Author's Note: Next chapter. Again, thanks for all of the encouragement on these semi-crack fics. They have been so much fun to write, I may have to consider trying my hand on some more of them at some point...
I do not own Bones or any of its characters.
Thank you to everyone who is reading/following/reviewing this. It is always appreciated. :D
TimeWitch93: I could easily picture a kid like Sweets being excited about being able to go to a place like the Jeffersonian. The Egyptian comment will play a hand later in this...And thanks for the review. I've been wanting to try something a little more humorous, so I'm thrilled that you are enjoying it. :)
Peanutmeg: Thank you. I was trying to figure out how to combine present-day Sweets with child-era Sweets, so I actually went back to my THotF story and went from there. There will be more moments like that to come in this fic...
Blazing Rubellite: I'll admit that this is far outside the norm for my fics since I try to keep things as close to canon as possible, but again I couldn't resist since it was so much fun to imagine. And you're right, I don't know if this is crack fic proper since I try to still use realistic canon elements in this. But yeah, it's fun to imagine all the different ways to bring out the child elements of Sweets into present, Bones era time. :)
Rankor01: That was part of what made me decide to take the plunge with this fic. As weird as the idea of Sweets reverting to 12 sounded, I started to consider all the possible consequences of such an action, including the fact that he would be missing his parents and figured it could make for a meatier story than what I originally thought. And you're right about Sweets' life not being easy at 12. In THotF, he was struggling with his transition to adolescence, having to spend most of his time around students who were older than him, and was just starting to deal with the events on the night he was finally taken away from Andrew. So yeah, 12 was a difficult year for him. And you are completely right in thinking that Booth will need some help in dealing with Sweets...
D: That was something I was trying to consider. Of all the cast, Sweets is perhaps the most tight-lipped about himself and his past. I've noticed that when he does talk about himself on the show, it is in regards to other people (his relationships, his co-workers and so on). Thus, like you said Booth and the others know little about his childhood. Considering where Sweets probably was in his development at this point, I could picture him not asserting himself much out of fear of retaliation or disappointment from other people. The only people he was even remotely confident about as far as their affection for him was his parents (and even there he was worried about upsetting them). But you are also right that Booth is pretty intuitive about people, especially those in his tight-knit team...
Raindowbow cupcake: Hee, I'll confess that it is a bit of a guilty pleasure to see how many ways I can add an "awww" factor to this. I have a bit of a weakness for that sort of thing. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Writerchick786: Thank you! :D I'm glad that you are enjoying my work in general. I do tend to lean a bit toward angst, but I always try to throw in some fluff and humor here and there. Some fics just have a higher proportion of angst or fluff than others. :) I could picture Sweets being a very well read child and thus have a lot of general knowledge by the time he was twelve. And don't worry, there will be interactions with other cast members at certain points...Again, thanks for the review and all of the favoriting. I hope you enjoy the rest of my work as well. :)
Lives in the now: Considering the heavy family aspects of the show, I'll admit to always being intrigued by what it would have been like if Sweets had known the others when he was a child. This strange prompt seemed like the perfect to explore that dynamic. And thank you for the vote of confidence as always.
Kutoki: Haha, yes, it's not too much of a spoiler to say that eventually things will fall back to normal, but as for the rest of it we will have to see... ;)
The Confusion in the Duckling—Chapter 3
The ride to the Jeffersonian ended up being a relatively quiet one at first. Both Booth and Brennan tried to engage Sweets in conversation, hoping that they could trigger some sort of memory. But the psychologist would only answer their questions with shrugs or nods and continued to stare out the window as Booth drove down the DC streets.
After a few minutes of this, Booth decided to give him some space and started to go over some of the details of the plastic surgeon case with Brennan instead. It did not escape the agent's notice that Sweets eventually shifted his focus from the scenery outside to watching and listening to the two of them talking.
'Some habits never go away,' he thought ruefully.
"And here is the lab where I work," Brennan said as she and Booth ushered Sweets inside.
