Rating: PG-ish
Pairing: BB hints
Author's Note: So, here's the next chapter. I'm not sure how much longer it'll be, maybe a couple more chapters. I have other ideas circling and they're pushing to get to the front of the line. Lol. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Oh, and I tried posting yesterday but the site didn't let me. ::cry::
Dedication: To all the reviewers because you make my muse happy.
Booth stood, staring out the window at the dark, damp city while he waited for the coffee machine to finish dribbling the brown sludge. The clouds were low, gray, and heavy with rain just waiting to be unleashed on the rushing people below. He felt for his cell absentmindedly, debated on calling her.
"Depressing day, isn't it?" He glanced over his shoulder as Cullen approached. "How's the Kirkpatrick case coming?"
"Slow," Booth replied, pouring himself a much needed cup of coffee.
"Squints aren't helping?"
"No, they are. The evidence just isn't all that conclusive." He took a long swallow, grimacing at the taste and general composition of the beverage. He just didn't understand why they couldn't afford better tasting coffee. "On second thought, I think I'll run over to the Jeffersonian and pick up some real coffee on the way."
Cullen nodded, raising the Styrofoam take-out cup from Starbucks to his mouth and taking a long swallow. "Oh, Agent?" he called. Booth paused, turning back to the Deputy Director as the first raindrops began to fall outside, tapping lightly against the glass window. "How is Doctor Brennan?"
"She's doing better," he answered before turning and leaving the break room.
The rain picked up as he pulled up at an out-of-the-way coffee shop, Tim Hortan's, near the Jeffersonian and turned into the drive-thru lane. It was one of Brennan's favorites, she had shown it to him a few months back when they were both suffering sleep deprivation. He ordered the coffee's, debated a moment, then grinned as his eyes scanned the menu board and finished his order. He drove to the window and exchanged money for much needed sustenance before heading over to the Institute.
Brennan stared at the bone fragment, the finger bone of Mara Kirkpatrick and sighed heavily. She felt like she should be able to do something more. She was a scientist. Booth was counting on her to get this right, to figure out what had happened. She shook her head again, rubbing her temples and let out another, this time longer, sigh.
"Sweetie that's the fourth sigh you've uttered in the past twenty minutes. Something you want to talk about?" Angela asked as she joined the anthropologist at the examination table.
"No. It's just...This whole case Ange. There's a girl out there missing a toe and a finger and I'm the one that's supposed to figure out where she is but I can't. I'm stumped and I don't know what to do." She gave another sigh and Angela shook her head, dragging her friend away from the table.
"Hodgins is working on it Sweetie. There's not much you can do with only a finger and a toe. Just be thankful it isn't a body. At least she's still alive, out there somewhere."
"But who knows for how long? Booth and I made a deal. I identify the bodies, I give them a face, or rather you do but still, and return them to their loved ones, learn what happened to them and Booth arrests the bad guys, the ones responsible for it. I like that Angela but with this...I guess I feel like I'm letting not only Mara and her family down, but also Booth. Even though we have her killer already."
Angela watched her friend carefully and curiously. Watched as Brennan paced her office, running a hand distractedly through her hair, tugged at the end of her pony tail, or fiddled with the necklace around her neck. She gave her a small smile, grasping her arm carefully, aware that Brennan was more than able to kick her ass if she felt like it.
"Sweetie?" She waited until Brennan looked at her, giving her another small smile, before continuing. "Why was Booth at your apartment this morning?"
Brennan flushed, ignoring her friend's smirk and instead turned, looking out the door at the other lab workers. "We worked late and I didn't think he should drive home as late as it was so I made him stay," she replied. Angela's smirk turned into a hundred-watt smile and Brennan eyed her nervously. "What?"
"That's not what he said this morning," she grinned. "He said he's the one who insisted on staying because he was tired."
"Well then, whatever. One of us didn't want him driving but we were working late," she muttered.
"Yeah, but on what?"
"Angela!"
"Come on Sweetie, you said it yourself. He's not dating Cam anymore which means he is eligible which means now's your chance."
