Thanks for the reviews! Now on to Chapter 3…
Just before nine the next morning, Booth started knocking on the door to Hodgins and Angela's room. Hodgins opened the door quickly and let him in. Angela was nowhere to be found. Booth scanned the room before sitting down in a chair.
"Where's Angela?" Booth asked.
"Bathroom," Hodgins answered. "Where's Dr. B?"
"Bones and the rental car were gone long before I woke up," Booth said. "She left a note saying not to bother her unless absolutely necessary, so I don't expect to see her until dinner, at least," Booth said. "So what are we doing today?"
"Well, I was looking through some brochures," Hodgins said, passing him some information. "We definitely need to check out Disney Quest. They have five floors of video games, including a game to design and ride your own roller coaster."
"Oh, excellent," Booth chuckled. "This covered in our tickets?"
"Nah, but it's only forty dollars. My treat."
"Thanks, Hodgins," Booth smiled. "Angela coming?"
Angela chose that moment to walk out of the bathroom, strutting across the room in a pink bikini. She bounced onto her bed and picked a brochure off the table. Booth whistled.
"Looking good, Ange," Booth said. Angela smiled.
"So I guess you're not going," Hodgins said.
"Where are you going?" Angela asked.
"Disney Quest," Hodgins told her. "The video game place."
"There's an entire theme park of video games?" she asked. "Seriously?"
"Welcome to the virtual age, baby," Hodgins smiled.
"Yeah, I'll pass," she said.
"Really?" Hodgins asked. "But you're the sexy computer geek. You'd fit right in."
Angela chuckled. "Thanks, but I'm good. I don't need to be witness to your macho competitive spirits coming out to play."
"What are you going to do all day?" Hodgins asked.
"Oh, don't worry about me," Angela laughed, waving the hotel's spa brochure. "Besides, I'm kind of on-call for Brennan."
Hodgins walked over and gave her a kiss. "Good luck with that."
The boys headed out of the room, and Angela smiled, sinking back into her pillows to peruse the spa treatments.
Brennan had arrived at the nearest morgue early that morning and met Dr. Abbot, the head coroner, in the lobby. He led her down a small hallway to Exam Room 3.
"We're not as high-tech as the Jeffersonian, unfortunately," Dr. Abbot said. "We really don't get a lot of murders around here. Most of our clients don't have investigations surrounding them, but I hope you'll find our equipment sufficient."
"I'm honestly happy with anything at this point," Brennan smiled. "I'm sure your facilities will be just fine."
"Okay, well, your body was delivered here late yesterday evening. There's an x-ray machine in the basement, and the locker room and showers are across the hall," he directed. "We generally just wear scrubs around here. You'll find some spare sets in the closet."
"Do you have a wireless connection so I can contact the Jeffersonian?" she asked.
"Yes," Dr. Abbot said. "Unless you have any questions, you should be all ready to go."
"No questions right now," Brennan said. "Thank you."
She quickly slipped into the locker room to change into scrubs. She grabbed her laptop, storing the rest of her stuff in a guest locker, and headed to her exam room. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and took the body downstairs for x-rays.
Booth and Hodgins walked into the teal, windowless building that housed Disney Quest and headed straight for the second floor to play CyberSpace Mountain. After a short line, they got their turn at a design kiosk.
"Okay, you're the physics guy here," Booth said. "Make something good."
"How do you feel about going upside down?" Hodgins asked.
"I'm not Angela," Booth said. "Go for it!"
Hodgins began designing their ride as Booth watched. He pulled out his cell phone, checked it, and put it back in his jeans pocket. Hodgins laughed.
"She's not gonna call, man," Hodgins said. "You know Brennan. She's going to stare at those remains all day."
"Yeah, I know. I'm also waiting on that security footage, though," Booth reminded him. "This is a weird case. I don't like feeling like they're in control."
"Oh yeah, this case really sucks," Hodgins said sarcastically.
"You know, I always assumed you'd think places like this were just money traps or some sort of conspiracy like that."
"Oh, of course," Hodgins said. "Disney may be a complete money trap, but this beats being in a lab for four or five straight days. Okay, I'm done. Let's ride."
"I'm beaming the x-rays to you right now, Cam," Brennan said back in the morgue. She had established a video connection to the Jeffersonian.
