I don't own Bones... because if I did Brennan would have bought that pig for Angela and then insisted on naming it Jasper.
I am however one avid fan... because I own a tiny plastic good luck pig named Jasper.
When Everything's Gone Astray...
How could she have missed it? The signs were all there, the information was all there, how come she had never bothered to put the pieces together?
Because she didn't want to, that was the simple truth of the matter. She didn't want to believe that her best friend had been involved in all this. It made Angela sick to her stomach.
Years ago, when they were first roommates in college, Brennan had always looked so sad and frightened all the time. Angela had made it her personal mission to make her roommate smile more often. They had only been roommates for a month but for some reason, despite their differences, they clicked together.
Brennan was all about science and seeing everything rationally. Angela was all about art and seeing the world on a more emotional level.
The first time she heard the name Steven McCoy, she thought it was Brennan's boyfriend from back home. However the look on Brennan's face every time he was brought up said more than she ever would. No Angela could see that this man, whoever he was had hurt Brennan deeply, even if she tried to hide it.
Looking back now Angela couldn't believe how naive she had been. She should've found out the truth about Steven long ago.
Maybe if she had found out what that bastard truly did to Brennan she would know how to help her.
(Flashback)
"You got a phone call today" Angela said while flipping through a magazine absentmindedly to Brennan as she walked through the door of their dorm.
"Who was it?" she asked dropping her bag to the floor.
"Someone named Steven McCoy"
Angela looked up in time to see that Brennan's whole face had gone white.
"What did he want?"
"To talk to you I guess"
Brennan now looked panic stricken "Was that all?"
"Yeah why? Is everything alright?" They'd only been roommates for a few months and already Angela had learnt how to see right through Brennan's façade.
"Its fine, he's just not someone I want to hear from that's all"
"Okay" Angela said dropping it for the time being.
There were so many other things she missed as well though.
Mandy Richards for example
"Sweetie are you okay?" Angela asked as she finally saw some recognition in her friends face. "Bren?"
"Really Mand, I'm fine" Brennan said without thinking.
Angela had heard the name only once before, the very first time she and Brennan met. She had found a pin in Brennan's suitcase as they were unpacking her things. She had asked Brennan where she had gotten it, and she had replied that a friend of hers had given it to her, her name was Miranda.
Now in front of her was an article dated a few months before they had met.
It was about Mandy Richards
There was another one about Stephen McCoy, and another about the Masons.
The Masons had all been murdered in their home at eleven o'clock that night. They were all home asleep except for the foster child they were living with who was working at a nearby club as a waitress. For her own safety, her name was kept undisclosed.
Mandy Richards was abducted after she had given the local police department a huge tip concerning the Mason family murders. She claimed that Steven McCoy hired a hit man to kill the family.
Mandy was never able to go on the witness stand in court because she turned up dead the next day.
Angela knew that Mandy was most likely killed for trying to turn in Steven, but there seemed to be no motive for that.
There was speculation that Steven had murdered her, but there was no evidence. He couldn't even be charged with killing the Masons. Their main witness was dead and it was all they had. The case was dropped after six months with no new evidence pointing to the killer.
Angela could only imagine what Brennan must have been going through. She had already lost her parents and her brother, then her foster family and then her friend.
And Angela marveled at how much strength Temperance Brennan really had, because through it all Angela knew that she was still able to make bonds with those close to her, against all odds she stuck by the people that were there for her in her life.
Looking out onto the Jeffersonian floor she saw most of these people, looking strangely out of place without her, and Angela wondered if Brennan knew just how much they cared for her too, how much they all cared for her.
..............
Brennan knocked on the door of apartment 302 in none other than Warrington, New Jersey.
"Tempe, it's been a while"
Brennan stepped through the door and hugged the young girl.
"I know" Brennan said sitting down next to Lindsay on the couch.
"I'm sorry about the other day. I couldn't let onto Booth that I already knew you, he would've panicked and never let me out of his sight"
Lindsay laughed "I'm not sure that's such a bad thing Tempe, but speaking of Agent Booth, he wasn't as tough as you said over the phone"
Brennan smiled "Booth definitely has some traits that make him amicable and benign at times during investigations"
"Uh huh what about after you solve the case?" Lindsay said with a knowing look.
"I have no idea what you're talking about" Brennan answered as innocently as she could.
Lindsay laughed "you haven't changed a bit huh?"
"You haven't either"
"Oh come on, last time you saw me I was fourteen with braces, and stealing my sisters makeup whenever she wasn't looking"
"Yeah"
The mood suddenly switched to one of sadness.
"I've been going by the cemetery just about every day now" said Brennan as her eyes caught a picture of the two sisters.
"You shouldn't, it wasn't your fault Tempe, you know that"
"I'm not so sure"
Lindsay looked at Brennan taking her hand.
