"The Object of My Affection" - Chapter 47
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 47 - “Silent Night”
Author’s Note: Okay, so I’ve been sick…again. Also, school’s started and I haven’t fully recovered from being sick, so this is really a long time coming : )
Trailer #1: h t t p : // www . mediafire . com / ?20w12iod0dd
Hopefully this all shows us, just remove the spaces : )
………………….
Arundel Mills Mall
Hanover, Maryland
“I don’t see why we can’t all shop together,” Booth said. He felt more comfortable with Brennan with him. Since she wasn’t using crutches and there was no motorized wheelchair, Booth felt safer with her nearby.
“I want to buy you a Christmas present,” Brennan told him.
“I won’t peek.”
“Booth, I’ll be fine. Angela can go with me,” Brennan said. She knew that it was only because he was being extremely protective because of her current physical condition. “I’m only going to two stores,” Brennan explained. “I promise I won’t do anything crazy like try to escape the mall.” Escaping the mall would be nice, but at the same time she wouldn’t mind having time to study people, they would be especially interesting while in Christmas shopping mode. Of course, she’d have to try to keep up with Angela’s conversation as well.
“You know it’s not fun if you know what your present is,” Angela chimed in. “I promise to take good care of her.”
“What if I don’t need a present?” Booth challenged.
“Everyone should have a present,” Parker spoke up. He knew that there was another reason that Brennan needed to separate from the group, she also had to pick up a present that they’d picked out for his dad from him. He was really hoping that he’d like it, but it had to be ordered in advance in order to get it in time for Christmas.
“When you get older, though,” Booth tried to explain to his son. “You don’t always need so much stuff. You appreciate what you have more.”
“Like what?”
“Like family and friends,” Booth told him. “You, Bones, Angela, Hodgins…”
“Cam?”
“Her too.”
“Booth,” Brennan scolded lightly. “I’m going to be fine. I’m in a public area, what can happen? Falling would be about it, and I think I’ll just end up getting bruised.”
“You could re-break something,” Booth said.
“Come on, Booth. I think you have to have a little more faith in us,” Angela spoke up again. “I’ll make sure that she rests when she needs to and doesn’t stand up for too long. I can manage giving her a break schedule. Plus, they have benches all through his mall; it won’t be hard to find a place to sit down.”
“You just have to wait until someone else vacates the space,” Hodgins spoke up noticing that all the seating seemed full everywhere he looked.
“That’s helpful,” Angela murmured to her fiancée.
“What?” Hodgins asked confused.
“Don’t worry, Booth,” Angela said again and grabbed a hold of Brennan’s arm. “C’mon Sweetie, let’s go.”
“Dad, can we go to the castle?” Parker asked. He’d seen it when they’d arrived and he really wanted to go, though he didn’t know what was inside. Whatever it was, he was sure that it had to be something cool.
Booth pulled his gaze from Brennan and Angela’s retreating forms to Parker’s wide eyed expectant face. “What?”
“The castle.”
“That would be fun,” Hodgins said lighting up just like Parker had. “Medieval Times. Technically, it’s educational.”
“Isn’t that place expensive and take like hours?” Booth asked. “I don’t plan on being in this mall for hours.”
“We have two women with us,” Hodgins pointed out. “Angela alone could take half the day.”
“They close in three hours,” Booth pointed out.
“Don’t you think that she could keep places open?” Hodgins asked. “You know how she can be.”
Booth sighed, “Come on, let’s just get the last of our shopping that needs to be done, done.”
As soon as they were far enough away that the males couldn’t hear, Angela turned to Brennan. “So, what are you getting Booth?”
“I don’t know yet,” Brennan admitted. “I ordered something for Parker for Booth that I need to pick up.”
“You seriously don’t know? This is very serious, Brenn,” Angela said. “This is your first Christmas together as a couple. You have to get him something good.”
“Like what?”
“He probably wouldn’t turn away you in a bow,” Angela teased with a bright smile. Okay, so she wasn’t really kidding, but she didn’t think that Brennan would go for it.
“Angela!” Brennan scolded. “I thought you were going to be helpful.”
“We can always go to Victoria’s Secret.”
“I don’t understand how that’s something for Booth.”
“The only thing that matters is that he understands and believe me, he will.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Sweetie, just trust me…” Angela told him. “I know what I’m talking about when I talk gifts for guys.”
Brennan hobbled along and stopped when they came to Things Remembered, “This is where Parker’s gift is.”
“Personalization is always fun…what’d you order?” Angela asked as they entered.
