525600 moments chapter 16
Sorry for the delay in posting this. And I have another bad message. It's not 100% yet because you never know when my obsession will get the better of me again, but there will most likely be a short hiatus. I have the most important exams of my life coming up in July and the safety package of chapters I had wanted to write before I have to start learning didn't happen, because I've been sick for the last 2 weeks and wasn't able to sit for longer than a few minutes. The rest of my time I spent standing or lying down- only way I wasn't screaming in pain. Antibiotics did work though, so I'm feeling better. Hope you are all well.
Thanks to Gianna for betaing!
Chapter 16: Sleepless and page 187
8:15pm
"Uncle Hodgins!" Tallulah yelled happily when Jack trudged into the dining room.
"Hello Lullah," he managed a smile for the girl's sake. When he sat down on his chair he picked her up and put her in his lap.
"You're still sick?" her sister asked and eyed him questioningly.
"My head still hurts. I had a little accident today at work and hurt my head," he told them.
"Then we'll be extra quiet," the smaller girl vowed.
"That's really nice of you," he smiled at her and let her climb off his lap. "When can I take some pain meds again?" he turned to Cam.
"That bad?" she asked him sympathetically.
"I feel like my head was run over by a truck- repeatedly," he confirmed.
"Eat something first, then you can lie back down and take another pill," she decided.
"I could take the pill and stay up to help you," he offered and motioned with his chin in the direction of the girls.
"We've got it covered Dr. H.," Michelle replied for Cam while she served the homemade mac and cheese.
10:38pm
"But I wanna sleep in your bed again," Tallulah cried, while Cam covered her with a blanket and then sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Not tonight, honey. Hodgins is not feeling well and he needs to sleep. If you go in now he'll wake up," Cam explained for the thousandth time.
"I can't sleep here, it's scary," the girl sobbed, her cries mixing with those of her sisters'.
"I will stay here with you until you're asleep, ok? I'm right here," Cam tried to console her and lay down next to her on the bed. Her niece snuggled up to her and clung to her, so she rolled on her back and held the girl against her, slowly rubbing over her back.
"I'm scared too," Tanesha cried and tried to get closer to Cam as well. Cam hugged her closer with her right arm, while she held the younger child with her left.
"Everything ok here?" Michelle asked when she stuck her head through the door.
"They're scared," Cam replied, her patience already wearing thin as she internally cursed her brother for this and felt sorry for the kids.
"Come here, Nesha, I'll protect you," Michelle said and Cam shot her a grateful look and a small smile, when she got into bed as well, and held the older girl the same way Cam held her younger sister as they lulled them to sleep.
1:23am
"Jack? Jack?" Cam asked as she stumbled out of bed. His side was empty and light fell into the bedroom from the bathroom door, which was ajar. She followed the light and found him hunched over the toilet, throwing up. Without saying anything she took a towel from the rack, wet it with cold water and placed it carefully on his neck. While he kept retching she sat down on the edge of the bathtub and handed him toilet paper when he was finally done. While he wiped his mouth and slowly stood up she filled a glass with water and mouth wash and held it out to him. He rinsed his mouth with it and sighed deeply.
"My head is killing me," he admitted through closed his eyes and pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose.
"Can you follow my finger with your eyes?" Cam requested and observed his eye movements while she moved her finger slowly in front of his face.
"And?" he asked when she was done.
"Still works. Are you seeing double? Are you dizzy? Anything else besides the headache and nausea?" she asked him and stroked over his hair when he hugged her and tiredly let his head drop on her shoulder.
"Light hurts," he admitted.
"Then let's go back to bed, you need rest," she advised and led him back to the dark bedroom.
"Now everything is spinning and I'm feeling sick again," he admitted once he'd lie down.
"Stay in bed, I'll be right back," she told him and hurried out of the bedroom and down the stairs. In the kitchen she found a bucket and an ice-pack in the freezer. She took both and hurried back upstairs.
"The bucket is right next to the bed," she informed him and went into the bathroom to get a hand towel that she wrapped once around the ice pack. "Can you lie on your back?" she asked him and placed the ice on his forehead once he did.
"Feels good," he mumbled.
"Sleep. I'm right here," she told him softly and crawled back into bed herself. She knew she had to wake him again in two hours, if he didn't wake again on his own.
3:08am
"I can't sleep," Tanesha sobbed heartbreakingly next to Cam's bed as she shook her aunt lightly.
