Ch. 4 - Reality Check
Here is my usual apology for taking so long to update. Sorry. I just needed some Vegas Bones and a few days off to get inspired again.
Most people who responded to the 'do you like Cam question' in the last chapter don't like Cam. I copied a couple of the responses after the chapter and Cora Clavia you totally gave me an idea….
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Brennan tried to keep her expression neutral as she waited for her boss to speak. She couldn't help but think back to the last time she and Cam had spoken alone. The things Cam had said, well as much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't get them out of her mind. Do you really think you can make him happy? Cam had asked. He's a good man and he deserves someone who can be there for him and you well … you're a mess.
Dr. Saroyan walked around and sat behind her desk, indicating that she would like Brennan to sit as well. She studied the anthropologist carefully for a moment, enjoying watching the other woman squirm. It wasn't a sight she often got to see, as Booth had been right, Brennan didn't intimidate. At first Cam had attributed the lack of intimidation to cluelessness. Dr. Brennan wasn't really in touch with the real world and Cam had figured she didn't know she was supposed to be intimidated. Despite all the anthropology she spouted with textbook precision, Brennan obviously had trouble equating her studies to her life.
Cam couldn't intimidate her physically, despite her rough New York upbringing; she knew that Brennan with her martial arts and sharp shooting would kick her ass. She couldn't intimidate her intellectually as even she had to admit that Brennan and most of the squints were in a different realm when it came to intelligence. It had taken awhile, but Cam had found her weakness. Relationships. She knew how Seeley felt about Brennan. She had caught him several times, watching his 'Bones' with an almost dreamy expression on his face. Cam was sure he had never looked at her like that. She didn't want to be jealous, hated being jealous. It was a sign of weakness.
When Cam had first come to the Jeffersonian, she had no idea what she was walking into. All she knew was that she would run the forensics lab. A lab that included the best equipment that money could buy, a world famous forensic anthropologist, and a certain hunky FBI agent frequently consulting on cases. She glared at the woman before her and wished that there had only been two out of the three. Dr. Goodman had left a few details out in his job description. Like how she was really taking Brennan's job and how her power was actually limited. She had explored firing Dr. Brennan and was told in no uncertain terms that Dr. Brennan was one of the Jeffersonian's most valuable assets and that she would find herself out a job long before the forensic anthropologist did.
For the last several months Cam had tried several different strategies for bringing Dr. Brennan under her control. After all, she was used to being the chief medical examiner, the one who ran the investigations and only consulted other forensic scientists when they were needed. She had tried intimidating her, being almost friendly to her, and finally had tried to take her man and her best friend. Working here was definitely not what she had imagined, and she didn't really like the person it had forced her to become. The actions it had forced her to take to hopefully secure a new position in the federal government. Leaving the Jeffersonian felt like she was giving up, admitting defeat, but between most of the world being enamored with Dr. Brennan and Hodgins' family practically owning the institute she felt that her time here might be limited. At least this way she could leave on her own terms. All she needed to do to accomplish her goal was to get the remains out of the Jeffersonian and assuage Dr. Brennan's suspicions. She decided to try another tactic.
"Dr. Brennan," she began, "I realize things have been stressed between us lately. I am used to running investigations my own way, which is obviously different than yours. Though neither of those ways should include going through the office of another Jeffersonian employee."
Brennan looked faintly embarrassed and started to reply, but Cam cut her off with a wave of the hand. "This case was straightforward. There was no question of the man's identity and no question about the cause of death. Your expertise simply wasn't needed. As far as who killed him, we weren't asked to investigate that. Just to confirm identity and cause of death, which we have now done. They will be here in about a half hour to transport the remains."
"I'm sorry," Brennan said awkwardly and Cam felt a bit smug at having made her apologize.
"As a gesture of good faith, you may examine the remains now, if you wish. Then you can see for yourself that there is nothing to hide."
"Yes," Brennan replied sounding a bit confused at the offer. "I would like to do that."
"Well you had better hurry," Cam said nodding at the clock, "you don't have very long."