"You tried to stop her from going to the police and she didn't listen"
"I was the one who told Stephen where she went"
"You were scared, so was she. Neither of you expected or even wanted what happened to the Mason family that night"
"I could've stopped him; I should've stopped him, because if I had then Michelle Alexander wouldn't be dead, Booth wouldn't have been shot, and everyone around me wouldn't be at risk of being murdered just because Steven thinks I've told them something"
"He almost killed you because you tried to stop him once before. He threatened to kill your brother and me. There's nothing you could've done"
Brennan still looked unconvinced. There was doubt in her eyes, a doubt that said how much she truly felt responsible.
"Look Tempe I have never blamed you for Mandy's death, and I never will. If anyone's to blame than it'd be Stephen. I know he killed Shelly and many others. I can't prove it but I know it"
"I do too. My team back at the Jeffersonian is the best, but I'm not sure even they could find anything concrete"
They were both quiet for a moment, hearing only the harsh wind from outside.
Brennan looked again at the picture of Mandy. She had looked so happy back then, carefree and innocent.
Her life had once consisted of loving parents and a brother she had adored. When it was all ripped apart she had found a new family in Miranda and Lindsay. Then that was gone too.
Now once more she had found herself in a family of sorts, one that she had never asked for but found herself in nonetheless. And she would be damned if this time Temperance Brennan didn't fight for that family, no matter what.
They were all she had left.
A knock at Angela's office door startled her. Booth walked in, looking disheveled, like he had just lost something but had no clue what it is he lost.
"Booth are you alright?"
He ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply.
"I... I don't know, I saw her...Bones she... I don't know"
Angela's eyes widened in surprise, they hadn't been able to find Brennan since she had left the hospital this morning.
"Was she... Is she okay?"
"I honestly don't know anymore. I followed her to a cemetery not far from here"
"Glenbrook?"
"Yeah how'd you..."
"Because she was visiting Miranda Richards, her old friend"
Angela put her laptop in front of him for him to read the articles.
"Everything goes back to that damn club, Miranda, Lindsay, even Michelle Alexander"
Angela nodded "I'm willing to bet that Steven McCoy has something to do with all of this. In fact I'm positive"
"I think that I should pay a visit to him myself"
"I'm coming with you then"
Booth shook his head. "It's too dangerous this time"
"Then I'll just go on my own. Look Booth Brennan is my best friend, and I would do anything for her, including taking out this psychopath McCoy"
"You're starting to act like Bones now"
Angela grabbed her coat and purse from the back of her chair.
"Have you ever thought that Brennan is exactly who we need right now?"
Booth shook his head as he opened the door. "Every second"
Hodgins looked up from his microscope to see Booth and Angela on their way out of the lab.
"Where are you two off to? We do have a case here you know"
Cam dropped a folder in front of him. "He's right Booth. I know that Dr. Brennan... hasn't been herself lately, but we're working on a case. One hell of a case at that, considering we have no leads"
Booth strode onto the platform, anger and determination in every one of his features. "I know that Camille but what do you want me to do? My Partner is in trouble, probably with the same guy that killed our victim. You want to solve this case then let me find her because right now she is the only one who can do it"
"Seeley I'm just as worried as everyone else but if she needs space then let her have it"
Booth shook his head angrily. "She doesn't need space she needs help, are you coming Ange?"
"Yeah just a second"
Angela kissed a stunned Hodgins on the cheek.
"Where are you going?"
"Booth is escorting me to meet Steven McCoy, he's in that packet Cam gave you. Booth wouldn't agree to take me so I told him I'd go on my own, now he's taking me"
Hodgins jumped out of his seat shrugging off his lab coat as he did.
"Well then I'm coming too"
"Jack we're going to a club, a strip club, do you remember what happened last time?"
"Oh please that guy was a jerk he deserved it"
Angela smirked knowingly "Uh huh, he hit you with a table"
"Exactly why he was a jerk"
Booth who was watching amusedly cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Right so can we get on with this?"
Hodgins looked at Booth "If anything happens to her, I will kill you"
"I know Hodgins, I know"
As soon as they had left Cam turned to face Hodgins and Zach. "Look I know you're worried about Dr. Brennan but the only thing we can do right now is solve this case"
"However we are at an extreme disadvantage without Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth and Angela. It is extremely likely that we won't be able to solve this case" Zach said never taking his eyes off the Bones.
"I'm with Zach we can't solve this on our own"
Cam adjusted her hands on her hips hoping to convey some authority here. "You both wouldn't be here if you weren't top in your field. You're the best that the Jeffersonians got, so if you're telling me that we can't do this then there's no hope at all for this poor girl who was raped and beaten and left in an alley way. And no future victim for that matter has a chance then because you two want to give up. Would the king of the lab give up on a case?"
Hodgins and Zach looked up slowly. "We can do this" Hodgins said flipping open the file.
Zach nodded bending even lower to the Bones.
"Now that's more like it. Hodgins go through what Angela gave us and try to see if you can find out anything else. Zach keep looking, there has to be something in those Bones"
"Dr. Brennan would be able to find it" Zach said gloomily
"Well Dr. Brennan isn't here right now Zach so get working"
Cam hoped she would come back soon though, they needed the good doctor back, that much was certain.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Review and it'll be tomorrow ;) *my smiley is winking btw*