"Why do I have the feeling you're talking about me?" Both women glanced up as Booth entered the office, Styrofoam holder carrying two coffees in one hand and a bag in the other. "Thought you could use a pick-me-up."
"A what?"
"A boost of energy Bones," he replied, setting the coffee and bag down on her desk and handing her a cup before taking a swallow from his own, reveling in the taste.
"Oh. Thanks," Brennan replied, taking a much needed sip. "You remembered," she said, surprised that he had gotten the flavor right. He flashed her a charm smile and Angela cleared her throat.
"Nice of you to bring the rest of us humble scientists some refreshments," she said. He glanced at her, looking apologetic and she shook her head. "Forget it. But Zack and Hodgins might think differently," she added over her shoulder as she left the partners alone.
"Thanks, a lot," Brennan murmured, warming her hands on the cup.
"No problem. So, got anything new?"
"Not..." she trailed off as Hodgins appeared in the doorway, looking at them.
"I thought I smelled coffee. Good coffee." He glowered at the agent before his self-satisfied grin took over. "You'll owe me an extra-grande one G-man when I finish telling you my findings."
He took a deep breath, before launching into a full-on speech about different bacterias, their living conditions, the amazing amounts of insect life and plaster residue, not to mention concrete properties, and something about the incubation period of a larvae. All of it left Booth's head reeling, while Brennan apparently understood it all, nodding her head along with what he said, or frowning slightly at something she had presumably missed or maybe, quite possibly didn't understand herself. When Hodgins finally paused to take a breath, Booth quickly intercepted before he could continue about the wonders of sludge or something along those lines.
"In human-speak Hodgins?"
"You are looking at Lake Shore Maryland. Home of growing construction because of its pristine location on Chesapeake Bay. And based on the amount of pine needles and...well, lets just say you're probably looking in the north of Lake Shore. At a heavily wooded area, or a once heavily wooded area."
"Hodgins, I could kiss you," Booth exclaimed, grinning and reaching for his coffee cup, already plotting a route to Lake Shore in his mind.
"Please, don't," Hodgins grumbled as the agent swept past him. Brennan gave him a smile, grabbing her jacket, coffee cup, and the forgotten bag of something, before following Booth. "But I will take my extra-grande coffee in the somewhat near future!" he yelled after them.
"What's in the bag?" Brennan asked twenty-or-so minutes later, as they sped along the highway toward Maryland and the Bay. Back-up and forensics were supposedly en route as well, after they gathered their equipment that is.
"Huh? Oh, open it and see," Booth replied with a smile. She raised an eyebrow but pulled it up and looked in, laughing.
"Didn't we already have breakfast?" she asked, pulling out a smaller bag filled with doughnuts and another with muffins.
"Yeah, well, they're easy to eat on the go," he responded.
"Uh-huh. Lets face it. You saw the muffins and couldn't resist," a smile twitched at her mouth, "muffin."
He turned, staring at her in surprise and she laughed again. "Pay attention to the road," she ordered.
"I can't believe you just called me muffin!"
"Why? Can only Angela call you that?" she asked. "You call me Bones after all, so it's only fitting that I call you something too."
"I call you Bones because A, you work with bones, and B, it's a term of endearment. How the hell does muffin pertain to what I do?"
"Well...it is a term of endearment, in its own right. Plenty of couples romantically involved have such names for each other, or others such as 'baby,' 'honey,' 'doll,' or 'cupcake' to name a few..." she trailed off when she saw him staring at her again. "What? And I thought I told you to keep your eyes on the road, not me," she grumbled.
"Bones, do you even know what you just insinuated?"
"No..." she replied slowly. He watched out of the corner of his eye as realization slowly dawned on her face. "I mean, I didn't mean...it came out...You never answered my question," she pointed out. "Is Angela the only one who can call you that?"
He laughed, shaking his head though he gripped the wheel tighter, focusing more on the road. He felt her tap his shoulder and risked a quick glance at her, taking in the curious tilt of her head and the questioning eyes before turning his gaze once more to the rain-slicked road. "No," he said finally. "Angela isn't the only one who can call me muffin. She does it in teasing. However, I still raise the point that my nickname was work related," he adds.