"Shhh, honey, come here," Cam mumbled tiredly, worried the girl would wake Hodgins, who had just fallen asleep again after throwing up for the third time that night. She picked her up, then got up herself and walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway. She slid down, leaning against the wall and kept her niece in her arms. "Did you have a nightmare?" she asked her.
"A monster with a laser gun wanted to kill me," the girl nodded.
"Sweetie, that can't happen in here," Cam told her. "You know why?"
"Why?" the girls sniffed.
"Because Hodgins has so many video cameras and alarms in this house, that the monster wouldn't even get past the gate," she assured her.
"But it can fly and landed on the roof," her niece added.
"No one gets into this house, not even a flying monster," Cam nodded. "You want me to tell you a secret?" she whispered conspiratorially.
"What?" Tanesha whispered back and finally stopped crying.
"Your Uncle Hodgins is a bit crazy. He believes in all kinds of monsters and aliens," Cam started.
"Even flying ones with laser guns?"
"Even flying ones with laser guns. That's why he has all kinds of expensive and crazy defense systems in this house, in the garden and on the roof. Do you know Batman's Batcave?"
"Yeah," her niece nodded.
"That's how safe and secret this house is. No monster can get you here," Cam assured her again. "Okay?"
"'Kay," Tanesha agreed and lay her cheek against Cam's shoulder and closed her eyes. Slowly Cam rocked from side to side in the dark hallway and when the breathing of the child became deep and even she got up and placed her back in bed, before she went back to her own bed.
4:42am
Again Cam was awoken from her slumber by a hand on her shoulder shaking her.
"Mmmh," she groaned, not even bothering to open her eyes.
"Aunt Cami, I'm not tired anymore. Is it morning yet?" Tallulah asked her in a loud whisper.
"No, it's still the middle of the night," Cam replied, still with closed eyes.
"But I can't sleep anymore," the girl insisted. Cam thought about getting up and taking her back to her own bed, but then decided against it. Instead she just shifted closer to the middle of the bed and lifted her blanket up.
"Get in, honey," she whispered and covered the girl with the blanket once she was lying snuggled up with her back against Cam's front. She tensed when she felt Hodgins rolling onto his side behind her, thinking he would get up again to throw up, but then she felt his arm sneaking up over her waist and hugging her to him. With a small smile she drifted off once again.
5:56am
She was so tired that she had a headache by now, but still she crawled out of bed when the doorbell rang through the house again, knowing it would be her brother picking up the girls.
"Sorry, I was in the bathroom," Michelle said when they met on the stairs and Cam was still struggling to get her arms into the sleeves of her bath robe.
"Can you get me some coffee? I'll need fuel after I'll have killed Matt," Cam mumbled and walked to the intercom by the door and pressed the button to open the main gate so her brother could drive in.
"Sure," Michelle smiled and walked into the kitchen. Cam leaned with closed eyes against the wall until there was a knock on the door. When she opened she came face to face with her father, not her brother.
"Dad," she said both surprised and tired at the same time.
"Morning Cami," he replied and sounded just as tired as she did. She knew he had driven all the way up to New York last evening and then back down the same night so he could get the kids.
"Come in," she told him. "You want some coffee?" she asked, having heard the coffee machine in Hodgins kitchen roaring to life.
"I could really use a cup, yeah," her father nodded gratefully and followed her into the kitchen. "Morning, Michelle," he smiled at the teen who served him a coffee without asking and placed another cup underneath the machine and pressed the button once again for Cam.
"Morning," she smiled and then prepared her own breakfast, knowing there was no way that their usual breakfast routine would sustain that day.
"The girls are still asleep?" Mr. Saroyan asked after they had all sipped their coffee in silence for a while.
"Yeah, they were up during the night. Lullah is now lying in my bed, while Nesha is back in her own," Cam reported.
"Was it one of the girls throwing up around three this morning when I went to the bathroom?" Michelle asked.
"No, that was Jack. He was throwing up all night, the last time about half an hour ago," Cam shook her head.
"Oh boy, night from hell I guess," Michelle commented.
"You can say that again. I haven't slept longer than half an hour at any point during the night," Cam nodded and lay her head on her arms on the kitchen counter.
"I went to your brother last night," her father started reporting and Cam knew that it wouldn't be a happy story. "Took Jo with me, just in case. He was on duty anyway. Whole flat smelled like a cheap brothel with alcohol and pot. Matt was both drunk and high, so you weren't too far off. Kendra had locked the boys into their room so they wouldn't disturb them. She was trying to keep your brother out of trouble when he started picking fights with the 'guests' in his house."
