Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or any of the characters. I'm just borrowing them for this story and no copy right infringement is intended. Fox and Hart Hanson can have the characters back once I'm done playing with them (not that he'll want them mind you).
Xylarisa: You know my husband said the same thing but I tried show her accepting the fact that her little girl was growing up and there was nothing she could do. Guess I should have stayed in character.
Angelbach: Do you now? LOL! My husband can't write but he sure as heck can pick up stuff with them. I almost fell off the couch laughing the first time he did it.
1956JohnDeere50: Yeah THAT discussion lol
Mendenbar: I have to draw pictures and mess them up all the time LOL ;-)
Nertoold54: Yeppers and they just keep on moving and getting more and more interesting.
ArielBrennan:You should try to count how many times Booth actually does threaten him *snicker*. I try to keep their conversations pretty much light. I mean what fun is it to be with someone if you can't have fun with them most of the time. ;-)
Thank You everyone for your reviews! They are the highlight of my day.
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there today!
Chapter 24 - Disappearing
"And what exactly are you thinking?" Murphy asked with an interested edge to his voice, looking over at Michelle. Michelle mentally rolled her eyes and shot a wink at Legates then turned to face Murphy.
"I was thinking of an interesting tattoo that I saw on Josh," Michelle said impishly, smirking at Murphy.
"And what kind of tattoo is that?" Cruz asked, more interested in the artwork than anything else.
"One of a pair of dragons," Michelle told Cruz with a hint of mischievousness in her face. Legates shot her a scowl and she shot him another wink.
"And where perchance is this tattoo. I might like to see it," Murphy said suspiciously, more wanting to know if it had been spotted in passing or if they'd been naked when she saw it. I still might have a shot, he thought.
"He might show you but I'm not sure it's anywhere you'd want to see," Michelle said, smirking.
"So do you have any tattoos?" Murphy asked, his eyes running over her arms as if looking for a hint of one.
"If I did you'd never see it," Michelle snapped now irritated.
Cruz burst into laughter at her statement. Legates smirked at Michelle and gave her a nod for her suggesting that he might not show him since he really didn't want to. Better yet for telling Murphy he'd never know if she had a tattoo. Legates pulled the Humvee into the parking lot, engaged the brakes, and turned it off. He watched and waited as Cam got out of another Humvee and hurried to the door. He watched as she punched in her code and opened the door.
The CID members climbed out of the Humvee and Legates watched them go. When they were out of the vehicle, he burst into laughter.
"I can't believe you said that to Murphy," he said, still laughing. Michelle looked at him with a wide smile on her face.
"He's been annoying the shit out of me since we've been here. Several times now, I've told him that I prefer you and he still won't listen. Maybe now, he'll leave me the hell alone," she said, grinning.
"He might, he might not. And later you will tell me about other times since I'm only aware of one," Legates said, raising an eyebrow.
Michelle shrugged and got out of the Humvee, shooting him a grin. Legates got out of the Humvee and followed Michelle to the line of people going into the building. Legates took the door from Addison and waved him in. Addison stepped through the door. Legates waited and went in after the last person. When he reached the catwalk, he saw that Michelle was already on the floor next to the coffee table.
Nodding at Techie, Legates started his patrol. When he came around again, he saw she had ear buds in her ears and was furiously scribbling. Shaking his head, he turned then paused when he heard Wendell and Cruz yelling at each other.
"Look, Hodgins found stainless steel and brass particulates. The marks clearly show hilt indents on the bone and depth of the marks in the bone are consistent with a standard issue P3 Army Quartermaster Knife," Wendell snarled at Cruz.
"No Army personnel, could possibly do something like that to another person," Cruz argued. Wendell snorted and looked at the man.
"I have seen some pretty nasty things that one human can do to another. Army or not they are still human," Wendell growled then stalked off.
Legates mentally cheered Wendell, agreeing completely with him. Legates continued patrolling, his boots coming to an almost screeching halt on his fourth round when he saw Wilson's face on Michelle's calves. She sat watching something on her phone as if it were an everyday occurrence.
Techie almost jumped when he spotted Legates' face. He'd not seen that kind of rage on his friends face before. Turning his head, he spotted Wilson with his face on Michelle's legs and burst into laughter. Legates slowly turned his face towards Techie and narrowed his eyes. Techie took a step back.
