Title: Reading the Bones
By: Ann Parker
Pairing: gen/casefic, with JJxReid, MorganxGarcia, BoothxBones, and AngelaxHodgins flirting
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do
not own Criminal Minds. It is the property of Mark R. Gordon
and CBS. I also do not own Bones, property of Hart Hanson and
FOX.
Author's Note:
Here is the timeline: For Criminal Minds, it's up to episode 2x13,
"No way Out
Summary/prompt: Criminal Minds
***
Chapter One: Monday Morning
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Dr. Spencer Reid, in his usual attire of brown pants, stripped shirt, loosely fitted tie, messenger bag, and of course, two different colored socks, strolled into the break room of the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI headquarters in Quantico. It was 8:20 am on a sunny Monday morning. He found his best friend, Derek Morgan, in black pants and a blue dress shirt that was sure to make every woman stop and stare, talking with Emily Prentiss, their newest team member. She was wearing her usual pants suit. They both turned to greet him as he walked over to the coffee pot.
"Morning Reid," Emily offered with a kind smile. He smiled back as he poured his coffee.
"Did you have a good weekend?" Morgan asked, taking a sip of the liquid caffeine. Reid didn't notice the older man shake his head as he used ten packets of sugar in his coffee.
"I wasn't here, so that's a plus," Reid replied with a slight smile. They others nodded in agreement as he took a drink. He ran a hand through his mop top of brown hair, pushing it out of his eyes. A few days off with no phone calls was a blessing for the BAU team.
"Morning Spence," greeted JJ, their blond liaison in her usual skirt and suit jacket. Reid smiled at the use of her nickname for him. Just the sound of it could still make his heart flutter, even after all this time. She quickly grabbed a cup of coffee as well, the common drug for the group.
"Morning JJ," he replied, even though she was almost out the door again, her hair swinging behind her. Man how he loved that sight.
"We have a case, guys," she added, looking back at them quickly as she exited the room. You could almost hear all three sigh. They loved their jobs, but a new case meant there was a new killer, arsonist, or some other form of evil that was loose again. The group followed her as they headed up a small flight of stairs to the conference room.
"Morning Sugar, Emily, Reid," greeted Penelope Garcia, their computer technician, joining them in their journey once they reached the second level. Morgan couldn't stop the smile that crept across his face at the sound of her voice. He quickly took in her appearance – her blond hair pulled up in several little buns, a red top, and a black and white checkered skirt – and his smile only grew. He didn't notice Reid and Emily glance at each other and smile at his reaction.
"Morning gorgeous," he replied as they entered the conference room. Garcia flashed him a bright smile in response. They found their two leaders, Aaron Hotchner in his FBI standard issue suit and tie and Jason Gideon in his casual attire that almost mirrored Reid, already there and examining the crime scene photos. The younger group exchanged looks as they noticed the photos of two bodies on the bulletin boards behind the table. Well, bodies might not be the best description. They were hardly recognizable as humans – there were jagged cuts and burns all over. It looked more like a pile of charred meat with flashes of red where the cut muscles were exposed. Limbs were contorted in odd positions. To an innocent passerby, it might be hard to figure out which end was which. It was a good thing the blinds were still closed on the two large windows in the room.
"Well, I'm glad I haven't eaten anything yet this morning," commented Emily as they took their seats. Even for their well-trained eyes, it was almost too much to see. Particularly at 8:24 in the morning. They settled in around the large, circular table as JJ filled them in on the case.
"Two bodies have been discovered at different locations around the capital in the last two days. At the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, to be exact. The authorities have managed to keep it out of the press as of now, but that probably won't last long. There was no usable evidence at the crime scenes. Due to the extreme state of the bodies, the local coroner was unable to determine the official cause of death or identify the victims," JJ stated as they looked over the photos.
"No fingerprints?" asked Reid.
"The unsub cut off their fingertips," stated Gideon.
"And their faces are unrecognizable," added Hotch.
Morgan leaned back in his chair. "So we've got two bodies that can't be identified, no cause of death, and we have nothing to go on about the unsub's motivation other than the locations chosen for dumping the bodies," he reviewed, receiving nods from the rest. "Well, this should be a piece of cake."
"You know," commented Emily after a moment. "I have a friend that works in the Forensic division at the Jeffersonian. Maybe he could help us identify the bodies."
"Call him," ordered Gideon, removing his small wire framed glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Something tells me we're going to need any help we can get with this one." Emily nodded and stepped out of the room to make the call.
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Special Agent Seeley Booth strolled into his office at the J. Edgar Hoover Building in DC, tucking his red shades into the pocket of his suit jacket. He sat down, taking a sip of his coffee, just waiting for a case to come across his desk. He hadn't had one in almost a week, which meant he had no excuse to bother Bones or the squints. Leaning back, he propped his feet up on his desk, exposing his red stripped socks. If he leaned back just a little farther, he would have been able to see the picture of the American flag on his back wall. As it were, he stared at the old, plaster ceiling and sighed. If his phone didn't ring pretty soon, it was going to be a very long day.
Around the same time, Dr. Temperance Brennan, in her typical apparel of black dress pants and dark green dress top that brought out her eyes, walked into her far more spacious office at the Jeffersonian Institute. She set down her bag and coffee cup on her clear, glass desk. As she sat down and turned on her computer, she pushed some of her wavy brown hair behind her ear. The break from the cases had given her time to plot out her next book, but she wasn't really interested in it. She was beginning to actually miss Booth sticking his head through her glass door and making some comment she didn't understand before telling her to grab her kit.
