(The Ghost in the Machine)
Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.
I don't own Bones.
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At first, she had barely heard him. His voice was so soft, she wasn't sure if she was imagining things or not. Not really sure if his voice was real, Avalon chose a quiet spot in a nearby park, sat down under a large shade tree, closed her eyes and listened.
They found me. I never thought they'd find me.
So, his voice was real. Yes, she knew he was a young man, she always knew. Continuing to sit quietly, the psychic waited to see if the boy wanted something from her. Sometimes the voices she heard didn't really want anything. They just liked to talk, but in this case, she felt that this was different. Her eyes still closed, she suddenly got a vision of Jack Hodgins, Dr. Temperance Brennan and of course, Agent Booth. So, a possible murder victim.
Wow, she knows I'm a boy. How can someone look at my bones and know I'm a boy? That's so cool.
Well, he didn't seem to be upset that he was a murder victim that was for sure. Avalon continued to listen and tried to figure out why she was hearing the child. Was she needed or not?
They're moving me from this place, wherever this is. And they promise that they're going to find out what happened to me. I don't think that really matters, but I sure hope they figure out who I am. I need to know if she heard it. I really would like to know if she cared when she heard it.
"Heard what kid? Who is she? Is she someone you loved?" She tried to get him to talk to her, but he didn't seem to hear her or he just wasn't in the mood to talk. If the brain trust from the Jeffersonian was involved, then she knew how she could get closer to the boy. Maybe if he understood that she was listening, that she could hear him, he might tell her what he wanted from her. The least she could do was try, after all, this boy might need help, but he didn't realize he could talk to the gifted ones, the ones who could hear the spirits of the dead.
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So, this was the Lab. They had said they were bringing me to the Lab. It's very bright and it has a lot metal and plastic stuff. Colin may not have had ears and eyes anymore, but that didn't mean he couldn't see and hear. While he was watching the bearded man move the sleeping bag he had been wrapped in onto a steel table, two women appeared on the platform. He hadn't seen them before, so he wondered who they were. The bearded man is not happy. I wonder why . . . oh, the blond lady is a psychic. I know what that is. My mother believes in that stuff, but my Dad says it's bogus. There is no such thing as a psychic.
Ha, she thinks I was murdered. Dad was right. Ha!
After the bearded man fussed at the blond lady who claimed she was a psychic, she left along with the tall lady the bearded man had called Angela. Another lady was now looking at him. She was beautiful.
Hey, they said I'm fourteen. This is so cool. How can they tell I was fourteen when I died? I know they don't know who I am. This is so cool and just a little bit creepy. I wonder if all dead people can see and hear?
Angela was back. She's so pretty. Not as pretty as Miranda, but that's probably because Angela's old.
Wait! What are they talking about? My parents didn't kill me. Oh, this is so wrong . . . they know about my broken bones and that they have healed marks on them. Now they're not sure my parents killed me. Thank God! Why would they think my parents killed me? Why go there? They better not blame my parents for this. They just better not.
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Angela worked on the identification of the bones and finally found out who the boy was. Colin Gibson. The boy was impressed.
Wow, they know who I am. Who are these people? They're interested in finding out who killed me. I hope Carl and Shaun don't get into trouble. I'm the one that fell off. They were kind of mean when they didn't tell my parents right away that I died, but I guess someone will tell them now.
Hodgins was starting to wonder if the boy was really haunting them. Did he want them to find his killer? Well, that's what they did and they were going to get the boy closure. Still, if the spirit of the boy was watching them, then that was a little bit creepy, wasn't it?
The beautiful lady is back and Hodgins called her Cam.
"Colin, if you see my mother on the other side, Barbara, please tell her that I'm fine and that I'm happy . . . 87% happy and that I love her every much."
Oh, she wants me to tell her mother that she's happy. I wonder if I can do that. I need to remember her mother's name, Barbara. If I see her, I'll tell her. Cam says she's happy, but she seems a little sad to me. I'll just tell Barbara that Cam is happy. Why worry her?
My parents are coming to see me. I hope they're not mad at me. I didn't mean to fall and kill myself. It was a dumb thing to do. I hope they won't be too mad at me.
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Mom . . . Dad, oh my God. I get to see them again. I wish they could hear me. I'd tell them that I'm sorry about what I did. I was just being a dumb kid and I'm sorry.
"We love you Colin. We miss you so much."
Gosh, she's not mad at me. She loves me and she misses me. I miss you too, Mom. I miss you too, Dad. Thank you for not being mad at me . . . Wait, they're leaving . . . Bye Mom and Dad. I'm sorry I messed up. I love you.
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My friends are here. I can't believe that I get to see them too. Wow, they're older now . . . Dummy, of course they are. I'm dead and dead people don't get older. Get it together Colin . . . I've been dead for two years. I'm still a kid and I guess they're not.
Miranda looks so beautiful. She's amazing . . . Hey those are mine, my skateboard and my Mixed tape. Gosh, the mixed tape was for her. Why is she giving it away?
"Colin was really into music. To tell you the truth, I . . . um . . . I never had the heart to listen to it after he went missing."
She never listened to it. I was hoping that she had listened to it. I really wish psychics were real then she could tell Miranda to listen to my music.
Oh . . . they're leaving. Bye Miranda and Shaun. I'm not mad or anything, but I sure wish Miranda knew how I felt about her. Yeah, I was younger than her, but I would have grown up someday and we would have been cool together. I'm sure we would have been.