"Chill, dude, she's been the unit's pillow for two days now," Techie said.
Legates shook his head and stalked off. When he came around again, Michelle had an narrow eyed grin spread across her face. Wilson shifted, snorted then grumbled in his sleep. She burst into laughter and Legates stopped to look at her. She smiled at him, shrugged and grinned.
"Paybacks," she said.
When Legates came around to Techie again, he stopped and crossed his arms. Techie stopped and raised an eyebrow.
"Why is she wearing a shit eating grin and talking about paybacks?" Legates asked, pointing towards Michelle. Techie narrowed his eyes and then burst into rolling laughter.
"Michelle, did you do what I think you did?" Techie called from the other side of the catwalk.
"Yes, I did," she called back.
"Do you need matches?" Techie called to her, laughing so hard he almost cried.
"No, it's tucked neatly under his head. He'll get a nose full when he wakes up," Michelle called back cheerily. Legates looked at Techie for an explanation.
"We had Chinese two days ago. Michelle found out about his soy allergy while she was sitting on the floor when Wilson crac-"
"Oh, God. He didn't," Legates grumbled. Techie chuckled and nodded.
"He did," Techie affirmed.
"So, she's," Legates said, pointing towards Michelle.
"So, it would seem," Techie said, laughing.
"That is so, wrong, just wrong," Legates mumbled. He continued to patrol until he heard Wilson bellow.
"OH. MY. GOD." Wilson bellowed. Michelle burst into squealing laughter. Legates heard the scratch and fizzle of a match as it lit.
"Are you sure you're even a girl?" Wilson screeched like a girl.
"You wanna see my boobs and find out?" Michelle yelled back.
"Hell yeah," Wilson said, laughing at her. Michelle reached for the bottom of her shirt, making Wilson's eyes widen in surprise.
"Whoa whoa it was a joke," Wilson yelled, putting his hands up to stop her.
Michelle started laughing at his reaction and shook her head. He turned on his heel and nearly fell down the steps trying to get away from her. She burst into laughter and flopped down on the couch.
She plugged her ear bud back in and started rewatching her lecture. She sat with her back to the arm of the couch and her legs stretched out on the couch. Two hours and near the end of the video, Michelle felt a body fall on her legs.
"Unggh, get off me," Michelle said. Then she saw it was Legates and stopped struggling.
"Please don't fart on me," he said, smirking at her. She looked down at him and beamed a grin at him.
"I do not fart," she said loftily, "I whisper in my panties."
"Not what Wilson says," Legates said, squinting up at her. Michelle snickered then looked down at him.
"Wilson says a lot of things," Michelle said, plugging her earbud into one ear and flicking through her videos. She was watching her Spanish lecture when he swiped the other earbud and stuck it in his ear.
"Spanish?" He asked her after listening for a moment.
"Yeah," she said.
Pursing her lips, she squinted and watched as the professor wrote on the board. She was trying to decipher her professor's awful handwriting when her earbud popped out because he was wiggling up towards her. Now, he was laying with his head on her shoulder, his back against her chest.
"Good thing you aren't, omph, heavy or anything," she said. He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.
"I'm just trying to keep you warm," he said, wiggling around. She snorted and grunted as his weight shifted.
"Comfortable?" She asked sarcastically.
"Mmmhmm," he said happily. She snorted and wrapped her arms around him and laced them over his stomach.
"How come I didn't get those pillows?" Oak grumbled as he walked into the lounge, "I got a frog in a blender."
Legates looked up at Michelle with question written all over his face. Michelle reached down and pulled out her phone. Flicking through the websites, she pulled up the frog in a blender and held it down where he could see it. She started pushing buttons and he wrinkled his face up until the frog started talking. He lost it as she made the frog spin faster.
"Wait until she hits button ten," Oaks muttered, rolling on his side and covering his face with his arm.
Legates reached up and hit the last button and laughed as frog guts flew everywhere. Sighing, he rolled onto his side and buried his face between her breasts.
"Comfortable?" She asked with a sarcastic smile on her face.
"Yep," he said.
