A Pain That I'm Used To—Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with BONES. I only own the characters that are not usually part of the series.
Author's notes: Thanks again to everyone who is reading this story and special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review. Each review helps push me to update just a little sooner if possible. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
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Booth paced around Brennan's office after she had hung up on him. He had made plans to rise early and meet her at the lab at 7 am since he knew that she would want to start on the remains as soon as possible. The word 'shocked' did not begin to describe Booth's expression upon entering the lab and then Brennan's office to find that she was not present.
And the word 'worried' did not begin to effectively describe Booth's mood as he started dialing Brennan's cell phone and home phone numbers. He was more panic-stricken than he cared to admit. It simply was not like Brennan to be late, especially to the lab.
Although he had joked with her about checking the lab and dragging her away from it if she had returned last night, Booth had called shortly after arriving at home and spoke with one of the security officers. The man confirmed that Dr. Brennan had indeed left the premises and had not returned.
It wasn't that Booth didn't trust Brennan…he just knew how these cases seemed to overtake her. And, he admitted to himself, he, like Angela, was worried about the possible emotional ramifications of this new case if the remains belonged to Ronald and Katherine Thompson. He had not missed the pained expression that had momentarily graced her face as she stood over one of the remains and stared up at him and the sheriff. Booth had watched as she righted herself and continued working as though Sheriff Fife had never mentioned the Thompsons.
Booth stopped pacing as he surveyed the office, noticing some of the artwork and odd fixtures Brennan had used as decoration. He had never really noticed how gruesome some of the artifacts were. He meandered over to one of the shelves and picked up a shrunken head by the small twig of hair sticking out of the top, bringing it to his eye level.
He whistled as he stared at the grotesque features. "Tough luck there, huh, dude?"
"Would you mind putting William back where you found him please?" Brennan breezed into the office, tossing her bag on the couch before seating herself behind her desk.
"You named this thing William?" He quickly placed 'William's' head back on the shelf before Brennan put his on display.
"No, Angela did. William is one of her ex-boyfriends," she explained as she quickly checked her email.
"Hmm…I thought Angela had better taste," he joked as he walked over to the couch, moved Brennan's bag and sat down.
"Well we can't all date lawyers," she said smoothly as she typed a reply to one of the emails.
Booth raised an eyebrow at her comment. "Or investment bankers…right?" he parried. They were tied one for one in the snarky comment department that morning.
Brennan turned toward him and narrowed her eyes. "Right…" She finished typing her reply as Booth watched silently. Once she had finished her task, she swiveled her chair, got up, grabbed her lab coat from its place on the coat rack and walked out the door.
Booth groaned as he hoisted himself off the couch and followed her to the platform area. "It's going to be another beautiful day in the neighborhood…," he muttered to himself.
After the couple had both swiped their respective keycards to enter the platform area, Booth took a seat and watched as Brennan pulled on a pair of latex gloves and opened one of the boxes. She patiently and fastidiously set about laying the pieces of the skeletons on the examination table.
"So, which one is that?" Booth queried as he picked up a long straight steel instrument and began fiddling with it.
"The female victim," Brennan replied as she reached over and grabbed the instrument out of his hands. "Stop playing with the instruments."
Booth grinned at her, knowing that he had annoyed her. "Then give me something else to play with."
"Now there's an invitation if I've ever heard one," Angela said as she ascended the platform.
Booth wagged his eyebrows playfully causing Angela to laugh. "Okay, sweetie, when do you think you'll be ready for me to put faces to our victims?"
Brennan turned back to the examination table and continued her task. "I'm almost done with Jane Doe and then I need to place John Doe on the other table. After that, Hodgins will need to examine the bones for particulates and Zach and I will…"
"So we're looking at this afternoon probably," Angela supplied with a small smile. Her best friend could get a little long winded at times when discussing bones.
"Yes, this afternoon." Brennan set about removing the remains from the second box and placing the bones on the examination table.
"Okay then, I'm going to print out the copies of the photographs that I took at the site yesterday. Booth, do you need copies for your file?" Angela asked the agent as she turned to walk to her office.
"Yeah Ange, that would be helpful." Booth continued to watch Brennan work for a few minutes. "Sheriff Fife is faxing over all of the information on the missing persons file he has. He's also emailing the last photographs taken of Ronald and Katherine Thompson a few weeks before they disappeared."
Brennan's hands stopped moving for a moment as she digested what Booth had told her. "You're under the assumption that these remains belong to the Thompsons." She said it more as a statement than a question.
"I think that it's a good bet considering your preliminary findings and how well they match up with the description of the Thompsons," Booth replied, noticing a small tremor in Brennan's right hand as she pulled another piece of the skeleton out of the box. "You okay Bones?"
Concentrate on your breathing…concentrate on your breathing. "I'm fine. Just tired I guess." She resumed her task again, hoping that Booth would not question her any further.
"Okay…I'm going to the office to get that fax and print out the photos from the email. I'll be back this afternoon." He stood and walked toward the stairs. As he began to descend, he turned back just in time to see Brennan place her hands on the side of the examination table, bowing her head. If Booth hadn't known better, he would have almost sworn that his partner was praying.