A/N Welcome back!
Thank you to those of you who reviewed the first chapter, I am glad you enjoyed. I am not taking the time to respond to individual reviews, not because I don't appreciate them, but because I am trying to crank this out as quickly as possible. I hope you understand, and PLEASE still review!
Disclaimer: Nope… Can you believe I still don't own Bones? I know… I was shocked when I found out, too… But, hey, I do own this story and the ideas within! So please enjoy it!
She had been home just over an hour before her silence was disturbed by the shrill ring of her cell phone. Pulling the phone from her bag, she saved the word document on which she'd been working. "Brennan," she answered quickly without looking at her call ID, hoping it was Booth.
"Hey, Dr. B, I think you should get down here," Hodgins' voice came through her earpiece. "I am pretty certain that we have the necessary evidence to support my initial conclusion."
She could hear the pride in his voice as she stood from where she sat, placing her laptop on the coffee table. "What did you find?" She replied, wanting some details.
"Well, Fisher said that there are some questionable marks on the x-rays that indicate damage. Cam has the body in her office right now, finishing the autopsy, but said that I should call you to come in. Is Booth still with you, or should I call him?"
"Um, no, he's not here, but I'll call him, Dr. Hodgins. We'll be in soon. Thanks for letting me know."
"Sure thing. See ya." They ended the call simultaneously.
Immediately, she dialed Booth, but her call went to voicemail. "Um, hi Booth, it's me. Hodgins just called; he wants us to come to the lab… Do you…do you want to pick me up so we can go together? Or do you want to meet me there?" She wrinkled her nose, realizing she was talking to his voicemail, and would not be receiving an answer in response. "OK, well, I think I will wait for a little while to hear back from you. If you get this message in the next 20 minutes or so, let me know what you want to do….OK, well…" there was an awkward silence between herself and herself, she sighed. "OK, I'll wait to hear from you. Bye, Booth."
Dropping her phone onto her kitchen island, she moved to the refrigerator and pulled out some fresh cut fruit. She suddenly found that she was, in fact, very hungry. Why didn't I just agree to go to the diner with Booth? Instead we're both eating alone… She sat on her barstool and stabbed a piece of pineapple with her fork and began eating in silence, watching her un-ringing phone, willing her partner to return her call, even though she didn't believe in mental telepathy.
After 20 minutes passed, she shoved away from her perch in the kitchen and plodded into her bedroom to change into more appropriate working clothes for the lab, deliberately taking her time, hoping that Booth maybe lost track of the passing minutes, and didn't realize her allotted time had already come and gone. By the time she was done dressing, and still having not heard from Booth, she decided to try his house phone. Upon getting his voicemail there as well, she opted to drive herself to the lab, by way of the diner; perhaps she would find him still there, and they could continue to the Jeffersonian together.
B/B/B/B
Brennan could see her partner's SUV parked along the street, close to the diner, and she felt an inexplicable flutter in her chest at the idea of finding him (hopefully at their table) and spending a few minutes with him before they had to go to work. She needed to apologize to him, and let him know that she hadn't acted with purposeful malice. Quickly, Brennan found a parallel parking spot a block away and rushed to the front door of the Royal Diner, swinging it open and locking her gaze on the table at which she expected Booth to be sitting. Disappointment filled her metaphorical heart, however, when she saw another couple, a smiling, happy couple, sharing a slice of cake in that space. That's our table, she thought possessively, we should be sitting there eating cake… not those people… Her uncharacteristic possessiveness of something so trivial did not go by unnoticed, but she knew she couldn't concentrate on that for now…she needed to locate her partner.
"Ah, Dr. Brennan, hello!" Mabel greeted her with a smile, order pad in hand. "Are you getting something to go, too?"
"Excuse me?" Brennan questioned their normal server.
"Did you want to order something for the road? Agent Booth was already in, almost 45-minutes ago, and got his usual; though I was surprised he didn't want one of his favorite He-Man Breakfasts, since we were still serving our morning meals." Mabel smiled, unaware that Brennan had no idea as to Booth's whereabouts.
"Oh, no Mabel, thank you, though. Do you know where Booth went? Where did he take his food?" She glanced around the diner, just to ensure that her partner wasn't slouched down in a booth on the far end of the eatery.
