A/N Welcome back! WOW – My Muse was very generous today, cranking out both chapters 2 and 3 for you. I hope you enjoy. If I get chapter 4 out tomorrow, it won't be until late, because of work; but I suspect it's not going to be until Tuesday that I manage to post it.
Thanks for all the reviews, you guys have been great. I know that laboratory studies involving animals is a pretty sensitive topic, and I've tried to address it gingerly. I'm sorry that a few of you found it offensive for me to go this route, but I know that I can't please everyone all the time, and I hope that won't deter you from reading other fics that I have written in the past and those that I have yet to write.
The portions about the monkeys and their behaviors are pretty accurate, even within a fiction context; I have done research on much of this before putting it into my story.
PS: Continued Happy Birthday wishes to dharmamonkey! Didn't know you'd be celebrating for several days, did you?
Disclaimer: I still don't own Bones, just this story.
Only about twenty minutes had passed when Brennan rejoined her partner in the office. "I've given Hodgins what I would believe is termed as 'free reign' to arrange for whatever we need in order to support the monkeys in a satisfactory manner." She broke out in a smile – the kind that told Booth she found something truly humorous. "He was quite excited to be working with them, Booth. He reminded me of a little boy. Apparently, he spent quite some time working with primates when he was obtaining his biology degree. I left the files that I collected from Emberly's apartment; seems Jack has experience with research companies, he may be able to offer some further insight to the young woman's findings." As she spoke, she gathered her belongings, preparing to leave with her partner to go question their suspects. "I told him that we'd come back after we are done at the Hoover."
"Sounds great, Bones." Booth closed the file in his lap. "I told Sweets and Shaw to go ahead and talk to the young ladies who found the body. They're intern volunteers working with the animals while studying to complete their degrees. Shaw believes they're both clean; they both have solid alibis for the night of the murder and no obvious beef with Emberly. In fact, from what Shaw said, it sounds like the three of them were pretty close, as far as co-workers go; they went out to dinner fairly regularly, dancing, drinks…double dates…" As they exited her office, striding across the open lab floor towards the door, he referred to his index cards, on which he made some notes while speaking with his colleagues by phone just a few moments before. "They were able to confirm that our victim was, in fact, socially seeing all three men who are currently awaiting our arrival at the Hoover, but she wasn't serious with anyone. One of the ladies, Dharma Ateles, said that Emberly had received some threats from a company – Apogee Pharmaceuticals – regarding the research she was working on. Shaw is looking into the company as we speak…"
Brennan stopped, as if caught by something unbelievable. "Did you say the girl's name was Ateles?"
Booth looked back at his notes. "Yeah, A-t-e-l-e-s. Why?" He searched her pretty blues, and waited for the explanation for her laughter.
"And this young woman, she was one of the Primate keepers?" Upon receiving Booth's affirmative nod, she chuckled. "Well, some might say her choice of profession was predetermined." Her amusement was clear, but she didn't expand upon her explanation as they reached the SUV.
Booth watched her expectantly, raising his eyebrows and hands simultaneously. "Care to share the humor with me, here Bones? I'm sorta lost…" He settled in the driver's seat and watched her as she fastened her seatbelt carefully.
Raising her eyebrow in return, she smirked. "Ateles is part of the scientific name given to the species of monkeys commonly referred to as Spider Monkeys; they were named by a French Naturalist named Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire." She smiled and shrugged when she saw his evident confusion. "Don't ask me why I know that, because I can't explain why certain things made an impression on me as a student. Sometimes certain names or facts imprint themselves on a person inexplicably. This is one of those things…" She tugged at the collar of her trench coat, straightening it out. "You have to admit, it is apropos that a person with such a last name would end up working with primates…" She chuckled, the deep alto timbre that warmed Booth's heart each time he heard it. "I mean, she was working with Rhesus monkeys and larger primates, not Spiders, but still…" She let her head fall back against the seat as she studied his expression through her giggles.
