"The Object of My Affection" - Chapter 26"
Title: Object of my Affection
Author: Shannon - shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own “Bones” or its characters, Fox does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Booth and Brennan must struggle with not only the Grad Students trying to take Zack’s old position, but also help get through a tragic end.
Warning: Post Season Three - “Pain in the Heart”. Would take place during Season Four, probably mid to late. Warning! Do not start reading this unless you plan on reading all…like…one hundred chapters (it might be that many…might not…). This will be an epic/saga-type fic and shall include all kinds of fun plot twists. The rating of this story will most likely fluctuate, FYI.
Chapter 26 - “Dating Dangers”
Author’s Note: YouTube hates me once again…I made sort of a trailer for the fic thus far…so if you’d like to see it or any of the pictures I have for this fic, let me know and I’ll invite you to the wiki page or I can also directly link you to my MediaFire link
*~*~*
Halloween Carnival
Baltimore, Maryland
Isabel’s laugh seemed to carry high over the noise of the carnival to Cedric as they walked along. It had taken him hours to convince her to go with him; she’d wanted to do an extra study session with the others, since they weren’t working with Doctor Brennan at the time. He knew that she really wanted the internship, to be Doctor Brennan’s grad assistant. They all wanted it. He wanted it, but that didn’t mean that at the moment they couldn’t have a bit of fun. Halloween was nearly upon them and they hadn’t done anything remotely close to fun outside of the world of forensic anthropology.
He smiled brightly in response. He had been joking with her, hence her laughter. “I’m glad you agreed to go out with me tonight,” he told her as they continued to walk through the noisy carnival. It was the happiest he’d been in weeks.
“I have to admit,” Isabel told him. “This is fun.” She smiled and thought about it for a moment and then sighed, “But we shouldn’t be doing this.”
“What? Having fun?” Cedric asked and stopped.
Isabel stopped too and pushed her long dark locks back behind her shoulder, “We shouldn’t be dating…we’re competing against each other.” She didn’t like it either, but it was the truth of things. She didn’t think that dating would make it any easier.
“We’re not competing at the moment,” he reminded her. “Who knows how long it’ll take them to figure out this Gravedigger case…it could be months…so, why should that stop us from dating?”
“I don’t think it’ll take Doctor Brennan months to solve this case,” Isabel said. “She’s very brilliant.”
“Haven’t you heard that you’re not going to live forever? You might as well live in the moment,” Cedric tried to persuade her.
Isabel shook her head, “That sounds irresponsible.”
“It’s not, it’s just…living a different way.” He wrapped an arm around her and spun her in the direction of the fun house. “You should try it some time.”
“I’m still trying to figure out how you could get through college…all of it…with your philosophy,” she told him as he pushed her in the direction of more fun. “Are you sure you’ve gotten your bachelor’s and master’s degrees? I think I’m going need proof.”
Cedric laughed and just continued to drag her towards the fun house.
*~*~*
Medico Legal Lab Platform - Jeffersonian
“What’s up now?” Cam asked as the group gathered on the platform. Parker was in Brennan’s office, so she knew it was safe to discuss whatever Booth had found out. She crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for Booth to bring them up to date.
“Julia Harper is safe,” Booth told them. “Her father paid the ransom and they dug her out somewhere in Pennsylvania.”
“So, he got what he wanted this time,” Cam summarized.
“You know what I want to know,” Angela spoke up and walked towards Booth. “Where has he been for the last two years? Did he just decide to go on extended vacation?”
“Maybe he just went back to his evil board of planning…” Hodgins said, he was still irritated about being threatened and being kept at the Jeffersonian.
“As long as he doesn’t come after us,” Angela said speaking up what she knew that they were all thinking, but didn’t say aloud.
“Did Julia Harper give them any clues as to who the Gravedigger is?” Brennan asked.
“No,” Booth responded and knew that it wasn’t what any of them wanted to hear.
“Great…that means we’re stuck here,” Angela mumbled. “Call me when there’s some good news,” she said before walking off towards her office.
“I’m with Angela on this one,” Hodgins agreed. He left the platform as well following the direction Angela had taken just a moment earlier.
Cam frowned, “Well, at least Julia Harper is safe.”
“Yeah,” Booth said quietly.
“Anyways, I vote for something light for dinner tonight. Maybe a nice salad,” Cam said before leaving Booth and Brennan alone on the platform.
