Red Fish, Blue Fish (4/?)
Title: Red Fish, Blue Fish
Author: merrymeerkat
Rating: T
Pairings: Right now Booth/Cam, eventual Brennan/Booth and maybe some mild Hodgins/Angela
Summary: The star witness in a multi-million dollar tax fraud case goes missing. Three months later, a body turns up at a construction site, wearing her clothing. After their preliminary investigation Booth and Bones are off to the scene of the crime, but the clues lead them on a wild chase - through Michigan, southern Ontario, and back to Washington, DC. Will they be fast enough to catch the killer without losing one of their own?
Notes: Each chapter has been read and beta-read by ani8; insert eternal gratitude here. (What is the opposite of eternal? Mortal? Ternal? Unlasting? Just curious.)
PS: I have to go do school stuff tomorrow on an island in the middle of a big lake and will not have internet access, so here is chapter four a day early. Surprise!
( Chapter One)
( Chapter Two)
( Chapter Three)
PS.... I am making a lot of this science shit up. (English major! But I am trying my best to do a reasonable amount of research.)
Disclaimer: As far as I know, I still don't own “Bones” and I am still not making any money. See Chapter One for a more complete disclaimer.
Thanks: to the reviewers, missbrat155 (ffn) and ohocheese, buffyangellvr23, and damnskippytoo You guys keep me writing!
B
Thirty minutes previously....
Brennan tossed the Aquafina bottle in the recycling bin and gathered her hair into a ponytail. She had been at work for two hours already, and things were actually getting accomplished. Zach had spotted a possible identifying mark - a partially intact tattoo - and Angela had matched the victim's bracelet to the photograph they had of Karen Adams.
As pleased as she was with their progress on the case, she had to admit that she was less than at ease with her current partnership with Booth. Since that admittedly awkward conversation about his continuing past with Rebecca, things had been uncomfortable between them. She hated admitting that - it seemed that she was not immune to Booth's so-called gut instinct after all. Of course, there were discrepancies between their past friendship and the current state of affairs, but they were unquantifiable and left her confused.
Sighing, she headed to her office. If things didn't improve between them, she would be forced to talk to him about it - something that would be beyond awkward for both of them. She was still sincerely hoping that it wouldn't be necessary.
Brennan pushed the thoughts from her mind with a shake of her head. Worrying about this was needless and counter-productive, likely only to give her a splitting headache.
Unfortunately, her resolution was for naught. As she turned her head back to the hall in front of her, her eye caught on a strange configuration of shadows being cast through Dr. Saroyan's window. Before she could stop herself, she looked up, catching an eyeful of two people rather viciously entangled together. There was enough clothing thrown into the equation to keep her from jumping to conclusions, but her stomach still churned violently.
Looking away, Temperance took three deep breaths and closed the outer blind on the window.
Booth was sleeping with Cam. That was... uncomfortable. And unusual. She didn't understand. Booth had told her that he would go to her if he felt that he was going to slip with Rebecca. Wasn't this the same thing? Cam was a different woman, but rehashing an old relationship had the same negative effects no matter which former partner. Right?
Shaking herself, Temperance walked back to the work area. She could deal with this... whatever it was... later. Right now, they had a body to identify.
*
Finally, after an interminably long period of waiting for both Booth and Cam to vacate the room at the same time, Temperance found her voice. She hadn't said anything yet, and already both Angela and Jack were tensing. Evidently they had noticed her hostility. Aware that she was gaping like a particularly stupid goldfish, Brennan sputtered, “Why am I always the last one to know?”
Angela squished up her face in a kind of grimace, and then gave her a sympathetic look. She let out a sigh that sounded like she'd been holding it in for weeks. “If it makes you feel any better, I don't think Zach knows.”
“Knows what?”
The three of them looked up. If there was one thing Brennan hated more than gossip, it was being caught gossiping. Zach stood in the doorway, looking a little like a lost puppy. She realized belatedly that she'd left him out there with Cam by himself and felt even worse.
Jack broke the silence with a characteristically sarcastic quip. “That Booth and Cam have been playing Naked Twister after work every night.”
“Why would anyone play Twister naked?” Zach wondered. Then: “Oh. That was a euphemism for intercourse, wasn't it? Never mind.”
Sometimes it unnerved her that Zach picked up on metaphorical slang and pop-culture references faster than she did.
Angela was massaging her temples. “Jack, could we please use grown-up talk in the lab?”
