A/N: Thanks to the magical powers of insomnia, I have worked throughout the night just to deliver you - yes you, the one staring at your computer screen right now - your next instalment of Bones action. Just for that, I think you should treat me to a review… Go on, please? You know you want to…. Push that button, push it… Push it… Push it push it push it push it! Please?
Thanks as ever to my incredible pillar of support, the wonderful Ava (who gave me the Quantico idea in the first place), and to everyone who's sent me such supportive messages, especially Mariah, Lynn, Pekingduk and Bella-mi-amore (you called me inspirational, bless your heart!). Thanks guys! Love you lots like Jelly Tots!
Doctor Temperance Brennan stood leaning over the sink in the woman's bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror without really seeing anything. She didn't see the sunken eyes, the tear stains on her cheeks or the paleness of her skin. All she saw was the crude message written across her book.
Daddy sends his love…
Brennan felt her stomach lurch, the uncertainty running through her.
The father she knew had been a high school science teacher, the man who inspired her love for academia. Since the disappearance of her parents, however, she had learnt that they had been involved in armed robberies and alike, changing their names to avoid retribution from the gang they previously worked with. Their disappearance had been to protect her and her brother.
Since then though, Temperance had identified her mother's remains and put the man responsible for her death behind bars. But then her father, who was still out there somewhere, had ordered a hit on him and Brennan lost her one chance at answers.
The fear building inside her constricted her chest, making it hard to breath under the weight of her thoughts.
Daddy sends his love… Did my father have this man killed too?
She shook her head fervently, trying to shake the thoughts right out of her mind. She refused to accept the possibility that her father could ever do a thing like this. He was her father.
The sound of heels on the tiled floor yanked her out of her thoughts. Blinking rapidly, she turned to see Katie standing there, smiling sympathetically despite the mascara under her eyes, with Angela hovering by her side.
Not that she stayed there for long. Within seconds, Brennan found herself locked in her best friend's embrace.
"Oh sweetie, are you ok? Booth's worried about you, we all are. He showed me the message."
Finally letting go, she let the tears overcome her, sobbing hard into the artist's shoulder, no longer caring what anyone might think about her lack of strength.
Angela just rubbed a soothing hand up and down her back, gently rocking her from side to side as Katie averted her eyes, feeling distinctly like an intruder. After a few more minutes, Temperance pulled away and angrily wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"What do I do now?"
Angela gripped the tops of her arms, shaking her slightly.
"You do what you always do, sweetie, you solve a murder. Whoever left that note, it's not your father. He loves you, Bren, and he'd never do anything like this, he'd never want to hurt you. So, we need to find out who really did leave that message, if only so me and Booth can go kick his ass."
Brennan sniffed, offering a weak smile.
"Not if I get there first."
Angela grinned and hugged her friend, for once glad that she had the distraction of her work.
Katie cleared her throat from the doorway.
"It's good to see that you're ok, Doctor Brennan. If it's alright with you, I'm going to join the others examining the book, see if I can get something from all of this."
Temperance took a step toward the blonde, doing her best to smile.
"Katie, I'm sorry that you lost a friend tonight. If you think a psychological profile will help, then do it. We need all the evidence we can get."
A look of surprise hit Katie's features at the anthropologist's support, though it was soon replaced by a thankful smile as she marched out of the door, her eyes swimming with tears.
Angela linked her arm with her best friend's and beamed at her.
"That was very sweet of you, Bren. Now, are you up to examining some decomposing remains? The doc's waiting for you."
The artist guided her best friend towards the autopsy suite. Stepping inside, Brennan was surprised by the enormity of the room, taking a moment to remember that it was usually used for teaching a large number of students at a time.
Slipping on a gown and latex gloves, she glanced at Angela.
"Ange, you don't need to stay if you don't want to. I'll be fine now. I'm working."
The artist was staring at the corpse on the table in front of them, her face pale. Eventually, she dragged her eyes back up to Brennan's.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I am, but thank you for the offer."
Angela nodded slowly, swallowing hard as she turned back around. She paused in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder at her best friend.
"I'm sorry Bren. I'm just not… I'm used to it just being a pile of bones."
