You guys are the best reviewers ever! My muse adores each and every one of you (as do I). Thanks so much.
Disclaimer: I've said it before and it won't be too long before I say it again, they're not mine.
Ch. 6 – Assumptions & Corrections
Booth flashed his badge at the Park Police officers standing guard outside of the National Aquarium and strode into the lobby. He wandered down hallways consisting of floor-to-ceiling aquariums, following the directions the guard in the foyer had given him. He finally arrived at the cordoned off area which centered on a large, freestanding tank that appeared empty of anything moving. Ducking under the yellow crime scene tape, he spotted Hodgins standing on the fringe of the activity, several large bags at his feet, and sauntered over.
"Booth," Hodgins greeted, and then yawned.
"Good morning, Hodgins," Booth said with a grin and then sipped the remains of his coffee.
"There is absolutely nothing good about the morning before 7:00 a.m." Hodgins grumbled, "You're lucky though. Brennan had me hauled in here at four. Not that I've seen her yet."
Booth quirked his eyebrow in suspicion at the time Hodgins had mentioned. Noticing the sudden change in the agent's mood, Hodgins questioned, "What's up? Is there something fishy going on?"
"Jack, I'm surprised at you. I thought it would be too early for puns," a familiar female voice called out from behind Booth. He turned to face Brennan who was giving her associate a wry smile, her damp hair hanging around her face in loose waves. She was clad in scrubs, an unusual look for her, and she had an oxygen tank slung over one shoulder. Noticing that the forensic anthropologist was giving him an accusatory glance, he realized that he had missed something she said.
"Sorry, I missed that."
"I said you're late. I called at 5:07 and gave you twenty minutes. It's 5:43."
"I changed my shirt and I shaved. And before you start harping on me about punctuality, may I point out that you took a shower at your lab."
"I did not."
"C'mon, Bones, I heard Angela in the background. You slept in the lab. And based on your wet hair, you've taken a shower."
"Your deductive reasoning has failed you this morning, Booth," Brennan answered, a grin creeping over her face. "I, in fact, slept at home last night. Or at least I slept there until almost three this morning when Agent Clark called me and informed me that there was a new victim. My hair is damp because I've been in the tank already this morning."
Booth's eyes narrowed.
"You've been here since 3:00 a.m.?"
"Since slightly after that, yes," Brennan replied, confused at his sudden and seemingly unfounded anger.
Wheeling away from her, he called out, louder than necessary, "Clark! Where the hell are you?"
The other agent approached from behind and answered, "Booth, glad you could finally join us."
Ignoring the comment, Booth ploughed ahead, his anger rising, "Obviously, you're just as stupid as I've always given you credit for. Otherwise you wouldn't have so blatantly ignored orders."
"What do you mean, Booth?" Brennan interjected, over his shoulder.
Booth didn't turn to face her and instead directed all of his words and fury at Clark, "Anytime, Dr. Brennan is in the field, I'm supposed to be there too. Cullen clearly spelled that out for you. No one wants a repeat of what happened to Kate Mahoney. Even you, despite your lack of any real human feeling."
"My inhumanity aside," Clark returned, "what are you so worried about? There are tons of people around. Nothing did nor will happen to your precious partner."
"How many people were around Kate Mahoney?"
Cullen made a face that Brennan couldn't label.
"You know, I could have you pulled off the case for this," Booth threatened.
Clark showed real emotion for the first time, "You wouldn't."
"I would and I could. And as of right now, I won't. But if you pull another stunt like this…"
Clark nodded his understanding and then walked off, having been called away by another officer. Booth turned back to the scientists to find Hodgins attempting nonchalance while Brennan had the sparkle in her eye that meant an argument was on the horizon.
"Booth, why did you raise such a…" she searched for the word Angela had used the other day, her face lighting up when she remembered, "such a ruckus?"
Booth smiled at Bones' face when she successfully used the colloquialism but quickly regained his composure when she glared at him.
"Because, Bones, he violated a direct order from the deputy director. One that ensures your safety. And before you fly off the handle and tell me that you can protect yourself can I just point out that I'm the guy who stands next to you with a gun. And I'm the guy that's pulled you out of situations where you couldn't defend yourself more times than I care to count."
"I concede the point," Brennan said with a shrug of her shoulders, surprising Booth. She suddenly switched topics, "Who's Kate Mahoney? Did something happen to her while she was working with Clark?"