Silence reigned for a few minutes. Jack returned to his workstation to finish the analysis on a few more samples he'd taken, and Zach sat down at Angela's computer and opened a new browser window. Angela looked like she might try to dispense some unwanted and unhelpful advice - most likely she would try to convince Brennan that what she was feeling was jealousy, and that at the next available opportunity she should “hop” Booth, or whatever that phrase was.
Temperance was about to make an excuse to leave before Angela could come up with a suitably naughty colloquialism when Zach said, “Dr. Brennan? I think I found her email address.”
Thankful for the diversion, Brennan uncrossed her arms. “The victim's? That means we can determine her identity - ”
“Not the victim's,” he corrected. “Sorry, I should have specified. Karen Adams'. But if we can hack into it, we might be able to find a connection that will lead us to the victim.”
Angela hummed thoughtfully for a second. “I have an idea. Do you mind if I try something?”
Brennan left them to it. With any luck, there were still a few things she could glean from the physical evidence. She made her way back to the platform and began reassessing the remains.
The victim had an unusual orthodontic appliance cemented to the backs of her teeth and an old fracture on her right tibia, probably a sports injury. With the right research, the appliance could lead to a practicing orthodontist who would have the girl's record on-file, even if she hadn't been reported missing. But that was a process that could take months, and from the details of the case they just didn't have that kind of time.
More frustrating was the fact that she still hadn't been able to determine cause of death definitively. The hyper-tensed muscles pointed to convulsions, but whether from drowning, poisoning, or prior existing condition she could only guess. Based on the few and relatively minor instances of bone damage, she was confident that she could rule out epilepsy and any other kind of naturally occurring seizure, but if this was a poisoning case, the place to begin looking was the tissue - and there wasn't much of that left.
It was frustrating. Brennan began to hypothesize that she would have to take a trip to the actual crime scene.
“Found something!” Cam called from below.
Temperance stifled her annoyance and tried to nurture her curiosity, but only succeeded to a point. This was ridiculous. She had no reason to dislike Cam - the woman had been promoted over her head, yes, and been less than understanding on the first few cases they'd worked together, and generally disrupted the normal day-to-day goings-on in the lab - but she wasn't actively trying to be infuriating. Was she?
Within moments, they had assembled around Cam's workstation. “What've we got?”
Brennan tried not to tense at Booth's voice.
“Cause of death,” Cam said, holding up a small phial filled with some kind of viscous fluid.
“Poison?” Angela guessed.
“Strychnine,” Cam confirmed. “Ingested - more than enough to kill her.”
Brennan, Hodgins, and Zach all recoiled, and even Booth looked uncomfortable. Strychnine was a particularly nasty poison, causing seizures and muscle contractions so severe that eventually the part of the brain that controlled breathing would become paralyzed and the victim would asphyxiate - but not before all of his muscles went so rigid that the effects were often mistaken for rigor mortis.
“That's not an assassination,” Booth frowned. “Guns, bombs, stabbings - those are assassinations. Poison is a personal murder. The killer knew the victim.”
“Or he knew Karen, and this girl got the poisoned chalice,” Zach chimed in. Angela held up a freshly-printed picture. “I found Karen Adams' email address after some searching online. So far I haven't been able to crack her password, but Angela ran it past a number of web journals and found Karen's.”
Angela explained, “She hasn't posted on it since she disappeared, but one of the older posts was a series of photographs from her birthday. The entry gave her a name and a face - Allison, although apparently Karen wasn't so naïve as to publicly post her friend's last name.”
Booth took the photograph from her. “They look close.”
“Neighbours, according to the journal. So if you have a couple of previous addresses for Karen we might actually be able to find a full name.”
Temperance's irritation with Cam for finding the cause of death that she had not was quickly replaced with a certain amount of smug pride that she had been upstaged by Zach and Angela. Booth was already taking in the new information, flipping through his case-file and handing over the relevant pages.
“If you give me another few minutes, I can establish time of death,” Hodgins commandeered the computer and brought up a weather site. “There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the composition of the dirt that came in on the body. But if you know what to look for....” He handed Brennan a still from the microscope.
“It's been oxidized?”
Jack nodded. “This means she was probably buried during a lightning storm. We just go back to the approximate time of death and check the records for when Windsor reported an electrical storm and....”
The computer beeped. Temperance looked over his shoulder. “July 30th.”
Booth nodded grimly. “The same day Karen Adams disappeared.”
**
Ok, so I gotta ask: What is up with you guys? Are you not reading this anymore? Are you just frustrated with Cam? Because, you've got to let me know - otherwise, how will I know?! (Please pardon the redundancy.)
