A/N: Well, here is day seven. I hope you nerds enjoy!
'On the seventh day of Bonesmas, by writer friend gave to me seventh month instanity.'
The end of August signified a few things. One, Michael Vincent officially started fourth grade; two, Angela crossed the seventh-month mark in her pregnancy; and lastly, they only had one month before Cam would hopefully return from her sabbatical and reclaim the throne as Queen of the Lab. And as much as he loved being king, Jack Hodgins was ready for his former boss to come back.
"Yes, I realize we went over budget again last month, but some of those extra expenses were necessary in solving Laura Perkins' murder. And, as you'll recall, we did catch the man that killed the teenager." Jack propped his elbow on his desk as he argued with the powers that be of the Jeffersonian over the lab's apparent 'misuse of government funds'; they had been talking in circles - Jack explaining the need for extra experiments or more testing, and the suits countering with the importance of maintaining a budget and that they were not funding a high school science lab - for hours, and Hodgins was starting to lose his cool.
"I'm serious, Dr. Hodgins. If you do not manage your money better this month, there will be some serious cuts made to your department. Starting with the six intern positions you seem to need to be filled," the suit over the phone said.
"I've explained that to you, Mr. Price! This is a teaching laboratory. Dr. Brennan is educating future Forensic Anthropologists in the best way she can, and every college kid in the country knows this is the best place to work. There are fights over those six spots."
"Dr. Hodgins, maybe you should explain to Dr. Brennan that paying interns is not cheap and that if she is not careful, it could come out of her pay."
Hodgins sighed loudly; he knew it was time to stop and let things cool off before harsher words were said. "Yes, Mr. Price, I will pass on the message." They hang up and Jack is inches from tossing his phone across the room when his computer dings, signaling new test results are ready to be viewed.
Jack goes to his computer and literally laughs out loud when he reads the test results; instantly pulling him from the funk he was in. He was right. The others doubted him, which they rarely do, but he was right! "Angela!" He calls out.
"What's wrong!" Angela asks, rushing into his office. Well, it was more of a waddle than a rush, but what more could you ask of a heavily pregnant lady?
"Nothing, sorry," he apologizes, "I just got the test results back on the swabs I took from the victim's jeans. I was right! He was at Disney World!"
"I told you, no one gets killed at Disney World; it's like the safest place in the country," Angela reminds him with a roll of her eyes.
"The samples I took are an exact match to the water they use in their water rides." Particulates don't lie, that he was sure of.
"Well, maybe he was there earlier in the day and got wet?" Angela says, trying to explain away the bizarre location.
"It was more than a trace anyone could pick up. The guy was dunked into Disney World water around the time he was killed," Jack smiles, smug that finally one of his crazy theories everyone rolled their eyes at was true.
"Okay: Disney World. I'll add that to my simulation of the murder," Angela says, turning to leave, her lab coat barely getting around her growing stomach.
As she leaves, Jack tells her one last thing, "Oh, and I have to cut some of the interns."
"What?" Angela stops in her tracks, turning to her husband, not fully comprehending what he said.
"Yeah, I know," Jack nods. "I talked to Mr. Price upstairs, and he told me I either have to cut interns or my experiments."
"Well, say goodbye to your experiments," Angela says, taking the decisions away from Jack.
"Ange! Come on, you know how important my tests are to our cases!"
"Yeah, and you know how important the interns are to Brennan. She would be livid if she knew what you were going to do."
"You're really going to side with Brennan on this?"
"Sorry, babe, but this time I am," Angela says her brow furrowing. "You can figure things out, you always do. But Brennan? She may think she doesn't, but she needs those interns. I'm sorry."
Finally alone, Hodgins goes into his head. Experiments are his thing, it's how he best works cases, and how he connects with the interns. Getting snakes to vomit, putting pigs through wood chippers, exploding various objects; all hold memories of ideas tested, and friendships created. Hodgins knew he could adapt and do fewer experiments, even if it was less fun. Besides, this new class of interns that just started wasn't half bad; they weren't Wendell or Zack material. But none of them had shot him. Yet. So that was a plus.
Jack types out a quick email to Mr. Price telling him he would make the necessary cuts to not only improve the lab's use of money but also keep their interns. And once that was done, he dives back into their current case, determined to officially prove their victim had been killed at Disney World.