Brennan had a habit of getting engrossed in her work. She always did. Sometimes, it overwhelmed her to the point that she lost the world around her as she became fully absorbed by what she was doing.
Staring down at the young victim in front of her, she examined the numerous fractures to his skull, the mounds and impressions creating a picture in her mind of who this individual once was.
So many injuries in such a relatively short space of time, though the healed fractures to his hands, his fingers, means he started fighting back not too long ago.
She glanced behind her at the second victim and was immediately flooded with frustration.
All that cosmetic surgery is just a vicious mutilation of the underlying architecture that makes us unique. It's barbaric and it's going to make identifying this person incredibly difficult. Why would they do this to themselves? Why would they throw away everything that makes them who they are?
With a heavy sigh, Temperance turned back to the first victim. She focused in on the wounds, her eyes patrolling the marks on the bone that told her more than anyone else could see.
She was vaguely aware that the others were talking around her but she didn't hear what they were saying. Instead, she was pulled further and further in to her investigations, losing the lab around her.
But then something changed. Booth was talking but his voice, the way he sounded…
I know there's something wrong with him today but he obviously doesn't want to talk about it. I can't force him to open up. I don't have the kind of people skills that he does.
She looked up from her work, the tone of Booth's words catching her, and stared straight in to the wide, fearful eyes of Hodgins. Immediately, she stepped forward, her heart beginning to pound as she watched Booth lay a reassuring hand on the scientist's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.
Hodgins couldn't look either of them in the eye as he attempted to explain what was going on.
"I went to find Angela for Doctor Brennan but as soon as I got in the office, I knew something was wrong. Her things were everywhere, just thrown about. And her art, her latest painting, it was sliced to shreds. I shouted her name, I looked for her but she wasn't there. But these were."
She noticed the objects he was carrying for the first time as he raised his hands in front of him. Booth took a piece of paper from him as Brennan stepped up beside her partner.
All thoughts of what might be contained in the unfamiliar writing flew from her mind as she saw the shirt draped across Hodgins' shaking fingers. She recognised the piece of clothing instantly, Angela having used her artistic eye to add piping and colour to the otherwise plain fabric.
Temperance slid the shirt from his fingers, staring down at the enormous blotch of colour that she knew Angela had never intended. For once, she couldn't stop her mind racing to conclusions she prayed were wrong, knowing full well without tests or specimens that the deep red covering the shirt was blood.
Angela's blood.
Lost for words, she turned to her partner.
Booth will know what to do. He always knows what to do.
Staring him straight in the eye, all she found there was a fear and concern that matched her own. It felt as if her heart had stopped in her chest as he stared down at the large bloodstain, his face draining of all colour.
She took a small, tentative step towards him, unconsciously needing his support. He looked back up at her but there were no words of reassurance, no dazzling charm in his smile. Brennan just stared at him, suddenly lost.
Angela is my best friend. If something's happened to her… No, Temperance, don't you dare think like that!
Swallowing hard, she straightened up and carefully laid the shirt on an examination table to her right. Turning back to Booth, Hodgins and Zach, she forced her emotions deep down, struggling to pack her heart away in the box like she always had before.
Before I met Booth, and definitely before I met Angela. She's changed me, she's made me open up. At times like this though, I'm not so sure that's such a good thing.
She locked eyes with her partner who gave a subtle nod, implying he knew what she was being forced to do and that he was with her all the way. Brennan knew all too well that he hated it when she shut down but right now, it was her only option.
Taking a deep breath, the anthropologist attempted to take control of the situation.
"If something really has happened to Angela then we need to figure out exactly what it is and stop it. That means that we're going to have to work together and approach this as if it was just any other case."
Ignoring the pain she felt saying those words, Brennan spun on her heel to face her assistant.
Angela's not just another case. She could never be just another statistic, another faceless victim. I'll never let that happen.
Brennan straightened up and held her head high with what she hoped was an air of confidence and clinical detachment.
"Zach, I need you to keep working on the remains we found earlier. You can clean the bones of the first victim and take an impression of the skull fracture. We need a better idea of what that weapon was."
Zach scuttled off across the platform, grabbing a tray of instruments on the way. Brennan quickly turned her attention to her partner.