She slipped away, the door swinging shut behind her. Sighing heavily, Temperance fished the dictaphone out of her pocket and introduced herself to the Doctor. He smiled warmly at her as she began to record her initial observations.
"As previously noted, there is a penetrating gunshot wound to the base of the victim's neck, the abrasion ring indicating that he was dead at the time of the shooting. Bruising around the throat indicates prolonged strangulation while he was most definitely still alive, though this does not directly account for the bleeding from the mouth."
She turned back to the doctor.
"Do you have the X-ray films back yet?"
He nodded as he dutifully begun clipping them to the light board.
"Yes, though I haven't had a chance to examine them."
As soon as he withdrew the third one from the folder, he gasped. Receiving a frown from Brennan, he placed it on the light board for her to see.
It was impossible to tell from the neck x-ray whether the bullet was still lodged in the victim's spine or if the bones had been crushed from strangulation. Instead, all Brennan could make out was a hazy grey mass in the throat, a small circle clear as day in the middle.
Crossing to the instrument tray, she withdrew a long pair of tweezers and moved back to Agent McAvoy's mouth. Repositioning the light, she used the tweezers to reach down his throat, eventually getting a grip on the obstruction. After some gentle cajoling, she finally managed to get the mass free.
Holding it up to the light, it appeared to be a scrunched up ball of paper although its surprising weight implied something was hidden inside. A few drops of blood fell from the evidence, hitting the side of the autopsy table.
Brennan carefully placed the paper in to the metal tray the doctor offered. Turning back to the body, she shone a tiny flashlight into the victim's mouth and throat, recording her findings in to the dictaphone.
"The victim's oesophagus has been blocked by what appears to be a mass of screwed up paper. The small cuts and abrasions to the inside of the victim's mouth and throat would appear to have occurred when he was forced to swallow the mass, causing the blood to trickle out of the side of the mouth when it had nowhere else left to go."
She turned back to the doctor who was gingerly using tweezers to unravel the paper. He withdrew what looked like a wedding ring, dropping it in to a second metal tray with a loud clink. He looked up at Brennan with a frown.
"It's not paper. It's a black and white photograph."
She crossed over to the table and her blood ran cold.
Staring back up at her, half obscured by blood and bile, were four happy faces and she recognised each and every one. It was her parents, her brother and herself, all huddled together on the steps of their old family home as they grinned at the camera.
Slowly, she reached out to the photograph and turned it over, her hands shaking. There she saw the now familiar handwriting scrawled across the back.
One for sorrow, Temperance.
She bit back the tears, her hands scrambling for the ring. It was a simple gold wedding band, obviously made for a man. Something caught her eye and she looked closer, discovering an inscription engraved around the inside.
My darling Max. I am eternally yours. Always, Christine.
Brennan just stared at the names, her parent's names, her eyes brimming with tears. The doctor moved to her side, a confused look on his face.
"Doctor Brennan? Is everything ok?"
She didn't reply. She couldn't.
"Doctor Brennan?"
She blinked rapidly, her heart pounding in her chest. The ring fell from her grasp as she backed away from the table, shaking her head frantically.
"I can't, I'm sorry. I just can't…"
She turned and ran from the room, racing down glass corridors, on and on, not caring where she was going as long as it was as far away from that room as possible.
She ran until she thought her lungs were going to burst, and she cried until she thought she might drown in her own tears.
And then she cried some more.
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
Booth paced up and down the unfamiliar laboratory, the cell phone glued to his ear as he waited for a response. Eventually, he heard the voice at the other end and barked into the handset.
"Bobby, give me good news, man."
He felt the eyes of the others bore into his back as he listened intently. Sighing, he swept a tired hand across his face.
"Thanks. Yeah, I'll check in again soon."
He snapped the phone shut as he turned back around, his eyes scanning the group in front of him.
Zach was staring up at him hopefully, Nate held a grim expression and Hodgins was furiously twanging the elastic band he wore round his wrist as an anger management tool.
The door creaked open behind them and Katie slowly entered. Although she was no longer crying, the mascara under her puffy eyes indicated that she had only just stopped. Booth pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing his old friend's cheek gently.
"How you feeling?"
She pulled back and offered up a grim smile.
