Author's Note: Thanks everyone for the great feedback for Chapter 1! It was much more than I expected. I did get a couple of questions that I will address here. Yes, there will be some action (bad guys, danger, guns). And, somehow, some way, there will be BB. But before we get to either of those we have one or two more chapters establishing everyone's current relationships and interactions. This will (unfortunately) include some BAH (Booth/Hannah), but I am trying to keep it brief.
Chapter 2: Distance
I hear you through the wire
The words all sound like noise
What happened to the fire in your voice
Don't try to hide the distance
It's just too big to ignore
We work it out like business
It won't work anymore
I remember eyes that shined
As they looked so hard back into mine
Now it's just a memory
So I'll set you free
(I'll Set You Free, The Bangles)
~BB~
Booth looked up from the game as Hannah entered the apartment that night. "Hey, babe, where've you been?"
She kicked off her shoes and snuggled up next to him on the couch, kissing his cheek rough with the day's stubble. "Out with some friends from work."
Booth relaxed slightly. "Good. I hate to say it, but I was worrying that you might be working on that story." He threw his arm around her and nuzzled her hair. "I'm sorry about coming on so strong this morning. I'm just worried about you. I don't want to see you get hurt. And these are some nasty guys you're talking about."
"You don't have to worry, Seeley." She yawned and stretched. "I'm going to bed."
Booth grinned devilishly. "Sounds good." He rose and followed her to the bedroom.
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Brennan called the DC Morgue first thing the following morning to request a tour, explaining that she wanted to incorporate a character into her next novel who would be an employee of the city morgue and that she wanted to observe the procedures and practices in such a facility. The director of the morgue was thrilled to have her come visit and they set the visit for Friday morning.
She hung up the phone, satisfied, and returned to work. Finishing up her paperwork, she moved to the platform where she had requested the next set of remains from Limbo be laid out. She spent the rest of the day in intense concentration, only taking a break when Angela insisted she eat the sandwich they had brought back for her from the diner.
As the day wore on however, she found her mind persistently turning to her trip to the morgue and how she might ensure that she would be left alone at some point. She was also distracted by a nagging feeling that she couldn't identify every time she thought about the fact that Booth did not know what she and Hannah were doing. It made her quite uncomfortable, which she didn't understand. Rationally, she had decided that this was the correct course of action. This was apparently a big opportunity for Hannah. It had been difficult for the journalist to change the focus of her career and relocate to this area. If she was successful with this story, she would be happier and less likely to regret her decision. And it was obvious that Booth's happiness was intertwined with Hannah's. Brennan had broken Booth's heart that night after their meeting with Sweets and was now determined to do whatever it took to give him the happiness he deserved. Even if it wasn't her that made him happy.
She was so deep in thought, absently fiddling with a pair of tweezers, that she didn't hear the beep as a card was scanned at the entrance to the platform that evening. And when Booth's voice boomed through the now silent lab, she jumped, dropping the tweezers with a clatter.
"Hey Bones! We've got a case." He took a look at her startled expression, tinged with a hint of something else. On anyone else he would have thought it was a guilty look. But that didn't make sense with Bones. What would she have to feel guilty about?
Brennan silently berated herself for her inattentiveness and subsequent clumsiness. Stepping back into her professional persona she asked, "Where are we going?" as she hurried to her office to get her coat and bag.
"The Eastern Shore," Booth replied. "Some fishermen just stumbled onto a set of bones in a shallow grave near the Chesapeake. I'm hoping you'll be able to tell us if it's Jenny Magruder. The initial on the scene said what's left of the clothing matches."
Brennan nodded. The Jenny Magruder case had dominated the local news about a month prior. The college coed had disappeared during a weekend trip with friends. So far, there had been nothing to suggest foul play. Possibly the bones could give them something to work with. At the very least, a positive identification would allow the girl's family some closure.
