Author's Note: Next chapter. I am thrilled to see so many people still reading this one and appreciate the support.
I do not own Bones or any of its characters.
Thank you again to everyone who is reading/following/reviewing this.
TimeWitch93: He is one of those characters that can get under your skin, that's for sure. :) Nice to see that Ryan Cartwright has found a new home...I didn't like what they did to his character toward the end (although he was good in The Hole in the Heart, IMO).
Lives in the now: I agree that Booth merely helped Brennan see better what she had all along: a very caring heart...And more and more we see how she learns to express that caring heart in her own unique ways. :) I also thought that there would be a natural connection between her and Sweets given that they both lost their families at some point, and I'm growing increasingly fond of having scenes with the two of them. :)
Peanutmeg: Thank you...Cute but sad does seem to be a modus operandi when it comes to my Sweets work, so I get what you mean and am glad that you enjoyed. Expect more of the same in this chapter.
D: I think it's moments like this (even if they are bizarre) that helps all of them realize just how much of a family they really are. And yes, I agree that B&B serve as the unofficial "heads" of this family...And believe me, before now I knew all about RL making it impossible to enjoy fanfic. :) Thank goodness I graduated and have a semester off before starting my next degree.
SnapesWifeToBe: I get that reaction a lot to some of my fluffier stuff. :) Glad you are enjoying the fluffier side of my work.
Charlotte Thornton: Thank you. Even though this is supposed to be crack fic, I did want to have an actual case to work with during this too. So I am glad that you are enjoying the case as well as the weirdness and fluff. :)
ArcherBlad3: Well I think they already act like older brothers/sisters to him, so being a little parental seemed like the next logical step. Thank you for the review.
19thPersonality: Thank you for the review. Keeping the characters IC is a big one for me, so I am always thrilled when a reader can "see" them in my fic like how they see them on the show...As for interacting with some of the others, well the fic is winding down, but it's not over yet. As for picking up the pace, well if you mean update faster, no problem since I have free time now. If you mean, make it more concise, I'm sorry to say that I tend to be kind of wordy. :) I hope this chapter is more of what your looking for pacing-wise though.
Rankor01: Again, their shared backgrounds/traits do make so I could see B&B figuring out the best ways to take care of Sweets in this state. I think much like you mentioned with Booth, they are both drawing from their own childhoods to find the best approaches to use...And I agree that keeping Sweets busy and consistently interacting with them while he processes what he's learned is crucial, because like you said, it would be very easy for him to shut down and brood within his own depressive state.
The Confusion in the Duckling—Chapter 8
Once they were back in the lab, Brennan left Booth and Sweets, saying that she needed to go on an errand. The agent took Sweets back to Angela's office and the two of them played some more video games for a short while. Within a few minutes she was back with a large book that was filled with photographs and drawings in her hands that had a paper cutout of a line of hieroglyphs for a bookmark.
"Here Sweets," she said, offering it to him while stuffing the receipt in her pocket. "This is a fairly comprehensive history of Ancient Egypt. I think you will find its chapters on culture and society very interesting."
"Wow, thanks Brennan," he beamed. He opened up the book and started to flip through it while Booth and Brennan exchanged smiles.
"Hey Sweets, why don't you take that and read it in Bones' office while we look at a skeleton," Booth said.
"Can I see the skeleton too?" Sweets asked. "When…when you're not busy."
"We'll see," Booth replied, doing his best to suppress an eye roll. "Now go ahead and read while we take care of some things here."
The psychologist nodded and walked off, still flipping through the book as he left. Booth couldn't help but smile again as he watched him.
"Thanks Bones," he said.
"But I didn't get you anything," she said.
"Maybe not…but thanks anyway," Booth said.
"You're welcome Booth," she smiled at him.
The two of them moved back into the ooky room, where Brennan went over Vincent Nigel-Murray's latest results.
"The nicks to the scapula have some irregularities," the intern reported. He walked over to where some X-rays hung on the wall monitors.
"Yes," Brennan nodded. "What is your hypothesis for this?"
"The assailant struck the victim with uneven blows," Vincent responded. "Perhaps because the victim fought back, and the assailant was outmatched strength-wise."
"I concur," the anthropologist said. "Give the specifics of these injuries to Angela so that she can run some scenarios."
"Will do," the intern said with a pert nod.
"What does this mean, Bones?" Booth asked as they walked out of the ooky room.
"It means that whoever killed Felton was either feeble physically or disabled in some way," Brennan replied.
"Right, right," Booth said. "So we should look for someone like an older man or something like that."
"Precisely," she said. Booth pulled out his notepad and started to scan through his notes hurriedly. "What is it?"
"My people did a background check on Arnold since he was on the list of known associates," the agent said. "Doctor Arnold is sixty-two years old."
"At that age, his strength might be diminished enough to explain the uneven nicks," Brennan replied.
"Yeah," Booth said, tapping his notepad. "I was thinking the exact same thing."
