Topic: Bones Role Play--let the fun begin!

"Yes, ok," she conceded. "Your 'gut' has been useful on some occasions. And still, if it wasn't for the science and my analyzing everything, we wouldn't have gotten so many convictions, would we?" she asked him, tilting her head and smiling smugly.

Booth was feeling generous in view of her admission that his 'gut' had been a factor in solving cases--even though it was rather lukewarm. "True. I guess that's why we make such a great team. Between your brains and my superior instincts, those slimeballs don't stand a chance," he said with a grin.

"Well," she said with a grin, "I can't very well argue with it since it's true. We do make a pretty good team and the 'slimeballs' don't have a chance." She then turned back to the windshield and saw that they were leaving 395. They'd be at their destination in minutes, so she picked up her kit to double check she had everything she needed.

Parking in front of one of the dilapidated houses on the block, Booth put the SUV into park and got out. Four units were parked in the yard and there was a small crowd of civilians gathered on the sidewalk. Coming around the vehicle, he headed for the front door. Agent Phillips met him halfway.

"Hey, Booth. What took you so long?" Phillips asked.

Booth flashed his badge at the officer manning the crime scene barrier. "Oh, you know, I had to go pick up my partner from the Jeffersonian." He broke off and looked around for Brennan.

Brennan walked up to where Booth and the other agent where greeting one another. With a small, impersonal smile, she held out her hand. "Hello, I'm Dr. Brennan."

She shot a look at Booth as if to say 'see, I can be sociable', before turning back to the other agent and asking, "Where's the body?"

"A pleasure, Dr. Brennan," he said taking her hand and then with a grin at her . . . enthusiam, he added. "The body is right this way. If you'd follow me." His moment of levity, however, was short lived as he quickly remembered what they were there for.

Booth stood aside to let Bones go before him. He wasn't really anxious to see whatever was waiting for them inside anyway.

Brennan took a deep breath and stepped inside the house. She wasn't looking forward to the next few minutes, identifying kids was never easy for her. And knowing how much it affected Booth, only made it harder.

After taking a deep breath, she said, "Ok, let's do this."

The house was a complete shambles, unsurprisingly. There were gaping holes in the walls and the tiles that were still there were discolored and cracked. Following Phillips and Bones, Booth concentrated on breathing through his mouth as a self-defense mechanism against the sour, musty air. The kitchen was at the back of the house through a small archway. The smell here was a stomach-turning combination of sour milk and decaying food. Booth went to stand off to one side, out of the way.

Brennan stepped into the kitchen and flinched at the smell that assaulted her like a slap on the face before she regained her usual impassive mask. Taking shallow breaths through her mouth, to avoid smelling the decaying odor as much as possible, she knelt in front of the cabinet where the child had been stuffed in.

"Male," she announced after a few moments of study. "About 7 years of age."

Booth pulled out a pen and notepad. "How long do you think he's been dead?" he asked, keeping his voice even by force of will.

"At least six months," Brennan answered, as she tilted her head to better study the remains. "But it is impossible to be accurate without more tests. Hodgins will be able to be more precise after he's gone through the insects." She then stood up, with a sigh, and turned to look at Booth. "Let's take the body back to the Jeffersonian. There's not much more I can do here."

Booth frowned. "That was quick. Don't you need to...you know, examine the position of the body and gather particulates and what-not?"

"Yes, Booth," she answered, looking at him incredulously, "that's what the forensic team is here for." She turned and motioned the FBI team forward, though that was usually Booth's job, it seemed to Brennan that he was a bit distracted at the moment. "As to the body's position, the child was placed in the cabinet to hide him. Whether it happened before or after he died, I need to run more tests and I need the results of Hodgins' tests before I can make that determination."

"Okay, sorry," Booth said. Sheesh, she was touchy. "Hey, Phillips, anybody interview the guy who found the body?"

Phillips pulled his fascinated gaze away from the remains. "Uh, yeah, he says he was following routine, checking all the rooms to make sure they were empty before the demolition began. That's when he opened the cabinet and found...that. That's all I got."

Booth scribbled a note to himself. "I need your report as soon as you can get it to me." Putting the pad and pen away, he put his hands on his hips and looked around the dingy room. "I wonder who put him here," he wondered aloud.

She shrugged in response as she continued to observed the FBI forensic team carefully remove and store the remains. A few moments later, she turned and with a serious expression, said, "Well, Booth, I'd expect that whoever is responsible for the child's death is also the person that put him there. It's the most logical explanation."

"I agree. So, are you done here?"

"Yes, I am," she answered with a frown. "Didn't I just say so?" She asked, confused. She was sure she had just said there was nothing else she could do here. With a shake of her head, she turned around and left the kitchen; someone wasn't paying attention and she knew it wasn't her.

"So-o-o-ry! Just making sure. I've never seen you process a scene so fast." Booth turned to Phillips. "Squints...about the touchiest people you'll ever meet. You run a history of the ownership on this house?"

Phillips looked embarrassed on Brennan's behalf. "Uh, yeah. Last ones to live here was a family, Jamison. They were renting. They vacated over a year ago, so they probably don't know anything. Absentee landlord, lives in upstate New York, gave up trying to rent the place out shortly after that."

Booth sighed and shook his head. "Shit, sounds like a whole lotta nothin'. I sure hope the squints come up with something. Thanks, Pete." He looked at Brennan. "Let's go." With that he turned and walked to the door, waiting for her as patiently as he could.

Brennan just shook her head and walked towards the SUV. He thought squints were touchy? Apparentlly, he hadn't taken the time to notice how touchy FBI agents could be.

Booth got in and started up the SUV, glancing over at his partner. She seemed to be irritated with him, but he couldn't fathom the reason. Whatever, they needed to get past it so they could work the case together. "Look, Bones, cut me slack, okay? This is gonna be a tough case. And I'll--cut you some slack too. Deal?" he asked with a cocked smile.

Brennan closed the door to the SUV and turned to look at her partner, she cocked her head and studied him. That smile of his always got to her, and maybe, she had been somewhat harder than she had meant to be. "Some slack, huh?" she said thoughtfully, as if she had to think about it for a minute. "That sounds like a good idea. It is going to be a tough case and we don't need to make it harder.

The remains arrived at the lab right behind Booth and Brennan. Booth stood for a moment watching the squints going about their business, feeling a bit useless.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it," he said to nobody in particular. "Call me when you've got something, okay?"

Hodgins smirked upon hearing Booth's voice. Praise be, he thought silently, secure in the knowledge that there was a new case to tackle. Busy work provided to him by the museum wasn't exactly his cup of tea.

Zach squinted so he could examine the body further. He tried to gather all the information he could get so that he could find the murder weapon.

"Dr. Brennan, look at this. There are multiple fractures to his lower rib cage indicating that the murder weapon is something sharp and irregular. Do you concur?" Zach said to Brennan.