The two-hour ride was tense, with long periods of silence punctuated by awkward attempts at small talk. Ever since her admission to him, they had found it difficult to be alone together. Brennan stared out the window most of the ride, watching the lonely roadside and wishing she had never voiced her feelings. Now her pain was out there for everyone to see, rather than something private she could just push aside into its place and pretend everything was okay.
Booth, for his part, did not know how to act around her now. He was angry at her, both for rejecting him the year before and for coming to this miraculous conclusion at precisely the wrong time for him, when he had waited so long. He was angry and hurt and, he had to admit, a little scared of the feelings that had flared up in him for just a moment when she had said she wanted to give them a chance. He had had to make a split second decision. He had opted to hold on to his relationship with Hannah, rather than risk having his heart broken again when Bones returned to her normal, rational self.
Finally, they arrived. The body, badly decomposed and scavenged by local animal life, had been buried in a small wooded area that bordered this section of the bay. The local police had already taped off the area and set up floodlights for Brennan to examine the body.
After several minutes, she nodded and stood up. "Well, obviously I can't say for certain until we check dental records, but this is a female and approximately the right age. Put that together with the clothing, and I would tentatively posit that this is Jenny Magruder." She looked sadly at the remains as she peeled off her gloves. "I'm going to need the body and surrounding soil. Hodgins will probably want samples of the water as well, and notations of each type of tree in the surrounding area." Leaving Booth to deal with the logistics, she walked to the edge of the water and stared out across the wide expanse.
Booth came up behind her a while later. He could see her silhouette dark as she stared out over the water. It was a crisp winter night, with the stars shining like bright pinpoints overhead. The water was dark and could be faintly heard lapping at the shore. He always felt God in scenes like this and he wondered what Bones was thinking as her analytical mind processed the same scene.
"What are you thinking about?" No harm in asking, he thought.
She was silent for so long that he had just about given up on her answering him, when she turned to him. "It's so beautiful," she said. "At least, she was somewhere beautiful." Then shivering in a sudden breeze off the water, she asked, "Are we going back tonight, or do you want to stay to investigate?"
Booth was stunned by the sentimentality of her statement. He was surprised also that she had shared it with him. It was difficult these days even getting her to share her breakfast order; not that they had had breakfast very often lately. They were growing apart, he felt it, and he didn't know how to stop it. But maybe this was a positive sign. Maybe, just maybe, they could weather this and come through it as friends.
"I figured we'd head back tonight. I've got copies of all the initial interviews with her friends and family that I can brush up on while you do your bone thing. Until we have at least a concrete ID, it won't make much sense to talk to them again."
Brennan was secretly relieved that their time together would be limited. Keeping a secret from Booth was very difficult for her, adding stress to her already considerable anxiety regarding her dealings with him.
Booth looked back out over the water and said, "It really is beautiful, though isn't it? Might be kind of nice if we had an excuse to spend a few days here." He glanced over at Bones, trying to see if she would recapture the romanticism that had struck her a moment ago.
"The Chesapeake Bay is a tremendous natural resource," she mused. "It's too bad that its ecology is so badly damaged."
He nodded. "I think maybe I'll bring Parker down here sometime in the summer. Maybe we could go fishing." He indicated that they should start back to the car with a nod of his head. Brennan followed him down the path.
The ride home was once again mostly silent. About halfway through the trip, Booth's voice broke the silence. "So, you got any plans for the weekend, Bones?"
She started from her half-dozing stupor. "What? Why?" she asked.
Booth grimaced. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were asleep."
"I wasn't asleep, just a victim of what is colloquially called 'highway hypnosis.' Why do you want to know about my weekend?"
"Just making conversation, trying to stay awake."
"Oh, social plans," Brennan thought out loud.
Booth looked confused. "Yeah."
"Well, Angela has invited me to a party that she and Hodgins are throwing. She has informed me that there will be a number of young, attractive, eligible men there and that she intends to live vicariously through me."