"No, I'm sorry, Dr. Brennan. I assumed he was coming to see you…He ordered extra fries…" She raised her eyebrow in question, but shook her head.
"Thank you, Mabel," Brennan replied as she turned to exit the restaurant.
She walked to Booth's SUV and peeked inside; he was not in there, nor was he sitting at one of the outdoor cafe-style tables that the diner had recently added to their sidewalk. Brennan suddenly found that she was getting anxious. It wasn't like Booth to leave his vehicle parked someplace when he wasn't staying close. She looked down the side street onto which the diner's side door led, no Booth. Then she glanced across the street and finally saw a familiar shape. She knew the shape of Booth's head and shoulders as well as she knew the back of her own hand. She recognized the unmistakable outline of his distinct profile as he sat, unmoving, on a solitary bench beneath an old oak tree in the park, his back to her with his head tilted slightly to the right. Immediately, she felt her anxiety ease, knowing that he was there, and appeared to be alright. Waiting for a break in traffic, she jogged across the busy intersection and made her way towards him quickly, subconsciously noting the sag of his wide shoulders, a stature she knew he took on whenever he was feeling melancholy.
Booth had been sitting on the bench watching the passers-by, killing time and just thinking. He observed a father playing ball with his son and immediately felt the pang of missing Parker. His boy was on vacation up north with Rebecca, and wouldn't be home until the following Friday. Shifting his attention, he then noticed a young soldier, dressed in desert fatigues holding the hand of a young woman. They were a nice looking couple, Booth mused, as he watched them circle to the other side of the pond. The vision brought back memories of his most recent tour in Afghanistan; a time he just preferred to forget...the training missions, which turned out to be so much more; the empty feelings of missing home; the lonely nights thinking about his family far away; the fiasco of meeting a woman who turned his world upside down – and not in a good way, either… Then, an elderly couple shuffled into his line of vision, sitting on a bench adjacent to a picnic table, and began to share their lunch. He thought of Pops and his Grandmom, and about how much they had loved each other. And then he mourned at the realization that he would never have the opportunity to experience that kind of love, and it made the almost-unbearable ache in his chest grow in intensity. A quick glance towards the sky told Booth that the threatening storm clouds were growing angrier, and he chuckled sarcastically to himself. Sure, go ahead and rain down on me…I already feel like shit…just add that to the mix, huh?
Sighing, he tilted his head side to side, cracking his neck and relieving some of the pressure he felt. It was inexplicable, but he knew that Brennan was near before he even saw or heard her. When he recognized the unmistakably familiar feeling he often got whenever she walked into a room, he glanced at his watch. It had been just over 45 minutes since he diverted her call to voicemail and pocketed his phone, turning the volume off while waiting for his food at the diner. Within a minute of feeling her presence, he heard the familiar cadence of her footsteps approaching from behind. He didn't let on that he knew she was there however; he wasn't really sure he was ready to see her. He didn't understand what he'd done wrong in the SUV, and he had to ponder his actions and his words, and try to figure out the point at which he'd scared her enough that she instinctually pushed him away without a second thought. So, he sat, still facing the pond, and waited for her impending approach. Silently, he wished the skies would open up just then, so they would be forced to run for cover and he could avoid the discussion for as long as possible...
He listened as she slowed her pace and took a deep breath before approaching the rest of the way and finally joined him on the bench, sliding next to him, picking up his untouched lunch to-go box and holding it on her lap.
"Hi," she said quietly, looking at his strong profile, her eyes darting from his crinkled forehead down to his clenched, scarred jaw and down further to his pronounced Adam's Apple, bobbing as he swallowed. She took in his clothing; he'd changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants, so she knew he must have taken a quick jog around the neighborhood park after dropping her off at the apartment. She felt a deep pang of regret, knowing it was her actions that gave him the need to burn off energy rather than go and eat like he'd initially wanted to do. He was angry, she thought to herself, and when he's angry, he works-out…
Unable to ignore her hesitant initiation of conversation, he turned and looked at her with a tired smile – the kind that didn't reach his eyes. She knew that look - - it was the one he plastered on when he wanted to fool someone into believing he was alright. "Hey, Bones." He turned back and nodded towards the pond, silently telling her that he was enjoying his solitude.