Sweets sat on the couch, so engrossed in his book that he didn't even notice Daisy creeping into Brennan's office until she dashed over and plopped down onto the couch beside him. The psychologist dropped the book to the floor and swallowed hard.
"Um, hello," he said.
"Lancelot, I waited for you for over an hour," she pouted. "Why didn't you call me?"
"Lancelot?" he stuttered.
"Did Agent Booth and Doctor Brennan pull you into some new case?" the intern asked.
"Um, yeah," Sweets said. "I…I sort of forgot about, uh everything."
"I get it," Daisy smiled. "You get so caught up in your work sometimes, you get a little absent-minded."
"Do we know each other?" Sweets asked, confused. Daisy leaned over and put her arms around his neck.
"I know you well enough to know when you need a little reminder about why you shouldn't miss out on lunch with me," she grinned. She then planted a deep kiss onto his lips. At first he gasped, his eyes wide open as she kissed him, but eventually he relaxed and started to close them. By the time she finished, his face was beet red.
"Wow," he smiled shyly. "Are you…are you my girlfriend?"
"You could say that, Lancelot," Daisy said, running her fingers through his hair. "You could say that." She then kissed him again, holding him close as she did so. Sweets did not know what to make of all this, but he had to admit that it felt good and that he was enjoying it.
That is, until Daisy's hands started to wander.
Brennan continued to go over the case with Booth when one of the other lab techs walked over to them.
"Doctor Brennan, Ms. Wick was looking for you earlier," he said. "She said that she needed to ask you something about her dissertation."
"Fine," Brennan said. "I will talk to her in a moment. Do you know where she is now?"
"She was also looking for Doctor Sweets," the tech said. "So I went ahead and sent her to your office to wait."
"Wait, you sent Daisy to Bones' office?" Booth asked. "To meet up with Sweets?"
"Yes," the man answered. "Why? Was that wrong?"
Booth shook his head and immediately headed over the anthropologist's office, Brennan following close behind.
"Booth, what are you so concerned about?" she asked. "Sweets and Ms. Wick are in a relationship together. Maybe her presence will help him remember."
"Yeah, maybe," Booth said, not hesitating in his stride. "But Daisy doesn't know what is going on and knowing her, by now it's possible that she…."
The agent was interrupted by the sound of yelling, and both him and Brennan quickened their pace. By the time they got to the office, they were treated to the sight of Daisy storming off, tears glistening in her eyes. Inside the office, Sweets sat hunched up on the couch. Booth and Brennan looked at each other, their faces falling.
"I'm going to see if I can catch up with Ms. Wick," Brennan said as she walked off, her strides speeding up as she went.
"I'll handle things here," Booth called after her. After she left, the agent took a deep breath and then marched into the office. He sat down next to Sweets, the psychologist keeping his head bowed as he did so.
"Sweets?" Booth asked. "Are you all right?"
The therapist, clearly mortified, shook his head, still looking down. Booth nodded and reached over to rub his arm.
"Agent Booth," he said in a near whisper. "Do…did I know her?"
"She's your…girlfriend," Booth answered. "Her name is Daisy Wick."
"Daisy," Sweets mumbled. "That's….that's a nice name." Booth saw the book Brennan gave him on the floor, and he picked it up and sat it down on the coffee table across from them.
"Ok Sweets," Booth said. "What happened?" Sweets gulped, his face turning even redder.
"She…she um said that she was waiting for me," Sweets said. "I asked her if she was my girlfriend and she uh…she kissed me."
"Uh huh," Booth said. "Let me guess, you didn't really want that?"
"No, I…I liked that," Sweets said. "It was nice…And she was really pretty. But um…then she uh….she…."
"Went a little farther than you were ready for?" Booth finished for him.
"Yeah," Sweets said, his blush only intensifying. "I didn't like…what she was doing, so I sort of pushed her away from me and she fell to the floor. She got mad and started to yell. I kind of got upset too and then she ran off. I think she was going to cry."
The psychologist finally looked up, worry etched into every feature.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt her. I just…."
"No, it's ok, Sweets," Booth assured him. "Bones is going to talk to her right now, all right? Trust me, Daisy will listen to what she has to say, and this will all be worked out."
"Are you sure?" Sweets asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Booth nodded. "She will forgive you, ok?"
Sweets nodded and rocked back in his seat, pulling his legs up onto the couch. The two of them sat quietly for a moment, and Booth almost breathed a sigh of relief that he had averted a crisis when Sweets cleared his throat. The agent closed his eyes momentarily, groaning inwardly.
'Please,' Booth thought. 'With everything else that's happened, please don't let him ask me about….'
"Agent Booth," the therapist said hesitantly. "Can I ask you something?"
'Here is comes. I just can't win these days.'
"What is it?"
