Here's the next chapter I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone who is recognizable from Bones, so those characters we all love best.
"Booth why am I here?" Brennan asked irritably as she climbed out of her blue Toyota, sun glasses in place protecting her eyes from the glare of the sun through her windshield as it fought to burn off the mist from the previous night.
"Well Bones why would I usually call you to a place as wonderful as this?" Booth responded as he walked through the head stones towards his partner. He worked his charm smile into place as he opened his arms wide indicating their current surroundings.
"Booth this is a cemetery, you have never called me somewhere like this before," came the response as the anthropologist slung her canvas bag across her body, refusing to even look at Booth. Ever since the day they had spilled the truth about their first case to Sweet's, Brennan had began to feel decidedly more confused around Booth and she wasn't completely aware of why. Before they had had the opportunity to deal with it though, they had both gone their separate ways for almost a year, spending the time apart on opposite sides of the world.
"Okay Bones way too literal there, we have a body in a crypt." Booth explained watching as his partner slammed her car door and glanced quickly at him incredulously.
"Booth this is a cemetery, there are bodies everywhere. So again I ask why am I here?"
Wow she is touchy. Booth thought to himself before answering her. "Well this is your kind of body Bones, as in it's not in a coffin."
"Oh okay, well let's go then." Brennan waved a hand off in the general vicinity unsure of where to go. Booth took the hint as she knew he would and walking beside her he led her to the crypt in question in silence.
"So..." Booth started after a minute or two of the uncomfortable silence, he struggled to find something to ask her about. He knew she had had a date last night but despite dating himself he really didn't want to hear about that.
"How was your night with Ashley?" Temperance asked, not that she wanted to know it was just polite to ask. At least that's what Angela had always informed her whenever she had failed to ask about one of her dates.
"It was great, she's really amazing." Booth said a goofy grin gracing his features as he thought of Ashley. He couldn't deny that he was attracted to her, it's just that as nice as she was there was something missing he couldn't quite put his finger on. "How was your date with Hacker?" He asked politely, grinding his teeth slightly at the thought. Even though she had shot him down at point blank range for some ridiculous reason he wasn't sure he understood, he still cared enough to want her to be happy even if it was with someone else. He had kind of hoped though that a year away would quell her attraction to his boss, he would rather she date Sweets, not that the kid could handle a woman like Temperance Brennan.
"It was good, we had intercourse. He is very adept-" Brennan began to say before being interrupted.
"Bones there are some things I do not ever need to hear about my boss and where this conversation is going is one of them!" Booth exclaimed as he childishly put his hands over his ears. Temperance just chuckled wondering when Booth would get over his aversion to all talk sexual, after all sex was a natural part of life and judging by his form he would be even more adept in the bedroom than Andrew and may even be good at the move on the now infamous page 187 of her book.
"You do realise sex is a natural part of life don't you Booth, I mean if you wanted to discuss your sex life with Ashley you could." Brennan stated bluntly, although she winced mentally at the thought. Not that she would ever admit to such a thing if she was asked.
"I will not discuss my sex life with anyone Bones, especially you. Look we have arrived at our destination isn't that fantastic." Booth said with mock joy as he raised the crime scene tape surrounding the crypt to allow Brennan to pass through first, and flashing his badge at the officer there before following her. Without saying a word Brennan walked right past the assembled group of people and headed directly for the stone plinth in the centre of the crypt.
"I'm sorry ma'am but you can't be in here, this is a crime scene." A young officer said moving over to block Brennan's forward movement.
"Excuse me?" Brennan responded testily.
"This is a crime scene, you need to leave." The officer repeated slowly, implying with his tone that Brennan was a little slow on the uptake.
"Okay firstly do not talk to me as though I am stupid, I have an IQ you could only dream of as well as multiple doctorates. Secondly remove yourself from my path or I will do it for you." Temperance copied the officer's tone of voice perfectly. At that point Booth walked up behind Brennan and planted himself at her back, resting a calming hand on her lower back.
"Is there a problem here?" He directed his question to his partner whilst looking towards the officer, who appeared to suddenly get very nervous.
"This officer won't let me past to see the remains, which are probably being compromised."
"The remains will be fine Bones, I promise. Now Officer-" Booth began, pausing to allow the officer to fill in his name.
"Darby."
"Right, well Officer Darby I am Special Agent Booth from the FBI and this is my partner Dr Temperance Brennan. We were called in after the discovery of the remains earlier today, so it would be appropriate to allow my partner past now because, well I believe her threat to be real." With that statement Officer Darby blanched and nodded before stepping to one side and allowing the pair to pass. Brennan walked straight to the plinth, snapping on a pair of gloves from her bag as she moved.
"So Bones, what have we got?" Booth asked flipping open his notebook, after he had allowed her to look at the remains in silence for a few minutes.
"From the shape of the skull and pelvis I would say female, between 17 and 25 years of age due to third molar eruption on the lower mandible. I would say that either the remains are of historical value or they have been cleaned to remove any remaining flesh before being placed here, making a time of death hard to pinpoint at the moment. I won't know until we get to the lab." Temperance replied placing the ivory coloured skull back into position on the stone plinth. "I'll need these remains sent back to the Jeffersonian, as well as any evidence from the surrounding area." Brennan continued as she removed her gloves, balling them up and throwing them back into her bag she glanced over at Booth.
"Officer Darby who found the remains?" Booth asked sharply, causing the young man to jump as though he had been shouted at.
"Erm...the groundskeeper guy. He was making his rounds ensuring all the crypts were still locked up when he noticed the door was open. He pushed it open to remove whoever was inside thinking it was probably kids or a homeless person and he found this." The officer indicated the body lying on the plinth.
"And where is the groundskeeper now?" Booth asked, taking note of what Officer Darby had said.
"I think he went to get some air, apparently this is the first body he has ever seen." With that Booth nodded at the officer and glanced over at his partner who was now staring avidly at the remains.
"What is it Bones?" He asked as he moved over to stand at her shoulder, hoping to see what she did. He came up blank when all he saw was a skeleton arranged on a stone plinth.
"Every single bone is in its correct anatomical position Booth."
"And that's important how?"
"Would you be able to put all the bones in the right position somewhere away from the murder site after all of the flesh has been cleaned off?" Temperance asked, turning her whole body to face Booth.
"Erm...well no not without your help."
"Exactly, so clearly the murderer has a grasp of skeletal anatomy."
"Stepping into Sweet's shoes there Bones." Booth joked, jostling his partner with his shoulder.
"No, I was stating a fact based on the evidence right in front of me," Brennan explained as if pointing out the obvious. Booth smiled and shook his head slightly before speaking.
"Let's go find the groundskeeper Bones, see if he can shed any light on a time frame for the placement of our bony friend." He turned to the officer and asked him to point out the groundskeeper to the pair.
I know many of you may not like the idea of Brennan and Hacker and from something I have read earlier this week I actually can't imagine it happening. However for the purposes of this story it worked to have Brennan running around with someone else, although I can promise it won't be for long.
In this story Brennan has changed slightly, not too much but enough it will become clear why later on in the story.
Until next week, I hope you enjoyed it.