Astacia: I hope falling out of your chair didn't hurt. I feel replying to you is only fair. I mean you took the time to read and review so I should take the time to respond. I think you'll find this chapter most interesting. Thanks for the review!
Chapter 4
Booth and Brennan walked back to the body with the excited young man. They hoped what he had found would give them some answers. Walking up the platform, the two stood looking at what Zach had found.
"If you look here the break on her arm you can see that the fracture was cause by someone twisting it hard." He started. Brennan moved in closer and took a look. Zach moved over to the magnifier and pulled it over.
"Take a look at her leg break." He said. Brennan moved down to the leg and saw what he was talking about.
"It's obvious that the arm was twisted but that the leg was broken with some kind of tool. Its shattered but I saw that already. What's the big thing you found?" She asked.
"Wait. Now look at the ribs." Zach said. Brennan gave him a look and then the bones.
"By the looks of things, the ribs were broken with the same kind of tool but that doesn't help us unless we can lift an impression or a serial number, especially since the ribs and fibula are in pieces." Brennan was starting to get frustrated. That's when Zach brought them to a nearby computer screen. He pressed a few keys and a picture appeared.
"This is how we catch 'the bastard'." Zach said. He had scanned the broken leg and arm bones into the computer and digitally placed all the pieces in the correct spots. Now Brennan was beginning to see the picture.
"Zach this is brilliant. Can you match the impression to any kind of tool or weapon?" She asked.
"I'm running the possibilities now. Unfortunately, there haven't been any matches in the weapons category." The student smiled.
"What just happened?" Booth asked.
"Zach was able to piece together the bone fragments enough to get a possible match for a weapon or tool impression." Brennan explained.
"So Bones, you're saying we could narrow it down to what kind of weapon or tool was used and then match it to a suspect." Booth began to smile.
"Exactly." Brennan said. The smile quickly faded from the FBI Agent's face.
"Only one problem with that." He said.
"What?" Zach asked.
"You have to have a suspect first." Booth answered.
WWWWWWWWWWWWW
A few hours later, only Booth and Brennan remained at the Jeffersonian. The good doctor had sent her team home for the night around nine after a good round of complaints. They had all wanted to go out and have fun; it was Friday night after all. Angela was already late for a date she had setup. Hodgins wanted to go home and work some more on his conspiracy theories and Zach lived above Hodgins' garage so he followed the dirt specialist.
"Bones, my eyes hurt. Do you want to go out and get some food?" Booth asked.
"I don't feel like going anywhere." She replied.
"Well why don't you come home with me and we can have that talk and some Chinese?" Booth tried again.
"Chinese sounds great." Brennan smiled.
"All right." The FBI Agent got up off the chair in the anthropologist's office. They both set the files back inside the box on top of Brennan's desk. She grabbed her purse and locked the office door on the way out. Booth waited until she turned around and then he took her arm in his.
Outside in the parking lot, the two could feel the day's heat still radiating off the pavement. It had been another very warm day in D.C. and according to the weatherman tomorrow would be just as bad. Booth stopped and waited until Brennan climbed in her car. Then he opened the door on his big black SUV and climbed in.
The two cars wound their way around the D.C. streets, which were still busy at this time of night. People were heading out to clubs, bars, the baseball game, and many other activities. Temperance didn't even realize that they had already arrived at Booth's apartment building until he tapped on her window.
"You ok?" He asked through the glass. Her response was to open the door and bang it into his knees. Booth winced a little and helped her out of the car.
"Are you sure you're ok?" He asked again.
"I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping." She said. The two walked in silence to the door of the building and went in. Soon they were outside Booth's door and the FBI Agent let her in.
"Have a seat on the couch. The Chinese will be here in like fifteen minutes tops." He called as he walked into the kitchen. Brennan sat down in the couch and looked around the room. Pictures of Parker and Booth were everywhere. Despite only being able to see his son on weekends, the two certainly enjoyed themselves.
Booth came back into the living room holding two beers. He handed one to Brennan and sat down. Then he loosened his tie.
"It's been a rough day." He said.
"Yes, so many things on my mind." Brennan replied. Turning to her, Booth asked,
"What is it that you wanted to talk about?"
"I'm…" she paused, unsure of how to proceed. Booth took her hand and looked into her eyes. He could see the turmoil and confusion behind them.
"Temperance, even if you can't find the right words just tell me why you haven't been sleeping. Tell me how you want this to work. I know you've been hurt before but I've told you I'd never do that to you. I want to spend Sunday mornings in bed with you. I want to hold you in my arms and make everything go away. I want to make you happy." He said. At this, tears began to form in Brennan's eyes. Booth set his beer down and pulled her close.
"Shh. It's ok. I'm here." He just let her cry until the doorbell rang. Booth didn't want to let go of her but the Chinese food was here. Carefully he let go of her and kissed her forehead. Then he answered the door. After paying the delivery boy, he closed the door and placed the food on the coffee table. Suddenly he had lost all interest in eating.
Temperance had dried her eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back and sat down next to her.
"Is that Kung Pao Chicken I smell?" She asked.
"I seemed to remember that it was your favorite." Booth answered.
"Too bad I don't feel like eating." Brennan grimaced.
"Me neither. But I don't think having a beer on an empty stomach is such a good idea." He said. She nodded and they slowly tucked into their food.
Sometime later, the food was gone and so was the garbage. Both had had another beer and now they sat silently on the couch.
"Seeley, I want to tell you everything but it's hard for me and I don't want it to ruin our relationship." She finally said.
"Just tell me, whatever you say can't hurt our confusing little situation." Booth answered.
"I want to get close to you but something inside me keeps saying that I can't. That I'll get hurt or it will ruin my career. I've worked so hard to get where I am and I'm afraid of losing not only my job but you too." Brennan hoped that he would be able to make sense of it all.
"No matter what happens, Temperance, you'll never lose me. I'll be right here. If you want to take things slow, then we'll take things slow. I don't need to rush. I'll wait for you. I would never dream of risking your career and I don't think that anyone including the FBI would be able to do anything about our relationship. They want the FBI and the Jeffersonian to be working together and they will do whatever it takes to make it happen. Trust me, I worried too at first but then I realized that I couldn't sit back anymore. I need to be with you, Temperance. I love you." He said. Booth was afraid he had scared her. He waited for the atomic bomb to drop or have his heart torn out. What happened next completely surprised him.
To Be Continued…