"Like I'm ready to find the bastard that did this to our Howard."
Her voice was firm and steady though Booth could still see the prickling of tears in her eyes. He smiled at her encouragingly and guided her to the nearest stool at the table.
Running a hand through his hair, Booth sighed heavily.
"Cullen, my boss, is making this case a priority. Whatever we need, we get. We lost an agent today in our very own training academy. Not only is that a despicable act, it's…"
He tailed off. It's what?
Blasphemous. I was going to say blasphemous. Someone has taken the code, the honour and the nobility of my FBI and turned it into something ugly. I can't let that happen, not when this someone is dragging Bones down with him.
He shook his head and folded his arms, trying to get back on track.
"The message in the book is signed 'Peter Manac'. The DC office has run that name through every database we have. So far, they've turned up nothing but they're not done looking. They'll go through every page of the phone directory if they have to. Though I've got to admit, I really doubt that whoever did this signed his or her own name."
Katie nodded, pulling the book across the table toward her for a better look.
"Whoever the murderer is, they must still be on the base. As soon as the alert went out that there was a dead body on the premises, security initiated the lockdown. No-one can get in or out until the big guys upstairs lift it."
Booth leant against the table top and rolled his eyes.
"Well, let's just hope the suits don't have any all-important golf games to go out and play anytime soon or it'll be lifted right away."
Hodgins grinned at him but Nate just shook his head thoughtfully.
"Maybe security are the problem. Those guys would have had the opportunity and the means to get a dead body in to the lecture hall without anyone noticing. I mean come on, the murderer's gotta have some pretty precise knowledge of security rounds, cleaning rotas and all of that to pull off a stunt like this."
Hodgins nodded.
"Not to mention he's got some seriously big cahon… Angela!"
The artist wandered into the room, her face pale and her eyes distant. Hodgins was instantly at her side, one arm snaking around her waist as Booth approached.
"Hey Ange, you ok?"
She nodded slowly.
"I just… I just don't like dead bodies. I can deal with skulls and human soup, just not… that."
Booth paused and swallowed hard, not sure if he wanted an honest answer to his next question.
"And Bones? Is she alright?"
Angela nodded, a slight smile brushing her lips as Hodgins sat her down on the stool beside him.
"She'll be fine. She's getting to work after all."
A wave of relief washed over him and he let out the breath he hadn't even realised he was holding. Suddenly, Nate was at his side, whispering quietly as the others filled Angela in on what they knew so far.
"Seeley, I know this might not be the best time but I thought I should ask."
Booth knew what was coming and he didn't like it. Not trusting what he might say if he opened his mouth, his simply nodded for his mentor to continue.
"In the lecture hall before, when Reynolds asked if you and Doctor Brennan were romantically involved, you said "Well, Bones doesn't like to admit it but…". I just wanted to check what that 'but' was because, quite frankly, I think she likes me."
Booth felt his cheeks begin to burn with anger.
You arrogant bastard...
"You know, Nate, you're right. Now really isn't the best time. And anyway, whatever relationship I do or do not have with my partner is no concern of yours."
His former teacher's eyes narrowed for a moment before his eyebrows shot up in disbelief.
"Oh dear, Seeley. You don't even know what your relationship is with her!"
Booth opened his mouth to fire back an angry reply but Zach's yelp distracted him. Turning round, he snapped at the grad student.
"What? What have you found?"
Zach pointed at the signature.
"I know why you can't find the name Peter Manc in your records. It's not two names, it's one."
He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and spelt out the letters from each name, Booth crossing behind the desk to watch over Zach's shoulder as he rearranged it to form one word.
Temperance.
"Oh God…"
Booth felt his jaw drop as the rest of the message began to make more sense. Angela jabbed a finger at the writing scrawled across the book.
"That's why he wrote Keen an raring to go. He means Brennan's old surname, Keenan."
Nate blinked rapidly.
"Temperance changed her name? Why? Is it a pen name type thing, for the book?"
Booth shook his head, his eyes roaming the rest of the note.
"No, her parents did it when she was too young to remember. She only found out a few months ago when her mother's remains were identified."
He pointed a shocked finger at the first sentence of the message.
"That's why he capitalised the word joy. It's not a feeling, it's her old first name."
