Chapter 21. fire in the ice.
A Whistle blows, a puck is dropped and the game begins. Booth and Wendell race after the puck fighting for it with the other team as Sweets, Cam and Brennan cheer him on from the stands.
"Go, Booth! Go, Booth! Go, Booth!" they chanted smiling and clapping with mittened hands when he scores.
"Wow, he's really good." Sweets said watching him fight for the puck once more.
"Kill 'em, Booth!" Cam called jumping as he smashes a firedawg into the wall.
"ooh." Brennan said making a face. "Why does he always do that?"
Cam shrugged "It's what he does it keeps the other team honest. That's why he's called 'the enforcer'."
"oh my god." Brennan said watching as a firedawg player smashes into Wendell, knocking him down. "ok that had to hurt."
"what was that? What about the crosscheck? Ref, are you blind?" Booth shouted from the ice, as Wendell got up onto his feet.
"Pass it! I'm open! I'm open!" Wendell shouted to Booth.
"Pick him off!" Booth yelled as the puck got stolen.
"Yeah!" the Firedawgs shout as they score a point.
"That was a cheap shot, Carlson!"
"Yeah, you guys suck." One of the guys call back.
"That's 24 blue, two minutes for charging." The referee called Booth out.
"For what? What about the crosscheck back there, huh?" he called pissed skating over to the firedawg.
"Get in the box!"
"Come on, man. It's hockey." Carlson said shoving him.
"Club hockey, and some of us have to go work in the morning, all right, pal?" he said shoving back and it breaks out into a fight.
The referee separates Booth from Carlson. "that's enough. Let's go."
"Carlson, calm down! Skate away man." One of the guys said keeping Carlson back.
"Go on, get in there and sit down." The referee said pushing Booth back.
"Yeah, sit down, crybaby." Carlson called back.
Booth gets into penalty box and the game resumes. "Keep your head up next time, number 12. Keep your head up."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be waiting." He called back.
"Come on then!" he threatened.
Carlson trips Wendell. "There's another hit right there, Ref, you gonna let him get away with that!?" Booth reamed.
"I've never seen him this agitated before." Sweets observed as Booth returns to ice.
"Go, Booth!" Brennan called as the referee threw down the puck again. "Wendell might get this one." Brennan said impressed. But Carlson takes down Wendell once again. "Is Wendell okay?"
"That can't be legal." Sweets said watching as Wendell tried to get up and fell down again.
"It definitely is not." Cam said shaking her head and the whistle blows.
"Come on, Ref, you got to call!"
"you wanna go?"Carlson said shoving him again.
"Come on, Let's go." Booth said throwing down his stick and getting in his face, waiting for Carlson to throw the first punch. Which he did.
"Come on, Booth!" Cam cheered.
"Booth seems to be winning." Brennan observed.
"it's not Booth I'm worried about."
"That guy's out of control." One of the firedawgs shouted.
"game misconduct." The referee called.
"You get up off the ice, we'll finish this in the parking lot!" Booth shouted as he got pushed away from the fight. "Come on. If you did your job, I wouldn't have to do it for you. Look at him. He's hitting my guys. You all right, buddy?" he asked helping Wendell up."You all right?"
"Ow, did I score, man?"
"Oh, yeah. Yeah... Come on." He said leading him off of the ice.
"I don't know how I feel about this." Brennan sighed.
"its very primal." Sweets nodded.
"I like it just a little too much." Cam said smiling.
"So, you still seeing double?" Booth asked as they changed back into their clothes.
"Only when I open more than one eye." He said holding ice to his head "…Your hand's busted."
"Yeah, well, you know, guy left his helmet on." He said trying to move his hand and wincing when he did.
Brennan opened the locker room door.
"Hey are you two all right? …What?" she asked confused by the look on their faces.
"Want to wait outside?" Booth said giving her a look.
"But your hand might be broken. Do you want me to look at it?" she offered not caring.
"No, it's all right. You can wait outside please. It's the men's locker room, Bones."
"…okay." She nodded closing the door.
One month later. Brennan and Booth arrive in a white tent, his hand in a cast, with FBI and police standing around.
"Hey, uh, what do you think there, Bones?"
"I would surmise that the body went into the lake before it froze, then the body floated up and became attached to the bottom of the ice."