"Wow, awesome," the psychologist said in a near whisper as he looked around the room. He took a few tentative steps forward all while craning his neck so he could see every corner of the lab.
"And…you said that I work here too?" Sweets murmured.
"Actually you work for the FBI," Brennan said. "But you do work with my team in conjunction with the Bureau."
"You mean, I work for the FBI too?" Sweets said, turning toward Booth. "Hey, am I an agent? Are we partners?"
"No, Booth and I are partners," the anthropologist quickly corrected.
"You're a psychologist and a profiler," Booth told him. "We're not partners, but we do work on the same team."
"Oh," the therapist nodded before going back to exploring the lab. Booth could have sworn he saw Sweets' expression darken slightly, but shook the notion off as he watched the intensity of the psychologist's eyes as he took in every detail.
"Booth, Doctor Brennan."
The three of them turned to see Cam, Angela and Hodgins walking toward them. Brennan had called from the hospital, so they were all aware of the situation. Still, none of them seemed comfortable with breaking the uneasy silence that suddenly developed.
"Booth, is he….?" Cam asked, motioning her head toward Sweets.
"He knows the basics, but still doesn't remember anything," the agent filled in for her. Angela started to move toward the therapist, her eyes sad, but with a smile on her face.
"Hi, I'm Angela Montenegro," she said warmly, holding out her hand. Sweets' face turned scarlet as he reached over to shake it.
"Hello," he mumbled, looking down and to the side.
"And, I'm Doctor Camille Saroyan," the pathologist said, also shaking Sweets' hand. "But you can call me Cam if you like."
"And I'm Doctor Hodgins," Hodgins added clearly uncomfortable. "Sweets, I…I'm really, really sorry about what happened earlier."
"You're the one who blew up the lab?" Sweets asked, finally looking up.
"Um, not the whole lab, but…yeah…sort of…I guess," the entomologist answered nervously.
"Did you mean to make it blow up?"
"Well, sort of…" Hodgins said while keeping a close eye on Cam's expression.
"So, you get to explode things as part of your job?" Sweets asked. "That…is so cool! How did you get a job like that? And…can I help next time?"
"Doctor Hodgins will not be causing any more explosions any time soon, will you Doctor Hodgins?" Cam answered with a little too wide of a smile and a little too syrupy of a voice. Hodgins gulped and shook his head vigorously before beginning to back away.
"I uh, have some things I need to do…like right now," the entomologist said as he turned to leave. "I hope you feel better soon, Sweets."
"I wish I could remember working here," Sweets sighed as he watched Hodgins sprint off. "It's probably one of the best jobs in the world." Booth cleared his throat loudly.
"Ok, Sweets, I need to discuss some things with Bones," the agent said. "So why don't you go with Angela for now."
The psychologist looked over at Angela and then back at Booth a couple times, his reluctance obvious.
"Hey, don't worry; I'll meet up with you later, all right?" Booth assured him. "I'm just going to go with Bones to look at some things."
"All right," Sweets said quietly. Angela put her arm around his shoulders, making him blush again.
"Come on," she grinned. "I can show you some pretty awesome stuff on my computer."
"Oh Angela, here," Brennan said, pulling a small object out of the bag she had brought from Sweets' apartment. "Maybe you could use this as well."
The artist took it and then smiled when she saw what it was.
"Ok, I get it," Angela said. "Let's go, Sweets."
The psychologist fell in step with her as they walked away. After they were out of earshot, Booth let out a sigh.
"I don't know if this is working, Bones," he said.
"Then what should we do next?"
"I don't know," the agent said. "That's the problem."
Booth and Brennan moved over to the ooky room in the hopes that they could make progress on the case at the very least. As the two of them looked over Felton's newly cleaned skeleton on the table, Brennan went over her latest findings.
"The angle of impact and the force involved indicate that the murderer had to be at least five foot nine," the anthropologist added at the end of her report.
"Well that leaves Matthews out," Booth nodded. "He can't be more than 5'5 tops. Still that leaves us with at least seven viable suspects all of whom have flimsy alibis."
