Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, but I am obsessed!

Author's Note: Hello friends. Time for an update. Sorry if I have kept you waiting too long, it's been a busy time. A little bit of Booth and the Squints, and a little more case. Lucy disappears again for a few chapters, just a warning. Enjoy.

Chapter 10: Good Morning Good Morning

July 20, 9:58 AM The Jeffersonian Institution

Booth arrived on time laden with beverages and donuts. He saw no one on the lab platform and Brennan was not in her office. He poked around a bit and found the Brain Trust in another room, standing in front of some strange contraption. With his arms full he was able to shift his treats and knock softly. Angela let him in with a smile on her face.

"Well, hello there Agent Studly."

"Good morning, Angela. Hi everyone, I brought some mid-morning snacks."

Jack made a move for the box of donuts and promptly picked out a nut-covered one and bit into it.

"Thanks, man. I guess the file got something half right. These are my favorites." Booth waved away the thank you and began to pass out the drinks, but not before having to suppress a smile at Hodgins' peanut-covered beard.

"Angela, I knew you had a long night, so I got you a double espresso. Hope that's OK."

"Sounds great. Thank you, that is so sweet." She flirted lightly and touched his arm. She was only human after all, and it was harmless on her part, a little jealousy never hurt anyone. Angela and Booth both missed the identical alarmed looks that appeared on Brennan and Hodgins' faces.

"Here ya go, Bones. Coffee for you. Took a stab at it anyway. I hear that you are particular." She eyed it warily, but took the warm cup, sipped, smiled softly and sipped again. It was a very good cup of coffee, exactly how she would have ordered it. How on earth did he do that?

Booth had noticed her reaction to the coffee and although she said nothing he felt that he had been amply rewarded for his hassle.

"Zack, I hear that you don't drink coffee, so I brought you a hot chocolate. Extra whipped cream."

Zack looked surprised to be included, but took the drink in his hand. Zack stared at it awkwardly, and after an urging from Hodgins took a taste. It was quite satisfactory.

Booth handed Hodgins a tea wordlessly, but subtly nudged a finger on his own chin, trying to warn Hodgins that he still had crumbs attached to his face. Hodgins wiped at his beard and Booth nodded accordingly as he took the last cup of strong coffee for himself.

"So where's Squirt today?"

Brennan answered, "Oh she's with Eleanor." And Brennan moved towards the strange contraption.

"Uh, who's Eleanor, nanny?"

Hodgins and Angela laughed. Angela clarified.

"Only the oldest tour guide at the Jeffersonian. She knows everything, and Lucy finds her fascinating."

Hodgins continued, "She's an institution herself. I'm pretty sure that she knew Jefferson personally."

Brennan spoke up now, "Hodgins that would be impossible, she is in no way..."

Booth interrupted, "Yeah, Bones, we got it. So Squirt actually wants to spend all day in a museum?"

"Yes, Eleanor calls Lucy her Junior Assistant. Lucy is very proud of the title. She helps give tours. Now, I believe an appropriate amount of time has passed for socialization, may we please continue with our briefing."

"Uh, sure. Let's get at it, Bones."

Brennan bit back calling out the nickname. She just wanted to get down to business, but Angela had definitely noticed the use of the nickname and she recalled hearing it the other day. She thought it was adorable. Angela was still thinking about what a cute couple her best friend and the FBI agent would make when the group gathered around the Angelator.

Booth stared at it, "So, uh, what is this thing? Medieval torture device?"

Angela popped out of her reverie and launched into an explanation of her prototype. Booth recognized the phrase "patent pending" and that was about it. She grabbed her pad and booted up the imaging system.

"So, I have a face. Because dentals were missing, the jaw is a little off, but I think it matches pretty well with Wells."

Booth looked at the image on the screen. He was amazed, it was the Congressman being projected in a three dimensional image. He reached out a free hand and touched it. His hand dug into the cheek. He wiggled his fingers slightly.