--
Adjusting her gloves, Brennan eyed the body on the table with great interest. She was surprised to see that the bones had not been stripped of flesh. In fact, the remains looked almost identical to the way they had looked when she had seen them yesterday. Well if identity and cause of death were easy to determine and there was no other investigation…She reminded herself, trying not to let her mind jump to conclusions.
The cause of death was obvious; there was a large hole in the man's back. Peering closer, she noticed tiny pockmarks at the edge of the wound. The wound had been made by a shotgun and judging by the tight dispersal pattern it had been at very close range. Interesting, she mused, this is only the third shotgun wound I've seen since I've been here. Glancing at the clock she grimaced. She wouldn't have time to look at the entry wound under the scope. Unfortunately the service was never late, meaning she only had another ten minutes with the remains. Silently wishing for traffic or even a small accident on the roads around the Jeffersonian, she forced herself to do only a cursory examination of the remains. Ignoring the shotgun wound for now.
There were several broken bones in the right wrist and one cracked rib that probably wasn't related to the shotgun blast. Brennan cursed herself for not bringing her recorder with her. She wanted to take notes on what she was seeing and glanced around finding no paper in the room. Damn. She continued her examination looking closely at the skull. She had been right in her early observations about race and age. Opening the mouth, she paused when she saw the deplorable state of the teeth. Grabbing a magnifier she could see that many of the teeth were missing, including several molars. The teeth that remained were stained an odd color. She could see no evidence that any Dr. Saroyan had been removed or scraped any of the teeth so test for the chemicals that had turned the enamel such and odd color. Looking around the room, she found what she was looking for and walked over to grab the knife and container. Before she could make it back to the body and take a scraping off the teeth, the door opened and she cringed when she heard Cam escort the transport team into the room.
"Dr. Brennan, your time with the body is up." Cam said. She could clearly see what Brennan was planning to do. "I told you that we were not requested to do any additional inquiry on this case. I expect the reports that I have been asking for to be on my desk first thing in the morning."
Brennan could tell that she had been dismissed and angrily put the tools back on the counter, wadded up her gloves and threw them in the trash. As she stalked back to her office, the details that she had discovered spiraled around her brain, trying to form order and assemble patterns. The teeth interested her the most. So many missing and the strange coloration. Suddenly she remembered and article she had read several months ago. What journal was that in? She tried to remember with little success. Logging into the Jeffersonian's library webpage, she performed a journal search for the keyword 'methamphetamine' hoping the article was already scanned into the system.
One article jumped out at her and she scanned the article until the phrase she was looking for jumped out at her. 'Meth mouth.' When the drug was smoked the corrosive ingredients caused staining and eroding of the enamel, often leading to addicts losing teeth or having them pulled. She scrolled back up to the top of the article she read through the list of chemical ingredients in the drug. She wondered how anyone could put something in their body that included ammonia and hydroiodic acid.
"Dr. Brennan?" Zack called from her doorway. Something about the way he said it made her think it wasn't the first time he had called her. She had been so involved in the article that she hadn't even noticed him.
"I'm sorry Zack, what do you need?"
"Do you have time to look at the skull now?" She felt a bit guilty, she had gotten so hung up on Cam's mystery case she had forgotten about his request. She bookmarked the article before she closed the browser. As she stood up she saw the reports Cam had been asking for. Ok, no more mystery case for now, she insisted. I can talk about it with Booth tonight.
--
A shadow crossed the paper she was working on and she looked up to see Booth standing in front in her office looking amused and, well very sexy. "Must be something really interesting," he said pointing to the paper on her desk. He walked around to her side of the desk and leaned against it, standing so close his leg pushed against her thigh. The smile on her face changed, but didn't disappear.
"It's not," she said flustered by his sudden appearance and closeness.
"Are you ready to get out here?" He asked hopefully.
"No. I've got this report for Cam that I really need to finish."
Booth studied her closely wondering if she really did need to finish the report or if she was trying to avoid him. "Come on Bones, the world won't end if you leave work before nine you know."
"I know," she answered giving him the smile that lit up her face. Booth loved it when she smiled and hoped he could make her do it a little more often. "I've been ordered to have this report completed and on Cam's desk in the morning."