"Am I even allowed to hear this?" Michelle sighed.
"I think you should hear this, so you won't get tempted to try certain things," Cam nodded and sat up again.
"Tell me the rest later, I have to leave now," Michelle said and grabbed the sandwich she had made herself.
"Drive safe, honey," Cam replied. Michelle kissed her cheek and was off. "Did you bury everything again?" she asked her dad then, once they were alone.
"No, not this time. Jo took Matt in so he couldn't hurt himself or the others; he also called for backup to arrest the others. He will be charged this time for the drugs," her father said sadly.
"I'm sorry Dad, but he can't go on like this. He has four kids, he has responsibilities," she told him.
"I know. He will go straight to prison; he's still out on probation."
"And Kendra?"
"She was clean this time, so she'll stay with the kids," he shrugged.
"That's something, at least," Cam sighed. "You want me to wake the girls?" she asked him then.
"Yeah, I should get them home before it occurs to Matt or his wife that they might be better off with you and Hodgins," he grinned.
"I couldn't take them, Dad. We both work all day," she held up her hands.
"And still I know that if it was really necessary you wouldn't think twice about taking them in," he smiled.
"Jack would be cured for all eternity from the thought of his own kids," Cam laughed and wrapped her bathrobe around herself again. "You're coming up with me so we can grab their stuff?" she asked him then.
"Sure," he shrugged and followed her upstairs. "Really nice house," he complimented when they reached the first guestroom.
"I know. Michelle and I will move in soon when we find the time," she admitted.
"Tell me when you'll need help," her father offered.
"And let an old man carry our stuff? No way, Dad," she grinned and opened the door to the room where Tanesha was sleeping. "Baby, come on, wake up. Grandpa is here to get you home," Cam said quietly and pulled the blanket away from her niece. The girl only groaned and rolled to her side.
"Hand her over, I'll carry her. You take Lullah and we can put them in the car seats and then get their stuff," her father decided. Carefully Cam took her niece out of bed and handed her to her father. In the semi darkness she packed the clothes of the two girls and went into the bathroom to get their toothbrushes.
"Sleep, princess. I'll get you two home," Mr. Saroyan cooed at the child when she stirred in his arms. He followed Cam to the main bedroom, but stayed outside in the lit hallway and watched his daughter as she picked up the smaller girl and quickly checked on her guy, before she walked back out and quietly closed the door behind her.
"Ready?" Cam asked him and followed him back downstairs. They stepped out into the cold and buckled the girls into the car seats in the back of Mr. Saroyan's car. Cam hurried back inside to get the backpacks.
"I really want to bail him out again for his kids," her father admitted when he had closed the backdoor.
"You shouldn't bail him out because of the kids. He'll never learn, Dad," she told him and hugged him shortly.
"Your mother always said the same thing," he admitted and got into his car.
"Take care Dad and keep me updated," she said.
"I will. Oh, and by the way... your sister is plotting to visit you here next week. Just thought I should warn you," he winked at her.
"If I see one more Saroyan within the next 6 months, I will kill myself," she replied darkly and her father only laughed.
"Bye honey."
"Bye Dad."
Once her father was gone and Cam back inside, she heard Hodgins throwing up again upstairs and grabbed the phone. After a quick call to the Jeffersonian, telling them that they wouldn't be in that day- at least not until the afternoon- she quickly changed and drove to the nearest pharmacy where she got him something to help the nausea. When Jack fell asleep again she kicked off her shoes, fell into bed and finally slept.
The next day was a Saturday and both Hodgins and Cam were surprised when the doorbell rang. They were lying in bed watching old movies, since Jack still had a headache.
"I'll go," Cam said and slowly sat up.
"Michelle forgot her key?" he asked.
"She said she was going shopping. Impossible that she'd be back after an hour," Cam shook her head and left the bedroom. Downstairs she switched on the monitor and was surprised to see Angela's car in front of the gate. She pressed the button to let her in and checked her appearance in the mirror while she waited for her to arrive in front of the house. She was wearing old jeans, a simple black shirt, her hair was wrapped in a pony tail and her feet naked. Beside rouge and lip-gloss she had no makeup on and she knew that she would feel like an ugly duckling beside Angela.
"Oh, you're here... hi Cam," Angela greeted her when she got out of the car and saw that her boss was already leaning in the open doorway.
"Hi Angela," she replied and although she was curious she bit back the question of what she was doing there.
