Antonia sat at the screen, watching as Charlie prepared the items for review and cataloguing. She said nothing, just sat thoughtfully and watched him without saying a word.
"You're too quiet." Charlie said, glancing to the screen as she rested her chin in her palm and watched him.
"Mmhm." She mumbled, shaking her head slightly.
"You're never this quiet." He said, turning toward the computer screen, he lifted an eyebrow at the camera, he watched her shrug and turned back to his work.
"I'm just watching you, Chuck. I like what I'm seeing." She said, making a clicking sound and a whistle as she watched him stop moving for a moment and turn toward the camera again. She grinned innocently.
"You are very lucky your mom didn't hear you say that." He said, laughing a bit as he prepared the camera.
"Why is that?" She teased, watching the intern as he photographed and measured the cover of the journal, taking notes the entire time.
"She'd think we had a little something on the side." He teased.
"She knows that you're happily married, and she knows that I'm happily… not cheating on Aiden." She laughed. "She likes to mess with me. I've never had a good friend at the lab before. It makes her happy to know that I can trust someone at work. You know how my reputation is around here." She explained. "I am also glad that we have a good relationship."
"My wife refers to you as my work wife, by the way." Charlie said, looking up at the humored expression on her face, he carefully placed the book beneath the camera, focusing it as he prepared to open the book. "She's not wrong, you know."
"Because we bicker constantly, and we don't have sex, right?" She asked, her attention focusing on the keyboard on her end for a moment, her eyes were no longer on Charlie, but on the second screen in the room, where she had focused an overhead camera on the book.
"Yes, and you text me on my days off." He said, looking up to see her expression, he noticed she was looking at something else. "Do you have another camera on?" He asked, looking up and around, he saw the overhead camera move. "Figures, you're never paying attention to me anymore. Where's the love, Doctor Booth?" He asked.
"Hush, dear. I'm working." She said, winking through the screen at him, he let out a chuckle and turned back to the job at hand. He slowly opened the first page of the book. Positioning the camera, he took a photograph of the first page, and they continued their analysis as they talked.
Booth, Nichols, and Aiden filled Temperance in on the visit to Melody's former home, speaking highly of the information that Mrs. Farrell had given them, as well as having her take down the notes that they had gathered from the visit. The agents discussed the contents of the box, volleying about scenarios and possible information that the box might hold, while Temperance kept quiet, half listening to the three of them, and half listening to the conversation that was occurring out in the lab. At one point, she kept her attention a little longer than usual on the lab, and Booth noted her brow furrow with concern.
"What is it, Bones? Did they find something?" He asked, sitting up a little straighter.
"Just a moment." She said standing up, she moved toward the door and turned toward the agents. "Stay here, please." She said as she walked out into the lab, closing the door behind her.
Nichols glanced to the two other agents, who seemed content sitting and waiting for Temperance to return. "Shouldn't we be out there if they found something?" He asked curiously.
"Bones will tell us when she comes back." Booth said with a sigh. "She probably overheard something, and wants to double check it. It's nothing to worry about."
"But why tell us to stay here? We're the investigators." Nichols said, looking toward the door. He seemed to be getting quite agitated with their lack of action.
"She told us to stay here. It's fine." Booth replied. He watched as Nichols shook his head with a bit of an angry sigh. He could hear Temperance's tone through the door, and it appeared to be instructive, and not concerned. "She's just bossing them around, Nichols. It's her lab, it's her process." He said, watching Nichols appear to calm a bit, though he still seemed on edge.
After a moment, Temperance appeared at the door, walking into the office, her gaze moved over the three agents. Aiden was sitting farthest from the door, his hand gently drumming on the arm of the chair as he sat thoughtfully focused on nothing in particular. Nichols was trying to look directly into her eyes, as if trying to read her expression, and Booth did as he typically did, which was glance to the door to ensure that it closed securely, and that she was safe and not upset, always watching her back.
"They were having difficulty with the camera." She explained, sitting in her chair. She perused the expression on each of the men's face and sighed. "Mrs. Farrell appears to be an important asset to this case."
Aiden looked up, catching her eyes for a moment, he nodded. "Yes. She seemed to have some valuable information."
"It appears her name is mentioned several times in the journal that they are reviewing." She said, noting that Booth and Nichols were now looking directly at her. She gave her husband a wry smile and shook her head. "What? Do you think that I simply went out there for a camera malfunction, and didn't take a moment to review their work?" She smiled. "The photographs are nearly finished." She explained. "I am having Mr. Morris make copies for each of you, and you will receive a copy of the letter as well after it has been photographed, catalogued and reviewed."