"Um…do you think there's something wrong with me?" Sweets asked. "Besides the whole amnesia thing. Do you think it's weird that I didn't….that I didn't want to….? I mean I'm twenty-five. I should be wanting to…to…. "
"No, no, Sweets," Booth interrupted. "You may be twenty-five years old physically, but right now you're twelve years old in every other sense. And twelve year olds are not going to be ready for…that kind of thing. Besides, no one has the right to make you do something you're not comfortable with, all right?"
"Ok," Sweets said. Booth patted his back, pleased that for once, Sweets did not flinch at touch. Just then Brennan walked back into her office.
"I was able to explain things to Ms. Wick," she said.
"Is…is she mad at me?" Sweets asked.
"She was upset, but I believe she understands," Brennan answered. "I sent her to work on some supplemental work for me…to give her a chance to process what I told her."
"Thanks Bones," Booth said.
"Thank you Brennan," Sweets chimed in.
"You're welcome," she said.
"Well…we should get going," Booth said, standing up and grabbing Sweets' book. "We've got another suspect to talk to."
The ride over to Arnold's clinic was a quiet one with Sweets studying his book and Booth and Brennan silently sorting through the facts of the case thus far. Once they arrived, Sweets carefully sat the book down on the seat and got out of the car.
"Um, I was thinking I could help out this time," he said. "You know, see if he's lying again…if that's ok."
"Sounds good to me," Booth said. "How about you, Bones?"
"Sure," she nodded.
"But this time, I need you to signal me in a more discreet way," the agent cautioned. "We can't let on that we know he's lying automatically."
"Ok," the psychologist nodded. "I'll be sure to hide it this time. I promise."
The three of them were ushered into Arnold's office with Brennan and Sweets sitting on either side of Booth. The doctor, a sinewy man with wispy grey hair, sat behind his desk with a weary expression.
"Did Felton send you guys here?" Arnold asked. "I'm sick of that man's vendetta. And the next time you see him, you can tell him that I…."
"Actually, Doctor Arnold, Doctor Felton is dead," Brennan said.
"What? Dead?" the doctor said, his eyes growing wide. "Well it's about time. Do you know, by any chance, who killed him? I'd like to send my congratulations."
"Guess we don't need to ask if he had any issues with the victim," Booth smirked at Brennan.
"Sounds like almost like a confession to me," Brennan nodded.
"Whoa, whoa, you think I killed Felton?" Arnold said, holding up his hands. "That's crazy. I mean, sure I wanted the guy dead. So did a lot of other people. But do you actually think that I'm stupid enough to go out there and get my own hands dirty?"
"Even if it means stopping a potential class action suit against you and your clinic?" Brennan asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Arnold said. "And anyone who says otherwise is a damn liar."
Booth was about to speak when he felt a slight tap on his leg. Figuring that this was Sweets' signal for lies, he made sure to give the psychologist a meaningful look before continuing.
"We have Doctor Felton's records and names from his appointment books from his assistant," Booth said. "Trust me when I say that it would be very easy for me and other agents of the Bureau to track down these names and set up interviews."
"All right, all right," the doctor sighed. "Felton called me a few days ago to tell me that some of my patients were less than pleased with the care they had received and were looking to do something about it. Like he should talk."
"And that was the last time you spoke to him?" Booth asked as he took notes.
"To him, yes," Arnold said. "I got a call from that assistant of his two days ago. Told me that Felton wanted to see me about some private matter that could, and I quote 'benefit both of us'. Can you believe the nerve of that guy?"
"Do you know what this meeting was going to be about?" Brennan asked.
"No I don't," Arnold said. "We were supposed to be meeting tomorrow and I was still trying to decide if I was going to show up."
Booth glanced over at Sweets again, the therapist catching his look and shaking his head in response. The agent then closed up his notebook and stood up, Brennan and Sweets following his lead.
"Thank you for your time, Doctor Arnold," Booth said. "We'll be in touch."
"I hope so," the doctor grumbled. "I still want to know who to thank for putting Felton out of my misery."
"Well, what do you think, Sweets?" Booth asked once the three of them got to the car.
"Other than that one time…I think he was telling the truth," Sweets said thoughtfully.
"I agree," Booth said. "And by the way, good job with those signals."
Sweets blushed and bowed his head down, clearly pleased with Booth's praise.
"But we still don't know who killed Felton?" Brennan said. "Doctor Arnold had the right physique to inflict those uneven nicks on the scapula…but the two of you say that he's telling the truth."
"Don't worry Bones, we'll figure it out," the agent said. "I've still got agents checking other leads. I'm sure they'll turn up something, especially since we can tell them that the guy we are looking for is over five foot nine and elderly."
"Or disabled," Brennan added.
"What?"
"The murderer," she said. "Remember? Mr. Nigel-Murray said that they could be elderly…or perhaps disabled." Brennan stopped, her eyes flickering back and forth for a moment before focusing on Booth.
"Bones?"
"Booth…I know who the murderer is."