-Venus POV-
I went with Booth as Temp continued on the victim. We are in Booth's office talking with the victim's sister. The sister was speaking, "They left this morning, very early, about 5:00 a.m. Donovan is on the swim team. Oh, my Good..." I then ask, "You and your sister were close?" "Yes. When Polina and Carl separated, she and Donovan came to stay with me. This is terrible." Booth then asks, "Can you think of anyone who'd want to hurt your sister?" "It must be Carl. Maybe he was afraid she would take Donovan away from him." "Would she have done that?" "No. Never." "You don't like your brother-in-law?" "He's supposed to be brilliant; I know. But he is also cold, angry. Everything has to be just so." I ask, "Why did Carl and your sister separate?" "Polina said he was having affair. I thought, 'Who'd want him?' But she found credit card receipts from a motel he went to once, sometimes twice a week. When she confronted Carl, he was furious, wouldn't talk about it. So, she left him. Please find Donovan. Find my sister's boy." She held our hands and cried.
Booth and I were now at the company as the CEO Mr. Seward talks, "Carl Decker is not only a disgruntled employee, he's, uh, uh... What-What's the term?" We look over at Ms. Pomeroy, "As a lawyer, the, uh, legal term is, nuts and a pain in the ass..." "Oppositional Defiance Disorder and paranoia is what I read." "Like I said, nuts and a pain in the ass." I then asked, "Where did you read that?" Ms. Pomeroy slides over a file and Booth picks it up as he says, "You had Carl Decker investigated?" She nods, "He's making extremely damaging allegations against the company." Mr. Seward speaks up, "False allegations." Booth then asks, "Can you think of anyone who'd want to kill his wife and kidnap his son?" She then says, "It wasn't us." I then pipe in, "He didn't say it was." "Oh, please. We have to top your list of suspects." Mr. Seward cuts in, "Look, we-we have an in-house system for dealing with whistle-blowers. We encourage it. I served in Vietnam, Agent Booth, Dr. Venus. I saw what soldiers see. If I read correctly Agent Booth, you know what I mean." "Army. 75th Regiment." "Rangers lead the way. I would never risk the lives of soldiers by knowingly providing them with defective armor, and I welcome Carl Decker's appearance at the grand jury, because he is wrong." Ms. Pomeroy speaks, "Carl Decker did brilliant work for us, but he alienated everyone he worked with. You should look for your murderer and kidnapper elsewhere." I then speak with a smile, "Well, I hope you are both right about that. We wouldn't like to put our brothers and sisters on risk like that, wouldn't we Ranger." "No, we wouldn't."
We made our way back to the lab as Temp comes over to us, "Where have you both been?" I spoke first, "I was with Ranger." Booth then speaks, "I'm a field agent. We were out in the field. What did you find out?" "There was a piece of an ear in the victim's mouth. It looks like she bit it off." I pipe in "I knew that part." She nods and asks, "Have you found anything?" "A lot. No reason for the attitude." "Well, I beg your pardon?" "Well, it's not like you've been doing all the work, and I've been kicking back." "Okay, what have you both found out?" Booth begins, "The victim and her husband were having marital problems. She found motel receipts. I got the security tapes from the motel parking lot. I thought Angela could use her fat recognition program on them." "Uhh... Ranger it's mass recognition program." "Whatever, maybe we'll be able to find out who Decker was seeing behind his wife's back. Is Angela in her office?"
I was up on the platform with Temp as Zack spoke, according to the FBI pathologist, there was no smoke in the victim's lungs." Temp then asks, "Meaning?" "The victim was already dead when she was burned. There was clotting in the lungs, as well." I look down at the bones, "That's troublesome." "If the fire was hot enough... " "Uh, no, Zack, for clotting to occur, superheated air would have to be drawn into the lungs." "Which wouldn't happen if she was already dead." I nod, "Something else caused the clotting." Booth then comes up, "Angela's ready with the tapes." Zack continues, "The broken teeth could have resulted from particularly violent seizures." Booth then asks, "Epilepsy?" "There are several alternate causes of acute tonic muscular contractions. Poisoning, a precipitous drop in blood sugar... "
Ms. Pickering then speaks up, "Would this be a good time to speak with Mr. Addy?" I was about to speak when Temp cut me off, "Considering you had interrupt him to ask, probably not. Take Hodgins." Hodgins then speaks, "I demand a lawyer." "I don't need Dr. Hodgins. I need Mr. Addy." "If I demand a lawyer, will I get out of it, too?" Temp then speaks, "In that case, we all demand lawyers." I sigh, "Could you please just wait for Mr. Addy?" She nods as I look back at Zack. "I didn't feel right calling you by your last name... I like Zack or Zackaroo better." I nod to myself as Hodgins speaks, "Why aren't you interviewing me?" "It won't be necessary." She leaves as he turns back to us, "I knew it. They think my dossier is complete. They think they know everything about me. Well, they're wrong." Zack then speaks, "Be happy they're leaving you alone." "Yeah, I'm happy. Don't worry, I'm happy."
