A week had passed and although Whitford had followed multiple leads, all of them came to a dead end. He believed that Brennan and the rest of the Jeffersonian crew would slowly lose interest in the case and it would become yet another cold case statistic. However, he had never seen so much rigor.
"Agent Whitford, I'm reexamining some of the particulates that we found on the clothing. I should be able to get a report to you in about 15 minutes, if you don't mind sticking around." Jack Hodgins called out as he walked with the petri dish into his office. Whitford just nodded and looked around the platform.
"Ah, Agent Whitford." Cam Saroyen called out, pulling on her gloves with a loud snap, she looked at the agent.
"Please call me Harvey." Whitford responded and Cam nodded with a smile. She nodded toward her office and Whitford followed.
"How are you handling the case, Harvey? Everything okay?" Cam inquired. "I wasn't expecting you to stop by today. We're reviewing all of our prior findings, Dr. Brennan has been in limbo looking into the personal effects of the other victims to see if we can find another link that could blow the case open." Cam rattled off.
"Oh wow, I'm just in awe at your group's persistence with this matter." Whitford replied, he caught a glimpse of Angela Montenegro walking into her office, Hodgins following her while talking a hundred miles a minute. He couldn't help the smile that graced his features. The couple was in newlywed bliss after another case had left them in a jail cell together.
"Well, if there's one thing you'll learn about Brennan, she doesn't like anything to be left unsolved." Cam responded, placing her hands in a tub of what Whitford could only describe as goop. He tried not to show the squeamish feelings he was having, but felt lunch start to come up.
"Yea, she's quite something." He agreed. Cam nodded.
"When I first started here, she was very difficult to work with, the amount of times I looked at Seeley like he was crazy for dealing with her antics." Cam shook her head. "But he always stuck by Brennan, even told me that it would always be Brennan. I knew that the team held Temperance dear, but it wasn't until the incident with the Gravedigger that I truly saw the hold that woman has on this group." Cam continued, causing Whitford to pause. He hadn't thought about the pure love that this group had for Brennan.
"Am I right that one of her proteges got roped into one of your cases?" Whitford questioned.
"His name is Zachary Uriah Addy, his file should be in with all of our Jeffersonian materials. He was incredibly talented at his work." Brennan stated matter-of-factly as she walked into Cam's office. "If you wish to visit him and speak about his work at the Jeffersonian, I would say, talk to Dr. Hodgins, he still keeps in contact with Zack on a regular basis." Whitford was surprised that Brennan didn't seem perturbed by overhearing him talk to Cam about her and her work with a former student. Just one more thing to add to the list of differences between the world and Temperance Brennan. He thought to himself as he watched the two scientists speak.
"I wanted to ask for your permission to look into boxes 4795, 3499, and 2302." Brennan looked expectantly at Cam. Cam's eyebrows shot up.
"Why those boxes?" She all but whispered. Now, Whitford was curious. He had watched Brennan open different boxes in limbo since their dinner the week prior, and she never asked for Cam's permission.
"Well, similar victim characteristics from my recollection, similar knicks to the ribs, and head trauma seems to correlate with that of our current victim and the remains found in 3782, 2764, 2553, and 1238." Brennan relayed. Cam considered this new information.
"Wait, you haven't looked at the bones yet?" Whitford asked, looking at Brennan.
"I have looked at them probably 2 years ago, but not recently, I wish to look at them closely now." Brennan replied, handing Cam her notes and Cam took off her gloves.
"But you are able to remember 3 different sets of remains in that much detail that you can see similarities?" Whitford asked.
"Bren is very interesting that way. Isn't that right, sweetie?" Angela walked into the office, her tablet in hand. Brennan looked at her friend with a certain level of confusion.
"I don't know what you mean by interesting, I'm rather extraordinary, but my didactic memory has nothing to do with that." She responded to her friend, who just shook her head with a small chuckle.
"Well my extraordinary friend, I finished the reconstructions of the victims from limbo that you wanted." She pulled up a file and showed it to Cam and Brennan who looked at each other before looking at Whitford.
"Angela, why don't we go to your office and place this on the projector?" Cam asked and the group followed.
