Alice stood just inside Brennan's well-organized closet. My closet, she told herself. I'm Brennan. Until I wake up, I'm Brennan. A wide smile covered her face. I'll be Brennan who just kissed Booth, she giggled quietly.
"Bones! Are you coming or not?" A not-so-small thread of impatience was audible in his voice.
"Getting dressed now!" she called out. "I'll be out in ten!" Alice took a few steps deeper into the closet, running her hands through the rack of slacks and jeans grouped by color and style, to blouses and casual shirts, organized on opposite sides of the closet based on sleeve length, and within sleeve-length by color and fabric. She looked with longing at the rows of dresses and gowns and skirts, silently promising herself to dig into those at a later time, before choosing jeans and a bright red, sheer long-sleeved blouse, rummaging through the drawers of the built-in dresser for a more concealing tank top to layer underneath. Now, she thought, rubbing her hands with glee, where do you keep your shoes, Brennan? She tossed the clothes onto the bed and opened a door on the other side of the bathroom. Bingo! she thought, flipping the light on and stepping inside the second closet.
Obviously professionally installed, the small room was lined on both sides with shelves designed to store shoes and boots. On the wall opposite the door stood two chest-high dressers whose wide, narrow drawers proved to contain Brennan's eclectic assortment of jewelry. Alice, however, hummed in disappointment. The shelves built to hold literally hundreds of pairs of shoes were mostly empty. Three pair of tall, black leather boots with heels of varying heights, along with a variety of other boots of different styles and heels occupied the lowest broadly spaced shelves. There were several pair of rugged work boots and sensible leather loafers with nonslip soles and two shelves dedicated to sneakers and running shoes. Otherwise, scattered sparsely over the remaining shelves were clear plastic boxes, their contents wrapped in tissue and a photo of the shoes within taped to the outside of the box. Alice shook her head at the empty space on the shelves. Brennan, she thought, I am definitely taking you shoe shopping. She grabbed a pair of black boots and hurried to get dressed.
When she finally joined Booth in the living room, he greeted her with a frown. "You did hear the part where I said 'dead body,' right?" he asked with a nod toward her light, feminine blouse.
Alice frowned back. "What, I can't look pretty at a crime scene?"
Booth stared at her, mouth open. "Bones, you always look . . ." He stopped and looked at her, his head tilted. "Are you okay?"
"Of course, sure, I'm fine," she mumbled, not meeting his eyes. "We should go, right? Dead body and all?" She grabbed the bag lying on the sidebar and headed to the door. Booth followed her out, his expression betraying his confusion.
Alice barely restrained herself from skipping a step at the sight of the black SUV double-parked in front of the building, and once she was seated inside, from laughing out loud. She couldn't, however, stop the wide smile that stretched her lips as she settled back and watched Booth pull into traffic. I am sitting in the SUV . . . THE SUV! . . . with Booth!
He glanced over quickly and caught her grin. "Are you going to let me in on the joke?" he asked, with his own smile.
"Nope," she shook her head. "You wouldn't believe me if I tried."
"Okay." He shot a questioning look in her direction, shook his head and concentrated on the road ahead. More than once, he felt her gaze on him until finally, he broke. "What?" he asked "Do I need to blow my nose or something?"
Alice smiled back at him. "You really are gorgeous, you know that?"
Booth blinked in surprise and then smiled broadly in her direction. "Thanks, Bones. Maybe you could have picked a better time but, thanks." He shook his head again and looked back at the road, still smiling.
"Oh, right," Alice said, trying to distract herself from that Boothy grin. "You should probably tell me about the body and the crime scene and stuff."
"And stuff?" He glanced over briefly. "Are you sure you're okay? Have you been watching TV? Did you get a TV?"
Damn, Alice cursed silently. I forgot Brennan doesn't talk like a normal person. "I'm fine, Booth. Maybe I'm still just tired." She nodded. "Yes, that must be it. I'm just tired. So . . . please tell me what you know about the crime scene and the remains. If it is a crime scene, I mean. Which remains to be determined, of course." Oh, that's good, Alice. Remains. Try to remember to say 'remains' a lot.
"Okay." The look Booth shot her way told her he wasn't totally convinced by her feeble explanation. "A body was found in a warehouse near the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. That's what I know, until you see it and do your bone thing and tell me more."
"Right . . . my bone thing." Alice swallowed and looked out the window at the passing scenery. Bone thing? I teach first grade! The only bone thing I know is the leg bone is connected to the foot bone song! Fuck! Eyes closed, she rubbed small circles into her temples. I liked this dream a lot better when I was kissing Booth. Wake up, Alice! Wake up before you make a fool of yourself!
"Bones?" Booth's quiet voice interrupted her musings. "I was kidding about the bone thing. You know I value your work and I didn't mean to insult your abilities."