"So...I could give you one if it was work related?" she asked, taking a bite from one of the muffins. Apple cinnamon.
He glanced at her again, curiosity and surprise evident in his expression. "Bones." She glanced at him, still chewing on the muffin, and he grinned at her. "Do you want to give me a nickname?"
"What? No, it was only hypothetical, and anyway, it would be fitting, wouldn't it? You gave me one!"
"Uh-huh," he replied, still smiling as he watched the road once more. She fell silent and he chanced a glance at her every now and then. She was slowly picking at the muffin, staring out the window with a far away look in her eyes, watching the rain fall. A crack of thunder rumbled over head and she visibly winced, hands raising of their own volition and he sighed softly, reaching out and taking her hand in his. "It's going to be alright Bones. I promise."
She glanced down at their hands before glancing at him quickly. He was watching her and she gave him a small smile as he squeezed her hand in his, noting that hers was cold. She sighed, resting her head back against the headrest and laced their fingers together, closing her eyes. She could almost swear he added "I won't let him get you" at the end, but she couldn't be sure.
They reached Lake Shore when the sun was beginning to set and the rain was falling harder. She shivered as they exited the SUV, entering the world of grey wetness, so similar to that night not even a week ago. Booth watched her carefully before going around and standing next to her, his hand resting comfortably on the small of her back.
"Forensics isn't here," she commentated idly, looking around.
"No, but we can start without them," he replied. He had already un-clipped the safety, making it easy for him to unholster his weapon if the need arose and she nodded slowly. "Where do we begin?" he asked her.
She looked around at their surroundings. They were in North Lakeshore, where pines were still predominant in the area, at a housing development that had been put off because of the weather. The perfect place to hide someone.
"We should look at the outsides of the buildings, check to see if there are any clues as to someone being here recently," she responded.
"Okay." He hesitated a minute before pulling another gun out, handing it to her. "For protection only," he told her firmly.
"I have one you know."
"Not with you," he pointed out. She nodded, holding the gun carefully as they advanced on the buildings. They loomed against the choppy water of the Bay, looking like ghoulish skeletons of a child's nightmare than the future home of a loving family. She shivered again and Booth looked at her. "It'll be alright."
"I know," she replied. "We'll find her."
It wasn't what he meant and they both knew it but they let it slide. Instead they made their way around first one building, than another and another. None of them looked promising and Booth cursed in frustration. Who knew if Mara was even still alive? He forced the thoughts from his mind, trying to focus on the positive aspects, even if they were few and far between. Where the hell was the forensic team with the heat-sensing equipment anyway?
"Booth!"
He jerked, almost losing his footing in the mud as he turned to locate Brennan. She was a house ahead, peering through a window at something, perched precariously on stacked two-by-fours. He hurried over to her, wiping the rain from his face when he got under the overhang.
"What is it?"
"Look. Someone's been in here recently. Not recent-recent, but it appears to be at about the time that Valdez would have last been here," she explained, pointing to muddy foot prints on the dusty floor inside.
"You sure?" She leveled a look at him and he shrugged. "Just checking. We're going on, what here Bones? Forensics isn't here to analyze and you hate gut feelings."
"Science. The mud is dry and lighter in color. It gets lighter and flakier the longer it dries. Now give me a boost inside."
"What?"
"You heard me. Get me inside, then follow," she replied.
"You can't do it yourself? Never mind." He ignored the look he received and instead crouched, making a stirrup with his hands and using her knee instead of her foot to avoid the mud, pushing her over the sill and into the house. She waited while he climbed in after her. "Why didn't we use a door?" he asked as he flicked on a flashlight.
"They're all boarded up," she replied easily. They wandered deeper into the house, through what was probably going to be the dining room, the kitchen, the front hall, into a sitting room, all the while following the dry-mud footprints.
Brennan pointed to a door and he reached out, opening it carefully, and they were exposed to a stairwell descending into darkness. The basement. He stepped in front of her, forcing her to keep back, and made his way down the stairs ahead of her, flashlight dim in the darkness that surrounded them.
He wasn't prepared when a step gave way beneath him, and flailed for a moment before falling, painfully, onto the next one. Brennan grabbed him, keeping him from falling down the rest of the stairs and he sighed, looking at her. "Thanks," he mumbled.