"I called you," she simply stated, opening the container from the diner and peeking inside at his uneaten lunch before snapping it closed again. "It went to voicemail."
He nodded slowly, unable to lie and tell her that he didn't hear it. "Yeah, I heard it ring. I was going to check it in a bit; I was just…." he shrugged, "…sitting…"
He still hadn't really looked at her, but she studied him anyway. She saw the tight clench of his jaw and the thin, straight line of his lips as he pressed them closed in forced silence. She noticed lines around the corners of his eyes…Lines that hadn't been there seven years ago when he'd first approached her about teaming up with him, but which time had nonetheless scribed into his handsomely chiseled face, accenting his deep-set chocolaty eyes. Those lines only appeared when he was concentrating, worried, sad or pissed-off. She hated that it was her words that caused those lines to appear on that particular afternoon, and she wondered exactly which emotion he was experiencing, if not all of them…
"You didn't eat, Booth. Are you feeling alright?" She rested her hand on his forearm and winced slightly when, once again, she felt his body tense in response to her touch, just as it had in the truck.
Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind, deciding to focus on the reason she'd searched for him. He plastered on that damn fake-smile and faced her. "I'm fine, Bones. What's up?"
Wishing to fix what she'd done to him earlier, but not really knowing how, she lowered her own gaze to the box in her lap and stammered, "I, uh...I-" 'I'm sorry' sounds so feeble… 'Forgive me' sounds so desperate… She wrinkled her nose at her thoughts as she searched for the right thing to say…
Booth instantly felt bad for his partner; no matter how hard he tried, he was never able to stay mad at her. She was struggling to understand their situation, just as much as he was, and he sighed silently, hating to hear her unveiled vulnerability. "Bones," he reached out and tapped her chin so she would face him, but he didn't let his knuckle linger at her jaw like he desperately wanted to do. "I didn't listen to your message yet, so you wanna tell me what's going on?"
Seeing his now-softened eyes trained on her, hearing his gentle voice, she felt lost for words. She knew she'd hurt his feelings, regardless of the fact that it was not her intention to do so, but he was willing to forgive her. Her partner was, as always, giving her another shot, and she hoped she didn't screw it up again. But first, they had a case.
"Hodgins called. He asked me to come to the lab."
When she didn't continue, he prompted her, "OK. What did you find?"
"I didn't go yet... I was waiting for you." She dropped her eyes momentarily but raised them again. "I called your cell, and then I tried you at home…when I didn't hear back. I came looking for you."
Surprised at her admission, Booth cocked an eyebrow. "It was almost an hour ago that you called, Bones. You could've been at the lab already, doin' your thing…"
"But you're my partner, Booth… and we should go to the lab together to learn about the findings…and…I didn't know... I didn't know where you'd gone…" She bounced her eyes between his dark browns. "I went into the diner and you weren't there…you weren't in your truck…you weren't sitting at the outdoor café tables…"
He smiled sadly, "I'm never too far away, Bones." He raised his hand and carefully pulled an invisible thread from her shoulder, really just as an excuse to touch her, before he once again met her eyes. "So, then, we have a case?" His smile grew – they were on common ground; well-traversed territory. He could see his partner's concerns dissipate as her own grin spread across her enticingly kissable lips and her blue-gray eyes shone brighter.
"Yes, we do, Booth." She fought against her itching fingers and their urge to reach out and touch him; she gripped his take-out box instead. "Is it wrong to be happy about that?" Her brow wrinkled in embarrassment and confusion, unsure of how Booth would answer her question.
He cocked his head sideways and looked deep into the pale eyes that had mesmerized him for seven years. "I don't think it's a matter of being happy about the case, Bones. It's about us working together. We bring justice to those who can't do it for themselves…and we're the best at what we do."