Katie shook her head in disbelief.
"Her parents changed her name from Joy to Temperance? It's almost like they knew what was going to happen to her."
Booth just stared at the message in disbelief.
How does the killer know all these things about my partner? How dare he drag up her past like this?
Hearing a door slam nearby, the group looked up just in time to see a woman sprinting past the window. Zach pointed after her, a confused expression on his face.
"Was that Doctor Brennan?"
Nate moved to go after her but Booth was already at the door, the look he cast his former mentor a clear warning not to follow.
"She's my partner."
Leaving the lab and the message behind, he followed the sound of running footsteps as fast as he could, cursing himself for not exercising that morning. Down glass corridor after glass corridor, he finally passed through the main lobby and out in to the daylight.
Brennan had stopped at the edge of the tree line and he was catching up with her, but not able to reach his partner in time to stop her collapsing to her knees. Skidding to a halt beside her, he pulled her close to him, letting her sob against his chest and trying not to be scared himself at seeing this vulnerable side.
"Oh Temperance, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
She cried harder, causing the pair of them to rock slightly on the sodden earth. Slowly, she began to calm down, her strangled cries now replaced with long sniffs as she fought back the tears. She still leant on him though, she still needed his support. His arms wrapped tight around her, he gently kissed the crown of her head.
They sat there in silence for what seemed like hours. The grounds were eerily silent with all the trainees still on lock-down in their dorms, the trees above them whispering in the breeze.
Eventually, Brennan pulled back, her bloodshot eyes locking with Booth's.
"Someone forced Agent McAvoy to swallow a photograph and a wedding ring."
She swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue. He was her partner. She had to tell him.
"The photograph was of my family. All of us. And the wedding band… It was engraved from my mother to my father."
Her eyes began to swim again as she stared at him, shaking her head in disbelief.
"How can he know that? Whoever did this… Where did he get that ring, that photo?"
Booth averted his gaze. He knew he had to tell her about the message but he didn't want to see her hurt any more than she already was. But she was his partner. He had to tell her.
"Temperance…"
Her eyes softened when he used her first name and he attempted a smile, fully aware that it probably hadn't reached his eyes.
"Bones, we found something in the message. The name Peter Manc isn't real, it's an anagram. It spells Temperance."
Her eyes widened, tears spilling over. He forced himself to continue, the words tripping over his tongue in his rush to rid himself of them.
"That's not all. He used your old name, Joy Keenan, in the note. This body, this murder, it was all staged for you, Bones. Whoever did this put that body in the hall purely so you'd find it. All these clues are just a lure to get you to play his game."
She shook her head slowly.
"What choice do I have? 'Three for an answer', that's what he wrote isn't it? I want answers, Booth. I need them."
He reached out to her then, wiping a tear from her cheek as she stared up at him, fear in her eyes.
"Seeley?"
His heart skipped a beat. Swallowing hard, he met her gaze.
"Yes Temperance?"
"All these things - the photographs, the ring, the message - it's because… My father's doing this isn't he?"
"No. It's not your father."
The certainty in his voice surprised even him. Brennan seemed to relax a little though her eyes were still uncertain.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because he's your father and he loves you. No man that feels that way about someone as wonderful and smart and beautiful as you could ever do that. Not to you, Temperance. Not to you."
He bit back everything else he wanted to say.
And I know that because I love you, because I hate to see you cry, because I want nothing more than to just hide you away and protect you from the evil in this world. All because I love you so much it hurts sometimes. Like now.
She smiled up at him, thankful for his conviction and buried her head against his shoulder, if only to stop herself from saying all the things she would never dare to say.
You called me wonderful and beautiful. You called me Temperance… You know who I am, you know my fears, and you know exactly what to say. That's why I love you. My partner, my friend, my Booth. That's why I love you.
They sat there tangled up together in silence for what felt like days, neither managing to find the strength to say what the other needed to hear.
A/N: Ok, that ended up much longer than I was planning. Sorry guys! Now see that button in the bottom left? It says GO next to Submit Review? It's calling to you… It wants you to push it. It lives for you to push it. It's only function in life is for you to push it…. Make a button and an incredibly exhausted insomniac happy!