Disclaimer: I'm sure you can guess.
Author's Note: Thank you once again for all the great reviews! Since no one sent me a message telling me they would hunt me down and kill me if I made this a long fic, I guess I'm going to go ahead with that. If for some reason you still aren't on board with the idea, let me know, we'll see what we can do. I got a lot of good responses for the fluffier aspects of the last chapter, and I thought about playing with your emotions this time, but I decided against it...for now ;-) Hope you like this chapter, off we go...
"Hey, Sweetie," Angela said as Temperance climbed into the car. "How'd it go with the dead guy?"
"Okay, though I am having a little bit of trouble thanks to markings on the bones from animals."
Angela nodded as they pulled onto the main road. "I'm sure you'll work it out."
Temperance nodded as well. "Hopefully. So, where are we going to dinner?"
"Hodgins and I saw a seafood place on our way in, about 15 minutes off island. I left him and Booth back at the hotel; we figured you'd want to shower and change before we left."
Temperance nodded again. She wanted that very much. "Thanks."
Angela nodded back. "So, what's going on with you and Booth? Making any progress there?"
Temperance sighed; she knew when she saw Angela in the car alone that this topic would come up. "There's nothing going on, Ange."
"You seem to be getting along better. I guess sleeping together was good for the relationship." There was laugher in Angela's eyes at the double nature of the statement, though she kept her voice straight.
"We talked out our difference of opinion. That is all."
Angela did her best to look defensive. "Hey, I'm not arguing with you. So, are you going to tell me what you fought over, or what?"
Temperance rubbed her face with her hands. "Angela, please, I'm not up for a heart to heart right now."
"You're never up for a heart to heart."
"Fine, if I promise to tell you some other time, will you let this drop for now?"
"Fine. But I'm holding you to your promise!"
They pulled up at the hotel. "I'm sure you will."
And so, after Temperance had some time to clean herself up, they four headed for the restaurant. The food was good and the atmosphere was pleasant, however, despite the fact that they were all having a good time, Temperance and Booth began to feel the full weight of their lack of sleep about halfway through dinner. By the time everyone had finished and they had paid the check, they were both nearly asleep at the table.
Luckily, they had all ridden together in the SUV, so Hodgins and Angela packed the drowsy Tempe and Booth into the back seat. Angela and Hodgins went back inside for a moment, Angela because she had forgotten to grab her purse and Hodgins because he had to use the bathroom, and when they came back out, they were greeted by the sight of their friends, sound asleep in the backseat.
Angela and Hodgins smiled at one another and climbed as quietly as possible into the front seats. Apparently Temperance and Booth's inability to get a good night sleep in the car the night before had stemmed from the fact that they were in the wrong positions; now, both were sleeping peacefully. Booth was in a slumped sitting position, his legs splayed before him at a strange angle, with his face buried in the top of Tempe's hair. His arm was lazily draped around her waist, as if she were a large doll or teddy bear. As for Tempe, she was also in a semi-seated position, though inclined more to her side, and her head was comfortably resting on Booth's chest, with one of her hands resting beside her face in such a way that it was obvious she had mistaken Booth for a very large, very warm, pillow.
Angela shook her head. Booth's neck was going to be sore if he stayed in that position, but she didn't have the heart to wake them up. They way they leaned on one another was too cute to disturb.
Hodgins pulled the SUV back onto the highway, and they headed back to the hotel.
"Look at them," Angela said, quietly, as they drove. "Why can't they see that they're happiest when they're together?"
Hodgins unconsciously reached down and laced his fingers through Angela's, never taking his eyes off the road. "They're happiest when they're unconscious."
Angela stifled a laugh. "How are we going to get them together?"
"Oh, no, we're not trying that again. Look where it got us the first time; they nearly hated each other. Now they've figured out how to get along again; I say we let them figure out how to get the rest of the way there."
Angela sighed in frustration. "But they're supposed to be together!"
Hodgins voice was quiet and soothing when he replied. "Yes. I know that, you know that, Meg knows that, even Zach knows that. They're smart people; they'll figure it out, too." He lifted her hand and kissed the back of her fingers. "Besides, the person you love is worth waiting for."