"Cool. And weird."

Brennan snatched his hand away from the image.

Angela continued speaking for a few minutes comparing a photographic image that she had scanned and confirming the match for the more clinical members of the group.
Zack was next in the briefing and used a lot of big words (or so Booth thought, no one else seemed to mind) to catalogue several of the bone injuries on Wells. He had a few more details on the saw that had been used to cut of Wells' leg. Zack had also compared the ages of the many bone wounds. Many injuries were from childhood and adolescence, still more from his stint in the Army. Brennan had focused on the skull and continued after Zack. The cause of death was a bullet to the back of the head. She was describing it in much more scientific terms and Booth had to ask her to translate several times. She grew frustrated with him, and he grew frustrated with her.

"So Bones, where is the bullet, you didn't mention an exit wound, and nobody found one."

"The angle of the entry supports that the bullet traveled through the soft palate and exited the body. The angle here is nearly vertical. It is likely that the victim was kneeling, or sitting on the floor when he was shot. Angela, can you work on some scenarios for us?"

"Sure thing, I'll work on it this afternoon."

Booth paused to take a few notes. He flipped through some ones from yesterday. "So, anything more about the possible hammer?"

"Yes, there were two strikes to the face, post mortem. It was a common household hammer, two strikes to the skull, one on the left zygomatic arch and the other to the orbital region."

"To disfigure him?"

"Possible, Booth."

Brennan made a few more comments about the skull damage, but Booth mostly tuned them out. His eyes were glazing over when Hodgins' turn finally came around.
I've got particulates, and some interesting fibers, and organic evidence. What do you want first?"

"Organic evidence, I guess." Booth responded. Hodgins went on.

"OK, we have at least three different hair samples that do not belong to our victim. I've sent them in for DNA analysis. It will take a couple days, I can't do it myself. On the scraps of clothing, definitely a tuxedo, high quality by what's left of it, I've got traces of motor oil, gasoline and fluids commonly found in cars. My prediction, the guy was killed in a garage. I'm trying to narrow it down more, see if I can get a more exact location."

Hodgins went on to describe a long list of other evidence found on the clothing. Once again, Booth began to lose focus and took to fidgeting a bit in order to wake himself up. He tuned in again when Hodgins' voice took on even more excited tone than usual.

"So I found wood and fungus embedded in the femur of the victim. It's been pretty degraded, so once again, I'm going to need some time to identify the fungus, but I think it's our best bet to getting a location for our murder."

"How?"

"Someone hacked down a diseased tree, and then hacked off this guys' leg. There is a lot of research on plant pathology around here, I may be able to get something special when I get an identification on the fungus."

"Sure, you do that. Keep me updated." Booth couldn't believe that anyone would care about diseased plants. Anyone could kill a plant, right?

"No problem, man." Hodgins looked positively tickled that the agent seemed to appreciate his efforts.

The briefing ended shortly after, Brennan giving out assignments for what needed to be done while she was in the field. Booth grew impatient with her instructions as they never ended and he only actually understood a quarter of what she said. Eventually, she seemed to quiet and looked at Booth expectantly.

"Ready to go, Bones? We're burning daylight here, and we've got a bit of a drive."

Brennan nodded and started to walk towards the door, and then remembered one more thing she had to tell Angela and moved away from the door. Booth waited again as she began to leave and then turned back to address just one last thing to Zack, this time. Finally, Booth had had enough. He moved towards her, placed his hand firmly on the small on her back and guided her out the door. Booth ignored the scientist's protests at being led out of her own laboratory.

Zack trailed them, oblivious, as usual, but Angela and Hodgins looked at each other. Hodgins asked Angela, "How does he still have a hand?"

Angela just shrugged and turned back to her computer screen, a smile tugging at her lips. Hodgins gazed at her for a moment and then sighed, grabbed the last remaining donut and left a trail of peanut crumbs all the way to the platform.