OOM: Meeting With Booth

[argyle_princess]

Hannah has three missed calls, and a voice mail message, all from Agent Booth, when she turns her phone back on after class. The message is a little ominious in its brevity -- Hey, kiddo, call me when you get this, okay? Whenever that is. Or maybe it's ominious in that for all he's clearly trying to sound light and neutral, Hannah can hear in

Comments

[paladinsuitsyou]

"I hate that guy," Booth mutters in a harrassed tone, but the words themselves are said so casually it's clear he doesn't really meet it. It's also clear that he's just looking for some place to start talking, because this conversation is not going to be easy. "Sorry he was such a jerk."

Papers are strewn across Booth's desk, and it's clear he's very, very busy and extremely stressed out.

[argyle_princess]

"Well, he certainly won't be Mr. FBI Congeneality 2009," Hannah says, and it falls about as flat as Nebraska.

She can't quite make herself actually step into his office.

Nothing to do but start with the most viable candidate for Worst Cast Scenario.

"Is Brennan . . .?"

[paladinsuitsyou]

Booth looks up, realizing how this all must look. "Oh, God, Hannah, no. Brennan's fine."

That's not exactly true - none of them are fine - but she's alive. "She's uh, busy, or she'd be telling you this herself. Um. Which is. You remember the Gormogon case? The one we've been working on for what seems like forever now?"

[argyle_princess]

"The cannibal serial killer with the tooth bomb? Yeah, for some reason, that made an impression."

Can't imagine why.

"What about him?"

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Right, of course it did," Booth says. Why wouldn't it? It's gross and creepy and...hell.

"He's dead. The case is closed. But we arrested his assistant."

Significant pause. "It's Zach, Hannah." There's really no good way to say that, is there?

[argyle_princess]

"Zach who?" Hannah asks, not really processing this.

Because he can't mean . . . there's just no . . . well, it's not . . .

Is it?

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Zach Addy," Booth says, his voice grim. "He was working with the killer the whole time. The guy played some sort of twisted logic game with him, and he..."

Booth trails off, unable to say anything else about why Zach would ever, ever work with Gormogon.

[argyle_princess]

. . . this sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen on this side of the country.

"Are you . . . are you sure?" she asks, and then shakes her head.

He wouldn't say it if he wasn't, she knows that.

"Sorry."

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Yeah. Brennan figured it out. He made Gormogon's dentures, lied about some really basic forensic stuff, and set the explosion in the lab."

He sighs heavily. "I know this is a shock. It hasn't sunk in for any of us, I don't think."

[argyle_princess]

"Understatement," Hannah says.

"Can I . . . ?" she gestures vaguely to one of the chairs in front of Agent Booth's desk.

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry." He smiles weakly. "I should have made sure you were sitting down first."

The phone rings. "I'm sorry, I have to take this. It's my boss."

A short conversation takes place, mostly consisting of Booth saying, 'yes sir,' a number of times.

Clearly, there is hell to pay on this case. The deputy director is not pleased that the crack scientists were working with a murderer.

[argyle_princess]

Hannah looks around, and tries to find something to focus on, while Agent Booth is talking.

Which would be easier if she could focus on anything at all.

Well, anything aside from Dr. Addy is a murderer.

[paladinsuitsyou]

"He's trying to figure out how the hell we all missed this," he says, hanging up the phone. "Which is pretty much where I am, too. Except I'm mostly even further back with 'Zach? A murderer?'"

[argyle_princess]

Hannah nods, and starts to say something, and then pretty obviously thinks of something else to say instead.

"Oh my God, how's Dr. Hodgins? And Angela and . . . ?"

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Shaken up," he says. Understatement. "Freaked out, maybe that's a better term. We're all still in shock."

He sighs. "Hodgins was the reason Zach confessed. Zach rigged an explosion to distract us while Gormogon stole the skeleton we had in the vault. Hodgins, though, delayed Zach, the explosion was bigger than expected, and Zach deviated from the plan to keep Hodgins safe."

He frowsn. "I think 'wracked with guilt' pretty much describes Hodgins' situation at the moment."

[argyle_princess]

Hannah . . . kind of didn't follow that at all.

The end is the only part that really matters, anyway.

"Oh, God."

Her eyes widen.

"Are you okay?"

She knows, even as she asks, that she hasn't phrased that right.