Sorry for the slow update. My free time died. But I will work to get atleast one chapter of this up per week. Starting a fresh story, even if it is a sequel, is somehow much more challenging (and much more prone to writer's block) then writing chapters really far into one.
Anyways, you don't care about any of that. Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy :)
"Hey!" a friendly voice called. She glanced up from the skeleton on the table in front of her to see Cam coming up the steps to the lab platform. "Thought you could use some company," she commented, her eyebrows raised as her gaze swept over the nearly deserted work area. Just a few squints could be seen doing various tasks, none of them anywhere really near her work station. Essentially she'd been alone except for the middle-aged Caucasian woman's body.
She smiled and nodded, "Thanks. It feels... sort of empty around here."
"I know... without those two it's almost like all the life's been sucked out of here, isn't it?"
She nodded grimly in response. "Exactly."
The skull that she was holding just above the surface of the table while she spoke seemed to mock them both. Death was their only company here, wasn't it? She couldn't remember a time when she'd come to work and Angela hadn't been there... save for those rare vacations she'd taken to the desert, and even then Ange had maintained a constant connection via email and webcam. Now... well she was far away on her honeymoon with Hodgins, and despite how much her bubbly and enthusiastic personality was missed by her and apparently by Cam as well, she was glad her best friend was enjoying herself. Hodgins too. They were both truly good friends, given how much they cared about her and how much she trusted them. The last few months would have been terrifying without them around, that was certain.
She'd tried not to consider it as a possibility, but it did seem fairly likely that Ange had made sure the wedding landed months ahead was more than just because she'd wanted it to be well-planned and different from the first one. From her actions and the way she'd talked, too, it had seemed that maybe she wanted to make sure that she'd be okay when they were gone. With Booth always shadowing her around though, it wasn't like it was a huge deal.
"Where's Booth?" Cam asked conversationally. "I know Nigel is supervising over in limbo with the newer students who're getting a head start on their lessons and on no doubt attempting to impress you... but he's never... far away." Cam had taken to calling the grad-student by his shortened name very quickly once Booth had gotten started. Apparently she wasn't fond of using the entire title to address him either.
"He's over at the FBI building," she answered the question with a slight sigh. She hit herself mentally for allowing that to escape along with the words. Her and Cam were good friends, yes, but she didn't need to complain about missing his presence to his former girlfriend who was also her boss. And she didn't want to sound incompetent to function on her own either, because that was certainly not true. She was fine without him constantly standing nearby. She just... missed his presence. Maybe more than she liked to admit.
"Don't we have a case?" the other woman asked, sounded confused, and Temperance couldn't really blame her. She wasn't even sure why he was needed over there when they should be doing... well, what they normally did. It was a newer case, and they didn't even have any solid evidence gathered yet to get a suspect. What did Cullen need him for?
"I'm sure he'll be here soon," she said, glancing towards the door as she spoke.
"Probably. In the meantime... what do you have so far on this one? Anything for me yet?"
She shook her head to indicate negative on the second question. There weren't any skin tissue or brain matter or anything resembling organs left for the coroner to work with. This was going to be one of those bones only cases, where they'd have to work with only the particulates as extra evidence. Without Hodgins... well that was a bit of a challenge. Apparently they had some fill-in entomologist coming later today to help out. She wasn't looking forward to it. Luckily they weren't sending in a new forensic artist. That position they could handle keeping empty for a few weeks until Ange returned.
"This would be a lot easier with Hodgins," she muttered under her breath as she set the skull back down in irritation. There were plenty of particulates which had gathered on the bones, and there were also a good deal of samples collected from both the building she'd been found in and the surrounding marsh land behind it.
"I'll call for Nigel if you like."
"No, it's fine. I would just normally have Hodgins collect the samples he needed from the skeleton before I began my own in depth analysis. I've had to take the samples myself..." she gestured to the slides that were laid out over in Hodgins' area, "But I'd like to defer to him before having Mr. Nigel-Murray clean the bones off completely so we can look for cause of death. It's not blindingly obvious on this one..." She trailed off as she picked up the skull again and turned it over in her hands, searching for any signs she might have missed the first time of trauma or inside staining. She hadn't really realized how much she'd come to trust and rely on Hodgins expertise before now. She might need to be more grateful towards him in the future, she thought with slight amusement. He'd like that way too much, no doubt.
"Well, I don't see any bullets, so you can cross one thing off."
She was about to retort and say that the absence of a bullet did not necessarily mean a gun was not used, as well as that it didn't help since there were any number of ways to kill someone, but when she turned to look at Cam before speaking she saw the look on her boss's face and realized she must have been teasing slightly.