He laughed. "Don't tell me she's getting tired of marriage already!"
"Actually, I believe the vicarious experience may be the imbibing of alcohol. Although, she and Hodgins have been together for some time and I am sure that the neuro-chemical reactions that characterize the start of any relationship have begun to settle. They are entering a new phase of their relationship, in this instance parenthood, when the frenzy of hormones is replaced by companionship and nurturing to form a mutual partnership to support the proliferation of their genes."
"That's called love, Bones." She looked at him, an unreadable expression on her face. "Love is what's left after the 'frenzy of hormones' goes away. It's the day-to-day, and the mundane, and…" he trailed off, wondering why he was trying to convince her of the existence of love yet again. In the past, he had always harbored some hope, however deeply buried, that one day she would understand him and want to share it with him. But their moment had passed, hadn't it?
Brennan ignored the twisting feeling in her stomach at his words. In her head, she inferred Love is what you can't give. An awkward silence fell over them again as they both retreated into themselves, desperately wishing for a return to the easy camaraderie they had shared before.
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The next morning, Brennan opened her email to find the list from Hannah of whose records she was to 'procure' during her visit to the morgue the following day. She didn't recognize any of the names, so she simply printed the list out and placed it in the notebook she intended to bring with her to strengthen her 'cover' of doing research.
The bones she and Booth had examined the night before were delivered by mid-morning and she spent the bulk of the day working with Dr. Edison in examination of the bones. Comparison of dental records did indeed confirm the identity of Jenny Magruder, but cause of death was less apparent. There was considerable cranial trauma to examine, but a fall seemed to be the likely proximate cause of death.
Around 4:00, Brennan hurried to Cam's office, hoping to catch her before she left for the day. Her boss was looking disgruntled as she worked at her computer. Brennan tapped on the door and stepped in.
Cam smiled as she saw her visitor. "Dr. Brennan, what can I do for you?"
"Am I interrupting?" Brennan asked. "You looked… preoccupied."
Cam groaned and stretched. "No, I could use the break. Just going over our budget in light of the latest round of funding cuts. Please, come in and sit down."
"Actually, I just wanted to let you know that I need to take a personal day tomorrow."
Cam blinked. Temperance Brennan never took time off. They practically had to drag her out of the lab at the end of the day and her only vacations were working ones.
Brennan looked at her boss, lost in thought and gently prodded, "Dr. Saroyan?"
"Oh! Um, yes, of course you can have the time. Wait, what about the remains?"
"Jenny Magruder?" Brennan questioned. At Cam's nod, she said, "I believe that Dr. Edison can competently continue with the examination on his own. He can send me any new findings throughout the day and I can review them."
"Okay," Cam said slowly. "What about Booth?"
"What about him?"
"Well, does he know you're taking the day off? What if he needs you?"
"I will accessible by phone, of course. But Agent Booth is quite capable of handling this case without my constant presence. I have actually been thinking of pulling back from some of the fieldwork, in any case." After the conversation of the night before, Brennan was feeling more confident that her decision to distance herself from Booth was the correct one.
Cam was confused, but talking with Dr. Brennan often left her feeling a little off-kilter. "May I ask what you're going to be doing? If it's not too intrusive?"
"I'm doing some research for my next book. I'll be touring the DC Morgue in the morning and compiling my notes in the afternoon."
Cam nodded. "The morgue, huh? Well, I'm always available if you need any expert advice," she grinned.
Brennan inwardly grimaced. Of course, she would have consulted Cam before going to complete strangers if she were really do research on her book. Trying to play it off, she said, "Of course, Dr. Saroyan. At this point, I'm just investigating some physical details of the location. I'm not even sure that I will be using it."
"Well, have a good day, anyway, Dr. Brennan."
Watching Brennan walk down the hallway, Cam shook her head. Something was going on with her star anthropologist, and Cam wasn't at all convinced that it was something good.