Day 4 Part 3

"Zach!" She called out again; she didn't remember it taking this long to find him the first time.

"Why do you keep calling my name?" He asked from the doorway on her right, and she smiled, relieved that she had finally found the right place.

"I was lost," she said simply, before sliding past him in the doorway and looking around for where she had placed her shoes. "There they are!" Going to grab them, she accidentally bumped into him, hitting her nose. "Oof! Sorry, I need to watch where I'm going."

Settling herself on the ground, she rubbed at her nose while she slipped on her heels. "You know, I just realized how absolutely disgusting it is of me to run around the lab without my shoes on. It's unsafe and unhygienic, and quite frankly I'm surprised that not only have Angela and Hodgins let me run around most of the time in here without them on, but you have, too." She was mostly just making idle chatter to herself; she didn't usually mind the silence, but she was getting tired of Zach not talking to her, and so she had resolved to start speaking enough for the both of them.

"Hodgins and I had a conversation about it. We both decided it was better than the alternative," he said, once more resuming his post in front of Mary's skull fragments. He had gotten a couple more pieces figured out while she had been gone, but her interest was centered more on what he had said than what he was doing.

"You had a conversation about it?"

"Yes."

"When? And why?" She scrunched her nose, not really understanding why anyone would want to talk about her footwear in general.

"The other day you complained about your dress code requiring heels, and how uncoordinated you were in them. Because of your fall this morning, Hodgins and I decided over lunch that the less you wear of them the better," he pushed two pieces together, holding them up for inspection, before placing them down again and reaching to grab a different piece.

"And so it was decided that barefoot was better than me walking around in heels." She didn't know why, but she felt like she was missing something. How was gross and barefoot better than not gross and mildly klutzy?

"Yes. As shown by your lack of balance both yesterday and today, it has been determined by both myself and Hodgins that you run a high probability of breaking something; we would both prefer to cut that probability down, and so it was decided to let you walk around the lab without the shoes."

Shilloh wasn't sure how she was feeling, but she was positive that grateful and touched were in there somewhere.

Zach thought her lack of response disheartening, though, and continued on, "it wasn't something we decided lightly, if that concerns you. There was a pro and con list," he looked up from the piece he was holding to look over at her.

She was wobbling slightly on the shoes she had put back on, and she took a deep breath in before saying," Zach, that is probably the most caring thing anyone has ever said to me."

He looked at her oddly before replying, "being told to be careful when you're walking in high heels is the most care you have ever received?" And when he put it that way it kind of made her sad, because she still really believed, even after everything her parents had done for her, that it was true.

"Well when you phrase it like that it sounds really pathetic, doesn't it? I suppose what I should have said, was that I have never had anyone who has known me for so little an amount of time, care for my well being enough to actually make a pro and con list. Thank you," she smiled wide enough to make her feel like she had cracked her lips, and tried desperately not to feel like she wanted to go cry.

Being told someone had made a list just for you wasn't supposed to be a big deal.

"Oh, so you did make in here after all. Angela and I were starting to get worried that you'd taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Oz," Hodgins interrupted, and Shilloh was never more happy in her life; one more moment of trying to hold herself together and she very well may have started crying. Poor Zach.

"That is a popular movie reference, correct?" Zach asked, placing his attention on the new occupants of the room.

"Yeah, it is; score one for you Zackaroni," Hodgins replied, and Zach smiled slightly at the light praise and his understanding of a pop culture reference.

"So what were you two doing before we interrupted?" Angela teased, making Shilloh roll her eyes. The two had an understanding that there was no romantic interest from any angle at any point, anywhere, in Shilloh's life, but Angela could still poke at her. It was her duty as the older female, after all.

"I was informing Shilloh of the decision Hodgins and I made in regards to her footwear," Zach replied, not understanding the context the question was asked in; Shilloh was thankful for that, she didn't want to try and fumble through an explanation of why Angela thought it was funny to have the two of them paired together.

"They were talking about your shoes?"

