Summary: When arriving for work one morning, House and his team find a dead body that has been arranged to lounge casually in a chair on the deck that connects his and Wilson's offices. When the bones are sent to the Princeton Police Department, the bones are identified as a male from out of the state. Booth and Bones are called onto the case, but as the investigation continues, it is unsure who the body was intended for; House or Cuddy. Also, nothing helps improve the tension between the group when Cuddy and Wilson decide to play matchmakers for Bones and Booth.
-the man in the diagnostics room-
Chapter One
Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital Lobby; Monday, June 21, 2010 – 18:45.
Booth and Bones followed the local police officer towards the hospital's entrance, before the officer paused and pointed upwards. The two followed the gaze, unsure of what to expect, but they saw nothing more than a deck and windows.
"That's the place," the officer, who's name was Ronan Abrahms, waved them along. "We've got some stuff bagged and ready to go downtown, but there's more upstairs." He lead them across the lobby and the three of them took an elevator up, along with another doctor.
"It's true?" the doctor looked over at Abrahms, Booth and Bones, "The FBI got called in because of the body on House's balcony?" He held out his hand, "I'm Robert Chase, I used to work on House's team before I took my current position as Head Surgeon."
"Temperance Brennan," Bones held out her hand, shaking Chase's hand quickly, "This is my partner, Booth."
"Hey," Booth waved, "This floor?" He asked as the elevator dinged.
"Yup," Chase stepped off, leading them towards House's office, "House has his team working no matter what external forces try to impact him. It's his life, well, besides his girlfriend, he needs to diagnose people."
"His girlfriend?" Booth echoed, "That her?" He nodded towards where House, Cuddy, Foreman and Taub stood in the DDX room, talking with another officer from the Princeton Police Department.
"Yeah," Chase pushed open the door, holding it for the rest of them, "Here you guys go." He passed the case file he had been holding to Foreman, who waved Taub aside; the three of them diving into a hushed differential.
"You must be the investigator from the FBI," Cuddy looked up, spotting Booth and Bones, before she elbowed House lightly in the side.
"Seeley Booth," Booth stepped forwards, "and my partner, Temperance Brennan." He took the hand that Cuddy had offered him and shook it.
"Where's the body?" Bones looked around after she had shaken Cuddy's hand, "I'll do the examining while you three talk."
"Out there," House glanced up at his team, ignoring the obvious differential they were conducting. "We; and I mean Drs. Foreman, Taub and I; were first up here around eight-thirty this morning." He glanced at Cuddy, his arm around her waist, "Any idea if there's tapes that could have been filming the balcony that we could hand over?"
"I'm sure I could get the tapes sent to wherever you will need them to be observed." Cuddy glanced at Booth, "Anything else we'll need to give you?"
"Hey Booth!" Brennan was standing outside the window, waving excitedly, "I've got an ID on the body." She had knelt back down by the time Booth, Cuddy and House had stepped outside, but she had a wallet resting on a plastic evidence bag a foot or so away.
"It's readable?" Booth looked at the wallet, "You sure it belongs to our victim and not the killer?"
"You think a killer would be that stupid to leave his main form of ID at the scene of a murder?" House asked, holding Cuddy in his arms as she surveyed the scene quietly.
"Let's bag the victim and bring him to the tab to be examined, we'll need to scan the scene for evidence a bit more." Bones leaned over the edge of the brick wall, looking down the side of the building. "Oh, Booth, hand me a bag and one of the picks, there's a bit of cloth on the brick here, it might help us figure out where it was made."
Booth passed her the bag wordlessly, before turning to House and Cuddy, who had relocated to the inside of House's office, the two of them in a quiet, yet somewhat heated debate with Foreman and Taub. He ignored it, pulling Bones away from the remains and into the office, clearing his throat loudly.
"So that's it?" Taub looked towards the two of them, "You're done looking around?"
"You have a patient too?" the whiteboard in the other room had caught Bones' attention. "What happened to them?"
"Focus on our case Bones, not theirs." Booth had to repress a smirk, "Let's get over to the station, we'll clear off the bones there, then we can see if we need to come back for more questions."
"Oh, of course," Bones nodded, sweeping past the four doctors and heading from the room, leaving Booth to follow her.
Princeton Police Department, Morgue; Monday, June 21, 2010 – 20:19.
