The Intern in the Institution: Chapter One
Every man has his sorrows which the world knows not;
and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.
The silence in the meeting room was deafening. The only noise to be heard came from the computer that was holding the picture of Zack for all to see. The eyes of formerly unknown people suddenly drifted to the Squint Squad. Like a civilian paying his respects for a fallen soldier to his army buddies, they were looking for some sort of reaction. Any sign of weakness so they wouldn't have to be the ones to break the ice.
"No, no, no."
The curly blonde haired man started chanting, almost ruthlessly hoping that if he kept denying what he had just heard that it wouldn't be true.
"It can't be him," Hodgins kept insisting. "Sweets, tell 'em, you visited him yesterday, right? It can't be him if you saw him yesterday."
The tall brunette man standing next to him remained silence. A mix of shame and sadness grew on his face.
"I...I...I haven't been visiting him lately. It's been a while since I checked up on him. The orderlies said they could handle it, that they'd assign him a new—"
"How long," Hodgins said, as Angela—while choking back tears of her own—tried to calm him down, "When was the last time you saw him?"
Usually Hodgins would be much more suspicious of having everyone be listening in on his conversations.
Usually he wouldn't be dealing with grief over losing his best friend.
"Six months."
Hodgins stormed out, into one of the offices lined up along the walls, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Hodgins!" Cam said, chasing after him. The rest of the team looked up at Brennan, almost waiting for a signal that it was okay to go after him too.
But she didn't look up. She looked like she was confused as to why she wasn't as sad as the others. Why she didn't seem like she was holding back tears, and why she didn't want to go comfort Hodgins.
The rest of them went after him, anyway, with Brennan hesitantly following with Booth.
TIITI – TIITI – TIITI – TIITI – TIITI - TIITI - TIITI – TIITI – TIITI – TIITI – TIITI – TIITI – TIITI – TIITI
"Jack!" Angela said, following him through the crowded room to the phone on the opposite side. "Jack, you need to take a moment and let this set in before you do something crazy."
"That's not in my nature," he retorted, while viciously bashing numbers into the telephone receiver, and holding up a single finger to shut the rest of them up, and putting the phone on speaker.
"McKinley Mental Hospital, this is Leslie speaking, how may I help you?" an overly perky voice on the other line asked.
"Yes, this is Jack Hodgins," he said, tapping his foot on the ground. "I'm calling about Zack Addy. He's one of your patients."
"Oh, I'm sorry sir, we don't keep records on our past residents, they're passed on to the circuit courts upon release."
"Release?"
"Yes, sir!" Leslie said, still holding true to her chipper demeanor. "He was checked out by the U.S. District Attorney's office about six months ago. You weren't aware?"
"No...no, I wasn't. Thanks for your help."
"Oh, no problem sir, and have a merry, merry McKinley medical day!"
There were shocked faces all around, and for a moment, Brennan found some resolve that she was able to express some emotion and wasn't turning into an ironically dramatic sociopath.
"What do you know about this?" Hodgins asked, which everyone could tell was directed at Booth. After all, he always talked about trying to maintain his reputation with the United States Justice System. Why should Hodgins put not telling them about Zack's whereabouts above him?
"Look, I know this looks bad, but I swear to you, I know nothing about this. If I did, I would surely have words to say to whoever made the choice to let a convicted murderer out on the street," Booth said, knowing full well that deep down Zack was innocent.
"Agent Booth, I'll have to ask you to try to have the least bit of sensitivity about this," Cam said, her face changed from sad to worried.
"Look, I'm just stating a fact. He was convicted, and he was put in that nut house for a reason."
"Just shut the hell up, will 'ya?" Hodgins said, the wheels in his head turning. "I have an idea..."
Hodgins reached for the phone again and took it off of speaker. He held it to his head and cleared his throat.
"Hello, this is Daisy, an intern at the Jeffersonian. There have been some recent revelations about a former employee, and I was wondering if you could answer some of my questions. Yes. Yes, I will hold," Hodgins said, in a high pitched, perky voice, reminiscent of Daisy and the always jolly Leslie from McKinley Mental Hospital.
"What are you doing?!" Sweets said, reaching for the phone. "Identity theft is a federal offense!"
"Relax," Hodgins said, while holding his palm to the speaker on the phone. "I'm not stealing her identity, I'm simply using it to get what I want."
"Does he not know the definition of identity theft?" Sweets said, breathing heavily through his mouth.
"Shhhh!" Hodgins said, returning back to his female voice and identity once the hold music stopped. "Yes, I'm still here. Yes, we here at the Jeffersonian recently learned that a former assistant to Dr. Brennan, Zack Addy, is presumed dead. Now, I'm not one to talk about this—I've only been here since he's been gone—but my heart really goes out to him, and I'd like to know if he's with you. Well, the hospital said he was released into the custody of the DA's office, so I thought I'd call you. That doesn't happen often, I presume, and—"
"What the hell," Hodgins said, lowering his voice. "The line was cut."
Booth's phone began to ring.
"I knew it! I knew you had something to do with this!"
"Calm down, okay," Booth said, picking up the phone, "It might not even be about that. It could just be the luck of the draw."
"A gambling reference?" Dr. Brennan said, trying to be heard within the conversation once again.
"No, no, it's not a—Yes! District Attorney Collins, nice to hear from you. What do I have the—Oh, okay..."
Booth held the phone up and hit the speaker button.
"Hello everyone, it's Janice Collins, District Attorney speaking. Are you alone?"
"As alone as you can get with the Squint Squad here, ma'am," Booth said, his face turned into a joking smile.
"I don't even know what that means," Brennan said.
"Of course, you don't, Bones. Nice to have you back."
"Well, I don't think this is proper to have this conversation over the phone. I'm in the area, and if you wouldn't mind taking some time out of your surely busy schedules, I'd like to have a meeting with you."
The Squint's eyes turned to Cam.
"How can I resist?" Cam said, jokingly.
"You can't," Miss Collins said. "I'll be there within the hour. Please be ready to have a long conversation when I arrive. In a private place. It's a matter of national security. Thank you. Goodbye."
The line clicked.
"Weird..." Sweets said, uttering his first word in minutes, which was certainly out of character for him.
"Yeah, you should be one to talk," Hodgins said to Sweets. "Here's a tip: Try breathing out of your nose for once."
Whoa'kay. I'll cut it off there. I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter, and it'll be completed within an hour or two. If you want me to post it, I need at least one review. I've gotten maybe two story alerts, one author alert and one favorite story, but no reviews. And while encouraging, I need to know that someone's willing to comment, even if it's just a kind word or two. So please review, and save a polar bear. Quote by Henry Ladsworth Longfellow.
P.S.: All of this is made up, and I own nothing but Miss Collins. So far.
Be prepared for a plot twist. :D