So, I felt bad about the cliff hanger - so here is the next chapter. Hope you like it :)
Chapter Nine: The Good in the Man
They drove in silence. Brennan had refused to wait more than half an hour and so Booth had borrowed Sarah's car to get to the police station.
Sarah had been shocked when Booth had told her of her husband's arrest, and Booth wondered if maybe she didn't know what her husband had done. He felt so terrible for her, and Josephine and Ella – he felt like somehow, he had betrayed them. He knew that he had done no wrong – nor had Brennan. But it still felt as though they had.
Sarah still seemed as hopeful as ever as she handed the keys to Booth. She looked pained, but she did not look like a woman who thought her husband was a murderer.
'There is more to this story than it seems, Seeley. Don't give up on him.'
He'd nodded as he'd gotten in the car, the words echoing in his head, so similar to what Al had said to him about Brennan yesterday.
There was a feeling he just couldn't shake. The feeling that Al just couldn't have done it.
He looked at Brennan, who was staring out the window. She looked fairly calm.
He reached out, placing his hand on her knee.
'You okay, Bones?'
She turned to him, frowning slightly, as if she was trying to figure it out.
'I know Al, Booth. I know what kind of person he is. He's too good to have done this.'
She paused a moment, composing herself.
'Do you know how Al and I became friends, Booth?'
He shook his head, looking at her.
'You know that I had little money when I was younger – and it was no different at university. I had a scholarship, but most of it went too my course fees, and I had little left over for books, or food, or rent.'
Booth nodded, wondering where the story was headed.
'I couldn't afford all the books for my classes. They were expensive, so I only bought the ones that I thought were essential. But in one of my classes, the Professor made a huge deal out of the fact that I didn't have his book, and that I hadn't done the assigned reading. He told me that until I had his book, I couldn't come back.' She shook her head, looking out the window.
'How long did it take you to get the book?' Booth asked, still wondering how Al came into it.
She smiled a small smile, looking at me. 'About thirty seconds.'
Booth nodded, finally realising where the story was headed.
'Al had been sitting behind me, and he just passed the book to me without a word. Inside he'd written "Temperance Brennan", as if the book had been mine all along.'
She crossed her arms, turning back to look at Booth.
'He wouldn't accept it back; he wouldn't even admit that he'd given the damn thing to me. He acted as though he'd just found my book on his desk, and returned it to me.'
She shook her head again, and rubbed her eyes.
'A man like that does not commit murder,' she muttered.
.-.-.-.-.-.
'He didn't do it,' Martin said to Booth, after Brennan had headed down to her little lab to look at the skeletons again.
Booth was stunned.
'What?' He asked, heading to the door so he could find Brennan. She'd be absolutely thrilled – and he couldn't deny, so was he. 'How do you figure?'
'The scar only looks like a human bite mark at a stretch,' Martin admitted, somewhat sheepishly.
Booth was shocked at Martin's admittance, and looked flabbergasted for a moment. But only for a moment - anger soon bubbled up inside him, and he suddenly felt the urge to crush this man beneath his fist. He stepped forward, towering over Martin.
'You tell us this now?'
'I'm telling you this, Booth,' he said pointedly, standing his ground before Booth.
Booth stared at him, wondering what was wrong with the man. He arrested Al for no good reason, and then didn't even tell him or Brennan that he knew their friend was innocent?
Is he a sociopath or something?
'Why the hell would you do this?'
Martin sighed deeply, before turning to face the two way mirror. Al sat in the interrogation room, looking nervous and tired, as if he was at the end of his tether. Booth could hardly blame him, and now felt bad for having believed the worst of him.
'He's hiding something. You can see it, Booth,' he said, turning back around to face Booth. 'That man has endured months of accusations, risked his career, and has generally suffered greatly for a crime he obviously didn't commit.'
Booth considered Martin with a new kind of respect. He nodded, stepping towards the mirror to watch Al. Behind him, Martin continued to speak.
'This is the first time Al has been pulled in over something more than here-say and speculation. Yes, the scar wasn't made by human teeth and Al himself can probably prove that. But he's shaken. He's not a lawyer, and I think he could be convinced that because of that scar on his leg, he could be taken to court.'
