AN: And...the next chapter. Thanks so much for all the reviews and story alerts, it really makes me so happy. I hope this chapter is alright, I really got stuck while typing it.
"Excuse me and you are?" Lisbon asked, wondering what this woman was doing at a crime scene.
"She's the forensic anthropologist from the Jeffersonian." Jane stated in his it's obvious, can't you see it voice.
"Yes, that's correct." she remarked, quite impressed, "How did you know?"
"It says Jeffersonian on your suit; you showed up by the bones thus anthropology. Plus they always bring in a specialist when it comes to high profile cases." Jane explained easily.
"Quit showing off Jane." Lisbon told him and turned to the lady, "I'm Agent Lisbon from the California Bureau of Investigation, and this is Patrick Jane, a consultant."
"I'm Dr. Brennan." she told them and crouched down next to Jane, ready to analyze the bones. "Camera." Brennan demanded her hand outstretched.
Jane grabbed a camera from a passing member of the arson team, oblivious to his cries of surprise and handed it to her. Brennan snapped a few pictures, documenting the scene before stowing the apparatus in her kit. She then gently began clearing pieces of debris from the area surrounding the skeleton.
"So have you found any other remains yet?" Lisbon inquired.
"Just one, a male, mid 30s to early 40s. We were using ground sonar to locate the bodies; this is the only other one." Brennan told her, continuing to free the bones from the wreckage.
"Only two?" Lisbon asked puzzled, "There should be at least three."
"Obvious, one of the three supposedly dead people did not die. My bet's on the Oblivion Bomber." Jane said.
Brennan ordered a gurney to be carried over and she laid all the bone fragments upon it. The other set of remains had already been loaded in the medical examiner's van. Jane and Lisbon followed Brennan and the bones off of the wreckage site, as the rest of the team stood nearby watching.
"Bones!" shouted a well-statured man, approaching the M.E.'s van. "What do you know?"
"This is also a male, approximately the same age as the other victim." she told him and then suddenly remembered to introduce him to the others, "Agent Lisbon, Mr. Jane, this is Special Agent Booth from the FBI."
Lisbon let a quick, slight expression of surprise cross her face at the name FBI, before she stated, "FBI? We are the lead on this investigation."
"Don't worry; I'm not here to take the case. I'm just gonna make sure Bones, uh, Dr. Brennan, here, doesn't get bumped out of her share of the case evidence." Booth said reassuringly.
Lisbon introduced the rest of the team once they walked over and everyone agreed to meet later at the morgue to discuss Dr. Brennan's findings.
"The first victim, I have conclusively identified as the first guard, Mr. Steve Brown. His dental records match and the bones and Mr. Brown's records reflect him having a recently healed radius." Brennan informed the CBI team, standing next to the stainless steel metal table in the morgue.
"The second victim is the second guard, Mr. Frank Tattum. Once again the dental records are a match. Both victims died as a result of the explosion. It appears that they suffered multiple fractures as the building collapsed on them." she continued.
Suddenly Lisbon's cell phone rang, its tone echoing throughout the room.
"Excuse me a moment." she said stepping outside into the hallway.
Jane moved off to the side next to Cho and Rigsby, "Pay up, please." He stuck his hand out, smirking as they both stuffed money into it.
"When are we going to learn not to bet against Jane?" Rigsby asked shaking his head.
"There was no way he could have known that the Oblivion Bomber's body would be the missing one, it was a lucky guess." Cho told him.
Lisbon came swiftly back into the morgue, "Let's go. They found another body at a house." She paused a moment before saying, "Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth, you are both welcome to come with us."
"Sure." Booth agreed and they followed the CBI team, Brennan stripping her gloves and grabbing her kit on the way out.
Van Pelt rejoined everyone in the house, saying "The cop out front said the family came home early from vacation today and found the body."
"He was killed at point blank; the gun is laying over there." Booth said pointing under the kitchen table to a Glock.
"That's what the LEO said too, he also said to rule out suicide, they swabbed his hands and got an interesting result. It tested positive for explosives." Van Pelt elaborated.
"So then this guy is the accomplice." Rigsby said his hand straying to his pocket where he had stashed some French fries courtesy of Portland Police.
Cho answered sarcastically, "Well he's not the Oblivion Bomber."
Brennan lifted the victim's arm with her gloved hand, and commented "Rigor mortis has barely begun. He was most likely killed around eight hours ago. You'll need a coroner though to give an accurate time of death with a liver probe, I only deal with bones."
While the group stood in the kitchen discussing, Jane wandered around the house looking at the pictures. One of them clearly stood out from the rest, its frame was different, even the quality of the photo was unique. He lifted it off the wall and read several numbers off the back. He could still feel something not right with the house. He lay down on the floor to stare at the ceiling and concentrate when he noticed it. There was a small device taped to the bottom of the wooden coffee table and the red seconds were counting down.
"Run, there's a bomb!" he shouted loudly to the others in the kitchen and ran out behind them.
The entire group made it outside and all the way across the lawn when the bomb exploded. Everyone hit the ground as the shockwave went out and pieces of debris fell around them. Slowly, they picked themselves off the ground, stunned.
"Is anyone hurt?" called out Lisbon, brushing herself off.
As a chorus of no's reached her, she sighed relieved. "Jane, you still have your sight?" she asked concerned, remembering what happened in the last explosion.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, don't fuss." came his reply from around the side of the house.
"Jane?! What are you doing now?" Lisbon exclaimed exasperated by Jane's antics. She pursued his voice back to the source.
"I found a clue!" he said triumphantly, holding up a slightly charred photo.
"It's just a picture from the house, let's go before the rest of the house falls down and crushes us." she glared at him, "Don't make me drag you again!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming. This is all the evidence I need."
Jane and Lisbon hurried to the front of house and across the street as distant sirens filled the air.
"Rigsby, what's your take?" Lisbon inquired after once again checking everyone for visible injuries.
"The bomb definitely malfunctioned. From what Jane described, it should have done a lot more damage, the house is even still standing." Rigsby concluded his eyes scanning the remaining shell of the house.
"I will once again examine the lasting skeletal fragments and transport them to DC. My identifications expert should be able to reconstruct his facial structure and identify this accomplice's name." Brennan told everyone definitively.
"Alrighty, let's ship those bones back to the Jeffersonian." Booth said and went to instruct the newly arrived emergency responders on what happened and what to do with the remains.
Van Pelt and Rigsby moved further away from the group to achieve a semblance of privacy when Rigsby suddenly hugged her, saying "I'm really glad you're okay.", his eyes starting to mist a little.
Van Pelt, a little shocked at the display of emotion, hugged him back, telling him the same thing. Once again they had a narrow brush with death. They both stared into each other's eyes remembering how close they had already gotten to a kiss, when Jane shouted one of his spontaneous explanations.
"I know where the next bomb will be!"