The Head in the Hallow (T for a little smut, mystery, romance, etc.) Story Completed

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Part XII

That night, Brennan came home to her empty apartment. She flipped on some lights and turned up the heat. Autumn was setting in and the chill in the air was much cooler at night. She shivered and threw on a large gray Northwestern sweater, kept in the closet where nobody could find it but herself. After a hot shower, she slid back into the sweater and ate dinner while studying photographs of the victim found in the hallow.

But she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept going back to two nights before. The events kept playing over and over, but the most prominent part of the whole memory was the feeling of his breath on her neck. She shivered and tucked her knees into the oversized sweatshirt and fought to concentrate on the photographs.

"It was a mistake," she told herself adamantly. However, a part of her did not believe what she just told herself.

-

Booth walked into his apartment and tugged on his tie until it came loose. He kicked off his shoes and stripped down to his shorts, not caring where the clothing landed. The refrigerator wasn't much more enlightening. Leftovers from three nights ago. A cold TV dinner and a bottle of ketchup. He groaned at the irony of coming home to nothingness when other colleagues his age were going home to husbands or wives, children, hot meals. He closed the refrigerator door and rested his forehead against the refrigerator door. He shut his eyes and rested there for several minutes. He thought about calling Bones. Telling her that they should move on, forget yesterday. But it would all be a lie. Not that he hadn't already said a lie that day. 'It's a mistake.' He would've given his right foot to make that mistake again and again. He remembered the scent of her skin, the taste of her lips.

He sighed and walked into the bedroom where he tossed and turned until the sun came up.

now they are both not happy......they should just realize that they are meant to be together.....
Can't wait for more!

ahhh poor Booth

Awww thank you all for the compliments!

Part XIII

"Bones!" Booth marched through the Jeffersonian the next morning. "Bones!"

Vincent raised his head. "She's in her office."

"Thanks, Vino-Delectable." Booth jogged to Brennan's office door and knocked, then let himself in.

"Booth!"

"Hey, Bones. Just wanted to ask you if wanted come with me to go talk to Alex Walters."

"Where is Mr. Walters?"

"Charlie picked him up earlier. He's at the Hoover Building."

Brennan stood and grabbed her purse. "I'll meet you there, then." She breathed in confidently then brushed past Booth.

They walked through the Medico-Legal lab. "No, Bones. I'm taking you."

She turned around. Hodgins rolled away from his desk for a better view. Cam did the same. Vincent only looked confused, then went back to his work.

"I don't think so. What use is it for me to have a vehicle of my own if I'm going to go with you all of the time? I'll take my own car." She brushed past him and walked several steps before Booth bellowed back at her.

"And waste gas? Clog our delicate atmosphere with more noxious fumes?"

Brennan stopped in her tracks, then turned back around. "Fine, but I'm driving." She held out her hand.

"No, Bones. Company car, company employee. That's me."

"I've driven before, Booth."

"When my back was hurt. I'm fine now."

"Because I fixed it."

"Yes... yes you did."

"Then, give me the keys."

"In your wildest dreams!"

She took several steps toward him, keeping her eyes on his the entire way. Then, while maintaining eye contact, she reached into his front pocket and fished out the keys. She spoke in a low voice, "You don't even know what happens in my wildest dreams, Booth." She snapped the keys to her palm, then jingled them in the air in front of his nose. "Thanks for the keys."

She turned and walked out of the Jeffersonian. Booth watched her, then spun around with a defeated gesture, hands in fists, shaking them toward heaven. Cam shrugged and laughed at him, then went back to her work.

Part XIV

Booth, Brennan, and Sweets stood in the little side room watching Alex Walters play with her trailmix. From her right hand dangled a charm bracelet that flickered in the light that streamed from the window.

"So, Alex Walters is a woman." Booth said aloud.

"How very attentive of you, Booth." Brennan said smugly.

Sweets watched the exchange in silence.

"She's playing with her trailmix. You don't suppose she's going to try to shoot me, do you?"

The smile disappeared from Brennan's face, then she looked back at Alex with a serious look on her face. "You should go interrogate her, Booth."

"Right." Booth sighed and left the room, putting his ear-bud in as he walked through the door and sat opposite Alex. Alex couldn't be over five feet tall. She had short cropped dark hair and large almond eyes. She almost looked like a pixie, as her haircut suggested.

"She couldn't have killed Samantha, not alone anyway. There's no way that she could have drug her body through the field and chopped off her leg. I mean, look at her. She probably reaches my hipbone," Sweets laughed.

"Iliac crest," Brennan murmured.

"Hm?" Sweets replied.

"Nothing," she shifted and leaned against the wall, both hands folded as she watched Booth interrogate Alex.

"How long was Samantha working as a prostitute?" Booth urged Alex on.

Alex shrugged. "I don't know. I never asked. Ever since I knew her, I guess. Two years. She didn't seem like that kind of girl, did she? Perfect setup, I guess. Paid the bills. Paid her first year off."

"Did she have any return customers?"

"I don't know. I-- I know a couple of numbers. Numbers that came up on the caller ID a few times. I think they were customers and friends from the streets. Stuff like that."

Booth took out his note pad and pen.

While Alex wrote, Sweets looked over at Brennan.

"Can I ask you a personal question, Dr. Brennan?"

Booth adjusted his earpiece.

"And then there's another number. Hold on, let me just think a sec while I try to remember it..." Alex continued.

Brennan turned toward Sweets. "Sure. Why not?"

"When Agent Booth made that wisecrack about the trailmix, you kinda cold-shouldered him."

