AN: (Standard disclaimer on how I don't own Bones blah de blah blah blah) I'm taking bets on how long it'll be before we see Dr. Brennan and Agent Perotta get into some sort of altercation (*male cheers for a cat-fight complete with torn clothes*). *Ahem* Sorry, side bets on just how much Booth injures Sweets if/when he tries to call Dr. Brennan "Bones" in front of Booth. I apologize for the time between updates but c'set la vie! Enjoy.
"Agent Booth this hearing is just to help us determine your ability to be further tasked with the relevant tasks and stresses of your assigned occupation and specialty within the FBI. Nothing more. I'm certain that upon proper review of the evidence at hand you'll be returned to your assigned position as Special Agent in Charge at the Major Crimes Unit."
Translation from legalese- Your goose is cooked and we're going to suspend you until future notice when things have blown over. Then we're going to officially terminate your employment with the Bureau.
You knew that something was wrong when as you were signing out of the hospital; thankfully after you managed to get your hands on some clothes that Bones picked up for you, something to be said of her knowing how to break into your apartment, with Bones two suits from Internal Affairs showed up, flashed their badges, and "politely requested" that you accompany them. You managed to keep Bones from flooring them with no small difficulty; their flat denial to her request, more like a demand, to accompany you probably put them in a more life-threatening situation than most combat soldiers ever experience. You muse for a moment how hot it is when Bones is threatening other people.
Now, sitting in a formal conference room deep in some sub-basement of the Hoover with no less than three high-rolling mucky-mucks staring at you from across the table; maybe you should have encouraged Bones to… how did she put it? "Re-arrange their cranial structures."
Likely it would have resulted in paperwork but you have to admit, Bones is extremely hot when she's all belligerent.
You wonder why she was so protective of you and insistent that she be with you but your thoughts are cut short by a rather sleazy authoritative voice from… ah hell Deputy Director Moultrie. Damn career insider if there ever was one; you don't even know what department he works in but he's definitely a back-room mover and shaker.
"Agent Booth it appears that you have suffered what can only be called a series of unfortunate events in the recent past. You must understand that you must undergo a thorough and lengthy evaluation by Bureau approved and certified experts before it can even be considered that you return to your former duties."
"I understand sir." You grind your teeth together at the sound of this pompous fool's sanctimonious and self-satisfying voice.
"In further your astounding breach of proper protocol as to informing the FBI to say nothing of your superiors of your return from your unfortunate circumstances reflects poorly upon your sense of discipline and duty to this Bureau. You should also note that this sort of behavior reflects poorly upon your former supervisor who, in the opinion of this board, has been too lax in enforcing proper decorum in your behavior in regards to your interactions with your superiors."
You just bite back a sarcastic, witty and wholly inappropriate remark to that. You don't want to tip your hand in stating that you think that there is a nest of rats in the FBI because you don't know just how far the rot spreads. And saying that you'd trust Bones and the Squint Squad over what you've seen of the FBI any day of the week and twice on Sundays would probably cause more problems for you than anything else.=. As for his shot against Cullen… that was low. You knew that Cullen had bent over backwards in his efforts to defend your sometimes unorthodox practices especially when it came to the Squints but the glee that this bastard took in tarring a retired Deputy Director just went to show you just how much political fighting that Cullen had to do. And just how many enemies that he had made in the process.
You look at the two other members of this board looking for any measure of support. Instead your heart falls as you realize just how messed up the situation is. Deputy Director Villars of Internal Affairs and Deputy Director Calloway of the Major Crimes Unit, your current boss, both stare at you with a benign sense of disdain. Like you're something that they're scrapping off the bottom of their shoe.
Maybe you should have actually listened to Cullen when he told you to pay attention to the inter-office politics.
Moultrie goes on for a while taking forever and using tons of words to express absolutely nothing. Intellectually you appreciate his command of rhetoric and speech but since you're not too disposed to be happy towards him at the moment you filter out his voice and paste a stone face on.
Wait what did he just say?
"Excuse me sir can you repeat what you just said?" You take some amount of pleasure in how his face shows surprise and anger that you weren't hanging onto every word that passed his pale thin lips.