Booth looked at Brennan and noticed that she was just staring off into the distance. It was like she was lost in her own lab. He frowned, he knew why. If Angela hadn’t been the first one to leave, she’d already been counseling her friend. But what could he tell her? That they’d find the Gravedigger? That they’d all be safe in the Jeffersonian? Could he promise her that? Would she even buy it if he promised her? “Bones…”
“He’s not going to stop, Booth.”
“We’re going to figure out who he is and stop him,” Booth told her.
“How many people is he going to bury and ransom in the process?” Brennan asked and turned her gaze to him.
“I can’t answer that,” he told her truthfully. “We just need to concentrate on what facts and evidence we have and keeping the squints safe.”
“And Parker,” Brennan told him.
He smiled, “I guess I just grouped him in since Hodgins insists that he’s a squint, too.”
“That should really be your priority, Booth,” she said and noticed that Parker was standing outside of her office now. His back was to the door and he was just waiting. She doubted that he heard anything, but she started to wonder if Booth would be able to raise Parker while still being her partner. She brought so much danger and death into his life. That couldn’t be good for Parker, or at least that’s what she’d gathered from others. Angela had almost left the lab because of all the death and sadness she felt exposed to, and Angela was the closest type of person she could think to Parker.
“Temp-”
“He’s probably hungry,” Brennan said interrupting him. “That’s probably why he’s waiting to interrupt us…” she said quietly and stepped down from the platform. She smiled down at Parker and pat his head for a moment before entering her office.
*~*~*
Halloween Carnival
Baltimore, Maryland
“Cedric,” Isabel complained as he pulled her towards the fun house.
“It’ll be fun, it won’t kill you to have some fun and not to over think things,” he told her. He pulled her close quickly before she had time to think about things. He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. He smiled down at her and hoped that she didn’t think he’d gone too far.
She just smiled back at him and pulled back away. She climbed the steps of the fun house after handing the attendant her ticket and hurried inside.
“Wait!” Cedric called and then found himself trying to dig a ride ticket out of his pocket. It felt like so much time was passing while he was pathetically trying to be quick. He finally pulled out one of the red ride tickets and quickly handed it to the attendant before hurrying into the fun house to find Isabel.
The fun house wasn’t what Cedric expected once he was inside, it was dark, but there were differently small brightly lit colored bulbs that would occasionally light up and there were a lot of mirrored areas. He cautiously entered and looked around, but then the floor started to lift and he found himself letting out a scream in slight panic. Fog filled the room he was in and he could hear laughter. He smiled, Isabel was nearby.
He tried to follow the laughter and saw slight of her hurrying ahead of him through the house, he tried to follow, but found himself running into one of the mirrored walls and falling to the floor with a thud. “Ow…” he mumbled. Isabel wasn’t trying to fuss over him, so he figured she didn’t see it. That was good, because then he didn’t look like an idiot, but he had to admit her fussing over him could have been quite enjoyable as well.
“Isabel?” he called as he got up and looked around for her. He was an idiot. He should know better, to have held onto her tighter, so that she couldn’t run off into the fun house without him. She didn’t respond, but he heard her laughter as he cautiously walked through the fun house. He held a hand out ahead of him to check for any mirage in front of him.
“I’m really thinking that you’re lying about your credentials,” Isabel taunted from her hiding place.
Cedric sighed and ran his hand through his dark hair as he continued through the maze. “I’m just extremely charming and that masks the fact that I’m also a genius…a genius in disguise!” he shouted with a smile. He could hear her laughter again, that was good, it gave him somewhere to look…a direction.
A sole scream stopped him in his tracks for only a moment.
Cedric immediately started to chant her name, “Isabel!” trying to locate her. Panic set in when after only thirty seconds of searching he hadn’t located her yet. “Isabel!” He wasn’t sure what to think, but what would cause her to scream? Laughter immediately caught his attention and he stopped and turned to find that she’d fallen and was partially stuck. Isabel’s arm was stuck in an odd position through some bars that were supposed to be fashioned to look like jail. He let out a sigh of relief and then breathed in a deep breath as he approached her. “Don’t move,” he told her and crouched down and over her to try to free her.
“It’s stuck,” she complained as she pulled on her arm. Her legs were up over some moving steps that had thrown her balance.
“I said no moving,” he complained with a smile and then carefully traced her arm with his hand and thought about how to maneuver it out without hurting her. It took him a moment, but he guided her arm out of the bars that had trapped her and pulled her close to him. He smiled, “There…” Cedric carefully got up and pulled Isabel with him. She ended up closer than he expected, but he wasn’t going to complain. “You okay?” he asked quietly.