"Booth, go to Angela's office and see what you can find."
He frowned at her, obviously about to say something, but she didn't give him the chance. Instead, she turned to Hodgins.
"Go and find Cam, tell her to meet Booth in Angela's office and then -"
Booth practically jumped across the distance between them, cutting his partner off mid-sentence.
"Woah, Cam? Why are you putting me and Cam together? I mean, why do you think…"
Brennan didn't let him finish, her heart screaming at her that there wasn't time to deal with her partner's defensive attitude.
"Booth, you're the one who's always saying that you're the cop and we're the squints. Cam's the closest thing we've got to bridging that gap so use her. Go be a cop."
She saw the flicker of hurt in his eyes at her dismissal but said nothing to counter it.
He's being hiding something from me all day. The way he's been acting… There's definitely something going on. But right now I can't think about any of that. I don't have the time to worry about anybody's personal feelings.
She turned back to Hodgins, aware that her gaze softened when she saw the look in his eyes.
We've been through a lot together. Without Hodgins, I don't think I would ever have survived what the Grave Digger did to us. I know he loves Angela, all he wants to do is protect her.
Her voice softened slightly as she spoke to him, not enough for the casual observer to notice but it wasn't wasted on her favourite bug and slime guy. His shoulders seemed to stop shaking a little as he waited for her instructions, which she wasted no time in giving.
"Hodgins, go get Cam. Then come back here and wait for me. I'm going to get the CCTV footage of the labs for the last few hours. Together, we can get through it all much quicker and hopefully find where she went and who with."
Hodgins nodded and sped off, leaving Brennan to march over to the security desk, her heart pounding in her ears. With every step, the fear seemed to increase. With every breath, her mind's eyes saw the worst possible images of her best friend and what might have happened to her.
Pausing at the doors to the security area, Temperance closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself. Whatever was about to happen, whatever she might find on those tapes, Angela Montenegro was the best friend she had ever had. Right then and there, she swore to herself that whatever was coming, she was never going to stop looking and she would never give up.
Pushing open the doors, Brennan forced her heart even deeper in to the box, locking it tight within her chest to keep herself from feeling the pain that threatened to take control.
oo00oo
Booth stood in the centre of Angela's office without the slightest clue of what to do.
Paper and cushions were strewn all over the usually neat area, a giant canvas previously covered with brilliant green hues was now sliced to shreds. Walking towards the ruined painting, he felt the crunch of broken glass beneath his feet.
Looking down, he found what was left of an ornate vase littered across the carpet, the single white rose which was previously its contents now crushed and ground in to the floor.
Crouching down, he stared at the glass, his heart jumping in to his mouth as he caught sight of a trail of blood drops leading towards the couch, its cushions now cast aside.
Staring at the scene of chaos around him, Booth couldn't help but see the image of a struggle occurring in front of him, Angela struggling and fighting for her life against an intruder he couldn't yet identify.
"Seeley?"
The voice behind him tore the federal agent back to reality, though he couldn't lose the bitter taste of fear that had invaded his mouth. Still crouching, he looked up in to the concerned eyes of Cam.
"Did Hodgins tell you what's going on?"
She nodded slowly as she carefully picked a path across the room towards him. He stood to meet her, opening his mouth to speak but finding no words coming out. She said nothing either, simply pulling him in to an enormous embrace which he happily accepted.
Pulling away from him a little, she brushed a hand across his cheek with a gentle smile.
"First Brennan and Doctor Hodgins with the Grave Digger, and now Angela with all this…"
She waved an arm through the air to indicate the debris field that was previously a carefully organised office. She turned back to him with a wry smile.
"We should really get hazard pay for working in this lab."
Booth jerked away from her, tearing his arms from around her waist as he felt disgust taint his features.
"Angela's missing, we find blood, her office shows signs of an enormous struggle and all you can do is make jokes? You can't be serious!"
The shock in her eyes from his outburst stung him but he couldn't stop.
"Haven't you learnt anything from the things we've all been through together? Take one of us away and it hurts all of us, the whole damn team, a team you're obviously not a part of seeing as none of this seems to be bothering you."