"Melody's letter." Aiden said, watching as Temperance nodded.
"It is evidence, Agent Fitzgerald." She said seriously.
"I understand." He nodded.
"However, Antonia has asked that you assist them when they get to that point. I think that under the circumstances, it would be beneficial if you and Antonia look over the contents of the letter together first after Mr. Morris has completed photographing it."
"What circumstances?" Nichols asked abruptly, looking between Temperance and Aiden. "Why can't we all just look at all of the evidence at the same time?" He asked. "I don't understand why Agent Fitzgerald is getting preferential treatment in this case."
"Antonia and Agent Fitzgerald have had Melody in their care for the entirety of this case, Agent Nichols." Temperance said with a serious nod in his direction. "They have gone through proper CPS channels and are temporary guardians of Melody. The contents of the letter may contain information that could be classified as personal, or detrimental to the child. As her guardians, they've asked if they can review the evidence privately, and I think that since they are both professional assets to the team, it would be fine if they were to get the information just a minute or two before you or Agent Booth. Is that okay with you, Agent Nichols?" She asked pointedly.
"Yes, Ma'am." Nichols said softly.
"Do you have any other complaints, questions, queries, or otherwise about the way that I've decided to run the evidence, Agent Nichols?" Temperance asked him. "I'm not trying to be rude, I just need to know if you find fault in my reasoning."
"No, Ma'am." He said, shaking his head.
"Well, in that case. Agent Fitzgerald, you may be excused to discuss the letter with Antonia. Angela's office is available. I believe that you know how to use the Angelatron." She asked, watching as Aiden nodded his head as he stood up.
"If I can't figure it out, I'm sure that Parker and Hodgins have made sure that Antonia can access it." He said with a polite smile, watching as Temperance gave him a knowing smile as Aiden walked out into the lab.
Aiden walked across the lab toward the platform, listening to Charlie and Antonia talk back and forth, when Charlie looked up. "Agent Fitzgerald." He said with a polite smile.
"Charlie." He said, ascending the steps to the platform, he scanned his card and looked to the computer. "Hey, beautiful." He said, watching as Antonia smiled back at him. "How is our girl doing?"
"She is currently playing tea party with Ace." She said, keeping her voice down a little. "He didn't want me to tell anyone."
"Make sure you get pictures." Aiden said with a smile, he watched her scrunch her nose a little as she nodded with a giggle. "So, the letter?" He asked, glancing between Antonia and Charlie, his demeanor serious.
"Just taking it out of the envelope now." Charlie said, carefully extricating the paper from the envelope, he carefully unfolded it.
"I thought you'd want to read it with me." Antonia said sincerely, watching Aiden nod.
"Yeah." He said, sighing. "What did the journal have in it?"
"You'll see." She replied. "It looks like she wasn't dealing with just drug dealers and other ne'er do wells. Based on some of the names we saw in that book, she was popular with higher class gentlemen as well. Lawyers, politicians…" Antonia said, trying her best to remain professional, and not show her complete anger at the woman for putting her child through all of this.
"A plumber." Charlie said, letting out a snort as Antonia let out a laugh at their inside joke.
"Charles." Antonia chided. "The letter, please."
"Sorry, dear." He said with a sigh, a wry smile on his lips. "It has been a very strange day." He said, glancing to the monitor.
Aiden shook his head at their antics, very aware of their banter during investigations. "Meanwhile, Agent Nichols is going to blow a gasket if we don't give him some evidence to review soon."
"Oh, Aiden. Are you being mean to Sam?" Antonia asked, watching as he glowered at her. "Charlie, how's that letter coming?"
"Just took the picture. I'm putting it on the server." He said, looking up to see Aiden walk toward the stairs of the platform purposefully.
"I'm switching to Angela's office." Antonia said with a sigh. "Just don't get them the copies of the pictures of the journal until after Aiden and I discuss the letter." She said quickly.
"You got it." Charlie said as she said her thanks, and the monitor went blank.
Aiden stepped into Angela's office, closing the door behind him as he turned on the Angelatron. He held the controls in his hand as he moved through the server to find the photo of the letter. He noted the live link in the corner of the screen, and accepted the call, watching Antonia's face pop up onto it. She watched him carefully as he pushed buttons, trying to work through the system, his face was one of seriousness and agitation.
"Aiden, I was kidding around." Antonia said, noting that he seemed extremely restless.
