Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, but I would love my own knight in FBI standard-issue body armor.
Prompt #11: Spooky - It was almost like staring at doppelgangers, Angela thought, seeing how the teenage boy was so protective of his female best friend. It made her think of how Booth protected Brennan, just younger.
Words: 2,483
Timothy Dalton sat in the interrogation room and fixed Special Agent Booth with a focused stare. "There a reason I'm here?" he asked, trying to be polite without putting too much attitude into his voice.
"Yeah Timothy, there is," said the burly agent. "We brought you in because we think you know something about Michael Gunther." He slid a picture of the man in front of Timothy. "You know him as Mickey G?"
"Yeah, I know him," Timothy admitted. "Bastard runs numbers on the east side. He's a shark."
Agent Booth leaned on the table and forward into Timothy's space. "We have a witness who says you were arguing with Mickey G two nights ago."
Smelling a trap, Timothy narrowed his eyes at Booth. "Yeah. I used to run for him a while back. Got out of it."
"How?"
But Timothy didn't respond. He knew when to keep his mouth shut. So Booth said, "Look, we just want Mickey. Nobody's seen him since you argued with him."
"Probably hit one of his safehouses," Timothy guessed. "He goes to ground when Feds are on his ass."
Booth tilted his head to the side, as if gauging him. Then he pulled out another picture and placed it over Mickey's. "Know her?"
Timothy looked - and almost lost his calm. Booth spoke again. "Hayley Rivers. Known numbers runner for Mickey. She's been missing for two days too." He leaned forward again, invading Timothy's personal space even more. "What a coincidence. Your friend goes missing the same time Mickey does."
"Twist had nothing to do with it," Timothy snapped.
Booth raised an eyebrow. "Twist, huh? Closer than a friend, I guess."
"We're just friends." Timothy's voice was charged with protective ire. "We grew up together."
"So where is she?"
"I don't know."
Meanwhile, behind the two-way mirror, Sweets sat with Angela and watched the interview. The psychologist raised an eyebrow. "Twist?" he repeated.
"Obviously a nickname," Angela said. "Kinda cute. I wonder how she got it."
"Perhaps some aspect of her personality attributed to its conception," Sweets mused. "Much like how Agent Booth's nickname for Dr. Brennan was concieved by her occupation."
"She must mean something to Timothy," said Angela. "A close friend. If he knows where she is, he could be protecting her."
Sweets shook his head. "Yeah, but not happening." He clicked on the microphone so that Booth could hear him through the earbud. "He honestly has no idea where Hayley is right now. He's clearly worried about her and her safety."
"You know, he kinda reminds me of Booth." Angela crossed her arms in thought. "You know? Really tough, but not as brutish as he looks."
Booth straightened up and took the pictures back. "Tell me why a nice girl like Hayley Rivers is running numbers for a guy like Mickey G."
Timothy sat back angrily, but he knew he had to talk. He reached out with one arm and tapped the tabletop a couple times. His blue eyes looked at Booth with clear truthfulness and anger. "Twist is only working for Mickey because he's got her dad on the screws," he said. "Mickey's a loan shark. Twist's dad borrowed some money from him, and he couldn't pay it back. So Twist started to run numbers to make up the difference. Pretty soon, she got in too deep." He dragged his hand over his face. "I tried to get her out of it, but...once you get in with Mickey, you either get out quick or you get knocked off."
"You got out," Booth remarked.
Timothy shrugged. "Had a smackdown. I walked away with a concussion, broken arm and collarbone. Twist had to take me to the hospital."
"When was this?"
"Two years ago."
When Booth and Temperance walked into the observation room, they watched Timothy as he buried his face in his crossed arms on the table. "I don't think he's responsible for the death of that call girl," Booth said, "but he's definitely involved. Mickey disappeared the same night he's seen arguing with Timothy. Something obviously went down."
"Booth, are you still looking for Hayley?" Temperance asked. "She could still be in danger."