"That's more of a comment than a question, Dr. Sweets."

Sweets didn't reply.

Brennan turned toward the glass and looked out at Booth. He took the pen from Alex and continued the interrogation.

In a low voice, she asked, "I never told anybody about how I felt, did I?"

"I didn't want to push you, Dr. Brennan. You seem to hold your feelings in. That's how you cope, but eventually it'll all build and blow up in your face."

Brennan looked at Sweets and rested her back on the glass. "I hated it," she said almost in a whisper. "Booth not being there, you know? I thought he was dead." She blinked away a tear and forced her voice to not betray her emotion. "It doesn't matter now. He's alive and that's what matters."

"You said you hated it. Did you feel sad?"

Brennan threw Sweets a cold stare. "Did I feel sad? What the hell do you think, Sweets? Dammit, you've never felt real pain. When Booth left me, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat." Her voice quavered with that last word. Booth listened to his partner's pain, but tried to pay attention to Alex's tale of the last night she saw her friend. Brennan drew in a tremulous breath. "And I'll be damned if I ever lose him again."

Brennan reached up for her ear piece, then looked down at the green light showing that they were on and Booth had heard every word. A tear escaped and she slapped it away, then tore out the ear piece and ran out of the room.

"Ah... crap," Sweets muttered.

"Thanks for everything, Miss Walters." Booth stood and left the room calmly, then he broke out into a run. He reached the elevator doors just in time to see them close with Brennan on the inside.

Part XV

After lunch with Cam, Booth hunted for Brennan for thirty minutes. First she was in the cafeteria, then Angela's office, then Dr. Goodman's. She was never where the last person said she was. Eventually, he gave up and decided to drag Hodgins along.

"Why am I here?" Hodgins asked as they walked down the streets of the 'Redlight District'.

"Are you happy to be out of the lab?" Booth asked.

"Yeah."

"Then shut up." Booth looked over at Hodgins.

"The wife's avoiding you?" Hodgins snickered.

They turned down an alleyway and walked toward an older building where a couple of prostitutes were sitting on the front stoop smoking Marlboro cigarettes.

Booth turned toward Hodgins. "Yeah. The wife's avoiding me."

Hodgins laughed. "Figured as much."

The two women stood up. The first one put out her cigarette and smudged it with a red pump, then went back inside. The second woman put her hands on her hips and swayed her way to Hodgins and Booth. "Looking for a good time, sugar? Anything you want. I'm a full service pit-stop, baby."

Booth grinned. "Actually, I'm looking for a girl here named Lacy."

"You one of her regulars or somethin'?" As the hooker talked, red lipstick clung to her yellowed teeth, teeth almost the same color as her hair. "Cuz she probably with someone else. I could keep you company 'til then."

Booth smiled, then pulled out his badge. One look at it and the woman turned and began running down the alleyway. Booth sighed, then ran after the woman. Hodgins followed on his heels until Booth tackled the woman to the ground. "Sorry," he apologized for taking her down so hard.

"Not my worst night on the streets," the woman grunted.

Hodgins came up beside Booth and squatted beside him. "Police brutality much?"

"She ran!"

"Then you smashed her face into the concrete."

"She ran!" Booth emphasized. "Search her pockets. Watch out for needles."

Hodgins began to pat her pockets. "What does Dr. Brennan usually do?"

"She usually asks if she can hit her."

The prostitute gasped.

"Don't worry," Booth assured her. "I won't let the bug doctor beat you."

"Clean." Hodgins said.

Booth rolled the woman onto her back. "I'm not here to arrest you."

"Then why you here?"

"I told you. I'm looking for a hooker named Lacy."

"That's a common name."

"Purple hair?"

Nothing.

"Dog collar around her neck?"

"Oh her."

"Yes, her."

"She doesn't work this street. She usually hangs around the park."

"Freedom Park?" Hodgins asked.

"Hey, I'll ask the questions here." Booth growled.

"Sorry." Hodgins raised his hands.

"Freedom Park?" Booth asked.

"Yes, Freedom Park. Where else?"

Booth stood her up and uncuffed her. The woman ran away, looking over her shoulder as she went.

Part XVI

A search of Freedom Park didn't turn up the elusive Lacy. The rest of the day was vague to the memory. Brennan avoided Booth. Booth searched for Brennan. At the end of the day, Booth walked through the Jeffersonian as the lights went out.

Cam locked her door behind her and turned to see Booth. "Looking for Dr. Brennan? She left early."

"I thought she would," Booth shrugged.

"Drinks?" Cam asked.

"Ah. You beat me to it," he grinned and held out his arm for her. She wrapped her fingers around his elbow as they walked out of the lab.

They met at Wong Foo's and shared drinks over the low light of the bar.

"Brennan still avoiding you?"

Booth shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." He sipped then smiled at Cam.

"She'll get over it."

Another shrug, then he sighed. "She's stubborn."

Cam smiled. "Seems that you're attracted to stubborn women, Seeley."

"Yeah, I guess so, huh?" His smile disappeared when he realized his admission.

Cam leaned forward. "When we broke up--"

"Cam."

"No. I have to say this. When we broke up, it wasn't because of Epps. That's not a question, either. It was an observation." They smiled across the table.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Cam."

She shook her head. Then she smiled. "You didn't hurt me. The truth is, I was about to break up with you. You just beat me to it, that's all."

Booth's forehead scrunched, then, "Why were you going to break up with me?"

"Because... I could tell you love Dr. Brennan."

"We're just partners."