"Anything I need to look out for?" Mr. Nigel-Murray asked, popping into frame.
"You should take another look when you clean the bones, but there doesn't appear to be anything significant on the x-rays," Brennan said. "Aside from the separated limb, of course."
"How are we feeling about that?" Cam asked. Brennan walked behind her exam table.
"The victim sustained a complex fracture to her left tibia, just below the patella. This was also the part of her body closest to the ride tracks, according to the initial crime scene photos, and therefore, probably decomposed at a quicker rate than the rest of the remains due to the proximity to a stronger current."
"Thanks to the motion of the boats," Nigel-Murray said.
"Yes," Brennan agreed. "The fracture's new, too. It looks as if it were sustained at or shortly before time of death."
"What's your estimate on that?" Cam asked.
"Wednesday or later," Brennan said. "As for the leg, I believe the fracture to the tibia was severe enough to perforate the tissue. When the tissue around the break decomposed, the leg separated."
"So…not intentional?" Cam asked.
"Correct," Brennan said. "There's no evidence of sawing or anything else that could've been used to deliberately dismember the leg. I am troubled by the lack of defensive wounds, though. The location, as well as the wound on her skull, suggests a violent death."
"I'll run a full tox screen when I get to the remains, see if she had something in her system to prevent her from fighting back," Cam said. "When will I get the remains?"
"Booth is arranging for Angela and Hodgins to fly home with the body on an FBI jet sometime tomorrow," Brennan said.
"What do you need from me now?" Cam asked.
"I would like permission to fully remove the flesh from just the skull so I can analyze the trauma to confirm cause of death and possibly find a weapon. Then, I can pass the skull to Angela and she can hopefully get us an ID," Brennan said. "I'd also like to remove the flesh from the separated leg just to confirm the severing was not intentional."
"Are you going to ask for a freebie if I say no?" Cam asked.
"Yes," Brennan replied.
"Knock yourself out," Cam said. Upon Brennan's confused glare, she added, "Not literally, of course."
"Thank you." She walked back over to her computer to end the conference call.
"Is that glitter on your face, Dr. Brennan?" Cam asked with a smile.
Brennan covered her cheek. All of the rainbow face paint from the day before had washed off, but the glitter was not so easily removed. "Ugh, don't ask," Brennan said.
Early that afternoon, Booth and Hodgins walked out of the Virtual Jungle Cruise game and headed upstairs for the Extraterrestrial Alien game.
"I get to be the controller this time!" Hodgins protested.
"No way," Booth said. "I'm the driver."
"You controlled the ship on the pirates game. I want a turn!" Hodgins whined.
Before Booth could protest further, his phone started ringing. He answered it as they walked up the stairs. "Hey, Bones, how's it going?"
"Fine," Brennan said. "Where are you? It's loud."
"Disney Quest," he said.
"Where?"
"It's like a giant arcade," he said. "What'cha got for me?"
"Security sent that footage you asked for. The cameras are supposed to run twenty-four hours a day, but there's a significant chunk of time missing from Saturday morning. There's nothing between 2:30 AM and a little after 4 AM. According to the schedule, the park was closed, but they were having a special cast member event for their employees."
"That fits your estimated time of death," Booth said.
"And Sweets's idea that the people involved are employees with inside access," Brennan added. "I called security and asked them about it. They said there must have been an unrecorded glitch in the system."
"More likely someone knew what they were doing and turned the cameras off."
"That's what I was thinking," Brennan agreed.
"So what are you doing now?" Booth asked.
"I'm about to begin removing flesh from the skull," Brennan said. "What are you doing?"
"I'm about to go blow up some aliens," Booth said.
"Well, at least you're being productive," Brennan said sarcastically.
Late that afternoon, Brennan returned to their hotel to pick up Angela and take her back to the morgue. When Angela wasn't waiting in the lobby, Brennan headed up to their rooms. She raised her hand to knock on Angela's door but stopped upon hearing Angela's voice inside.
"A little to the right…yes," Angela moaned.
"Oh my god," Brennan muttered, assuming Hodgins had returned earlier than planned. She knocked on the door anyway.
"Carlos, could you see who that is?" Angela asked as Brennan's eyes widened.