Bones is giggling, Booth thought with a disbelieving smile. I love that sound…
"And… there's more…" She smiled with a sigh, "In one context of Buddhism, the word Dharma means 'the path of righteousness' or 'the way of appropriate behavior'… So, in essence, she was following the appropriate path of career choice by working with primates."
He met her dancing smile with his own, shaking his head at her humor. "Well, Bones, ever think that maybe the reason she decided to study primates was the meaning of her name?" He started the engine and pulled into traffic, listening to her fading chuckles. "Her parents thought 'Dharma' was a great name, giving her a great legacy of sorts…she's a wordie and decided to follow the 'path' that her name provided." He grinned at his partner, who was still finding the whole situation funny. "You, uh, you OK over there, Bones?"
"Yes…yes. I'm sorry, Booth. I just find the whole situation very…amusing, that's all." She smiled as she let her eyes skip across his face
He took in the healthy flush of her cheeks, admiring the way they brought out the brightness of her blue eyes. "Don't be sorry, Bones…It is kinda funny."
B/B/B/B
Robert Schoom was employed by the Metro Zoo Foundation to run the online fan site, 'Non-Furry Friends of the Metro'. It was an internet based community where people could share their experiences, post photos and chat about their encounters with the wildlife who called the Zoo 'home.' He had encouraged management to install cameras at different hotspots throughout the grounds that allowed people to log on at any time and see what their favorite animal was up to – a suggestion that was very well received by the public. While not having an animal background scholastically, Robert had a good understanding of the animals that resided on the property and catered the website attractively to draw visitors to continue their adventures online once they'd completed their in-person visit. And of course, as all Foundations do, they collected monetary support through donations made on the site, thanks to the convenient links installed by their Internet Guru.
Robert insisted that while he and Emberly saw each other occasionally, it was strictly a social relationship. They only ever went out drinking, or to the movies, or to dinner – nothing romantic. He had a solid alibi for the night that Emberly was killed, taking him out of the suspect pool immediately, but he was willing to answer any and all questions regarding his friend and her violent death. He provided several numbers at which he could be reached, day or night, and was eager to help in any way he could.
Jason Ritondo was the Metro's herpetologist. He was in charge of the safe keeping of dozens of snake species, as well as the other large reptiles on display at the zoo. The interview with him was much quieter than the one with Robert. Booth got the 'gut feeling' that Jason wanted more from his platonic relationship with Emberly, regardless of the continued denial from the young man. Jason had indicated that he believed, despite her insistence in only being interested in a friendly relationship with him, Emberly and he were 'destined' to be together.
Jason had no alibi for the night Emberly was murdered, besides the television shows he claimed to have watched, but was quick to point out that Emberly had recently been on the receiving end of less-than-pleasant communications from the Reston, Virginia-based research company Apogee Pharmaceuticals, as she had been uncovering questionable treatment of several primates before the animals came to live at the zoo. The young man agreed to forward some emails to Booth that Emberly had sent to him, expressing how upset and nearly-scared she was upon receiving some of these threats. His claim coincided with Brennan's preliminary findings, and the partners agreed to follow up with Hodgins to find out what he'd learned through his own in-depth review of their victim's notes and reports.
Larry Skinner was an enigma to Booth and Brennan; he was the zoo's caretaker for the large mammals. He claimed to love Emberly, but only as a friend. He also claimed that he was assisting her with the research she was compiling as evidence against Apogee Pharmaceuticals and that he knew, for a fact, that she was planning to leave the Metro to accept an offer from another, much larger Animal Park. The other two men whom they'd interviewed previously hadn't mentioned Emberly's pending move, nor had her friends that Shaw and Sweets interviewed earlier in the day. Larry also claimed that Em's co-worker, Jason, had more interest in her than just 'friends'. He said that while they'd been sitting and waiting to be questioned, he and the two other men had discussed the sad fate of their mutual friend. He indicated that while they were 'shooting the shit', a phrase that Brennan made a mental note to ask Booth about later, Jason seemed to get pissed that Emberly was planning to meet them each separately for lunch or dinner, no matter how harmless Larry and Robert insisted their intentions were.