"Have you been able to find any witnesses?"
"Not anyone who is willing to talk," the agent huffed as the two of them walked back out into the main area of the lab. "Someone must have seen or heard something though. I'm not buying the idea that a tool shed can blow up in the middle of a crowded suburb, and no one notices. But for some reason, we can't find anyone who will admit to knowing anything."
"So what should we do now?" Brennan asked him.
Booth was about to answer when the wail of guitars and what sounded like screams blasted away all other sound. Clamping their hands over their ears, the two of them headed over to Angela's office. Once there, they found Angela and Sweets rhythmically swaying to the death metal that was blaring away from Angela's computer. Sweets glanced over to see them walking in and began to smile.
"Agent Booth, Doctor Brennan," he shouted at them. "Angela showed me how to play music on her computer with that…that…what is that thing called again?"
"iPod," the artist yelled before going back to enjoying the music.
"Yeah that," the psychologist nodded. "Isn't it awesome?"
"Not awesome, deafening," Booth shouted back. "How did Angela get your iPod?"
"I gave to her from Sweets' apartment," Brennan yelled. "Since memory is a complex collection of various sensory data, I thought we should stimulate as many senses as possible to help Sweets' brain in memory restoration."
"There's going to be nothing left of my brain before long," the agent scowled. A second later, Cam and Hodgins stepped in, their hands hovering near their ears as well.
"What is this?" Hodgins bellowed.
"Extreme Acid Dawn," Sweets shouted at him.
"What?"
"Extreme Acid Dawn," the therapist repeated. "Apparently this is their latest single."
"Yeah, they are way better than Sanity Entombed," Angela yelled.
"Angela please," Cam shouted. "Before all of our eardrums disintegrate."
Angela gave them a mock-frown, but then proceeded to tap her control pad a few times, lowering the volume of the music and then eventually stopping it.
"You guys are no fun," she said.
"Agent Booth, Angela…Ms. Montenegro…she has such an amazing set up here," Sweets said as he nearly bounced over toward Booth. "Her computer is mega-fast, and the internet is so massive now with all these cool sites that…."
"Sweets, are you starting to remember anything?" Booth interrupted. "About your life or anything else?"
"I…I…"
Booth watched as the giddy expression began to fade again from Sweets' face, and the psychologist became more thoughtful.
"I guess not," Sweets mumbled while turning his gaze downward. "I saw a lot of things on the internet…a bunch of them were pretty cool…but none of it was familiar."
The psychologist slumped down onto the couch nearby.
"I know that I'm not here for stuff like this," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."
"Hey sweetie, it's ok," Angela said, moving to sit beside him. "It was worth a shot."
The artist took one of his hands, causing Sweets to blush again.
"You'll get your memory back soon," Angela assured him while squeezing his hand. "Don't worry about it."
The psychologist nodded in agreement, but Booth couldn't help but noticed the slight tremor in Sweets' hands and the unease in his expression.
'He gets so nervous whenever anyone gets too close to him or tries to touch him,' Booth thought to himself. 'Granted, he doesn't remember us right now, but we haven't threatening in any way. What is he so scared of?'
Almost in the same moment that he asked himself that question, Booth thought back again to the revelatory conversation he had with Wyatt and Brennan about a year previous about Sweets.
'Scars on the back…of course,' he told himself. 'Bones acted like whatever happened to Sweets happened while he was still a child. Maybe he's learned to handle it as an adult, but what was it like for him when he was twelve?'
The agent watched as Sweets extracted his hand from Angela's and continued to stare at his feet. Booth knew that he couldn't blame the psychologist for being apprehensive, if not a little scared, of all of them and the situation he was in given how he had been treated in the past.
'I need to do something with him that part of his routine, but that will also help him relax,' Booth pondered. 'But what relaxes Sweets? Besides death metal that is?'
An inspiration finally struck Booth, and he walked over to the therapist.
"Hey Sweets, how do you feel about visiting the FBI next?" he asked him.