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Avalon couldn't ignore it. Colin wasn't happy and she thought she knew why. He needed a pep talk, so he'd move on. Sometimes souls were sad to leave their loved ones behind and they just needed to know it was okay.
Once she knew that Dr. Brennan and Dr. Saroyan weren't on the platform, she got Angela to sign her into the lab, so she could talk to Colin. His spirit was still hanging around his skeleton, which she found interesting. Obviously, he didn't know he could move around if he wanted to. She knew that the real problem was, he hadn't moved on yet and that worried her.
Avalon, the psychic, I wish you really could hear me, but I know you can't. I just want Miranda to hear my music. It's right there in the song. If only she'd listened to it.
He wasn't talking to her and that bothered Avalon more than she liked to admit. The child was sad, but nothing she said seemed to get his attention and he didn't seem to want to move on. It was so frustrating. If only she knew why Colin was sad about the music. Sometimes her gifts sucked. But she wasn't going to give up. Colin needed her help and she was determined to give it to him.
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They sure move me around a lot. Now I'm at Bone's house. That's a weird name for Booth to call his wife. I guess they're married, but her last name isn't Booth . . . Not that it matters I guess . . . It's weird that she brought me home. Angela told her to pretend I was watching her, but man she's taking this seriously. I wouldn't bring a skull home with me unless it was Halloween.
Oh, Booth talked to my Dad and he thinks Dad didn't kill me. Thank God. My Dad loved me. My mother too. They were cool parents and they never hurt me. It's weird that anyone would have thought my Dad could kill me. I guess since Booth's a policeman or something and he has a job to do, but still . . . Their house is nice. I miss my house. It was nice too. I think it was cool that Mom let me decorate my room the way I wanted to. I wonder what she did with my stuff, not that it really matters I guess. None of this matters.
My mixed tape, Bones is listening to my mixed tape. I wish Miranda could hear it. Even Bones says I have good taste in music and my song is at the end. I should have put that song at the beginning of the tape, so Angela heard it too. She only listened to some of my tape. Of course, I didn't know I was going to die either. This thing is so weird. I should have left a note and told Miranda to listen to my song on the back of the tape. It's there for her, but of course, I was just being a dumb kid and I didn't do it right.
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"Come to his assistance, all ye saints of God. Meet him, all ye angels of the Lord, receiving his soul, presenting it in the sight of God Almighty . . . That's a battle field prayer, but I'm mostly a soldier and it seemed to fit." Booth shook his head. He didn't like the skull in his house. He'd seen too much death in his life time. No need for Brennan to bring it in to their house, but she was going to do what she wanted to do and he had to live with that.
Wow, Booth prayed for me. I've never had anyone pray for me before. Well, where I could hear it anyway. It was nice, but kind of weird since I'm not a soldier . . . still it was nice.
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They keep moving me around. That old pump house was kind of nasty. I don't know why Shaun and Carl put me there in the first place. Why didn't they just tell my parents I had killed myself doing something stupid? Maybe Shaun knew I didn't like it there and that's why he moved me. It's weird to go back.
Homeless people and kids used that pump house. It was weird that no one noticed I was there. I'm pretty sure I stank while my body rotted, but I guess they assumed it was how pump houses smell. I would have looked to see why the building smelled so bad, but then that's me. Man, the things some kids do when their parents can't see them . . . dumb kids.
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Oh, wow, they figured out how I died. That's amazing. These guys are awesome. It's good they figured out that I wasn't murdered. Maybe Shaun and Carl won't be in trouble after all. I still wish Miranda had heard my song.
And now my friends are back. Carl is such a bastard. It was his idea to hide my body and Shaun went along with it. I'm not mad at them, but now they've upset Miranda. I guess they never told her about my dumb accident and that they hid my body in the pump house. They shouldn't have done that, but they were my friends and I guess they were afraid to tell anyone.
Oh my God, Shaun said he had dreams about me telling him I was cold. I didn't do that. Did I? I mean, I didn't haunt him on purpose. I didn't know I could do that. It was pretty nasty at the pump house and the greenhouse was warmer. Weird. Maybe there is something about psychics. Maybe Shaun is psychic.
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"Look, Colin's death has been solved. Avalon . . . is he gone?" Angela was hoping that the spirit of the boy had finally found peace and had moved on.
"Colin is still here." Avalon wasn't sure why, but she knew that something else was keeping him from moving on.
Angela knew she needed to do something since the boy's body was going to be cremated. Talking to Brennan she finally figured out what Colin was sad about. She knew why he wouldn't move on.
Gathering Brennan, Booth, Hodgins, Cam, Sweets, Avalon and Miranda in her office, she played the end of the tape. It was a webpage design, so Angel downloaded it and played it for her guests. She just hoped that Colin was listening.
"Hey Miranda, I have something to tell you. I know you're with Shaun and Shaun is totally sick. And I know I must seem like a little kid, but this is for you anyway."
The video showed Colin full of life, playing a guitar and singing a song. Clearly it was something that he had written, but it had some meaning for most of the people in the room. The song finished Colin smiled at the camera. "Okay, that's all. I just felt like I was going to die if I didn't tell you how I really feel. Now you know."
Miranda was stunned, sad and she realized just how much she missed having Colin around. "Colin loved me? I had no idea. He never said anything . . . I would have never seen this if it wasn't for you people. I just wish I could tell him that I got his message."
I know, Miranda. I know you did and now I can leave. I hope you have a happy life. Just think about me once in a while. Just once in a while . . . Bye. I love you.
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Something a little different. Let me know what you think of it. Thanks.