"I was just in the area and I know, I should have called, but it was kind of a spur of the moment thing... I just wanted to see how Hodgins is doing," the artist rambled as they stood in the entry way and Cam just looked at her questioningly.
"He's lying around in bed, watching old black and white movies, basking in being wounded," Cam grinned.
"I got worried when you two didn't come in yesterday," Angela told her and took off her jacket.
"You want something to drink?" Cam asked her and led her to the kitchen. "Coffee? Tea? Soda?"
"Coffee sounds good," Angela nodded. Cam switched on the coffee machine and while it heated up she went to the intercom beside the fridge and called the bedroom upstairs. In the bedrooms the intercom was connected to the telephones and not to speakers like in all the other rooms, which prevented someone from eavesdropping without the knowledge of those who occupied the room.
"Cam?" his voice came through the speaker when he picked up.
"Angela is here to check on you," she told him.
"Meaning I have to get up and come down?" he asked unenthusiastically.
"It won't hurt you," she told him and ended the connection, rolling her eyes. "Men," she said to Angela. "First he plays ninja, then hurts himself and now he's acting like he's dying."
"While we were together he had the flu one time and by the sounds he made I thought he'd stop breathing any moment," Angela laughed knowingly.
"He was throwing up the whole night and I got worried that maybe he had really injured himself," Cam said, placed a cup underneath the coffee machine and pressed the button.
"He's got a hard head," her colleague grinned.
"Obviously," Cam nodded.
"Hey, you. You should show some sympathy when you visit a sick person and not gossip behind his back," Hodgins complained when he walked in, dressed in grey jogging pants and a green shirt.
"We weren't gossiping. Just comparing notes," Angela teased him.
"That's even scarier," he replied and sat down beside her. "Did you call your Dad again?" he turned to his girlfriend.
"No, not yet. He said he'd call, so I guess he will," she replied in the negative. "My brother dropped off my two nieces without any forewarning Thursday night. So on top of having a sick Hodgins I had two kids around who kept waking up," Cam explained for Angela when the artist looked intrigued from one to the other.
"Oh, nice. At least that's something I don't have to worry about with only my dad around," the artist replied.
"The younger one, Talullah, she says she wants to marry me," Hodgins told her laughingly.
"You like that, don't you?" Cam grinned and brought Angela's coffee over.
"Of course. It's good for my ego," he laughed and pulled her closer by the waist, so she was standing in between his legs.
"Yeah, because that needs a boost," came her sarcastic reply.
"Don't tease me, I'm still sick," he said for lack of a better comeback and kissed her tenderly.
"Be careful that we don't bump heads," she said softly when he pulled back and stroked over his forehead.
"So, do you have any other plans for the weekend?" Angela asked and looked up from the cup into which she had been staring while the two had teased each other.
"Not really. Tonight I will cook my two ladies an amazing feast as a thank you for their TLC these past couple days and tomorrow... don't know," Hodgins shrugged and looked at Cam while he said the first part, watching the surprise and then the smile on her face.
"Wendell and I wanted to meet some friends tomorrow evening. If you want to come," she suggested.
"I think I'd rather stay home," Hodgins decided and again pulled Cam closer to him.
"I think I'll call Brennan later and ask her to come along as well," Angela tried to tempt them into coming.
"I think after all the Saroyans I saw the last few weeks I need some peace and quiet," Came declined as well.
"Ok, then I better get going. I have an appointment with another artist in an hour," Angela said then and got up. Both Hodgins and Cam followed her to the door and said goodbye.
"If she has an appointment in an hour why didn't she just call and ask how you were?" Cam wondered once they had closed the door.
"Are you really trying to understand Angela?" he asked and led her back to the stairs.
"No, I just... ok, just forget it," she shook her head but still seemed uncertain.
"No, what did you want to say?" he prodded as they reached the top of the stairs.
"I'm just being crazy and maybe a bit jealous," she avoided answering and walked into their bedroom where the movie was still playing.
"Camille Saroyan, spit it out!" he said and stopped her from getting onto the bed by wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
"I just had the feeling that she had been hoping that I wouldn't be here," she admitted.
"She's with Wendell. I'm with you," he pointed out.
"I know. Maybe I'm wrong, it's just... a feeling," she shrugged and they both lay back down on the bed and resumed watching their movie.
A few days later both Hodgins and Cam were back to work and they had a new case. A dead man had been found in a subway tunnel and had been washed up when a water pipe had burst during an earthquake.
While Cam was working outside on the platform with Brennan, Hodgins was still not at the lab, because he had an appointment at the garage for an inspection. He had left before her that morning and was due back at any moment.