"Yes. Apparently, Hodgins is madly jealous of them and simply cannot stand the thought that his hideous feet can't fit into them. So him and Zach devised a scheme whereupon I am not to wear them in the lab anymore. That way, Hodgins can focus on his work and not on my beautiful feet in my lovely shoes," she gushed to Angela, moving her hands about animatedly. How she managed to say it with a completely straight face Angela didn't know, but it was something she admired greatly.

"I am assuming that was a joke. And since it was directed towards Hodgins, I am also going to assume it was a funny one," Zach deadpanned, and both women started laughing, realizing that he had made a joke himself.

"Hey! Alright, this isn't funny, it's not nice to gang up on one person," Hodgins' protests went unheard while both women continued to laugh, and Zach smiled as he glued another piece together.

"But did they seriously talk about your shoes?" Angela asked when she could breathe again; it was nice to hear Zach joke around, and it was great to hear someone with a sense of humor that didn't involve dead things.

"Yeah, they're both afraid I'm going to break something walking around in my dress-code-ordered heels, so apparently they're letting me have free reign around the lab without them on," she tried not to let on how touched she was, but Angela gave her a knowing look, and then glanced at her two boys- she was very proud of them both right now.

"Aside from making sure you hadn't gotten yourself lost, we also came to steal Zach for a moment; Hodgins found some abnormalities with one of his experiments and he wants to get a second opinion," Angela said, waiting for Zach to acknowledge that he'd heard her.

Both boys left the room, and Angela made sure Shilloh wasn't going to dash out after them.

"Angela, they made a pro and con list; from the way Zach said it, it sounded very extensive," her voice was very soft, and Angela was struck with how young looking she really was just then; standing in the middle of the cold room, wobbling slightly on her white heels. Her face looked abnormally long compared to how it had just moments earlier, when they were all laughing. "I know it sounds really bad, but I don't think anyone's ever cared that much about me."

Angela drew in a breath, this wasn't the type of conversation people had after only knowing each other for a day, but Shilloh looked so very lost and she was never one to turn people away.

"Sweetie…" she trailed off, not knowing what else to say for a second. "I think this place is going to be very good for you," she decided on, before lightly touching Shilloh's shoulder and leading her out of the room.

It seemed to lighten the mood, though, and they were quiet for a while as they walked down the hall to catch up with the boys.

Shilloh suddenly scoffed and said in a teasing tone of voice, "yeah, assuming my work load doesn't exhaust me to death, my clothes ever turn up, my apartment manager ever fixes my oven, or that stupid leak," she paused just in time to trip up the steps, "or my dress code changes. If all of those things happen, I think DC will be great for me," she was making them laugh again, and Angela was relieved that she wasn't actually sad about the amount of care shown to her.

"I thought you were told not to wear shoes in the lab?" Hodgins directed over at her as Zach bent down over the microscope at his station.

"No. I was told I didn't have to wear shoes, and that it was best if I didn't. I was not told that I didn't have a choice in the matter," she stuck her tongue out and walked over to them in her heels just for good measure.

"Hey squints, I come bearing good news!" This was a new voice for Shilloh, but it was one that everyone else knew very well.

"Agent Booth, you were able to find new evidence?" Zach asked, still looking through the microscope.

"Yup. She wasn't killed by her mother- solid alibi there. She may, however, have come into contact with the gardener," he said, before stopping at the top of the stairs and waiting for Dr. Brennan to swipe her ID to let them in.

It wasn't until he was all the way on the platform that he noticed Shilloh. "Oh, hello- new squint?" He asked, shifting his head to the right slightly; Shilloh felt vaguely like she was being categorized, and she didn't like it.

"Nope. New graphics intern; Shilloh Phillips, it's nice to meet you, sir. This isn't my department, so I won't feel offended if you don't remember my name," she said, not having decided if she liked him or not yet. She always tended to lean on the bold side when she hadn't made up her mind about someone. If she took the time to think it over, she would be very disappointed by her definition of bold, since her greeting was anything but. It was, however, a far cry from awkward words directed at the ground, and so for her, that was bold.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth, FBI," he said with the familiarity of someone who said it often, and then centered his head; apparently he was done judging her. "So if you're not in this department, what are you doing here, if you don't mind my asking?"