“Thanks,” she said with a slight nod as she stared at him. She smiled brightly; maybe living in the moment was far more enjoyable than she thought it could ever be. She started to lean in, her lips ready for another kiss.
“Excuse me! This is not a make out ride!” a voice from the dark called. “Move it along!”
Isabel laughed and pulled Cedric with her. “Come on,” she told him. Her hand was wrapped tightly around his as she guided him out.
The bright lights of the carnival grounds hit them once they were out of the fun house and Cedric laughed and kept a firm hold on Isabel’s hand. “Okay, I’m feeling like I’m ready to leave…”
“Getting old?” Isabel teased.
Cedric smirked, “So old…”
“I didn’t even get a caramel apple or cotton candy or anything fun like that,” she told him with a slight pout.
“Well, that would be just criminal if we didn’t rectify that situation, wouldn’t it?” he asked as he guided her towards where all the food vendors had been.
“Well, I think so.”
Cedric made sure that he got Isabel a caramel apple, cotton candy, and even some popcorn for the ride home; though he knew it was going overboard, he was trying to immerse her in the idea of living in the moment. They walked together laughing at all the fun they’d had that day at the carnival as they walked through the poorly lit parking lot. The parking lot was really just an area of dirt that they’d taped off for parking. The only lighting was from leaving and arriving vehicle lights and the lights of the carnival that carried into the makeshift parking area. “So, what did you think?” he asked as they neared their vehicles. He hated to have to separate. He’d have such a fun time with her. Normally, he would have thought that Isabel MacGowan would be dull and boring, but she was utterly fascinating and could see so free when given the right opportunity.
“It was nice…” she told him. “Probably the best time I’ve had since high school,” she admitted a bit lamely as she pushed her hair back behind her shoulders nervously. “Thank you.”
“You are very welcome,” Cedric told her. He noticed her get her keys and wanted the moment to last longer. “Wait, I wanted to ask something,” he said quickly. It was something he wanted to know from everyone on the grad student team. “Why are you trying to get this internship? I mean, you’ve pretty much abandoned life outside of anthropology.”
“Life is anthropology,” she countered with a smile.
“Seriously.”
“Seriously, I just really wanted the opportunity to work at the Jeffersonian. When my dad was still alive, we’d go every month. I always loved the Egyptian wing. I always dreamt that I was some Pharaoh’s daughter…lame, right?”
“No,” he admitted. “It’s a way to connect to your dad, that’s not lame.”
“What about you?” she asked.
Cedric shrugged, “I just thought it looked interesting, honestly. I mean, she’s an amazing woman…and amazingly tough…”
“Okay, I’ll agree with you on that,” Isabel agreed. “Zack Addy must have been an amazingly robotic like person for Doctor Brennan to not be able to replace him as easily as I think any other person would if they needed to replace an assistant.”
“Yeah…but at least we’ll have some fun while she decides,” Cedric told her with a smile and pulled on Isabel’s hand, so that he could get her closer to him. He set the bag of treats on top of her vehicle and kissed her. He desperately didn’t want the night to end, but he knew it would have to. He figured that he could at least make a good impression on her before leaving…maybe she wouldn’t shut him out…maybe she’d live life…and let him be part of it. It was something to hope for anyway. “Night,” he breathed once he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers for a moment as he watched her. Her eyes sparkled and her lips curved up in a smile.
“Night,” she whispered back and pulled back and retrieved her bag of treats. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” she promised as she walked around her car to the driver’s side. She unlocked her car with the remote and started to open the driver’s side door when the car beside her started to pull out without warning. “Hey!” she called out in protest and flattened herself against her vehicle in order to not be smashed. The vehicle was large, a truck and didn’t have any lights on and the motor was so quiet. It amazed her that it was even on. The driver didn’t apologize, but she turned to see that Cedric had stopped to look back to check on her. “I’m fine,” she called with a smile and pulled on the handle of the door.
He waved to her and turned after seeing the lights of her car come on once the door was open. His car was in the next row over. He walked down the lane and was shocked when he found himself being thrown into the dirt path and pain radiating through his body.
“Cedric!”
It was Isabel’s voice. There wasn’t light, but her voice called him a few times before there was screaming. The screams were familiar. Isabel’s screams. His body refused to move, refused to let his head turn to see what was going on.
*~*~*
TBC…