While he was still absent Brennan had brought another guest to the lab, a Japanese reporter who was researching an article about Brennan and her book. And then even Sweets stopped by, still clearly shaken by watching this young man die earlier that morning.
"Lance? What are you doing here?" Daisy asked her boyfriend.
"I came to offer my-my services. Earthquakes can cause psychological trauma," he replied.
"Yes, for you, baby. What you've been through..." Daisy started sympathetically.
"I'm fine, Daisy," he assured her.
"Sweets, you saw somebody die," Cam said more firmly.
"I know my Lancelot. You needed to see me, didn't you?" Daisy cooed and Cam thought she'd gag.
"No, I'm just trying to do my job," he at least didn't jump on the ship.
"Oh," came the dejected reply.
"Booth told you to go home. He knows about things like this, Sweets," Brennan intervened as well.
"We'll call if we need you, I promise. We'll have Hodgins drive you home," Cam told him, knowing that he should arrive any second. Without another word Sweets walked off.
"Bye, Lancelot," Daisy called, but he just waved.
"Note the victim's clavicle," Brennan turned their attention back to work related things.
"It's dented," Cam noticed.
"And blue," Daisy added.
"There's also a blue nick on the C-7," Brennan observed.
"Something blue pierced his clavicle and went through to the back of his neck. That would have sliced through the carotid artery," Cam pointed out.
"Ms. Wick, take molds of the clavicle for a possible weapon and swab the blue pigment for Hodgins," Brennan instructed her intern.
"I'll go and see if he's here now, so he can drive Sweets home and then start working," Cam told the other two and left for Hodgins office.
When Hodgins got back from driving Sweets home he analyzed the blue substance and then hurried out to inform his colleagues.
"I identified the blue substance on his bones as a polymer: paint or rubber, maybe dye. That's why I'd like to go searching for rat poop," he told Cam, Brennan and Daisy excitedly.
"Of course you'd like that," Cam remarked dryly with a grin.
"Yes, the victim was eaten by rats in the subway tunnels," Brennan supported his idea, although not as excitedly.
"Rat excrement will contain not only inorganic clues but digested remains from the victim. That could give us time of death, too," Daisy waved around her knowledge and Cam once again felt the urge to slap or strangle her. Oh, if only she could...
"Go for it," she finally decided to let Hodgins have some fun in a tunnel with rats.
"Well, I'll need some help," he replied and looked at her. Cam pointed to Daisy without thinking and grinned upon the thought of having her out of the lab all day. "You seem to know your poop," she told Daisy, who seemed to take that as a compliment.
"Hey, do you know where I placed my copy of Brennan's new book?" Hodgins asked Cam once he was back that afternoon.
"Uhm, I think it must still be in your bag. As far as I know you didn't take it out. Why? You've got nothing to do?" she asked in full boss mode.
"No, Dr. Saroyan, I just haven't had a break yet and I thought I could read some more. Daisy told me that page 187 is especially interesting," he grinned cockily.
"Brennan wrote a sex scene in her book?" Cam asked surprised and finally really looked up from her computer screen.
"Oh, now you're interested," he laughed.
"You know I like my 'sex books' as you call them. A little bit of romance can't hurt," she grinned sheepishly.
"Who knows, maybe I'll learn something on page 187 and we'll both profit from me reading crime novels. Your sex books sure haven't given us any new ideas so far," he teased her.
"As if you need any more ideas," she snorted and then laughed and blushed, remembering some of their steamier encounters.
"I take it that means that you're not bored with me yet?" he grinned and slowly walked backwards to the door.
"You know I'm not now stop wheedling for compliments and get back to work, Dr. Hodgins," she replied, blushing a bit more and exhaling when he was gone, laughing loudly as he walked out into the lab.
When Cam was called to Angela's office minutes later she found Daisy in the room as well, much to her displeasure.
"You have identified him, Angela?" she asked the artist.
"Martin Aragon. 30 years old. Lives in Kingman Park," she nodded.
"His eye surgeon identified him," Daisy couldn't stop herself from interfering.
"He's a scribe," Angela told her.
"I beg your pardon?" Cam paused.
"Seriously, he wrote letters for a living. His, uh, business partner's name is Sophia Mead," Angela let her know and Cam made a mental note that there were still jobs out there that she didn't even know existed.
"I don't like today one bit. This man was on the verge of maybe having his sight returned and Lance's dead friend from the subway just found out he was cured of leukemia," Daisy talked without being asked once again.