Larry's alibi had to be checked out; he claimed to have been at a local club on the night in question, but not with anyone specific. He said he'd gone out-on-the-town to try to 'score', but came home alone and depressed. Booth made note to have Shaw check out the club and ask the bouncers or bartender if anyone could place him there during the hours of 10:00pm and 2:00am. When Booth pressed him for more information regarding the accusations Emberly was planning to bring before Apogee Pharmaceuticals, he shrugged off the details, though he had just moments before, stated that he'd been an integral player in her work against them.
Booth released him, and Larry agreed to be available to any further questions, but stressed that they should check out Jason more closely.
Sitting in his office, Booth reviewed the notes that Shaw had made from her earlier discussions with Jazmyn and Dharma. "You know, Bones," he spoke as he continued staring at his file, "both ladies state that Emberly had more than a platonic relationship with at least one man in her life, but neither offered a name. Jazmyn indicated that she thought it was an employee at the Metro, but Dharma seems to think it's a higher-up…a manager or supervisor… Both agree, however, that is was not Jason, Robert or Larry…"
As she flipped through Emberly's date book more thoroughly, Brennan shook her head slowly. "Well, there's nothing in here that I'm finding that would indicate she was seeing anyone on a steady basis – certainly not in the sense of a monogamous relationship…" She raised her large blue eyes to her partner, feeling a sudden twinge of apprehension at the phrase she'd subconsciously chosen to use: monogamous relationship. She sighed, "Perhaps Angela has had more success with tapping into the victim's cell phone. It was pretty damaged, but she had confidence that she would be able to retrieve something of use once she wired it to the Angelatron." She closed the book and placed it onto the edge of Booth's desk. "I think I'll get a cab over to the lab and see what they've been able to determine."
Booth's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "What? I'll take you back, Bones. You don't have to get a cab…" He started re-filing the scattering of papers from across his work space, stacking them neatly into the heavy manila folder.
"You have enough to do here, Booth," she stood from her seat, suddenly sounding distant and cool. "I'll let you know what Angela uncovered, if anything…and hopefully by now, there are some bones for me to examine…" She quickly gathered her bag and jacket from where they rested on the couch against the far wall of his office. Without looking at him again, she rifled through her bag for her wallet and spoke. "I'll talk to you later, Booth. I'll call you."
Booth watched in confusion as she retreated. 'I'll call you,' she said, as in 'I'll call you – don't call me'… He let his shoulders slump in defeat, unsure of what he'd done this time, to piss off his temperamental partner. Flopping back in his seat, he spun it towards the window and then completely around, so he faced his back wall of awards and metals…and his photos. There was one of his son; the one he'd taken just after Parker scored the winning goal at his last soccer match. Then there was a small snapshot of Parker, Pops and himself – taken at the nursing home's Family Fun Day they'd attended last month… Bones was at the picnic with them, but had insisted that she take the photo of the Booth-men, although Booth would have preferred to ask another attending guest to take the shot with her at his side as well. The third framed picture on his desk was, perhaps, his favorite. It was a candid picture that Angela had taken of Brennan and him at the Jeffersonian Fund Raising Event just before he shipped off for Afghanistan. He'd carried that picture with him when he went overseas and brought it back home with him when he returned, immediately replacing it on his desk when he'd regained his office. Even though he'd been with Hannah at the time, Booth suddenly realized that he'd never brought in a picture of the journalist for his desk; sort of a silent subconscious message that told him that they were never destined to make it.
With a loud sigh, he took one last look at the smiling faces that were looking at each other rather than the camera that was capturing their moment, and he turned back to his desk, re-opening the case file and making notes for Shaw, indicating on what he wanted her to follow up, including obtaining video footage of the Primate House from Robert and checking out the alibi for Larry.
