Chapter 9: Perigee and Apogee

"A wicked man's gift hath a touch of his master."

Zack opened his door wordlessly to the knock. The Master followed him into his apartment, and sat down at the kitchen table. Zack did not sit down, nor look at him. He stared at a point on the wall.

"Why did you want to see me? What was so urgent?" The Master's voice was almost the same as before the dentures. There was a very faint lisp. Zack took it as a sign that his work was not perfect. He had failed…again.

"Agent Booth is dead." He said it tonelessly, as if he were announcing the weather. But his eyes revealed the anguish that went into that statement. "I…I was there. I called 911, and gave them the precise location. I stayed on the phone. But it was too late. He must have bled out in the ambulance. I am almost certain he was still breathing when they took him away. I didn't think it was a sucking wound."

The Master did not say anything, but just looked at him.

"Why are you staring at me?" Zack asked.

"This must be very difficult for you."

"It is very difficult for Dr. Brennan," Zack said hurriedly, uncomfortable discussing his own reaction. "I don't know what to do. She taught me that focusing on details helps to compartmentalize the pain, but I do not know if it will work in this case. Over and over again, I see him standing, getting shot, then falling. I focus on the details, but it doesn't help. He's still Agent Booth. I cannot refer to him as the victim. I cannot forget that I know him."

"You need something else to focus on, something else beyond the details of Agent Booth's death."

Zack nodded. "But focusing on why is of no use, either. I don't know why. The woman who shot him is dead, so we can't ask her why. She was a suspect in a murder investigation, but we cleared her. We identified the murderer, and it wasn't her. I am certain of that. So why would she come after Agent Booth after we went to so much effort to prove it wasn't her?" He shook his head. "I can answer other questions, but I do not like why."

"Tell me, what do you know of Agent Booth's family?"

"Not very much. He doesn't talk about them often. Dr. Saroyan says he has a brother."

"His parents, are they living?"

Zack shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose I will find out at the funeral."

"So his father may have predeceased him?"

Zack looked up in alarm. "No! You…you can't add him to the skeleton. He's to be buried whole."

"But surely you see my interest. I know he has killed men. Had he lived, he would have killed more."

Zack shook his head. "He only killed bad guys who deserved it. Like you. He was one of the good guys. I told you about the last person he shot - the serial killer who made mummies out of teenage girls at an amusement park? He stopped him in time; he saved the girl. His job is exactly what your job is. He always scoffed at secret societies; he would not have joined one. You wouldn't want me to add your bones to a skeleton, would you?"

"No, Zack, of course not. I'm sorry." He paused. "Did he have any children?"

"A son, Parker. He is the only member of Agent Booth's family I've met."

"So Parker is now a widow's son?"

Zack was not alarmed this time. "No, he's illegitimate. Agent Booth did not marry his mother, so she is not a widow. Besides, he's only 5; his bones are much too small."

"I might have something for you to focus on."

Zack did not react.

"I think you are ready. Now might be the time for you to set some things in motion. It will help to protect Dr. Brennan."

Zack looked up, interested.

"As long as the Masterpiece remains at the Jeffersonian, your coworkers face a threat. Removing it will remove them from danger. No more of them need die."

Zack's hopeful look faded. "But there are security cameras. Even if I were to alter them, they'd discover when the skeleton was removed and trace the doctored tapes back to me. And it is too big to remove discretely. The guards would discover the theft before I could leave the building." He'd seen what happened when people tried to steal stuff; it usually ended badly. He'd been nervous taking the canines from Limbo, even though there were no cameras down there and no security guard had ever asked him to turn out his pockets in the 3 years he'd worked there. They had looked in his bag, occasionally. But he couldn't fit the silver skeleton in his pockets, and there were lots of cameras around the vault.

"I've thought of a way around that. You said that security would discover the theft and the doctored tapes. What if…what if they were distracted?"

Zack considered that. "In the event of an emergency, security personnel would focus on securing the area and in the case of a biological or chemical contamination, containing the hazard. Standing guard over the vault in the basement would not be the priority."

"You could orchestrate just such a distraction, couldn't you?"

Zack looked puzzled for a moment. "How would stealing something else, to distract them from the vault, help me steal the skeleton?"

"No, not a theft. A distraction. You'd have help."

Zack nodded. "I have access to a wide variety of hazardous materials. A biological hazard would be more difficult to implement at a precise time – the air filtration system would pick up on the particles immediately, and set off the alarms. Anything dangerous enough to trip the alarms would be dangerous enough to incapacitate many of the people working in the building, unless I could find something to generate a false positive. And we do not store materials of that sort; I would have to smuggle them in."

"So a chemical accident, then?"

"It would not be an accident if I planned it," Zack corrected automatically. The Master had been unable to break him of this habit. "I could orchestrate a chemical hazard that would set off the alarms and capture the attention of the guards. But it would be suspicious if I were to go to the vault during that time."

"I think I can manage to get in and take the Masterpiece if you keep them distracted."

"I could make you a fake ID badge. They aren't difficult to replicate. But you would want to avoid the main entrance; someone would see you. You cannot exit carrying the skeleton by a path that anyone would see you."

"Is there an out-of-the-way door, near the vault?"

"Yes, the service entrance would be best."

"You've thought about how to sneak into the building before, haven't you?"

"Many times," Zack stated matter-of-factly. "But I never thought I would be using those plans for something like this."

They worked out the details of the plan, and determined how much time it would take to set it all in motion. The Master allowed Zack to plan the details and steps of the diversion, knowing he knew his coworkers and workplace best. It was kinda exciting, like coming up with a secret mission. They settled on the day of Agent Booth's funeral to put the plan into action.

"See, you just needed something to focus on," the Master said as he was leaving.

Zack looked at him sincerely. "Thank you."

Author's Note: The chapter title refers to the orbit of a satelite - the points when the moon is nearest and furthest away from the Earth, respectively. Obviously, this chapter takes place immediately following 'Wannabe in the Weeds', during the infamous two week gap before 'Pain in the Heart.' I needn't warn you about what comes next....