Thank you for reviewing my story. I really appreciate it.
I still don't own Bones.
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The next day, Booth found that he had received an email from Cam confirming that the victims found at Arlington and Fort Benjamin Harrison were indeed, Christopher Bendix and George Hanks. Deciding that it would be best to get the worst part of his job done quickly, he first called the sister of Christopher and then the mother of George to let them know that the personal articles that they had sent to him had helped him to confirm that their loved ones were indeed dead and their bodies had been found. He let them know that they couldn't have the remains for a funeral yet, but as soon as that was possible, he would call them and let them know. Both the sister and mother took the news rather well, all things considered. They had known deep down in their souls that their loved one was dead and it was a relief to finally be told their bodies had been found. George's mother had been afraid that she would die never knowing what had happened to her son. Now she knew.
After he'd made his calls, Booth decided to call Carl Sanders, the cousin of Christopher Bendix. Booth had read the newspaper article that Hodgins had found in Christopher's cap and found out something interesting. The article had mentioned that Christopher and his cousin, Carl Sanders, traveled throughout the mid-west and the east coast to Civil War Reenactments. The article mentioned that Carl Sanders lived in Indianapolis. It couldn't be a coincidence that Christopher was buried at Fort Benjamin Harrison which was just outside that particular city.
Booth tried several times to call Carl that morning, but each time he was shunted to Carl's voicemail. Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere, he called the Indianapolis FBI field office and talked to Special Agent Charles Martin. He brought Agent Martin up to speed and told him about the bodies that had been found at Arlington and Ft. Harrison. He explained about Carl's connection to Christopher Bendix and his possible connection to George Hanks. Booth wanted a background check done on Carl Sanders as soon as possible. He explained to Agent Martin that Carl Sanders was supposed to be sick at the time of the Manassas Reenactment earlier that year. Carl supposedly stayed home and didn't go with his cousin, Christopher Bendix to the event. He wanted to make sure that Carl actually did stay home that week. He also wanted to know if Carl had traveled to Georgia in the last year and if he knew or had any connection to George Hanks. Special Agent Martin said, since it was Friday morning, he would look into it and get back to Booth by Monday afternoon. Thanking him, Booth started to tackle his growing mountain of paper work.
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Brennan had a quieter morning. She finished up her report on Christopher Bendix and George Hanks. Both had died of exsanguinations. They were both stabbed with a saber. George had been stabbed in the chest and the saber had sliced his heart. Christopher had been stabbed in the upper right leg. Both wounds were fatal. Brennan reported that George would have died very quickly. Christopher would have bled out quickly also, but it would have taken a longer time for him to die, compared to George. Christopher would have been aware of what was happening to him. She had also found cut marks from the saber, on Christopher's lower left arm and George's upper right arm. They hadn't been stabbed in those places. It looked like whoever had used the saber had swiped at them with the saber before stabbing the victims. She hadn't found anything else on the bodies that were unusual. Both men had been in very good health and if they had not been murdered they may have lived to be fairly old, barring accidents or other foul play. Once she was finished with her reports she emailed them to Booth and Cam.
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Later that morning, Booth walked over to Sweets' office.
Poking his head through the doorway of Sweet's office, Booth saw that Sweets was alone and walked in. Sweets had made it clear in the past that he wanted Booth to quit interrupting his sessions and Booth had said he would try.
"Hey, Sweets," Booth used his charm smile on the younger man. " I need some advice."
As Booth sauntered in to his office, Sweets got up from his chair behind his desk and walked over to the chair facing the couch. "Sure, Booth." Pointing to the couch, Sweets sat down on the chair.
Booth sat down on the couch as directed and tried to relax. "Okay this isn't work related. It's personal."
Sweets nodded and thought. "Finally, Booth may talk to me about his personal relationship with Brennan. I knew that polite stuff he was doing with Brennan couldn't last forever. They're like oil and water."
Pleased to see that Sweets was listening to him, Booth explained, "Bones' brother Russ is visiting us for two weeks and I'm worried that it could last longer than that. He had a fight with his wife Amy and he's parked himself on our couch. All he does is watch TV and eat popcorn. The one time I tried to talk to him about his problem with Amy, he got kind of pissy and left the apartment. He didn't come back until around 1 a.m. and I ended up staying up to wait for him to come home. I was pretty angry with Russ about that, believe me."
Curious, Sweets asked the agent, "Why didn't you get Dr. Brennan to wait up for Russ? He is her brother after all."
Shocked that Sweets would make such a suggestion, Booth explained how stupid that suggestion really was. "Bones can't afford to lose anymore sleep just because her brother is an inconsiderate asshole. She's missed too much sleep this week already. No way I was going to let that happen."
Sweets felt he was missing something and thought Booth was holding something back. "Why is Dr. Brennan losing sleep?"
Not sure talking to someone as young Sweets was worth the aggravation, Booth shook his head. "You're kidding me, right? You know she's pregnant. You try sleeping with a soccer ball tied to your stomach and see how much sleep you get. It ain't going to be a hell of a lot."
Seeing the Agent's point, Sweets smiled. "Okay, I see . . . um, Why don't you talk to Russ again and see if he will tell you what the problem is. He just may need to be pushed a little to get him to open up, or I could drop by your apartment tonight and talk to Russ for you. If you think that would help."
"Thanks, Sweets. Bones and I are going to be staying at her apartment for the next couple of weeks. Drop by tonight and I'll get Russ to talk to you." Standing up, Booth checked his wristwatch. "I have to go. Thanks"
Standing up, Sweets asked the retreating Agent, "Wait, Booth . . . um . . . How are things going between you and Dr. Brennan? Are you getting along okay now that you're living together? Do you need to talk to me about anything? You know you can talk to me if you're having any problems."
In a hurry to get back to work, Booth shook his head. "The only problem I have is with Bones' family. I've gotten to the point where I want to argue with Max and Russ every time I see them. They are a royal pain in my ass."
Nodding his head, Sweets tried to steer the conversation a little more. "Okay, that's good. Are you having any problems with Dr. Brennan too? If you are, you need to let those feelings out so they won't boil over."
Not sure what Sweets was hinting at, Booth moved towards the door. "What are you talking about? I'm happy with Bones. I've never been happier." Pausing at the door, Booth glanced back at the younger man. "It's her father and brother that I have a problem with, don't you listen to me at all?"
Sweets realized that if there was any tension between Booth and Brennan, Booth wasn't going to tell him. "Well, okay, in that case, the next time Max or Russ do anything to irritate you, just ignore them. If you don't say anything to them, then you can't get into an argument with them."
Booth opened the door and smiled. "Thanks Sweets, that sounds simple enough. I'll try that. Now I really do have to go."
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Booth is not happy with Brennan's family. Reviews would let know if anyone is still reading my story. Thanks.