He glanced at his watch, nearly five hours had passed since they left the lab and he felt his stomach growl before he heard it; 6:07 pm, and he hadn't eaten anything today except for a few French fries on the park bench that morning after his run. Shoving back from his desk, Booth rolled his chair aside and left, heading for the vending machines at the end of the hall, hoping to find something to stave the hunger pangs. He planned to give Bones about an hour, and if he didn't hear from her, he'd head over to the lab and try to kidnap her for dinner. We need to talk, he thought to himself. And we need to do it soon.
B/B/B/B
Monogamous Relationship…. The phrase alone shouldn't freak me out, Brennan mentally berated herself during the cab ride back to the lab. What the hell is the matter with me!? Hell, the idea of it shouldn't even freak me out…not when I think about it with Booth…Isn't that what we're trying to work towards? Isn't that what we were talking about that night at Booth's when we burned those damn little pieces of paper containing dates? She rubbed her temples with the pads of her index and middle fingers, making little circles in hopes of easing the tension she was experiencing. Aren't we trying to get back to where we were before? So we can move forward with our relationship? Jesus, Temperance, you need to get a handle on your feelings for that man…
She didn't realize they'd stopped in front of her destination until the driver cleared his throat for the second time, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. "Isn't this where you wanted, ma'am?"
"Huh?" She looked up, startled, "Oh, yeah…yes, I'm sorry." She handed him the fare and slipped from the backseat, making her way slowly into the lab, lost in her thoughts of Booth and how to fix their conundrum.
As she walked through the sliding doors, Angela was just walking towards her office, her cell phone in hand. When she saw her friend enter, she smiled, "Sweetie, I was just getting ready to call you." She approached the anthropologist cautiously, seeing that Brennan seemed a little out of sorts. "You alright, Bren?" She stopped in front of her, forcing Brennan to make eye contact.
"Um, yeah, I'm fine Ange. What were you calling me about?" Brennan recovered her professionalism, certain she'd fooled her friend and thankful when Angela didn't pursue the line of questioning.
Nodding in recognition of Brennan's defenses being raised, Angela steered clear of that path for now and directed them, instead, down the discussion path of her findings. "Well," she motioned for Brennan to follow her to her office, "I was able to recover some texts that place Emberly at the zoo on purpose on the night of her murder. Someone tried to delete the messages from her history, but they didn't know how to erase them from the hard drive of her smart phone. She was exchanging a conversation with one of her colleagues, Jason, and they planned to meet and discuss 'something of great importance', as he put it in his messages to her." Angela raised her eyebrow at Brennan, gauging her reaction, hoping to see that their line of questioning had somehow correlated with her findings. When Brennan made no reaction at all, Angela directed their walk towards her large monitors, where she brought up the string of texts for Brennan to read.
"Can you get these messages to Booth?" Brennan asked as she read, "Jason had no real alibi for that night, but claimed to have been home all night."
"Sure," Angela replied as she tapped a few keys and sent the discussion to their FBI liaison. Eyeing her friend from the corner of her eyes, Angela ventured a guess. "Did you guys have a fight?"
Brennan's brow wrinkled in response. "Why would you ask that?"
"Well, because you're here and he's not, and you've already questioned your suspects. Usually Booth would bring you back over here…but you came in a cab, I would assume. And that is indicative of a fight or disagreement."
Brennan rolled her eyes at her friend. "No, we didn't have a fight. I just-" She stammered then took a deep breath. "Booth had other work to do, so I left and came back here to see if there was anything for me here. And there was…" she motioned to the monitors. "This. Thank you, Angela."
Angela recognized her best friend's walls as they reconstructed themselves. "Bren," she turned to face her, "have you guys talked? You know…about moving forward?"
"Angela, we have a case on which to focus. We do not have time for idle chitter chat." Brennan's face was stern and unyielding.
"Chit chat, honey, not chitter chat…" her smiled told Brennan that she was just trying to help, not making fun, but that would be the end of their 'personal' discussion for the moment.