"…I meant, was he murdered?"
"Oh, Um, maybe. It could have been an accident or a suicide." She looked up to see Booth scratching his arm with his pen. "ew. Seeley, you shouldn't do that."
"It itches, okay? …what else?"
"…Trauma to the left maxillary orbit suggests violence." She couldn't stop watching him scratch. "It's kind of gross, do you have to do that?"
"Gross? Tempe, You got your finger in some dead guy's maxillary orbit." Booth pointed out.
"I don't think there's anything else to be learned here, so let's get him back to the lab."
"Wait a second." Booth said squatting and picking up the necklace.
"Booth, you aren't wearing any gloves." Brennan said with a sigh.
"Bones...Remember that guy I punched out last month during my hockey game? Pete Carlson?"
"Yes." Brennan nodded. "why?"
"That's him… I'm a suspect." Booth hands her the necklace. "Here."
FBI conference room. Brennan and Perotta sit at the table with Caroline while Booth stands in the doorway.
"Given that Agent Booth is currently the prime suspect in this murder..." Caroline started.
"We don't know it's a murder." Brennan stated protectively.
"Oh, look at that, I'm the prime suspect." Booth said with a sigh.
"Agent Payton Perotta here will be working with Dr. Brennan." Caroline finished.
"I won't work the case without Booth." Brennan refused.
"In that case, I invite Agent Booth's continued participation… In the background as an advisor." Perotta clarified.
"Agent Payton Perotta has earned bachelor's degrees in both forensic science and criminology." Caroline stated her credentials.
"Well, anything short of a doctorate is virtually useless at my level." Brennan said stubbornly.
"How would you like to proceed, darling?" Caroline asked looking to Booth.
"Well, it's pretty obvious. We definitely want to interrogate the primary suspect, right?" Booth checked with Perotta.
"Yeah." She nodded.
Jeffersonian lab, Autopsy bay. Wendell and Cam are working on the remains and Hodgins is glued to his microscope.
"Based on decomp, I'd put time of death at about five days prior to freezing." Cam observed.
"Local cops say the lake froze over three weeks ago." Wendell nodded. "it fits."
"Aside from some dormant anopheles mosquito larvae, I imagine whatever the water from the lake tells us, it'll be through a microscope." Hodgins said taking a step back from his microscope.
"If Booth is a suspect, then I should be, too. This guy scrambled my brains." Wendell pointed out.
"Your alibi is that you were seeing double and being taken care of by your mother." Cam said smiling.
"I'll get on the fluid samples you took from the lungs and esophagus. Could be the vic was drowned somewhere else and then dumped in the lake." Hodgins said all business.
"No. …Drowning is not the way Booth would kill someone…. Not that I actually suspect Booth." She said to their confused looks. "At all. Quit staring at me." She said uncomfortably. Hodgins and Wendell exchange looks and walk out.
Booth and Perotta are in the interrogation room as she follows protocol and investigates Booth.
"In the course of the game, the victim and I exchanged blows." Booth admitted.
"Who initiated the fight?" Perotta asked taking notes.
"It was hockey." Booth shrugged.
"So, it was spontaneous combustion?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
"The guy hit two of my players. The-The ref- he didn't catch that."
"And that made you angry?" she asked looking up at him.
"Not angry enough, you know, to chase him down after the game and kill him."
"So, where did you go after the game?"
"Bones drove me and Wendell to the hospital. He had a concussion and I got this." He said reminding her about his cast. "she's in the next room you can even ask her yourself."
"So, …you have an alibi that night or the next?" she asked smiling.
"Bones and I are just partners." He said with a Boothy grin.
"Okay. Now you're answering questions I had no intention of asking. Is it your contention that, uh, your argument with the victim was constrained to the ice?"
"That is my contention." He nodded.
"'Cause I have a-a witness who stated you told Carlson, and I quote, 'You get up off that ice, and we'll settle this out in the parking lot.'" She said reading from her notes.
"Trash talking." He shrugged.
"Let me cut to the chase here. Did you kill Pete Carlson?"
"No."
"Did you dump his body in the lake?"
"No, I did not, Agent Perotta."
"…Do you feel that your experience as the child of an abusive alcoholic has made you more prone to violence?"
