The Face with Two Skeletons

By: Tropicwhale

Disclaimer: Mine? Who's been saying that wonderful lie? oh...ignore them, they lie like rugs. Bones and all things associated with the show belong to other people...dammit.

Author Talk: I have work but I'm writing chapter 24 now so expect a massive dump of chapters late this evening.

Chapter Twenty-One

Brennan considered Booth's face as they ate lunch. Booth had admitted that he was letting Zack stay with him until better accommodations could be made which Brennan thought was very Samaritan of him seeing as it was common knowledge that her assistant really annoyed her partner. Considering that fact, Booth looked incredibly at ease for having to spent time with one of his least favorite people on Brennan's team. Brennan shook off the feeling considering that she hated psychology and it wasn't her place to try and analyze the 'chilled' vibe Booth was giving off. Currently she was informing Booth of Angela's discovery of the Alabamian skeleton's face. "So you think that the two skeletons could be related?" Booth asked. "I mean the one was found in Alabama in the 1930's and Anne's like recently dead. Distant relations?" Booth was fishing. There was no concrete proof of his hypothesis.

"No. I discovered that the Alabamian skeleton is only a few months old…six on the outside and she was murdered with the same type of shot as Anne Zerbrowski."

"That's weird."

"Yes. The odds of the two victims being found approximately six hundred miles from each other with the same facial reconstruction and the same cause of death is astronomically high. Cam is running a DNA analysis to see if there is a relationship between them."

"Like if they're twins?"

"Exactly."

"See, that's going to be a problem…according to Anne's medical records she's an only child." Brennan was confused and intrigued at the same time.

"That's weird."

"Yeah. Why would her parents give up one twin and keep the other?"

"That's speculation and you know I'm uncomfortable with that sort of speculation. After all, the Alabamian skeleton could have the birth parents and Anne was adopted."

"Alright, so we need to find out who the second skeleton is."

"Yes which is going to be complicated. Zack started the investigation but according to the evidence storage of the Houston County Sheriff Department there is no record of a homicide within the last six months of a female with the remains' parameters, missing persons matching the face, or old remains found in that particular swamp."

"So we have two victims, with the same face, neither of which were missed and killed in the same way. Sounds like a serial killer." Booth clarified.

"It does. But if it is....it's a serial killer with a large hunting ground."

"They could be traveling the country like Ted Bundy did." Brennan considered the validity of that theory.

"I still think that it has something to do with this particular family….the twins." Booth looked down at his food.

"Yeah, I agree. Zack's got to be frustrated that he can't work on this skeleton as well." Brennan looked away, feeling guilty.

"I haven't told him yet." Booth looked at her. "I felt bad with all that's happened to him. That skeleton is the only reason he's coming to work these days. There really isn't that much else for him to do."

"That's terrible, Bones. You should tell him before he goes into work tomorrow thinking he's going to be working on those bones."

"Whose going to be working on what bones?" Brennan looked up and Booth turned to see Ms. Julian lumbering toward them.

"Zack working on a set of bones from Alabama." Brennan explained. "Angela did a facial reconstruction on a whim and the remains look identical to Anne Zerbrowski." Ms. Julian looked confused at that.

"Is there any reason to suspect that the two cases could be linked in any way?" Ms. Julian asked.

"The remains show trauma of being killed the same way as Anne and their face is the same…so the odds are that they're cases are connected." Brennan explained.

"That's gambling talk, missy, and I can't abide by that but, considering the circumstances, they aren't the same crime." Ms. Julian asked. Brennan was confused.

"I don't understand the nuance." Booth snapped his fingers when Ms. Julian looked at him like she did whenever Brennan annoyed her. Brennan looked at her partner.

"Even if they had the same murderer, because of the distance they would be tried separately."

"So Zack can work on the Alabamian skeleton?" Brennan confirmed. "This will be very good news for Zack," she told Booth. "especially after everything."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, cheri. What exactly happened to Dr. Addy?"

"He and Angela were nearly killed when Zack's apartment blew up..." Brennan explained.

"Also he got dumped by the husband of our first victim because Zack told us that they were involved and that he didn't want to interfere with the investigation." Booth added.

"Smart boy. Is this husband a lawyer?" Ms. Julian sat down next to Booth and signaled for her usual coffee.

"Yes. A defense lawyer." Brennan confirmed from memory.

"God, I hate defense lawyers. They're all so-sleazy."

"You've been a defense lawyer on occasion." Brennan reminded her. Ms. Julian pointed at her as her coffee was delivered.

"Yes, but only as a favor to Booth." She poured Sweet-N-Low into her coffee and pinched Booth's cheek. "He's such a cutie."

"Thank you, Ms. Julian." It was obvious even to Brennan that Booth was 'hamming it up' for the prosecutor. He had a big grin on his face and he winked at the older woman. Ms. Julian patted him on the arm.

"You're welcome, Agent Booth. Anyway, you tell Zack he's better off without sneaking around with that sleaze although I don't know if he'll find anyone else that would want him. That boy is an odd one." Booth shifted.

"Zack has his moments. He plays basketball good."

"He plays basketball well." Brennan corrected automatically. Booth waved her off. "Although I try to not speculate on my subordinates' private lives."

"What about Dr. Hodgins and Ms Montenegro?"

"Although Hodgins and Angela pursue a romance relationship outside of work I have found that it doesn't affect the working environment as much as I thought it would initially. Also, the relationship between Booth and Cam-"

"Hey! That was over a long time ago." Booth protested. "We don't need to dig up ancient history."

"Yes, but last year you and Cam engaged in sexual inter-"

"BONES!" Booth shouted. The entire restaurant stopped and looked over at their booth. "Shut it, will you?" Booth pleaded a little desperately. "It's ancient history." Ms. Julian looked at him as if she wanted to say something sarcastic but decided against it. The noise in the Diner went back up to normal levels. Ms. Julian rolled her eyes.

"Okay, look, you two. Conflict of interest happens all the time. It's completely normal. The fact you and your whole squint squad try and stay bone dry, excuse the expression, from emotional entanglements of any kind is just a little bit unnatural…in fact it's just plain freaky. So stop it. That is my advice….and I'm finished my coffee so adios, my cheris." With that the lawyer stood and barreled out of the Diner. Booth promptly restarted conversation by asking if Brennan knew when Zack's casts were coming off. Brennan said that she thought it was sometime in the next few days and wondered why Booth was scratching under his collar like that.

Author After Talk: More late tonight also, if you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel and Slash (which, lets face it I know you do) check out my Spander series, "Grimmoire". It folliows a post-series, mid comic relationship between Xander Harris and the vampire, Spike, as they try to save the world from the distructive forces of the Grimmoire of Morgan LeFay and deal with each other in a "grown-up relationship". I think it's worth the look-see but then...I wrote it so maybe not so on the trusting my opinion yes?

Love from the Dorkside;

Tropic