As lunch ended they all gathered up on the platform to get Hodgins report on what he found from the swab. Brennan was waiting somewhat irritated as all the team was not there. "Dr. Hodgins where is Angela?"
"I…I… I don't know" he looked around puzzled. "I haven't seen her since…" he thought "before lunch"
"The lights are off in her office. She must have gone to do some errands during her lunch; I will fill her in when she gets back." Brennan interjected "Dr. Hodgins you may begin."
"What we found was the ink of a cuttlefish."
Abby couldn't control her excitement "Gibbs did you know that the ink was first used to treat a multitude of ailments …"
"Depression, menstrual cycle problems, menopause, and most recently they found that the ink has a way to protect cells during chemotherapy." Ducky finished.
Gibbs looked around at all of them and finally at Brennan waiting for her synopsis. When she didn't catch onto his stare and only returned it with one of her own, he spoke. "Dr. Brennan does this following you line of thinking?"
"Yes, however, Dr. Hodgins didn't mention finding any agent mixed with the ink that could cause it to be a time released formula."
"I actually never got that far, however, most time released medications are held in a polymer-based tablet that has a small hole drilled into one end. The medicine is released slowly into the body through this small hole. The tablet remains in tact and is passed through the body's digestive track. "With this I can't tell if or how they managed the time release on this attached to his spine. I am not finding any evidence on any polymer that would have been used in the body. That is not to say that something couldn't have happened to it post mortem."
Abby stood up and looked at Gibbs "So after we confirmed what this substance was, we needed to find out if our Marine suffered from any disease that could be treated by the ink." Abby's smiled her rather proud smile
Gibbs raised his brow "And"
"Oh right, I didn't find anything. All his medical records listed him in excellent shape."
Gibbs was getting impatient "So we don't know what killed this Marine, is that what you are telling me?"
"Not yet." Brennan answered
"I thought you said you were the best?" Gibbs irritation was showing.
"I am, just because we don't have the answer you want doesn't mean we haven't made progress and discovered something of importance." Brennan snapped back before exited the platform and heading to her office.
"Have a seat" Hacker motioned towards the chairs on the opposite side of his desk.
He started to sit when she spoke without moving towards a chair "This won't take that long" he stopped mid movement and stood back up and directed his attention to her. "I want to you pull the promotion offer for Booth."
Hacker half laughing half choking, "You want me to do what?"
"You heard me"
"And just why would I do this?"
"Because it is destroying them."
"Them?" he lowered himself into his chair and rested his arms on sides of the chair as he watched the artist
"Booth and Brennan"
"I know what you are saying, but from the bureau's stand point it's his time, his time to move up. He has earned this and while I agree with you …
"You realize you lose Booth to Baltimore, you lose the Jeffersonian, Brennan has made it clear she will not work with anyone but Booth and we are with her. Not to mention NCIS in our lab right now. You do the math Hacker."
She stared at the man for a few moments before turning and leaving. She wasn't sure where she was going, but back to work was definitely not on the list.
As she exited the Hoover her cell rang. She looked down at the caller ID and closed her eyes as she answered he phone. "Hey babe"
"Angi where are you?"
"I am taking the afternoon off, I need some… I just can't be there right now. I will see you at home"
"Something I can do?" Jack asked hesitantly
"Just love me" She smiled a sad smile at her phone while she stared out over the Washington skyline.
"I can do that"
"I'll see you at home"
"Okay"
Angela walked through the doors of The Founding Fathers and hoisted herself onto a bar stool. She hadn't noticed him and he hoped she wouldn't, he didn't want company, especially a well intentioned Angela.
She ordered a glass of white wine and sat lost in thought, she moved where she was able to people watch out a window, barely sipping her wine. It was here she started to devise a plan, plan to fix all this. The longer she sat the more determined she became, this plan had to be put in effect soon, very soon, because for it to function as planned it needed time, maybe a long time for the wheels to start turning rather than slipping along on trying to gain traction.
Also like with any plan of this magnitude it came with risks. The risk of her best friend never speaking to her again, the risk of Booth shooting her, and then there was the possibility of being arrested, however, that was the least of her concerns if either of the other occurred.
Four hours and 3 glasses of wine later, she had her plan formulated in her mind. Now she had to recruit help and go over her plan with a fine tooth comb so not to leave anything out. Smiling for the first time that day she headed for home.
Booth lifted himself out of his seat and walked out of the bar into the afternoon. He squinted as the light assaulted his eyes. He looked around, stuffed his hands in his pockets and started to walk. He had no particular destination in mind he just needed to walk.
As with any walk it is a time to reflect, clear you mind, or mull things over as you will and Seeley Booth's mind was no different, however, his was in overdrive. He completely skipped over reflection or clearing of the mind and jumped right into what her life would be like after he left.
He wondered who they would assign to work with her, he smirked and realized agents would probably not be lining up. Dr. Temperance Brennan was a force of nature and an acquired taste. Then his jaw twitched as he thought of her working with NCIS, he knew of Gibbs and his team, while he had never met them he respected their work. But the thought of them in his lab, using his squints, taking his Bones to lunch was too much.
Booth found himself standing in front of her apartment when his mind came back to reality. Looking up at the building renewed his anger, any rational thought was replaced by anger, she knew he wanted to talk to her today and she managed to avoid him. He nearly had to drag her out kicking and screaming to get her to eat, but she willing went to lunch with that … that NCIS agent. Booth whirled around and walked away from her building as fast as he could.
Booth found himself in a small bar. He just wasn't ready to go home and face his lonely apartment and the hours before sleep he knew would be consumed with the pain of loss. He swallowed hard, tomorrow he would take the promotion. He would help find his replacement and assist them in acclimating to working with The Jeffersonian and then he would close that door on his life.