He knew he shouldn't have said it. He knew that she was just trying to lighten the mood a little and that she never intended to be flippant about Angela's disappearance. Anyone who knew the artist at all had to care about what happened to her. Angela had a way of making anyone care, it was just the kind of person she was.
Booth also knew that Cam was insecure about her place at the Jeffersonian, especially having been parachuted in above Brennan's head, and he could easily see that his dig at her not being a member of the team would hurt her. Not that she'd ever admit the way she was really feeling.
In that way, we're very much alike. After all, I still haven't dared to tell anyone about my conversation with Cullen. Who knew a supposedly secret relationship could cause so many problems? And the only person I really want to talk to about all of this is the one person I've spent the past few hours shutting out. No wonder Bones basically snapped at me before.
Cam was stood in front of him, arms folded staunchly across her chest, obviously smarting from his last remark. She broke his gaze, staring around the room at the mess that was left behind. Booth resisted the urge to laugh.
All this mess… If it wasn't all so tragic, this would be a perfect reflection of my life right now…
He wanted to apologise, he wanted to take back what he had just said to her, but instead he just found himself crouching back down to examine the vase, the blood drops, anything that could stop him from looking at Cam.
Without looking, he knew she had moved across the room from him. With a heavy sigh, Cam had walked away and Booth just didn't have the strength to stop her. As she left the office, he suddenly realised that maybe it was because he just didn't care.
oo00oo
Brennan stared at the screen in front of her, watching the lab fly past as she sped through the security tapes. Although she was well aware that people often criticised her tendency to get too absorbed in her work, she knew that was not something she could be accused of right now.
Leaning back in the chair, she let out a long sigh and attempted to regain her focus. Instead, she found her gaze wandering over to Hodgins who was staring at the large flatscreen tv on the other side of her desk. Although he was staring at the tapes with what appeared to be fierce concentration, the vacant glaze over his eyes meant that she knew he wasn't actually seeing any of it.
I just hope he's not seeing the same kind of images in his mind as I am.
Leaning forward to put her elbows on the desk, Brennan dropped her chin in to her hands as she watched the workers fly by as they went about their routine business on the tapes.
It felt strange to her to be doing this sort of investigative work in her own room. On a normal case, Angela would run her mass recognition software in her office with Brennan and Booth discussing the facts behind her. That was how it always worked. But not today.
Her brows knitting together in concentration, Temperance forced herself to focus.
I should probably say something to Hodgins. I could reassure him and tell him that Angela's fine, wherever she is.
She stole a glance at his hunched shoulders and bit her bottom lip.
Who am I kidding? He's an empirical scientist all the way, just like me, so empty promises and kind words aren't going to help. Especially not coming from me. Especially when I'm not even sure if I believe them.
Turning back to the computer screen, she watched as her best friend entered her office. There was no CCTV coverage inside the room so Brennan quickly jotted down the time stamp on the pad in front of her to compare it with when she would find the artist leaving again.
Looking back up at the footage streaming past, a familiar face amongst the blue hue of the Jeffersonian lab coats caught her attention. With the images in fast forward, the figure was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving Brennan just staring at the screen, certain that she must be wrong.
Regaining her senses, she hit rewind and attempted to ignore the deafening roar of her heart pounding in her chest. Practically punching the play button, Brennan leant further and further forward as she waited for the figure to reappear.
It can't be, it just can't be. I was just seeing things. My stress levels must have triggered an emotional response that caused my mind to trick my eyes. It wasn't really…
She hit pause at just the right moment and her heart came to a crashing halt. Her eyes the size of saucers, Brennan just stared at the screen.
"Hodgins, find Booth."
Her voice was taught and tinged with fear, causing her colleague to look at her with concern.
"Doctor Brennan, what is it?"
She couldn't tear her eyes away from the figure as she zoomed in, trying to be one hundred percent certain of their identity. As the pixels realigned and the screen was filled with the familiar face, Brennan realised that they were actually winking directly at the security camera.
I think I'm going to be sick…
"Doctor Brennan? What is it? What have you found?"
Hodgins' voice sounded incredibly far away in Brennan's ears, but then so did hers as she finally found the ability to speak.
"I think I just found a ghost."
A/N: So, who's placing bets on who the mystery figure is? Anyone that knows me at all should have a pretty good idea who it is... Come on people, share your theories!