Cam laughed. "Oh, please, Seeley!" Booth winced at the use of his given name. "How long have I known you? Fifteen years now? I know you well enough that you're not just partners. And if you use that moot phrase one more time, I'm going to throw my martini in your face." Booth raised an amused brow. "It's strawberry. Red Dye Number 40. Stains terribly. You should take that threat seriously." Cam grinned. The two shared a smile for a few minutes.

"Wouldn't want that, would I?" Booth tipped back the last of his drink, then drew the next full glass up to his lips.

"No."

"Cam... our relationship wasn't fake you know. I loved you."

Cam smiled. Tension relaxed from her face. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"That's good to know... that you loved me, too."

Booth stood and pulled Cam into his arms. They stood hugging for several minutes. For the first time in several years, Cam knew that when she looked back on her relationship with Booth, that the memories would be much sweeter than painful.

Booth pulled back from the hug in time to catch that look in her eyes. The moment grew into several seconds, then Booth leaned in and laid a kiss on Cam's lips. That took her completely by surprise. She could see his closed eyes with her own open eyes.

"Booth," she muttered.

"Hm?"

"Booth!"

"What?!" Booth leaned back and grinned at her, a puckish look in his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Kissing you."

"Why? Do you seriously want to walk down that path one more time?"

"Not really. I just wanted to kiss you."

"Well save your lips for Dr. Brennan."

Booth sighed then released Cam.

"Does this make me the rebound girl? Cuz I could like that. Kinda risque," she teased as she slid a finger under her bottom lip and laughed at Booth.

Booth sighed. "To be the rebound girl, I'd have to be in some sort of relationship with Bones." He laid a few bills on the table. "Fat chance there."

Cam picked up her purse, then walked toward the door. "I don't know..." She pushed the door open with her back and grinned wickedly at Booth. "I think she liiiiiiikes you."

"Please!" Booth said sarcastically. "She won't even talk to me."

Booth opened the passenger side door for Cam, then ran around and got in on the other side.

"When I was sixteen, I had a crush on this gorgeous boy. Eric Mendelssen."

Booth started the car. "And what's the point of this story? To tell me that you wouldn't kiss me back because I'm not as gorgeous as Eric Middleton?"

"Mendelssen. No, I didn't kiss back because you love Dr. Brennan-- and she knows Kung Fu. The point of my story is that I had the biggest crush on this guy and I didn't say a word to him. I avoided him, actually."

Booth reached over the back of Cam's seat to back out of the space, but he smiled at Cam. "You think she has a crush on me?" He seemed half-amused at the juvenileness of the whole concept.

"And you love her."

Booth backed out of the space. "Do you think she loves me, too?"

Cam smiled, proud that Booth had finally come around to saying it aloud. "I think she puts up a lot of fronts, Booth. Saying she doesn't believe in love is just saying that she doesn't want to share that part of her. I'd bet money on it that you have shared more with her than any man has. Friendship. Closeness. Love, even."

Booth patted Cam on the knee. "Thanks, Cam."

Cam had to hide a grin at the simple gesture. Patting her on the knee like a guy pats his buddy on the knee. That's why she didn't kiss back. She knew better. Some moments between a man and a woman don't necessarily mean a thing. But other moments could speak multitudes. She smiled in Booth's direction. "Maybe we shouldn't have drinks any more?"

Booth grinned. "Maybe I should stop at one drink and call it good."

"Deal," Cam agreed as she tightened her seat belt.

(Let me know if I'm posting too fast for you.) (I'm trying to keep the ff.net story and this one at the same pace.)

No, you are not posting fast at all.. Keep it coming... keep it coming.


I am reading all the time, even if I am not posting

Let me know what you're thinking!

Part XVII

The next morning, Brennan, Cam, Angela, and Vincent stood around the skeleton of Samantha Peters.

"I believe that this was what killed her," Brennan pointed to a bullet wound in the woman's reconstructed sternum.

"I'll have to agree, Dr. Brennan," Cam replied. "That kind of wound would have caused a lot of damage, depending on the angle, and this looks like it entered at ninety degrees." Cam put out two fingers directly in front of her own sternum and tapped twice.

Angela grimaced and sucked air in through her teeth. "That smarts."

"I never recovered a bullet, though." Cam said.

"Fracturing suggests it was point-blank," Vincent said in his light British accent.

Brennan looked up and smiled. "Very good, Mr. Nigel-Murray. I found shards of led and copper embedded in the C6 through T3 vertebrae."

"Pieces of a bullet?" Angela asked.

Brennan nodded.

"Bad luck for Miss Peters," Hodgins replied as he walked up with the victim's clothing on a tray one in hand, tweezers in the other. The three women looked up. "I think I found something."

Brennan straightened her back and took off her gloves, then walked over to Hodgins. "What did you find?"

Hodgins held up a little green stone with blue tweezers. "Jewelry?"

Brennan shook her head, "The victim wasn't wearing jewelry."

"Then it must belong to our killer," Cam replied.

Angela and Cam walked over so they could view the stone better.

"Well, even if it does belong to the killer, it isn't worth much." Angela crossed her arms.

"Well, what is it?" Brennan asked. "It isn't emerald or topaz?"

Angela laughed. "It's worth a lot less than that." Brennan gave her a confused look. "Plastic, sweetie. It's plastic."

"So our killer is of a low socioeconomic status," Brennan concluded.

"Huh." The group looked toward Nigel-Murray. "Green is often said to represent envy."

"Pushing it, Vincent," Cam warned.