Feeling a twinge of relief that he didn't think she was out of line, she let her hand lift, ever so slowly, up to his shoulder, and she rested her open palm on the broadness she found there, and this time, he didn't tense or flinch. "We are very good at what we do… And I enjoy working with you." She swallowed the small lump that formed in her throat. I have to tell him…I have to tell him, so he doesn't think I'm pushing him away. "I enjoy spending time with you, Booth… on and off the job…I hope you know that…" Her throat felt tight, like she was about to cry, but she didn't want to...not again; she just wanted to make him understand…
Booth smiled, this time a genuine, appreciative smile, and reached for Brennan's hand on his shoulder, covering it with his own much larger hand. "Thanks, Bones." He squeezed her fingers and tugged her hand down in his, holding it a few moments longer than a normal 'partner' would do… But then again, nothing about their partnership had ever been normal.
B/B/B/B
As Booth and Brennan entered the lab, they walked straight to her office, where she grabbed her lab coat quickly before making their way back out to the platform.
"Dr. B, I thought maybe you'd decided not to come in," Hodgins spoke without looking up from his microscope, "But your delay gave me more time to run some tests." Finally he looked up. "I found something, but I am waiting on the results to tell me exactly what it is…What I do know, however, is that it's indicative of a crime having taken place." Hodgins pushed his rolling stool away from his work table and stood, walking towards the partners. He pointed to the computer screen as he brought up enlarged photos of metal shards and wooden splinters, which he explained were discovered during Cam's autopsy of the remains.
"Cam had to leave for a little while, but these are her preliminary findings." He handed Brennan a file then turned back to the screens. "This woman didn't go down without a fight..." Jack sighed before continuing. "Cam found defense wounds on both forearms and palms. These were extracted from her flesh during the exam. The metal slivers were discovered embedded in the victims scalp and torso. They're miniscule and could have easily been overlooked by a less competent eye; we're fortunate to have someone like Cam on our side." His last sentence was spoken with an absent tone, more like a thought that just forced its way into the world rather than a statement Jack had intended to actually speak. He shook himself from his revelry and continued. "The wooden splinters were extracted from her palms, as if she had fallen forward," Hodgins raised his hands in front of himself in demonstration and leaned as if he was catching himself mid fall. "She probably tried to stop her fall…" He shrugged as Booth nodded in understanding of what he was trying to explain. "Fisher took x-rays and loaded them into the system, but Cam's not ready to de-flesh the body yet." He flipped the photo to an icon list of x-rays and turned back to the partners.
Booth was flipping through the file that Brennan handed to him and she stepped forward and took the remote from Jack's hand, selecting various x-rays to view up close, flipping from one to the next in rapid succession.
"I am going to need to touch these…" Brennan spoke quietly as she looked at the close-ups. "There is extensive damage done to many of the bones…" She directed her sentence to no one in particular, "In order to gain a better understanding of what happened to this poor woman, I need to feel these injuries."
"Well," Jack interjected into her thoughts, "you won't be able to do that until Cam's through with the body. And she won't be through until she gets back from the errand she had to run."
Brennan turned back to Jack, "where did she go? It's not like Cam to leave in the middle of an autopsy."
Hodgins shrugged, "She received a phone call, said she had to leave and would be back as soon as possible… She gave me her findings thus far and gave me the go-ahead to take and run tests on the shards she'd uncovered. And, she gave Angie the phone that was in the victim's pocket." Seeing Booth's head bolt up from where here was studying the file, Hodgins continued, "don't worry, man, she made sure to catalogue everything according to protocol and she advised the FBI already that she'd turned the phone over to Angela."
Booth nodded, satisfied that the proper steps had been taken in preserving the evidence, and turned his attention back to the file. "Says here the victim's name is Emberly Williams, 27 years old; she's one of the Primate Specialists at the zoo – a 'Primatologist,' it says here in her profile. She is scheduled to be on vacation until next Thursday…Single…Rents a studio apartment near Falls Creek Pass." He looked to his partner. "Well, since you can't handle the bones yet, you wanna take a ride over to Falls Creek?"
She nodded as she backed away from the video screens, handing the remote back to Hodgins and left the platform to go back to her office, removing her lab coat as she moved. Booth followed her down the stairs but instead of going to her office, he stayed on the floor and pulled out his cell phone, dialed it and started giving orders.
