I am SO sorry about such a long wait. I won't bore you with all the details but there has been many rewrites, a broken laptop, and a lot catching up on other fics. So please forgive me for this horribly long wait. I hope it won't happen again.
Anyway thank you for the reviews that I've gotten and I hope that this chapter makes up for the wait.
Enjoy.
Chapter 2:
Reid's eyes moved over the room nervously as the awkward silence continued, they seemed to have stopped all noticeable movement to stare at him in disbelief. He could easily compare this instant with a man walking into a bar stark naked as if he were in his own home, which he could admit this was a similar occurrence.
At the present time the employees of the Jeffersonian were unaccustomed to working with more than one or two FBI agents and here was an entire team thrust upon them despite their protest, and Strauss had warned them that there was a lot of protest to them joining the case. They too were in an uncommon environment, normally they would be invited to come which decreased the amount of hostility and there was a lot of it at the moment. It was clear that hated their line of work which made it increasingly difficult to work with her add to that the fact that they were unsure how to work with anthropologists and scientists other than corners.
They were outsiders and here he was acting like this isn't any different than any of the other cases. He understood that there were various ways to remove charred flesh from skeletal remains; however the beetles were the most efficient and least damaging. In this scenario they had a second function, in a way whether they were aware of it or not the other 'team' on the case had issued a challenge with this method. Most people would back away from seeing this kind of thing and that's obviously what they expected, however before anything could be said to accept or decline the challenge he had burst in with his comment thus in a ruining the first test to see who was dominate over whom.
Reid then noticed the first movement that seemed to break the spell, Agent Booth had a slight smile on his face but it soon developed into a grin. The younger male was flooded with relief that would only come from being approved of by such a strong specimen of an Alpha male; he had felt it whenever Morgan or Hotch praised him and now someone apart from his team seemed to except him.
Dr. Brennan nodded her head at Wendell and he led the way carting the remains and she followed after. Booth inclined his head and quickly turned his back to us, the only one that hadn't followed was Angela and she pulled Garcia aside with a shake of her head before walking back to her 'office'. This was the challenge part of their interactions, if we decided not to follow and wait for their return it would give them power over us since we are not willing to experience every little detail of this case and how they worked.
It didn't matter that the case originally belonged to them, they had failed in catching this woman's possible killer and now she could be dead as a direct result of that. Our failures alone should have been enough to demote us to the second party on the case, but they were willing to overlook it at the moment. We followed closely behind and waited patiently as the body was shielded by a glass case, which was there so that the bugs wouldn't escape. Then Wendell dropped them carefully on to the body, and we continued to watch them work.
Dermestidae, or flesh eating beetles, is a grossly fascinating way to remove flesh from bone and although in reality they worked for only a few minutes the entire spectacle seemed to go on at a gruelling pace. The tension hadn't eased and it didn't take long before it would move back into the main examining room, there they were greeted by Dr. Saroyan and Dr. Hodgins.
"The DNA is currently running through the system to find our victims name," Brennan nodded her head in acknowledgement and walked around the body examining the pristine white bones. She picked up the skull and carefully placed the white markers at certain parts.
"Let's give her a face too," she handed the marked skull to Dr. Saroyan and the other woman walked off in the same direction Garcia and Angela had not too long ago.
"Nothing much of interest," Hodgins reported, "most of it was the general burnt grass, leaves, ect of any forest fire. There was some synthetic material which is currently being analyzed I'll have what it is in the morning. There was also what looked like a melted ring, that's being analyzed as well."
"Good you can go home then as well as anyone who wants to, I'll finish the examination now and we'll call it a night. We won't have much to work with until we have a name and a chance to go over the crime scene again. That is how you like to work, correct?" Brenan asked looking at Hotch who nodded once. Hodgins nodded and left leaving the FBI agents to watch her work and she would have scowled if she knew for a fact she wouldn't have to work with them. "She was healthy and between the ages of 34 and 38. Active as seen by the wear in her joints, namely knees and elbows. The break in the wrist looks to be caused by a fall rather than an attacker-"
"How can you tell that?" Reid asked and walked up to the table; she looked slightly surprised by the question and gently lifted the victim's wrist.
"See how it's broken here," she said running a finger over where the break started, "this is consistent with all her weight being forced on to it as she tried to catch her balance. She most likely fell from a higher place, or tripped which would give her more momentum. If she had been attacked and the attacker broke her wrist it would be broken here instead." Reid nodded his head and stepped back slightly, "This appears to be her only broken bone in her life. Cause of death was being burnt, there is no nicks, chips or anything to indicate any other cause of death," she looked to Booth who was finishing writing down her examination in his notes and he nodded once at her in thanks.