"Good morning!" greeted Angela Montenegro as she walked through the door. She was adorning a wavy skirt, pink top, and a couple of beaded necklaces, her usual fashionable, and yet slightly Bohemian style. It fit her personality perfectly. The colors seemed to match the glow from her smile. Brennan smiled slightly; clearly Angela was in a better mood than herself.
"You seem happy," she replied, only to get a sly smile in response.
"Nothing like sex in the morning to make even a Monday a good day," Angela replied.
"Well, that was more than I needed to hear," stated Dr. Camille Saroyan from the doorway, looking professional as usual in her suit. "Good morning," she added, a small, kind smile on her face. Slowly, but surely, she had been accepted into the group. Angela and Brennan returned the greeting. "I'll be in my office if Booth shows up."
"Okay," Brennan replied and Cam walked off. "Wouldn't that be nice," she added to herself as she looked back at her desk, not noticing Angela's smile.
"Dr. Brennan, do you want me to finish cataloging those bones?" Brennan looked back up to see Dr. Zack Abby, already in his blue lab coat, standing in the doorway. Even though he was no longer her graduate student, he still felt the need to check in with her.
"Yes, that would be good. I'll be there in a few minutes to help you," Brennan replied. At least the break had given them time to catch up on the backlog the board wanted them to work on. Right now it was remains of soldiers from World War II. Zack nodded and walked away.
"I'll let you get back to daydreaming about Booth," teased Angela, out the door before Brennan could reply. What was that supposed to mean? She watched with her green eyes as Angela made her way over to Dr. Jack Hodgins, who appeared to be on the phone. It would be nice if her phone rang.
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"Okay, Jack said that they should be able to help, but that we should go through the agent that works with them on federal cases," stated Emily, walking back into the conference room.
"Who is it?" asked Hotch, quickly grabbing a pen and paper.
"A Special Agent Seeley Booth."
***
Chapter Two: Introductions
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"Where's Bones?" asked Booth as he strolled up to Hodgins' desk. Hodgins and Angela, clearly not doing anything work related, both looked up. Booth noticed that Hodgins had a book about the Kennedy Assassination turned upside down and rolled his eyes. At least Angela distracted him from his numerous conspiracy theories.
"She was with Zack cataloging bones," replied Angela. Booth nodded and turned to find Brennan.
"Do we have a new case?" asked Hodgins, curious to see if they were going to help out Emily and her team. Booth stopped and turned back to them.
"Sort of. We're sharing a case," he replied.
"Since when do we share?" asked Brennan, almost making Booth jump. He turned to find her and Zack now standing behind him.
"Geez, Bones, don't sneak up on a guy," he teased only to receive a blank stare. She clearly didn't get it. "Since the BAU asked for your expertise and I gladly offered it," he added.
"What's the BAU?" asked Zack.
"The Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI," Booth stated. He immediately noticed Brennan raise an eyebrow.
"So, the psychology unit?" she asked, clearly skeptical.
"That's part of what they use, yes. Look, Bones, you can ask them more details when they get here. All I know is that this is the team that helped catch the Footpath Killer, the Tommy Killer, and the Mill Creek Killer, to name a few. That makes them pretty damn good in my book." He hoped that would satisfy her. He wasn't overly thrilled with sharing a case either, but it seemed like they really wanted their help and he needed something to do. Besides, Agent Hotchner sounded like a descent guy on the phone and Jason Gideon was a legend. Never mind the fact that they had seniority over him anyway.
Brennan seemed to accept his answer and nodded, "Okay. What's the case?"
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"We're all set," stated Hotch as he reached Morgan, Reid, and Emily in the bullpen with JJ right behind him. They had gone back to their desks to get a few things if they were going to leave. "We're clear to set up at the Jeffersonian so we're not wasting time when Dr. Brennan has her findings." He wanted them to work there because it was closer to the crime scenes. It was the best way to try and stop this from happening again.
"Dr. Brennan? As in Dr. Temperance Brennan, the world renowned forensic anthropologist and author?" asked Reid, clearly excited.
"Yes, I believe so," replied Hotch, cautiously.
"Got a little genius crush on her or something?" teased Morgan.
"No, she's just at the top of her field. We're lucky to be working with her," retorted Reid. Morgan, of all people, should know whom he has feelings for.
"We leave in five minutes," injected Hotch before Morgan could make another joke. They nodded and continued gathering their things before heading out on another field trip.
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Gideon and his team pulled up to the Jeffersonian past the large fountain and garden and parked their black, government issued SUVs. As they climbed out, they noticed an agent, standard issued suit and tie and sunglasses intact, standing on the stairs. The crew that came from the coroner's lab wheeled out the two bodies from the back of their van. The agent, which JJ and Emily both noted with feminine appreciation seemed to be a morph of Hotch's seriousness and dress code and Morgan's machoism, came down to greet them.
"You can take the bodies through there," he gestured to a doorway that appeared to be built just for body transport, odd for such a beautiful building. "There should be a group of lab coats waiting for them." The men nodded and went inside as the agent turned back to the team. He took off his shades and Hotch stepped forward.
"Special Agent Booth, I presume," he greeted, sticking out his hand. The man quickly shook it. "Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, we spoke on the phone." The man smiled.
"Seeley Booth. Why don't you grab your things and come inside. We'll go through the introductions in there," Booth replied and Hotch nodded. Almost immediately, the team grabbed their gear and followed him inside. As Booth walked, Reid noticed his bright red, stripped socks and grinned to himself. They matched, but hey, at least he's got a sense of humor. As they entered the building, though, the size of the place distracted him, almost awe struck. They had never worked in a place like this before. It was large and spacious, with skylights, glass walkways to separate the two levels, and everything seemed to be state of the art.
"Geez, Reid, you look like a kid in a candy store," teased Emily.
