A/N: Ahh! It's been so long I've almost forgotten everything to do with this fic! The first part of this chapter is another product of my late night writing sessions, and you know how terrible I am at proof-reading, so I apologize for any mistakes or if it doesn't make sense.
As soon as Booth left, Brennan tried to get back to work. But for once, even she couldn't concentrate.
"Ange, I'm going home for the rest of the day."
Angela was surprised to see her friend in the doorway, and even more surprised at what she had just said.
"Um, okay, sweetie. Whatever you need, you've done enough for today anyway, as usual. Do you want me to come round later and we can order pizza or something?"
"Sure," she could actually do with the company, for once. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, turning out of Angela's doorway and heading back to her office to grab her things.
The artist was slightly worried. It seemed that the temporary termination of her and Booth's partnership had upset her a lot more than she had originally thought.
Brennan drove back to her apartment in an almost trance. Dumping her clothes on her couch, she headed into her bedroom and changed into sweatpants and a sweatshirt, pulling on running shoes and heading straight back out her door again.
She breathed a sigh of relief once she was out on the sidewalk. The cold air almost burned her lungs, but she fell into a steady rhythm as she heard her shoes fall one after the other on the path as she broke into a jog.
Her thoughts were always clear when she was running. They wandered a lot, but she could clarify things easier.
Her first thoughts ran to Booth. Not surprising.
He has never been just a partner. You may be dense when it comes to people, Brennan, but you know that much. Why does this temporarily-not-partners thing bother you so much?
She liked being out in the field.
With Booth. You like him.
She did not. At least not in that way.
You, Brennan, are attracted to that man. Why is it so hard to comprehend? The chemistry and tension has been there from the start.
She was with David; there was no room for feelings for other people. David was serious about her, and she felt serious about him. Well, she hoped she did.
It had started to rain, or possibly snow, Brennan couldn't quite tell, but whatever it was, it was heavy. She ducked under a canopy of a café and caught her breath. And her thoughts.
So maybe thinking wasn't the best idea. She was starting to admit things she didn't even know she wanted to admit.
She sat down at one of the tables and decided that today just wasn't her day. And now it was snowing. Or possibly sleeting.
She checked her watch. It was later than she had thought. Braving whatever was falling from the sky, she ran back along the sidewalk, retracing her steps and her thoughts, much to her distaste.
-
"Mr. and Mrs. Reeds?"
"Yes, we're Evan and Cynthia Reeds, what can we do you for?" the couple standing in the doorway were older than Booth had expected, and looked haggard, like they had had too many sleepless nights. Though, Booth reasoned, they probably had, with the disappearance of their daughter.
"Special Agent Seeley Booth. We, Agent Carter and I, need to speak with you about some things."
"This is about Maggie, isn't it?" asked the girl's mother, her hand going to her necklace, toying with the silver links of the chain.
"Um, yes, ma'am, it is."
"We have some bad news," Drew cut in, albeit politely.
"Come in," Mr. Reeds gestured into the house, leading the way into the living room. The whole house was darkened, it was seeped in sadness, an emptiness that Booth knew came from the parents' loss of their daughter. He imagined this house had been alive at some point, the colours on the walls weren't supposed to have fallen into shadow, but because of this unfortunate occurrence all the happiness was gone from them and all that was left was sorrow.
"Tell us what happened to our daughter. Where is she?" Mrs. Reeds begged for answers, her eyes shining with tears that had been dreading this day ever since Maggie had gone missing.
"Mrs. Reeds, I believe that your daughter went missing on the fifteenth of September last year?" Booth confirmed. Cynthia nodded, staring at her hands that were clasped in her lap. "We found her remains this morning behind the Jeffersonian Institute." He said it quietly, knowing his words would be cutting into the two people's hearts and validating their worst fears.
"She's dead? My Maggie is dead?" Mrs. Reeds bit her lip, her eyes closing. She shook her head, as if it would make it all go away, and she could wake up from the terrible dream she was trapped inside of.