Booth shook his head, not liking where it was going, but he could see the logic in Martin's thinking.
'Bones would never have let you do this, so she couldn't know.' He said quietly, turning to look at Martin, who was nodding.
'You can see how tired he is, Booth. He's ready to talk. He just needs the right person to talk too.'
Martin looked at him pointedly, and Booth nodded.
'You have to find out what he knows, what he's done – whatever it is that he is keeping secret. Once you do that, Al will be free to go, and we'll be closer to solving the case.'
'I don't like this,' Booth said, heading over to the door.
'You don't have too,' Martin replied, smiling grimly at Booth, before adding. 'But you know this is the best thing to do. You'd have done the exact same thing if you weren't personally connected to Alexander, or Dr Brennan. And in the end, this is what is best for both of them.'
Booth nodded, leaving the room. He couldn't deny Martin's logic.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Booth closed the door quietly behind him, turning to find Al smiling at him, despite the fact that he had been waiting in an interrogation room for the last hour, handcuffed, and in on murder charges.
'I'm not going to hold this against you, you know,' Al said, flashing his cheeky grin. Booth could see behind the facade, but he was still surprised by the frivolity the Al seemed to possess.
Booth sat down across from him, reaching out to uncuff Al. Al smiled, taking back his hands and massaging his wrists.
'Thanks,' he said, sitting back, looking almost relaxed.
'I know you didn't do it, Al.'
Al nodded, trying to smile. 'I'm surprised by how fast Tempe believed I had, though,' he said, and Booth could see that he was hurt.
He shook his head. 'She didn't,' he said, pulling out two photos from the case file. 'She told me she couldn't believe you could do such a thing. Instead, she told me a story, about what a great man you are.'
Al shook his head, looking directly at Booth, and pointedly away from the photos. So, Booth picked them up, right in the way of Al's view.
He put the photos down, pushing them across the table towards Al, who, after a few moments, finally picked up the picture of the girl.
'Justine Cooper,' Booth said, and Al nodded, staring at the photo of the female victim.
'Be that great man that Temperance knows you are, Al,' Booth said quietly, watching Al. 'It's time you tell the truth.'
Al put the picture down, placing it carefully on the table, as if it were precious. Booth was reeling through possibilities in his mind, wondering what it was that Al could be keeping from the world.
Affair? Drugs? Love Child? Blackmail?
Nothing seemed to fit.
Finally Al spoke.
'She reminded me so much of Temperance,' he said quietly, picking up the photo again. 'Justine was so smart, so vibrant, so confident – so beautiful,' he added, handing the photo to Booth.
He considered the picture. The girl had been beautiful, undoubtedly. Booth could see that the photo would have done her no justice. Though she bore no resemblance to Brennan, there was a similar air too both the women that Booth had not observed before.
Booth looked back at Al, who looked unbearably sad.
'She was amazing, Seeley. I'd never come across a student more adept, more inspiring. I think she would have even given Temperance a run for her money,' he said, smiling wryly. 'I couldn't believe it when they found her body. I'd hoped that she'd run away – but I'd never really believed she would have. She wasn't the type to run away from things.'
Booth could see that Al was going to talk, that he'd finally decided to tell the truth.
Al looked at Booth pointedly.
'I want you to know Seeley, that I didn't lie for my own sake. I did it for her,' he said, gesturing at the photo of Justine.
'She's dead, Al. You should have spoken up before things got out of hand.'
But he shook his head. 'I made her a promise, Seeley. She trusted me.'
Al paused again, and Booth thought it looked as though he was trying to figure out where to start. Deciding to help him along, Booth asked him a question.
'Did you have a sexual relationship with Justine, Al?' He asked quietly, sitting back in his chair and watching Al's reaction.
Al didn't look surprised by the question. 'I did not.' He said quietly. 'But the relationship we shared was inappropriate. It was inappropriate for a first year university student and her professor to be so close... but she was so – charming, Booth. I couldn't help but be taken with her.' He paused. 'It's that relationship, which fuelled her sexual allegations against me. People readily assumed that we were having all sorts of sordid affairs,' he said, looking pained. 'I shouldn't have gotten so close to her,' he muttered, pushing the photo of her away, as if distancing himself from her in her death would somehow help him now.