Author: merrymeerkat
Rating: T
Pairings: Right now Booth/Cam, eventual Brennan/Booth and maybe some mild Hodgins/Angela
Summary: The star witness in a multi-million dollar tax fraud case goes missing. Three months later, a body turns up at a construction site, wearing her clothing. After their preliminary investigation Booth and Bones are off to the scene of the crime, but the clues lead them on a wild chase - through Michigan, southern Ontario, and back to Washington, DC. Will they be fast enough to catch the killer without losing one of their own?
Notes: Each chapter has been read and beta-read by ani8; insert eternal gratitude here. (What is the opposite of eternal? Mortal? Ternal? Unlasting? Just curious.)
PS: I have to go do school stuff tomorrow on an island in the middle of a big lake and will not have internet access, so here is chapter four a day early. Surprise!
( Chapter One)
( Chapter Two)
( Chapter Three)
PS.... I am making a lot of this science shit up. (English major! But I am trying my best to do a reasonable amount of research.)
Disclaimer: As far as I know, I still don't own “Bones” and I am still not making any money. See Chapter One for a more complete disclaimer.
Thanks: to the reviewers, missbrat155 (ffn) and ohocheese, buffyangellvr23, and damnskippytoo You guys keep me writing!
B
Thirty minutes previously....
Brennan tossed the Aquafina bottle in the recycling bin and gathered her hair into a ponytail. She had been at work for two hours already, and things were actually getting accomplished. Zach had spotted a possible identifying mark - a partially intact tattoo - and Angela had matched the victim's bracelet to the photograph they had of Karen Adams.
As pleased as she was with their progress on the case, she had to admit that she was less than at ease with her current partnership with Booth. Since that admittedly awkward conversation about his continuing past with Rebecca, things had been uncomfortable between them. She hated admitting that - it seemed that she was not immune to Booth's so-called gut instinct after all. Of course, there were discrepancies between their past friendship and the current state of affairs, but they were unquantifiable and left her confused.
Sighing, she headed to her office. If things didn't improve between them, she would be forced to talk to him about it - something that would be beyond awkward for both of them. She was still sincerely hoping that it wouldn't be necessary.
Brennan pushed the thoughts from her mind with a shake of her head. Worrying about this was needless and counter-productive, likely only to give her a splitting headache.
Unfortunately, her resolution was for naught. As she turned her head back to the hall in front of her, her eye caught on a strange configuration of shadows being cast through Dr. Saroyan's window. Before she could stop herself, she looked up, catching an eyeful of two people rather viciously entangled together. There was enough clothing thrown into the equation to keep her from jumping to conclusions, but her stomach still churned violently.
Looking away, Temperance took three deep breaths and closed the outer blind on the window.
Booth was sleeping with Cam. That was... uncomfortable. And unusual. She didn't understand. Booth had told her that he would go to her if he felt that he was going to slip with Rebecca. Wasn't this the same thing? Cam was a different woman, but rehashing an old relationship had the same negative effects no matter which former partner. Right?
Shaking herself, Temperance walked back to the work area. She could deal with this... whatever it was... later. Right now, they had a body to identify.
*
Finally, after an interminably long period of waiting for both Booth and Cam to vacate the room at the same time, Temperance found her voice. She hadn't said anything yet, and already both Angela and Jack were tensing. Evidently they had noticed her hostility. Aware that she was gaping like a particularly stupid goldfish, Brennan sputtered, “Why am I always the last one to know?”
Angela squished up her face in a kind of grimace, and then gave her a sympathetic look. She let out a sigh that sounded like she'd been holding it in for weeks. “If it makes you feel any better, I don't think Zach knows.”
“Knows what?”
The three of them looked up. If there was one thing Brennan hated more than gossip, it was being caught gossiping. Zach stood in the doorway, looking a little like a lost puppy. She realized belatedly that she'd left him out there with Cam by himself and felt even worse.
Jack broke the silence with a characteristically sarcastic quip. “That Booth and Cam have been playing Naked Twister after work every night.”
“Why would anyone play Twister naked?” Zach wondered. Then: “Oh. That was a euphemism for intercourse, wasn't it? Never mind.”
Sometimes it unnerved her that Zach picked up on metaphorical slang and pop-culture references faster than she did.
Angela was massaging her temples. “Jack, could we please use grown-up talk in the lab?”