"What? The Jeffersonian is a historical landmark. Did you know that it has over 142 million items in its collections and eight different research centers? This is just one of them." Reid stated, not noticing Booth shaking his head. He almost sounded like one of the squints.
"Sorry, that's something you'll have to get used to with him," Hotch offered, receiving a slight chuckle from Booth.
"Don't worry, I already am," Booth replied right as they reached the rest of his team. They were standing on clear platform a few feet above them. "Bones, they're here." JJ and Morgan exchanged a look. Bones? A woman with wavy, brown hair in a blue lab coat turned around, snapping off her gloves and removing her goggles in the process. She, along with the two men and two women behind her, had been studying the bodies already. The two men and one of the women followed suit, disposing of their soiled gloves. The other woman, a sketchpad in her hands, just turned to them. "Couldn't wait, could you?" Booth teased the one he apparently addressed as Bones, flashing him one of his signature grins. She lightly punched him in the arm as she made her way down the clear staircase. The rest followed and met Booth and Bones at the bottom.
"You didn't mention the amount of flesh remaining. You know I don't work with flesh," she replied, almost ignoring the other agents that just entered her lab.
"So you'll clean them. Besides, that's what Cam is here for," he countered, glaring at her to be quiet. "Okay, time for introductions," Booth stated before she could speak and turned to other agents. "This is Dr. Temperance Brennan." The woman he called Bones nodded. "Dr. Camille Saroyan." The other woman, her hair pulled back in a tight bun, smiled. "Angela Montenegro." The woman with the sketchpad smiled and waved. Her kind eyes and bright smile briefly reminded Morgan of Garcia – friendly, caring, and outgoing. "Dr. Jack Hodgins," a man with curly hair and beard nodded, his arms across his chest. He almost appeared a little hostile and leery of them even though he smiled slightly at Emily. "And lastly, Dr. Zack Addy." A young man that appeared around Reid's age slightly waved and then quickly shoved his hand back into his lab coat pocket, as if suddenly uncomfortable.
"Man, Reid, you should fit right in," jested Morgan, tapping him in the arm.
"None of my doctorates are related to forensic science, Morgan," Reid replied with a blank stare.
"Wait, did you say doctorates? How many do you have?" asked Hodgins.
"Three. Mathematics, physics, and –"
"How old are you?" asked Booth.
"Twenty-five," Reid replied with a shrug, used to this disbelief by now. Hodgins, for his part, seemed somewhat impressed although he wondered why he'd want to work for the government. Cam and Angela both smiled, impressed, even though they did work with Zack and Bones. The latter simply nodded.
Booth started to laugh and roughed up Zack's hair, "Looks like you're not the top genius anymore, Squint."
"I never said that was a goal of mine, Booth," Zack stated. "Besides intelligence can't be accurately quantified and the number of doctorates doesn't equal brain power anyway. I mean, Hodgins has three as well."
"Hey!" exclaimed Hodgins, insulted.
"He's right," commented Reid, receiving a glare from the curly haired scientist. "I mean, not about you, but about quantifying intelligence." He didn't notice JJ smile slightly. Only geniuses wouldn't believe the current methods in measuring intellect.
"Anyway," stated Hotch, getting back to business. "I'm Agent Aaron Hotchner, and these are agents Jason Gideon, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, and Dr. Spencer Reid." Members of the team nodded as he said their names.
"Alright," commented Booth, clapping his hands together. "Bones, you want to get back to figuring out what happened to…those," he gestured to the bodies.
Brennan nodded and looked at Zack. "Right. Zack, let's go. Cam, did you want to take a look at one as well?" she asked. Cam nodded as they walked over to the bodies. "Hodgins, we'll call you about collecting any particulates when we're done with the initial examination." Hodgins nodded and the three began to transport the bodies.
"I can show you where you can set up," offered Angela.
"Thanks," smiled JJ in return.
"Gideon," interrupted Reid, "Actually I'd like to sit in on the autopsies, if that's okay."
"Good idea, that might give us additional insight into the unsub," Gideon nodded. Reid handed Morgan the case he was carrying, shifted his messenger bag, and shuffled off to catch up with the three doctors, not noticing that Booth had to swipe a card to let him up there.
"Like a kid in a candy store," Emily repeated with a smile. The rest chuckled slightly as Angela showed them where to set up.
***
Chapter Three: Observations
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"So, what do you think?" asked Angela. Booth and Hodgins were by her clear glass desk as they watched the BAU team set up. She was allowing them to use a table in her lab near her artwork so they had a good view to watch the team operate.
"They seem…nice. Not any weirder than you squints," replied Booth, taking a sip of his coffee. They watched as files, photographs, and lab reports were spread out.
"I'm still not comfortable with a bunch of G-men in this lab," muttered Hodgins, receiving a glare from Booth. He was a friend of Emily's and willing to help, but it still meant more government agents in his place of work, something he found unsettling.
"G-men?" asked JJ with a slight smirk, hearing his comment.
"You'll have to excuse him, he has an issue with the government," commented Booth, slightly shoving Hodgins. He had a feeling the squint didn't realize that at least two of these agents were above his head. He didn't really need them, and therefore, Cullen, on his bad side. JJ nodded and smiled, taking it in stride. She's had to deal with worse in the press. They fell silent again until they noticed that the one introduced as Gideon, although he dressed more casually than any other FBI agent they had met, pulled out some tape and began taping photos of the victims and crime scenes on the glass wall.
"Oh, goodie, I needed new wallpaper," Angela half-whispered. She really didn't like the idea of having to look at mangled human flesh when she walked into her office. Bones she could handle, at least on most days. Too bad she didn't know this detail before volunteering her office.