"I said, Agent Booth, that due to current circumstances your report on the recent events will be set-aside to only be admitted and accepted upon formal assessment, verification, and accreditation of your current mental state by experts chosen by this board. Furthermore your position as liaison to the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab and as Special Agent in Charge of the D.C. Major Crimes Unit is henceforth suspended pending further investigation due to your insubordinate and un-professional contact with said Medico-Legal lab prior to notifying your superiors at the FBI after your ordeal."
You vainly try to keep your blood from boiling; at least you successfully keep yourself from jumping across the table and throttling this bastard from severing your professional partnership with Bones and the Squints. Oh and losing your job also sucks. You briefly wonder if Caroline will lend you her car again.
"Sir, are you telling me that my report of being kidnapped and tortured by a group of professionals whose intent is to directly damage the FBI's ability to investigate and solve crimes is being covered-up?"
"Agent Booth this august body is not covering up anything. We are only of the opinion that your report is fantastic and implausible and cannot be accepted as anything other than verbal lashing out at phantoms after suffering a period of trauma and drug-induced delusions."
"Drug induced?!" What the hell is this bastard talking about? The whole trauma thing more or less hits it on the head; how else would you describe being tortured?
"According to the tox-screen which was administered after you were admitted to Washington General. The report clearly shows that you were under the influence of high concentrations of hallucinogenic compounds and other narcotics; what is most disturbing, are the indicators consistent with long-term recreational drug usage."
What. The. Fuck.
"Due to these disastrous and felonious implications as to your mental state when making your report you are hear-by suspended from all field and office duties without-pay upon further investigation to include but is not limited to psychiatric evaluation and extensive drug testing to determine if you have been a habitual user of recreational narcotics and hallucinogenic drugs. You will turn in your badge, ID, and personal side-arm."
You can't believe this. The whole idea of this is ridiculous. If it weren't for the distinct and unusual honor of being deliberately framed and disgraced you'd rather do without the attention. At least Kirby had the dignity to not go through the tedious process of trying to frame you for anything; he just fired you.
"Unfortunately sir my badge, ID, and FBI issued side-arm were all taken from me when I was kidnapped so it is impossible for me to turn them into you."
"You are being insubordinate in your refusal to comply with duly constituted authority Agent Booth."
"Insubordinate my ass! I can't give you what I no longer have! Here you want a badge, ID, and side-arm?! Here take these."
You toss out John Dough's (or is it Tim's) badge and ID. Time to tip your hand to these bureaucratic politicos. Maybe they're not all corrupt; maybe they're just damn fools.
"I took these off one of my torturers who admitted to me that he had successfully infiltrated the FBI. I'd suggest you run him through the system. Meanwhile I've had enough of this crap. Don't worry sir I can see my own way out."
You start out of the room only to turn about suddenly at the doorway.
"And as for my gun sir it was taken from me when I was kidnapped and therefore I will have to be disinclined to acquiesce to your request."
You stalk out with a schadenfreude feeling of satisfaction; at least you still have a side-arm. You're going to have to go home to pick up your other hardware in order to keep Bones safe. Thankfully you don't have to look at Director Moultrie's greasy smile anymore.
As for the look on their faces when you pointed the pistol at them; you wish that you had a camera for that event.
*************************************************************************************************************
You consider it no small achievement to not have been arrested as you left the Hoover. You noticed bleakly that Charlie had already had your personal effects from your office packed up for you before you even got up to your floor. His grim look told you everything you needed to know about the situation in the FBI.
A rueful but appreciative smile crawls over your face as you notice that all of your memorabilia was topped off with a set of car keys and a note from the depo guys. There's something to be said to get friendly with the loggis; for some reason you always got first dibs on any new toys that the department got and now the motor pool had "accidently" issued you a vehicle that was supposed to have decommissioned from government service. Looks like Behar is finally paying you back for helping him out of that sticky situation with Cullen from a few years back. It really wasn't his fault that he accidently rigged Cullen's car radio to emit a GPS signal which Narcotics thought was a location of a sting operation.
You load up your slightly beat up set of wheels with all the memorabilia from your office. Mementos from your past; painfully real reminders of glory, pain, pride, and despair.
