You're going to want to listen to the Depeche Mode song of the same title while you read.
Gum
Chapter 10: Precious
It would eventually take twelve techs, spread out over four rooms, a total of eight hours to sift through all of the loose mail and the packages in the warehouse from 1998 to the present. Cullen and Cam arrived halfway into the retrieval process and ordered their star crime-fighting duo to go home and rest so that they would be fresh the next day when the real work would begin. Cam, flanked by Clark, Wendell, and Fischer, assured Dr. Brennan that they would oversee the rest of the job and Cullen threatened to take away Booth's gun for a month if his took so much as one page of the case file home with him.
To Temperance's surprise, they met Dr. Goodman on their way out as he was coming in to meet with Ernie. Apparently the mailroom's policies were about to change yet again.
"I still don't like having to leave," she informed Seeley as they drove the short distance to the lab to pick up Sadie, "It's only eight o'clock; that's hardly late."
"Bones, we came in at seven," he reminded her.
"Perhaps," she agreed, "for the morning meeting, but then we were gone a good portion of the later morning and early afternoon at the photo shoot. I'm still quite fresh."
"I'm not worn out either, Bones," he sounded sympathetic, "but who knows how much longer this could take and Cam's right that we're going to have plenty of work on our hands until we get everything sorted out."
"I suppose," she closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest, her mind still trying to fathom the number of bones that had been down in the mailroom's deep storage warehouse.
"How many bodies do you think they've found so far?" he asked.
"It would be difficult to tell at this juncture," she shook her head without opening her eyes, "At last count, there were eight hundred and seventy-three bones."
"So at least four bodies?" he asked, dividing by two hundred and six.
"Possibly," she said hesitantly, "Though we won't know for certain until the bones can be properly laid out and inspected."
"Sounds like a big job," he said, coming to a stop in front of the lab building.
She could feel his eyes on her without looking, his thumb gently caressing her cheek as he spoke softly, "Look, you stay here and I'll go grab Sadie and we can go home."
Still somewhat overwhelmed by the enormity of the task in front of them, she nodded without contest, smiling softly as his lips grazed against hers. She heard the SUV door slam shut and could picture in her mind him jogging up the steps and into the building. Again, she attempted to relax.
Instead, her mind whirred, making lists of all of the tasks that needed to be accomplished. What she hadn't mentioned to Seeley since she was not one hundred percent certain was that it appeared that the Postman, whoever he or she was, had been mailing her remains at a rate of one skeleton per year since 1998. She had given clear instructions to the recovery team that the bones should be placed in storage containers according to the year's mail that they had been recovered from, making it easier to test her theory once the containers were brought to the lab. Eleven years had transpired since '98 and it was highly probable that at least ten, if not eleven, sets of remains would be waiting for her when she came in tomorrow morning.
Fatigue washed over her and she was pleased to hear the back door open behind her, now more ready for sleep than she had initially thought she would be.
A strong pair of arms came around, pinning her to the seat. Straining, she failed to sit up and a hand clamped over her mouth, precluding a cry for help. It was the last thing she felt before unconsciousness claimed her.
B&B&B&B&B&B&B
Booth took one last look at Bones, who looked like she was more tired than she was letting on, and set off at a jog for the lab, taking the large flight of steps two at a time. Chris, one of the long-time security guards, recognized him and buzzed him in automatically.
"You and the doc sure stirred up the hornet's nest tonight," the guard grinned teasingly.
"It's what we live for," Booth smiled back, "Wouldn't want you rent-a-cops to get bored."
"I'll take you any day, Ranger," the former Marine challenged good-naturedly.
Booth tossed a salute at him and moved on toward the lab. The closer he got, the more he realized Chris hadn't been joking. Organized chaos was being personified as squints and squinters alike handled the steady influx of bones coming from the warehouse. While Hodgins directed the flow of traffic in and out of the lab, Angela was helping to prep for the bones still to come. The platform looked like a sardine can full of stainless steel and more tables were being set up on the floor.
Upstairs, he found Max in Angela's office playing Mr. Wizard to Sadie and the two Hodgins kids, keeping them distracted from what was going on down below.
"Where's Tempe?" Max wanted to know.
"Car," Booth answered shortly. He was rewarded with a very Bones-like eyebrow arch and he cracked a smile at the older man, "She's exhausted and letting her in would be like giving Sudafed to a meth addict."
"Not to mention Cam and Cullen kicked you out," Angela said from the doorway, "She's kicking us out too, though."
Booth gave the artist a small smile, shouldering Sadie's backpack, "Come on, girlie, let's get you and Mommy home."