Booth then speaks, "The ear you found there's-there's no way it's her-her own ear, right?" Temp asks, "How could it be her ear?" "That's what I'm saying." "What?" "It's definitely not her ear." "How could she bite off her own ear?" Hodgins then speaks, "Chromosomes tests make it a male ear." Temp then asks, "Seizures?" Zack answers as I think, "Seizures could be due to low blood sugar, electrocution, infection, head injury, uh, brain tumor, a sudden lack of oxygen in the brain..." I scared everyone as I jumped, "I got it. It's electrocution." Booth then asks, "What?" "It makes so much sense and why it feels so familiar. The broken, teeth, the fractures, the clots in her lungs. She was electrocuted. Tortured to be more specific." Zack then adds, "That much damage to the teeth could only result from multiple violent spasms." I nod as Temp asks, "For what?" Booth then answers, "To find out where her husband was."
I was walking to Angie's office as I heard Hodgins shout, "I am dangerous!" I look over to him and shouted back, "Yeah you are Hodgins! Keep up that motivation!" He looks at me giving him a thumbs up and walk into Angie's office with her already speaking, "Carl Decker is 1.7 meters tall and weighs 58.2 kilograms." Booth then adds, "An ultra-marathoner." "Be glad he's so lean. It should make him easier to find." I looked at the screen showing a man, "Not him." I made them jump a bit as Angie spoke, "I talked to Pickering." Temp asks, "Was it awful?" "Actually, I found it cathartic." I look at Angie with a weird look but shrugged it off. As Booth speaks, "Well, his head's down. What do you think?" Temp looks, "No. He doesn't move like a runner." Angie then speaks, "She knows a lot about us. It's creepy." Booth then adds, "It's confidential." "Couldn't you get the file?" "Probably." I add in, "Not all of mine though." He looks at me as I shrug as Temp speaks. "Then it's not confidential."
We all look at the screen and Booth speaks up, "That's him. That's Carl Decker. Fast forward. See if he shows up with anyone else. Back up. Freeze on that guy. Can you zoom in?" Angie then speaks, "Hmm. A secret life can cause marital strife." Temp then speaks, "He was having an affair with a man?" I speak, "Sometimes, people realize they are not who they really want to be." Booth then speaks, "All right simmer down. For all we know, he's meeting a hit man." Angie pipes in, "Doesn't look like a hit man." "Just print the picture. I'll put the word out, see if he's in any of the Bureau databases." Temp then asks, "And when we find him?" "Haul him in, check to see if he's got both ears. Let you know what happens."
Temp and I were walking with Booth to her office as she speaks, "If Decker's as smart as they say, how will they catch him?" Booth says, "Forget Decker. Our job is to find his son." "If Decker doesn't show up to testify..." "We can't assume they'd let the boy live." "Surely KBC isn't going..." "Bones, we don't know who hired these guys- KBC, military, disgruntled shareholders, or it could be someone we haven't even though of yet." Temp and I smile at Booth, and he looks at us, "What?" "You just told Temp not to jump to a conclusion." "No offense intended." Temp then speaks, "No, you were right. It's just I usually get to tell you." "Our relationship has taken a whole new turn." I chuckle as Zack comes to us standing right next to me, "480 volts, 350 amps." I ask, "Polina Decker?" "That's the voltage it would take to cause muscle spasms so strong they would fracture bone." Temp then says, "That's not household current."