"How did Hodgins do with the monkeys? Did he get everything he needed?" Brennan turned to face in the direction in the Ookey Room, but she was unable to see anything from within Angela's office.
"Oh, good Lord… He's in Monkey Heaven over there." Angela rolled her eyes and plopped her remote control down onto its docking station.
"I don't know what that means," Brennan replied, following Angela out of her office.
"It means that he is having WAY too much fun over here."
They entered the room to find Hodgins standing in front of the wall of cages, talking to the monkeys as if he half expected them to answer. Brennan noticed that the front of each cage had been affixed with Puzzle Feeders and several cages that had been originally separated were now joined, making larger cages in which the monkeys could socialize rather than remain segregated from one another. Each of their 'guests' was either sitting on its haunches or standing on its hind feet while attentively watching Jack drop Monkey Biscuits into the Plexiglas boxes.
When he heard the doors to the room slide open, he turned, admiring the way his wife's pregnancy caused her to waddle ever so slightly. His bright blue eyes sparkled with excitement as he readied to tell them about his newest discovery. "Hey Babe, hi Dr. B." He grinned wildly. "You guys should watch this." He turned back to the cages. "These are Puzzle Feeder Boxes, they are used to stimulate feeding behavior and they play a large part in the psychological well-being of primates, particularly monkeys, when they are in captivity." He eyed the women and made sure they were paying attention. "Now, typically it would take a monkey at least a few hours to figure out the pattern and be able to retrieve the biscuit from the feeding hole, but watch this." Jack turned back to the box and repositioned internal walls and paths before dropping a dry cookie-like nutritional snack into the top hole. "See the holes on the inside of the box, facing the cage?" He asked his audience of two as they neared, noticing that he had their complete attention. "Observe, please..." He pointed to one monkey and watched as the large female approached the box, flitting her eyes cautiously between Jack and the food. Settling on the platform in front of the feeder, the Rhesus stood on her feet, meeting Jack's stare with an intense and intelligent gaze. She turned her hazel eyes to the piece of food and poked her finger into a little hole designed to allow her to touch the food and tap it hard enough to send it sailing down the path of the internal maze. Within minutes, she had successfully navigated her biscuit through the clear walls of her puzzle and was rewarded with the food dropping into a spill shoot, into which she could scoop her finger, retrieving the treat and popped it into her mouth greedily.
Hodgins looked at his watch, then back to the ladies. "Eight minutes." He grinned, "She's the fastest one so far!" He grinned and bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly. "These guys are friggin' amazing, I'm telling you. No matter how I alter the maze, no matter how many dead ends I insert, these eight monkeys," he motioned to the small group inside the cage directly in front of him, "are crazy-smart…They watch, they study, and they wait…Then, when I motion for one to step forward, he or she does… and each time, it solves the labyrinth, just like that," He snapped his fingers and moved to the other cages. "These other little guys and gals, well, they're not a quick at those eight…" He grinned, as if he was watching children at play. "I set up these five puzzles, but they haven't been solved yet. Oh, and I put some treats inside those Kong toys, too, and they LOVE those…" He pointed towards the center of the cages, where various sized monkeys sat, playing with the toys and poking their fingers into the holes, trying to scoop out the peanut butter and fruit that Hodgins had hidden within.
"Well," Brennan spoke, "the animals were in a laboratory, so obviously they were trained on such tools as these puzzles…"
"You don't train Rhesus Monkeys, Dr. B. I mean, they can be conditioned to react in certain ways when stimulated with the right variables – for example, when placed inside a squeeze cage, they will likely turn sideways to receive an injection, or when approached by someone wearing a certain color lab coat, they may become excited, expecting to be fed or agitated in anticipation of a physical exam. But they are never trained. They are intelligent and they're fantastic problem-solvers, but I've never seen a Rhesus this smart. Chimps are smart, orangutans are smart, apes are freaky-smart, but monkeys, while having an undeniable level of higher intelligence, are not usually this quick." The corners of his mouth rose ever so slightly, not in a smile, but in a look of disbelief as he shook his head slowly.