Your eyes pause briefly on the insignia of the Screaming Eagle. In the back of your mind you hear the roar of the birds and feel the heat of a desert sun.
You slam the trunk shut and drive off to the Jeffersonian.
***************************************************************************************************************
The sun has barely risen over the horizon as you pass through the doors to the Medico-Legal Lab. A momentary feeling of peace washes over you as all the familiar sights, smells, and noises of this hallowed temple to Reason strike you as water strikes the parched throat of a man dying of thirst.
You nod to Hank as you walk towards the platform. Of course walk is a generous term given that you're still more than a bit sore all over and that you're hungry. Starving even. You mentally kick yourself for not stopping by the diner and getting some pie.
Suddenly all thoughts of food flee from you as your attention notices exactly what is on the platform.
Even with the fans turned on to maximum the appalling stench of death is overwhelming. It looks like Wendell and Cam are doing a preliminary examination of the… victims from the warehouse. Over to the side you notice a red faced Angela trying to placate an almost hysterical looking Hodgins. Bones is nowhere to be seen.
You approach the platform but refrain from stepping up onto it; your access card was taken from you when you were kidnapped and your kidnappers haven't been kind enough to return your possessions to you.
"I don't get it Angela. None of these particulates make any sense. There are so many anomalies here… it's like the bodies and the crime scene were deliberately sprayed, brushed, and painted with as many types of chemical, dust, rock dust, and organic material as possible. I don't think that I'm going to be able to identify which were deliberately placed and which were naturally there."
A sudden realization hits you as you speak up, startling everyone on the platform.
"Even worse than that, that number of variables will make any forensic evidence that we can bring extremely tenuous. Unless we can, beyond a reasonable doubt, isolate every single variable and catalogue it then we lose a lot of our legal cause for identifying and arresting suspects. And with all of the variables in play that you're talking about, the suspect pool is theoretically limitless."
"BOOTH!" Jesus Christ it's like they haven't seen you in years, didn't they see you just the other day when you came in all tired and filthy?
You brace yourself for another round of pleasantries. You normally love to smoke and joke with everyone but the sight of those bodies and the memory of the terror that showed in Bones' eyes has put you into a somewhat focused attitude.
"Hey everyone, yes I'm alive and about. Can't talk now, where's Bones?"
"In her office."
Without a segueing word you dash off to Bones' office, not that it's unusual for you to do that but today you get a nagging feeling that you should stay with the other squints.
You dismiss that thought with a simple "Bones needs me."
As you step over the threshold of her office you notice that the office is completely dark, funny you'd think that she'd be working. You've noticed that whenever that Bones got into a stressful situation she'd automatically revert into a workaholic mode to cope despite your best efforts to get her to do something else. The sight of some empty Thai food containers on the desk at least gives you the hope that she's eating and not wasting away.
You quietly walk forward around her couch and gaze upon an object of astounding beauty.
Alright maybe it's not objectively an object of astounding beauty. You stifle a chuckle of how Bones' drooling slightly with a gasp of anger at the deep dark sleep rings under her eyes and the sallow shade of her normally healthy, and incredibly striking cheeks.
But then again you've never been a total disciple of Objectivity; Bones is absolutely beautiful. Her tousled hair and delicate features give her a sense of angelic grace and beauty. Okay Seeley stop drooling over your partner; you put the line there to protect her and now she needs more protecting than ever.
Gently you kneel down next to her and lightly touch her cheek with the back of your hand. Your palms have too much blood on them and you could never sully such an angel with the stains on your soul. Out dammned spot. As Lady MacBeth said.
Okay Seeley, romanticize much?
You barely touch her but her eyes flutter forth from what was a deep sleep immediately fixing you with a sense of purpose and focus that could rend diamond asunder if it was what she wanted to do. Your brain stops at the sudden perception of near manic desire and attachment that her look gives you.
Must have been a figment of your imagination as she suddenly yawns and rolls over.
"Mmmmph Booth, fi' more minutes…"
You can't help but burst forth laughing; waves of fondness for her surge forth from your heart and being. However much you enjoy watching her sleep, to say nothing of the look that you thought she gave you when she woke up, you need to talk with her.
"Come on Bones wakey wakey."