"What?" Alice looked over in surprise. "I'm not insulted. No, no. No, not insulted. No. Nooo. I'm not. I just . . . I have a headache." Oh, you have no idea. "That's all. I just have a headache. I hope it doesn't affect the quality of my work at the scene. With, you know, the remains. Of the victim. The deceased. The dead person." Her voice trailed off. Oh. My. God. I'm going to have to look at a dead person. A real live dead person. Or, what used to be a live dead person. No, a real dead person. A body. Oh my God. Wake up, Alice!
"Well, okay then," Booth said, pulling into the warehouse parking lot. "As long as you're okay." He shot her a strange look as he parked, exhaling with a low breath. Alice got out and stood beside her door, unsure of what to do next. With a whistle, Booth drew her attention to where he stood at the back of the SUV. "Bones, back here. Don't you want to put these on before you go in there?"
"Oh, right! Yes, absolutely." She took the pair of coveralls he held out to her. "This is probably a new shirt. I mean, it looks like a new shirt. No, it is, I mean. I remember buying it. Well, obviously, I'd remember buying it because I buy all my clothes, right?" Shut up, Alice. Just shut up and put on the coveralls. She was saved from the questions she could see coming from Booth when he was called over by a local police officer. He went, but not without searing her with a glance first. Alice forced herself to breathe deeply as she drew on the coveralls and zipped them up. You are Brennan, you idiot! Brennan doesn't chatter! Be cool, calm, unemotional. Calm, cool, unemotional, she repeated until it became a silent mantra running through her mind. Calm, cool, unemotional. Nodding to herself, she walked over to join Booth and the officer.
"I was driving by and noticed some light from inside, looked like it might have been a little fire or something," he was telling Booth. "We get vagrants, homeless people, that sort camping out in these buildings every once in a while so I stopped to check it out. Three of 'em scattered when I got here, so I put out the little fire they'd built and was looking through the rest of the building when I saw it. Didn't realize what it was until I saw the skull." He looked at Alice. "It's pretty bad. I'm not sure the lady should see it."
"This is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan," Booth responded. "She's a forensic anthropologist with The Jeffersonian. She's seen everything."
Alice looked at the officer with a small smile. "Everything," she nodded. Oh, God, I'm so dead.
"Okay," he shrugged. "Follow me."
Alice and Booth walked a few paces behind the officer as he led them into the darkness of the warehouse. A few yards in, Alice stopped abruptly, covering her mouth and nose with her hand..
"Oh, God, what is that smell?" she choked out. Booth and the officer exchanged looks.
"That would be the body, Bones." Booth stepped closer. "What is going on? You usually don't even notice the smell."
Alice spoke from behind her hand. "Maybe I'm coming down with something. I'll be fine." Slowly, she lowered her hand, wondering how long she could remain standing if she just held her breath from now on. She looked at both men with a small smile. "I'm fine. Carry on," she waved at the officer. He shrugged his shoulders and moved on. Alice followed grimly, determined not to waver again. The smell became stronger the further they went into the warehouse until finally, the officer stopped and pointed to a tattered bundle of rags on the floor.
"There it is." He folded his arms over his chest and stepped back.
Alice stood beside Booth, staring down at the rags from which she could see discolored bones poking through. Booth looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well?"
"Oh, right," she jumped. "The bone thing." She took a cautious step forward, reaching inside the front pocket of her coveralls for the latex gloves she'd noticed earlier. Slowly, she knelt down and brushed aside a few bits of ragged cloth.
"Male or female?" Booth asked.
"Uh . . ." Alice hesitated. How the hell am I supposed to know? she thought. I'm a first grade teacher and this is just a dream! A dream that lets me kiss Booth! I didn't know I'd have to smell dead bodies or look at real bones!
"Bones?" Booth asked again.
Buying some extra time, Alice shifted more of the dirty cloth away from the skull. "Wait . . ." she said suddenly. "Male!" She looked over her shoulder at Booth. "I know this!" She looked back at the skull and pointed. "See the pronounced brow ridge?" She turned it to expose the back of the skull. "And the external occipital protuberance? Oh, wait!" Excited, she removed more of the rags from the torso and pelvic region of the remains. "Yes! See the pelvis? Definitely male. Definitely male." She straightened and smiled broadly at both men. "I know this!" How do I know this? she wondered to herself.
"Well, yea . . ." Booth answered, staring at her in confusion. "Of course you know this. You're the best forensic anthropologist in the world, Bones."
"Yes," Alice nodded, squaring her shoulders. "Yes, I am." She gestured behind her to the bones lying on the floor. "I need all of this taken back to the lab, Booth." She spoke sternly, hoping her voice sounded authoritative. "For analysis. All the cloth and the rags and everything. It's all got body . . . stuff all over it."
"Body stuff."
"Oh, yea," Alice said. She looked back at the remains and nodded proudly. "All kinds of body stuff."