"It's a woman," she heard Carlos say. "Tall, light brown hair, pretty necklace."
Brennan fingered her necklace as she heard Angela tell Carlos to open the door. Brennan walked in hesitantly to find a naked Angela lying on her stomach on a massage table. Angela opened her eyes and waved at Brennan.
"What are you doing?" Brennan asked. "I need you in the lab."
"It's after five. I'm off the clock," she sighed as Carlos began massaging her foot.
"You haven't been on the clock yet," Brennan reminded her.
"But Brennan, I have, like, fifty-six minutes left!" Angela said.
"You started an hour-long massage four minutes ago when I called you twenty minutes ago to say I was coming to get you? Why would you do that?" Brennan asked.
"Because I know you, sweetie," Angela said, propping herself up on her elbows to look at Brennan. "And 'I'm leaving the lab right now,' normally means 'I'm leaving the lab in an hour.' How was I supposed to know this would be the one time you were actually being serious?"
"Okay, Ange? I'm being serious. Get up," Brennan said. Angela did nothing but toss a spare towel to Brennan. "What would you like me to do with this?"
"Take your clothes off and let me call another masseur up here! The skull will still be there in an hour, and you've been really stressed lately. A massage would do you good."
"Skull?" Carlos asked. "What do you guys do?"
"Don't worry yourself with that, honey, and call one of your hot male coworkers to come do my friend over here," Angela said. "And make sure he comes here, so we can chat."
"Angela," Brennan protested.
"You could always wait and ask Booth to rub you later. I bet he'd say yes," Angela smiled. Brennan glared at her. "Bren, spa services go on the hotel bill. The Jeffersonian will pay for it!"
Brennan thought about that for a moment. "Make the call," she said, slipping into the bathroom to remove her clothes.
"Good choice, Brennan!" Angela called as Carlos picked up the phone.
Slightly less than an hour later, Booth and Hodgins returned to the hotel. Hodgins was looking through his bag of souvenirs, so Booth used the scientist's key to gain access to Hodgins and Angela's room. He immediately yelped and closed the door again. Hodgins shot him a look.
"They…they're…naked," Booth stuttered.
"Angela and Brennan?" Hodgins asked with concern. "Together?"
Hodgins hurriedly opened the door again. Angela was lying on her back, covered by a towel from chest to mid-thigh as Carlos worked on her shoulders. Brennan was lying on her stomach with a towel draped across her bottom. A second man was working on her lower back. Angela peeked her eyes open to greet the new arrivals.
"Hi, boys," Angela said. Brennan didn't move.
"At least I'm being productive, huh?" Booth asked, looking at Brennan. She opened one eye to frown at him.
"I am taking care of my own health," Brennan said. "Video games do nothing to benefit either the case or you personally. Besides, the Jeffersonian's paying. How do I say no to that?"
"Seriously?" Booth asked. "I work for the wrong governmental organization."
Brennan slipped her eyes shut again, letting out a sigh as her masseur's hands rubbed up her back. Angela's time was up, so she wrapped the towel around herself, thanked and tipped Carlos, and walked over to Hodgins. She planted a passionate kiss on his lips.
"So you want to come help me get dressed?" she said in a flirtatious tone.
"Yeah, okay," Hodgins smiled, running his hand over her towel-covered back.
"No!" Brennan said. "We are going to the lab. You do not have time for that."
"Fine," Angela pouted, going into the bathroom to get dressed by herself.
"If we're going to the lab, shouldn't you be getting up?" Booth asked.
"I have seven more minutes," she said. Booth continued to stand where he was in front of her table. Brennan opened one eye again. "Are you going to watch?"
"Yes," Booth said, sitting on a chair, hoping that would make her forgo her last few minutes and get up quicker. Brennan smirked.
"Oh, right there," Brennan sighed as her masseur's fingers traveled over her back.
Booth looked to the ceiling and uncomfortably fidgeted as she moaned. Once more, and Booth stood and pointed to their room. "I'll just be over there," he said as Brennan laughed.
Back in the morgue, Angela sat on one side of the exam table, sketching the victim's face, while Booth, Brennan, and Hodgins stood on the other side, looking at both photos of the skull and a computerized, magnified image of the victim's forehead.