What he really wanted to do right then was take her in his arms and kiss her, but he resisted the urge knowing she would never do anything like that here. Instead he reached out and rubbed her arm before covering her hand with his.
"Well, I'm gonna be at home, sitting on the couch watching basketball. If you want, when you finish up here you should stop by." He suggested, trying to sound casual, so she wouldn't know how badly he wanted her to come over, how he had looked forward all day to holding her.
She considered telling him what she had learned about the body, but decided that with Cam's habit of pop up unwanted she had better tell him somewhere else. "I'll call you when I finish," She promised and Booth gave her hand a quick squeeze before he left.
After working diligently for another hour, she completed the required paperwork. Cam insisted on documenting everything, which was probably a good idea, she admitted grudgingly, but it still meant more paperwork. She had hoped to do a quick examination of a skull for the curator of the Mayan exhibit, but her mind refused to cooperate. It was late and as usual, she was the last one working, all the offices dark except for hers. Usually she didn't mind. Enjoyed the quiet, but tonight it felt a bit lonely. An image of Booth stretched out on his couch watching tv popped into her mind. She looked at the skull apologetically as she slipped her coat on. It would have to wait. Tonight there was somewhere else she wanted to be.
--
Carefully balancing the bag of food with the bottle of wine, Brennan shifted her load to ring the doorbell. Booth took the food from her and she went inside. "I'm glad you came over," Booth said as he deposited the food on the table, "and showing up with food is definitely a plus."
"I haven't eaten since," she trailed off as she tried to remember if she had actually eaten breakfast. Booth gave her a disapproving look and pulled out the food.
There was quite a pile of containers and he laughed. "I guess you are hungry."
As they ate she filled him in on what she had discovered about the mystery case. Booth listened carefully, only asking a few questions when she forgot to translate for him. When she was done he put his fork down and pushed himself away from the table.
"That doesn't make much sense." He said after a moment of refection. "First you've got a drug user whose addicted bad enough to have messed up his teeth, but he still has a $5,000 watch and an Ipod. Why wouldn't he have pawned it for drugs? And a shotgun, you're sure about that?" He asked without thinking. His only answer was a glare.
"I know you're sure I meant … it seems kinda strange." Booth said backpedaling. "The guy fights with someone and ends up dying a few minutes later from a shotgun wound to the back at close range. You don't see a lot of double barrel shotguns used in drug murders. Was it sawed off?"
"I don't know. I didn't have time to properly examine the wound."
Booth sat quietly again. Bones was right, something about the case seemed off. From the way Cam handled it to the new information they had learned. What the hell is Cam up to? He wondered. Cam had a tendency to be impulsive and that coupled with her lust for power was sometimes a bad combination.
"I'll look into it tomorrow." He said. Brennan seemed satisfied by his answer and finished her dinner.
"How is the basketball?" She asked when she was done, remembering his evening plan revolved around some sort of game.
"Wasn't good last time I looked. Let's go check." She moved to clear the table, but he grabbed her hand. "Leave it. I"ll get it later."
He led her into the living room and sat down on the end of the couch. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of where to sit. Booth gave her hand a gentle tug and pulled her down beside him.
"Yes!" He said excitedly when the commercial ended and the score flashed on the screen.
"I take it your team is winning?" She said, trying to show some interest in the game since it seemed so important to Booth.
"The Chicago Bulls and yes, they are up by fifteen." He explained
"Why a Chicago team?" She asked with interest.
"I was a big Michael Jordan fan." He said with a shrug.
"I know who that is!" She said excitedly and she looked so cute that Booth leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
Booth picked up the controller and began to flip channels stopping when a car chase scene involving a classic Dodge Charger caught his eye. They watched in silence for a while and Brennan moved closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder. After a while she asked a question about a police procedure that had been mentioned in the movie. He explained how it would really work and they spent the next part of the movie commenting on and sometimes laughing at the investigative process of the two cops who were trying to catch a killer.
"They wouldn't really let two cops chase a murderer all over the west would they? Wouldn't it be an FBI case anyway since it involved that missing girl? And there is no way she can run up that hill in those heels." Brennan noted incredulously.