Whitford knew that the group kept their distance from him. At random points in conversation, each of them would bring up Booth in some way. Sometimes it was a funny story, or they would ask Brennan how he was doing, they had even brought up how Booth might theorize in this case. Whitford understood that they were used to working on cases with Booth, but found himself slightly bothered that he didn't have the same relationship.
"So, sweetie, have you put any more thought into the double date idea with Hodgins and I?" Angela asked while the projector loaded the images. Brennan squared her shoulders. Another thing Whitford realized was that Brennan didn't like to mix business with pleasure, the few times she brought up Booth were solely professional anecdotes. He wondered if that meant there was trouble in paradise, but never wanted to ask.
"I brought it up to Booth and he said that so long as Hodgins does not talk about maggot growth at dinner, he would be fine with it." Brennan smiled. Angela giggled in response and shook her head once more.
"I'll make sure he gets the memo."
"There is no need to write an entire memo about that, just tell him when he's not busy with the particulates." Brennan responded. This caused Whitford to chuckle. "Did I say something amusing, Agent Whitford?" Brennan looked at him. He felt like a schoolboy being scolded by a teacher. He still wasn't used to Brennan's musings while at work. She was so incredibly smart, yet she didn't know a thing about pop culture.
"No, just something I thought of just now." Whitford cleared his throat before bringing his attention back to the screen. Each of the reconstructions were displayed, all showing a similar face, with only slight differences. "Well, if the cases are connected, the guy definitely has a type." Whitford mumbled. Cam sighed, she knew what Brennan was about to say.
"If the cases are connected, there is no indication that the perpetrator is male. It is statistically higher that the perpetrator would be male, as serial killers have been known to be skewed as male. Furthermore, if these were crimes of sexual gratification, then the fact they are female could also skew the data toward a male perpetrator, but we cannot speak in definitives." Whitford felt a sigh escape his lips. Brennan had a way of speaking pejoratively that made working with her difficult.
"I apologize, Dr. Brennan, I just meant that the person, the perpetrator, had a certain type they were looking for." Whitford said, trying not to show frustration toward the scientist.
Brennan nodded in approval of his apology before leaving Angela's office.
"Booth does the same thing all the time, Whitford, don't beat yourself up about it." Angela smiled at him, but Whitford just felt even more annoyed. Can I go one day at this lab without someone comparing me to Booth?
-BB-
"It's nice of you to join me for lunch, Bones. I was starting to think I was your secret little play thing, only seeing me at night." Booth joked, giving Brennan a little smile as she rolled her eyes.
"I know what you're doing and I will not engage." Brennan responded, looking at a file as the waitress brought over a piece of pie for Booth and topped off Brennan's coffee.
"Hey, c'mon, where's my fun-loving Bones?" He goaded and Brennan smiled.
"Hey, you two!" Sweets called out as he entered the diner. Brennan's smile faltered a little and Booth reached across the table to rub the top of her hand. Booth had invited Brennan to lunch to get her out of the lab and get her thoughts away from their partnership. It had been a great lunch, they talked about their weekend plans with Parker, who had been ecstatic to hear about their relationship, and they even volleyed some new plotlines for Brennan's newest novel. It felt like old times, except at the end of lunch, they wouldn't climb into Booth's car to fight the bad guys, they would send each other off with a kiss and go to their respective offices. Now with Sweets here, Booth and Brennan were reminded head on that they were dealing with a separation in their partnership.
"Hello, Dr. Sweets." Brennan kept her greeting formal as she began putting her files back in her bag. Booth wanted to stop her, convince her to spend some more time with him, but she was practically sprinting out the door.
"Are you both comfortable with beginning our sessions again?" Sweets asked and Brennan shook her head.
"We are no longer in a partnership, therefore, you do not need to study us." She responded and placed her bag on her shoulder before downing her coffee in one gulp and standing up. Walking over to Booth's side of the table, she placed a kiss on his cheek, which he smiled at before pulling her down for a proper kiss, then letting her go.
"Remember, we're meeting at my place tonight, call me when you leave the lab." Booth whispered in her ear, watching in delight as Bones shivered at his sultry tone before giving him a shy smile and nod. She walked past Sweets with a curt nod and a wave. Sweets took Brennan's seat at the table with Booth and gave him a downtrodden look.
