The Facts in the Child
A/N. So this is part 1 of 5 for our case. I co-wrote it with my Beta, whatever55. We called this one "The Facts in the Child". It does start with a short reference to The Finder episodes sides, meaning not what it ended up being. For the sake of this story ignore all that about Booth still being in the military when Parker was born. There will be a difference in how the some things in the Finder happened in my story and what it ended up being, it is not a mistake it is a choice, to use a few things which were in the sides instead of the episode.
Also, if you like this case check out whatever55's story "Killing for Revenge"…The story takes place before the last two episodes in season 4, and have the some great B&B batter and a very exciting case. Really it is it is great so far, so really you should go check it out and leave a review.
Summary is… a serial killer is on the loose who targets little boys Rebecca doesn't tell Booth Parker's missing. What happens when things get more complicated? Cullen is still around too.
I would like to say thank you to all of you that has reviewed, added the story to your alerts list, or added it to your favorites list.
New note. I appolegize for the French in the first version of this chapter, two of my readers FrancieAusten and manonct were kind enough to let me know that I had made a mistake using Google-translate for that part. I am really sorry for that, but grateful to those two for their help.
FrancieAusten wrote the correct version to me, so thank you for that:-)
If I at some other point make very disturbing mistakes or mistakes which make reading difficult, or mistakes with facts or other things, please let me know I am really grateful for that.
I don't own Bones, neither my beta nor I do if we did we would make a lot more money than we do, and probably not use our ideas for Fanfic:-)
Brennan and Booth were having breakfast at the diner. Even after her morning sickness had stopped they had continued with the tradition of eating breakfast or lunch together. Today was no exception. Even though there had been some distance since they had gotten back from Florida a few days ago. The distance was mostly due to the fact that Booth was being cranky and irritated. Brennan had tried to cheer him up a couple of times, but it did not seem to work. He was actually acting like he was slightly mad at her, and she had no idea what she had done to make him react like that. She tried to think back to what had gone on in Florida.
They had found the body in the swamp, and the alligators had had a field day on that. They had needed help during the investigation and part of that help had come from Walter Sherman, better known as The Finder. Booth had already known him from his army days, and they had not liked each other very much. Booth had shown off his Alpha Male attributes every chance he got in front of Walter, which had annoyed her a lot, since she had found Walter interesting and a bit charming. She had also pointed out when she first saw him that he had some very pleasing features which would make him a great mate. Booth had growled at that one, and had actually been moody, as Angela would say, after that. Was that the problem: her comment on Walter's looks? Why would that make Booth upset? It was not like she had done something about it, and Angela always told her it was alright to look, as long as you didn't touch or do something more than look. She had compared it to window shopping for some strange reason and told Brennan that was what she did with Booth. Brennan tried to think back to see if she had done more than "window shopping". When it came to her that was something that could have made Booth go from moody to cranky and almost mad. Why had she even done that? She hadn't even been interested in Walter even though he was good looking. Booth was better looking than him, and she had no desire for any other man other than Booth.
Booth and Brennan had left the bar, and Booth was already over by their rented car. Brennan walked over to him when she heard Walter call her name from behind.
"Dr. Brennan?"
She turned around to face him and saw him holding out a flat box towards her, indicating for her to take it. She took it and opened it. Inside she found her Science fair medal from seventh grade. She was shocked.
"You found it! That's… I was going to say impossible, but since you've found it, it's not… I lost this."
"Bones, are you okay?" Booth called over to her.
"Why wouldn't she be?" Walter asked Booth.
Under the medal she found an old newspaper clip.
"Sometimes people ask me to find something like a chart, but the real treasures are something else."
The newspaper clip was an article about the fair but is had a picture of Brennan when she was 11 years old together with her parents.
"This is my mom and dad. It's the only picture I have ever seen of the three of us together!"She embraced Walter. "I am extremely grateful!"
"Grateful enough to sleep with me?" he asked hopeful.
"I don't have sex with men out of gratitude,"but she did lean over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Why had she done that in front of Booth? Yes she was grateful for the picture, but she was not a hugging person or an affectionate person towards people she did not know well or care for. Booth knew that. It had to be that which was bothering him.