"That's it for tonight, we'll have to continue tomorrow," Booth said and walked down the steps and towards the door. The others joined them and they walked out of the building in an awkward silence.
"This is a slow start to the case," Morgan complained gruffly as we headed to the hotel we'd be staying at. It was small, but the closest to the Jeffersonian they could find.
"We don't know if it's even a case yet," Reid commented and sighed as he shifted in his seat, nothing else was said until they got to the hotel.
"We have to share rooms," Hotch said walking back to his team with four room keys, the entire group sighed it never really changed. It was hard to walk into a hotel with seven people and not end up sharing.
"I call a room to myself," Prentiss piped up and received several glares, sleeping partners were awkward.
"Me and JJ!" Garcia put in, she had shared a room with almost all of them and JJ was the best, she was quite, didn't move to much or talk.
"Uhh," Reid said looking around at his three possible roommates and the looked back at him, "At least we're not sharing beds."
"About that dear I only have two rooms open with two beds, I don't suppose there's a couple among you?" the manager said and Hotch shook his head, "Rooms three and four are the ones with two beds."
"Three," JJ said and she was handed the key, Hotch the other for himself.
"Mine!" Both Reid and Morgan called and proceeded to debate why they should have it, not noticing Hotch put the last key on the table and walk upstairs with the rest of the team, "Hotch who gets to-" Morgan started but when he looked at their boss he wasn't there, no one was there.
"Damn," Reid said and walked upstairs, followed by Morgan who was complaining about having to share a bed with the pretty boy.
After a near sleepless night next to an equally uncomfortable Morgan Reid dressed and raced downstairs as fast as possible and waited patiently for everyone to come back down. The first person to join him was Morgan, who ordered breakfast and was as silent as the younger man.
Those who suffer from Jet lag do not like to be kept waiting and those who are trying to get rid of something or someone do it in the most annoying way possible. Or so Reid happened to notice as he tossed his paper cup of coffee into the trash can nearest to the Jeffersonian. They were armed with one cup of coffee each to ward off their seemingly constant condition of jet leg, and the defence hadn't lasted long.
Reid noticed everyone, except for maybe Hotch, bite back their sigh of relief when they caught sight of Dr. Brenan and Booth walking towards them. Brenan seeing them cocked her head slightly to the left in curiosity.
"The Jeffersonian doesn't open to the public until ten. Workers enter from the back," Brenan said and proceeded to walk to the back of the building, followed by Booth who was grinning ever so slightly at the expressions the profilers were having difficulty hiding.
"Good Morning Booth, Dr. Brenan," Cam greeted happily and turned to the profilers, "Agents."
"Analysis finished?" Booth asked getting right to business, as usual for him. Normally he didn't like the wait, but this time he could enjoy it.
"Yes. Our victim is Jenifer Norman, she was accused and convicted of child abuse and was recently released from jail on parole."
"Is there a number for her parole officer?" Booth ask and Cam nodded handing booth a slip of paper, "Thanks." He turned around and headed into a secluded corner where he wouldn't be disturbed as he made the call.
"Is there any way to tell whether or not this was an accident?" Hotch asked looking between Dr. Brenan, Dr. Saroyan and Dr. Hodgins who had just recently joined the group.
"Call the fire department?" Cam suggested, ignoring what the question was actually supposed to mean.
"I can get the information, just get me a computer," Garcia piped up helpfully and Dr. Brennan pointed helpfully in the direction of Angela's 'office'.
"Any luck with you analysis Dr. Hodgins?" Brennan asked starting to walk forward and towards the body, even though there was nothing else to do with it.
"The substance found on the victim was identified as a fire blanket. Commonly used to put out small fires. The other material that was found was mostly comprised of Polyisoprene a material that has been used for condoms since 2008. Latex is most common for condoms-"
"Dr. Hodgins," Dr. Saroyan started, stopping their progression again, "Why exactly are you going on about condoms?"
"Well during the analysis my lovely little friend indicated that there was a small trace of-"
"Semen," Reid provided and Hodgins sent a small wink his way.
"You got it. I traced it for DNA and further ran that, but the small amount that was left gave only a small part of the guy's DNA. Thus giving a list of three males, two of which are related."
"Thank you Hodgins," Booth said coming up and grabbing the list and briefly scanning it, "Can your girl find these addresses?" Booth asked looking at Hotch who nodded and held out his hand.
For a moment Reid suspected that Booth was going to hold back the piece of paper childishly, but there was no such action from the seasoned FBI agent. Hotch flipped open his cell and after a short wait gave Garcia the information.