"Yeah, it's ironic," Cam commented mainly to shut her up.
"With all due respect, that's not irony. People may think it's irony but it's really just an unfortunate juxtaposition of events," she got lectured by the intern and had to bite her tongue to keep herself from reacting harshly and much stronger than was called for. She wasn't sure what it was about Daisy that rubbed her the wrong way, but she still stood by her statement to Sweets: Daisy transformed her into a raging ball of fury. She couldn't help it.
"Well, guess they're gonna need a shorter word for that," Angela remarked and Cam was thankful for it- it spared her an answer.
Hodgins tried working while the book lay beside him. He tried reading his way up from page three to page 187 without cheating. But he wasn't a strong enough man for it and his curiosity got the best of him after an hour of trying to ignore the dirtiness. Finally he gave in, stopped working on his microscope and took the book.
"Page 187," he said while he flipped through the pages. When he found the page in question he stopped and read. Paused. "Oh, my God," he said then, somewhat between shocked and disbelieving. Quickly he got up, took the book with him and hurried out of his lab, running straight into Cam, who obviously wanted something.
"Hodgins," she called when he kept walking.
"One moment please. Personal privilege, point of order," he excused himself with a smile and walked into Angela's office.
"How's your rat poop?" the artist asked him when she saw him entering.
"Page 187. Mind reading it aloud?" he asked her and placed the book on her desk.
"Page 187? I am not reading the sparky bits to you. You can get somebody else to do that, sicko," she laughed it off.
"Okay, fine. Read it to yourself then," he insisted, took the book again and handed it to her. He waited while she read and until he was sure she had an idea what he would be talking about. "That's that thing that I do. Nobody else does that thing," he told her grinning and leaned against her desk with a smug expression. "It's my thing that I do. Right. It's not a well-known thing. It's, you know, my thing that I do," he kept going on.
"Right, I remember. I was there," she finally said.
"You told Brennan about that thing I do," he stated.
"It's a very good thing," she admitted without saying much more.
"It's my thing. That I do," he pointed out again. "Did you tell her that it was my thing?" he wanted to know then.
"You mean, did I give you credit?" Angela wanted clarification.
"Yes. Did you?"
"No," she admitted.
"Good, 'cause I don't need her looking at me thinking about… that thing I do," he replied.
"Well, that's good then," she said amused.
"But now that thing I do is in print and every guy that reads that book is gonna give it a shot," he added while he walked out of her office and sighed. "Oh, well. You know I got other things that I do. My advice: Only sleep with guys that can't read 'cause otherwise, you'll never be rid of me," he said cockily and left.
"Geez, Hodgins, one day you'll give me a heart attack," Cam complained when he just burst into the bathroom that evening, while she was standing under the shower. Annoyed, she closed the glass door of the shower.
"What? I just walked in. I see no point in waiting when you're just in the shower," he shrugged unimpressed, went to the sink and grabbed his toothbrush.
"Next time I'll lock the door," she grumbled.
"Why? You can pick up that lady shave again, I know you were shaving your legs," he said, his mouth full of foam, and rolled his eyes dramatically.
"No privacy left," she sighed and picked up the razor again. "Don't you think this ruins the romance somewhat?"
"What?" he asked and spit. "That I see you shaving your legs? You've seen me cut my toenails. Isn't that normal?" he went on. "As long as I don't see you shaving off your moustache every morning it doesn't ruin anything for me."
"That's what wax is for," she let him know and he groaned. "What? Too much information? That's too bad," she laughed.
"I can't win with you," he sighed and rinsed and then used a towel to dry his mouth.
"I just like teasing you," she told him and stepped out of the shower, a large white towel wrapped around herself. She dried off and then wandered into the bedroom while he stepped into the shower. She closed the door so the fog wouldn't come into the bedroom. She dressed herself in a slip and a T-shirt and then got into bed, switching on the TV.
She flipped through the channels for a while and just when she heard him get out of the shower she saw the book lying on his nightstand and remembered the talk they had had earlier that day. She leaned over and grabbed it, then flipped it open and tried to remember which page he had talked about. She didn't need long to find it though, because he had left a mark on the edge of the page. Quickly she scanned the page and the scene it contained and her eyes got wide.
"Hey, that's my book," he grinned untroubled when he came out and found her reading Brennan's book. "You're the one who said she doesn't want to read about murder after work."
"I'm not reading about murder. I'm reading page 187," she replied and looked up, closed the book.