The little girl didn't look like she wanted to leave, and dragged her feet until Max offered to give her a piggy-back ride to the parking lot. The trio gathered up the rest of Sadie's stuff from Bones' office before heading downstairs.
"Wow, Daddy," Sadie said from her perch on Max's back, "That's a lot of bones."
"Sure is, kiddo."
"Do you think Mommy can put them all back together again?" Sadie asked as they walked.
"Oh yeah," he said confidently, "Your mom's real good at putting bone puzzles back together again."
"Are we going to the game now?" she wondered next.
Max and Booth exchanged looks, both knowing how much Sadie had been looking forward to cheering Booth on.
"Um, the game already started, Sweetheart," Booth said finally, "But we can go to the next one."
"But, Daddy," the little girl protested as the cool night air greeted them, "you said you only get to play next time if you win tonight and you and Mr. Wendell are here now, so how can you win if you're not there?"
"They'll manage," he grinned.
"Oh," she quieted for a minute before asking, "Will Parker come with us next time too?"
Booth came to a halt at the bottom of the steps, swallowed a curse, and pulled out his phone. Sure enough, there were several messages, no doubt from an angry Rebecca wanting to know why he hadn't picked Parker up yet. He hit speed dial and braced himself.
"Hey, Becca," he said easily when she picked up.
Max shot him a sympathetic look as Rebecca's angry voice filled the still night air. He held the phone away from his ear until she'd vented, then explained what was going on and why he hadn't called until now. Apparently, she didn't blame him too much, because she let Parker get on the line and talk. Booth gave him the candy-coated version of what had happened and promised to make it up to him for the next game. Parker accepted it as well as could be expected and told his dad to go catch the bad guy. Booth agreed and handed the phone to Sadie, who proceeded to give Parker a blow by blow account of her day while Booth and Max started walking again.
She had just hung up, wiggling off of Max's back so she could skip to the SUV, when the world around them exploded, knocking them to their feet as flames shot up in the air no less than twenty yards in front of them. Without a second thought, Booth pulled Sadie to him, shielding her with his body and hauling Max to his feet to move him away from the blast.
"Get her back!" he yelled to Max, ears ringing as he tried to pass Sadie off.
Max's gaze, though, was riveted to the scene unfolding in front of them and Booth's stomach dropped as he tracked it, his veins going cold as he realized what the explosion had been.
"Bones!" he yelled, dropping Sadie unceremoniously onto the lawn.
His legs churned under him as fast as they could, his body ignoring the heat as he drew closer to the inferno that used to be his SUV.
"BONES!"
Smoke bit at his eyes and his skin prickled the closer he got. He shouted her name as if that would somehow magically summon her from the depths. Voices shouted at him to stop but he couldn't. He had to save her. Had to get to her before the flames hit the gas tank and it was too late.
He was within five feet of the car when he was tackled to the ground, the wind sucked from his lungs. A powerful set of arms got him in a fireman's hold and picked him up, carrying him away from the wreckage just as a second blast sounded behind them.
Somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed.
Shrapnel from the SUV dug into his skin and he fed on the pain, using it to fuel his strength and break his attacker's weakened hold. He felt his knuckles crack as fist hit face, but the other man absorbed the blow as if it were nothing and again, Booth was restrained.
"Stand down, soldier," Chris' voice cut through the ringing in Booth's ears and the sound of approaching sirens, the grip on his arms tightening, "There's nothing you can do."
Grief threatened to choke him, when another sound reached his ears, spurring him to action once again. He stomped down hard on Chris' instep, freeing his arm just enough for an elbow shot to the solar plexus. The guard went down and Booth took off, this time away from the fire and toward his shrieking daughter.
Sadie was kicking and screaming against Max, who held her tightly to him, his face set in grim determination. The two men's eyes met and the older man surrendered his charge. Realizing who now held her, Sadie collapsed in her daddy's arms, her tears seeping through his shirt, adding their weight to his chest. He crushed her to him, stroking her matted curls and whispering nonsense words into her ear.
Not until he was fully sure that his chest blocked her view did he turn away from the fire, carrying her back up the steps into the building. Max trailed behind him, offering a steady hand as Booth's adrenaline rush began to fade.
Just inside the doors, a pale-faced Angela rushed up, Hodgins hot on her heels. Booth shook his head at the unspoken question before easing himself and Sadie to the floor, not trusting his feet to take another step. Angela's hand flew to her mouth as the color drained from Hodgins' cheeks.
At Booth's side, his cell phone shattered the stunned silence.
"Agent Booth," the now familiar voice spoke as he pressed the phone against his ear, still cradling Sadie in his lap, "Now you know what it is to feel the loss of someone you love and you must choose how to respond. Choose wisely."