"Cause of death was blunt force trauma resulting in a subdural hematoma," Brennan said, pointing to the computer screen. "The victim was struck on the frontal bone here."
"With what?" Booth asked.
"I don't know," Brennan answered.
"Feel like guessing?" Booth asked.
"Something spherical," she said, pointing to the screen as she explained. "There's no entry wound, but if you increase the magnification…microscopic fractures on the bone, radiating from a center…here."
"So you'll need me or Nigel-Murray to find the weapon," Hodgins said.
"Yes," Brennan said. "As soon as you can."
"It's going to be something that doesn't look like a weapon," Booth said.
"How do you know?" Brennan asked.
"They search you at the park's entrance, remember?" he said. "No way someone gets in with a weapon, even at an employee event."
"My sketch isn't getting any hits from missing persons," Angela said.
"Print a copy," Booth said. "We'll get it on local news. Maybe a coworker will see it."
Angela printed a copy of her sketch and pulled the original out of the scanner. "She was killed Friday night," she said.
"Saturday morning," Brennan corrected. "If we're using the lack of security footage to determine time of death."
"Still, that's a long time for no one to realize you're gone," Angela said sadly.
For dinner, the boys surprised the girls with reservations at the Rainforest Café in Downtown Disney. The restaurant was busy, with waiters and customers constantly walking every which way. Their table was situated next to a large animatronic elephant.
"These glasses are ridiculous," Brennan said, holding up her blinking margarita glass.
"I like it," Booth said, talking a large drink out of his.
Hodgins, seated closest to the elephant, jumped as it suddenly sprang to life, moving and making noise. Everyone laughed as Hodgins looked embarrassed.
"So what exactly did you do all day?" Hodgins asked Angela once the noise died down.
"I went swimming in the morning and lay out in the sun for a little while. Then I had lunch," Angela said. "Then I went down to the spa and had a lavender vanilla aromatherapy bath and got my nails done. Then I ordered a massage to my room, and then Brennan showed up."
"Sounds like you had a lazy day," Hodgins said.
"And loved every second of…oh," Angela said, stopping to whine as a little girl dressed like a princess walked by their table. She and her mother joined a table with two other little princesses. "Oh my god, these little princesses make my ovaries hurt."
"That's…impossible," Brennan laughed.
One of the stores in Downtown Disney featured a boutique where, for a pretty hefty price, little girls could have their hair and makeup done and be outfitted to look like a Disney princess. Little girls with glittery hair and sparkly dresses could be found all over the resort.
"Oh, no it's not," Angela whined.
"I get what you mean," Hodgins agreed. "We are totally bringing our daughter to that princess boutique someday."
"Oh, can't you just imagine how adorable she'll be?" Angela smiled, as both of them turned to look at the little glamorous girls.
"What are they talking about?" Brennan asked, leaning over to Booth.
"I think they just decided to have a baby," Booth joked, whispering to her.
Later that evening, Booth and Brennan sat on their individual beds, attempting to watch the evening news. They weren't taking much of the information in, however, because the sounds of their friends' extracurricular activities one room over overpowered the sound from the television. The partners sat awkwardly staring at the TV, not making eye contact with one another, as Hodgins and Angela's satisfied moans drifted over from next door. Angela let out a small scream, and Booth cringed, turning to Brennan.
"Wanna go to the beach?" Booth asked.
"Yes," Brennan said immediately as they quickly got up.
Down on the resort's small beach, they walked barefoot in the sand, wearing their pajamas and light jackets. They walked close together, but both were silent.
"Considering the cost of this resort, you'd think they would have thicker walls," Brennan finally said. Booth laughed in agreement.
"Either that or Angela's just loud," Booth said. Brennan chuckled and fell back into silence. "You okay, Bones?"
"I hate this case," she said. "I feel like we're getting nowhere. We don't even know her name, Booth."
"We will," Booth said.
"It's hard not to get discouraged with this one."
"I know, but hey," he said, grabbing her hand so she'd look up at him. "Slow may be irritating, but slow and steady wins the race."
"Promise?" she asked.
"Yeah," he smiled, letting go of her hand and wrapping his arm around her as they walked along the shore.
I haven't been to Disney Quest yet, but it sounded like something the guys would enjoy. Again, if you're interested, you can find everything Disney mentioned here online.
Review? Please?