"No, I swear it's not a total tangent. The most common motives for murder are love, power, and money. Murders motivated by love are often linked to a love/envy conflict of some sort." Four blank stares, then Vincent said a little quieter, "It's just--ironic. Possibly... ironic."

"Well, I'm sure that the money motive is out of the picture." Cam muttered aloud. Brennan looked up surprised, but quickly hid it away. "Booth and I had drinks last night. He mentioned that the victim was a poor college student."

"I remember those days," Angela mused.

"Me, too," Hodgins said, but the three women looked at him disbelievingly. Angela rolled her eyes. "What?" Hodgins laughed. "There were a few times I told my dad where he could stuff his money."

"I lived on Top Ramen for three months straight at one point," Vincent said thoughtfully.

"How about--" Brennan cut them off. "We stick to the facts. Agent Booth is the investigator here. Leave the assumptions to him. People have killed for twelve dollars. It isn't completely unthinkable."

The four eyed her for a moment, then quietly got back to work.

I think the story is interesting It has investigation, smut, bickering.. and everything I love it and you know it

Hahaaa
You are smart woman, you are trying to finagle some reviews from me... I am posting here after every chapter

Hahaa
Kiddin..

I still like it.
It's no problem when you post so fast.....it's nice to be able to read a few chapters every day.....but you will get less reviews this way.
as long as you are happy when we review whenever we find the time you can keep posting this fast

lol

like there is anything like posting too fast

I'm glad I'm not going too fast for you all.

Part XVIII

That evening, Angela was hard at work when her best friend came into her office. "Hi, sweetie," she greeted cheerfully.

Brennan didn't reply. She just sat on the chair next to where Angela was sitting.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"How much?" Brennan asked absently.

"Never mind. What are you thinking about?"

"If Hodgins were to want you back, would you reconsider?"

Angela smirked at the thought of Brennan thinking about Hodgela. "What?"

"Would you?"

Angela sighed and sat back thoughtfully. "Yeah. Why not?"

"Why not?" Brennan repeated. "What kind of an answer is that?"

"An honest one?"

"No, I mean. It's so impulsive, so capricious."

"Sometimes, Bren, capricious rendezvous lead to the best things in life." Brennan cocked her head to the side, confused. "You say you've led an exciting life, right?"

"Well, sure. I've participated in digs all around the world, most notably in Nepal, China, Guatemala, and Honduras. Yes. I'd say I have."

"When was the last time you threw caution into the wind, Bren?"

"Guatemala was quite dangerous. One of my coworkers was murdered while I was there. They were trying to kill me, not him."

"You're thinking too literally, sweetie. I'm talking about love."

"I don't believe in love."

"I think you do."

"Wh--No. I don't."

"You've told me you love ME. And that dog that Booth gave you for Christmas. I've heard you say you love him."

"I've never told Booth--"

"The dog, sweetie. I said that I've heard you tell the DOG you love him."

"That's not the same," Brennan replied defensively.

"It is--the same, sweetie. Don't you think that love is the same but different? I love you. I love Hodgins. Love is love, but it isn't always love, you know?"

"No... I don't know." Brennan looked at Angela like she just spoke in a dead language.

"I'm saying that for someone who doesn't believe in love, you love a whole lot of things." Angela crossed her arms over her chest. Brennan looked disbelievingly at her friend. "Science. You love science. Your dad, Russ, Amy, the girls, me... Zack." Brennan looked up when Angela said Zack's name. "I know you love Zack because since he left you haven't really been the same. You feel his absence. We all do. That's love, sweetie. Joy when he's here, sadness when he's gone."

Brennan quickly looked down before the tears built too high in her eyes. "I miss Zack." She blinked a tear away before it could be seen. "Very much."

Angela got up from her seat and helped Brennan stand to her feet. The two women hugged tightly for several quiet seconds. "I don't know about you, but I love Zack."

"Yeah," Brennan replied softly against Angela's hair.

"And when Booth was gone, I think you were about ten times worse then when Zack left."

Brennan's head snapped back sharply. "I was not."

"You were. Your pants became baggy, so I guessed you weren't eating. You had bags under your eyes, and you were snippy with everyone. You missed him." Angela tipped her head to the side. "Even loved him."

Brennan hugged Angela again before the pain of the memories could bring back tears in her eyes.

As they hugged, Brennan fought her mind to keep from processing what was going through her head. What were those long looks over the diner table between she and Booth? What were all of those hugs for? Was that passion? Was it pure lust? Or was it the real thing? The thing she had guarded her heart from feeling for so many years? Was it love? The most frightening part of it all, was that once she agreed with herself that love existed, then it was up for the taking. Any man she slept with could take that from her, break her down piece by piece, taking away a part of her heart as he pleased.

They broke the hug before the tears and the realization came forth. Angela waited until Brennan was out of sight before going back to her computer.

Hodgins walked in, glancing back at Brennan. "That was Dr. Brennan? Yeah, of course it was."

"What do you want?" Angela turned off the computer screen and smiled at Hodgins.

"The pleasure of your company at dinner?"

Angela grinned and grabbed her bag. "You realize that I'm going to order the most expensive thing on the menu, right?"

"Hey, babe, I'm loaded--I mean, Ange--I didn't mean that derogatorily or anything--"

Angela smiled and intertwined her arm in his. "Of course you didn't."

Booth smiled as they passed him in the lab. "Bones?"

Angela nodded at her office wordlessly.

Booth knocked on the door frame. "Hey, Bones."

"Why are you here?" She looked up from her work.

"Sweets."

"Oh." She turned off the monitor and grabbed her purse.