"Booth, I was never interested in Walter in a sexual way. I meant what I said with him having a pleasing structure, but I was not interested in more with him. Why would I when I have you and have promised to wait for you?"
"Oh… well… I don't know Bones… you did date two guys at the same time once, so I thought maybe that I was just the one to give you intellectual stimulation and you wanted Sherman or some other jerk to give you sexual company."
"Booth that's ridiculous. I know what I've done before and it's not possible to change the past, but I can tell you that I have changed and during a lot of our cases I have come to realize how much it can hurt others when you don't follow the rules applying to a monogamous relationship. In addition to that, I also discovered during the period of time there you were living with Hannah how much it actually hurts to see someone you have feelings of amorous love for in a relationship with someone else. Therefore I can promise you that I would never be with Walter, especially since I know that the two of you have some kind of animal fight going on to see who the true alpha male was. Of course you won over Walter, which is not something I generally appreciate, but I would have to say it is somewhat comforting to know, at the moment when I am carrying your child, that I have indeed chosen the best possible mate… "
Booth's facial expression brightened after hearing what Brennan had just said.
"Did you just compliment me and tell me you love me in one sentence? What happened to you because that is so unlike you?"
Brennan gave him a soft smile in return. She really wanted him to be sure that she had absolutely no interest in Walter Sherman or any other guys like him.
"Could you please say those things again?" Booth asked her.
"I am not one for repeating myself!"
"Please Bones… it would mean a lot."
Brennan gave him an intense look while she thought about whatever or not to repeat what she had said, and then she smiled. For a short moment Booth was sure she would give in and actually repeat the words she had just spoken, however he had forgotten that you should never underestimate Dr. Temperance Brennan.
"Je t'aime Seeley Booth. Tu es mon meilleur ami et mon amour. Tu es le seul dans mon mon coeur. Je t'adore ."
Booth was completely confused. Whatever she had said she had not said in a soft voice instead it had a slight edge of annoyance so it couldn't possibly be a good thing.
"What did you just say? Did you just curse or disrespect me in a foreign language? What language were you even speaking?"
That made Brennan laugh out loud.
"I guess it really is great that you never needed that anthropologist in Montreal if you didn't even understand that. I can tell you I didn't say anything bad in any way. In fact I think what I just said would be considered pretty good, but I really need to get to the lab now… Yesterday I started to work on a Jane Doe from bone storage and she had been there for about three decades so her family really needs to know what happened to her. If you want to know what I said I would advise you to look it up. You should be able to find it using one of those translation functions you can find online these days. "
"Please, Bones, just tell me what you just said!"
"No!" Brennan rose from her seat. "Will you give me a lift to the lab?"
"Sure just let me pay. On the way there you can tell me what you said."
"I am not going to tell you." They left the diner while arguing about whether or not Brennan should tell Booth what she had told him in French or not.
Brennan had gone straight back to limbo to look over the remains of her Jane Doe, who had been there for three decades now. She studied them and placed the tissue markers on the skull. It looked like there had been a blow to the head, but she decided to study that part closer after she had gotten a face and identity for the woman.
Before she went up to give Angela the skull, she looked for other identification markers on the bones. The woman had to have been in her early to mid-thirties (the same age she was now) and, from the pelvis bone, she could see that the woman had given birth at least once, most likely more than once. The bones also showed signs of abuse, both healed and unhealed, meaning she had been abused shortly before her death. She had most likely been in an abusive home or relationship. She also had damage to her bones that indicated she had been protecting something or someone else.
She walked to Angela's office to give her the skull. This woman deserved to get a face and, if it was possible, to find and bring to justice whoever had hurt her in such a way.
"Hi, Ange. Can you give her a face?" She showed a very pregnant Angela the skull.
"Yuck, Bren… No how are you? Or when will you pop your baby?... Just an icky skull."
"That is very incorrect, Angela. You won't be popping your child as you put it. You will be giving birth, and I would imagine that it would be soon since you are around the end of your term now. But how are you?"