He glanced between the two women then turned back to the desk behind them. "I had a look at the notes you left, Dr. Brennan – the ones that Emberly wrote about Apogee Pharmaceuticals. Apparently, she had suspicions that the lab had performed tests on these specific animals before signing over the release and care to the zoo, as outlined in their contract; they had an open contract with the Metro that primates would live out their lives once the lab no longer had use for them." He handed some of his own notes over to Brennan, letting her see what he'd uncovered.
Just then, Fisher entered the Ookey Room, flinching at the volume of noise contained therein. "Excuse me, Dr. Brennan?" His voice was morose, as usual, and he eyed the monkeys with distain. "I have arranged the bones as you requested. Everything is ready for you."
"Thank you, Mr. Fisher," she spoke as she exited, anxious to get lost for a little while with something she was comfortable doing.
Fisher turned to Hodgins, "I find that monkeys are a great source of depression for me…They are hairy and noisy and ugly, yet they never have the difficulty that I have in finding a mate..." He turned away and walked from the office, leaving behind a smirking married couple, chuckling at their perpetually-sad intern.
B/B/B/B
Booth stalked into the lab an hour and ten minutes after his partner left his office. "Bones!? C'mon, Bones, where are ya?" He glanced into her office and found it empty, but her bag was where it always was, so he knew she was there somewhere. A quick look at the platform told him that nothing was on the exam table, so that left one place for him to search. He turned towards the bone room and smiled at Angela as he headed in that direction. She nodded from where she sat behind her desk, knowing that he knew where to find Brennan, and she stayed right where she was, silently hoping that her friend would give in and finally talk to the man she obviously loved, but to whom she refused to admit the truth.
"Hey, Bones," Booth kept his tone light, hoping that she wasn't still mad at him. He pushed down his own anxiety as it crept its way into his gut, still uncertain of what he did earlier that upset her so much.
"Booth!" She looked up from the microscope, seemingly excited to see him. "C'mere," she motioned him forward and pointed to the magnifier. She continued to speak as he bent at the waist, looking through the eye pieces. "It's metal. I found it imbedded in her skull." She walked back to the table, picking up the cranium and examining it. "I just send Hodgins a message to come get it, so he can run tests and tell us what it is; I assume it will match those pieces that Cam recovered from the flesh, but we won't know until Jack runs the tests."
"That's great, Bones, nice find…" he stood straight and looked at her with a gentle grin, just about to ask her to grab a bite to eat when Hodgins entered the small room.
"What did you find, Dr. B?" Hodgins reached for the outstretched Petri Dish, in which small slivers of silver metal was centered. He slid the lid carefully over the ¾ inch deep dish and eyed it carefully.
"These were embedded in the skull. Our victim was beaten to death, I'm sure of it." She turned back, locking her partner's eyes and then continued, pointing to a couple of pieces of stand-out evidence. "The damage to the back of her skull is consistent with repeated strikes from a sharp object, and based on the shards left behind, obviously a metal object. She struggled with her attacker before receiving the final blow, however. Defensive wounds on her forearms and hands indicate that she fought back, and fought hard, just as Cam's autopsy revealed in out victim's flesh wounds. Hairline fractures in her ulnae and radii bones confirm that she was struck with a hard object, thin but strong – unyielding. Her ribs, here and here," she pointed to the bones in question, "contain damage that can be analyzed." She magnified the injuries and turned on the monitors, allowing the men to see the injuries to which she referred. "Dr. Hodgins, I'd like you and Mr. Fisher to analyze these injuries to determine what type of weapon could make these marks. Employ Angela's assistance if necessary, she may be able to recreate the weapon. Pay special attention to the injury on the back of the skull. Her occipital bone was punctured, I'd like Angela to recreate the possible scenario that could have done this damage."
Booth stepped forward, pointing to the screen. "Now, I'm no bone expert here, but even I know these don't look right…what are all these marks?" He turned to his partner with a raised eyebrow.