"…Excuse me." He gets up and walks out meeting Sweets and Brennan in the observation room. "What the hell are you doing?"
"It's part of my job to assist the interrogating agent." He defended.
"You know I didn't murder anyone, Sweets, all right? So what you're doing right now is you're studying me."
"That is part of our agreement, too Agent Booth."
"You have a question for me, you ask me yourself. Don't use her." He said angrily.
"All right …okay, two questions. One: am I picking up some sexual tension between you and Agent Perotta?"
"How the hell do I know what you're picking up?" he said looking to Brennan and back.
"Okay. Uh, two: underneath your affable exterior is a deep reservoir of rage. My question is, do you always have that under control?"
"You know, if I didn't, you'd be dead right now instead of just wincing." Booth threatened. "Don't ever bring my old man up again." He said leaving and slamming the door.
"damn. I winced." Sweets sighed, watching Booth reenter the interrogation room.
"that was low Sweets" Brennan said walking out.
"So... Do you have any more questions?" he asked sitting down.
"Yeah. …You work out much?" she asked smiling.
"Yeah, I'm pretty consistent." He nodded smiling back.
"You look like you take excellent care of yourself."
"Okay, this is useless." Sweets said walking out.
Brennan listened outside the door a knot forming in her stomach as she heard them talk and laugh. After a few minutes she could bear to hear anymore and walked away.
The next morning. The ice rink. Perotta, Brennan and Booth walk out onto ice. Booth slips and nearly falls.
"Hodgins confirmed that the traces of rink water in the victim's esophagus came from this rink." Brennan said amused.
"Well, how did rink ice get into his throat?" Booth asked curiously.
"He was beaten, then a sharp instrument was thrust into his eye. There should be bloodstains." Brennan said trying not to laugh as he slips again.
"this is an ice rink Bones people fall, they get hurt." He said trying to regain his balance and falling onto his butt taking Brennan with him.
"ow." Brennan sighed. "why would you grab me?" she asked smacking his arm. "you're supposed to be the big Hockey star, I'm amazed you don't fall this much on skates." She said standing and helping him up.
"there's a reason you're not supposed to walk out here with street shoes on Bones, okay."
"…I'm gonna call in an FBI forensics team. We'll have the whole place searched." Perotta offered.
"No need. All you need is black light, right?" Booth asked.
"Yeah." Brennan nodded, curious as to his point.
"Right? I got a great idea, just stay here. It's very slippery, ok, don't move."
Brennan rolled her eyes as he made his way off the ice.
A moment later, the lights go off and the rink is illuminated by strobing black light. "Ready? How's that, huh?" he asked meeting them again.
"Nice." Perotta nodded as she began looking around. "I see some, uh, flecks of blood."
"No we're looking for something bigger than these small specs and spots." Brennan said looking around too. "the victim was stabbed in the eye. We're looking for a pretty significant puddle."
"Right, two guys get into a beef, then they put their street clothes on and come back here on the ice to duke it out." Booth offered up.
"Booth?" Perotta called him over.
"Yeah?" he nodded meeting her and seeing what she saw, a huge white spot indicating a lot of blood was spilled there.
"My God." She said shocked.
"This is going to turn out to be where Pete Carlson was murdered." Brennan said with a sigh.
The Jeffersonian platform. Hodgins is working on the water from the ice rink.
"this is all the ice from the crime scene, including the scrapings from the Zamboni?" Cam asked walking up the steps.
Hodgins nodded "We should be able to get enough DNA out of this to confirm the blood is Carlson's. …wow another Human tooth."
"it's hockey. That Zamboni probably had a hundred teeth in there." Cam nodded.
"Looks like we found where the Tooth Fairy winters." Hodgins laughed.
A little while later Hodgins walked into the Ookie room to check on Wendell.
"hey Wendell. Did you find a match yet?" Hodgins asked curious.
"Just started." Wendell said examining the bones.
"Yeah, I know, I still haven't identified the nylon polymer I found on the victim's shirt." He said annoyed.
"So, I've looked at, like, a thousand photos of those blood patterns at the rink. And tons from the apartment." Angela said entering. "and I found something… Here's a blood pattern at the rink. The body was dragged in that direction."
"…but what are those drops over there?" Wendell asked curiously.
"What drops?" Angela asked confused.