“A frame that says ‘World’s Greatest Dad’,” Brennan responded. She approached the desk and provided them with her information. In mere minutes, they had the blue frame out for inspection. It was just as she’d pictured. At the top was inscribed ‘World’s Greatest Dad’. There was a blue lined star attached to the frame that was inscribed ‘Love, Parker’. It would be perfect. She already had the picture picked out to put in the frame. “It looks satisfactory,” Brennan told the cashier.
Angela noticed that the cashier was staring at Brennan oddly as he repackaged the frame. “She means that it looks good,” Angela translated when she realized that the look on the younger man’s face was actually confusion.
Once they were finished in the store, Angela tried again. “So?”
“So…what?” Brennan asked.
“Get Booth something fun.”
“I’m just not sure that that gift is appropriate,” Brennan told her. She knew that that was what Angela meant. She wanted her to get lingerie.
“Why not?”
“Angela,” Brennan said with a sigh. “We’ve been over this. We’re celebrating Christmas with Parker and my family.” Brennan kept walking, “Lingerie is not exactly an appropriate gift to open in front of children.”
“So, give it to him the night before or in private,” Angela told her. “Problem solved.”
“Problem not solved,” Brennan insisted. “That’s not exactly what I wanted to get for Booth.”
Angela sighed, “Please don’t tell me it’s a book on anthropology.”
“Booth isn’t interested in anthropology,” Brennan pointed out. “Unless it involves a case and then he has me for that.”
“So why is there a snag in my plan?” Angela asked.
“Booth and I have a relationship that’s more than just sex,” Brennan tried to explain.
“Well yeah,” Angela responded. “The sex came way later. I did tell you that you should have done that a lot earlier.”
Brennan rolled her eyes, “I think that Booth and I are okay with how things are currently.”
“I’m just saying…” Angela said.
“I want to get him something else,” Brennan insisted.
“You can always do both,” Angela reminded. “Something naughty and something nice…best Christmas present ever, Sweetie.”
“I only half understand that.”
“Sweetie, just let me help you with the naughty part of his gift.”
“I don’t know if I’d call it naughty,” Brennan said.
“Santa would,” Angela told her with a bright smile.
“You know anthropologically-”
Angela stopped, “You know what,” she said as she stopped and interrupted her friend. “No anthropology references until you’re back in the lab.”
“Why? I’m still a forensic anthropologist whether I’m in the lab or not,” Brennan argued.
“I’m saying it’s a new rule,” she said.
“It doesn’t sound fair.”
“We can vote on it.”
“You’ll vote for it and I’ll vote against,” Brennan summarized. “That leaves us at a tie.”
“I’m sure Hodgins and Booth will be fine with voting on this.”
Brennan sighed; she knew that she’d be voted against. “You know that it’s not my fault that I have a Ph.D. in forensic anthropology, right?”
“If they made a Ph.D. in social experience, then I’d have one.”
“But they don’t.”
“It doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
…………………….
Unknown Location
Jared was jostled from his state of unconsciousness and yelled in pain when his arm was moved. He forced open his eyes and took in the dark surroundings. He was tired to a chair, his hands restrained behind his back and his feet tied to the chair legs. “Wha?” he blurted out in confusion.
“Lieutenant Commander Jared Booth, United States Navy.”
The voice was obviously male. The voice was deep and Jared strained to try to make out a face, but all he could see was a silhouette. He knew that he’d never be able to pick him out in a lineup, but he was more interested in surviving at the moment. “You know who I am, so who are you?”
“I go by many names.”
“A bit cryptic…” Jared commented.
“Your brother, Special Agent Seeley Booth…he would call me…the Gravedigger.”
Jared’s eyes widened a bit. He knew who the Gravedigger was, or at least what he was well known for. He knew that he was in trouble, but he also knew that people lived. “What do you want with me?” He had to want something, right? Otherwise why wasn’t he already dead?
“I have a question for you.”
“A question?” Jared asked curiously. That was not something that he expected. “I can probably handle a question. I just can’t assure you that I have the answer.” Maybe his brother had over exaggerated the Gravedigger…it seemed like what he wanted was simple and that he could give him the answer and then go back on his merry way to Norfolk.
“Who does your brother love most in this world?”
“What? I don’t know. I’m not that close to Seeley,” Jared said. Of course, he really did know, but the question had caught him off guard. He had thought that he wanted some other more complex question that had something to do with the F.B.I. or the Navy, not his brother.
“I’m sure you can guess…”
“If I tell you, then what are you going to do?”
“I already know that you’re not exactly your brother’s favorite person.”