"Shaw, I want the two women who found the body brought in for questioning. I also want the director of the Metro Zoo brought in as well as the immediate supervisor of the Primate Division. Scour Williams' desk or work station – whatever work space she had – if she was a Specialist, she had her own space… Find it and search it. Bones and I are heading to her apartment; we'll be back as soon as we can." He ended the call and turned, hearing her partner approach from behind. "Ready?"
She shouldered her bag and nodded, falling into step beside Booth. "Yes, I'm ready."
Booth paused and looked down at himself. "I should go change real quick. You still have my spare suit in your office?" His partner nodded and he hurried off. "Ok, I'll be right back. If we're entering the victim's house, I should look a little more presentable…"
Brennan watched her partner stride into her office, gather his bag from her closet and move into her private bathroom. She admired the way his body moved – the play of his muscles that were visible beneath his tight t-shirt, the way his sweats were slung low on his hips…
"You gotta admit, sweetie, Booth is one hunk of a human being…"
Angela's voice startled Brennan and her open admiration caused the Anthropologist to turn in place and look at her friend, wide-eyed and shocked.
"What? I'm married...I'm not dead, Bren…I can recognize a good looking man when I see one. It doesn't mean I don't still love my husband." She smiled when she saw the momentary wave of jealousy that had crossed behind Brennan's eyes dissipate into embarrassment. "Don't worry Sweetie, if he ever heard me say that, I could just blame my pregnancy hormones… they're raging." Happy that she made Brennan chuckled, she continued. "So, have you two come to any conclusions yet?"
"We're going over to the victim's apartment now…" Brennan's reply came quickly, feeling better to be discussing the case – a topic with which she was familiar and comfortable.
Bursting Brennan's bubble, Angela grinned. "Not about the case, silly…about the two of you…!"
Raising an eyebrow in question and trying to hide the panic in her eyes, Brennan turned to face Angela completely. "Wha—what are you talking about, Angela?"
With her back to her office, Brennan didn't see Booth approaching, but Angela did. Not wanting to get her best friend more upset, Angela just smiled and patted her friend's arm, "we'll talk later sweetie..."
"NO, Ange, we'll talk now. I want to know what you meant about me and Booth…"
"Uh-oh, I hear my name mentioned…that can't be good." Booth approached the ladies cautiously, but kept his smile in place, hoping that he wasn't interrupting anything too important, but undeniably curious what they were saying about him…
"Oh," Angela saved her friend, "Bren was just saying that you're going to Emberly's apartment. I hope you find something…I'm still working on the cell phone. I'll call you if I get anything." She smiled at the partners and turned back to her office, an unmistakable bounce to her pregnant waddle.
B/B/B/B
Emberly's apartment was small and orderly. It was, very obviously, the space of a dedicated perpetual-student – an intelligent woman who was interested in improving upon and continuing her education and knowledge in her field of study. Bookshelves lined her walls, stacked floor to ceiling with text books and journals on primates and their behavior; studies of the effects captivity had on the psychological and physical well-being of animals; psychology studies in general; and DVDs and documentaries surrounding her interests in the creatures.
"She was a very well-read individual," Brennan observed as she perused the shelves and Emberly's desk, noting the array of titles, both fiction and non-fiction, that were noticeably dog-eared and worn. "It appears she was also working on some Rhesus research, but my knowledge of the animals is too limited to know what a lot of the short hand terminology in these notes means." She rifled through piles of paperwork as she spoke.
"I found her date book," Booth noted, standing by her bedside table. He flipped to the current week and found a number of entries. Many appeared to be lectures and cable TV broadcasts, but there were a few scattered across several days with just names and times: Robert 1:30; Jason 7:15; Larry 5:00. Pulling out his phone, he dialed Shaw once again. "Hey, bring in anyone she worked with named Robert, Jason or Larry. She had meetings scheduled with each of them, but no indications of why. I don't know if they were dates or appointments. Either way, I want each of them brought it." He paused, ready to end the call, but then took a breath, "put them all in the same room…a waiting room that's mic'ed. Leave 'em in there for a while, undisturbed, but record everything that goes on. And Shaw, get a team over here to Emberly's apartment to collect her computer and photography equipment. I don't know what we'll find, but I want all of it searched." At that point he ended the call and turned his attention back to his partner.