"those drops right there." Hodgins pointed out. "They parallel the dragging body. And they aren't smeared."
"which means these parallel drops aren't from the victim... They're from whoever dragged him across the ice."
"that means we have to check for more than just Pete's DNA." Hodgins said realizing they might be able to narrow it down.
"I'll tell Cam to check the rink samples to find out if there was a second source of DNA." Angela said walking out.
Meanwhile in Sweets's office.
"Agent Booth, it's come to the attention of the deputy director that you are a viable suspect in a murder case."
"Right, okay, and he wants you to make sure that I'm not viable." Booth said annoyed.
"That's correct." Sweets nodded.
"Come on, Sweets, you know I didn't kill anyone. So, you know, put that in shrink talk and write out your little form and send it in."
"Mm-hmm, yes, of course, but to do that, I need to ask you some questions." He said taking advantage of the situation.
"Great. Shoot."
"I saw you in that game. You beat another man to the ice."
"that's not a question." He said being difficult.
"my question is, why?"
Booth shrugged. "It's hockey. I was protecting my teammate."
"You broke your hand on his helmet."
"It's hockey. Okay, you never played, did you?"
"Oh, I'd run track and cross country and did some wrestling and ch..." he stopped knowing he was just giving him ammo.
"Chess!" Booth guessed.
"No." he scoffed.
"Checkers?" Booth laughed.
"I didn't say that."
"Then you know nothing... It's about being a team, okay? Teamwork. Obviously you don't know anything about that, Dr. Sweets." Booth said seriously.
"You joined the army. You became a sniper. You joined the FBI. Do you see the binding element in those choices? …It's violence."
"Or the love of uniforms. You ever think that?" he said smiling.
"Agent Booth, I believe that you are ready to confront the fact that the violence you may have suffered in childhood has followed you into adulthood.
"You know what? Screw you and your questions Sweets. Just fill out the form."
There was a knock at the door. "Not now!" Sweets called staring Booth down.
Caroline walked in anyways. "Hiya, Sweets. Uh, if you're about finished here, Booth, in accordance with the warrant you made me get, Pete Carlson's phone records are here."
"Ms. Julian, actually, I'm the one that decides when we're done here." He said looking up at her.
"Of course you are, Cherie, no offense intended. I'll be delivering the phone records to Agent Perotta. I thought I'd do that in your office." She informed Booth and left closing the door.
"Thanks, Cherie. We're done." Booth said angrily standing and moving to the door.
"Well, we are done but that was just a coincidence."
"Sweets, I've killed but I've never murdered before. Look up the difference in your little black book there, okay?" he said walking out.
Booth's office. Booth and Caroline sat on either side of the desk and Perotta stands against the wall.
"Pete made eight calls right after the game to the same number. Lou Herrin."
"Lou Herrin. Who's that?" Caroline asked.
"A sergeant in the State Cops. He exchanged blows with the victim the night that he died." Booth informed them.
"Make it official. Question the cop." Caroline advised.
"Let's get some leverage on the guy first. Put him at the murder scene, get a warrant to test his DNA." Perotta suggested.
"Here we go." Booth said leaning back in his chair.
Caroline stands to leave. "'Get a warrant for this, Ms. Julian, get a warrant for that.'" She mimicked. "You need grounds for a warrant, Cherie. Don't they teach that at Quantico anymore? What grounds have you got for that warrant? None! Nothing! You're just wishing."
Caroline walks out.
"I know how to get some blood out of this Herrin." Booth said once she was out of earshot.
"Legally?"
"Of course." He said smiling.
"How?" Perotta asked curiously.
"Well, there's a big game tonight. And sometimes during a game... people bleed." Booth hinted.
"I don't like it." Perotta said with a sigh.
"Then you don't have to show up." He said walking out and dialing Brennan.
"Brennan." She said answering her phone as she worked on her reports of the victim.
"I think I know who killed Carlson."
She sat back in her chair. "who?"
"Lou Herrin."
"I don't know who that is."
"a guy he got into a fight with the night he died."
"…a fight where?" Brennan asked knowing what he was going to say.
"on the ice."
"I was hoping you were going to say that."
"be there in 15." He said hanging up.
6 pm. Booth is sawing off his cast in the locker room when Wendell walked in.
"What are you doing, man?" he asked dropping his bag next to him.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Booth said pulling it apart.
"You think that's a good idea? You got another couple of weeks on that cast." Wendell pointed out changing into his uniform.
"Well, considering I can't play with a cast, then yeah, it's a great idea. You clear about the plan?" he asked rubbing his sore wrist.
Wendell nodded. "Somebody bleeds, I collect a sample, put it in a bag, pass it off to Dr. Brennan."
"Lou Herrin, number five, is our prime suspect. And I gotta make him bleed." Booth said walking out.
A half hour later the game was beginning. Brennan and Perotta watch as the battle for blood began.
"You've worked with Booth for a while now, right?" Perotta asked curiously.
"Mmm hmm" Brennan nodded watching for Wendell to hand off a sample.
"Is he the kind of guy that, uh, you know, Is... Is he flirty?" Perotta asked uncomfortably.
"Flirty?" Brennan asked confused looking at her.
"Would you say he twinkles his eyes at all women?" Perotta asked meeting Brennan's gaze.
"Twinkly eyes actually result when the pupils dilate very wide which is an unconscious result of intense interest or …sexual attraction." Brennan said a knot forming in her stomach again.
"So, no… he doesn't twinkle at everyone?"
"No." Brennan said shaking her head and looking away.
"…All right then."
"Is that the guy?" Wendell asked skating next to Booth.
"That's him. Lou Herrin, number five." Booth nodded.
"look at the size of him…You think he even knows how to bleed?"
"Just keep your head up Wendell." Booth said skating ahead and checking a guy into the wall before going after Herrin. Wendell collects the sample and hands it off to Brennan. Booth hits him and gets bumped towards the wall. He checks another player causing him to bleed too and comes back at Herrin strongly.
"Man, what's your problem?" Herrin said angrily skating away from him.
"I got a little chip, all right? Just play your hockey, pal" he called after him. "This guy's hard to get mad." Booth sighed as Wendell caught up.
"He's maybe the only one who hasn't shed a drop. You're brutal man." Wendell said impressed.
"thanks man" he said shoving into Herrin when he got close.
"Stay out of my face!" Herrin said shoving him back hard.
"Keep your head up, huh!" Booth said smashing him into the wall once more, still nothing.
"Take a warning, pal." Herrin said shoving him back into a wall then skating off after the puck.
"I think I'm finally getting to this guy." Booth said smiling.
"Hope you survive it!" Wendell said smiling back.
"no worries man, no more Mr. Nice-Guy." he said pushing to catch up to Herrin.
Booth and Herrin push and elbow each other. Booth hits Lou Herrin in the mouth and Herrin stops, spits out blood and then rushes Booth, smashing into him and causing Booth's helmet to fly off and skid across the ice as he hits the ground. Knocking him out.
Perotta's hand flies up covering her mouth. "oh my god"
"Booth." Brennan said stunned and rushing out onto the ice joining the group of players that had surrounded him.
"Booth?... are you ok? …Booth?" she said kneeling next to him as he came to.
"Bones… what are you doing on the ice?"
"I get nervous when you fall down and don't get up." She said still worried.
"Up you go, buddy." Wendell said grabbing one of his arms and Brennan grabs the other.
"Come on." She said as they helped him up.
"Don't worry, I got the blood." Wendell told him quietly as they led him away.
"Good work, Bones." He said looking at Wendell.
"Booth… I'm over here." She said looking up at him.
"oh hey Bones." He said looking at her. "there you are." He smiled kissing her on the cheek. "you know I love you right?"
"wow. Herrin really scrambled his brains good, huh?" Wendell said looking at Brennan.
She nodded her stomach doing flips overtime. "yeah."
9 pm. Brennan's office. Booth lay on sofa with ice bag on his head with Brennan beside him and Wendell in a chair across from them.
"I didn't say anything stupid did I?" Booth asked quietly.
"…no." they said at the same time.
"oh god." He sighed.
"I came as soon as I heard Booth had a brain injury. What part of your head hurts?" Sweets asked walking in.
"the part above my shoulders. …can you take it down a notch please?" he said making a face.
"sorry." Sweets apologized sitting in an open chair.
"The doctor said he has a concussion. He shouldn't fall asleep. Otherwise, not serious." Brennan informed him.