I nod, "They used a generator." Temp then looks at Zack, "Zack you are smart." Booth then cuts in, "Hey, Zack, Zack! This guy, Decker, he's like you. He's in the whole stratosphere, IQ-wise." "What's his IQ?" "It's 163." I chuckle, "Sorry Ranger, but he is not close to our amazing Zacks mind." Zack then says, "If he's in the stratosphere, I'm in the ionosphere." "Look, the point is that Decker escapes the US Marshals, tries to contact his wife and he finds out she's been killed. What does he do next?" "His IQ is not a variable." Temp adds, "Intelligence doesn't determine what you do so much as how effectively you do it." "What he'll do depends on what kind of person he is." I look up at Zack, "Sometimes I have the urge to kiss you when figure out something like in these situations." He looks down at me, "Really?! I don't mind. You can do that whenever you want." I nod learning this new information as Booth speaks, "Well, you know, he's a loving father, okay, estranged from the mother of his child."
We look at Booth as Zack steps up to him and asks, "Sound like anyone you know?" "You want to just back out of my personal space there, buddy?" I grab Zack and pull him closer to me and away from Booth as I say, "Zack's right. If you were in Decker's position, what would you do?" He nods and starts leaving with Temp behind him. I am about to follow when I stop and pull Zack in and give him a kiss to his forehead and quickly walk out telling him, "You have the most brilliant mind Zack and I love it." I waved at him as he sighs and waves back.
We were in the car as Booth talks in his phone, "Bucar-4 with accessories proceeding to 4413 L Street, KBC Systems, requesting local cowboys for backup, possible 10-31." Temp then asks, "Did you just refer to us as an accessory?" "You asked me what I would do if I were Decker. They kill my wife; they take my little boy. I'd go the source of the problem and take him out." "Take him out... Oh." We make it to the company and Booth starts talking, "FBI. Seward in his office? Secure the building, nobody in or out. Usually, I enjoy both your company, Bones, Blueberry, but, you know, it's times like this that you give me just a little something extra to worry about." Temp asks, "You enjoy our company?" As we were about to make it to the office, we see Ms. Pomeroy on the floor with blood dripping down her nose. Temp went to go check on her seeing that she was just knocked out as Booth, and I pull out our guns. Booth takes the lead and I make sure to stand in front of Temp. Booth opens the door with us behind him, "FBI, Mr. Decker. Drop your weapon. Now!" "Nothing's changed. Make the call or I'll blow your head off." Mr. Seward then speaks, "He wants to me to call his son's kidnappers." "Tell them to release my boy or you die. It's that simple. Either of you can shoot me after that. I don't care. I don't know..." I speak, "Mr. Decker, Agent Booth and I have excellent shots." "I'm not afraid to die." Mr. Seward pipes in, "Shoot him! For God's sakes, shoot him!" Booth speaks, "Mr. Seward, please shut up!" I continue, "What you're trying to do- save your son- that's not going to happen if you die here tonight." Temp nods and continues, "Be rational, Mr. Decker. What you were planning has failed. You have to adapt." We all stand there not making a move as he asks, "Adapt how? All I want is for my son to live. You people just took his best chance." He drops the gun on the table and Temp looks at me and I nod at her covering for her as she gets the gun.