"I'm sorry, is it okay that we do this?" asked Hotch, picking up on her comment. He knew that Gideon could get tunnel vision and not think about whom they were working with.
She nodded, "Its fine, I guess. I'll just try not to look at it." She received a few smiles of sympathy; not even these seasoned agents liked having to look at them. A few minutes later the team had finished taping up and laying out all the information they had on the case.
"Can I ask what the point of all of this is?" asked Hodgins, walking over to the group and glancing at all the paperwork.
"It helps us absorb all relevant information about this case to help us get into the mind of the unsub," stated Gideon, studying the photos.
"Unsub?" asked Angela, now next to her boyfriend. Booth had also walked over to the group.
"Unknown subject, the killer," answered Emily.
"We don't know if the unsub is a killer yet," retorted Gideon. "As far as we know, all of this was done to bodies he found."
"Isn't that unlikely?" questioned Hodgins. It was clear as day that it was murder to him. Were they were already trying to cover it up?
"Probably, but until we get Dr. Brennan's results, we can't rule anything out. It would cloud our judgment and potentially throw off our profile," replied Hotch.
"So what do you know?" asked Booth for the others. He could tell that Hodgins in particular was like Brennan and skeptical of the agents' line of work. Plus it gave him an insight on what they thought about the case and a chance to see if it aligned with his opinions.
"Both bodies were found in front of historical landmarks, the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, one found each of the last two nights. The landmarks are not only historical but linked to the country's politics. There's a good chance this is political. Some kind of protest perhaps?" stated Morgan.
"That's possible. He's definitely trying to make a statement," added Emily.
"And both bodies were found at exactly 9 pm, when the night crew showed up to clean. Indicates a knowledge of the facilities," stated JJ.
"He's also moving at a rapid pace, indicating that his not in full control of his emotions," continued Hotch.
"It's a good thing you have a large lab," commented Gideon, looking at Hodgins and Angela.
"Why's that?" asked Hodgins, even though he had a sickening feeling of that the answer was.
"Because the one thing we know for sure is that he's not going to stop until he's caught," Gideon finished.
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Reid watched with keen interest as Brennan, Zack, and Cam worked on the two bodies. For a normal person, it would have been gruesome to watch, but then again Reid wasn't normal. That and he had seen his share of dead bodies, unfortunately. He jotted down some notes on his pad of paper as they continued their examinations, donning a lab coat and goggles just like them, following protocol.
"No wonder the coroner couldn't figure out what happened to these people," commented Cam as they examined the bodies. She was at one while Brennan and Zack were at the other. "The damage is so extensive it's hard to tell what exactly you're looking at."
"These cuts appear to have occurred while the victim was still alive based on the type of tissue damage. The wounds look to have ragged edges, perhaps a serrated knife was used," stated Zack, glancing up at Brennan for approval. Even though he was no longer her grad student, he still wanted to make sure she agreed with his findings.
"Good observation, what else do you see?" she asked without looking up.
"The left tibula and right humerus are broken. The muscle damage that coincides with the breaks also indicates that the victim was alive when this occurred," he continued, slowly becoming mortified at the level of torture.
"The broken bones on this one appear to be different," commented Cam from the other table. "Dr. Reid, do you think you could assist me for a second?"
"Sure," he replied, setting down his notepad by his bag. He quickly grabbed a set of gloves and joined her at the table. "What do you need me to do?" He didn't notice how Brennan and Zack stopped working, watching him with interest. It's not often that they found someone that wasn't in their field that willing to assist with an autopsy.
"I need to examine the break in the right leg so can you help me lift it?" she instructed, receiving a nod from Reid. He helped her lift the leg so she could examine the break. She pulled back some of the charred flesh, lifting part of the bone. None of this fazed Reid. "That's what I thought. The right femur is snapped in half. It looks like the lower thigh was pulled at a 90 degree angle, with pressure on the upper thigh holding that half of the bone in place."
"The unsub must have immobilized this victim," Reid commented to himself as he studied the break as well.
"I don't know what an unsub is, but what makes you say the victim was immobilized?" Brennan asked, curious to see how he drew that conclusion.
"The way Dr. Saroyan described the break suggests that the unsub, the person that did this, stood on the victim's leg and pulled it up to snap it. Taking into account that the victim was alive when it happened, he would have to have been unconscious or immobilized in order for the unsub to achieve this break because a fully conscious person would fight back, making this almost impossible. Given the break and the extent of the torture, I would guess it's the latter," he replied, glancing up at all three of them when finished. Cam had a small smile on her face. Zack looked bewildered, but impressed, and Brennan nodded in approval.
"I think that's an excellent observation," she stated and looked back at the body in front of her. "But I don't like making conclusions until I have all the facts."
"Of course," Reid replied, honoring her scientific approach to things.
"Sucking up, Spence?" The group of four looked up to see JJ standing at the entrance of the lab, a smile on her face. She had heard the last part of the conversation and was amused at how Reid almost seemed at home. Almost.
"What's up, JJ?" he asked, ignoring her comment. Cam and he set the corpse's leg back down.
"Gideon just wanted me to inform you that they were going to check out the two crime scenes with Agent Booth to see if they can figure out how the bodies were able to be left there. The press just got wind of the story so I'll be holding a conference within the half hour. Call Hotch if you find anything, okay?" she rattled off quickly.
"Will do," he replied.
"Thanks. I'll let you get back to work," she smiled, tucking some of her hair behind her ear and walking away. Reid smiled slightly to himself before looking back at the body.
"Bones, you want to go with us?" asked Booth, suddenly appearing where JJ had just been. Brennan nodded, removing her gloves.
