The Face With Two Skeletons
by Tropicwhale
disclaimer: Not mine
Warnings: My bad language problem.
Author Talk: This fucking chapter...
Chapter Forty-Nine
Zack was pacing, he was trying to figure out how best to get into contact with Dr. Brennan's team. He had wrapped in the blanket and was pacing the floor trying to make sense of events. He needed to find a way for Bradley not to get arrested for kidnapping or all of his previous crimes. He needed to get him into therapy and help him become a functioning member of society again. He worried that his kidnapping would distract from Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth from finding Anne and Mrs. Oscarmann's killer. He also worried about how the case centered around himself. Not to mention Gormagon. And the fact that Zack, himself, was still technically homeless and living with Seeley. Of course, then there was Seeley...and the relationship that was happening there. It was a conundrum.
Well, he could hold off on Gormagon. He couldn't do anything to solve the murders of the two women nor determine why the case continued to center around his personal history. It was futile to try and unravel those mysteries. Seeley would have to wait until after the case was solved, naturally. Zack could, however, protect Bradley. That was within his capabilities. First, he needed to contact Dr. Brennan and inform her that he was safe. She was the most logical of their team and the most likely to ask pertinent questions. She was also the most likely to help him undo Bradley's death certificate. Of course, Bradley never had a death certificate. The coroner would not issue one if there was not a body and there never was a body. Zack started to chew on his fingernails. It was an old habit. One that he often tried to break. But Bradley was alive so Zack allowed himself to indulge in old vices like biting fingernails and smoking. Bradley was alive and that was what was important to Zack. Everything else; Gormagon, Seeley, and the murders; would and could wait.
First, he'd have to convince Bradley to let him go and contact Dr. Brennan. Bradley, naturally, would not want to let him go. Zack would have to have infallible logic...like Booth tracking them down and cornering them with many large guns. After that, he'd ask that they be picked up by a civilian; Hodgins or Dr. Saroyan preferably. As far as why Bradley asked for a ransom...Zack would tell the truth...sort of. He would say that Bradley checked in on him and saw that Hector Oscarmann had been arrested and brought to D.C, posing a threat to Zack. The ransom was for them to go into hiding for safety's sake. Once the apartment was rebuilt it would be a safe space for Bradley to recover from everything he had to go through while he was living in Detroit. Zack's savings were enough to pay for therapy and the basics for them both. He really did make too much money for himself. After he got Bradley settled somewhere safe, a hotel room perhaps? He would talk to Seeley about putting what was happening between them on hold. Seeley would understand. Seeley was very loyal to the people he perceived as his friends. Seeley would understand that Zack's emotional concentration should be on the man who saved his life and who was his best and first friend. Freed from the guilt of their affair, Booth could then concentrate on finding the murderer of Bradley's mother and her twin sister. Zack would also find a way to deliver Gormagon to the FBI. Bradley's health and safety was more important than any reasoning that the cannibal had for killing and eating all of those people.
Now, Zack just had to convince Bradley that his logic and course of action was ultimately better than running away together with ransom money and no solidly detailed plan. Zack scrubbed his face with his hands. This was frustrating. There was only one logical course of action. Why was Bradley being so stubborn? It was so very unlike the Bradley Zack knew and loved.
There was a clatter of a 1/4" conduit pipe hitting the concrete floor at a 75 degree angle, ends alternating bouncing at 1.5632 second intervals for 6.4301 seconds producing perfect high F sharp notes before rolling until stopping. Bradley's voice cursed. Zack smiled, he loved incidental physics and Bradley. Zack turned to see Bradley holding a shotgun, pointing it down and toward the ground off to his right side.
Then everything; Mrs. Oscarmann's death, disappearance and reappearance, Anne's subsequent murder, the expert way both women were debridled...clicked into place and Zack sat down on the floor. "You didn't kidnap me because you wanted to run away together, you kidnapped me because they were closing in on you. I had sex with a murderer...Agent Booth will not be happy...he carries a gun and has anger management issues."
"Zack, it's not that simple."
"I can understand killing your mother. She knew you were alive and could have told your father and put your life at risk but Anne? Anne never did anything to you. She didn't even know you."
"She was in your way."
"What?" Zack looked up at his friend, in shock. He could practically feel the adrenaline kicking in. Bradley sat down in front of him, a hand on his shoulder, the shot gun off to his side. "She wasn't in my way…."
"You honestly thought that that jack ass husband of hers would have left her for you?"
"I didn't want him to leave her. I liked Anne. She was nice."
"She didn't like you."
"I don't understand."
"She knew that you were having an affair with her husband. It was why she started to have an affair with her masseuse."
"Massage Therapist. Also, masseuse is feminine. Masseuser is masculine. How do you know that?" Bradley was suddenly shifting. "Bradley? How did you know?"
"I asked her."
"Right before you killed her." Zack surmised. He pressed the heel of his hand against his eyes. "Bradley...you didn't have to kill them. They didn't do anything to you."
"I don't matter. I'm dead. They were a threat to you. That woman would have forced your lover to dump you."
"He dumped me anyway." Zack said. "He loves his wife. Their relationship was imperfect but he did love her which is why I never asked for more than a physical relationship or a platonic friendship. I knew he couldn't give me more. I valued his friendship more than his prowess in bed. When he has calm down from his grief, I will inform him of that fact."
"Well, he's dead now...sooo." Bradley shrugged. "I killed him when I realized he hurt you. Don't worry, they won't find his body. Not for awhile anyway." He shrugged again, touching the shotgun like a grounding wire. "Everything I did, Zack, I did it so you'd be happy. When I realized you were repeating unhealthy patterns by hooking up with that federal agent with the anger management issues...I kidnapped you. It's simple. I came to D.C to check on you...I found you unhappy and I did what I had to do to fix it...sort of like a guardian angel."
"And your mother?"
"She had decided to tell my father I was alive...once I killed her…..I had to….I was afraid he'd come looking for her so I...did what you talked about...the corpse farm outside Miami? Where they leave you out to study rates of decomposition...I left her body in a swamp...checked on her until insects and wildlife stripped her clean...I boiled the bones in distilled water and then…I….felt guilty... I wanted her to be buried proper so I gathered her up and left her on the porch in the middle of the night….I should have known he would just….lie about everything. That's what he is, Zack, a liar."
"I know. I agree with that statement."
"I-I've been alone for so long...Zack, I'm sorry I killed them...I didn't mean to upset you...I had thought-"
"Bradley," Zack pulled his friend into a hug. "It's going to be alright. I recognize your logic however I would stipulate that it is not your responsibility to make sure I am happy and certainly not by way of murder. What is important is that you told me. We can fix this. I promise. I am not going to let us be separated again...even if that means confessing to Accessory After the Fact...which is what I am going to do."
"Zack...no." Zack smiled and made sure to make eye contact with his friend.
"Bradley...trust me. I know what to do." Zack kissed him, hard.
Author's After Note: And ta-da! We have our killer. I told you guys it wasn't Gormogon! I did not decide to kill Zerbrowski...Bradley did….my characters have taken over the story...send chocolate, pie and reviews. Not, necessarily, in that order. Home stretch. Next up, Chapter Fifty, the rescue.
Love from the Dorkside;
Tropic