Angela had to smile then. "You're a good man, Jack."
"I'm better now than I used to be." They gazed into each other's eyes for a quick moment as they continued down the highway.
A short while later, Angela reluctantly roused the entwined FBI agent and anthropologist when they arrived back at the hotel. Both seemed vaguely disoriented when they woke, it seemed they hardly registered the fact that only moments before they had been wrapped around one another like vines.
After gathering everyone from the car, the four trudged upstairs to their room. Angela and Temperance headed to the bathroom to wash off their makeup while Booth and Hodgins eyed other in the main room. When the girls exited the bathroom, both were still fully dressed and standing, looking at one another.
Angela groaned. "Sleep like that for all I care, but we're turning the light off."
Booth and Hodgins looked at each other for another minute before Booth headed to the bathroom to change. When he was finished, Hodgins changed as well, and the two climbed into bed. Angela notice that they were both wearing pants and shirts with sleeves, and smiled. Boxer shorts were usually more of Hodgins' pj style, and she suspect from the way Booth was struggling to straighten out his clothes under the blanket that they were his style, too. She shook her head and dropped her eyes closed under the blanket, quickly imitating Tempe, who was already asleep.
"Tempe…hey, Tempe, wake up!" Angela whispered as she nudged Temperance in the ribs.
"Mmph…huh?"
"Check this out." Angela pointed over to the other bed, where Hodgins and Booth lay still asleep.
It was all the two could do to keep from bursting out in laughter. Booth was lying on his side with his face turned towards the girl's bed, and Hodgins was lying behind him, spooning him. Hodgins' arm was resting over Booth's side and lying, clutched with Booths, against Booth's chest.
"They look so peaceful," Temperance said, a wide, amused smile on her face.
"You want to know what's even better? When Meg brought me your clothes, she also brought me your camera."
Temperance almost squealed with delight as the two dove for the bags that Angela had brought and snapped several quick pictures of their sleeping beauties.
Eventually, Booth began to wake up. And his movement woke Hodgins.
"Mmm…morning, Sweetie," Hodgins said with his eyes clothes. He took a sniff of the back of Booth's head. "Are you wearing my cologne?" He opened his eyes. "Ange, what happened to your hair?" And, finally, reality dawned on him, just as Booth began to comprehend what was going on and the position they were in.
"AUGH!" they shrieked in unison, flying out of the bed. They got tangled in the sheets as they began to move, causing Hodgins to land with heavy thud on his backside on the floor, just as Booth pitched forward, narrowly missing hitting his head on the night table.
Angela and Temperance roared in laugher. They were met by the twin glares of the newly awakened men.
"I was going to get a shower, but if you guys want to take one first…" Angela said, a large smile on her face.
"NO!" They screamed in unison. Temperance and Angela howled again. Booth shot them a menacing glare. "This never leaves the room."
Temperance and Angela kept laughing. Hodgins weighed in at this point. "Angela, I swear, if you tell anyone about this, I'll…"
Angela put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. "You'll what?" she challenged.
Hodgins looked at a loss. "Please don't tell anyone?"
Temperance and Angela just laughed.
After getting over the awkwardness of the morning, the four dressed themselves for the day and decided that they desperately wanted coffee. They remembered seeing a small coffeehouse on the corner of Main Street and Maddox Blv., and considering that they were told that it was the only actually coffeehouse on the island, they decided they would head there.
When they arrived, the coffeehouse was bustling with activity. The coffeehouse was actually a shop, they learned, owned by an artist and her husband. Three people were working: a tall, slender woman with curly hair who was handling the people in the shop area, a girl of about 18 with dark blond hair who was taking orders and making change, and a brown haired girl of about 19 or 20 who was making and handing out drinks. The place was a mob scene; the line stretched almost the length of the shop to the door.
Surprisingly, the seriously busy three people seemed perky and upbeat as they worked and exchanged banter with the customers. The smell of the coffee was intoxicating, and so they decided to wait in line. It seemed that the drinks were being produced fairly quickly.
They ordered, and a short time later their drinks were ready. The girl behind the machine smiled when she handed them their beverages.