He knew how to give off the appearance of politeness, but she could tell when someone was trying to decide if they liked her or not; she'd heard the tone of voice often enough to memorize it.

"I just started working here Tuesday, and so far, these guys have been the only ones both nice and stupid enough to put up with me," she said, deciding that she'd let it all play out, and that she ultimately wouldn't care one way or the other if he didn't like her. He gave off the feeling of a jock, and she never had great conversations with jocks in the past, even when they were nice.

"Huh, sounds about right. So are you joining us at the diner then?"

Well, apparently she had passed the initiation portion, at least. "I can't tonight, but I want to go- and since you're the only one in the group I've yet to meet, the next time everyone goes you'll have to as well," it was a simple enough demand, and she didn't think anything of it; she was trying to be nice.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, and then quirked his lips, "kid, I already have a girlfriend."

She choked on her own spit, "Jesus. No. No! I was trying to be nice! I'm only twenty-two, what are you, thirty-five?" She looked at him, appalled that he would think she was trying to hit on him. "Don't get me wrong, thirty-something isn't old, but it's definitely out of my dating spectrum, guy."

Booth tried not to look hurt while Angela cackled, "man, you weren't kidding when you said you weren't looking for a relationship; honey, he's definitely one you'd go outside of your normal dating spectrum for," she continued to laugh at Booth's startled look and Shilloh's vaguely affronted one.

"Well, now that we've all met- the gardener theory might corroborate with the anomalies I'm finding on the bugs; I can't figure out why they died with that odd discoloration, and I'm having a hard time duplicating it. Next time you're out, see if you can get samples of the chemicals he uses, as well as samples from his tools," Hodgins interrupted, not much liking the idea of Booth and Angela doing anything too friendly together.

"And that would be my indication to head out; I'll see you at lunch tomorrow, guys, sorry I couldn't come to dinner tonight," Shilloh waved to everyone before skipping sets of stairs and exiting the lab, not noticing the wince Hodgins had- just waiting for her to trip herself up and go tumbling down the stairs.

"Well, she was nice," Booth said, before corralling everyone into movement; he was really hungry.

OOO

It had been a very exciting day, and she felt like a toddler for thinking it, but it was still true. She couldn't force herself to wind down, and she didn't have any of her usual methods of end-of-the-day relaxation: video games, pointless internet flash games, watching her television box sets.

So she settled with repainting her nails, this time going with something a little more intricate, hoping that the concentration it would require would leave her with little time to think about anything else. Polka dots it was.

The white base was harder to put on than it should have been, but by the time she was putting on the different colors- magenta, green, and blue- her mind was no longer focused on the task, and was instead wandering.

She felt like she had betrayed her parents in some way; making a pro and con list on the merits of women's shoes did not show more care than sacrificing large portions of your life.

It did not equal the endless hours of research spent looking into what doctors needed to be seen next; when they weren't getting the full story from the ones they were seeing.

It wasn't anywhere near spending an entire week at a time, every month, just sitting in a hospital room watching stupid cartoons and boring documentaries with your sick child.

And yet; somehow, it did. She felt sick thinking it, because she knew her parents did everything out of love and care, but somehow, everything they did still felt like it had been done for themselves.

Spending every day in the hospital with your child because you need her, and not because she needs you. Researching doctors to go to that would hopefully be able to reduce the appearance of the port scars; not because your daughter is self-conscious, but because you can't stand the pain of looking at them.

She accidentally made a magenta dot bigger than she wanted to, and cursed silently when her vision swam too much for her to fix it. The damned pro and con list had proven her point for her- she had needed to get away from it all, because she was sick and tired of doing everything for her parents.

Moving to DC, she had found two people that didn't even know her, and were willing to spend their lunches talking about what was best for her. Not what served the dual purpose of being best for her and easing their pain.

Her nails would take a while to dry, and she didn't think through things very well before painting them, because she was now very hungry, and very much unable to do anything with her hands.

She fell asleep wondering how exactly she'd tell her sister about her day.