She smiled slightly in understanding and set the skull back down.
"I'll be in my office if you need me," Cam said, sensing that there really wasn't anything else for them to talk about before it got more awkward. At least, that was the reason that Temperance figured she must be leaving for. She simply nodded.
"Sure, Cam."
"One good thing about Hodgins not being here, I suppose," Cam added, turning around once she was already off the platform. "Nothing's exploded yet today."
She found herself chuckling at the comment, shaking her head before turning her attention back to the bones. The sound of Cam's clicking heels faded away and she was left in silence again.
It wasn't long, though, until she heard the distinct sound of the doors sliding open, and she immediately felt her eyes shoot up to see who it was. She let out a sigh of disappointment, seeing that it was her assistant rather than Booth. But she brightened immensely from her previous demeanor as he joined her on the platform and they were finally able to progress further in their work on the skeleton.
"Any news of the temporary entomologist's arrival?" Nigel-Murray asked her as he carefully set down the rib he'd been studying.
"None as of yet... he's supposed to be here sometime today."
"That's not very specific," muttered the grad-student. She laughed slightly at his tone, but felt the bitter sting of it, too. So very much like something Zach would have said... but she nodded her agreement with what he'd pointed out. She was annoyed about that, too. She'd wanted a specific time frame, something that had not been supplied to her. Or to Cam, either, who was more frustrated than herself at that, surely.
The doors slid open again, and this time she outright scowled to see that it wasn't Booth. She almost turned her head back to Nigel-Murray, but suddenly her gaze snapped around back to the doors, her eyes wide.
It wasn't possible...
A tall man with a receding hairline was coming towards the platform. Although the hair color was tinted with grey it was still mostly the same dark brown, nearly black. His features hadn't altered much with age; he was still clearly recognizable. The only changes appeared to be a few wrinkle lines and a slight limp in his left leg that hadn't been there before.
"So very nice to see you again, Temperance," he greeted her, sliding his temporary ID card through the scanner and making his way up the rest of the way to the platform.
"Dr. Thomson," she greeted him with a cold tone and a nod, leaving all emotion out of it and off of her face. If anything, she knew she must look intimidating. "And it's Dr. Brennan to you."
He smiled in response. "Haven't changed much, I see..." he noted. "I was requested, seeing as I was giving some lectures nearby, to fill in during a..." he consulted a file folder he was holding, "...leave of absence for a Dr. Hodgins."
She nodded stiffly, suddenly really wishing she had more company then just her grad-student. She greatly disliked the man whom she'd first had to work with when she'd arrived at the Jeffersonian, and Nigel-Murray was anything but helping the intimidation shield she was putting up. He was standing next to her looking rather bewildered.
She forced a smile onto her face as she gestured to him, "Dr. Thomson, this is my assistant, Mr. Nigel-Murray."
The two shook hands, and she could see clear scrutiny from the older man, and then contempt in his eyes as he stepped back. She was going to have a serious word with Cam for this. Or, if her boss truly hadn't realized who was coming and the fact that he'd worked here before, she'd go another step up and get herself in contact with Dr. Goodman.
"I head you've been working with the FBI," he commented, sounding the slightest bit curious.
"Yes," she answered simply, refusing to offer more information so easily to him.
"Field work for someone who's never left this lab since she arrived and forced her command onto those who'd been here far longer, with more experience?"
She ground her teeth together slightly, contemplating whether it was appropriate to break his arm now, or wait until he said something that might be more reasonable to justify such an attack.
"I found good work elsewhere, though, since you clearly aren't going to ask how things went for me since I had to leave."
"You quit, if I remember correctly," she snapped irritably. "Now, I strongly suggest you go over there and start analyzing those samples I've already prepared. We're in the middle of a murder investigation, and I don't particularly care about your entire history."
"No, you wouldn't, would you?" he hissed, taking a step towards her. "You arrogant little-"
"Bones!" another voice interrupted him. Then, in alarm, "Bones?" She didn't look away from her furious glare at the other man as she heard her partner's card slide through the reader and his footsteps pound up the stairs and over to them. He roughly shoved Thomson backwards with both hands. "Is there a problem here?" he snarled in the other man's face, practically pinning him against the desk he was supposed to be working at."
"And you're the FBI Agent, I suppose?" he responded.
"Yeah, I'm the FBI Agent. You have a problem with Dr. Brennan, pal? Because if you do, I think you should consider voicing it now, and we'll get this over with."
"There's no problem," he insisted, finally looking a bit ruffled by Booth's angry face pressed into his personal space. He turned to her for confirmation, raising an eyebrow.