We were at the FBI department sitting in a conference room with Mr. Decker and his attorney as Director Cullen spoke first, "You want to give me one good reason why I shouldn't charge you with attempted murder, Mr. Decker." "You think I went after Seward out of vengeance?" "Looks like vengeance." "KBC Systems hired people to kill my wife and kidnap my child. Think rationally for a moment." Temp then speaks in, "That makes sense. If KBC Systems is behind the kidnapping, then Seward would be the person to call it off." "Rational human being... how'd you find yourself amongst these people?" Booth then speaks, "Sir, we are trying to help." "Excellent. Hold your gun to Trent Steward's head and force him to let my son go." Director Cullen speaks, "There's no compelling evidence that Trent Seward was the man who ordered the kidnapping of your son." "I personally calculated the penetration tolerance for the combat flak jackets. The company found my calculations to be "excessively conservative. 30 soldiers died. Trent Seward will do anything to prevent me from testifying. He or someone working for him kidnapped my child and killed my wife." The attorney then speaks, "If you want to get Trent Seward, go into that grand jury and tell them what you know." "And the kidnappers will kill my boy." Cullen then cuts in, "All due respect for what you're going through emotionally, sir, uh, Mr. Weeks is not wrong." "This is my son. I love him. And if there's even a slight chance that I can save his life by shutting up, then that's what I'll do- shut the hell up." Mr. Weeks then speaks "And what about the soldiers?" "Analytically, I understand that many lives outweigh the one. But I cannot trade my son's life." "Have you considered that by not testifying, your wife will have died in vain?" Cullen then cuts in, "Shut it up, Weeks. If you people had protected Mr. Decker and his family properly, we wouldn't even be here." "Let's go." "The only way that I will testify... is if I see you with my son." Booth stands up, "Mr. Decker, you and Donovan... do you have a code word? Something to let him know that you sent me?" "Paladin. Tell Donovan, Paladin." Cullen stands, "Paladin... defender of the faith, a protector. Suits you, Booth." I sigh as Temp speaks, "You know what? You tough guys are all very sentimental." I pipe in, "That's everyone, but we all chose to show it differently."
We are back at the lab as Hodgins speaks to us. "I ran the particulates through the gas chromatograph and found the pollen of Eagrostis curvula, more commonly known as weeping lovegrass." Temp then asks, "And where does one find weeping love?" I answer, "Weeping love is found worldwide, but weeping lovegrass- that's found in South Africa." I high-fived Hodgins as Temp looks at us, "Anything else?" Hodgins nods, "Yeah, traces of automotive-grade asbestos. The guy didn't have very good aural hygiene." Ms. Pickering then comes up to us, "Dr. Brennan." "What, now? You've got to be kidding." Hodgins then adds, "Take me. I'll waive the lawyer. I have a few surprises in me! Tell that to your superiors at the NSA." I look over to see that Temp is calling Booth, "Booth, we're looking for a one-eared South African. Does that mean something? Well, he might be a mechanic of some kind. He had traces of what is probably brake pad in his ear. Well, any number of ways- most likely his hand comes in contact with the asbestos, and then he scratches his ear. Hello? Are you still there? What's the matter?" She looks at her phone as I ask, "What happened Temp?" "Booth his on his way, someone sent Donovan's Decker finger." I nod, "All right then let's get everything prepared when he gets here." She nods and we both start preparing.
We are looking at the finger as Temp speaks, "An eight-year-old boy- yes, that's consistent with what we're looking at. You should really send this to an FBI pathologist." "They'd give me fingerprints and DNA. We already know who the finger belongs to. I-I need more." "Like what?" "You gave me a South African mechanic from a chunk of burnt ear; do it again. Do it better. Do it fast. What? Start. Come on, do what you do." "You're kind of worked up." "What you see is a bunch of facts, but what I see is a terrified little boy with his finger cut off. Now, is he even still alive?" I get Temp to stand, and I take her seat, "Well Ranger if you want fast, I will give it to you. Blood saturation levels in the surrounding tissues are high; his heart was still beating when they removed his finger. Which means he's alive." Booth nods as Temp asks, "Who does this? Cuts a finger off a eight-year-old boy?" I nod, "They're Mercenaries, professionals. They don't feel a thing. Sadly, we can't relate to them. We feel things." Temp then speaks, "I'm a professional, too. I do better work if I only see the finger and not the child. That doesn't mean I'm like them." "I know sis. But you use your professionalism for good, and because you care. They don't." Booth nods adding, "I also know is that they made a big mistake sending us that finger." Temp then asks, "Why, because it made you mad?" "No, because you're both going to use it to catch them. So, gather up your squint squad. Let's get to work." I smile at Booth, "Ahhh, Ranger, I already beat you to that. I already called them up 5 minutes ago. They should all get here in a minute or two." "When did you even call them? We were here the whole time." "Hey, you said you wanted this fast... So don't question the magic I put on for you both. This is why I am the only berry squint." "Yes, you are Blueberry. No, one will be able to reach your level."