"I'm so glad I could help serve my Country," she said in smart ass tone full of laughter as she teased him. Oaks cracked his eye and groaned.
"You seriously suck, man," he told Legates.
"She owes me," Legates muttered.
She took on a look of annoyance that she didn't really feel.
"How do you figure?" She asked, fighting off a grin.
"We spent the night discussing my appendages and attachments, you stole my pillow, made me pay for it and THEN you hogged the bed," he muttered.
Oaks' eyes shot open and a stupefied look crossed his face. Techie came to a skidding halt on the catwalk near the lounge. He turned to see a self satisfied smile spread across Michelle's face.
"First of all, you were the one who brought up attachments, not me. Second of all, your pillow was reasonably priced. And third, I do not hog the bed," Michelle informed Legates.
He snorted, making one of her breasts jiggle. He cracked an eye and gave a smile of pleasure. Techie stood with his mouth hanging open.
"Did you need help with something, Techie? You look a bit confused," Michelle said with a raised eyebrow. Legates chuckled at her questions.
"It's been awhile since anyone other than himself has checked his attachments," Legates muttered.
"Nuh uh, Andrea was here, what three? Four days ago?" Michelle said, laughing at Techie's face which was turning red.
Cam had paused on the steps up to the catwalk. Her lips pressed firmly together and her eyes narrowed, having heard the conversation. Techie turned slightly and saw her, a smirk spread across his face. Cam strode up the steps and into the lounge. Walking to the coffee pot, she poured herself a cup.
"Michelle, I'm going to be processing results and I need to remove Booth's stitches. I'll need you to courier information, please," Cam said, stirring her coffee. Michelle scowled at her but nodded.
"As soon as you can get Corporal Legates off of you," Cam said a little sternly.
Legates swiveled and sat up letting Michelle slide out from behind him. She stood up and straightened her clothes. Cam nodded and turned to leave. She paused at the top of the steps.
"Oh and, Legates, if I ever hear of you speaking with my daughter about your attachments again, I'll detach your attachments," Cam said in an even tone. Legates' eyes shot open. He'd never heard the voice Cam was using and he didn't like it.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied.
Cam nodded, turned again, and walked down the steps. Michelle scowled as she followed Cam down the steps. When Techie came around again, he saw Legates squished on the couch.
"You could have warned me, dickhead," Legates mumbled.
"Hey, I saw her right after your last statement. She'd already been there," Techie said, shrugging.
"Dickhead," Legates mumbled.
"I love you too, sweetkins," Techie said, laughing.
Michelle followed Cam into her office and paused when Cam closed the door. Turning, she found Cam standing with her arms crossed and her lips pursed.
"What was that conversation all about?" Cam asked, pointing towards the stairs out in the lab.
"Last night I went to talk to Josh and we fell asleep on the floor, we were fighting over pillows, blankets and whatnot," Michelle said, shrugging.
"Are you having sex with him?" Cam asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Look, Cam, we've had this discussion. You know that I am sexually active. You also know that I am picky about whom I sleep with and that I am on the shot. Josh and I have not had sex. We may in the future, actually I'm leaning towards we will but for now no," Michelle said almost stiffly. Cam blew out her breath, she'd known this had been coming.
"Okay, okay, I can respect that," Cam said, nodding. Picking up a piece of paper, she handed it to Michelle.
"Take this to Booth and Dr. Brennan, please," Cam requested.
Michelle took the paper and carried it out into the lab. She peered into the conference room and didn't see them. Heading to Brennan's office, she lightly tapped on the door then pushed it open. She heard the conversation fall silent and walked the paper to Booth.
"Thanks, Michelle," Booth said.
She smiled and quietly left the office with a small spring in her step. She had done as Cam had asked and was headed back to the lounge. She climbed the steps and stood staring out over the platform when she heard Angela squeal. Her eyes shot to Brennan's office and she saw Booth pulling off his jacket.
Michelle smirked as she watched him pull his shirt from his pants. She saw a quick conversation then Angela came practically skipping across the lab. Bouncing up the steps, she walked to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup of coffee. She walked over to the railing and leaned against it.
"So tell me is Legates as muscley and ripped as he appears? Is that butt as tight as it looks. Oh, Honey, to be your age again," Angela sighed.