As they walked out of the Jeffersonian, Brennan turned toward Booth. "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you, Booth."

"It's OK. It's understandable, I guess."

"No. It's not."

Booth stopped and looked sideways at Brennan.

"It's not acceptable. We're partners. Friends. You didn't deserve me abandoning you like that."

Booth grinned, "Maybe we should save this for Sweets. It'll give him a storyline for his fanfics." He took two steps, but Brennan grabbed his arm.

"Would you like to have dinner tonight? Like always."

He was surprised. "Like... dinner?"

"Yeah." Brennan could feel her heart pounding in her chest wildly.

"Sure, Bones."

"So... the diner?"

They started walking again.

"Wait--" Booth said.

She turned. "Or we could go somewhere else."

"That's not why I said 'wait'."

"Then why?"

"I just had to tell you that I kissed Cam."

"Oh." She felt her blood run cold.

"Don't worry about it, Bones." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "It was like kissing my sister." He grinned wickedly.

Brennan smiled and punched his chest playfully.

Booth grinned down at her as they walked out of the Medico-Legal Lab.

It'll give him a storyline for his fanfics.

Hahaa Hahaa.. Laughing my ass off

Part XIX

They sat across from Sweets. Booth flexed a stress ball. Brennan sat calmly, legs crossed.

"So, how's the case going?"

Brennan rested her chin on her knuckles and looked over at Booth curiously.

"Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan turned her attention to Sweets. "Huh? Me?"

"Yes. How's the case going?"

"I... Uh. It's--It's going well."

"No gory details?"

Brennan sighed, then decided that if Sweets wanted the scoop, then here it was, "The victim was partially dismembered. The kerf marks and particulates in the cuts suggest that the saw was dull and coated with iron oxide, which is probably why the killer stopped dismembering after the leg was removed. Hodgins actually found shards of stainless steel, although you could hardly call it stainless since it was rusted. I suspect from the kerf marks that it was a 15 inch standard 'rip' hand saw with around fourteen points per inch. "

Booth looked surprised at the information. "Murder weapon?" He asked.

Sweets looked between the two curiously. They hadn't been communicating?!

"Twenty-two caliber gunshot wound to the manubrium, which penetrated the aorta and shattered the C7, T1, and T2 vertebrae, which resulted in a very quick death. Particulates on the body also suggest that she was killed somewhere in the treeline where Freedom Park meets the old residential land that the well was on. We should probably go back and search for the killing grounds before it rains again." Sweets seemed astonished at the extended explanation.

"We'll do that tomorrow morning. Do you... want to come?" Booth asked, turning to Bones.

Sweets watched the exchange silently.

"Sure. I'd love to. Thanks for asking."

"Might find the gun, too."

"Yeah."

Sweets sat up a little straighter. "Is it safe to say that there has been a change in the dynamic between you two?"

Booth and Brennan looked his way.

"No." Brennan replied.

"Maybe." Booth looked at Brennan.

"Maybe." She relented.

"Would it have something to do with the other night?"

Brennan's cheeks glowed.

Booth tried to protect Bones by interjecting, "Sweets, seriously. Can't you buy a Playboy? Maybe borrow one from your dad's bottom drawer?"

"It's OK, Booth."

"You sure, Bones?"

She shrugged, then looked at Sweets. "It wasn't Agent Booth's fault. I balked."

"Bones, you're not a balker."

She stood and grabbed her bag. "Yes, I am."

"Bones..."

She looked over at Sweets, then back at Booth. "The other night-- It was scary. And wonderful. But I'm a coward in a lot of ways, Booth."

"No, you're not." Booth stood.

"You deserve somebody who won't run. Who won't fight it. Somebody--Anybody but me."

Before the conversation could continue, Brennan left.

"You should go get her, right?" Sweets asked.

Booth bumped his forehead against the door. "Bones needs her space."

Part XX


Hodgins, Vincent, Cam, and Booth, along with a contingent from FBI forensics walked slowly through Freedom Park the next morning. Brennan had an impromptu meeting with her publishers, so she said.

"This is absolutely perfect," Vincent stated.

"What's perfect?" Booth shouted from several feet away as they walked in a grid-like fashion through the park.

"Despite the rain, the fallen leaves will have protected any blood stains or trace evidence." Vincent continued, "Did you know that bright sunlight is essential for the production of the red (anthocyanin) pigment in the fall leaves?" He received several annoyed glances.

"Although colorful, your tangents make me want to dive head first in that well over there. Let's just stick to what's relevant, shall we?" Cam asked.

"My apologies..."

"Found something!" Hodgins shouted.

The group gathered around Hodgins.

"Let me," Cam interposed. She squatted beside the discolored pile of leaves and pulled on a blue glove. She teased away leaves until the rusted teeth of an old saw came to light. "Bingo, baby."

"Bingo was a--" Vincent began, but he was cut off by a very blood-thirsty look from Hodgins and Booth. "Never mind."

"Get me an evidence bag." Cam spoke up. Booth ran and came back with a bag for her. Cam pulled out a little tube from her jacket, then pulled out a Q-Tip soaked in phenolphthalein. She ran it along the saw, then put it back in the vile. The liquid in the vile immediately turned pink.

"Kastle-Meyer never lies," Vincent said with victory in his voice.

Cam and Hodgins looked up at him.

"Except when it comes to potatoes," Hodgins corrected him.

"You should be happy Dr. Brennan wasn't here to hear that." Cam tipped her head at Vincent.

After careful flagging and photographing, the saw was placed carefully in it while Hodgins collected soil and bloody leaves.