I walk with Hodgins and Zack as we found some new information as Booth walked up to us. "What do you got?" I looked at him and answered, "The finger was severed using a hatchet on a wooden surface." "Cutting board?" I shake my head as Zack answered, "No, older, unsealed, pine." Hodgins adds, "I'm thinking like a workbench in a mechanic shop." "Why?" "Well, there's traces of lead and methyl tertiary-butyl ether on the bone. The nail was bitten to the quick, by the way." "Kid was nervous. You would be, too." Zack spoke, "MTBEs have added gasoline since the 70s." "I add, "But there's lead here as well. Leaded gasoline was phased out between 1975 and 1986." I look at Booth as he got something in mind, "Asbestos from brake pads, lead gasoline, a mechanic bench, you know, plus mother was electrocuted by current from a generator." I quickly cut in jumping a bit, "We're looking for an abandoned gas station or a mechanic shop off the grid." Booth looks at us, "You guys are geniuses." I took a bow and started to follow him as Zack asks, "How do we find that?" Booth walks as he speaks, "I work for the FBI, you idiot." I hold in my laughter as Hodgin speaks, "Way to go, Zack- we went from geniuses to idiots in three seconds." I chuckle and slowly say, "Th.... That.... has to be a.... new record." They looked at me as I quickly walk away trying my best not to laugh as I try catching up to Booth.
As I was following Booth, I get a call. I look down and noticed it was from the government, I froze a bit but still answered it. "Hello, Dr. Venus Brennan here. How may I help you?... Yes sir... I am right here inside the building right now... for Pickering... Yes, I know who Ms. Pickering is... I will do that immediately... It's my pleasure to do this for you sir, after all you have done for me, this just scratches the surface... Have a wonder night sir... Yes... Yes... Thank you. I will text you when it's complete... Bye." I sigh as Booth looks at me curiously and I smile at him. "Could you help me bring some items to Temps office." He nods and asks, "Who was it?" I look at him, "Government stuff. They want me to burn some papers from Ms. Pickering. It seems she got in trouble." He nods, "Why you?" I shrug, "I'm not too sure, it seems they trust me. I mean the government did raise me, sooo..." He nods as we get a metal box that was made to put fire inside and a miniature flamethrower, and some extra metal that I could use to seal up the box. I nod seeing all the materials I need, and Booth helps me carry the box as I carry the rest of the materials as we went inside Temps office.
Temp and Ms. Pickering looks at us weirdly as I smile. "Hello. Sorry to bother you, but I am here to get ride some papers Ms. Pickering has with her." Ms. Pickering looks at me astonished as I still smile. " Ranger you could set that box down right there on the ground. Is it alright if we burn some stuff here Temp?" "Go ahead." "Thanks. Ms. Pickering, could I have all of your papers you have written throughout the day." She nods handing me her papers as I nod putting them in the metal box. "Could you also hand me your pen. Ya 'know just to be safe. You understand right?" She nods and hands me her pen as well. I tossed in the pen inside and turn on the miniature flamethrower on max and start to burn every single thing inside the box until it was unrecognizable. I kept on going until even the pen was all the way melted. I then close the box and used the extra metal and started to melt the box opening together until there was no opening. I nod and set the flamethrower down and picked up the still a bit hot box with gloves as I turned and see Booth got a call. "We might have the kid." Temp and I look at each other and I quickly bid Ms. Pickering a small goodbye and we followed Booth as I was still holding the box.
We were in the car as Booth looked at me briefly and asked, "What are you going to do with the box?" "Oh? I was hopping when this was over, you could take me to see Director Cullen and I could hand it to him so he could send it a specific address I was told to send it to." "Alright. Polina didn't make any calls from her cell phone after she was kidnapped, but nobody turned it off. When she left her coverage area, the cell phone was automatically assigned a new routing tower." Temp then asks, "You could triangulate her position?" "Yeah, to within 75 square miles. There were six abandoned gas stations in that area. There were five urban, one rural. SWAT's gonna check them all out, but I think it's the rural one we want." "Why?" "Cause I used to do this kind of work." "What, rescuing people?" "Or being... the person they needed to be rescued from. If I had a choice, I picked an isolated rural area. This place is perfect. It's an abandoned truck repair depot. The SWAT team will meet us there." I gave Booth a reassuring pat, "It's alright Ranger, I also had done things that I am not proud of either." He nods as Temp asks, "Why don't we ever take my car?" "Do you have bulletproof vests in the trunk?" Temp and I had different answers. Temp said no, while I said yes. They Booth looked at me, "What? I always try to be prepared for anything. It was what I was taught to do." Booth then looks at Temp, "That's why." I then speak up, "Could I go in there with you?" "No... Why?" "Well, Temp would want to go inside, and we both know that we wouldn't allow that, so I think it would be better if I went instead and you would get extra back up." "What type of weaponry do you know how to use?" "Any type. I was taught to use every type of weapon and in different situations or scenery." He thinks for a bit and then sighs... "Fine, but you have to stay close to me, got it." "Yes sir, Ranger."