"Anytime."
They moved more cautiously after that, keeping a hand on the stone wall until finally their feet hit solid ground and he fumbled around for a light switch. "Mara?" Brennan called softly, ignoring the shushing noises from Booth. "Mara Kirkpatrick, are you down here?"
Bright light exploded around them as his fingers finally brushed over a switch and they both winced after the darkness. They heard a whimper from somewhere further in and Booth looked at Brennan firmly.
"Stay here."
"No."
"Bones..."
"I'm coming with you."
He gave a frustrated sigh before turning his back on her and heading deeper into the basement. "Stay back then." He heard her soft footfalls echoing behind him. "Mara?" he called.
There were stone walls built, like a maze or unfinished rooms, and he wove in and out of them carefully, on the watch for any traps. Valdez was famous for traps. They rounded one last wall and he stopped, Brennan bumping into him from the suddenness.
"Mara?" he asked quietly.
A girl was sprawled on the concrete floor, arms and legs bound with a pillow case over her head, a hole cut out so she could breathe. Blood soaked the cement beneath her and her chest rose and fell shallowly. Booth motioned for Brennan to stay back before taking a step forward and kneeling next to her, removing the pillow case and exposing her frightened eyes to the bright light. She was gagged and he removed it carefully as well, peeling the duct tape from her lips.
"Mara?" he asked again. "I'm Special Agent Booth with the F.B.I. Are you Mara Kirkpatrick?"
"Yes," she whispered hoarsely, her voice cracking and tears falling down her cheeks.
"Let's get you home," he murmured. He pulled out a pocket knife and Brennan raised her eyebrows behind him, making a mental note to ask just how many weapons he carried with him. He leaned over her, cutting her wrists free, then her legs.
They stood together, under the overhang of the house, watching the flashing lights as Mara Kirkpatrick was loaded into the ambulance, agents scurrying over the grounds, searching for any further evidence. He turned, looking at her, watching her shiver and cross her arms over her chest, before he smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him.
"Booth..."
"I know what you're thinking and it's okay. Just like I told you," he whispered. He nodded at an agent before glancing back at his partner. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah, I'm ready."
It felt eerily familiar, walking to the SUV, getting thoroughly rain soaked, past the milling agents, with his arm around her and holding her tightly, afraid to let her go, afraid she'll shatter. He opened the door for her, closed it behind her, before running around to the driver's side and getting in, starting the engine.
She was silent again, staring out the window as he pulled out onto the main road. The rain was still falling heavily and he reached for the radio dial, adjusting it to the weather station and she sighed, shifting in the seat and reached over, fiddling with the heater, then picking up the discarded bag and pulling out a muffin, offering it to him.
"Thanks," he replied, flashing her a grateful smile as he bit into it.
"No problem." She took a breath. "We did good. We found her."
"Yeah Bones, we did." He listened to the reports of traffic caused by the rain and sighed. "Looks like it'll be a while before you get home tonight."
"It's Friday."
"Yeah..." He glanced at her again, curious as to where her thoughts were taking her.
"You have Parker tomorrow, don't you?"
"Yeah. I get him at eleven. I would have liked it sooner but he has a birthday party to attend." She nodded and he didn't press, listening to the dull rumble of thunder and the swish of the windshield wipers.
"I don't want to go home," she finally mumbled, not looking at him. He reached out, setting the half-eaten muffin in a cup holder and taking her hand in his, squeezing it gently. She continued to stare out the window. "I don't want to be alone," she added as thunder rumbled loudly overhead, lightning flashing brightly, illuminating her pale, drenched features.
"You don't have to," he said finally, smiling when he felt her fingers lace with his, returning his earlier squeeze. He glanced at her, neglecting the slick roads and traffic, offering her a smile. "You don't have to ever be alone Bones. We'll go back to my place, you can warm up, and I'll make you I gigantic bowl of ice cream."
"Is that your answer to everything? Ice cream?"
"Always seems to work with Parker," he replied.
She smiled at him, relaxing against the seat and turning on the seat heater. "Thank-you," she whispered softly.