"I don't think they are very concerned about accuracy in this movie, Bones. I think were just supposed to focus on the special effect and the two hot cops." Brennan checked out the male cop again. He was good-looking, but a little too pretty for her taste.
Sitting on his couch, his feet up on the coffee table, and Temperance curled up against his chest, Booth felt contented in a way he hadn't in a long time. She shifted against him and the hand that had been resting on her waist made contact with bare skin as her shirt pulled up. He heard her inhale sharply, but he didn't move his hand away. Instead he moved him thumb back and forth slowly until he felt her relax against him again. His open hand almost covering the entire expanse of her flat stomach.
A loud explosion on the tv forced his attention back to the screen. The characters had narrowly avoided another assassination attempt and now found themselves hiding in an abandoned cabin. Their lives in jeopardy and nothing to do but hide until daylight, they of course ended up having passionate sex. As the characters on the screen stripped and began to moan, Booth shifted his attention back to the woman beside him.
He could tell that the action on the screen had affected her as well by her deeper breaths. As if of its own volition, his hand moved up her stomach until his finger brushed the bottom of her bra. She shivered and traced her way down his arm until her hand was on top of his, interlock their fingers and squeezing his hand tightly. Moving to give himself a better angle, he kissed his way down her neck.
Brennan stayed as she was, enjoying his attentions until she couldn't stand it any longer. She needed to touch him, to kiss him. She slid over until she was straddling him, facing him and kissed him, releasing years of stored up tension. Sliding her hands across his chest she reveled in the feeling of his smooth muscles under her hands.
Finally, she moved her hands down to his waist and began to unbutton his jeans. He caught her hands in his, holding them gently, and looked at her intently. She wanted him right there on the couch, but Booth insisted on the bedroom. She wanted him right then, but he insisted on going slowly, driving her crazy with his lips and hands. She was almost ready to start begging when he shifted on top of her and finally gave them what they had both waited so long for.
--
It took several moments for Booth to realize that the sound he was hearing wasn't a dream and that it was the ring of his cell phone. He sat up and smiled at the sight of Bones lying next to him, her back naked and exposed where the blankets had slipped down. Tearing his eyes away from her, Booth got up and tried to remember where he had left his phone. He followed the ringing out into the living room.
"Booth," he said sleepily as he flipped open his phone. When he heard Cullen's voice he swallowed and tried to get the sleep out of his voice. A body had been found on federal land near a senator's house and he and Dr. Brennan had been requested.
"I have already notified the Jeffersonian and Dr. Brennan should be receiving a call shortly." Cullen said and Booth was slightly distracted by the sight of Bones walking into the living room wearing only his undershirt. He snapped back to attention when he realized that Cullen was giving him directions.
Brennan's phone rang loudly in the background and Booth waved his hand, trying in vain to get her attention. She didn't look at him though and answered with a loud, "Brennan." He heard Cullen clear his throat on the other side of the line.
Cullen finished giving Booth the details and then said pointedly, "At least you won't have any trouble locating Dr. Brennan this morning," before hanging up.
Booth groaned and rubbed his face in his hands. When he looked up, Brennan was staring at him with a look of realization on her face. She got off the phone then said, "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." She paused and then asked in a small voice, "Does he know?"
"It doesn't matter," he said not sounding entirely convincing. He moved towards her, meaning to wrap her in his arms, but she took a step back and crossed her arms protectively in front of her.
"Temperance," he said suddenly concerned about the almost panicked look in her eyes, the look that he had been expecting to see ever since their first kiss, but hadn't seen until now. He held out his hand and tried again to move closer to her.
She shook her head and whispered, "No."
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Cora Clavia - As for Cam - I just really, really want to see Bren kick her ass, Chuck Norris-style. Please, Oh Lord, please . . .
BonesSVHP73 - Thanks to Cam Brennan hardly works with Zack anymore or does any lab work. It seems to me like Cam is slowly taking everything that is Brennan's and it is time for her to take it back
ShipperCrazed - I'm an avid Brennan/Booth shipper and therefore do not like the evil and plotting sex toy Cam :-)
