-Venus POV-
Temp, Booth and I get to the crime scene as Temp asks, "Why did they call in the FBI to Little Salvador?" Ranger answers, "Well, you know, car's got Virginia plates, it crossed state line. Then there's the suspected gang member, then there's RICO to deal with. What... Bones, do you really want to know?" "No, I was just using it as an excuse to make conversation and reestablish our connection." "What?" "Well, I read a book about improving work relationships. It's not fair to expect you to tell us everything." "I appreciate the effort, Bones." I pipe in, "My relationship to the both of you is so well and I am so happy that you are both making an effort to have a better relationship between the two of you." We walk and look around as Temp speaks, "It's like they recreated their country here. Right down to being terrified of the police." I sigh as Booth speaks, "Yeah, well, a lot of these people, they're undocumented. They get nervous around law enforcement. What do we got?" The officer then speaks as we walk towards the arrested person. "He ran the stop sign. I pulled him over, he tried to run." Booth looks at him then starts speaking up, "Oh, look at this, huh? A Mara Muerte tattoo. It's one of the most feared gangs in the area. No wonder he was chauffeuring a dead body around, huh? Couldn't just join the Boys Club, pal?"
I look around as Temp asks, "And we're here because...?" The police officer shows us to the back of the trunk. "Routine inspection of the vehicle... I found this." