The Rings in the Heart
Chapter 19 - The Death of a Rabbit
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Disclaimer: BONES does not belong to me. *sigh*
A/N: This is the second to last chapter of this story. Chapter 20 will wrap up the case & then I have an epilogue prepared for you. I hope that you have been enjoying this story, but it is time to bring it to an end. I need to focus on wrapping up a few projects before I move on to the next. Many thanks for all the hits, and reviews - they make my day :)
The Hoover Building
In the interrogation room, Brennan was finding the lack of eye contact from Asha Mubarak extremely unhelpful. She had worked through the standard procedure, employing familiar words and phrases that had featured in hundreds of witness and suspect interactions over the years.
"On your previous visit, our Pathologist took a DNA sample from you, in order to exclude or establish your contact with the physical evidence. In this case, there is no physical evidence linking you to his death."
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Asha shifted her legs under the table and flicked a hooded glance toward the Anthropologist, who almost missed the eye movement behind the curtain of impossibly long and thick eyelashes; they were clearly prosthetic. Brennan continued on, when she received no response.
"Asha, the test results showed that your relationship to Nizam is not that of a sibling. The DNA markers indicate that Nizam was your father. You are twenty years younger than him, which correlates the time of your birth with the period that he spent playing college basketball. During your childhood, were you aware of any questions surrounding your parentage?" asked Brennan.
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The willowy Emo gave a flat, humourless laugh. "No. But this explains why I was brought back here to the USA. My mother,...grandmother now, I suppose, was adamant that I join Nizam here to attend school." She looked at Brennan, with naked pain in her eyes, eyeliner beginning to bleed down her cheeks.
"I was six years old, Dr. Brennan. My mother sent me away to live with my brother, who did not want me here. When I was thirteen, Nizam married and set up a home in Cairo with his new wife. I remained here, in the States at boarding school. I did everything I could to impress Nizam, when I was growing up. I studied hard, took an interest in his work, tried to follow in his footsteps. It was never good enough. I was never good enough. Now I know that the cause of his disdain toward me, was the shame of my existence."
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The Anthropologist felt a great deal of empathy for the younger woman. To be separated from your family was one thing; but knowing that you had a family, that they sent you away and kept you away? "You are not responsible for the circumstances surrounding your birth, Asha," said Brennan.
"But I am responsible for Nizam's death. If I had not agreed to the deal with the pharmaceutical company, he would not have confronted them. He may have been alive today. He said that I betrayed him...to betray your brother is a terrible thing. But to betray your father, this is unforgivable. I deserve to die unloved and alone!" declared the Emo.
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"You may be experiencing extreme guilt, Asha, but you can do something to make it right. You can help the FBI to bring the people who murdered Nizam to justice. Honour his memory," said Brennan.
"I think that is what Nizam would have wanted me to do," conceded the Emo, who's face was streaked so badly, she looked like a fan from a rained-out KISS concert.
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"Agent Booth needs to ask you some questions now. Would you like to take a break first?" asked Brennan.
Asha shook her head, and pulled a pre-loved tissue out of her sleeve to swipe at her nose. Brennan pushed a box of Kleenex across the table toward her, as Booth entered the room carrying a bottle of water. He bent down to whisper in the Anthropologist's ear, as he briefly placed an open hand on her shoulder.
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"Nice job, Bones."
Brennan gave a small smile. "Does Caroline need to speak with me before I head home?"
"Yeah, briefly, but Caroline will brief us fully after she meets with the Judge tomorrow morning. I'll see you in a couple of hours, okay?" said Booth. "Unless you want to stick around until I'm done..."
She shook her head. "I could use the time to attend to some outstanding tasks, so I'll see you later on, Booth."
Sure enough, Caroline Julian was waiting for her in the corridor outside the Interrogation room.
"Walk with me, Cherie!" ordered the Federal Prosecutor, as she bustled off down the corridor toward the break room. Brennan rolled her eyes at the blustering manner, but followed along without complaint. The sooner that she gave Caroline what she needed, the sooner Brennan could get home to her pie project.
As they entered the coffee area, Caroline took the pot of brewed coffee off the heating element and peered suspiciously at the black contents, and sniffed experimentally before pouring a measure into a paper cup.
"Cheap and nasty!" pronounced Caroline. "But right now, my caffeine craving cannot be denied...," she raised a querying eyebrow at Brennan. "You want some?"
Brennan shook her head in the negative. "No, thank you."
"You sure, Cherie? I'm sure that they have some decaf around here for folks getting themselves in the family way..." suggested Caroline.
"I don't know what that means...," said Brennan.
Caroline took a sip of her coffee and grimaced. "Giving up caffeine...whilst you're having a baby. A woman as worldly-wise and intuitive as I am can tell these things. Mark my words! You get yourself down to a doctor and get tested, Dr. Brennan. I guarantee you that the rabbit will die..."
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Brennan looked perplexed, until she recalled the use of rabbits in the earliest forms of lab testing for pregnancy. "This is you feeling puckish again, Ms Julian? You do know that rabbits are no longer injected with the urine of pregnant women to establish if corpus haemorragica occurs in vivo? Animal testing is cruel, and thankfully, no longer necessary."
The puckish Prosecutor graced the Anthropologist with her most withering stare of disdain. It didn't have much of an effect. Brennan stared back, awaiting an answer.
"I am well aware of that, Dr. Brennan. That 'ole method was around when my Momma found out that I was gonna be more than just a twinkle in her eye. I have a proposition for you Cherie, to put this whole 'is she / isn't she' schamozzle to bed once and for all."
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A small crease appeared on Brennan's brow. "This is proposition is not about the case is it?"
Caroline saluted Brennan with her now half-empty paper cup. "Your partner should have told you that I'll be briefing you in the morning. But apparently what they say about you is right. You are brilliant."
"I know that," replied Brennan. "But based on the last proposition that you put to me, I suspect that your terms will be harsh and heavily weighted in your favour."
"I'm a Prosecutor, Cherie! It comes with the job description," proclaimed Caroline. "So here is the deal. You, go home via a drug store. Pick up one of those home pregnancy kits, and take the damned test. Bring the evidence in to our morning briefing tomorrow. If it's negative, I promise to keep my nose out of your business, period. If it's positive, I get to announce it when the time is right, and you have to admit that my instincts were correct in this matter."
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By this point, Brennan was feeling a little panicked at being put on the spot by this formidable force of womanhood. She attempted to reason with the Prosecutor. "My body, and it's functions are a private matter Ms. Julian. Not something you can speculate and make conjecture around. I suppose that you have something in mind to force my compliance with your highly unethical request?"
Caroline squared her shoulders and tilted her chin up indignantly. "Why as it happens, yes I do. If you decline to take the itty bitty test to try and prove me wrong, I will feel compelled to share my concerns about your recent fitness following your accident,...and my current suspicions, with Dr. Sweets; strongly suggesting that you be removed from field work until you undertake a full medical examination."
Brennan's jaw dropped. "You're using blackmail on me? Again? Why?"
"Because it works! And sooner or later, Cherie, you have to realise that there are things that have to change in your life. You're too damned valuable to us all to let yourself in harm's way every two minutes. You need to wake up and smell the decaf coffee that you're gonna be drinking for the foreseeable future," explained Caroline, who took the razor sharp edge off her words by placing a hand on Brennan's forearm.
Brennan looked down at the hand on her arm, and looked searchingly at the face of the hard woman, who happened to have a gooey soft centre. "Your proposition is preposterous. How can you be so sure?"
"Trust me, Cherie. Take the damned test!"
Apartment of Dr. Temperance Brennan
As Booth juggled a box of Thai food and a six pack of beer, he let himself into Brennan's apartment. The aroma of freshly baked pie assaulted his olfactory senses. Bones had baked? He was in love, all over again.
"Hi Honey! I'm home...," he called out loudly in a sing-song voice, wandering toward the kitchen bench to investigate the delicious smell of cooked fruit and pastry. The six pack and boxes of Thai momentarily forgotten, despite the growling complaints from his gut.
"Just a minute," came Brennan's voice from the bedroom. "And don't you dare touch that pie, Seeley Booth!"
Booth's fingers were poised to do just that, but he pulled them away quickly; glancing back toward the bedroom to make sure that he hadn't been caught red-handed. "Mmm! Cherry pie. Oh, Bones, you shouldn't have!"
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"Cherry Brandy Pie to be precise," she announced walking out with towel dried hair and wearing a long satin happy coat that fell almost to her ankles. "Gordon Gordon, allowed me to use his recipe," she said with a smile.
