AN: Okay people, what do I have to do to prove that Brennan is dead? I mean sheesh, putting her in a casket at a funeral certainly doesn't do it, does it? What do you want me to do, show you a mangled body for goodness sake? At any rate, here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.
As Max made his way to sit back down, an older man of about seventy slowly walked to the front. He looked dapper in his three piece suit and slicked back grey hair. Booth watched the man curiously, wondering why he looked so familiar.
"Oh my god, it couldn't be," Annie murmured from next to him, stiffening in her seat. He looked at her, watching as her eyes never left the older man. Curious now as to why the old man would illicit that response from her, he turned his attention back to him. The man embraced Max and offered a quick pat on the back.
"Max Keenan, it's been too long."
"Salvatore, thanks for coming." Holy…that was Salvatore Costello? Booth sat up further in his seat, wincing at the pain shooting through his hip from the movement. Sal walked to the casket and looked in at the body for a long moment before turning to face the congregation.
"What is he doing here," Annie hissed at Booth, her eyes wide with surprise. Booth said nothing, only concentrated on what the man was saying.
"I knew young Temperance for two years when she was a shy but incredibly bright young woman. She was just finishing high school and going to college, determined to do something to make a difference in the world. She's such a passionate person, and so caring… she didn't deserve what's happened to her at all. What she deserves is to spend time with the people she loves, not this." He indicated the casket with his hand and reached into his pocket. Booth watched as he placed a compass into the satin lining of the mahogany box. "So you can find your way, Bella." With that, he walked away and toward the back doors of the funeral home.
"Booth, what was the don of the Costello family doing here," she hissed at him again as people began to stand and file past the casket. Some looked in on the body while others placed small baubles inside, gifts for the afterlife.
"You heard what he said," Booth responded as Parker climbed from his lap. "He knew Temperance." Without another word, he struggled up to his feet, took Parker's hand gently and turned to leave.
"Daddy, can I go say goodbye to Bones?" Booth looked down at his son, unsure if he wanted him to see her. Parker's big pleading brown eyes made him relent.
"Okay bub, come on." He led the young boy up to the casket and watched as Parker fished something out of his pocket. It was a drawing of three people and what could only be a dinosaur skeleton. Each figure was labeled, 'Daddy, Bones, and me'. Booth swallowed thickly, fighting the tears welling in his eyes as Parker gently laid the picture over Temperance's heart.
"Goodbye Bones, I'll miss you." The little boy looked once more at the body and led his father away and out of the building with Annie following behind.
"That was a wonderful thing you did Parker." Booth watched his son with pride as they pushed open the doors and stepped into the sunshine.
"I want her to remember me in heaven dad." Seeley squeezed his hand and began to usher Parker to the SUV, but stopped as someone grabbed his shoulder.
"Booth, I want you to meet someone," Max Keenan said as Booth turned around. "This is Salvatore Costello. Sal, this is Special Agent Seeley Booth. He was Temperance's partner."
"Agent Booth, I promise you full cooperation to punish those who are responsible for what happened to Temperance. She was like a daughter to me, and my family knows that." Sal pat Booth on the shoulder. "Remember Agent Booth, things and people aren't always what they seem." He glanced at Annie before leaving with Max Keenan.
"Just to clarify things, that was who I think it was, right?" Annie looked a bit ashen as the two men walked away. "I thought he… how did he know Dr. Brennan?"
"I can't talk about it, but he used to be very close to her." With that, the three continued on to the SUV to make their way to the cemetery.
XxXxX
"Daddy, why didn't Bones look like herself?" Parker snuggled under the covers of his bed as Booth tucked him in that night.
"What do you mean bub?"
"Well, it was like going to the Ripley's museum. She didn't look… I dunno. She didn't look real I guess."
"Look Parks, when you die, your soul leaves your body and goes up to heaven. The body is just a shell that houses the soul, so when the soul is gone, the body doesn't look the same. Does that make sense?"
"I guess. She just looked really weird dad."
"I know. I thought so too." He leaned down and kissed the top of his son's head. "Sleep well Parker." Booth stood slowly and left the room, switching off the light as he left the room. Annie met him in the hallway as they headed to their prospective bedrooms. As they reached her door, Booth looked long and hard at her, trying to work something out.
"What," she asked when she couldn't take the intense stare any longer. He took a step closer to her and narrowed his eyes.
"Whose side are you on Annie?" She held his gaze for a moment, gulping down the nervousness he caused her with just that one look.
"Let's put it this way, I'm the Snape to your Dumbledor." Booth arched an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms.
"So does that mean you're going to kill me?" Annie rolled her eyes and pushed open her bedroom door.
"Read the seventh book." With that, she stepped into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
XxXxX
Booth limped into the Jeffersonian a week later with a box full of files. He tried to hide his grimace of pain with each step he took. As he closed onto the platform, Hodgins bumped into him, knocking the box from his hands.
"Damn it," Booth said and ran a hand through his hair. Carrying the box was one thing, but picking it up again? That was not going to happen anytime soon.
