Wow! Thank you so much for the warm reception to ! If you're reading the second chapter, I'll assume you liked the first, so let's get going.
Pairing: B/B - but the whole gang will appear
Rating: Up to M
Timing: After Season 6 season finale
I own no one and nothing but a wild imagination and a trusty keyboard.
The Cradle Will Rock – Chapter 2
[THE JEFFERSONIAN INSTITUTE, WASHINGTON, DC]
Sunlight streamed through the glass roof of the Jeffersonian Institute, illuminating the human remains that were laid out in an organized fashion on tables in the forensic anthropology lab. There were three victims, two nearly completely skeletonized and a third still possessing a small amount of flesh and ragged clothing.
"So I guess we can assume they were all killed by the same perp?" Booth asked.
"No, we cannot assume that at all, Booth," Dr. Brennan disagreed. "My team has not yet begun to examine and categorize the remains. Until that is complete, we cannot assume cause of death and certainly not whether it was one individual who caused all three deaths."
"Okay, okay. No assumptions." Booth sighed. "Tell me what we do know."
Intern Daisy Wick began to recite what she had already gleaned from examining the remains.
"Three females, each between the ages of 25 and 35. All three were in the advanced stages of their first pregnancy. Skeletal features suggest -."
"Wait," Booth stopped her. "How do we know it was their first pregnancy?
"Oh, that's obvious," answered Daisy. "Their pelvic bones have not separated to the extent required to deliver an infant."
"Actually, Ms. Wick, your conclusion is incorrect." Brennan stepped closer to the table and gestured to the pelvic bones of one of the victims. "Not all pregnancies result in viable offspring. Additionally, the pelvic bones begin to separate during pregnancy as a result of a combination of hormonal changes and the weight of the growing fetus, but a woman who has given birth via cesarean section without first advancing to the late stages of labor would not show the same pelvic inlet expansion as a one who delivered her fetus vaginally."
"I'm sorry, Dr. Brennan," Daisy murmured.
"Perhaps you should strive to be more accurate in the future," Brennan suggested, oblivious to Daisy's embarrassment.
Booth winced at the frank discussion of female anatomy. He wasn't a prude, but some subjects were just private.
"So, one of these women could have had another kid, only not the… normal way?" he asked.
"Correct." Brennan stepped back from the table. "We really know very little about these women."
"Except that they were all pregnant and now they're dead," Daisy said grimly.
"I've got someone at the Bureau checking missing persons reports for pregnant women. Any idea how long these women might have been buried in the woods?"
Jack Hodgins swiped his access card and jogged up the stairs of the platform.
"One year, six months, and about four and half months, according to my insect friends." He held up a small vial containing an insect that Booth could not identify and continued. "The fact that they were buried over the winter makes pinpointing the exact time frames more difficult, but I can compare the amount of insect activity that occurred prior to the ground freezing and again after it had begun to thaw, and use that information to calculate a relatively accurate timeline."
"So they weren't all buried at once?" Booth asked.
"Nope," Hodgins replied. "It looks like the guy picked them off one at a time, then brought them back to the same area to bury them. Maybe he thought they wouldn't be found there, or it was easily accessible even in poor weather. The victim with some clothing intact was likely buried just before the ground froze last winter."
"By 'guy' are you insinuating that the perpetrator was male?" Brennan questioned. "We don't yet have a profile of possible suspects."
"No, no. Just 'guy' as in 'hey, you guys," Hodgins assured her.
"It would have to be a man, wouldn't it?" Daisy mused. "I mean, a woman couldn't be so brutal."
Booth scoffed. "I've seen some pretty scary women in my day." He shot a look at Brennan and winked. "Present company excluded, of course."
"Of course," Daisy smiled brightly at him. She did not seemed to notice that his comment was not directed at her.
Brennan picked up one of the skulls and turned to Daisy. "Ms. Wick, please remove all of the clothing from the third victim so that Dr. Hodgins can check it for trace evidence. I'm going to take this skull to Angela so that she can get started on the first facial reconstruction."
"Absolutely," Booth agreed, rubbing his hands together. "Let the squints get to work so we can figure out what happened to these women and identify some suspects."
He followed Brennan as she left the platform and headed down the hall to Angela's office. "Need any help, Bones?"
"No, thank you. I'm just going to talk to Angela for a few minutes. You can wait in my office if you'd like."
"But I don't want to be away from you for a few minutes," Booth teased, sliding an arm around her waist and leaning in to kiss her neck.
"Booth!" she protested. She stopped walking and turned to face him. "Someone will see us."
"No one's watching. I checked." He gave her a quick peck on the lips before heading back toward her office. "I can't help it if you're irresistible."
She smiled to herself as she walked away. "I am, aren't I?"
[ANGELA'S COMPUTER SUITE]
"Hello, Angela," Brennan greeted her friend.
"Hi, sweetie." Angela looked up from her computer monitor and motioned toward the skull Brennan carried. "I guess that's for me?"
"Yes. I need facial reconstruction done as soon as possible."
"Of course you do. Did I hear right? Are there three victims?"