"It's fine." He said, moving through the various menus. "I'm fine, it's fine… we're fine." He mumbled. "Do you want to read the letter or not?" He asked, looking up at her, she had a bit of hurt look on her face.
"Yeah." She said softly, waiting for him to open the file. "I miss you." She whispered, her voice coming out small and needy.
"I miss you." He sighed. "And I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm sorry." He said, looking up at the picture of her on the screen.
"I know." She said softly. She watched him for another moment and sighed. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah." He whispered, clicking on the photo, he brought it up on the screen, zoomed in on it, and they both read it in silence.
Melody,
My dear, sweet, beautiful girl. Mommy loves you with all of her heart, all of her soul, and with each and every breath she takes. I don't know that you will ever read this note. I just know that I need to get these words down on paper. I need you to know so many truths.
The first thing that you need to know, is that I love you. I've always loved you. You weren't planned, you were a surprise, and you were one surprise that I never once regretted. The second truth you should know, is that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't give you the life that you deserve. I'm sorry that you were brought into a world full of pain, suffering and broken promises. I'm sorry that I couldn't provide to you what you needed all of the time. I'm sorry that I wasn't a good mommy sometimes. I'm sorry.
The third thing you need to know is very important, and I need you to know this, because I don't know where I will be when you find this.
Mommy made some very important men angry, baby girl. The book in this box has the names and information of men who did some very bad things. They will probably be looking for this information, for this proof. Please do not look in the book, please just bring it to the police and they will know what to do with it.
I want you to know, Melody. I loved you. Wherever I am right now, whatever happens, you were my sunshine, you were my song. You made living every day worth it, and no matter what happens to me, none of this is your fault, it was never about you. I wish I could do more.
All of my love,
Mommy.
As Antonia and Aiden finished reading the letter, each watched the other swipe a tear from their eye. "I wish you were here with me." He whispered sincerely. "I wish you were both here with me right now."
"We miss you." She whimpered, sniffling as she tried to control her emotions. "When are you coming back?" She whispered.
"I'm hoping that we can get this all figured out, and you can come back here." He said, his hand moving to his neck as he anxiously rubbed it, he could feel the anger bubbling up in his chest at the entire situation. He hated that she was on the other side of a screen, he hated that they were in hiding, and he hated that Melody's mother had done something to cause it. The longer he looked at the letter, the angrier he became. "I hate talking to you through a stupid screen." He said angrily. "I want you here." He said, suddenly silent as he looked angrily at the screen, dropping his hand, it balled into a fist as he continued to stare at the letter.
"I love you, Aiden." She said, tipping her head as she watched him for a moment, his silence was a bit unnerving as he stared at the screen. "You have that look on your face." She whispered.
"What look?" He asked, snapping back to attention, he watched her lopsided smile appear, she tried her best to appear supportive and happy, and not reveal the tight knot of anxiety in her belly.
"The one where you have an idea, but you're not ready to share it with the rest of the class." She responded, watching him give her a playfully incredulous look. "Out with it, Agent Fitzgerald."
"I'm not ready to share with the class." He said as he started to stand up. "I'm sorry."
"Aiden, come on. Talk to me."
"No. I have to do something, and if I tell you, you'll try to stop me." He said, sighing heavily.
"What do you mean?"
"We have to shake some trees to see what falls out." He said, taking a step back, he closed the file for the letter.
"Aiden, talk to Dad."
"No. I have to do this." He said, shaking his head. "I'm getting you home." He said, turning to leave the room.
"Aiden, no! Aiden, stop!" Antonia exclaimed after him, he ignored her and continued his way into the lab. He walked toward the platform and up the steps, scanning his card.
"Charlie?" Aiden asked, as he watched the intern look up. "Do you have the copies?" He asked, Stepping to the computer screen where the live link was coming up. He promptly typed something into the computer and the screen went blank. "Do you have the copies?" He asked, typing into the security settings a delay for the live link.
"Uh…" Charlie stammered. "I… are you blocking Antonia?"
"Sorry. Nagging girlfriend stuff, you know the drill. Do you have the copies of the journal?"
"Uh, yep. Right here." He said, handing him a stack of papers and a separate folder. "The letter is in there too."
"Good. Thanks. Do me a favor… give me a two- or three-minute head start before you bring Booth his copy and tell him I left?" He asked, walking down the steps. "And tell Antonia that I'm sorry." He said, giving Charlie a wave.
"Uh, okay." Charlie said, watching the agent turn and head quickly for the exit.