"Good idea. I think these three can handle this. We won't know the final details until we dispose of the flesh anyway," she replied, discarding her gloves and taking off her goggles and lab coat. She was about to leave when she turned back, "Don't forget to have Hodgins collect samples and run a toxscreen to see if Dr. Reid's theory pans out and get Angela the skulls as soon as you're done cleaning the bones." The others nodded.
"Understood," replied Zack and the pair left. Reid noticed Booth had his hand on the small of her back, but chose not to read anything into it.
"Why does he call her Bones?" he asked, looking at the other two.
***
Chapter Four: Dead, but not Dead
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Brennan hadn't really liked the idea of being separated from Booth when they went to the two locations but she understood why. In their time working together, he knew what type of things she would look for. Since time was of the essence, she would rather trust his opinion of the other scene than the other agents, even though Dr. Reid had impressed her back in the lab. At least the other two agents she was with weren't spouting psychobabble at her. One of them did seem to be placing himself into the shoes of the killer, however, rattling off what it would have taken for the unsub to get the body to this location. The ringing of her phone caused her to stop staring at the steps where she had been wondering the same thing.
"Brennan," she answered.
"Dr. Reid was right, Dr. Brennan. The victims were given a dose of phenotripticol before receiving any of the other injuries," Zack replied. "You know I would have caught that on my own right?" he added.
"Yes Zack," she replied quickly, "anything else?"
"The bugs place the first victim's time of death at around 8 pm two days ago and the second victim's one day later," added Hodgins, stealing the phone from Zack. She could vaguely hear a muffled exclamation in the background from Zack.
"What time were the victims found?" she asked one of the agents with her.
"9 pm," replied Morgan, the one that had been role-playing. She nodded.
"Good work guys," she said into the phone. "How far are we to getting faces?"
"The bones are almost finished being cleaned and then I'll start on giving them facial markers," Zack stated, regaining control of his phone.
"Okay. Let me know," she replied and hung up. "The decay of the bodies places time of death roughly an hour before discovery," she informed the two men. Just then the other three showed up.
"The squints give you anything yet, Bones?" asked Booth as he walked up to her.
"Time of death is 8 pm, an hour before discovery," answered Hotch.
"The victims were drugged before any of their other wounds were sustained. Due to the lack of blood at this site I would say they were more than likely killed somewhere else and then transported here," Brennan added. "We should have faces of the victims shortly."
"Well, let's head back to the lab. We can have Reid look over the schematics of how the bodies were dumped without being seen," stated Gideon. They had all come up with possibilities, but the new timeline changed things. The others nodded and they headed to the Jeffersonian.
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"Dr. Brennan, do you want to check these facial markers before I give them to Angela?" asked Zack as soon as they returned to the lab. Bones nodded, slid her identification through the security system, and headed over to him. She quickly slipped on a pair of gloves and picked up one of the skulls.
"Are those erasers?" asked Emily as they watched her examine the skull. Booth had slid his ID through for them to join the rest on the platform.
"You don't have to be high tech to be scientific," Hodgins replied, smirking at her. She walked over to his desk and lightly slapped him in the arm. "Ow!"
"I didn't say you have to be Jack," she replied. "I just found it interesting."
"I forgot how big of a nerd you are," he teased back. She simply stared at him.
"I'm the nerd? You play with bugs and slime all day," Emily laughed.
"You two know each other?" asked Angela, a hint of jealously in her voice. She had just walked onto the platform to get the skulls and witnessed their interaction.
"Yeah, my parents were close with Ambassador Prentiss and her husband," replied Hodgins, walking over to her. "She's like an annoying older sister," he added, sensing his girlfriend's jealously. He was slightly amused by that fact, but knew better than to mention it.
"These look good Zack," commented Brennan, completely ignoring the on-going conversation. She set them down on a tray and handed it to Angela. "Can you get the faces?"
Angela took the tray and nodded, "When have I ever let you down, sweetie?" Brennan smiled at her as she began to walk back to her lab, but paused and turned around. "Your other two agents are in there," she informed them.
"Thanks," Morgan nodded and she smiled back before walking away. Brennan walked over to one of the tables that had the complete skeleton of one of the victims laid out. Zack was at the table with the other skeleton.
"We should be able to give you the official cause of death shortly," she stated, studying the bones.
"Great," replied Hotch. "We'll give you space to work. Let's get what we have to Reid." The remaining BAU team nodded and left the platform, heading to Angela's office.
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"Like what you see?" Angela asked as she walked back into her lab, startling Reid. He had been studying her painting on the wall. JJ was at the other end of the lab talking on the phone.
"Yeah," he replied with a slight smile. "It's one of the few pieces of art that actually speaks to me." He wasn't sure if that was a good thing since it was an abstract of the human body. He'd probably been at this job too long, even though it had only been a few years. Angela smiled in return as she set down the skulls, not judging his comment. Reid was unsure of what else to say, small talk was not one of his strong points. That was reciting any book he had read and amusing the team with his physics magic. He noticed what she was working on and was intrigued. Not that it was hard to intrigue him. "So how does this work exactly?" he asked as he walked over to where she was scanning in the skulls.
"I scan in all the specs of the skull, including the facial markers indicated by Zack and Bren, and then using my custom program I can give them a face," she replied. Reid nodded, amazed at the technology before him.
"Hey Reid, you think you can help us plot out how the bodies got dumped?" asked Morgan as the rest of his team walked in the room. JJ, who had just hung up her phone, walked over to the group as well.
"Yeah, sure," he replied, turning away from Angela's desk. They walked back over to where they were set up.
"Time of death was 8 pm," added Emily as he studied a map.