Booth and I are getting ready as I hand Temp the metal box as a Agent speaks to us. "FLIR imagery gives us three adults within the structure. " Booth then asks, "The boy?" "No reading." I then pipe in, "It's probably because he's small... or hypothermic." "Entirely possible, mam. What's the play?" I look at Ranger as he looks between us, " We go in first, straight for the kid. You guys do what you do." "All right." The agent leaves and Booth looks at me, "Stay behind me Blueberry." "Alright, I got your back Ranger. All the way." "All the way." Temp comes over to us, "What about me?" Booth answers, "Wait outside." "But I don't want to miss anything." "Bones, these guys aren't like anyone else you've come up against. Please. Just be someone you aren't for the next ten minutes, and you hang back. Please." Right before we leave, I look at her and give her big hug. "Don't worry Temp, plus you have a much more important job and that's to keep that metal box safe. Make sure it doesn't go to someone else's hands." She nods and Ranger and I start heading out.
We watch as a man goes inside the building and Booth sends us a signal and we all start heading in. They break down the door and Booth shoots the first person as a second one shoots at Booth, and I turn and shot the second man down. The third man comes out and an agent shoots him down as well. I look down to the side seeing Donovan under a table and I nudge Booth and point to Donavan. He looks and sees the boy and starts heading straight towards him as I cover him making sure no one else comes popping out from nowhere. Donnovan fights Booth a bit until Booth says the safe word, "Paladin" and the boy trusts Booth and hugs Booth. We rush out when the ambulance gets here, and they take Donovan from Booths arms. Temp comes running to us and sighs out of relief. We are standing by Donovan as they are wrapping up his hand and his dad is coming out of the car in tears. Donovan then looks at us, "Is my dad crying?" Booth then answers, "I think your dad's crying because he's happy. He's happy he got you back." Mr. Decker comes running to him giving him hugs and kisses as I smile. I look over at Temp and give her a side hug as I also take the box away from her into my own arm as she does the same.
We walk over to Booth as he finished talking to someone as Temp asks, "You think KBC hired the mercenaries?" "We'll let the grand jury figure that out. We did our job." "It's not often I get to help save someone before they die." I shake my head, "That's not true sis." Booth then continues, "Hell, Bones, every time you catch a murder you save his next victim." "This is different." "Yeah. Still glad you don't have any kids?" "Yeah. Why?" "You were looking at that boy and his dad. I just thought you'd change your mind." I sigh adding, "I just hoped to see little nieces and nephews running around my office or hearing them call me the cool aunt. That would've been nice." I nod looking off the distance thinking how nice that would be as Temp continues. "No. Still glad you do have a kid?" "Gladder today than yesterday." I sigh, "Well, I officially make Parker my nephew." Booth then looks at me, "When did you get to decide that?" "Right now. Don't worry I will be an amazing aunt. As an aunt I always know what my nephew will be doing." "Hmmm. Right." "I do. I know that you will be teaching him kickball on Saturday." "How do you know that?" "Parker told me... why?" "How did he get your number?" "He wrote it down last time when we talked with your phone." "I will see you both on Saturday after you do your kickball thing at breakfast." "You don't even know where we are eating for breakfast." "Parker will tell me later." He just sighs as we get back in the car and head to the FBI headquarters for so I could deliver the box to Sir Cullen.
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DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN "BONES". IT IS OWNED BY JOSEPHSON ENTERTAINMENT, BY HART HANSON. I ONLY CLAIM MY CHARACTER VENUS BRENNAN. I ALSO DON'T OWN ANY OF THE IMAGES. THANK YOU.