"I'm fine, but my back is hurting, which I really don't like."
"What kind of pain is it?"
"Oh, don't worry, it's not labor pain yet… Actually unfortunately, since I can't wait for this to be over and be able to wear a normal dress or pair of pants without elastic in the waist… How can you look so good while pregnant? You don't look huge at all! I am so jealous!"
"I just might be one of those women who don't show that much, but it is more likely I will just gain more weight later on: around week 18-20 I would estimate…"
"When is your next ultrasound, and is Booth going with you again?"
"It won't be before week 20 I think. As I told you, my doctor thought everything looked good, so I won't be having another too soon. I think Booth is going with me, after all he has offered to take me to all my appointments… But can you do the facial reconstruction of this woman and try to look her up in the missing persons reports and figure out who she is, please?"
"Sure, Bren. Anything additional I should know about when looking at the reports."
"She would be in her thirties and have given birth, she has also been abused and would perhaps have a hospital record with information of Fractura corporis ulnae et radii, and similar fractures."
"What did the last part mean?"
"Broken arm, where both bones have been broke at the same time."
"Oh… sure I can do that. Who does such a thing to a woman?"
Brennan just shook her head. She knew that Angela hated cases involving either abused woman or children, and she hated them as well, but she had more years of practice handling them than Angela, plus she was better at compartmentalizing which was useful in this job, even more so when you had a bunch of pregnancy hormones which actually made it harder sometimes to see things like this. She decided to do some paperwork while waiting on Angela's ID for the woman, instead of finding a new John or Jane Doe.
Booth strolled into the Jeffersonian. He was in a fairly good mood. Everything was back on track with Brennan after the whole Florida fiasco with Walter. Nobody had been found murdered…at least recently. Brennan had called him earlier, telling him that the Jane Doe she had started on today had been murdered. She had been found a little over 30 years ago, so he found himself at the lab working a very old murder. He was very pleased with the fact that he didn't need to come up with an excuse to come to the lab to check up on Brennan and their baby.
When Brennan had called him earlier today she had told him that she was already giving the skull to Angela to give her a face. She said that more than 30 years was long enough to wait for answers and she wanted to get the family their answers as soon as possible. That's why he was here now. He wanted to see if Angela had a face yet and found out who it was. He went into Angela's office, figuring afterward he'd try to drag Brennan home for the night, since it was getting pretty late. He figured if Angela had a face they'd need to wait until tomorrow to let the family know, if there was any family left.
He walked into Angela's office. She was sitting on her couch sketching, sketch pad resting gently on her baby bump.
"Hey. Anything with our Jane Doe?" Booth asked her, flashing a grin, trying to keep her in a good mood.
"What…All work with you…No 'Hey, Ange. You're looking good. How are you?'"
Booth held back his eye roll and humored her. "Hey, Ange. You're looking good. How are you?" Angela laughed at how easily she just manipulated him. She definitely had to fill Brennan in on how easy it is when she gets further into her pregnancy. She could have some great fun getting Booth to do things for her.
"Hey, Booth. I'm great, ready to get this kid out of me. I swear this kid loves using my bladder as a punching bag. What can I do for you?"
"Did you get anything on our Jane Doe?"
"I finished the reconstruction late this morning and it's been running through the missing persons file on the computer. It hasn't found a result yet. Hang on a sec and I'll check to see where we are." She put the sketch pad on the couch next to her and tried to stand. She sunk too far into the cushions. "Can you give me a hand?" Booth helped her off the couch. She waddled over to her computer.
"Are you going over to the family now if we have an identity?"
"Nah, it's getting too late. I figured I'd go argue with Bones that it was time to come home for the night and tell the family in the morning."
"Going home with Bren, huh?" she asked him, grin on her face, still looking through her computer.
"It's not like that, Ange. I'm there as a friend and if she needs help with anything." He was saved from Angela continuing with questions by the computer.
"Huh," Angela said.
"What?" Booth came around to look at the screen too. A big 'No Matches Found' was displayed. "Ok. Can you pull up your sketch and print a copy out for me to take to the Hoover? I'll see if I can find anything."