"Which means that his killing workshop would have to be close to both locations since he would only have an hour to transport the body, dump it at the site, and leave without being detected," Reid stated. "With the amount of traffic that is always in these areas, I would say that he has to live within 15 minutes of the crime scenes."
"How's it going in here?" asked Hodgins as he walked into the room about fifteen minutes later, although he was pretty much ignored by the agents focusing on the task at hand. He walked over to Angela, who was also busy at work.
"Bored?" she teased, knowing that he had nothing else to work on. There hadn't been any discernable evidence left on the bodies for him to work on besides the insects.
"Just didn't feel comfortable leaving you alone with so many FBI agents, didn't want them brain washing you," he jested back, only to have Angela roll her eyes in response. "Actually, Brennan and Zack should be in here shortly with their results. I wanted to see how they use their supposed science to come up with the killer."
"You know, Booth does something similar and is pretty accurate, you should have a little more faith," she replied as she finished developing the faces.
"Thanks, Angela," replied Booth, walking into the room with the rest of the doctors of the Jeffersonian. "Go ahead Bones."
Brennan walked over to Angela and gave her the specifications about the victims. The rest could see Angela grimace as the details were told to her. Once they were done, Angela turned on her holographic display and Brennan began. "First victim was a Caucasian male, approximately 5'10", and between 20 – 25 years old. No underlying physical ailments. The second victim was also a Caucasian male, approximately 6'1", and also between 20 – 25 years old. There were also no underlying physical ailments." Angela put of digital projections of the bodies.
"Wow," whispered JJ as the group walked over to the high-tech machine. "This is enough to make Garcia jealous."
"Who's Garcia?" asked Zack.
"Our computer analyst back at Quantico," answered Morgan.
"Both victims were injected with a large dose of phenotripticol," Brennan continued.
"What's that?" asked Emily.
"It's a drug used to subdue patients during a psychotic episode. In large doses like the victims received, it causes a state of paralysis, rendering the person immobile although they are completely conscious. Basically, dead but not dead," replied Reid. He didn't notice the looks from the scientists in the room. Some shocked, others amused, that he knew that information.
"Oh God," muttered Angela. "So they were alive when all that was done to them?" This was quickly becoming the most disturbing case they had seen in a while.
"Yes," replied Brennan, continuing. "The victims were injected with the drug and then each had bones broken, in the arm and the in the leg. The first victim had his left tibula and right humerus broken; the second had his right femur and both the ulna and radius in the left arm broken." Angela let the machine run through a simulation of the bone breaks. Just about everyone winced when the femur was broken on the second victim. "The victims then received a variety of cuts, with what appears to be a serrated knife, around the body."
"There were several on the limbs, but also across the torso, all of varying depth. None were deep enough to cause death on their own, but the blood loss was significant. However, not enough to kill them, at least not promptly," added Cam since she was the expert on flesh as Angela added that to the simulation.
"Before the blood loss killed them, they were then lit on fire. By this point they probably would have pasted out from the pain. And lastly, a single gunshot wound to the head. That would be my official cause of the death," Brennan finished. The simulation ran its course. The BAU team exchanged looks; seeing the recreation put a new spin on how they usually ran through the death of their victims. It made it all the more real and more disturbing.
"The bullets were recovered. They appear to be from a small handgun," added Zack. He lifted a bag with the bullets and handed them to Booth.
"These are from a M9 pistol. The Army uses those," Booth commented after studying them for a minute. He didn't really like there this might be heading.
"Gives us a connection to the military," stated Hotch.
"Rendering his victims powerless and then torturing them is key to his methodology. Then he displays them around the capital," commented Morgan, receiving nods from his team.
"And he appears to be in control, almost methodical, and has a set order of procedures, organized. He knows what he wants to do to the victims and the precise order, making the torture as long and as painful as possible. Yet he moves onto the next victim at a rapid pace, almost as if he needs the body count to be high as part of his message," added Emily.
"It's a start, but we still need more," stated Gideon.
"I've got their faces," stated Angela. They turned back to the holographic display as she loaded the first victim's image, going through the stages of the skeleton, adding the muscle, and then the actual face.
"How accurate is this?" asked Hotch as they studied the 3D image of a Caucasian male with dark brown hair and brown eyes.
"There's a small degree of artistic interpretation, but Angela has never steered us in the wrong direction," stated Brennan, sending her friend a slight smile.
Gideon nodded, impressed. Angela then put up the image of the second victim, who had blond hair and blue eyes. "Get these to Garcia, Morgan. They have faces now, let's get them names."
"Do you have digital files of these that I can send?" Morgan asked Angela. She nodded as they walked back to her computer.
"Why not just run it through the system we have? We have access to the FBI database," questioned Hodgins.
"Garcia has access to more than just the FBI database. If there is a photo or video of you that was made public, no matter how small, she can find it and then your entire life story," answered Emily.
"So Big Brother," replied Hodgins with a smirk. He should have known.
"Actually, Garcia would be able to do that with or without government access. Just be glad she works for us," added Reid.
"I was beginning to thing you forgot about me." Garcia's cheery, flirtatious voice interrupted them. Morgan had put her on speakerphone.
"Oh you know I'd never forget my baby girl," Morgan teased back. Garcia giggled.
"What do you need, peaches?" she asked. The Jeffersonian group exchanged looks of amusement as they continued. Well, Booth, Cam, Angela, and Hodgins did. Zack and Brennan were a little confused.
"I'm sending you digital projections of what the victims should have looked like," he replied as Angela clicked 'send' on her computer.
"And you need their identities and entire history, on it. Want what they last ate too?" she coyly replied, causing the BAU team to grin. She always brightened their usually dark investigations.
"Check and see if they have any link to politics or the military," added Reid.