Jared frowned, he was awfully arrogant. How could he be so sure? He didn’t know them.
“Maybe if you and your brother were on myspace, you’d be on his top five. My question is, who would be the top two on his list?”
He was sadly picturing the myspace profile page. It was a pathetic reference really. “Parker, my nephew.”
“Well, I assumed that his adorable blonde son would be number one on his list. Who would be number two?”
“I’m not sure…”
“You know.”
Jared stared and tried to break through the darkness to make out the face, but he still couldn’t see even the tiniest detail. “I don’t.”
“Your brother’s had many girlfriends… He has to hold someone close. Doctor Brennan, perhaps?”
“They’re close… He’d give his life for her,” Jared blurted out.
……………………
Arundel Mills Mall Food Court
Hanover, Maryland
Booth waited nervously. He’d gotten Parker a pretzel and a lemonade and Hodgins had bought himself some kind of geeky toy, so they were both occupied. Booth rocked back and forth in the chair. He’d bought what they needed while there, but he had already purchased Brennan’s gift. Angela had called Hodgins to let them know that they’d be meeting back up with them shortly, that was ten minutes ago.
“Don’t worry so much,” Hodgins told Booth when he noticed Booth was obviously anxious. He’d found a new type of Rubix cube called the Rubix Revolution and was determined to crack it. If he didn’t, he knew Zack could. Of course Zack being able to rule the Rubix Revolution cube then would make him work twice as determined to beat the cube. That was why he’d bought two and a standard Rubix cube for Parker. “They’ll get here when they get here. Remember, Brennan’s hobbling, it’s not like the mall has those cool electric carts.”
“I’m starting to think that she should have rented one,” Booth told him and turned to face Hodgins. He supposed that they were fine.
“Next time we go somewhere they have them, we should totally race,” Hodgins told him.
Parker’s head shot up in interest. “I think that’s against the rules.”
“Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be fun,” Hodgins said looking at Booth and noticed that Booth was smiling.
“Yeah,” Booth conceded. “But I don’t think it would be worth going to jail for.”
Hodgins thought about it for a second and then lit up. “Go karts,” he said as he pointed at Booth. “Parker could even go.”
“Ooo,” Booth cooed as he thought over the idea. “Go karts would be good.”
Hodgins was about to go on about their topic when sirens started to go off. The sound echoed through the food court and the rest of the mall. The strobe lighting on the smoke detectors were the next to go off. “It’s probably nothing,” Hodgins said.
“What’s going on?” Parker asked with his hands over his ears. The siren was too loud.
“It’s probably nothing,” Booth told his son, but got up. Everyone else seemed to be evacuating and taking the alarm very seriously. “Somebody probably just pulled the fire alarm to be funny.”
Hodgins stopped and shoved the cube into his bag. “Booth, I can smell the smoke,” Hodgins said as he got up.
Booth could smell it now, too. Panic set through him. “What about Angela and Brennan?” he asked as he grabbed his bags and then grabbed Parker’s hand.
“They’re probably already outside,” Hodgins told him.
It was logical, Booth thought, for Angela and Brennan to exit at their nearest exit instead of finding them and then exiting together. He noticed how scared Parker looked, Booth bent down and scooped him up in one arm and then headed out after Hodgins.
Outside of the mall there was quite the crowd forming. It was obvious that everyone wanted to know what had happened. It was human nature. Humans were naturally and sometimes even morbidly curious. “Let’s walk to your truck,” Hodgins suggested.
Booth continued to awkwardly carry Parker as they walked deeper into the packed parking lot. So far, he didn’t see any of the women.
As they got closer, Hodgins noticed Angela on her cell phone. “Angela! Are you okay?” Hodgins shouted and then hurried to her position. He wrapped his arms around her and then placed a kiss on her temple.
“I’m fine,” Angela responded. “Have you seen Brennan?”
“She was with you,” Booth said quickly as he set Parker down.
Angela shook her head. “We got separated. When the alarm went off, people started to push. Brennan told me to meet her here, but she’s not here and she’s not picking up her phone.”
“Do you know what happened?” Booth asked as he walked closer to the vehicle and unlocked it with the remote.
“Not exactly. I saw the smoke coming from two stores across from each other,” Angela explained. “We were trying to make it to the food court, but the smoke was too much. Brennan said smoke inhalation would be bad, so we headed for the nearest exit.”