"I can't tell for sure, Booth, but some of this research looks like it could be accusatory of laboratory mistreatment of primates. Not against the Metro Zoo, but against a research company from whom the zoo received several of its residents." Brennan flipped pages and created a pile she intended to bring back to the lab with her, for further study.
"What d'ya mean?" Booth questioned, unsure of what she was trying to tell him.
"When a research company no longer has valid use for an animal, but deems it able to live a relatively normal life within captivity, that company will often draw up a contract with a zoo or sanctuary, to which they can sign over ownership of the animal; most often the higher primates, like chimpanzees and orangutans. That's how Metro receives some of its resident Primates and exotics." She met Booth's deep brown eyes and sighed. "I'll take these documents back to the lab; I think Jack will be able to-" her sentence was interrupted by her telephone, just as Booth's phone rang at the same time.
"Brennan." She listened as Angela's agitated voice came through, rapidly complaining about a situation that came up at the lab.
"Bren, there're some guys here from Animal Control, trying to get us to take possession of the entire collection of Rhesus Monkeys from the Zoo. What the hell are we supposed to do with them? Were you expecting them?"
Brennan wrinkled her forehead, "They're trying to leave the monkeys? The lab doesn't have the kind of space needed for housing those animals…"
At the same time, Booth was listening to his call. "Booth, Lewis here. Listen, your scientists don't want the monkeys and we can't keep them for the duration of your investigation. I thought you were gonna make arrangements for this? We can't keep them at the shelter - we don't have the room for them."
"What do you mean you don't have the room? You're the friggin' Animal Control…It's what your agency does, Lewis! You control animals, don't you? Of course the lab doesn't want to take them; they can't spare the room or the man power to care for the monkeys, for Christ's sake!"
"Booth, you wanted me to stop the animals from being killed, and I did. That's all I have the power to do, man, I thought you understood that. The agency doesn't have the room to keep them either."
"Well," Booth thought quickly, "can't they be quarantined inside their enclosure at the zoo?"
"No, we can't keep them there; not after what happened."
"Shit…" He glanced at Brennan and saw she was animatedly speaking into the phone. "OK, look Lewis, just – just hang on a minute," he dropped his phone from his face and walked closer to his partner, trying to intervene in her conversation.
"Bones," he whispered, "is that the lab?"
"Hang on Ange," she turned to Booth. "Yes, it seems your friend is trying to offload the monkeys at the lab, stating that you gave the order to have them delivered… What's going on, Booth? I didn't hear you make that request."
"I didn't." He held up his phone, "this is Lewis on the phone now. He said all he could do was stop their euthanization, but they have no facility to hold the animals either. If the lab doesn't take them, I don't think we're going to be able to stop them from being killed, Bones."
Immediately, she raised her phone once again, "Angela? Tell Hodgins to take possession of the monkeys. Put their cages in the Ookey Room." She paused and Booth could hear Angela's high pitched voice coming through the earpiece, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. "Angela…no, listen to me. You tell Hodgins to sign that paperwork and I will deal with the ramifications when I get back." She paused again. "Angela!" Now she was nearly yelling. "I will deal with Cam when I get back to the lab! I will NOT let those monkeys be killed just because some asshole murdered a woman and left her body in their cage to be mutilated beyond recognition. You tell Cam that she can blame me. I will cover any expenses incurred for the care of the animals. I will pay for any food or structures that need to be built to accommodate the animals for the duration of the case, until they are able to be returned to their home. You tell her that, and I will be back soon." She ended the call abruptly and turned her teary eyes to her partner.
Booth lifted his phone once again, never taking his eyes off his partner. "Lew, you shouldn't have a problem with leaving the animals, now."
"Yeah, I just heard that…I don't know who she is, but I'd love to meet her…she sounds hot as hell… Do you think you could introduce-"
"Fuck you, Lewis." Booth cut off the man's request, "that's my partner you're talkin' about." Booth ended the call and pocketed his cell, reaching his hand out to grasp her upper arm. "Bones," he spoke quietly, seeing that she was trembling with anger. "Bones, it'll be alright…" He brought his other hand to her cheek, palming it carefully and pulled her into an embrace.
