Chapter 6. Two bodies in the lab.
"The FBI is pretty certain this is James Cugini. They're looking for evidence that could lead them to the killer." Goodman informed them as they all gathered around the table on the platform.
"Wow, Jimmy Cugini." Hodgins said amazed
"I don't know who that is." Brennan said oblivious to the importance of the victim.
"It's a mob boss who disappeared six years ago after his daughters dance recital." Angela explained.
"Did they find any of the bullets?" Brennan asked examining the cement shoes of the mobster.
"No."
"They really are quite good at this." Brennan said impressed. "After you clean him up Zach, I want you to x-ray the bone for any bullet fragments. Be very careful cleaning the exit and entrance wounds. I want to recover any markings the bullet left as it passed through the bone." She explained pulling off her gloves.
"Yeah, I can have them ready about eight tonight." He said with a nod.
"Uhhh can't work tonight. Tomorrow morning is fine."
"You have a date tonight." Angela said smiling.
"It's not a date, it's a meal." Brennan clarified.
"With a man?" Hodgins asked
"Did you meet him on the website I told you about?" Angela asked excitedly.
"You're dating online?" Booth asked walking up the steps to the platform.
"Well it's a practical way of objectively examining a potential partner without all the game play."
"That comes later." Angela said smiling at the man with Booth. "Hi, I'm Angela."
"Special Agent Jamie Kenton." he said shaking her hand. "Dr. Brennan." He said with a nod.
"Hello."
"You two know each other?" Angela asked looking between them.
"I was at the Bureau when Booth took his coffee cup. …Apparently their both the world's greatest FBI Agents." She said smiling.
"That's right." Booth nodded. "Kenton is working the Cugini case. He's one of the original investigators. This is Brennan's brain trust."
Brennan led them to the table. "Your victim is over here"
"So what if your computer date is a psycho?" Booth asked following.
"Only about a billion people date online." Angela pointed out.
"I have." Hodgins admitted.
"You know, whatever happened to seeing someone across a crowded room, eyes meeting, that old black magic gets you in its spell…" he asked walking up behind her.
" There's no such thing as magic." She said turning around and facing his charming smile.
"Oh there's magic." He said nodding his smile growing wider.
"Are you here for a reason because Kenton is handling this."
"We have some remains to look at." Booth answered.
"I'm already looking at them." Brennan said confused.
"Nope, not the Cugini case. Kenton will babysit him. These are fresh."
"Well I was told that our friend in the cement shoes took precedence."
"That was before we found someone tortured and ripped apart by dogs." He said piquing her interests.
"Let's go." She said following him.
An hour later they were in an abandoned warehouse looking at the body when Brennan's phone rang.
"Brennan." She answered "…Just working.…Yeah of course. I'm starving. … Seven thirty, okay… yes. I'll meet you there. …Okay. Bye." She turned to Booth. "My reservation just got pushed by a few extra minutes."
"Oh, a few extra minutes. Great." Booth said forever the smart ass.
"What?"
"Nothing." He shook his head.
"You disapprove?" she guessed.
"I said great." He said defensively.
"With attitude." She pointed out annoyed.
"Don't go overboard with psychology. It's not your thing."
"Look, I am an adult Booth. I see men. I go out with them on occasion. I sleep with them." She said getting pissed at him.
"Hey, you know what? That's cool but you don't even know who this guy is that you're meeting." He stated getting frustrated, himself.
"I have trekked through Tibet avoiding the Chinese army. I think I can handle meeting someone for dinner." She said matter-of-factly.
"Fine, you know what? You have fun with Dick431 or whatever his handle is."
"Yeah I will."
"Good."
"Thanks."
"Fine."
"Good." She said getting back to work.
8:00 pm.
The cops surrounded the restaurant getting statements from witnesses as Booth arrived walking under the tape and over to her.
"Tempe, are you alright?" he asked concerned.
She nodded. "I'm fine."
"You sure." He asked meeting her gaze.
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Want me to take you home?" he asked softly. She nodded silently. He put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the car.
They walked into her apartment. "I should be getting back to the lab. I need to find out who killed her." She said back to her old self again.
"No you're squints can handle it. You haven't slept in over a day, Alright? You need to get some rest. I'll sleep on the couch.
"You think you're staying here with me?" she asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Nice place by the way Brennan. You redecorate this yourself?"
"I'm locked in here, Booth. I'll be fine." She said ignoring his compliment.
"Okay look I want you to stay away from your windows too, okay? A sniper has a clear shot from any of these surrounding buildings." He informed her ignoring her resistance.
"I could have just stayed at the lab. The security is tight there." She said simply
"Then you would have worked. You would have gotten tired and you would have been more vulnerable when you did go out. Trust me this is the best, alright?"
"Fine" she sighed giving in.
"So what do you wanna do?" he asked with a suggestive smile.
She shook her head. "No."
He laughed. "I was kidding. What have you got for fun around here?"
"I mostly just read and listen to music."
Booth smiled. "So let's listen to some music. Huh?" he said walking over to the stereo and began going through her CDs. "Wow! World music. Oh, there's a shock." He said sarcastically. "Tibetan throat singers. Rock on, Brennan." He said laughing and she joined in.
"That's mostly for work so…" she said trailing off at his glance
"Oh, oh. Look at this! Man, lots of jazz. Wow! I think all that free-form stuff would be a little bit too unpredictable for you." He said impressed.
"No, I love it. The artist has to live within a set tonal structure and..." she stopped when booth smiled at her. "What?"