"Ah, the sex scene. I should have known," he winked at her and got into bed.
"Is it just me, or does this sound awfully familiar?" she asked him and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Huh?" he feigned innocence.
"The set up, the position, even the finish... That is your thing that you do! No one else ever did this to me before! That is... your thing that only you do," she rambled accusingly.
"Angela helped Brennan with the scene," he admitted, but smiled anyway; he was too proud.
"Excuse me?"
"Angela helps Brennan with her books. Brennan doesn't know though that this is my thing that I do," he grinned smugly.
"You realize that we will never ever do this again, right?" she asked him and sounded angry and annoyed.
"Why?" he asked, not understanding why she was upset over this.
"Jack, your ex-girlfriend described a scene from your bedroom and it ended up in a book. I don't want to read that. I don't even want to think about it. And now every time you do anything even remotely similar to it, I will have the picture of you and Angela in my head instead of us making up after our semi- breakup," she said agitated and sat up in bed.
"I didn't know that Angela was telling Brennan about that stuff. And don't tell me that you didn't do stuff before that you have done to me," he replied and tried not to get upset.
"But none of my old lovers wrote a book about it," she said and her voice got that high pitched tone that always gave him a headache just thinking about it.
"Can't you just laugh about it and be happy you've got the original?" he asked her helplessly.
"Laugh about it? I fail to see the humor in it," she replied and lay back down, then turned to her side so her back was facing him. With her hands she hit the pillow until it lay in the right position. "And there's no point in having the original when I can't make use of it anymore," she muttered and then switched off the light on her side.
"Are you seriously mad at me now?" he asked, his mouth hanging open as he couldn't believe it. "This isn't my fault. Complain to Angela or Brennan," he tried to defend himself and held up his hands, which she couldn't see.
"Go to sleep Hodgins," she told him, her voice cold and mad.
"No, I refuse to go to sleep like this," he said and leaned over her so he could look into her face; saw that her eyes were still open.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," she said quieter and closed her eyes.
"Cam, baby, come on! You're being unfair," he sighed frustrated.
"Maybe. But I can't help it," came the reply with a pout forming on her face.
"Baby, turn around... come on, you know you want to," he coaxed her into rolling onto her other side, so she was looking at him. "There are only three people who know that this is my thing. That's me, you and Angela," he said and Cam raised her eyebrows. "With the others my technique wasn't perfected," he admitted with a smile. "You know you don't need to be jealous of Angela and you know I love you. You'll be the only one I'll be doing this thing that I do to, ok?" he grinned at her and pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against him so she couldn't escape.
"I'm still mad," she grumbled quietly and made him laugh.
"As long as you're mad while lying in my arms, I'm good," he chuckled and placed a kiss on her forehead before he switched off the lights.
The next day Cam was still a bit weirded out by the whole sex scene thing, but she tried to get past it. She knew it wasn't Hodgins fault, but she couldn't help but find it odd that Angela kept using the sex she had with Hodgins as opposed to her other lovers.
"I put together a time line made out of rat poop," Hodgins told her when she arrived at his office to check on his results. He had a large flipchart in his office on which he had placed notes as well as the rat poop.
"And now I'm in a sixth-grade science fair," she remarked dryly, which he just ignored completely.
"The oldest poop, containing human remains, dates from seven days ago. Now, I also found this," he showed her.
"Is that the color that was found on the bones?" she wanted to know.
"Mhm. The same sub-micrometer blue polymer base material. Now, I'm running a scan of companies that manufacture it to see if it's ever been used for ammunition and check this out. Also found this," he went on and showed her something else under the microscope.
"Is that leather?"
"Mhm, it's a piece from the sole of a shoe," he said proudly.
"The victim's?" she asked.
"No. His we matched with DNA. This leather was found in a rat's stomach along with bits of the victim. They were ingested at the same time."
"This could've come from whoever killed Martin Aragon," she nodded appreciatively. "What do you know. King of the lab," she said then and he did a double take, his mouth hanging open when it registered with him what she had just said.
"Wow! That's a first. Usually I have to say it," he said totally surprised.
"Yes, but I wanted to hear how it sounded with a touch of modesty," she told him and then left his office with a smug smile.
"Yeah," he grinned while he watched her walking away and then turned back to his microscope. The smile wouldn't leave his face for a long time.
When Cam was called into Angela's office late that evening she knew that they had most likely found something. Hodgins had been analyzing and working non-stop so he knew something that she didn't- yet.
