, blushing.
To hide it, he moved over to start taking pictures of where the body had been buried—under an old apple tree in the middle of the campus.
"I'd watch out, Bones," Booth said, smirking. "That kid is crushing on you."
"He's what?" Brennan asked, puzzled.
"He's falling for you," Booth told her, "It's happens to boys his age. I once had this major crush on this really hot teacher of mine…"
"I don't think I want to know," Brennan told him, "but he was correct. I would definitely say that it was a blunt object to her ribs that killed her, but we'll take her back to the lab and double check."
"How long do you think it will take you to find out who she is?" Booth asked, curiously.
"Actually, Agent Booth," Seth said, coming back over, "I think I may have found that out already."
Booth frowned. "How?" he asked, curiously.
The boy held something out to him. "I found this in the grave," he explained.
"A campus I.D. card," Booth said, glancing at it. "Damn!"
"What?" Brennan and Seth asked at the same time.
"I know her," Booth stated, handing over the idea card which had a picture of a young woman about twenty years old with long red hair and green eyes.
"I dated her, in fact."
"Who is she?" Brennan asked, curiously.
"Sarah Jane Sanderson," Booth said, swallowing hard. "We dated for a little while back in the day—and then she just disappeared."
"And you didn't find that strange?" Brennan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"She had just broken up with me, Bones," Booth said. "I just assumed she had gone home to her folks or something. I really liked her, too."
"I'm sorry," Brennan said, sympathetically. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah," Booth said, shrugging. "That was sixteen years ago. But I do want to find who killed her and why."
Brennan nodded. "We will," she assured him.
Booth glanced at Seth. "Good work, kid," he told him, patting him on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Agent Booth," Seth said, smiling.
"Like Sweets said, just call me Booth," he told him. "We ready to wrap things up here?"
"Yes," Brennan said, smiling.
"Good," Booth said. "I'll drive you two back to the Jeffersonian—let the squints start doing their thing—and I'm going to try and track down some of Sarah Jane's old friends."
"Squints?" Seth asked his new mentor as they made their way back toward the SUV they'd come in.
"That's Booth's word for scientists," Brennan explained. "He says it's because we squint a lot while we examine things."
"Oh," the boy said. "I've never really thought about it—but we do, I guess. Squint a lot, I mean."
"You have a sense of humor," Brennan told him, seriously. "That's good. Booth likes people who have a sense of humor."
"Do you think he likes me?" the boy asked, hopefully.
He glanced over to the FBI agent, who was getting into the driver's seat while they put the equipment in the back.
"Yes, I think he does," she told him, honestly. "Now, let's get back to the lab."
"Yes, Ma'am," the boy said, climbing into the SUV.
They drove back to the Institute where they were greeted by Brennan's other forensic team members.
"What's up?" Dr. Cam Saroyan, the team's medical examiner, asked.
"The sky," Brennan answered seriously.
"I think she means what's the case?" Dr. Jack Hodgins, the team's resident 'bug and garbage' expert, told her.
"A young woman named Sarah Jane Sanderson, age twenty," Seth answered him. "She has been dead for approximately sixteen years. Cause of death was most likely a blunt instrument to the rib cage."
"Damn," Angela said, impressed, "the kid is good."
Seth blushed. "Not really," he admitted. "I just found her student I.D. card at the crime scene and Agent Booth knew her."
"He did?" Cam asked, surprised.
"Apparently he dated her," Brennan told them, "sixteen years ago."
"When he was in the army?" Angela asked, intrigued.
She always loved learning more about the handsome FBI agent's past.
"He didn't say," Brennan told her, "but one can only assume…"
"All right," Cam said, "then I guess we need to get to work."
Brennan nodded. "Seth and I will get to work on figuring out just which kind of blunt object could have been used," she said.
"Bring back any dirt samples from the grave?" Hodgins asked, hopefully.
"Of course," Brennan told him, nodding at Seth.
The boy held up a couple vials.
"Awesome," the man said, smiling. "I'll get busy on determining if there was anything unusual buried with her or not."
"I'll x-ray the bones to see if there was anything else that might have led to her death," Cam said.
"And I'll go see Agent Booth," Sweets stated, speaking for the first time. "Where is he?"
"He headed back to the Bureau," Brennan told him. "Why?"
"You said he knew the victim, dated her," the young man said. "It's got to be hurting him emotionally on some level—guilt, as well."
"I don't think Agent Booth really wants to talk," Seth told him. "He seemed…quiet…when he dropped us off."
"All the more reason he should talk about how he's feeling," Sweets said, smirking. "I'll catch ya later, man."
With that, he turned and headed for the exit.
"He just loves asking for trouble, doesn't he?" Angela stated, smirking. "Do you still have that I.D. card?"
"Yes, of course," Brennan said. "You're going to make a computer model?"
"Of course, Sweetie," Angela said, grinning.
"Good," Brennan said, handing over the I.D. card. "C'mon, Seth, let's get to work."
"Right behind you, Dr. Brennan," the boy said and followed in her wake.
Angela glanced down at the picture of their victim.
The girl had died sixteen years ago.
Booth had dated her sixteen years ago.
And Seth had been born sixteen years ago.
Was there a connection?
Her instincts were tingling again.
She smiled.
She knew exactly what to do.
TBC…