As he sat down and ordered bourbon he noticed the woman a couple of stools down. She was young and beautiful with long dark hair; she looked as lost as he felt. He turned towards her "Excuse me; I was wondering if you would like to have a drink together."
She eyed him suspiciously, as she sized him up. "I'm not trying to pick you up; just you look like you could use a friend as much as me. Damn that sounded corny, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to drink alone."
The woman eyed the stranger and did not detect anything to be fearful of. Not that this particular woman was fearful of anything, but she was always a little guarded around strangers. But this stranger seemed different. "I believe that would be acceptable." She held out her hand "I'm Ziva"
Booth smiled "Beautiful name for a beautiful woman." Booth rolled his eyes "Seriously it is a beautiful name and I don't mean to sound like a bad romance novel." He smiled his best smile at her and she smiled back. Booths mind was racing with what to talk about and not sound like a player. He was out of practice and it showed. "I'm Seeley"
Booth moved down the stools until they were sitting side by side. "So Ziva that is an unusual name"
"It is Israeli"
"I spent some time in that neck of the woods, not Israel per say."
"You have an unusual name yourself." Ziva changed the conversation, not wanting a stranger to delve into her past.
"Yeah I know it was a special name to my mom."
Booth studied the woman for a moment not realizing she was sizing him up also. "You seem like a person with something on her mind. Need a shoulder?"
Ziva looked at him like he had just grown an extra head. "I do not understand that. Why can't people simply say what they mean."
Booth smiled slightly partly amused and partly sad at the reminder. "It is an expression, meaning I am here if you want to talk."
"Oh I see. No I don't need to talk… Thank you" she looked at him sideways "Do you need a shoulder?"
"Nah just wanted some company." Booth reached for his drink, downed it and motioned for another round for both.
"I am fine" Ziva began
"Come on Ziva you need to relax, and although you are beautiful, I'm getting over someone. You are safe."
Ziva didn't know why, but she trusted this man which was disconcerting because she didn't trust anyone. As she studied his profile she slowly acknowledged the bartender and accepted the drink.
Brennan was staring at the bones of the marine once more; however, he mind was not on the Bones. Ducky might not know Dr. Brennan, but he did understand people. "Dr. Brennan this Marine was 28 years old, but looking at this bone and the pock marks it seems to be the bones of an older person." He raised his eyes to her to see if she heard him.
As his voice slowly trespassed in her mind she pulled her eyes up to meet his "I'm sorry, did you say something?"
"I think we have had a long day and maybe we need to give it a rest." As Brennan's eyes never waivered "We can start fresh tomorrow." She nodded slightly at Ducky, not completely convinced.
DiNozzo came up on the platform "Ducky is right, time to walk away and clear our minds and feed our bodies." Brennan creased her brow not sure exactly what he was saying, but assuming it was something Booth would not approve of. Why did it matter if Booth approved or not? He was leaving soon and what he did or did not like would not longer be part of the equation.
"Very well" she snapped off her gloves and headed for her office
"Dr. Brennan" DiNozzo's voice was strange, she turned to face the man "Maybe we could all go out and eat and have a drink."
"We only go out to have a drink when the case is solved"
"We?" Tony pried
"My Team and Booth."
"Well let's start a new tradition, let's go have a drink to progress. We have made progress today."
"Who… is we?"
"All of us, Mc Gee, Abby, your employees and of course you and me." Tony still refusing to give up on the beautiful anthropologist.
"DiNozzo" Gibbs voice was crisp in the silence that was surrounding him causing Tony to jump slightly
"And the boss, of course" he smiled at Gibbs as Gibbs stood next to him looking at him waiting for the explanation. "Go out for a drink, celebrating progress in the case."
Brennan spoke up "I suppose that would be acceptable, I'll just get my bag"
The door to the bar opened drawing both Ziva and Booth's attention. Both stiffened as they watched who walked in. Ziva turned slightly and lowered her face, but still in a position to watch her team walk in with the members of The Jeffersonian.
Booth's jaw twitched as he watched Brennan walk in and stand next to Gibbs. He watched her lean in as Gibbs said something to her and watched the smile on her face grow till it turned into a laugh. He lowered his eyes to his drink, as he sat there waiting for the moment he could make his escape from the scene he was imagining would happen as the night progressed. That is when he noticed Ziva was in a similar state of distress as he was.
"You know them?" he asked gently
"Yes" Ziva glanced at him and then back down. "Some of them"
"You're with NCIS?" Ziva's eyes locked onto his, but she wouldn't confirm or deny the accusation. "I'm FBI"
Ziva stared at him for a moment before she started to chuckle "I'm sorry" she couldn't stop the irony from building up in her and coming out in the form of snorts as she tried to contain herself. Soon Booth was chuckling along with her until both were in the throws of full belly laughter that you couldn't have missed from a block away. Their laughter also drew the attention of the new arrivals to the bar, some who scowled at the couple sitting side by side laughing at a joke only their understood.
When Booth's eyes locked on Brennan's his laughter stopped, he saw pain and rejection in her eyes, something he swore he would never do again. Before he could act the pain turned to angry and he could see her pull into herself, but still he didn't get up. They just kept staring at each other.
Booth had been laughing and he had started laughing after he saw her. In her rational mind she knew not to jump to conclusions, but all rational throught was gone, her gut was tied in a knot whose tightness was radiating up into her chest feeling like a vise around her heart, and it was also affecting her rational thought process.
Angela looked at the partners and could see the storm brewing behind their eyes. She knew for them to salvage any relationship at all she was going to have to put her plan into action soon. Not Today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon.
It will get better soon I promise.