"They don't even want to help, Booth… Animal Control doesn't care…To them, the monkeys are nothing more than an inconvenience." She let him pull her close, succumbing to her need to feel comforted and to his need to be the source of that comfort. She let her tears of frustration escape.
"We'll figure something out, Bones," he rubbed large circles across her back as he felt himself fall a little harder for her and her huge heart-muscle. She often said she was incapable of caring like other people, unable to love, but the truth of the matter was that she cared more than anyone else he knew. Temperance Brennan had more room in her heart than she gave herself credit for, and Booth hoped that someday, she would trust him enough to reveal to her the truth of her loving capacity. For the time being, however, he forced himself to be content with mending their broken relationship, trying to find their way back to where they were a year earlier.
"I'm sorry, Booth," she spoke against his neck, her fingers gripping the back of his shirt, just above his waist and beneath the back of his jacket, "I know I shouldn't get so upset about something like this…But they're just animals… They don't know right from wrong, they only know instinct; and that's what they follow. And for that, the government wants to punish them…"
"I know, Bones. It's not fair. Look, let's go back to the lab and try to figure something out, alright? We've done what we can here; we'll secure the location and a team will be here soon to collect the electronics. We can head back to the Jeffersonian and see what's going on with the monkeys."
She backed out from his embrace, slightly embarrassed that she'd become so emotional again, but unable to pretend it didn't happen. She nodded and turned quietly to collect the pile of reports and papers that she deemed worthy of review by herself and her associates. Once she was ready to go, Booth escorted her back to the SUV, ensuring that the apartment was locked and taped for law enforcement. Before they ever left the parking lot, however, the FBI forensics team was pulling in, searching for the correct building. Booth indicated where they were to go and what they were to collect, and the partners were once again on their way back to the lab.
B/B/B/B
As soon as they'd entered the vast space of the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab, Booth and Brennan were assaulted by a cacophony of howls, screeches and snarls combined with the unpleasant shouts from one Dr. Camille Saroyan, whose barks were directed at none other than Jack Hodgins. Painting on a stern look, the one Booth had learned years ago was her guise of protection, Brennan stormed in the direction of the human contribution to the deafening noise, leaving him in her wake.
"Dr. Saroyan, please stop yelling at Dr. Hodgins. I told him to sign for the animals; I will take full responsibility!" Brennan entered her colleague's office with confidence belying her insecurities. "I am perfectly aware that the lab is not currently equipped to manage such a large collection of Rhesus, however, I was not about to permit these animals to be euthanized for acting on instinct alone." Brennan squared her jaw and stood her ground against her boss, regardless of the consequences.
"Dr. Brennan, you forget your place here," Cam spun on her heel and faced her resident anthropologist. "You do not run this lab, contrary to what you may believe. I am in charge here, and I am the one who calls the shots, because I am the one who has to answer to the board about what goes on in this place!" Cam's dark eyes were fiery with anger as she faced Brennan. "And if you think that your monetary contribution to their upkeep is enough to supply a satisfactory answer to the Foundation, then you are sorely mistaken. The Jeffersonian is not in the habit of housing entire colonies of animals simply because one of its employees has a crazy hair to save the lives of those making up that colony. We are not a zoo, nor are we a wildlife sanctuary. We are a working laboratory that requires concentration and control; we play integral parts in solving the most heinous crimes on the FBI files. We cannot maintain in excess of 50 monkeys."
Booth stood by the door unmoving as his partner and friend went toe to toe in a metaphorical pissing match for control of the situation. Watching his partner's shoulders tense in a familiar way, indicating she was about to blow a gasket, he stepped in, raising his hands in front of him and moving to stand between the ladies. "Bones, Cam, let's just everybody calm down here, huh? There has to be a way to work this out." He looked from Cam's challenging brown eyes to Brennan's icy blues and back again. "Cam, Bones knows you are in charge here, but we were facing a situation that needed an immediate solution, and this was the best thing we could come up with." He lumped himself into the decision-making-process of housing the monkeys at the lab even though he had no say in the matter at all; he wasn't about to let his partner take the fall on her own. "And Bones," he turned back to the woman on his left, "I need you to calm down; we need to address the immediate needs of the animals and focus on the investigation so we can complete it as soon as possible. The sooner we solve this case, the sooner we can find a permanent home for these guys, if it's not back at the zoo. Their fate rests in our hands as we uncover the truth of what happened to our victim." Seeing his Bones calm down, he once again turned to Cam, taking a deep breath before beginning.