"Yeah." She pulled up the image on the screen. Booth froze at the image that appeared before him. He almost didn't notice the page come out of the printer, but he did. He quickly grabbed it and started heading out of the office, calling a thanks over his shoulder before Angela could tell something was wrong. He didn't quite make it though and she had noticed something was up.
"Hold it," She called sternly, in her no nonsense voice. He froze in his tracks, not wanting to piss off a pregnant woman. "Turn around." He slowly turned around trying to make it appear as if he was perfectly fine.
"What's up? You need something?" he asked trying to sound cheerful. She saw right through him.
"You just tried to bolt out of here, and you ask me what's up." Angela said crossing her arms, giving him the message loud and clear that he wasn't getting out of here without talking.
"Angela, can we just drop it."
"No. Sit," she told him forcefully pointing to the chair. He didn't move this time. Brennan came into the office as they were having the stare off. She looked back and forth between the two.
"What's going on?" Brennan asked, confused as to why there was a lot of tension coming from Booth. Booth looked at her.
"What are you doing here, Bones?"
"I came to see if anything was found in missing persons and to see if you were here yet."
"Nothing came up in missing persons, Sweetie. Booth here though saw the sketch and made a break for the door." Booth handed her the sketch, silently explaining. She took a look at it and instantly understood.
"Oh."
"Come on, it's late. Let's get home," Booth told her.
"Yeah," she said, knowing now wasn't the time to argue. "I just have to grab my things from my office."
"I'll meet you at the SUV."
"Ok," she said as he left. She started to follow.
"What was that about, Sweetie?" Brennan turned back around.
"Apparently our families are even more alike than we thought." Angela looked confused. "Now both of our mothers have been found murdered in Limbo." Angela's eyes widened.
"Oh… Sweetie go…" Brennan quickly left to get her stuff and get home with Booth.
The ride to Brennan's apartment was quiet. Brennan knew he wasn't ready to talk yet and wasn't going to push. Booth pulled into a spot in front of her building. He turned off the car and they both got out. The walk to her apartment and into it was silent. When they got inside, Booth went over to the couch and just sank down into it. Brennan went to the kitchen. She went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water for herself and two beers for Booth. She knew he was going to need them tonight.
She went over to join him on the couch, handed him one beer, and put the other on the coffee table in front of him. She stayed silent, both of them sipping their drinks, knowing he'd talk when he was ready. She had questions for him, but knew he had to start the conversation. It was silent for a while.
Booth had just finished the first beer and swapped it out for the second one that Brennan had put on the table for him. Brennan realized he wasn't going to break the silence and knew she had to break it, but leave it so that he didn't have to respond if he didn't really want to.
"Are you ok?" she asked him, breaking the silence. They both knew the answer, but this would give him the opportunity to start talking without starting the conversation. He stayed silent for a while, and Brennan was starting to think he wasn't going to respond.
"No…" he eventually responded, knowing that she knew the answer already anyway. He didn't want to lie to her. He fell silent again, not really knowing how to continue. Brennan stayed silent now, knowing he was gathering his thoughts. He sighed heavily and she put her hand on his knee to provide him some support. He finally decided to start with something simple. "I'm going to have to call the FBI and get another agent assigned to the case. I'm not going to be allowed to officially work this case."
"I know. Don't worry. We'll still find out what happened." Booth chuckled slightly, but it was a dark humor.
"You didn't hear me. I said 'officially'. No way in hell am I completely giving this case away. Everything goes through me still too."
"Are you going to be allowed to?"
"I really don't care. I'm going to whether they like it or not." He fell silent for a few moments then added more quietly, "I have to be doing something…" He fell silent again. She let him sit silently for a few minutes before she spoke.
"What are you thinking?"
"I have no idea. I'm just really confused…"
"Why?"
"There's just so much with finding her there and finding out that she's been there so long… you said she's been there for around 30 years?"
"Yeah. She's been at the lab for 30 years. The imbecile who filled in the documents didn't mark when she was found though, and samples weren't taken from the scene when it was ruled accidental."