"Is it nice out there?" she asked wistfully, inclining her head toward the window.
Angela smiled at her. "Yeah, getting hot, though."
The girl nodded and looked like she was itching to be outside. Her browned skin showed she wasn't naturally an indoor person.
Temperance, Booth, Angela, and Hodgins took a drink of their various coffees and paused, looking at one another. It was perhaps the best they had ever tasted.
"Now we know why there was a line," Hodgins commented, drinking deeply from his cup. The others just nodded, but didn't speak; speaking involved taking a break from drinking.
Booth, however, was forced to break from his drink when his cell phone rang. "Booth."
"Agent Booth? This is Gary Barnett, we spoke the other day?"
Booth nodded; Gary Barnett was the police officer who was in charge of the case they were working on. "Of course, Officer Barnett. What can I do for you?"
"Well, Agent Booth, I'm sorry to say that I'm calling because one of the rangers called today. They think we have another body."
Booth froze, and the others turned to look at him. He looked into Temperance's eyes when he spoke. "Another body?" Temperance's eyes widened.
"Yes, down at the refuge. We were hoping you and the Dr. could come take a look at it. The ranger found a skull, so we're sure it must be human."
"Alright, we'll be down right away," Booth answered as he snapped his phone shut. "It has a skull," he said to Bones.
She nodded. "That's good, at least we'll have dentals."
The two walked toward the car, climbed in, and drove off to the site.
"Uh, don't worry! We can walk back to the hotel!" Hodgins called as the car moved away.
The bones were in fact human. They were partially buried, relatively close to where the first skeleton had been found.
"I don't like this," Temperance said as she pulled her gloves off.
Booth looked momentarily surprised. "Really? I thought this was your thing."
Temperance shot him a look. "I mean, I don't like that we found these remains so close to the first ones."
Booth nodded, and Temperance continued. "We should get a team together to search these woods. The remains were partially buried, so there could be more buried around that we missed."
Booth nodded again. He looked over at the ranger, who was waiting nearby. "Do you have some people who could help us with that?"
The kid nodded. "Sure." He pulled the radio off his waist and began to call to the other rangers.
"These bones are female," Temperance said, pulling on a new pair of gloves. "Look at this."
"Ya know, Bones, this isn't really my area…"
"This girl may have been sexually assaulted."
Booth froze. "How do you know that?"
Temperance looked up at him. "I can't say conclusively of it was before she died or after, but her pelvic bone is broken in the vaginal region. I can say, however, that it's likely that she was already dead. The break suggests that she wasn't moving when the bone broke, and the break seems to have come from pressure as opposed to quick blow. Chances are, whoever killed her was trying to force her into some sort of confined space."
Booth cringed at the thought. Temperance looked sick. "So, we're definitely dealing with a murder you think? No chance this break was caused by an animal or something?"
Temperance shook her head. "It's possible, but extremely unlikely since there are no teeth or claw marks on the bone. Also, the skull is fractured as if she was beaten, and the breaks of the bones around her neck region suggest strangulation."
Booth nodded, momentarily in awe of her brilliance. How she could look at bones and deduce so many facts never ceased to amaze him.
She continued to look at the bones. "And…we have more than one victim again."
Booth sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Shit."
Temperance just nodded, as she continued to search over the bones. "Some of the breaks are similar to those the first victim had. If I had to guess, I would say this victim was between the ages of 21 and 26 when she died. Her cranial features suggest Caucasian."
The makeshift team arrived a few moments later, and Tempe called Angela and Hodgins. She explained about the finding of the bodies and asked them if they could come help with the recovery. When Angela commented that she didn't know how to do that, Tempe replied, "it's okay. None of the other people here do either."
Angela and Hodgins arrived a short time later, and the group worked on the recovery. By 4:00, everyone was hot and tired, and Temperance announced that everyone could have a break to get some food. Grateful, everyone broke apart with the instructions to be back by 6:00.
Booth turned to Angela, Hodgins, and Temperance. "You guys want to get some more coffee?"
They all smiled, and Temperance answered. "Absolutely."
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