"Now, Cam, I know you're upset because you think Bones it trying to call the shots, but let's take a step back and see what needs to be done. Have you finished your autopsy?" By drawing her attention away from his partner and back to the case, Booth hoped to interject a sense of calm and cohesiveness into the matter, and get their team working together again.
She met his eyes with a controlled anger that he knew well; she was trying to work along with him, despite her feelings of resentment towards her employee. "Yes, I have. Mr. Fisher has already begun the process of de-fleshing the body so Dr. Brennan could have the bones for further examination. I understand that the x-rays left a lot to be desired, given the amount of bone damage, and that Dr. Brennan wanted to be able to examine them hands-on as soon as possible."
Booth nodded in appreciation to his old friend and former lover. "That's great, thank you, Cam. How long until the bones are ready for her?"
"Probably another three, maybe four hours or so," was her reply; much calmer than when she started. "You can find all of my notes in here," she handed him the file she'd completed from her autopsy.
"Great," he turned his attention back to his partner. "So, Bones. You have a while before you can handle the remains, why don't you use that time to determine what is going to be needed to maintain your 'guests' in the meantime?" He raised his eyebrow in her direction and physically moved his body to interrupt the seething glare she was still aiming in Cam's direction. "Whatd'ya say?"
Brennan blinked and refocused her attention on the handsome face of her partner. Exhaling a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, she nodded slowly. "Yes, I will do that." She turned her attention momentarily to Fisher, who had been sheepishly standing by the door witnessing the entire argument. "Mr. Fisher, when the bones are clean, please prepare them for examination in my Bone Room and advise me when you've completed your task." Watching the intern walk away, she turned her attention once more to Booth and took another deep breath. "After my assessment of the situation, I will spend some time with Hodgins going through the research papers that Emberly was working on regarding her accusations of abuse."
Smiling, Booth nodded in appreciation with a small smile, "That sounds perfect, Bones. Let me know what you find out."
She grew serious, "Where are you going?" She realized by the way he'd made the request, that he wouldn't be around when she was reviewing the documents.
"I have to get over to the Hoover and question some folks. Shaw brought in the two girls who found our victim as well as some higher-ups from the zoo, and then the boyfriends – or whoever those three guys are that were mentioned in her date book." Booth stepped closer, registering a twinge of hurt in his partner's eyes. "It looks like you're gonna have your hands full here, Bones. I didn't figure you'd have time to interrogate them with me…"
"But, Booth…that's what we do." She spared a glance to Hodgins, who was standing in front of the wall of cages that had taken over the Ookey Room completely. "Let me bring Jack on board with ascertaining the necessities of caring for these animals. Then once he's speeding along, I can join you…We're partners…" Her eyes begged him to wait for her; she, too, was trying to help re-establish their previous relationship, and it was evident to him that she really wanted to be present for questioning.
"Once he's 'up to speed,' Bones, not 'speeding along'." He grinned at her slip-up; Booth loved that Brennan tried to use common phrases, but he loved even more when she made adorable slip-ups like that one, allowing him the chance to correct her.
"Oh, well….that's what I meant," she raised her chin defiantly, still feeling the effects of her confrontation with Cam, but knowing that Booth was teasing her.
"I know…" he smiled. "OK, go tell Jack what you need from him; I'll wait in your office. Come get me when you're ready." Booth left the room and headed over towards his partner's office, Cam's file in hand, and he seated himself in the comfortable couch to review the report.
A/N Postscript
Such intensity in the lab! Brennan and Cam fighting… You KNOW those two want to go head-to-head more often than we get to see on the screen… Two strong personalities in such close working quarters is bound to escalate into volcanic-sized eruptions from time to time!
Please review and let me know if you enjoyed chapter 2!
I'm editing chapter 3 this afternoon and if I get good feedback, maybe My Muse will be more motivated to post it right away!
Peace & Love, my friends and Happy Day-after-your-birthday, dharmamonkey!
~jazzy