"Oh, well, hello my dear Reid. Morgan, you didn't tell me I was on speakerphone. Now what is that hottie Agent Booth going to think of me?" she scolded. JJ and Emily chuckled slightly as Booth now looked a little flustered yet still managed a smirk. Figures that in her boredom she looked up with whom they were working.
"Sorry, gorgeous. Did you get the files?" asked Morgan.
"Just got them. I'm starting the search as we speak," she replied.
"Is there anything we can do until that?" asked Cam.
"No. Until we have that information and have a full grasp on the victimology our profile is incomplete," answered Hotch.
"Well then, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving," stated Booth with a grin, getting over his slight embarrassment a moment earlier.
"Wong Fu's?" asked Hodgins. Booth nodded.
"What do you say?" he asked Hotch and Gideon, making sure to not step on his superiors' toes. Hotch looked at Gideon who shrugged.
"Sounds good," replied Hotch, acknowledging that his team needed food as well.
"You're going to Wong Fu's?" questioned Garcia, still on the phone because Morgan forgot to hang up. "That's just not fair. Derek Morgan, I demand that you bring me back something. Syd knows that I like."
"You find that information and I'll take you there myself," Morgan replied.
"Oh, don't try to challenge me because you know you'll just lose," Garcia teased back.
"Okay, mama, call me when you've got something." Morgan hung up and looked back up at the rest. "So, what's Wong Fu's?"
***
Chapter Five: Food and Bonding
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The group pulled up to a small Chinese restaurant and climbed out of their three SUVs. As they climbed out, everyone could hear Morgan teasing Reid.
"JJ, do you have a rubber band with you this time?" he asked only to get a bunch of laughter from the group of profilers.
"Shut up Morgan," Reid glared, even though he was smiling. It was a pretty funny meal in New York when he thought about it. He probably had left more food on the floor than he had managed to eat before they got called to another crime scene.
"So what makes this place so special?" asked JJ as they entered. Booth was in the lead and a tall African-American man in a plaid shirt gestured to a back room. As they were on their way he had called to warn that it was going to be a much larger group.
"The food is great, particularly if you don't order," answered Zack.
"Wait, what? Say that again," asked Morgan as they reached their table and sat down. Whether planned or not, the groups separated into their own semi circles except for that Reid and Zack sat next to each other on one end and Booth and Hotch on the other.
"You don't order, Syd just brings you the food," added Angela.
"He knows what you want better than you do," finished Booth. "Just trust us." Before anyone else had a chance to comment, the man from behind the bar and one of his waitresses came in with a few trays of food and drinks.
"Hey Syd," Booth greeted. "Had to shove us in the back?"
"I didn't want you guys flashing dead bodies at the rest of my customers," Syd replied as he finished passing out drinks.
"Hey, we only did that once," countered Hodgins. Syd shook his head as he handed out food to the squints and Booth.
"That was enough," he stated and then turned to the others. Garcia had told him a lot about them. "Agent Hotchner?" he gestured to Hotch, making sure he had it right. Hotch nodded and Syd handed him his food. He then proceeded around the table and handed them their food, receiving grins and surprised looks along the way. How does he know what they want? That was until he reached Reid, although the food was correct.
"Um…" Reid started, raising his hand, but Syd stopped him by handing him a fork before he could say anything else. "Thanks." Syd smiled as the rest of the profilers and even some of the Jeffersonian group laughed at his expense.
"He really is good," commented Hotch.
"Garcia must have told him," Reid muttered, although the annoyance didn't reach his eyes. At least he'd actually get to eat all his food this time.
"This is amazing," commented JJ. "How do you do it?" she asked Syd. He simply winked and left, leaving it a mystery. The table fell silent for a minute as they all began to eat. Or until Brennan finally asked the question that had been bothering her for a while.
"So how exactly does this profiling work? Isn't it all guess work?" she asked as she took a bite of her lo mein.
"Bones!" exclaimed Booth, slightly annoyed.
"What? You said I could ask!" she replied.
"You could have used a little tact," he stated, shaking his head.
"No, it's okay," replied Gideon with a slight smile. "She's a pure scientist and what we do isn't. Nothing that involves understanding the human psyche, human emotion, really is."
"We use precedent from serial killers and other offenders that we've studied and apply that knowledge to the study of human behavior and psychology to develop a profile of the unsub we are looking for. It's not hard science, but it's very effective," added Reid.
"So you can tell what a person is like just by looking at them?" asked Hodgins. The group nodded.
"Basically, although it's not always perfect," replied Emily.
"Okay," replied Hodgins, crossing his arms. "Tell me about myself." Booth shook his head; he should have seen that coming. The profilers looked at Gideon, letting him make the decision on whether or not to play this game. Gideon studied Hodgins for a second and then smiled.
"You're incredibly well educated, partly because you come from a wealthy family, although you usually never try to flaunt that detail. In fact, you try to hide it at all costs. You chose to study entomology because insects, spores, and dirt can't lie and mislead you, a behavior you probably witnessed in your family. Lies and manipulation are another reason why you don't trust the government and why you grab on to every conspiracy theory there is, though I bet in your mind you know that majority of those are lies as well. You're dedicated to your job and your friends, but sometimes your convictions can get in the way of that," Gideon replied. Everyone at the other end of the table sat there for a second, stunned. All of that fit Dr. Jack Hodgins to a tee. After a second, Hodgins opened his mouth to argue against it, not ready to give in, but Gideon continued. "Oh and even though you talk a big game about being with women, you are actually feel a little awkward around them sometimes, which is why are you incredibly grateful that Miss Montengero here seems to understand that and cares for you in return."