Techie snickered as he walked by. Michelle turned to see questioning looks on Rowan, Lewis and Campbell's faces. When had they joined them? Daisy bounced up and stood next to Angela.
"What are we looking at? Oh, Booth's nice and all but he's not my Lancelot," Daisy said. Michelle bit back a snort. She smirked but didn't answer anything.
"Come on, Michelle, just a little detail," Angela pleaded, her voice falling quiet as her eyes fell on Booth with his shirt off.
Michelle heard Cam's laughter trailing her as she left Brennan's office. The women standing there saw Booth turn to look at them. Angela started clapping, Michelle grinned and joined the woman clapping. She could appreciate a good show as long as she didn't think about who was giving it.
"Do you wolves mind?" Legates grumbled from the couch. Angela turned with a grin and leaned her arms on the railing.
"Oh ye of the firm buttocks. We are so glad that you could grace us with your presence. Now we demand a show, Booth gave us one," Angela prodded.
Techie guffawed as he came by, stopping to raise an eyebrow at Michelle. She smirked at him and wiggled her eyebrows.
"Dude, Michelle is unleashing the hounds on you. You're on your own," Techie said, shooting Legates a salute. Legates grunted and pulled his arm over his head.
"Alright, guys, clear off. These poor guys have been working around the clock and getting four hours of sleep at a stretch. They don't need you screwing with their sleep time," Michelle said, grinning at Angela. Legates snorted from under his arm and mumbled something.
"That was stupid, dude," Oaks mumbled. Michelle stalked towards Legates and Angela ushered the other women away.
"What was that, Josh?" Michelle asked, leaning over so she could hear Legates.
Before she could blink, he was on his back and she was on top of him. He kept his eyes closed but grinned at her.
"What was that you said?" She said, dropping her head to his shoulder.
"Nothing, I was just mumbling random crap to get you over here. Guess what?" He said in a sleepy tone.
"What?" She asked quietly.
"It worked," he said, laughing almost silently. She smacked his arm and tried to burrow between him and the couch.
"See, you are a bed hog. You're trying to push me off to the couch," he complained.
"Go to sleep," she muttered.
She had to admit she was sleepy and she had gotten four more hours of sleep than he did. They both had only been asleep for about two hours when Techie walked over and kicked Legates feet off the couch. Legates grunted and Michelle whined at him.
"They nailed Burley. They're going after her I think. We're staying here, everyone else is going to the Hodgins estate," Techie said. Michelle sat up and blinked blearily.
"No security with the squints?" Legates asked, his mind already working.
"Sarge figures that Army squints can handle it," Techie said. Michelle jumped up and started packing her books up in preparation to leave.
"Hey, where are you going so fast?" Legates asked, swinging her around by the waist to face him.
"Have to get back to Hodgins. I need to get my shit together and get back to my dorm," Michelle said, squinting up at him.
"Jeez, don't be so happy to see me go," Legates said. She pecked him on the mouth.
"Don't get all cranky. I'll see you later," she said, smiling.
"Uh huh," Legates said, narrowing his eyes.
"You go do your job and I'll go do my thing and when we're done we'll meet up okay?" She said, smiling at him.
He scowled so she kissed him again and pulled back. She swung her back pack up and walked to the railing. She saw the squints hurrying around.
"Wendell, how long?" She called down to the platform.
"Two minutes," Wendell called back. Michelle nodded and headed down the stairs.
"Call me," floated up behind her.
All of the security began moving carefully and keeping a close eye on everything. Techie saw the air duct move but then air flowed from it. Shrugging, he continued to patrol. He passed Legates who had an intense look on his face.
Michelle climbed into the Humvee and rode in silence as they made their way to the mansion. When they pulled up to the gate they saw Wendell get out and punch in a code. Michelle's eyes narrowed. Why wasn't Hodgins doing that? As they pulled up the driveway, Cruz looked into the back of the vehicle.
"You guys are supposed to stay here until Agent Booth contacts us and lets us know it's okay to leave," he told the people sitting in the back.
Michelle rolled her eyes but nodded. When the Humvee came to a halt, she jumped out and headed down to her room. She swept around the room piling things on the bed for sorting and packing. As she began to fold clothes and tuck them in her bag she realized that she hadn't given Legates her number.