"D.C. cops have that APB. Assuming she hasn't skipped town, we'll find her." He flipped open the folder he was holding. "You know these two, they aren't exactly peas in a pod. He's a troublemaking jock with a juvie rap sheet for assault, she's an honor student who works a part-time job for tuition."
"Anthropologically speaking, it makes sense that they stay together. His alpha male protectiveness streak is almost as big as yours," Temperance remarked. "I've looked over Hayley's information, and she is a slight girl. Timothy is bigger and stronger and he obviously cares about her." Her cool blue eyes looked up to her partner. "He's very worried about her, but he's smart enough to not implicate himself, Booth."
Booth closed the file. "You think you can get him to tell you more, Bones?"
She nodded. "I believe I can, Booth."
The door opened. In walked Dr. Brennan, who Timothy could tell was a woman of facts. "We know you're telling the truth, Timothy," she said. "We got a court order for your X-rays, and they match with your story. The hospital also had a record of you and Hayley there the night of the fight."
"Just like I told Agent Booth," Timothy said, but with a more polite tone of voice. He knew when to apply his manners.
"We also looked up Hayley's records." Dr. Brennan opened the file in her hands. "Every time she was admitted to the ER, you were always there with her. You never left her side."
"I never hurt her," he said quickly.
"I know. The breaks were too severe for someone of your size and build." Dr. Brennan smiled at him. "You looked out for her. You care about her."
He nodded. "Twist is my best friend, Doc. If she's missing, I need to be looking for her." His eyes were pleading. "Please, you have to let me go. I gotta find her."
The woman stood up. "Booth is doing all he can to find her, Timothy. I promise, we'll find her."
Caroline Julian pursed her lips in annoyance. "Cherie, I want Mickey G. I want him now."
"We're still looking for the girl, Caroline," Booth said. "If we find her, maybe we can find Mickey."
The prosecutor sighed. Temperance stepped in to say, "Maybe when we do find her, we don't have to question her."
Booth frowned. "Bones, what are you talking about?"
"When we get her, move Timothy to the conference room. He's been in the system, Booth. He knows the interrogation room is wired. We put them in there, watch from the cameras, while they talk it out." She looked very pleased with herself for thinking of this solution.
Caroline grinned. "I like the way you think, cherie."
Timothy had been sitting in the conference room for almost an hour before two agents walked in, holding a teenage girl in their arms. They left her in the doorway, and she was so stunned to see Timothy that she almost collapsed.
"Twist?" he exclaimed, getting to his feet to catch the girl before she fell on her face. "Twist, what are you doing here?"
"FBI. They pulled me off the streets, Dalton. What's going on?" she asked him, straightening up and clutching his elbows as confusion covered her face.
"Where the hell have you been? I've been looking all over for you," Timothy snapped. "Mickey's gone, and the cops think you have something to do with it."
She shook her head. "No, Dalton, I don't. I haven't seen Mickey since that night. What's going on? Why are we here?"
"Callie's dead, Twist." He hugged her tightly, knowing how she'd been friends with the call girl. "Cops think Mickey had something to do with it." Now that they were out of the interrogation room with its cameras and microphones, Timothy felt it was safe to talk. "It's not good, Twist. We're the last ones who saw Mickey before he made like smoke in a windstorm." She was still shaken up, so he guided her to a chair and poured her some water from the pitcher on the table. "Now, where the hell have you been?"
Hayley took a long drink, then took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "I didn't go home," she said. "I stayed off the grid. Hid out in some abandoned buildings, tent cities..." She twisted a lock of her hair nervously. "Had to steal some food, I was too scared to use an ATM..."
"Jesus Twist, what didn't you come find me?" Timothy said, clearly hurt.
She looked at him. "I didn't want you to get involved, Dalton. Besides, I'm capable of taking care of myself." She said this in a tone that booked no argument.
Timothy rested his elbow on the table and propped his forehead against his fist. "Twist, this is Mickey G we're talking about. I can help protect you from him."
"I can protect myself, Dalton."
"Okay. Just...tell me what happened."
In the Jeffersonian, the rest of the team was watching the feed from Angela's office as she recorded and analyzed the video for tells. Hodgins frowned a little. "Does anyone else notice something familiar about them?"