A half an hour later, they were once again walking through the park. Hodgins was walking beside Booth as they walked slowly, shuffling their feet through the leaves as they went.

"How's the situation with you and Dr. B?" Hodgins ventured.

Booth looked over at him, fully intending on not saying a word to the man, but the truth was, after Hodgins and Angela broke up, Booth had finally given in and had a few heart-to-hearts with the guy. And he was growing on him. "Beats me any more."

"Women, right?"

Booth chuckled. "I think she's scared... of us, of what we could be."

"And you. Are you afraid?"

Booth shuffled his feet, uncovering leaves. "Not any more. I mean, I was, but--" A flash of memory, soft skin, lips, the intoxicating scent of her perfume. "I think it's more frightening to think that I could live to be eighty and have never risked it, you know?"

Hodgins thought back on his own dinner with Angela the night before. He and Booth had something in common. They were in love with unreachable women, so it seemed. Maybe unreachable was in the mind of the beholder? "Yeah, I think i know."

"What would you do?"

Hodgins laughed, What did I do, or what should I have done? "Don't let another day go by."

Booth nodded and smiled at Hodgins. "Thanks, man."

"I think I may have found something!" Both men looked up and saw Vincent waving his hands. "I believe it is a pistol, a weapon of some sort. Shall I--?"

"Don't touch it!" They shouted in unison, as Cam, Booth, and Hodgins ran over to him.

As the leaves were cleared away, the dark soil could be seen from beneath. "Woah," Cam whispered. "Looks like we've found the motherload. Blood staining."

Hodgins leaned forward and picked up a dead fly with tweezers. "Musca domestica mature adults. Probably drawn by the blood."

Cam teased away more and more leaves. "Good G-d," she breathed.

"She must've bled out here." Vincent spoke softly.

"Or they dismembered her here." Hodgins said in a low voice.

"Or both," Booth whispered hoarsely.

Cam looked up. Although the sun was behind Booth's face, she could see an indescribable look of horror on his face.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Up Next: Fluff

Part XXI

"Bones!" Booth walked through the Jeffersonian. It was late evening and the lights were being shut off by security. She wasn't in her office, or any other office, but he had a suspicion as to where he could find her.

Deep in thought, Brennan sat with her back to a glass enclosure with a look of quiet consternation on her face. A fleshless human body was inside, posed in the stance of a ballerina, toe pointed, hand in the air. Other bodies in glass sarcophaguses, poised and glowing in a macabre beauty appreciated by few, lined the room.

The Body Worlds VI exhibit was temporarily taking over a portion of the Egyptian exhibit, and late in the evening when nobody was in the Jeffersonian, that is where Brennan often found solace.

Booth turned into the room just as the lights were shut off, making dull clicking sound as one by one the room was drowned in darkness.

"Bones?" Booth walked up with his hands in his pockets, eying his partner as she sat on the floor, ankles crossed directly in front of her.

She looked up at the sound of her nickname. "Hi, Booth." She spoke in a hushed tone, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Booth reached out silently. She took his hand and stood beside him, dusting off her slacks. He didn't say anything, but that was one of those unique things he loved about her. She saw beauty where nobody else saw it. When others would see horror or grotesqueness, she saw beauty and intrigue.

"We've got Lacy Anderson AND Alex Walters in custody."

"Who's Lacy?" Brennan asked.

Their voices echoed in the empty museum.

"See? You'd know that if you weren't avoiding me."

"I'm not avoiding you, Booth."

"You are." He draped his arm around her shoulders as they walked through the Body Worlds exhibit and crossed into the Egyptian portion of the room toward the exit. "How about we forget about the other night?" Booth asked.

She looked up at him, almost surprised. "That would be great," she lied.

"Good." Then after a beat, "Do you wanna have dinner tomorrow night?" He asked.

They turned down a dark corridor between Egyptian relics and recreations.

"Yes. That would be nice."

Booth smiled and rubbed her shoulder. It was nice to have her back in his arms, even if it wasn't the way he would truly want her in his arms.

They turned and walked through the Cleopatra area of the exhibit. The lights were low. Only one large spotlight tried poorly to light up the room.

A loud clank made Booth and Brennan's hearts leap out of their chests. They turned just in time to see shadows move behind a large replica.

"What was that?" Brennan asked in a whisper.

Booth held his breath and reached for his gun. "Just hang back, Bones."

"Give me a gun," Brennan said.

Booth hesitated, then smiled. They were back! He reached for his ankle holster and handed her a gun. "Just don't shoot anyone who isn't asking for it," Booth whispered.

"The security here is deplorable," Brennan whispered back.

"The FBI does its best. Psychos just always seem to slip through the cracks." His whisper sounded angry.

"I wasn't making a insinuations about the FBI's ability to contract out security--"

"Well, that's what it sounded like."

"I think you're being a little sensitive, Booth," she said quietly.

"Shh!" Booth held up his gun. Brennan walked behind him, her gun aimed at the ground.

"Booth."

"What?" He whispered at her.

She held out her LED flashlight.

"Thanks." Booth grabbed the flashlight, but didn't yet turn it on.

They walked slowly past several sculptures, following the sounds as they went.

CLINK!

Whisper.

WOBBLE!

Whisper.

CLINK!

Booth and Brennan turned the last corner. Booth pressed his back against a wall. Brennan did the same. The sounds were louder now. More clinking, rattling, whispering, rustling.

"You'd think they'd be quieter," Brennan noted.

"Shh. On three."

Brennan nodded.

"One..."

"One."

"Two..."

"Two," she repeated.