"Wow! C'mere. I want to thank you properly for this surprise." Booth wrapped his arms around her and she relaxed into a 'hello' kiss, which quickly escalated into a 'let's get naked and horizontal' kiss.
Brennan broke the kiss reluctantly. This wasn't quite the time to abandon dinner, as tempting as it was to her libido. She gave a grin as Booth's gut growled again, and poked his hard abs playfully. "We need to eat now! I set the table."
"Okay, okay!" Booth sighed dramatically as he reached for the box of takeout. "You want a beer, Bones?"
"I drank some tea while I was baking. Maybe later," she deflected, as she began opening cartons and sat down at the table. "So, how was the rest of the interview? Get any further?"
"Asha was much more forthcoming, thanks to you, Bones," said Booth with a wink. "Tomorrow, when Caroline gets the Federal warrant, we need to speak with the man at the pharmaceutical company who headhunted her. His interest in Asha seems to have a personal motivation that I can't put my finger on."
"Is the connection with Asha, or with her Father, Nizam?" asked Brennan.
"Good question. Both I think. I'm hoping that Charlie and the boys at the Hoover can find out more about Asha's birth mother. I think there's a connection," he replied.
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After a few minutes of attending to gastronomic needs, they were interrupted by a the ping of an egg-timer in the kitchen. Brennan put down her chopsticks and held up a finger to pause the conversation, because she had a mouthful of food.
"Got something else cooking, Bones?" asked Booth.
"In a manner of speaking," she replied walking back towards her bedroom again. "Something that Caroline asked me to follow up on before tomorrow morning."
Booth shrugged and loaded some more food onto his plate.
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The test was in the bathroom. It sat in white plastic muteness next to the sink. Brennan shook her head and picked up the white plastic contraption, confident that she was going to put the meddling Prosecutor out of her personal affairs, once and for all.
She flipped the test over and peered at the result window and smiled. She could really do with a beer about now. What a pity. Tucking the plastic pregnancy test in her pocket, she compartmentalised her feelings on the matter and returned to the dinner table, hoping that Booth had left her a second helping of Kung Pao, because she was hungry.
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"What's up, Bones?" asked Booth as she returned to the table. "Shoulder troubling you again?"
She shook her head, having just placed a mouthful of vegetables and noodles in her mouth. Feeling glad that she was sitting down, convincing herself that the chilies in the dish were causing her skin to flush.
"You look a little pale, Temperance. What did Caroline make you do?" said Booth, concerned again. She really had been pushing herself too hard.
Brennan placed her chopsticks on her plate and reached into her pocket. "She blackmailed me into taking a pregnancy test, Booth. Said she would tell Sweets about her 'suspicions' if I refused. Get me taken out of the field until I take a full medical."
"What the hell! She can't do that..." his voice drifted off as she placed the test on the table. "You did it? Why?"
"Because I wanted to prove her wrong, and I wanted to stop being harrassed over this issue, Booth," she replied.
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Booth chortled with glee, and pointed at the white plastic square, taking in the look of determination on her face. "So she wants you to take this in to our meeting tomorrow? You're calling her bluff, Bones? Way to go! Caroline is gonna be pissed when you show her and prove her wrong."
Temperance Brennan steeled herself and used an index finger to push the test across the table with a smile twitching at her lips. "So do you want to break the news to Caroline, or should I, Booth?"
He grabbed the test and acted out his speech to the Prosecutor. "So now Caroline, you can keep your nose out of our business. This test right here, is proof, see?" He pointed at the result window, looked at it. Did a double take.
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"We would have discovered it eventually, I suppose," reasoned Brennan.
"Holy shit, Bones!"
"We were careful, but not careful enough it seems. Particularly during the period immediately follwoing the tequila experiment," she explained.
"You're sure?" he asked, still rooted to the spot.
"The test has high sensitivity and specificity. So it is highly likely to be correct. Although a follow up blood test will be required to absolutely exclude a false positive result," she explained.
Booth's body suddenly recalled that it could move, he sprang out of his chair and pulled her up into a standing hug. "Do you know what this means?" he said, completely in shock.
"I believe that in the common vernacular, the rabbit died, and I am pregnant. Would you like a slice of pie, Booth?" she asked, licking her lips.
His eyes narrowed. "Why? Do you want a slice of pie too?"
"I have no idea why it suddenly appeals to me, but it smells delicious," she said.
"Ha! Our kid is giving you a craving for pie! A chip off the old block."