"Any leads Bones?" Booth was lounged in a corner of the lab, his feet up on a chair, his laptop besides him as he scanned files that he had been sent from the FBI. "I mean, he know he's from New York City, his name is Jameson Thompson and he was in his late-sixties." He clicked open a file and frowned right away, but set his laptop aside, joining Bones besides the table.
"His legs seem like they might have been tied before hand," Bones pointed to the faint bruises on the ankles on the now identified body of Jameson Thompson, "Yet, his arms weren't. And it obviously wasn't a needed precaution for the killer to take, these bruises are faint, which means he was tied up either when he was unconscious, dead or killed almost immediately after."
"Or he just never put up much of a fight," Booth suggested, "If you've got a gun pointed at your head like this guy did, then why struggle because the bullet is obviously going to make contact somewhere in your skull." He pulled Bones away from the examination table, "One problem though, Jameson Thompson has been dead for nearly thirty years."
"Jameson Thompson?" Officer Abrahms had returned, and he was carrying a bag of Chinese takeout. "The police officer?" Booth checked the report, yes, it was. "You guys saying that this guy is Thompson?" He handed over the bag of food, "There's been no reports of graves being dug up in this area for some time."
"Then this isn't Jameson Thompson," Booth and Bones looked at the body on the table, before turning to look at each other.
"I'll call Angela," Brennan was reaching for her phone, "I'll send her the photo of the skull that we have, see if it matches anyone in the area."
"What about this Jameson guy then?" Abrahms obviously didn't know much about detective work, even if he had been in the field for nearly twenty-five years.
"He's dead," Booth glanced at the wallet, "It was a ploy to get us think that this would be over and done with so quickly."
"I'll call Jameson's wife," Abrahms stood, "Maybe she knows who had his wallet last, or how someone could have gotten a hold of it."
"We're bringing her in?" Bones asked, "I don't think that's necessary, all we need to do is scan the wallet for prints and return it to her."
"Bones, just let Abrahms call her," Booth gave her a hard look, but she sighed, "And yes, we have to have her come in for now. She might be able to tell us who this is."
Princeton, New Jersey, the park; Monday, June 21, 2010 – 20:50.
Cuddy leaned back against the picnic table, staring up at the clear skies, the faint lights reflecting in her gray eyes. House sat besides her, his fingers laced with hers, his gaze focused on her face and not on the stars that had captured her attention. He leaned forwards slightly, brushing his lips against her cheek, breaking her concentration of the stars above them.
"I love you," House whispered, his lips resting lightly on Cuddy's cheek, and he turned her chin towards him, gazing into her eyes.
"I love you too," Cuddy smiled, pulling House into a hug, resting her chin on his shoulder, smiling as he kissed her neck lightly. She sighed, relaxing slightly; having been on edge ever since she had found out about the mangled body outside House's office, and closed her eyes.
"Exhausted?" House asked, pulling back from the embrace, and he stood, taking Cuddy's hand in his.
"Just stressed," Cuddy smiled faintly, trying to focus on the time she and House were spending together now, not the whole day at work.
"Figures," House lead the way back towards where he had parked his motorcycle, swinging his and Cuddy's hands like a child would do.
"Greg?" Cuddy pressed herself against his side, wrapping an arm around his waist, "Are yo okay, you seem distracted."
"I love you Lise," House replied, catching Cuddy by the waist and pulling her towards him, using the tree to support himself, before turning to press Cuddy's back against it. He kissed her lightly on the forehead, then her nose, then captured her lips in a passionate kiss, his arms pinning her in place. Cuddy wound her fingers through House's short hair, pulling him closer than she thought was physically possible, her eyes closed blissfully.
"I love you too," Cuddy breathed as House's lips paused in their assault on her lips, traveling towards her neck. She shivered at he pressed his lips against her skin, before she pulled herself free from his grasp, heading towards where House had parked.
"Hey!" House stood by the tree, "That's not fair!"
"Stop whining!" Cuddy laughed, "It's late, besides, we told Marina that we'd be home nearly an hour ago."
"Okay, okay," House picked up his pace, "But now you know that I'm going to force you to sleep on the couch tonight. Right?"
"Like you'll let me stay there by myself for the whole night anyways." Cuddy winked at House as he reached her side, a smirk on her lips and she pretended to pout as House nodded. He placed a helmet on Cuddy's head after brushing her dark brown curls out of her face and secured it.
"Hop on," House climbed onto his motorcycle after putting on his own helmet, feeling Cuddy climb on behind him and wrap her arms around his waist, before he started up the engine and headed back to her house.
AN: Next chapter should be posted later this week!
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