"Angela already drew a parallel between Dalton and Booth," Sweets said. "Their behavioral similarities and - "
"No, I see it too," Cam said, peering closer at the screen. "Just watch, and listen some more."
Timothy held her hand as his best friend told him everything that had happened. After he'd left, she'd dropped off money for Mickey and he'd reamed her out for trying to squirm out of their arrangement. She got scared when he threatened her with his gun, so she ran. Mickey chased her five blocks before giving up. From there, she stayed low and out of trouble until the FBI picked her up.
When she finished, Hayley reached over and held his hand in both of hers. "I'm sorry, Dalton."
He frowned. "Why?"
"If you weren't there arguing with Mickey about me, you wouldn't have been a suspect."
The teenage boy snorted. "Twist, don't do that. It's okay. Really. I'm just glad you're safe."
"But Mickey's still out there," Hayley said, fear creeping back into her eyes. "He'll go after my dad, Dalton. I know he will."
"Hey, look at me." When she did, Timothy did his best to look confident and reassuring. "Nothing is going to happen to you or your old man. I promise."
Angela raised an eyebrow. "Okay, did anyone else see that?"
"They're surprisingly like Booth and Dr. Brennan," Cam said. "Just...younger, and not as...odd."
"Creepy," Hodgins said firmly. "Like, Twilight Zone-creepy."
Sweets shrugged. "The dynamic itself isn't very unusual for childhood friends of opposite genders. The boy wishes to protect his female best friend, while she wants to be strong enough to not rely on his protection. We're just used to seeing it in Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan."
"Sweets, we were talking about the nicknaming thing," Angela informed him.
The psychologist blinked. "Oh, that. It's because she twists her hair when she'd emotionally worked up."
Hours later, Timothy and Hayley were released. Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan offered them a ride back to Hayley's house, so the four headed down for the lobby.
Timothy could feel something was wrong the minute they stepped outside. Looking around, he spotted a familiar face walking up the street towards them. Mickey G, back from his underground safehouse. In his hand was a gun. He had it pointed at Hayley.
"Twist!" Timothy shouted, tackling her to the ground as a gunshot went off. Something seared his shoulder with red-hot pain, making him curse a blue streak. He heard people screaming, running, and another gunshot. He heard Mickey give a shout of pain, followed by shouts of "FBI! Drop the weapon!"
But all his ears registered was the sound of Hayley's voice screaming, "Dr. Brennan, help! Dalton's been shot!"
Angela was archiving her files when Hodgins came in later that night. "Hey there, baby," he said, kissing his wife on the cheek. "You about ready to go?"
She kissed him back, then said, "Almost. Look at this."
Hodgins looked at the screenshot she pulled up. "Isn't that the security camera out front of the J. Edgar Hoover building?"
"This is security footage from this afternoon," Angela clarified. They watched Booth, Brennan, Timothy, and Hayley head out onto the sidewalk. "Now watch. Right - there! Booth and Timothy both tense up, then start looking around."
The bug-and-slime guy blinked. "Wow. I see what you mean."
"But that's not the weirdest thing. Keep watching." They watched as Timothy screamed his best friend's name, then tackled her to the ground. Angela rewound it, then pointed to Booth and Brennan. "Watch them now."
Hodgins obeyed. When Timothy screamed "Twist!" Booth immediately turned, saw Mickey G, and tackled Brennan to the ground at the same time Timothy did to Hayley. Then he rolled off, drew his sidearm, and dropped Mickey with a shot to the shoulder.
Husband and wife looked at each other. "That was...very freaky," remarked Hodgins. "Mirror-image freaky."
"It's like, mini-Booth and mini-Brennan," Angela said.
"Complete with the nickname and willingness to take a bullet," Hodgins finished.
Angela looked at the footage one more time. Never thought I'd see it in somebody else, she thought, shaking her head slightly. Then, shutting down the Angelator, she packed up and left with her husband.
This turned into a very long fic, which is why it took so long to update. I apologize.
Please let me know how you like it!