Angela laughed after that. "Well, I think that pretty much sums you up," she teased. Hodgins rolled his eyes, defeated.
"Quite impressive," added Zack.
Brennan nodded, "I agree." There was a chance that they could have looked up most of that information before meeting them, but she decided to let it be. For now. "So is that why you needed the exact cause of death of these victims?"
"Yes," Hotch replied. "In order to get an idea of what is going on in the head of our unsub, we need to know what he does to the victims and everything about who they were or why they were chosen. Without victimology, we can't truly understand what drives the unsub, why they do what they do."
Brennan nodded. When she thought about it, it was basically the same as Booth listening to his gut. She was starting could believe that, even though she still maintained that he could just read body language and was not actually getting a feeling in his abdomen. Yet if she was willing to give that a try, then she supposed that she was willing to give the profilers a try. "Booth, don't you do something similar?"
Booth smiled, "Sorta. I can get a good feeling about whether or not we have the right guy, but I don't think I'm at their level."
"Don't sell yourself short," countered Morgan. "All FBI agents have the basic profiling skills; we are just specialists in it." Booth smiled slightly, taking the complement. The group fell silent again, digging into their food.
After a few minutes, Booth decided it was quickly turning into an awkward silence. He knew the squints some times have a hard time thinking of anything to talk about that's not work related. Or in Bones' case, she liked to pick inconvenient timing for topics. With that in mind, he decided to attempt to break the uncomfortable mood developing. "So my friend in Reno walks into this bar that has a 'hiring' sign posted in the window. He walks up to the owner and tells him he's here for the job. The owner looks at him and tells him he's completely wrong for the job. They're looking for a bodyguard for the bar because they have around seven fights a night. But my friend argues, saying that even though he's small he's really tough. The owner says, 'okay, give me an example of how tough you are.' So he tells him about how he was in a rodeo the previous weekend and a bull bucked him, ripping his left hand clean off. But he grabbed his hand and sewed it on himself backstage and went out in the fourth goal and won the rodeo. The owner paused and then said, 'wow, that is tough. You've got the job.' In his excitement my friend offered two thumbs up and said 'Alright!'" He held out his two hands to gesture it, except the left hand was actually pointing down.
The group slightly laughed. "That has got to be one of the sadist jokes I've ever heard," teased Morgan with a grin. They didn't notice that it seemed to take Zack and Reid a second to get the joke. Brennan looked completely lost.
"I don't know what that means," Brennan replied and Booth just shook his head.
"He sewed his hand on upside down," he replied.
Brennan nodded, "oh. Well considering the unlikelihood of him being actually able to do that…"
"Honey, just let it go," stated Angela, patting her friend on the shoulder. The group exchanged smiles. They continued to eat and the conversation became a little more lighthearted. After a few minutes, Zack decided to take this opportunity to try and get to know the man sitting next to him. They appeared to be quite similar even though they studied different things.
"So are you more of an applied or a theoretical physicist?" he asked Reid, remembering what he had degrees in. Reid looked up at him from his food and then back down, thinking.
"Probably more theoretical, why?" he replied.
Zack shrugged, "I was just curious." Reid nodded and smiled. "Hey, you know what they say right? Applied physicists are from Venus and…"
"And theoretical physicists wonder why it rotates in the opposite direction," Reid finished, grinning. The pair chuckled slightly at the joke, as did Brennan. The rest exchanged glances. Leaving their two geniuses together might be dangerous.
"Wait a minute, Bones," injected Booth, looking at her. "You found that funny?"
"What?" she replied, confused. "It's an amusing way to look at how people in the same field approach the subject differently." Booth sighed.
"Well, it looks like I got here just in time." A cheery voice came from the doorway. They all looked up, Morgan the first to react.
"Mama? What are you doing here?" he asked as the woman, whom the squints figured out to be Garcia, walked over to him and sat down between him and JJ.
"What? I can't be let out of my dungeon once and a while?" she teased as Syd brought her food. "I didn't think you'd remember to bring me food since you'd be off chasing bad guys when you're finished eating," she added.
"Do you have anything for us?" asked Hotch.
"Is that doubt I hear in our leader's voice? Of course I have what you need," she replied and opened her bag. She handed them two files and they passed them out so that Reid, JJ and Morgan were looking at one and Emily, Gideon, and Hotch were looking at the other with Booth looking over their shoulders. "You, as always, were right Reid. They both were in the military, same unit actually. Your victims were Corporal James Righten and Private First Class Kirk Thomlinson. They just came back from Iraq one month ago."
"Anything alarming in their service records?" asked Morgan as he studied the file on Thomlinson.
"Nope. Both seemed to be all in all good soldiers, good men. Their addresses are in there. Thomlinson was married and his wife had filed a missing persons report. Righten was single and there was nothing reported about him," Garcia replied.
"Great work, Garcia," replied Hotch, closing the folder. Good thing she showed up towards the end of the meal, they actually got to eat before running off.
"I know," Garcia smirked, taking a bite of her dumpling.
"Okay, Hotch and JJ, why don't you visit their commanding officer, see if there is anything that's not in their file," Gideon stated. The pair nodded. "Morgan, Emily, and Reid take Thomlinson. I'll go check out Righten's place. Booth, you want to come with me?"
"Absolutely," replied Booth. The agents, along with Brennan, stood up to head out.
"How are we supposed to get back to the lab?" asked Angela.
"I'll give you a ride in Ester," replied Garcia. "It'll be a tight fit, but I think we'll manage."
"Whose Ester?" asked Zack.
"Her convertible," replied Reid as they were heading out. "And before she says it, you are to feel honored that she's allowing you to touch it." He smiled at Garcia.
"Good boy," she replied. "Now go and catch this sicko."
***
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