Booth weighed his options, "We'll talk about it later. Right now, how about you tell me what we've got?"
"Skeletal remains at the bottom of the tank almost entirely devoid of flesh. The victim was female, aged 18-25. My initial examinations indicate that she has similar injuries to those of Carrie Matthews. Based on the information gathered by Agent Clark thus far, the victim's flesh was consumed by the Pygocentrus nattereri which inhabit the tank."
"Pogo natter what?" Booth asked, detesting Latin.
"Red belly piranhas," Hodgins supplied.
"Piranhas. Wow, those are scary fish. And you've been in the tank already, Bones?" Booth asked, suddenly concerned.
"The reputation of piranhas as flesh-eaters is greatly exaggerated and was originally brought about by a book written by Theodore Roosevelt. Anyway, they will not eat a large animal in a matter of minutes unless they're on the brink of starvation. These fish live in the National Aquarium so you can rest assured that they are well fed.
"In regions of South America, young fishermen will swim in amongst schools of piranhas without being harmed. But, if it will ease your mind, Booth, the tank is empty. The fish were removed so that the tank could be cleaned last night. The remains were found as a result. Based on how clean these bones are I can say with a great deal of certainty that this woman was most likely killed before Carrie Matthews."
"Before?" Booth mused, mostly to himself.
"Indeed. Now, if it's alright with you, Hodgins and I are going to suit up and recover the remains from the bottom of the tank. Care to join us?" Brennan asked with a teasing smile, "You never know what might be lurking underwater."
"Nah, I'll chase off the snipers that are above water," Booth returned.
Brennan grinned and sauntered off, Hodgins staggering behind her with all the equipment. Booth couldn't help but notice the sway of her hips and how attractive she looked, even in the formless scrubs.
"Dude, you've got it bad," he muttered under his breath.
Three hours later, Booth stood waiting in the access area beneath the tank, a large towel in hand. He stepped forward when Brennan finally emerged from the series of chambers that allowed access into the aquarium. Removing her mask and sliding the heavy oxygen tank off her shoulders, she sat on a nearby stool and rubbed her shoulder. Booth watched the exhaustion wash over her features and remembered that she had been up for five hours already and in the tank twice. She wrung out her hair and accepted the towel Booth offered her with a grateful smile. After rubbing most of the water out her long tresses and wiping her face, she stood up and pulled out a small, wet, plastic bag from the pouch slung over her hips.
"What's that?" Booth asked, accepting the towel Brennan handed back to him as she removed her flippers.
"That's what I used to ID our victim."
"You've ID'd her already?" Booth asked incredulously, "You haven't got dental x-rays in there or something, do you?"
"No," Brennan smiled tiredly, "It's a medic alert bracelet. Our victim, Jenna Sorrel, had diabetes."
Booth looked down at the delicate silver bracelet inside the bag that Brennan had just handed him. It amazed him that it had survived everything that Jenna had been through. Unfortunately, Jenna hadn't been as lucky. Looking up, Booth was surprised to see that Brennan had already gotten up and was headed for the impromptu change room that had been set up in a broom closet.
"Bones, where you going?"
"I am going to change. Then I am going back to the lab where I will shower and sleep for a few more hours. Zach can handle the remains for now. I've already taken extensive notes. Come by once you and Clark have figured out what we're doing next."
Booth smiled, "Yes ma'am."
"Don't call me ma'am," she shot back as she closed the closet door behind her.
"Ok, Bones," he whispered to himself.
Angela looked up at the rapping on the doorframe of her office.
"Booth," she greeted with a smile.
"Hey, Angela, I was hoping you could tell me where Brennan is. I want to take her out for lunch before we start some heavy-duty investigative work."
Angela resisted the urge to question if that meant that they weren't going to have a working lunch and answered the agent's question instead.
"Well, unless she's taken up sleepwalking Bren should be in her office. I finally managed to convince her to flake out," Angela checked her watch, "two hours ago."
"Two hours ago? She left the scene just after eight."
"Yeah, she came back here and took a shower. But then she wanted to supervise Zach while he laid out the bones and point out areas she wanted x-rays from right away. Then she went over the notes she'd recorded on her machine. After that, someone from your office faxed over the photo of the victim which she wanted me to overlay on the skull to confirm the match. I finally convinced her at about ten that the world wouldn't end if she took a nap."