Sighing, she walked to her backpack and pulled out a sheet of paper. Digging around, she pulled out a marker. She had always known that her hoarding tendencies would work in her favor.
CALL ME
Michelle bit her lip and wrote her number under the words. Smiling, she waved the paper to dry the marker. Walking to her bag, she pulled out her body spray. After spritzing it on the paper, she smirked. She walked to the bedroom door and opened it. Walking out into the hall, she looked both ways and walked into the hallway.
Walking on quiet feet, she slipped into Legates' room. Going to his bag, she unzipped it and scrunched her face at the smell. Nothing like the smell of dirty socks. She'd have to teach him about packing, she thought. Pulling out a shirt that was neatly folded, she folded her note inside of it then glanced around.
His room was neat and there wasn't anything laying around. Interesting, he packed everyday? Shrugging, she slipped from his room and back down the hallway. She entered her room and continued to pack, hoping he wasn't too bored.
•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•
Legates wanted to groan, this was boring but he knew something was up. The hair on his neck had been crawling for over three hours now. Brennan sat at her desk, doing what he assumed was paperwork. Booth was in the conference room with his agents, Parks, and Dewalt. Booth was on the phone waving his arms around.
Legates saw a movement from the corner of his eye. Catching Techie's eye, he jerked his head towards Angela's office. Techie turned and saw movement. Moving quietly, he padded through the lab to Angela's office. He stood in the doorway and shook his head.
"Angela," he hissed. She jumped and spun around.
"Techie, don't scare me like that," she said in a low tone.
"Does Sarge know you're here?" He asked, looking at his fingernails.
"No and he won't either," she said. Techie shook his head and turned to leave her office.
"She's here somewhere I know it," Angela said.
Techie froze and looked up at the catwalk. Legates was rubbing his neck. Giving her a short jerking nod, he left her office and headed to the catwalk. He quickly climbed the steps and strode over to Legates.
"She's here isn't she?" He asked Legates, looking him in the face.
"My skin has been crawling for the better part of three hours. But I haven't seen anything so I was thinking it was just because I'm used to seeing the lab busy," Legates said, shrugging. Techie almost growled at his friend.
"Get your mind off Michelle and pay attention," Techie snapped. Legates eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to Techie.
"I don't see you yelling that she's here. How did you find out?" Legates snapped back, irritated now.
"Angela-"
"Angela is here? Shit, if she's here then Hodgins is," Legates snapped, huffing out a breath.
"Well, we've not seen anything just keep a close eye out and keep to the outside edge of the catwalk," Techie said.
"I'm not a noob. I know that," Legates snapped, stepping into the shadows and restarting his patrol.
He paused when the overhead covering slid back showing the early evening sky. The sun would be going down within the hour. Hopefully Booth would shut down the search after dark but he wouldn't place bets on it.
•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•
Michelle sat on the patio outside the doors in her room. Her feet were propped up on another chair as she watched the sunset. How long were they going to be here? Would Booth stop the search when it got dark? Would she have to spend another night here. As much as she'd like nothing better, she also was ready to go home.
The constant presence of someone being there was unnerving. She was tired of trying to hide how it was making her jittery and jumpy. Sighing, she looked at her phone and shook her head. Was she expecting him to call now? That was stupid, she knew where he was.
•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•
Legates was getting irritable, they had been walking for hours and they saw nothing other than the dim track lighting on the platform come on and the lights in Brennan's office and the conference room flare into being. Legates' stomach rumbled and he glared at the platform as if it would change something. He was standing in front of the lounge when the alarms blared.
His eyes shot to the platform and he sank back into the shadows. There she was, Ms. Hannah Burley, finally showed herself. But why did she have to have Brennan? Legates stepped back into the shadows of the catwalk. Looking around, he realized the rest of the unit had done the same thing. The only one left visible was Techie.
"What do you want, Hannah?" Techie barked at the woman on the platform.
"Oh, Corporal Briggs, nothing you can give me," Hannah smirked.
This woman must be insane, she broke into the Jeffersonian, held the love of Booth's life at gunpoint and was surrounded by ten snipers, Legates thought. Yep, she's nuttier than a fruitcake.