"Tell him about the hallucination." Booth said looking to Brennan.
"You hallucinated?" Sweets asked concerned.
"yeah. Luc Robitaille gave me advice." Booth nodded.
"You got advice on a murder case from..." Brennan started but Sweets interrupted.
"What did he say?" He asked curiously.
"He said, 'Don't worry about the... the player's blood.'"
"That's very interesting."
"Lucky Luc told me to look in a different direction."
"That's interesting." Sweets repeated.
"Stop saying that... just stop." Booth snapped annoyed.
Cam enters with bad news. "Preliminary DNA tests show that the blood mixed in with the victim's did not belong to Lou Herrin."
"Lucky Luc was right." Booth sighed.
"All that means is that you got your brains scrambled for nothing." Cam pointed out.
"Lucky Luc is never wrong." Booth shook his head and made a mental note not to do that again.
"This hallucination could be Booth's subconscious speaking to him through the voice and image of someone that he idolizes." Sweets explained.
"Like a modern version of a Vision Quest?" Brennan asked surprised.
"You know what hallucination or not..." he sat up. "Lucky Luc… he told me something about myself that... He told me something." Booth said deciding not to tell them.
"I'd be very interested in knowing what he said." Sweets said his interest piqued.
"Lucky for me, you're never gonna find out because Bones is gonna drive me home and get me soup." He said standing up a little too fast and placing a hand on her shoulder for balance.
Brennan drove him home and helped him into his apartment. Sitting next to him on the bed.
"you don't have to sit here with me Tempe. I'm just going to go to sleep anyways."
"Actually I do… you have a concussion. …I'm not supposed to let you go to sleep remember."
"that sucks." Booth sighed. "…I've got a few ideas how to stay awake." He said smiling suggestively.
"what about Perotta?" Brennan asked raising an eyebrow.
"I don't like Perotta. I was just trying to make you jealous." He admitted.
"why?"she asked surprised.
"…just a theory I'm working on." He said smiling and kissing her.
Brennan walked out of the bedroom just before 4 am.
"Seeley what are you doing? " she asked half asleep.
"what brings them together? What brings the team together?" he said absorbed in his jumbled train of thought.
"come back to bed Seeley?"
He shook his head. "It's all about the team there. It's all..."
"what are you talking about?" She asked sitting next to him with a sigh.
"It's all about the team. Their team, Bones… it's all about their team."
"…what team Seeley?" Brennan asked knowing he'd figured it out.
"Them...these four guys...they all played hockey together in high school, and now they all play together as a team." He said showing her the pictures on his laptop.
"…They're all firemen?" Brennan said seeing the connection.
"Yeah. They all worked the jewelry store fire. Meaning… One of these three guys is the murderer."
"According to Mr. Lucky?" Brennan asked raising an eyebrow.
"It's Luc, okay? Luc Robitaille. Left wing. Great shot. …Lucky Luc Robitaille- he's one of the best left wings of all time."
"Seeley it's 4 in the morning. …cut me a little slack huh?"
"sorry." He apologize leaning in to kiss her.
"wait… What is this?" Brennan asked picking up a spike-like object with a hook on the end from the table where his hockey gear was.
"It's a lace puller. Why?"
"I think it might be the murder weapon." She said looking at him.
"even half asleep you're brilliant." He said smiling and kissing her.
"I know." She smiled back taking his phone from him as he began to dial. "call Cam later." She said kissing him again and dropping the phone to the floor.
9:30 am. The interrogation room. Brennan sat on one side of the table, with Dave Simms, Alex Pinna and Ed Fralic on the other side and Booth behind her when Perotta enters.
"We want to discuss the jewelry store fire." Perotta said sitting next to Brennan.
"I want a lawyer." Pinna said clamming up.
"What for, Alex? We didn't do anything wrong. None of us did." Simms said giving Perotta and Booth a look.
"What about Pete?" Booth questioned.
"He break some kind of fireman code, something like that?" Perotta asked sternly.
"Yeah, something like that." Fralic nodded.
"I've got nothing to say about any of this. I want a lawyer." Pinna insisted.
"We know Carlson was beaten with a hockey stick, after which a lace puller entered his brain through his eye and killed him." Brennan informed them.