"So, how did you figure out it was murder?"
"It was ruled in the document that the victim fell on the rock that was under her head. The damage to the victim's skull wouldn't have been caused by a rock. Plus the force for the amount of damage would have to be much greater than it would be from falling." Booth winced slightly at the bluntness and when she said victim. "Sorry," she added when she saw it.
"Don't worry. I get it. It's how you are able to stay separate from it and solve it. I really wish I could do that too sometimes." He leaned forward and set his now half empty bottle on the table. He then leant back into the couch and dropped his head back on the top of the couch, shutting his eyes. She let him sit there for a few moments before she spoke again.
"Something else is on your mind too."
"Yeah…" he said without opening his eyes or turning to her. He fell silent for a few moments. Brennan knew though that he just needed to figure out how to phrase what was on his mind. "I just…" he sighed, trying to figure out how to explain what was bothering him. "I never really thought about trying to find her over the years, you know… I mean, yeah, I thought about it a few times, but not seriously… I wasn't sure I wanted to know. She walked out on us… you know, so I really didn't…" he trailed off not really knowing where he was going with that statement. "I love her, she's my mother…but I think after that I…resented, I guess you could say, her too… How could she just leave us with him?... Why didn't she bring us too?... My dad had always said that it was because she didn't really love us… I guess I was afraid that if I looked for her and found her that she would be all happy with a new family to replace us. I just… I don't know… you just found my mother, murdered, and I have no clue as to what I'm feeling about it… It hurts knowing she is permanently gone, but… I don't know… I know I'm sad, but it's my mother. You'd think…"
"That you should be feeling more depressed about the death then you are?"
"Yeah…"
"I think, in a way, you already said goodbye to her a long time ago." He finally lifted his head and looked at her. She could see that, as much as he said he wasn't really sad, he was. He might not realize it yet from the shock of finding her, but he definitely was feeling more. His eyes were red and she could see that he was holding back the tears.
"That actually makes sense… You know, it's weird… I always thought she was out there somewhere…possibly even happy with another family… I never even thought that she could be this close…" He went quiet again and tipped his head back on the couch again. That's when the dam began to crack and a silent tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another. She scooted closer to him and pulled him into her arms, so that his head ended up resting face down on her shoulder as the tears continued. She had a few tears running down her face too as she watched him break down. He broke the silence in between the tears rolling down his face. "I miss her, Bones. I really do." She could feel the tears rolling faster, soaking her shirt quicker, but she didn't mind. She just started rubbing his back slightly to try to give him a little comfort.
She didn't know how long they were there like that when she felt the tears that were falling begin to slow. She knew he must be completely drained from it.
"Come on, let's go to bed. We'll be more comfortable there than here." She let him go briefly so they could both get up. She took his hand so that he didn't think she was leaving him and pulled him to the bedroom. She left him to strip into his boxers while she went to put on a pair of her pajamas.
When she came back into the bedroom from getting ready for bed, he was already lying on the bed, under the covers, on his back. He was staring at the ceiling. She slid into bed next to him. She laid on her side with her back to him, knowing that he would roll onto his side to wrap his arm around her. He quickly did as she was expecting, but she also moved his hand to her baby bump. She felt him move closer to her.
"Try to sleep," she told him, knowing that sleep wouldn't be easy coming for him tonight. She felt him nod against her.
"Night, Bones."
"Night." She was trying to stay awake until she felt him relax, but she was tired and was wrapped in the warmth of his arms. She was comfortable, and as much as she tried to fight it, she quickly fell asleep. For Booth, sleep would not come, and he stayed awake holding her close.
Ok. That was the end of part 1… hope you enjoyed the beginning of our case… leave a review telling us your thoughts please…
Spoiler for Part 2: You will meet the new agent who is assigned to the case instead of Booth, she will be someone Booth already knows very well. She will also be the first one of our developed new recurring characters and the one who will appear the most... also in following episodes. Are you affaird? if we get some reviews for this chapter part 2 will be up faster...