Silence reigned for a few minutes. Jack returned to his workstation to finish the analysis on a few more samples he'd taken, and Zach sat down at Angela's computer and opened a new browser window. Angela looked like she might try to dispense some unwanted and unhelpful advice - most likely she would try to convince Brennan that what she was feeling was jealousy, and that at the next available opportunity she should “hop” Booth, or whatever that phrase was.
Temperance was about to make an excuse to leave before Angela could come up with a suitably naughty colloquialism when Zach said, “Dr. Brennan? I think I found her email address.”
Thankful for the diversion, Brennan uncrossed her arms. “The victim's? That means we can determine her identity - ”
“Not the victim's,” he corrected. “Sorry, I should have specified. Karen Adams'. But if we can hack into it, we might be able to find a connection that will lead us to the victim.”
Angela hummed thoughtfully for a second. “I have an idea. Do you mind if I try something?”
Brennan left them to it. With any luck, there were still a few things she could glean from the physical evidence. She made her way back to the platform and began reassessing the remains.
The victim had an unusual orthodontic appliance cemented to the backs of her teeth and an old fracture on her right tibia, probably a sports injury. With the right research, the appliance could lead to a practicing orthodontist who would have the girl's record on-file, even if she hadn't been reported missing. But that was a process that could take months, and from the details of the case they just didn't have that kind of time.
More frustrating was the fact that she still hadn't been able to determine cause of death definitively. The hyper-tensed muscles pointed to convulsions, but whether from drowning, poisoning, or prior existing condition she could only guess. Based on the few and relatively minor instances of bone damage, she was confident that she could rule out epilepsy and any other kind of naturally occurring seizure, but if this was a poisoning case, the place to begin looking was the tissue - and there wasn't much of that left.
It was frustrating. Brennan began to hypothesize that she would have to take a trip to the actual crime scene.
“Found something!” Cam called from below.
Temperance stifled her annoyance and tried to nurture her curiosity, but only succeeded to a point. This was ridiculous. She had no reason to dislike Cam - the woman had been promoted over her head, yes, and been less than understanding on the first few cases they'd worked together, and generally disrupted the normal day-to-day goings-on in the lab - but she wasn't actively trying to be infuriating. Was she?
Within moments, they had assembled around Cam's workstation. “What've we got?”
Brennan tried not to tense at Booth's voice.
“Cause of death,” Cam said, holding up a small phial filled with some kind of viscous fluid.
“Poison?” Angela guessed.
“Strychnine,” Cam confirmed. “Ingested - more than enough to kill her.”
Brennan, Hodgins, and Zach all recoiled, and even Booth looked uncomfortable. Strychnine was a particularly nasty poison, causing seizures and muscle contractions so severe that eventually the part of the brain that controlled breathing would become paralyzed and the victim would asphyxiate - but not before all of his muscles went so rigid that the effects were often mistaken for rigor mortis.
“That's not an assassination,” Booth frowned. “Guns, bombs, stabbings - those are assassinations. Poison is a personal murder. The killer knew the victim.”
“Or he knew Karen, and this girl got the poisoned chalice,” Zach chimed in. Angela held up a freshly-printed picture. “I found Karen Adams' email address after some searching online. So far I haven't been able to crack her password, but Angela ran it past a number of web journals and found Karen's.”
Angela explained, “She hasn't posted on it since she disappeared, but one of the older posts was a series of photographs from her birthday. The entry gave her a name and a face - Allison, although apparently Karen wasn't so naïve as to publicly post her friend's last name.”
Booth took the photograph from her. “They look close.”
“Neighbours, according to the journal. So if you have a couple of previous addresses for Karen we might actually be able to find a full name.”
Temperance's irritation with Cam for finding the cause of death that she had not was quickly replaced with a certain amount of smug pride that she had been upstaged by Zach and Angela. Booth was already taking in the new information, flipping through his case-file and handing over the relevant pages.
“If you give me another few minutes, I can establish time of death,” Hodgins commandeered the computer and brought up a weather site. “There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the composition of the dirt that came in on the body. But if you know what to look for....” He handed Brennan a still from the microscope.
“It's been oxidized?”
Jack nodded. “This means she was probably buried during a lightning storm. We just go back to the approximate time of death and check the records for when Windsor reported an electrical storm and....”
The computer beeped. Temperance looked over his shoulder. “July 30th.”
Booth nodded grimly. “The same day Karen Adams disappeared.”
**
Ok, so I gotta ask: What is up with you guys? Are you not reading this anymore? Are you just frustrated with Cam? Because, you've got to let me know - otherwise, how will I know?! (Please pardon the redundancy.)