"We're very sorry for your loss," Booth knew that this was an empty consolation, even though it was sincere.
"We need to ask you some questions, if it isn't too much trouble," Drew said, her gaze flicking from Evan to Cynthia.
"We'll answer your questions," Mr. Reeds said quietly.
"Did Maggie ever say anything about anyone troubling her? Was she involved in any kind of relationship that could possibly have been abusive?"
"She had a boyfriend, but he wasn't one of those types. He was a quiet boy, we approved of him. She never said anything about being troubled by anyone."
"What was the boyfriend's name?"
"Richard Mann. He lives a few blocks over from here."
"You don't think any of Maggie's friends would try and hurt her? She didn't hang out with anyone that seemed strange to you?" Drew asked.
"All Maggie's friends were nice; none of them seemed the shady type. Maggie didn't go out much anyway."
"Okay. Well, we'll just need to get some personal details off you, where she went to school, things like that, then we'll leave you."
"Tell me, Agent Booth, when can I have my daughter back? When can I bury her?" Mrs. Reeds asked.
"At this time, it's up to our anthropologist to decide. I'll let you know as soon as she makes that decision."
Mrs. Reeds nodded and bit her lip again.
Later, when the two agents walked down the steps and out onto the snowy sidewalk Drew sighed.
"Things like this are so terrible. No parent should have to bury their child."
"Well, unfortunately it's our line of work, we just have to deal."
"You want to go get a drink?" Drew changed the subject.
Booth checked his watch. It was later than he had thought.
"Sure."
-
The knock at Brennan's door startled her.
"Sweetie, I've got pizza and popcorn and campy movies that I'd never think to watch with anyone but you," Angela said as her friend opened the door.
Brennan could see that. She could barely see Angela behind it all, though.
As usual, the artist didn't wait for an invitation and Brennan jumped out of the way as she went through the doorway and deposited everything on the coffee table.
Then she deposited herself on the couch.
"You're watching the news? Surely there are better things to do than that. You should go online more. And not for Googling things you don't understand. For…entertainment purposes, it'd do you good."
"Ange, are you suggesting I should look up internet pornography?"
"What?" Angela was slightly taken aback. "Um, I was more meaning illegal downloading of music and television shows, but um, if that's what you want to do don't let me stop you."
Brennan rolled her eyes and sat down next to her friend on the couch.
"So, which movie first?" Angela picked up the three DVDs she had brought with her, and attempted to hold them all up at the same time.
"Whichever one you want," Brennan replied, not really caring.
Angela looked at them herself, then picked one and got up to put it in the DVD player. She was extremely glad she and Booth had forced it and the TV upon the anthropologist at Christmas, Brennan was bad enough with pop culture already, she didn't need to make it worse without a TV.
She just hoped that Booth didn't try to reclaim it, because she was not paying for anything that got smashed with badly-aimed baseball bats.
Brennan was quiet the whole movie, and she didn't eat a lot. She seemed lost in her thoughts, and as much as Angela wanted to ask what was wrong, she didn't want to press the issue for fear of Brennan closing up and refusing to say anything.
The evening passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was almost midnight and Brennan was up finding blankets for Angela to use so that she could sleep on the couch.
She said a quiet goodnight to the artist and disappeared into her bedroom, barely remembering to turn the kitchen lights off as she went.
Angela made a note to talk to Booth about her, because there was clearly something wrong. She wasn't acting like Brennan.
And that was scary.
--
I'm not going to lie to you; there was no reason as to why I forgot about this fanfic, it just got pushed to the background when I started writing some House stuff. But the new season has spurred me on and this is what I got. I'm afraid the first half is kind of stupid, but I can't be bothered changing it. I'm a lazy ass. Tell me what you think anyway.
And yeah – new penname, because I was of the bored with the other one, and since it's like, a default username for me it'll be easier to remember. And its fun!