The Loneliest Shade Of Blue ~ Criminal Minds/Bones (Aaron Hotchner x OC)

6.0: Ex-Prosecutor & The Banquet

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Claire stood in the corner of the room, she sighed as she watched Booth and Brennan interrogate Margaret. She opted to not be involved, but she stayed close by to see if she needed to file this as a report for kidnapping. Claire had zoned out before snapping back to reality, she held her notepad and pen up to write down what was necessary. 

"My husband left me because I can't have children." Margaret confessed, "So I took in foster kids." Brennan stared at Margaret, "Like Sean and David Cook?"

"And Charlie, but his name was Nathan at the time..." Margaret gulped and Claire wrote that down in her notepad, Margaret cleared her throat. "I uh, got him as a baby in Pittsburgh when he was just ten days old. His mother was arrested on drug charges and child services brought him to me, I had him for three weeks before the charges were dropped..."

"And you kept him?" Booth asked and Margaret shook her head, "I gave him back, but it nearly killed me to do." Margaret smiled sadly, "I stayed in touch, I bought him things like formula, a stroller, toys, anything. I wanted to make sure he was alright."

TW*****

"Nathan what, Mrs. Sanders?" Booth asked, "What was his last name?" Margaret sniffled, "Nathan Downey." Claire wrote that down in her notes as she continued to listen to Margaret, Margaret sighed. "His mother was a drug addict named Jeannine...I found her Christmas Day, dead on the floor. There was a needle stuck in her arm and I could hear Charlie crying upstairs....so I went up."

Brennan looked at her, "And you took him home?" Margaret smiled sadly, "I looked him in the eyes and promised that I'd never leave him alone again...and he stopped crying, I was so scared. I expected every day for Child Services to come looking for him." 

"He would've ended up back in the system anyway." Brennan sympathized and Margaret had tears down her face, "I meant to keep him safe, to love him...and now he's dead."

Claire finished writing her notes down and Booth looked over at her, she nodded at the door and they walked out. "I can book her for kidnapping." Brennan looked at him shocked, "Booth."

"Look Bones I get that she tried to do that out of the kindness of her heart, but she didn't report a dead body and she stole that baby from his dead mother."

"He would've been in the system again-"

"And he could've went to another family." Booth countered and Brennan glared at him, "A family that may not have loved him as much as that woman loved him." Claire sighed and rubbed her face, "This could go either way..."

"How? Cee, she stole a baby." Booth stared at her and she shook her head, "First off, don't call me Cee. Secondly, that is true but it could be argued...that since the child was never reported missing, it's not kidnapping. She could argue that she found the child and chose to raise it as her own-"

"See Booth? Dr. Kano-"

"Is a Doctor and not a prosecutor, not a lawyer, and not an attorney, not anymore." Booth interrupted and turned serious, "You said for me to not tell you how to do your job, so don't tell me how to do mine if you're no longer with the system. You're not here to defend her so I just need to know, can I book her for kidnapping?"

Claire blinked at him and sighed, "From what I heard...yes. You have a reason and a confession to arrest her for kidnapping Charlie if the story checks out." Booth nodded, "Thank you, that's all I need."

Brennan looked at Booth shocked as he walked away to get the story checked out, Brennan turned to look at Claire. "Dr. Kano-"

"What do you want me to do Temper? She's given a full confession, how do you want me to lie and tell Agent Booth that he can't arrest her?" Claire asked and Brennan opened and closed her mouth, Claire lifted her hand and awkwardly patted Brennan's arm. "I'm sorry, but I'm no longer a prosecutor. He asked for my honest opinion and my honest opinion is...she can be arrested for kidnapping a baby."