"Well, I'll be the one you'll be talking to," Techie yelled at her.
"Where's Booth? This is his piece of tail I got here," Hannah yelled back.
Hannah glanced around at the guns pointed at her from the catwalk. She grinned at them and raised an eyebrow.
"All of you and I both know that before you could get a shot off she'd be dead. So, you might as well put them down. You don't want any accidents do you," Hannah said chidingly.
"Again, Hannah, what do you want?" Techie asked his voice much more confident.
"Techie, what are you doing?" Legates hissed in a whisper only the other man could hear.
Techie wiggled his fingers telling him to shut up. Legates' eyes narrowed at Techie's back when he saw the duct move again. Son of a Bitch, that's how she got in the lab and there was someone else in the duct. Legates saw Techie pull his phone from his pocket and read the text.
"Hannah, Booth wants to talk to you. Monitors will be lowering from the ceiling," Techie called to the woman standing in the middle of the platform. The monitors dropped slowly from the places above the desks around the platform. A voice wave graphic appeared on the screen.
"Hannah, what do you want?" Booth's voice came from the speakers around the platform.
"First thing is for you to show yourself," Hannah spat.
"Too bad that's not happening. You made the mistake of giving up the element of surprise and the high ground," Booth laughed.
Legates grinned at Booth mouthing off at Hannah. Legates' eyes shot to the roof when a shadow passed across the skylight. Hannah must have noticed something, her eyes started darting around nervously. Legates was impressed at Brennan's cool and calm countenance. Hannah's movements were becoming erratic and he hoped she wouldn't accidentally shoot Brennan.
"What do you want, Hannah?" Booth said again, trying not to sweat. Legates took a breath to steady his nerves and tracked Hannah's movements with his eyes.
"What I've always wanted. I want in Evanescence. You didn't deserve the invitation much less for them to bump people off the list while you kept saying no. I want the love of my life back," Hannah screeched.
"Hannah, Evanescence was outed a week ago when this investigation started. And I did nothing to the love of your life so that I can do nothing about," Booth told her.
"NOTHING? You did nothing? You blew Emil's head off, took his body then sullied his name," Hannah yelled.
"What the hell is Evanescence? Who is Emil?" Legates whispered to Techie, Techie shrugged in response.
The lab fell silent as Booth didn't reply to Hannah's last screech. He was up to something and every man on the catwalk knew it. The question was what? If he was on the roof and distracting her, was there someone else taking the shot?
"What is going on? Why are you quiet?" Hannah barked, her eyes darting around frantically.
"I'm calculating Bones' velocity. Do you mind?" Booth said in a snarky tone.
Legates saw Brennan's eyes widen then harden. Whatever message Booth was trying to pass had been received. The question was, what the hell was it? What did velocity have to do with anything?
"Explain yourself," Hannah snarled.
"I work with geniuses. You don't and it would take too long for me to explain the Acceleration of Gravity Equation," Booth told her.
No shit, Sherlock, Legates thought. He'd have to explain that one later to him. He didn't get the reference. He really needed to start taking some classes. He wasn't sure if he was a career military man.
"What the hell does that mean?" Hannah asked, her grip slacking slightly from the pain of her broken wrist.
"It means that I am trying to determine the refraction of light without causing Fresnel conditions to be present," Booth said, listening to the explanation Hodgins was giving through the earpiece he was wearing.
Legates cocked his head and nodded. He did know that, when using a weapon it's best to know all you could about it. If you have laser sights well best to know how they work. He saw Goodman hold his gun up and point to the sights on it.
Techie nodded in understanding. Legates passed the hand signal down the line and crept closer to the edge of the platform but stayed behind Techie. Pulling his rifle up into position, he sighted and put Hannah in the crosshairs.
"Now, once I have that figured out I'd go back to trying to figure out the acceleration of gravity," Booth said smoothly.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Hannah screeched, getting more and more pissed off.
Legates could see Hannah's hand shaking and saw a bead of sweat roll down Brennan's temple. He winced at the thought of what could make Brennan sweat. Legates tapped his laser and watched as nine other beams hit the platform almost simultaneously.
The next few things happened almost in the blink of an eye. Hannah jumped, Brennan hit the ground, a round was fired and glass shattered all over the platform. He was already on the move and was just behind Techie.