"Man, I am so sorry. Here let me get that." Hodgins picked up the box, shoving the spilled files back into it. "What are all these anyway?"
"It's for a case. Can you take it to Cam's office and get the rest of the team in there?"
"Sure Booth. Are you okay? You look terrible."
"Thanks for that astute comment. I'll be fine, just get the team together and meet in Cam's office." Hodgins nodded and hurried ahead with the box as Booth took a breath and began his painful limp toward the office.
"Seeley, what is this about," Cam asked when he finally made it to her office. She motioned to her sofa and he eased down into it gratefully. "Why are you already back at work? You can't have already healed."
"There are more important things at the moment."
"More important than your well being?"
"I'll explain when the rest of the team is in here, but yes." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the couch. Physical therapy. He was going through physical therapy to improve his shoulder and his ability to walk, which he'd been told might never return to full mobility. As it was, he'd forced his way back into work and was currently not allowed to carry a weapon. He had to do this though. He had to help put Randall's ass in jail, and Annie's if she did prove to be on her fiancé's side.
"Booth, what are you doing here?" Angela walked in the office, following Hodgins and Zack into the office. Booth opened his eyes and looked at the artist, allowing a small smile to slip onto his face.
"What, I can't come visit my squints every now and then?"
"Booth, come on."
"I need your help on an investigation. Any information you find will be reported only to myself or Cullen. These are files on all of the cases that Michael Randall has assisted on over the past five years. I need you to look over them, do whatever exhumations you need to do and see if the results match. Anything that doesn't match, please flag and submit your own findings."
"What does he have to do with your investigation?" Cam looked surprised to hear the name. She'd worked with him for years before she'd moved to New York and couldn't imagine him doing anything illegal.
"Look, I can't tell you any more than that. Just please go through them and let me know what you find."
"Booth, I have to know," Angela said quietly from her spot near the door. "Does this have to do with Bren?"
"Yeah Ange, it does."
"Then I'm all over it."
"We all are," Hodgins added before pulling a file from the box and opening it.
XxXxX
Annie watched as the last of her kindergarten students left the room before pulling out her cell phone. She took a deep breath and sat down behind her desk, waiting for the other person to answer the phone.
"Pathology, Michael Randall speaking."
"Michael, hi."
"Annie, what's up? I didn't expect to hear from you. Is everything all right?"
"Do you want to tell me why I received a picture of you in the mail on the Ohio turnpike?"
"What?"
"Well, it's dated the day after Christmas. What were you doing in Ohio the day after Christmas? You said that you were visiting your mother in New York."
"There's no possible way…"
"The picture was sent after an FBI inquiry into the rental car you signed for in Flint, Michigan. What did you do Michael?"
"I was taking care of business Annie. That's all you need to know, got it?"
"I don't know what you're up to, but you need to be aware that Salvatore is willing to help the FBI against you and your step brothers. Don't do something foolish."
"How the hell would you know what that old man is up to, huh?"
"Because I was there when he said it. I'm getting tired of covering for you, so you'd better watch your tracks."
"They don't have anything on me, and haven't caught me yet."
"Just watch it." Annie hung up the phone and rubbed her temples at the headache taking up residence there. Please just let all of this be over with, she thought. I can't handle this much longer.
XxXxX
Booth sat behind his desk, rubbing the tension from between his eyes. It had been weeks and he'd had no information on Michael Randall. He'd heard nothing from the Jeffersonian since he'd taken the files over, and he was quickly losing sleep having Annie in the house. If he was only sure what she'd meant…he shook his head to clear the muddled thoughts.
At a knock on his door, he looked up, surprised to see Camille standing there. She had an unreadable expression on her face.
"Camille, what is it?"
"We've gone over all of the files, had the remains exhumed…"
"And?"
"We've got the evidence to take the bastard down."
XxXxX
"That's right sir, he's falsified twenty different records, pointing evidence away from the Costello family." Booth handed the files over to Cullen, who grabbed the top one and flipped it open.
"And what about your suspicions of Agent Chastain?"
"She was the one to 'hire' a hit man to come after me. In reality, that person took a shot at Bones. She didn't set anything up. She just called Randall and he took care of it."
"Do you have any proof of that?"
"I had her phone records pulled and requisitioned for access to her computer. Everything is there."
"Okay Booth. Looks like you have everything in order. I'll send some agent's out to make the arrests."
"Yes sir." Booth stood to leave, but paused when Cullen held up his hand.
"Everything goes right with this and there's a promotion for you. You've done excellent work on this."
"Thank you." He nodded to his boss and left the office, the limp still there. Even after the weeks of therapy and healing, it still wasn't right. At this point in time, he didn't think it would ever be back to normal. No, normal wasn't an option with Bones gone. Normally, they'd go to the diner to celebrate the success of another case solved. Now there was no Bones and no normalcy whatsoever.
"Agent Booth, there's a visitor in your office." Booth glanced at the receptionist and gave a quick nod of his head. He wondered who it could be, and as he reached his office, his knees buckled at the sight before him.