She looked at him with a knowing nod, "Whoever did this planned it out; this was not a frantic crime of passion, this was premeditated murder, Booth… Emberly's body was placed in the monkey cages with a definite strategy in mind. After she was killed, her murderer coated her body, paying special attention to the wounded areas, with peanut butter, just as Dr. Hodgins suspected. That is a common snack for captive monkeys." She swallowed thickly, "This is quite repulsive, but I understood it the instant I read Cam's report…" She handed the sheet she was about to reference to her partner. "The killer hid dried fruit within the open wounds. The monkeys, being nothing more than monkeys, attacked what they saw as food… What you're seeing there, Booth, are their teeth marks…Rhesus Monkeys have incredibly strong and vicious canines. The killer knew they'd make it difficult to differentiate dental indentations versus weapon damage in the bone… But, not too difficult for us." She tried not to sound smug, but failed miserably.
Booth overlooked her conceit and instead wrinkled his forehead. "Teeth marks? Those," he pointed again to the amazingly deep impressions, "are teeth markings?"
She nodded once. "Yes. I could go into more detail and determine which animal ate what, based on their individual prints, but I don't think that's going to be necessary; the monkeys aren't on trial here…the killer is." She met Booth's eyes and saw unmasked approval shining back at her, for which she was grateful. Deep down, she knew that she was continually seeking acceptance from her partner. She could deal with anyone else's doubts or disbelief, but she couldn't accept that from Booth. When she saw that he was impressed, she blushed and felt humbled, her arrogance disintegrating beneath his gaze. "Well, the killer will be on trial once we catch him; that's what I meant…"
"I know what you meant, Bones." His smile warmed and his eyes became like molten chocolate. Softly he spoke as he took one hesitant step closer. "You did great…you always do great."
"Well," she tried to remain professional, though she wanted to just stare into the brown abyss that was threatening to swallow her whole. "I have to be sure to find the evidence you need…you know, so you can do your thing and arrest the guilty party."
Hodgins saw his opportunity to interject, realizing that the partners had forgotten he was there in the room with them. "Well, uh, Dr. B, I'm gonna just take this," he raised the hand that was holding the metal shard, "and get started. I'll hook up with Fisher and we'll start looking for a matching weapon." Hodgins turned to Booth, "before you leave, man, can you stop the Ookey Room? I think you need to take a closer look at Apogee Pharmaceuticals. I made some notes, in plain-English, outlining some of Emberly's accusations."
Booth nodded in appreciation that the bug-man 'dumbed-down' the inevitable science-speak that was bound to have been in the woman's journal. "Yeah, I'll be over in a few, Jack. Thanks." Watching the man retreat, Booth finally turned back to face his partner, feeling an indescribable, yet unmistakable, spark of energy arc between them. "Bones, you, ah…ya wanna grab somethin' to eat? I'll fill you in on my impromptu follow-up phone interview with Jason." Booth knew that by promising to reveal more about the case, he was more likely to get her to agree to leave the lab, especially after making such a find, and he smiled when he knew his instincts were correct.
"Yes, that sounds good. The diner?"
"Wherever you want, Bones." He moved aside as she walked towards the open doorway, easily falling into step with her and placing his hand on her back, as usual.
"I think I'd rather go to Sid's tonight," she said with a faint smile. "We haven't been there for a while."
He struggled to suppress his own grin, "yeah, that sounds good. It's been too long…" He waited in the doorway to her office while she gathered her jacket and messenger bag.
He watched her carefully as she paused. "Actually," her tone was cautious, unsure. "Do you think…Do you think we could get dinner to-go?" She looked up and met his dark eyes, feeling her stomach flip ever so gently when she recognized a tenderness in his gaze that he rarely showed anyone. "I feel like… I don't know what I feel like…but I just think I'd rather go home for a bit." She looked back down to where she was packing up her files from her desk. "Would you mind terribly?"
"Not at all," he replied quietly. "If you want company, maybe I'll hang out for a little while… If you don't have plans, that is. I don't want to mess up your evening."