"Did you explain to her that I wasn't trying to cause an issue in your partnership when I told Cullen?" Sweets asked and Booth let out a chuckle.
"Do you think she cares? Bones is the world's most stubborn human, it took me hours to get her to listen that you weren't the bad guy. She already thinks you're a pseudo-scientist or whatever." Booth sipped his coffee and took a bite of pie. "Also, why are you crashing my date time? I barely see her anymore." He mumbled, which caused Sweets to perk up. "No, no, don't do the shrinky thing."
"Well, I have been curious of how the change in your sexual relationship has been in maintaining the friendship side of your relationship." Sweets rambled and Booth coughed.
"Please do not talk about my sex life with my partner while in a public place." Booth whispered, dipping his head and glancing around quickly as he spoke.
"Would you prefer we move this discussion to my office?" Sweets asked, but Booth just rolled his eyes and shoveled more pie in his mouth. "It's just that this change is significant and you and Dr. Brennan don't do well with changes in the status quo."
"Well we are very happy with this change." Booth retorted and Sweets nodded.
"So you have no issues or qualms with Dr. Brennan's close working relationship with Agent Whitford?"
"What is with you and making it sound like she's sleeping with the guy?" Booth inquired.
"It would seem you're projecting your own insecurities regarding this change in your relationship with Brennan onto my questions." Sweets responded and Booth's jaw ticked.
"You know what? Bones is right, you're a quack." Booth grumbled. Sweets opened his mouth to protest, but Booth was gathering his things, throwing some cash on the table and heading out the door. As per usual, those two are incredibly difficult to understand. Sweets thought before placing his order and settling in for a lonely lunch.
-BB-
A few days later, Booth was out on a crime scene when he saw the familiar Jeffersonian van pull up. His heart was beating outside of his chest when the squint squad clamored out of the vehicle in their coveralls. It had been 2 and a half weeks since the pause started and Booth hadn't realized just how much he missed being around the geeks. Then he saw Brennan exit while chatting with Cam. She was hauling that heavy case and he chewed on his cheek to try and stop himself from grabbing it from her like he always did.
Agent Whitford's vehicle pulled into the lot after the van and he jumped out. Running up to Brennan, he saw her say something to her, and she politely shook her head as she continued toward the shallow grave.
Booth heard the sound of wood splitting before he realized he had snapped his pencil. Jesus, Booth, get it together. He told himself, taking a long calming breath before making eye contact with Bones. Her eyes seemed to brighten when she saw him on the scene, but dull when Cam began pulling her in a different direction. Whitford walked up to Booth, a small smirk on his lips.
"Hey, Agent Booth, happy to see you on this case. Can you give me any information about what we are to expect?" Whitford asked. He knew that Booth was his superior, not only did the guy have an insane solve rate, even before Brennan's involvement, but he was insanely intimidating. But Whitford had something that Booth wanted, and he relished in that slightly.
"Shallow grave, looks to be a female based off size of the skeleton and the clothes found on the body, I have my guys canvasing the area for hikers and other individuals who have been near the area recently. The park had been closed down for the past 3 days due to heavy rains in the area. Today was the first day it was open to the public. Some park rangers had walked the perimeter, but this was too far inland for them to travel during the storms, so I would ask the squints time of death to see if maybe we have a guy on the ground who knew that there wouldn't be people here for few days." Booth rattled off to the younger agent who took vigorously wrote down notes.
"Insect activity places decomp at 48 to 56 hours." Hodgins said, while shaking a container of maggots. He looked at Booth with a smile. "How have you been, man? I feel like I've lost all knowledge of the Phillies stats for this season." He joked with Booth who shook his head.
"We've won the last couple games, but we're going against Mets in a couple weeks, so I need all your fingers and toes crossed." Booth responded. Whitford saw the carefree way Hodgins spoke with Booth, they spent a couple minutes chatting about Parker's softball league, before Cam approached.