Booth opened the trunk of his SUV. He set his bags in the back and then lifted Parker, so that he sat on the back as well. He felt safer with him there. Hitting one of his speed dials on his cell, he waited with it to his ear. “This is Special Agent Seeley Booth,” he said. “I’m at Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, Maryland. There’s been a possible abduction. I’m going to need backup along with any traffic video that may have caught a vehicle that’s already left.” He listened. “Doctor Temperance Brennan.” He nodded, “Thank you.”
“She could just be lost,” Hodgins said trying to be optimistic. “You don’t think it’s the Gravedigger, do you?”
“I think he just may be back,” Booth said. He was about to try Brennan’s cell when his phone rang first. The caller ID disappointed him, instead of Brennan it was a number he didn’t recognize. Putting the phone up to his ear, he prayed Brennan was calling from someone else’s phone. “Booth.”
Disappointment.
“Yes, I’m his brother,” Booth said. “Is he okay?” He didn’t know why else the Navy would contact him besides Jared being stupid and ending up in the hospital. If he died, he’d receive a house call from the Navy. He listened closely and then frowned. “Jared left from Maryland yesterday afternoon, Sir.” Booth continued to listen; it seemed that this was a dance for information. “Yes, that’s the vehicle he left in.” He wanted to leave right away, but he couldn’t.
Booth tried to stay calm. He was more worried about feeling calm at this point than looking the part. “We may be familiar with who may have abducted him, Sir.” Jared was important, but so was Brennan. “I believe that my partner was just abducted by the same serial killer. We call him the Gravedigger.”
“I’m going to go check the crowd,” Hodgins said feeling the need to do something productive. He wanted to make sure that they weren’t panicking for nothing. He motioned to the crowd who was still waiting for answers to what had happened. He stopped when Booth held up his hand.
“I’ll have the F.B.I. send the information your way and I’ll make my way down to Norfolk as soon as possible.” The Gravedigger was getting bold, taking two people at two separate times and locations. “Thank you. Bye.”
“You think the Gravedigger has Brennan and Jared?” Angela asked.
Booth shrugged. “Jared should have reported in last night or this morning at the latest. They found his vehicle abandoned not far from the Norfolk Navy Yard.”
“Shouldn’t there be a call?”
“Yes.”
“Look, why don’t I double check for Brennan? She might just be unable to go farther and lost her phone,” Hodgins said. “It’s icy, she could have slipped and someone’s keeping her in one place, so that she doesn’t fall again.”
“Take the right side,” Booth told him. “And take Angela.” He watched as Hodgins nodded. “Don’t let go of her. Parker and I’ll go right.”
………………………
Unknown Location
When Brennan awoke, she was not in any place that was familiar. It was dark, but she recognized one thing in the dark cell, Jared Booth. She wasn’t exactly excited to see him, but she had a good sense of why she was there.
The Gravedigger.
Jared appeared to be unconscious, but he didn’t show any obvious signs of injury in the less than helpful light. A room wasn’t exactly the Gravedigger’s style, though she thought as she looked more closely. The room was about ten by ten with concrete walls and ceiling and a dirt floor. There was a door, which she assumed was metal because of the color. A stream of light pushed through the spaces between the door and the walls along with shining through the peephole in the door.
They should be buried.
“Jared,” Brennan whispered and tried to nudge his leg with her good one.
“Shit!” he yelled in protest.
“Sorry,” Brennan apologized.
Jared slowly opened his eyes and saw Doctor Brennan across from him. “I’m not dead yet?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Better you’re here than Parker,” Jared said and then closed his eyes again.
“What do you mean?”
He didn’t bother to open his eyes, but instead just spoke. “He asked me who Seeley loved most in the world.”
“And you said Parker,” Brennan summarized.
“And you,” Jared corrected. “He’s trying to hurt Seeley. I was really the wrong person to nab for that.”
“Your brother does care about you, Jared,” Brennan argued.
Jared didn’t argue. “I’m still happy it’s not Parker.”
“Me too,” Brennan agreed. The Gravedigger had buried her and Hodgins in a car and they’d survive. She and Jared would survive, too.
Minutes of awkward silence passed and then Brennan spoke up. “You know, Booth will find us.”
“You have a lot of confidence in my brother,” Jared commented. “I’m still trying to decide if you’re just so absolutely love struck that you make no sense or if you’re deluded enough to think that’s going to happen.”
“I’ve seen it happen before,” Brennan argued.
“The Gravedigger is supposed to bury his victims,” Jared pointed out. “We’re in a cell…we’re not in a grave.”
“He’s changing how he does things, him changing other things as well is not surprising,” Brennan told him.
“I guess we’ll see who’s right soon enough, right?”
“Twelve to twenty-four hours.”
……………………..
TBC…