"We're not done yet," he told her after he and Angela had gone into a lengthy explanation about ammunition. "Now, turning our attention to glass fragments embedded in the back of our victim's head."
"The bullet exited our victim, shattered a glass object behind him before disintegrating," Cam nodded.
"Right. The angle of applied force was 28 degrees. So if I extend the incidence lines, the point of intersection is here. Which means he was standing between 45 and 60 centimeters in front of the glass object when he was shot," Angela gave her the details.
"Okay, then we find that glass and find where he was killed," Cam instructed and once again wanted to leave the office.
"Well, we're still not done," Hodgins stopped her again and Angela pulled up the photograph on the screen.
"Hey! Those are my photographs from when and I went to find the rat poop," Daisy squeaked excitedly and Cam couldn't help herself this time, she had to say something.
"Let's not get emotional, Ms. Wick," she told her dryly, hoping she would keep her mouth shut for the rest of the day.
"Okay, so we need to find glass fixtures that contain borosilicate. We find that here," Hodgins went on.
"Now, I scanned for color frequencies on the wall where the bullet would have disintegrated. The blue polymer emits about 420 nanomers," Angela explained.
"You found where he was murdered," their boss said approvingly, although she didn't like the thought that they had worked together.
"He was lured into this tunnel and was shot," Hodgins summed it up again.
"Let the record show that my photographs were invaluable to the process," Daisy commented and Cam clenched her fists, dropped her head and closed her eyes. Internally she slowly counted backwards from fifteen, hoping she'd have herself under control again once she was done. "There's no record, is there?" the intern then asked disappointedly and made all look at her, except for her bosses boss.
"Are we done then?" Cam asked and looked around. When Angela shrugged and then nodded Cam fled from the room and marched back into her own office, unaware that Hodgins was following her.
"We're going home now or you still have something to do?" he asked her and made her jump slightly.
"Uhm, I still have to look through the reports and sign them," she replied.
"Ok, then just come over when you're done," he grinned and left again, leaving Cam alone with her thoughts.
"Which bag?" Hodgins asked and held up a lacy bra later that evening.
"The blue one," Cam replied and pointed to the bag that contained the extra sensitive laundry.
"How many times does Michelle change her shirt a day? There are at least fifteen shirts from just her," he complained and put them into the laundry bags according to color.
"She's a teenager Jack, it's normal," Cam laughed.
"No, seriously, this is only half of the stuff she throws into the laundry basket. There's also stuff at my place. That's crazy," he insisted.
"You know you don't have to do laundry over here," she just smiled and kept hanging up the wet clothes.
"I have stuff here as well. And you do my laundry at my place, so it's only fair I help you here," he shrugged.
"I do your laundry because you keep throwing dirty clothes on the bathroom floor and it's driving me crazy. I can't let them lay there until your cleaning lady cleans up your mess twice a week," Cam lectured him.
"Your laundry, my laundry... when are you moving in?" he asked her.
"As soon as possible, but I don't know when I'll find the time to pack my stuff. There's the huge investors meeting coming up. Maybe once the school year is over?" she asked him and shook out a pair of jeans.
"We have that at the end of March and the term ends in June. No way are we waiting another three months. I asked you in January to move in with me," he kept complaining.
"We can't move all of our stuff into your house in one weekend. And then I have to find someone to rent my condo," she told him rationally.
"You don't need to worry about renting it out, we'll find someone. But what about me? Are you really planning on leaving me alone in my house for another three months?" he pouted. "You're cruel."
"Maybe I should think about moving in with you, if you're so good at emotional blackmail," she shot back without sympathy and turned back to the wet clothes. Suddenly she shrieked and then laughed, when Hodgins grabbed her around the waist and tickled her.
"I'll get you to do as I want... really soon," he threatened over her shrieks and laughter. When he finally let go of her Cam was gasping for air and had to steady herself by holding on to his shoulders.
"We'll sit down later with Michelle and see when we all have time. Maybe I could just give us some days off. You have accumulated overtime hours?" she asked him.
"More than enough. I could probably stay home a whole year with those hours alone," he laughed.
"Crazy squints," Cam teased him and quickly kissed him before he could tickle her again.
"Mmh, how about we forget the laundry and test your bed instead? Maybe it's better than mine and should come when you move in," he grinned and held her close.
"How about we just get a new bed. New start for both of us, new bed?" she asked him.
"I'd like that," he nodded and just held her for a while. Simply because it felt good- just as it felt good to plan a future together. Such a nice change from that day to day crap, he thought. I so don't envy Wendell.
TBC