She responds amicably with a muffled grunt and a tossed side cushion at your head. As fate would have it she managed to hit you with the little metal zipper along the side.
"Go away. You're always telling me to take care of myself but now you're here bothering me when I am trying to." She sounds almost petulant and accusing; an interesting blending with her husky sleepy voice. Damn sexy- okay Seeley enough of that thought.
"Bones I got fired, I thought you should be the first to know." You figure that bombshell will get her out of her sleepy state and into the world of the living for a little bit. You really hate doing this to her when she finally seems to be taking your advice and trying to take care of herself but…
Wow her almost yell of "What?!" nearly damaged your ears
Her eyes burn with concern and astonishment; why is it that you always notice her eyes? Her perfect fiery beau- concentrate Seeley.
"The big brass want to cover it up, plus they think that I've been under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs according to some tox-screen report that they have."
"That is utterly ridiculous. You are the most honest person I know and there simply aren't any other explanations for the injuries that you've suffered."
"You know that, I know that, but they don't seem to know that."
"Booth what are you going to do?"
"I dunno I'll figure something out. Until then I'm just going to stick close to you and keep you safe."
She glowers at you with eyes still tinged with sleep.
"Booth I can take care of myself, even from these people I can take care of myself."
"Bones these people know a lot about you already and there is no way that I'm letting them get a chance to hurt you. End of story; no arguing."
You glower right back at her. You know that she's the most important person in the world to you at the moment except for Parker and there is no way that you're going to let her talk you out of protecting her. And you also know that there's no way that you'd ever admit that fact this side of the rack.
"No arguing?! Booth you're hurt you need to heal up first before you need to come around protecting me. I'm perfectly safe here at the lab, there is no reason you have to be here."
"Damnit Bones listen to reason, these guys are coming after you and these guys mean business. There is no way in hell I'm going to let you end up one of their victims!"
"And how are you going to protect me? You got kidnapped by them and now you've lost all your contacts with the FBI! How are you supposed to be able to protect me?"
You're both practically yelling at each other. Damn woman has to be so stubborn. There is no trace of sleep left in her eyes, instead you just see a sea of fire and barely squelched determination.
"By throwing my body in front of a bullet if I have to! I've done it once before for you and I can do it again!"
"I would have happily taken that bullet Booth! You do not need to be going around putting yourself in danger for me!"
"Bones you're my partner, I protect you. End of story!"
For tense seconds you stare into her eyes, and she into yours. It is the collision of a brown irresistible force and a blue immovable object. You can actually hear electricity sparkle between the two of you.
All you seem to notice is her features radiating anger and the feeling of suppressed rage. You remember that this was the almost exact same vibe you got from her right before she clocked you at your faked funeral. What did Sweets call it? Passion.
Yeah you might have had some of the best training in the world in resisting intimidation and torture but the glare that Bones' giving you right now causes you to flinch away. The only other option that you have is to grab her and kiss her breath away. Of course in the state that she's in she'd certainly kill you. Oh but it's such a tempting fate…
Without warning she huffs and storms out of her office heading towards the platform. You realize that Wendell or Cam must have yelled for her; your senses are still overwhelmed by the passion still radiating from Bones' slim frame. Such a slim and well-structured… stop Seeley, not now.
Moments behind her you follow her out of the office and towards the platform.
Wait who's that up on the platform with the Squints?
A person dressed in a lab coat carrying a cardboard box had made his way up to a side table on the platform. Normally you wouldn't take notice of such an occurrence but for some reason his face draws your attention. Something familiar about it.
It suddenly clicks.
You bellow out a warning and sprint towards the platform just before the man reaches into his box and pulls out a gleaming chrome revolver.
Everyone looks around in confusion. Then terror as they realize that a wolf has appeared in sheep's clothing.
3 meters from the platform "fence."
The man raises his pistol at the nearest person.
Angela.
1 meter.
A deafening roar fills the lab as the flash from the .44 magnum extends like an arm from the muzzle; the air of the entire room is buffeted by the explosion.
****************************************************************************************************************
Don't hate, I did warn you of possible character death in the summary. But will anyone actually die? I might be persuaded by copious amounts of reviews; or not, one of the topic monikers for this is "Suspense" after all. Review bitte.