"Nothing, I just…I just never expected that you would, …you know."
"That I would love music? Well we don't usually have opportunity for deep conversation Seeley." She pointed out crossing her arms.
"No, hey. I didn't mean to imply that …. I think it's great that you love music." He said looking back at her. "I really do."
"Well thank you." She said nodding and walking over to her CDs.
"Hey." He said smiling and picking up a CD then putting it in the stereo.
"What is it?" she asked curiously.
"Nice." He said putting in the track number.
"Booth." She said grabbing for the CD case. He pulls it away and presses play and 'Hot Blooded by Foreigner starts booming out of the speakers
" How did that get there?" she asked her face turning red.
"Oh please everybody loves Foreigner." He said smiling and bobbing his head to the music. "Hot Blooded? Talk about a guilty pleasure. Check it baby. " Booth starts singing along and playing air guitar as Brennan stares at him. A smile plays at her face and she began dancing along.
The song ended and their eyes met, a smile on their faces.
He cleared his throat. "Hey I'm thirsty, you got a soda or juice? Or something?" he asked changing the subject.
"…Yeah in the fridge. I'll get it." She said turning to the kitchen.
"No, no, no. You know what? I'm... I'm not your guest. You don't have to wait on me. I'll get it. Do you want anything?"
She shook her head. "That's okay."
"Oh, there are glasses in the cupboard to the right of the fridge."
"Right thanks." He called reaching for a glass his other hand on refrigerator door. As he opens the refrigerator door, there's an explosion which blows him backward landing on his back unconscious with the refrigerator door covering his lower half.
"Oh my god!" she screamed running to him and attempting to put out the flames and remove the refrigerator door. She grabbed the phone from her pocket and dialed 911.
"Hey." Hodgins said walking into his hospital room.
"Why are you here?" he asked confused. "Is Brennan alright?" he asked a sense of panic in his voice
"Sure. She's with your compadre. I came by to see how you are. …you worried about her, Booth?"
"She's my partner, Hodgins, she would've been blown up if I hadn't opened that fridge."
"…yeah. …but there's a little more to it than that if you ask me." He said reaching for Booth's second pudding.
"You're wrong." He said slapping his spoon on the top of the container.
"Ok man whatever you say." He said pulling his hand back from the tray.
"What did you find out on the case?" Booth asked changing the subject.
" The key fit and they found a map of the neighborhood where the other body was found and some more keys." He informed him.
"… They found a map? …where? There wasn't one last time."
"Maybe your killer is getting sloppy." He suggested.
"That's not like him." He said thinking
"Wasn't like him to use explosives either. People change. It's the wonderful thing about life. Now we can get him before he gets Brennan." He said snatching the extra pudding. "Can I have this one?" Booth didn't acknowledge the pudding. "…You okay, Man?"
"Huh? Yeah, yeah. I'm just thinking that things …don't make sense."
"You're thinking that it's the mob guys we're after." He suggested. Booth didn't answer. "You're feeling something a little more devious more like a frame up. Oh I like it, very conspiratorial." He said excited.
"Things are just too neat. You know Hollings would never leave a map there. …Someone planted that evidence so that we'd find it. Someone who knew what we were up to." Booth said trying to figure things out.
"Someone at the lab works for the mob. I can see it. There's not much difference between a corrupt corporate government and organized crime."
Booth threw the spoon down on the table. "You're right."
"Excuse me?"
"The only way that this could unfold is if someone on the inside was orchestrating things." He said untangling himself from the wires and blood pressure cuff.
"People never tell me I'm right. They only say I'm crazy. Love you, man." He said finishing the pudding. Booth starts to sit up to get out of bed. "What the hell are you doing?"
"You're driving." He said pulling himself up
"Cool." He said standing too.
Kenton pulls out his gun, checking the safety and the barrel. "I'm not like him at all. The things I have to do to you…you'll be gone first. You'll never know a thing. I never expected anyone to find out." He said readying to knock her out with the gun.
Booth enters and from behind and takes a shot, hitting Kenton in the hip and he falls to the ground. Booth hurried to Brennan and pulled off the gag "it's alright. Okay, hold on." He said ducking his head under the hook between her arms and lifting her off the hook. They both fell to their knees holding onto one another. "Ok, it's okay. I'm right here. It's all over, Tempe, I promise. I'm right here." He said stroking her hair and holding her as tight as he could.
Brennan moves back a bit kissing him strongly. "Thank you. …How did you get out of the hospital?"
Booth winced "Hodgins gave me a ride. Maybe…maybe you could give me a ride back though, huh?" Brennan grabbed him hugging him again with a kiss on the cheek.
Brennan walked into Booth's room in a nice dress.
"Well look at you don't you look nice. Just get back from your date?" he asked jokingly as he turned the TV off.
"Yes actually." She said sitting down next to him.
"Oh… how'd it go?" he asked curiously.
"You were right. It was bad."
"Why? Did you spend the entire time thinking about me?" he asked joking again.
"…actually I did." She nodded. " He asked what happened to my head and all I could think about was how you saved my life and… that kiss. And how incredibly boring this guy was face to face." Booth laughed and Brennan smiled. "I've given up on the internet dating thing. …there's no magic."
He smiled. "Thought you didn't believe in magic?"
She shrugged. "There might be something to it."
He kissed her smiling wider than he had in a while and she lay down next to him with a sigh, laying her head on his good shoulder. She took the remote off the table and turned the TV back on and they laid there together talking and laughing.