"From a preliminary view, the victim had a knee replacement, which is highly unusual for someone so young, but I'll be able to get an ID from the serial number." Cam directed her statements at Whitford, and then turned her attention to Booth. "I heard from Dr. Brennan that Parker hit a home run, you must be very proud." She smiled and Whitford looked on as Booth spoke about how he and Brennan took Parker to his game and then Parker insisted that Brennan explain the history of baseball.
"That kid is way smarter than me and I'm starting to like the idea of him being a squint. No getting shot, just looking into telescopes." Booth mentioned, which earned a chuckle from Cam.
"Microscopes, Booth, unless you want Parker to be an astrologist, then it would be a telescope." Finally Brennan had made her way to the small group of scientists. Whitford saw Booth's eyes light up as Brennan walked up. Bringing her attention to Whitford, Brennan spoke about the victim. "Female, early to mid twenties, 1.62 meters tall. Preliminary viewing of the ulnar and radius show fractures, but I will have to look closer once the bones are cleaned at the lab. Please have the crews collect sediment samples in a 0.1 mile radius. Also, unlike last time, please instruct the crews to gently collect the bones for transfer to the lab."
Booth covered his mouth to hide a laugh as he watched Bones instruct Agent Whitford. She treated him more like one of her interns than a colleague. Making eye contact with Hodgins, Booth and him walked away from the group.
"She's very bristly with him." Hodgins muttered under his breath, he knew that Booth was curious. "I feel bad for the guy, he comes in after 5 years with you, and the entire lab is thrown for a loop. You can tell he wants to do a good job, and with this looking more and more like a serial killer, I can't think this is a picnic for him." Booth nodded.
"Whitford is a good guy, I don't deny that, but it does bring me comfort that he has to work for her friendship too." Booth responded which caused Hodgins to chuckle.
"Friendship? Yea, I think you're the only FBI agent she's going to be friendly with any time soon." Hodgins mumbled back. As much as Booth wanted to detest the bug boy, the duo had become friends. "Oh by the way, congratulations on the new relationship. Angela is dying to do a double date."
"I know, Bones has been asking about different dates, but it's just so hard to give up any time with her when our time has been cut drastically by this dumb pause." Booth responded, getting a nod from Hodgins. "Also, her deactivating my credentials to the lab, not cool."
"That was a bit harsh on her part, but you know Dr. B and rules." Booth smiled knowingly at Hodgins. They made their way back to the group as Brennan finished her flurry of instructions.
"Alright, well if you cannot think of anything else, we will get back to the lab." Brennan started to make her way to her case and Booth followed.
"Hey, Bones, where's the fire?" He asked and Brennan turned quickly. She knew the saying by now, but wanted to tell Booth there was no fire nearby, but she held her tongue.
"We should not be interacting, who knows if Cullen has spies watching us." Bones murmured and Booth smiled. She was so worried about getting their partnership back together.
"Hey, hey, I was put on this case fair and square, no funny business, nothing crazy. Cullen can't expect us to avoid each other like the plague when we are assigned to the same case." Booth replied and Bones smiled.
"I guess that makes sense." She murmured back. They looked longingly at one another for a beat.
"Mind if I carry your case back to the van?" Booth asked while grabbing the case from Brennan, she didn't protest like normal. She wanted to let Booth feel helpful since he couldn't protect her at work anymore. As they walked side by side to the van, Booth couldn't stop himself from wondering aloud. "Don't you want to go with Whitford to interview the hikers and different eye witnesses?"
"No, I told him that I don't trust him to protect me in the field yet, so it would be unwise for me to follow him blindly." She said in her usual matter of fact tone, but the words made Booth's heart sore. Indirectly, she was saying she trusted Booth, which he knew, but it was always nice to be reminded.
As he placed the case in the van and watched Bones climb in, he felt a hand on his arm. Turning, he found Cam standing there with a smile on her face. "What are ya thinking there, Cam?" He asked, a little skeptical of the no nonsense coroner.
"Well, seeing as this is your case, and even though Whitford works with the Jeffersonian and will still be helping, I think it would be best to give you your credentials back, just in case we run into anything that might be beneficial to your running of the matter." She said, causing Booth to smile widely and almost jump with excitement. Digging through her own bag, she pulled out Seeley's old badge and handed it over. "See ya around, Seeley."