Chapter 10: Zenith and Nadir

"A wicked companion invites us all to hell."

It was true; plotting a secret mission did distract Zack from Agent Booth's death.

Not like smuggling out the canines to make the dentures. That was…private. Just a little project he was doing that happened to be a bit…sneaky. He knew there were no security cameras down there, and that no one would miss the canines for a long, long time. So, he was at his leisure to put a few small bones in his backpack, take them home, and wait until he had a good collection. It didn't involve anyone else. It was a more challenging project than you'd think, because canines weren't meant to fit in the rest of your mouth. He had to select the specimens carefully, and place and file them so that they would fit together. But once he'd been satisfied, he'd borrowed some supplies from work and cast the dentures himself. He thought Dr. Brennan would be impressed with his work, but of course he couldn't show it to her.

His Master had seemed quite pleased with his handiwork, and he'd basked in the praise. He knew he was good, of course, but it was nice to hear it from someone else.

Then Agent Booth got shot, and everything fell apart.

Dr. Brennan retreated into her own projects and wouldn't talk with him unless it was about work. Which, actually, he enjoyed, and she was around more now that there were no FBI cases for them. But…she was not happy, and he was worried about her. He was especially worried about what would happen if he didn't get the silver skeleton back for the Master. Zack didn't want him to come after Dr. Brennan and try to get the skeleton back by himself.

So, it was his job to smuggle the skeleton out of the Jeffersonian. Or rather, create the distraction and security breach so that the Master could smuggle out the skeleton without harming anyone on the team. That was a worthy project, and it kept him occupied running calculations and planning how it would work. The human element always made things trickier for Zack. Luckily, there was an established procedure for emergency situations.

Using the Master's case as bait seemed the only chance. Dr. Saroyan would never let him and Hodgins try one of their experiments just to confirm the cause of death of a WWI soldier. He'd considered using a false indicator of virulent influenza to set off the alarms, but he wasn't entirely sure that would work. And it was rather doubtful that anyone would believe that a skeleton that had been in storage for nearly a century would suddenly be a biological hazard, not if they weren't cutting open the bones. And what reason would he have to do that?

So, cannibalism it was.

Making the dentures had given him the idea for the diversion, too. After all, it was the type of experiment he would be given permission for, it would involve heat, and simply switching out the ingredients could create the needed distraction. He rather enjoyed the idea of an explosion that would catch Hodgins by surprise. He'd probably think it was the coolest thing ever afterwards.

He really didn't want to think about Agent Booth's funeral, so choosing that day had made a lot of sense (though it was the Master's idea). He'd brought the package of evidence to work with him in his backpack, and just waited for an opportune time to deliver it to Dr. Brennan inconspicuously. Before the funeral wouldn't happen; she was way too…focused. Like…like Percival, he supposed, though he was still not used to making these mythic connections in his daily life.

In the end, he left the package on the table right before they left, and assumed she would notice it when they returned.

But then…Agent Booth was alive. Dr. Brennan was very distracted by this fact, and Zack was still puzzled on how that could have happened himself. Where had he been for the past two weeks?

But he still had his plan to distract everyone, so when Dr. Brennan was ignoring him in favor of berating Agent Booth, Zack gave the package to her. He couldn't keep the knowing smile off his face, but no one commented on that. Once everyone had seen the jawbone inside, he quickly moved on to the denture proposition, which predictably excited Hodgins, and they got Dr. Saroyan to approve the project.

What he had not counted on was Hodgins' obstinacy. He had to do it; he couldn't let Hodgins, because Hodgins didn't know about the switched ingredients and the imminent explosion. He would be too careless. But of course Hodgins didn't want to be left out; he wanted to be King of the Lab. Allowing him to stand so close, not behind the protective barrier…was not wise. As much fun as it had been to calculate the temperature and mass necessary for the explosion, it was more nerve-wracking to actually carry it out.

Especially when the temperature got too hot.

He did it anyway, because…because he had to. His Master would get the silver skeleton. His work could go on. The team would be safe. Getting blown up the last time hadn't hurt too much; Agent Booth had thrown them both behind a table. He was behind a barrier this time, too. And every second he delayed would just make it worse.

So, he poured in the powder he had substituted for the harmless denture polymer.

And for the second time in his life, he got blown up.

But this time, it hurt. A lot. His hands were on fire.

Author's Note: Apparently, you can thank Dr. Gregory House for this story being completed. I watched season 4 of house and suddenly started thinking about Zack again.