"The Parole officer said that she had said she was going camping with someone and that was the last he's heard of her. She was supposed to check in this morning; instead he got a call from me." Booth said asHotch searched himself for a pen.
Holding the phone between his ear and shoulder he prepared to write, "Go." His hand moved in a flurry and after a short minute he straightened himself out, "Alright thank you," he paused before hanging up, "Thanks Garcia." He closed his phone, pocketed the pen and handed the sheet of paper back to Booth, "It wasn't an accident."
There was a moment of silence as both parties accustomed themselves to working with each other.
"Let's get it over with then," Booth said and glanced down at the paper, "Me, Brennan, and Agent Hotchner will go see this Mr. MacKay that has a listed address. Agent Rossi, Agent Prentiss follow up on the last suspect. Agent Morgan, Agent Reid, and Agent Jareau do what you need to at the Crime scene. When your finished meet back here. You can go through the front this time."
It was a dig but they ignored it in favour of packing up and heading out, finally they were able to do something. They didn't like having to sit back while someone else steered the case, but they would submit so it would go faster.
"What similarities does the victim's death have with your cold case?" Booth asked glancing slightly at his passenger seat, he sparred a look back at Brennan who was huffing about being stuck in the back.
"The first victim," Hotch started keeping his eyes locked onto the road in front of them, "Was a burn victim. It was a house fire rather than a forest fire, and much like the current victim she wasn't much of a scholar, but she made her living as an athlete. The second victim was found in a freezer-"
"What was the connection between the two murders?" Booth asked turning left.
"Both victims broke their right wrists directly before death; it was the only reoccurring thing in all of the murders. The murders were also made to look like accidents or natural deaths, and most of all the victims had to do with children. The first victim was a lawyer who defended a child abuser and won, the second victim was the child abuser. The last victim was a pedophile."
"How was he killed?" Booth asked his lip darting out quickly as he bit back the thought that the guy deserved to die.
"A combination of all other ways he had killed his victim. His death was slow, agonizing, and he deserved it. When we investigated his apartment we confiscated videos and pictures, even some blood stained sheets."
"God. I think I'd do worse." It was a subconscious comment, supposed to be unheard.
"You have kids huh?" Hotchner asked and Booth nodded his head once, "Me to. Felt the exact same way."
"I have a son, Parker."
"My son's name is Jack he's seven now."
"Parker is ten."
"The killer uses a cycle," Hotch said turning the conversation back to their job, "He starts with a burn victim followed by someone frozen. The first two victims switch between being a child abuser and someone that helped or just ignored the 'crime'. As the killings get worse so does the involvement of the person dealing with the crime, the pedophile for example."
Booth nodded his head and the trip finished in silence as Booth pulled up to the curb and parked, getting out the three made their way to the house.
"Hello Mr. MacKay? I am special Agent Seeley Booth I work for the FBi. This is my college Special Agent Aaron Hotchner from the BAU, and my partner Dr. Brennan from the Jeffersonian. I have some questions for you, may we come in?"
The man paused for a moment; it was quite a shock having FBI agents show up at his door without notice. Remembering that they requested to come in he nodded his head and opened the door wider, "How can I help you?" he asked as he followed them and directed them into the living room.
"Have you heard of a woman named Jenifer Norman?"
"No," he said plainly and looked between the three strangers in his house, "Should I know her?"
"She is a victim in an on-going murder investigation," Booth said and started looking around the house, paying special attention to pictures. He picked one up and turned to the man sitting awkwardly on the sofa, "Is this your brother?" the man nods, "Do you happen to know his whereabouts?"
"No I haven't heard from him in about . . . five years or so," the man pauses, "Is he in some kind of trouble?"
"Possibly. Thank you for your help Mr. MacKay. If you have any information or hear from your brother give us a call," handing the bewildered man his card Booth walked out of the living room towards the front door.
Hotch had remained silent learning just as much about the suspect as she was learning about his fellow agent. His method was smooth, quick, and simple he got the answers he wanted and easily without forcing or bribing them. He was good with dealing with people and didn't enter a situation with something already in mind, and he only asked relevant questions. Seeing this Hotch was interested to see how he was when he was actually interrogating a suspect or the UNSUB.
"Booth," Booth said as he sat himself behind the steering wheel, "Where?" he pauses for a minute before shoving in his key and starting up the engine. He snapped closed the phone and pulled away quickly, "Another victim," then he turned on the sirens and raced down the streets.
End Chapter.
I hope you enjoyed the second chapter and that it was worth the wait, feel free to tell me what you think. However i will ask that you tell me what pairings you want to see since I only have Booth and Brennan in mind at the moment, I'm up for anything knew. i'll go with the MOST suggested pairing.
Thank you.