"Three!" Booth and Brennan jumped out from behind the wall. Booth aimed his gun and pointed the flashlight in the direction of the noises. Brennan aimed, too, until her eyes adjusted to what the light was shining on.

"Aaaah!" Angela screamed and quickly pulled the covers over her bare behind. Hodgins tried to cover his bare parts with Angela.

Booth put his left hand to his eyes and calmly holstered his weapon with a sigh.

Brennan just stared at them, wide-eyed, gun to the ground.

"Sweetie, could you at least pretend to cover your eyes?" Angela asked as she rolled from being on top of Hodgins to laying beside him, blankets pulled up to her chin.

"I'm sorry, Angela. I'm just--"

"Shocked." Booth finished, taking his hands from his eyes.

"Yes, shocked."

"Well, you shouldn't be." Angela said.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Brennan asked as she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Bones!"

"What?" She asked, looking up.

"Do you--Have to sit there?"

"There are no other places to sit, though," Brennan said, thoroughly confused.

Booth reached down and pulled Brennan to a stand beside him.

"You two got us thinking." Angela said.

"We did?" Booth asked, trying to keep his eyes on their faces.

"Yeah, dude. You were talking about if I was in your situation--" Hodgins replied. Brennan looked at Booth then quickly back to Hodgins. "I decided I should take my own advice."

Angela turned so her body was partially on top of Hodgins', then replied while looking into Jack's eyes, "And Bren was asking about love and second chances." She kissed him sweetly. Brennan and Booth looked fleetingly into one another's eyes. "And I realized that I'm still in love with you, Jack Hodgins." She kissed him passionately, their mouths wide as they could possibly be.

Angela began to moan with pleasure.

Booth and Brennan's eyes widened.

Hodgins smiled and pulled the blankets over her head. The blanket began moving. The two beneath the blanket began giggling and kissing.

"I think we should go," Booth smiled.

The two walked out of the exhibit without another word, both wondering why the other person had asked such questions of their friends. Both wondering what was going on in each others' minds.

Hehee... Angela and Hodgie I thought, that would be them Hahaa...
I can't wait for more

LOL who else?

Part XXII

The next afternoon, the elusive Lacy Anderson sat in FBI Interrogation Room #1, flicking her ankle to an imaginary beat and chewing gum. Her once purple hair was now hot pink, the dog collar she had chosen matched her hair and lipstick to a T.

Brennan watched from the side room as Booth and Sweets interrogated her. Booth slid a small evidence bag containing a little green plastic stone across the table. She shook her head coolly, then blew a bubble, sucked it in, and chewed it noisily.

"This look familiar to you?"

"No." She stared at him with a cold glare.

"And the gun?" He slid a photograph over to her.

"Found it in a garbage can."

"Why are you being so cooperative?" Booth asked, narrowing his glare at the young woman across the table.

That was when her steely look weakened, she looked down at the table and tapped her magenta nails calmly. "I'm sick."

"Flu?" Booth asked, knowing full well that it was far from the flu.

"You don't get the flu from turning tricks." She began chewing gum on the other side of her cheek. "Got no money. Got no insurance." She drew in a shaking breath through her teeth, then ran her fingers through her greasy hair which hung from her scalp like pink yarn. "Do you know what I had to eat today?"

Booth didn't reply.

"Oreos and Pepsi. Ain't no diet for a sick girl."

"Did you shoot Samantha Peters?"

Lacy was silent for several seconds before finally answering. "I didn't pull the trigger, no."

"You had an accomplice?"

"Yeah, if that the word you 5-O's use."

"Who pulled the trigger?"

"Alex."

"Why?" Booth asked.

Sweets got up and left the interrogation room. He entered the side room where Brennan was and listened to the interrogation.

Lacy's eyes, which were traced in heavy black eyeliner, followed Sweets out the door.

"Why, Miss Anderson?" Booth repeated, drawing her attention back to the interrogation.

Lacy looked Booth straight in the eye. "I was in love with Sam. And I thought she loved me. Til I found out that she was with Alex." She laughed humorously. "That wasn't what you expected, was it?"

"My job's full of surprises, Miss Anderson. What happened?"

"Alex was just as pissed as I was, findin' out that Sam was with both of us." She laughed again. "I got the gun. She found the saw--Piece of crap. Alex was in the trunk when we drove out to the park. Then I let her out and we jumped her. Shot her. She had it coming." Lacy shrugged and looked Booth straight in the eye.

"Sociopath," Sweets gestured at Lacy through the glass. "She shows no remorse."

Brennan looked at Sweets curiously.

"What?" He asked.

"She loved Samantha Peters. Do sociopaths love?"

Sweets shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Sociopaths show no remorse. They show a lack of moral responsibility and social conscience. Being a sociopath doesn't mean you can't love someone. The issue lies in the fact that the two can't cohabit; love and sociopathy. For one to love and be loved, they must also have a sense of--"

"Guilt?"

"Yes, guilt. Remorse, responsibility. All of that. Love's give and take, Dr. Brennan. If you make a mistake, then you say you're sorry and vice versa. You don't just shoot someone and disarticulate them."

Brennan sighed and looked at the glass, then back at Sweets. "I'm not a sociopath."

Sweets chuckled. "I know, Dr. Brennan. I totally didn't mean you. I meant Lacy Anderson."

Brennan's face grew very serious, she looked at the green light, knowing Booth was listening as he finished closing his interview.

On the other side of the glass, Brennan looked at Booth, "Booth."