As she stared down at her desk, she felt a familiar heat rising into her cheeks and a happy smile that she didn't even bother to try to hide escaped from somewhere deep within. "That sounds good, Booth. I was planning to invite you up, anyway. We can eat at my place, if you'd like."
Unsure of what was happening, but unable to deny her request, he simply nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great, Bones." He pushed himself away from the doorframe where he'd been leaning. "I'm gonna just go get those notes from Hodgins." He smiled in response to her grin and strode over to see what Jack had for him, pausing only briefly to glance back over his shoulder, only to see his partner watching his retreat. They locked eyes for a fleeting moment, and then Booth nodded once, almost imperceptibly, and turned back towards the Ookey Room.
"C'mon in, Booth!" Jack's voice called out, and the cacophony of monkey howls assaulted Booth's ears as the scientist cracked open the door. He shook his head and laughed as he approached the bright-eyed Bug-Man.
"Having fun, Jack?" Booth swept a gaze across the wall of monkey cages and noted how the volume in the room seemed to have exponentially risen when he entered.
Jack smiled. "Yeah, these guys are awesome. So friggin' smart…and every one of them has a distinct personality. They're great." He grinned and became animatedly excited. "Hey, you wanna see one of 'em solve a puzzle?" He reached for a few Monkey Biscuits and prepared to remove one of the feed boxes to display his discovery to Booth.
"Ah…no, Jack…But thanks. I just need to get those notes from you. Bones and I are gonna go grab a bite to eat."
"OK, well, maybe later…" Hodgins was visibly deflated that his friend didn't want to observe what he considered an awesome sight.
"Hodgins, it's not that I don't want to…it's just…" Booth glanced over his shoulder, "Bones is ready to go, we're both hungry and we…" he sighed, "we need to take a break for an hour…that's all."
Hodgins nodded, recognizing a tone in Booth's voice that he didn't often hear in the agent. It was a nervous twitch, and Jack knew that something was going on, he just didn't know what. "Yeah, it's no problem, G-Man. Here ya'go," he handed Booth a folder. "These are my notes, and here're Emberly's originals." He then handed an evidence-bagged book to his colleague.
"Thanks." He nodded and turned back to the door, silently observing the excited primates as they bounced around their enlarged cages. Speaking over his shoulder, but not making eye-contact, he spoke to Jack. "Give us a call when you get the results on those metal shards, Jack. And, uh, thanks for dumbing down these notes for me." At that point, he met his friend's eyes. "I appreciate it."
"It's not 'dumbing down,' Booth. It's interpreting…There's a difference." Hodgins smiled, knowing that Booth often felt inferior in the lab, although the scientist also knew that there was much more to FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth than met the eye.
With an appreciative smirk, Booth nodded. "Well, thanks all the same. Call us." He left the Ookey Room, closing the door behind him and saw his partner waiting for him near the steps of the platform. He let a relaxed smile spread across his lips as he approached her, feeling a sense of calm envelope him at the thought of spending some quiet time with her, eating and talking. He wasn't sure they'd have the chance to discuss about what he wanted to, but any time spent with her alone was worth it to Booth. Stopping in front of where she stood, he cocked his head, "ready, Bones?"
She nodded and smiled, "Yes. And hungry... I didn't realize, it's after 7:00 already… you must be nearing the point of starvation by now, Booth…" She smiled at his eye-roll and they exited the lab for a well-deserved break, even if it was only for a little while.
Postscript A/N
The Puzzle Boxes that Hodgins references are real; they are awesome labyrinths that are used to reinforce cognitive thinking for primates in captivity. Primates are intelligent animals that need stimuli to keep from going semi-crazy in their cages. They also enjoy 'fishing' food and snacks out of Kong toys and hollowed-out branches; it gives them a challenge to conquer in order to 'earn' their food, and it helps in the behavioral stability of the animals
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know!
Peace & love, my friends,
~jazzy