"He used to work here," she said stiffly. "We didn't get along." Booth was apparently going to wait for further explanation, so she sighed and finished, "He couldn't take no for an answer. He quit because Goodman threatened to fire him when he failed to get me fired."
"Who let him in here?" Booth asked incredulously, as though shocked by the concept of someone she disliked coming anywhere near her. She sighed, deciding that instead of being comforted by his protectiveness, this was one of those times when she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
"He's filling in for Dr. Hodgins until he gets back," Nigel-Murray piped up from where he was still standing off to the side.
"Great," Booth muttered sarcastically. "I'm keeping an eye on you," he warned Thomson, and then stepped away from him and back over to her. "Don't hesitate to call if he gives you trouble," he told her.
She responded with an icy glare, her mood from the untimely arrival of such an annoyance not yet faded and now being transferred instead. "I can take care of myself," she snapped a bit more forcibly than she'd intended.
His eyes widened and he took a step back from her in surprise.
"Hey, easy, Bones. Sorry... are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she hissed, snapping on a fresh pair of rubber gloves and turning her attention back to the skeleton. She spoke to Nigel-Murray as she would if they were the only ones there. Her eagerness to see Booth today had been spoiled, and that only worsened her irritation with how things were going.
She could tell he was giving her a concerned look without even looking up at him. For once, she wanted him to just leave so she could calm down and handle the situation between herself and Thomson professionally. Even if professionally ended up including paying for his hospital bill should she have to break his wrist.
He'd been doing it more and more as of late... threatening anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way. He'd been careful about doing that before, but as the months had slid past he'd gone back to it again... it was instinct, she supposed, since he was technically her boyfriend and they'd only grown closer as more time passed. Maybe she should have chastised him on it sooner rather than letting it build up, she thought with a sigh.
Finally she looked up, told Nigel-Murray to continue working, and motioned for Booth to follow her to her office.
"Was that necessary?" she asked tiredly once they were inside.
He scratched the back of his head a bit sheepishly. "I don't like guys like him," was his answer.
"I know," she sighed. "But you have to understand that I'm perfectly capable of fighting my own battles. You're support I'll accept, but you taking over and making me look like I need saving... that I just can't... I just can't handle that, Booth."
He winced apologetically. "Sorry, Bones. Really. I'll behave myself in the future. Pinky swear." He watched her for a moment and then smiled wider, "Hey, you actually know that one, don't you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Booth, I know that one."
He grinned widely. "Are we good?" he asked.
"Yeah. You're forgiven," she added on the end with a grin of her own. He beamed back at her.
"Good. Because I wouldn't be able to do this if you were angry with me..." he gently pulled her close to him and kissed her.
She pulled carefully away to address him, and he let her slide easily from his grasp.
"And since when have you cared whether I'm mad at you or not to do that?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Last time I checked, half of our arguments end with you simply kissing me into silence."
"Bickering," he corrected automatically. "And it worked, now didn't it?"
She chuckled. "Fine, yes, it worked. Happy now?"
"Almost," he answered, pulling her in for another kiss.
"I have to get back to work," she said with a sigh as she pulled away again. "Murderers need catching. Speaking of which, what did you have to do at the Hoover building this morning that you kept you away for so long?"
"Something called work," he answered teasingly. "But Cullen wanted me in his office to discuss... things."
"Me."
He sighed and looked away, confirming her assumption.
She nodded to herself before speaking again. "Did he want to talk about my well-being, or about our relationship?"
Booth grated his teeth a bit, keeping his gaze averted, and then finally relented with, "Both."
She nodded again thoughtfully. "What did you tell him?"
"The truth."
"Exactly what did he ask?" she questioned. She had to know.
"He just wanted to check in on you. Make sure you were holding up, okay, Bones?"
She bit her lip at his tone, and then relented. "Okay," she responded quietly.
Booth groaned. "Sorry, Bones, it's just... it just didn't make my morning incredibly enjoyable. Especially since I didn't get to spend it here, with you."
"That's understandable," she answered. His sudden outburst with Thomson suddenly made a lot more sense, since he'd only ever really glared or threatened those who he thought might be upsetting her, never doing so violently up until now.
"Thanks," he murmured. He'd apparently read into her facial expression and figured out that she'd made the connection, because she could see in his eyes and hear in his voice that he was saying thanks for more than just her understanding. Her social perceptions skills were highly attuned to him, and they were even improving immensely for others as well. With his help, of course.
"Back to work," she said, this time more firmly than the first.
"Yup," he answered, and he hurried past her to get the door. She rolled her eyes as he grinned cheekily, and then they both headed back up to the platform.