The unit's footfalls thundered across the catwalk. He and Techie set the alarms on the platform off. He saw Brennan crawl across the floor to Hannah who was laying on the floor. Only Brennan would try to administer first aid to someone who had just tried to kill her. Legates heard Hannah's wet burbling breathing over the sound of the glass crunching under his feet.
He saw the woman lift her head, look Brennan in the eye, put her head down and die. Angela shoved past him, sobbing as she ran. She knelt down next to Brennan and wrapped her arms around her friend. Legates felt like he was invading a private moment, yet at the same time he didn't want to leave either of the women unprotected.
The way the last week had gone, you never knew where the next bullet would come from. Techie stumbled into Legates as Booth pushed past him. Booth looked like he'd have pushed Angela to the side if she hadn't moved voluntarily. They saw Brennan sitting in Booth's lap trying to control her breathing.
The alarms began wailing again making Legates scowl. Those things were annoying as all get out. The wailing stopped and Legates saw Hodgins come up on the platform. He walked to his wife and wrapped an arm around her.
"I'm going to take Bones to her office. Rowan, I need you to collect the evidence and get the pictures. At a later time Angela can provide video and audio of everything that happened here," Booth said quietly.
Booth stood up and Brennan's feet slid into position underneath her. Legates watched them go then wondered what the heck they were supposed to do now. He left the platform, the woman lying in a pool of her own blood, and the glass behind. Jogging up the steps, he sat down on the couch. The other men filtered in around him. Price came up the steps and paused.
"One of the agents will be up to talk to each of you to get a statement," he told them. They looked at him and nodded. Turning on his heel, Price left the lounge.
They spent the next two hours watching Rowan gather evidence and speaking with one of the agents.
•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•
Michelle looked up at the knock on the bedroom door.
"Come in," she called out. Cam walked in and smiled.
"You'll be glad to know they got the person they were after. We are free to go," Cam said. Michelle jumped to her feet.
"Thank God. I'm ready to go home," Michelle said, her face awash with relief.
"You can leave whenever you're ready, you just have to meet a cab at the end of the driveway," Cam said, nodding.
Michelle smiled and grabbed her phone. Ten minutes later, Michelle was in a cab on her way back to her dorm. Maybe I should have waited for Josh, she thought. Sighing, she leaned her elbow of the car door and shook her head.
•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•
Legates climbed into the Humvee and drove back to the Hodgins mansion. As much as he was ready to get back to his dorm near the base, he was going to miss seeing Michelle everyday. Sighing, he parked the Humvee in front the mansion and turned it off. Climbing from the vehicle, he walked up the steps and into the house. He went down to the den and sat down on a couch. He figured Michelle would show up eventually.
"Okay guys, time to hit Founding Fathers," Booth called out, clapping his hands. The squints cheered and stood up.
"You found her?" Wendell asked with a grin.
"More like she found us," Booth muttered. Legates looked at Techie and Techie returned his look. Turning their heads, they looked at Booth in question. They wanted an explanation for the Founding Fathers comment
"Get your civvies on and let's hit the bar," Booth told them.
They scrambled to their rooms to get changed. Before Legates went to his room, he stopped by Michelle's. Cam saw him knocking on Michelle's door and frowned.
"Legates, she left about a half an hour ago. If I know her and I do, she's sunk up to her eyeballs in her tub with her iPod going," Cam said gently. Legates nodded in a short jerking motion and spun on his heel. Cam had seen the pain flash across the man's face.
"Legates," Cam said, he paused, "don't get all upset she's not here. She doesn't like large crowds and she's pretty much been forced to live with almost forty people twenty four seven for a week. She needs to get where she's comfortable again," Cam finished.
Legates gave another nod and continued to his room.
A/N: Poor Legates...Founding Fathers, bubbles, petulance, missing testicles, watcher of the beer, old gym socks, libido control, tomorrow, moths, the metro, feet on calves, death glares, chicken, armpit hair, gastronomic fortitude, mongoose, Prairie Fire, harvest moon, fiery kisses, being peed on, Star Wars, 'Beans', road irritation, laundry, a brochure, an appointment, Taco Bell, demands and catching everything up.