"What about your dream, Ed? You were gonna play for the NHL, right?" Booth asked throwing down a couple of newspaper articles. "'Local player scouted by the NHL.' Look at that one. Oh, this one's good, too. 'Fralic's hat trick wins game.' Quite a promising career don't you think? Tell me Ed what do you do now?"
"I got injured." He said giving Booth a dirty look. "now I sell siding, and I play hockey on the weekends. Happy?"
"Why you got to rub his face in the past?" Pinna asked, not caring about a lawyer anymore.
"Who ruined you?" Booth asked leaning between the two women.
"Pete Carlson. It was Pete." Ed admitted.
"You all knew about the stolen jewelry."
"The question is… how many of you were there the night he was killed?" Perotta asked clarifying his intent.
"None of us. Nobody here had anything to do with that." Simms said growing defensive.
"We have the hockey stick, the murder weapon and DNA." Brennan said with a smile.
"It's only a matter of time until all three of you go down." Booth finished.
"it was me." Ed admitted with a sigh.
"What?" Simms asked surprised.
"I asked to meet Pete on the ice after everybody left. I told him to give back the stolen jewelry, and he said to me... He said that I was a... a coward. That I didn't do anything to him back in the day when he wrecked my life and I wouldn't do anything to him now. Well, he was wrong." Ed confessed being met with amazed stares from his friends.
"…Ed Fralic you're under arrest for the murder of Frank Carlson." Perotta said pulling him up and cuffing him.
The ice rink an hour later. Booth and Brennan step out onto the ice.
"I'm not positive this is a good idea." Brennan said struggling to keep her balance.
"Whoa, I got you! I got you." He said smiling as they both slipped and Brennan fell. "Okay, it's all right. Here we go." He said pulling her up. "Well, you know what, I got to stay up a few more hours so who better to keep me company than you?" he said kissing her lightly and taking her hand.
"You and me skating is saving you from slipping into a coma… 16 hours after you fell." Brennan asked disbelievingly.
"yes." He said smiling and she laughed giving him a small push backwards. "Whoa, Bones. Now I'm gonna go down."
She smiled. "how do we do this?"
"follow my lead." He said slowly skating around."Oh, yeah, you're a natural. Real smooth and natural. That's it. Well done." Booth said laughing.
"…are you making fun of me?"
"a little yeah." He admitted steadying them as they nearly fall again.
"…Will you tell me what the Lucky Luciano told you?" Brennan asked curiously.
"He's not an Italian opera singer, Bones" Booth laughed. "why do you always say that wrong? You do it on purpose, don't you?" he asked looking to her.
Brennan nods. "a little. …will you tell me what he said?"
Booth hesitated for a second before deciding to tell her. "he said that I'm not like my old man. He said I'm made of better stuff."
"Well... I don't know your father, but... I think you're made of very, very good stuff." She said stopping and turning to him.
Booth pulled her into his arms. "Hey, you know what? Forget about Agent Perotta, all right? Nothing's gonna change between me and you." He reassured her.
Brennan shook her head. "Everything changes."
Booth begins skating pushing her backwards on the ice. "Not everything, Bones."
"Seeley no." she said growing scared. "You're gonna make me fall." She laughed.
"I'm never gonna make you fall. I'm always here." He said stopping as they drifted across the ice, he pulled her in kissing her as they gently slid into the wall.
"I know." She said her gloved fingers lacing with his and she stood on her toes to kiss him. Her phone began to ring, loud in the silence, and she jumped losing her balance and taking him down with her. They laughed hysterically and laid back on the ice giving up.
"Brennan." She answered trying not to laugh. "…no Angela I cant tonight…" she gave him a dirty look as he began kissing her neck. "because I'm babysitting Booth tonight. …no I don't need any help Angela." She laughed swatting him away. "…yeah you don't have to worry that's not going to happen. …yes Angela. I'll take that under advisement." She smiled kissing Booth. "…mm-hmm. …yeah." she responded not really listening anymore. "I'll see you tomorrow. Love you too. Bye." She said between kisses and hanging up on her friend.
"what was that all about?" Booth asked curiously looking down at her.
"Angela thinks I should take this opportunity to have sex with you."
"well I agree… wholeheartedly in fact."
She laughed. I'll bet you do." She said pulling him back in.