"So much for letting Zach handle things," Booth muttered.
"Sorry?"
"Never mind. In her office you said?"
"Yup."
"Thanks. I'll see ya around."
"Later."
Booth slid the door of Brennan's office open quietly, letting only the fluorescent light from the hallway filter into the darkened room. He stood just inside the door, allowing his eyes to adjust to the lower level of illumination and then approached the couch where the auburn-haired forensic anthropologist was lying. He noted the photo of Jenna Sorrel lying on the coffee table parallel to where Brennan lay. Again, he recognized the uncanny resemblance to his partner. If Bones hadn't of had the career she did, he would have been seriously concerned at this point. Instead he crept further towards her sleeping form. Her breathing was light and even and her face was completely relaxed. He regretted having to wake her but knew she wouldn't forgive him if he kept her out of the loop much longer.
Kneeling down beside the end of the couch where her head was resting, he spoke gently, "Bones? Time to wake up."
Brennan sighed lightly. She'd been having a rather pleasant dream that involved a steamy embrace with a certain FBI agent and Booth had ruined it by waking her up. Her eyes snapped open, "Booth!"
"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty."
Brennan rolled her eyes, grateful that he couldn't know what she'd just been dreaming, and sat up slowly, running her hand through her hair in an effort to amend any trace of bedhead. Booth hid a smile at the sight.
"What time is it?" she asked, and then smothered a yawn.
"A little after noon. I came by to see if you were up to lunch at Wong Foo's while I catch you up on what's been going on while you were in the land of Nod."
"Mmm, yes. Give me ten minutes to get ready."
Booth smiled as Brennan made a sound of delight after swallowing a mouthful of noodles and chicken. He hid it by taking a sip of his water realizing that if he didn't do something soon he was going to turn into a grinning idiot every time Brennan came into the vicinity.
"For whom did Jenna work?" Brennan asked, taking another mouthful.
Booth resisted making a face at Brennan's perfect grammar and replied, "Peek-A-Boo."
Bones raised her eyebrows in response.
"I know, weird coincidence, right? So Clark and I went back to talk to Madeleine Brightman again. It turns out that just over a month ago someone hacked into their computer system and accessed their network. There are photographs of employees, employee profiles, and a schedule that covers the next three weeks on that network."
"The killer knew who he was looking for, where she'd be, and when she would be there? That's frightening. It also puts a hole in Clark's profile. These crimes were planned weeks in advance."
Booth nodded and continued, "We checked the last gig Jenna had before she stopped contacting Madeleine. You'll never believe where it was."
"Delta Phi Epsilon?" Brennan supplied incredulously.
"None other."
"Does that mean Clark's wrong about it not being a member of the fraternity?"
"He's convinced that it isn't a frat boy. Cullen's humoring him. Clark thinks that the perp somehow set up a surveillance system and phone taps inside the frat house and is using it to monitor the members as well as the girls that came in. We sent in an undercover reconnaissance team to determine whether or not he's right."
"Undercover?" Bones queried as she took a sip of her iced tea.
"They go in as maintenance men. And right now Clark is interviewing the chapter president on campus."
"You mean you trust him enough to do an interview all on his own?" Brennan teased.
"Be quiet or I'll steal some of your noodles."
"Don't you dare steal my food or I'll tell Sid."
Booth smirked and Brennan gave him a wide grin of her own. Their banter was interrupted when Booth's cell phone rang. Brennan listened with interest to Booth's end of the conversation as she continued to eat her meal.
"Booth."
"You've finished already?"
"You're kidding."
"Son of a bitch."
"No, thanks. I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Booth flipped his phone closed and turned to his curious partner.
"We've got to head over to my office. Clark was right."
That's right, I'm going to leave you there. For now. Just a few side notes: (1) I'm not sure whether the Park Police would guard a crime scene at the aquarium, please forgive me if I'm in error, (2) Delta Phi Epsilon is a real frat but every member that I mention and anything else concerning it is purely my imagination, and (3) my piranha data is all internet research, please forgive any inaccuracies. So, what did you think? Impressed with Brennan's underwater skills, want your own personal Booth alarm clock? Liked it, hated it? For any or all of the above you know what button to press. My muse will love you. And muse love is almost as good as chocolate.