"That's correct. Three females, all of them gravid at the time of their deaths."
"Gravid?" Angela raised an eyebrow.
"Pregnant," Brennan answered, her matter of fact tone masking feelings of empathy for the victims. She was unused to having such feelings and found them disconcerting.
"Oh…" Angela's face fell. "That's horrible."
"It is horrible. It was fortunate that nothing happened to you before you delivered Michael."
"My God, Bren - don't even say that!" Angela held up one hand as if to ward off the words.
"I'm… sorry. I didn't mean to offend you, Angela."
"I know, honey. It's just… I can't bear to think of anything happening to my precious baby boy."
"Of course you can't. I should not have made that comment. How is he doing? Is his development on target with statistical norms?"
Angela chuckled softly. She loved Brennan to death, but sometimes her way of speaking was unintentionally amusing.
"Michael is doing great. He is finally starting to sleep through the night, so that's an accomplishment. This is his first day with the nanny, though, so I'll be leaving early today." Angela's gaze followed her friend to where Brennan was placing the skull on Angela's work table. She had the impression that Brennan wasn't really listening to her. "Sweetie?"
"Yes…oh. I'm sorry, Angela. I wasn't paying attention."
"So I noticed, which is not normal for you. Is everything okay with you and Booth?"
Of her friends and colleagues, only Angela knew that Brennan and Booth had been intimate. She had felt the need to tell someone and since Angela was her best friend she was the most logical choice.
"Everything is fine. We are quite satisfied with one another sexually."
"That's not a surprise, honey, but what I meant was how are the two of you doing emotionally… as a couple."
Brennan thought for a moment before answering. "Being in a relationship with Booth is much more pleasing than I could have anticipated. I am somewhat regretful that I didn't allow it to happen sooner."
"Aren't we all," Angela laughed. "You have no idea how close Hodgins and I came to simply locking you guys in a room together and not letting you come out until you'd jumped each other's bones."
"Well, that won't be necessary now." Brennan turned to leave. "Let me know when you have the reconstruction done."
"Sure thing."
Angela watched as her friend walked away, and something didn't look quite right.
"Bren?" Angela called after her. "Come back a second."
"What is it?"
"Come here."
She walked back toward Angela with a questioning expression on her face. Angela stared at her for a long moment. She took in the small changes in her friend. Brennan's blouse looked as though it was a size too small where it pulled across her breasts, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes as though she were very tired.
"You're pregnant," she stated flatly.
"I'm…. uh, Angela…" Brennan stammered.
"You are! Oh. My. God!" Angela threw her arms around her friend.
"Shhhhhh! Not so loud, please. No one is supposed to know."
Angela's eyes were shining with excitement.
"How did this happen? I mean, I know *how* it happened, but when? Does Booth know? Are you excited? Are you scared?"
"Angela… stop!" Brennan sat down on the small sofa in Angela's office.
"I'm sorry. I'm just so… blown away. When you told me you and Booth had made love, I could hardly believe it – and now this."
"It wasn't planned. We just… it happened that first night that we were together. You know, after Vincent…" Her voice trailed off. She still harbored guilt over the death of her intern at the hand of a sniper. "I wasn't using birth control because I hadn't been sexually active, and I suppose it just slipped my mind."
"You suppose? Paging Dr. Freud," Angela snickered.
"I don't know what that means."
"I just meant, you know, it wasn't so long ago that you wanted to have a baby with Booth, and now it's happening. I can't help but wonder if on some level you wanted it to happen that night."
"It's true. I did entertain having a child before. I am physiologically ready to reproduce. I'm actually quite excited about it."
"So am I, sweetie. And I promise I won't tell anyone else until you're ready, okay?" Angela gave her best friend another hug.
"Okay, Angela. Thank you. You're a good friend."
[IN BOOTH'S SUV ON THE WAY TO MARYLAND]
"Where are we going, Booth?"
"I got a line on one of the victims. Believe it or not, thirteen pregnant women have been reported missing in the greater DC area in the past 12 months." He turned his phone toward her so that she could see the face of a lovely young blonde woman on the screen. "This is Mandy Marlowe, age 26. She was 32 weeks pregnant when her roommate reported her missing."
"She wasn't married?"
"No. She was single, living with a friend. She was a kindergarten teacher."
"Are we sure that she matches one of the sets of remains? I haven't even finished my evaluation."
"The clothing on the most recently buried body matches the description of what she was wearing when she disappeared, and her age and the development of the baby are consistent. I had Cam request her dental records and they were a match."
"So, we're going to talk to her roommate?"
"Yeah."
"Can we get some lunch first? I find that I am quite hungry today."
"That makes sense," Booth assured her. "You're eating for two."
"But one of us only weighs a few ounces."
"That's okay, Bones. If you're hungry, you're hungry. What would you like?"
"I believe I would like some…pie. Apple pie."
Booth jerked his head toward her, nearly swerving out of his lane. "But you don't like pie."
Brennan shrugged. "I want pie."
"Then pie it is." He couldn't hide his grin as he made a U-turn and headed back toward the diner.