He touched his ear-bud, and looked in the direction of the glass, only seeing his own reflection, but hearing his partner's beautiful and familiar voice.

"I'm sorry."

Despite having the two-way glass between them, he seemed to be looking directly into her eyes.

"I really am sorry. I'm sorry for hurting you, for running, for--everything."

"Don't be." Booth said aloud.

"What?" Lacy looked up.

"Nothing."

"That's all I know." Lacy folded her hands and sat back. "Do I get some sort of, like, deal for confessing and everything?"

"Nooo." Booth said sardonically, then stood and pushed in his chair, glad that the interview was over.

He left the room calmly. Brennan left the room and met Booth in the hallway. Sweets didn't follow Brennan, but he could hear the whole exchange from the side room thanks to the ear-buds.

They stood for a fraction of a second with less than two feet between them. Then Booth closed the distance and pulled Brennan into a hug, lifting her heels off the floor. Several coworkers walked past, trying to keep their eyes off from them. That hug was not a 'guy hug' in any aspect. Booth ran his hands through her hair and kissed her temple. She pressed her face against his neck. "I'm sorry, Booth."

"Don't be, Bones."

"But, I should be."

"It's in the past."

"No. It's not."

"It's yesterday."

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. He read the pain, the sadness. The pain in her eyes made his chest ache even more. He kissed her forehead and pulled her close again.

Caroline Julian walked down the hall, stopping short at the sight of Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth standing outside of the interrogation room, hugging as partners never do. "Hmph. Just partners my Creole ass." Then she smiled and watched on as other agents walking through stopped short and watched the two as they held each other in the middle of the hallway.

A couple of men stopped, one spoke to the other triumphantly, "You owe me, man."

"They're just hugging." The shorter man said to the other.

"That's no guy hug, Dave. Do I hug you like that?" The two men looked back at Booth and Brennan just in time to see Booth kiss her temple once again.

Dave rolled his eyes and groaned, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty, slapping it into his partner's hand.

Part XXIII

They held one another for a few seconds longer.

"Booth," Brennan muttered, then released her grasp.

"What?"

"The stone."

"What stone?"

"Well, technically it isn't a stone, it's made of plastic." Booth gave her a bewildered look and dropped his arms. The crowd that stood around them slowly dispersed as it became less interesting.

Booth followed Brennan as she walked briskly to Interrogation Room #2 down the hall.

Brennan paused in front of the door. "I thought Cam told you about the stone Hodgins found." She had a look of sarcastic annoyance painted on her face.

Booth tipped his head to the side and placed his hands on his hips, revealing his 'cocky' belt buckle. "First of all, I know about the stone, Bones. You just threw me for a loop. And secondly, it was drinks. I just had one too many."

"It was like kissing your sister?" Brennan crossed her arms over her chest and raised both eyebrows incredulously.

Booth reached for the door handle and leaned very close to Brennan and grinned flirtatiously. "Not in the same way you meant it."

Brennan straightened and they both entered the interrogation room.

Alex Walters sat behind the table. Once again, she was playing with her trail mix. The little charm bracelet dangled from her wrist.

Booth paused in front of the door and faced Brennan. A second of unspoken communication danced between them.

The bracelet? Booth seemed to ask.

Yes. Of course. This is why I'm the genius and you're the cop.

If you weren't avoiding me all week, this case would have been solved days ago. Booth smiled victoriously.

Brennan and Booth approached their seats, poker faces on.

Booth took the evidence bag containing the tiny stone from his pocket and laid it in front of Alex.

Alex eyed it. A flash of terror. Then calmness.

"Does this look familiar to you?" Brennan asked, interrogation mode switched to the 'on' position.

Alex shook her head. "Nope."

Booth looked over at his partner. He was glad to have her beside him once again. He looked at Alex. "That's a nice bracelet you have there," Booth said.

Alex hid her hands beneath the table. "Thanks."

"Where did you get it?" Brennan asked.

"It was a gift."

"From Samantha Peters?"

Alex paled and looked between the two. "No. My m-mother gave it to me."

"That's interesting. Let's just cut to the chase, because we can tie you to the crime scene," Booth tapped the plastic baggie. "And we have a confession from your friend Lacy that you and she conspired to kill Samantha Peters."

Brennan leaned in and in a low voice, "You and she took Samantha out to Freedom Park. It was a dry night. You were in the trunk. Then you jumped out and you shot her point-blank in the chest. She just fell to the ground. She was dead within seconds."

"And then you and Lacy tried to cut her up, but it didn't work."

"Rusty saw," Brennan added.

"So you dumped her in the well," Booth said in a low, menacing tone.

Alex looked between the two with her large almond eyes. Tears swelled in her eyes, then retreated down her cheeks. "She betrayed me. You don't understand! I gave her my heart and she tore it out and stomped on it!" Sobbing, she brought her wrists above the table and unclasped the bracelet, laying it on the table in front of her. "She gave me that. How ironic, huh? She betrayed me twice. The first time with Lacy. Then the second time with the very bracelet she bought me." Alex hid her face in her hands and continued to cry.

Booth and Brennan looked at one another, then down at the bracelet. The charms lay splayed over the tabletop. The little Tinkerbell charm was missing a single green stone from one of its wings.

Haha.. You never stop amaze me. Really. It is like watching bones

I always like stories with some case in it too.....not too much though, I love my fluffy moments way too much.
This case was really interesting.
I would have never thought about that.....I knew that the bracelet was important because you metioned it before, but I couldn't find out why......

Angela and Hodgins back together is nice.
And it's looking good for Brennan and Booth too.

Can't wait for more!