'Why did she make complaints against you?' Booth asked, leaning forward on the desk.
Al looked at him. 'I didn't know, to start with. She'd gone home one night, happy as a clam, and by the next night I had been given a warning, and the faculty had started to investigate me.'
'But you found out why she had accused you, before she was murdered?' Booth asked, watching Al intently.
Al nodded. 'That argument people apparently saw us have? That wasn't an argument. That was an apology.'
He smiled humourlessly.
'She told me then what had happened, why she'd done it. She apologised profusely, and then she told me her troubles. And I helped her, I promised to help her.'
Al's face crumpled with sadness, and for a moment he hid his face in his hands. Booth was surprised by the outburst of emotion, and didn't know what to do. Luckily, Al regained composure quickly.
'She was pregnant,' he burst out, and Booth could see that this was the secret that he'd been keeping since the moment he'd been told by Justine herself. Booth was surprised – in this day and age, it was hardly that scandalous.
Booth tried to understand, mulling over the facts in his head.
Al smiled at him. 'You're wondering why I kept that quiet for so long,' he said, leaning forward in his chair, so that he was closer to Booth. Booth nodded.
'She's terrified of her parents,' he said, shaking his head sadly. 'Even now, I wouldn't be surprised if she was turning in her grave because I just told you this,'
Booth frowned, looking over the case files. There had only been a brief mention of the girl's parents, and it had been none too in depth.
'They were uber-religious, fundamentalist to the core. Justine herself was quite spiritual - there was no way she was going to abort the child,'
Booth nodded. 'Why would she have made allegations against you? I doubt that would have made her parents all that happy?'
Al nodded. 'She needed money, she needed to be independent before her parents found out – she was absolutely terrified of what they might do.' He said, quietly. 'She was terrified, and she wasn't really thinking about what she was doing. When she came to me to apologise, to tell me why she'd done it, I told her I'd help her. With money, a place to stay, anything she needed. Justine was one of those special people, you know? She was so much like Tempe...'
His voice trailed off, and he looked absolutely shattered.
'What was she going to do with the child?' Booth asked, watching Al closely.
Al put his head in his hands for a moment, composing himself. When he raised his head, a few tears had fallen down his face, but his voice was relatively strong.
'Sarah and I were going to adopt him. I lost a son, Booth. I lost a son.'
The realisation that Josephine and Ella were not Sarah and Al's children hit him as though it had been in front of him all that time, and he realised that it had been, really. Josephine hadn't looked like either of her parents, and Ella only bore resemblance to Al in her personality.
'Josephine and Ella are adopted?' Booth asked, wanting to confirm his suspicion.
Al nodded sadly. 'Sarah can't have children. We'd been thinking about adopting another child – it had all just seemed like perfect timing.' He said, somewhat bitterly.
Booth nodded. He saw that Al knew nothing about the murder, but he now had some further leads to follow up, and Al's name would be clear.
Booth stood up, walking around the table to put his hand on the man's shoulder.
'I'll get Tempe to take a dental imprint of Brad Turner so we can verify that your scar isn't a match with it,' he said quietly.
Al nodded, a trace of humour in his eyes. Booth could tell that Al knew that he could have done that all along – Booth knew that Al had really had no reason to talk at all.
'Why did you start talking, Al?' Booth asked, releasing the man's shoulder.
'Because it was time I did,' he said, matter of factly.
Booth nodded, heading for the door. He paused before he opened it, wondering how things were between them now – how things would be between Temperance and Al.
'I'll see you both at home?' Al piped up, and Booth turned to catch Al's genuine smile.
Booth nodded, smiling.
Brennan had been right. This man was good, good to the core.
Contrived, I knooow. Over dramatic, I knoooow. But in my defense, there is no way the actual show Bones hasn't been that contrived or dramatic before. It's actually quite understated. *looks sheepish*
Hope you enjoyed :)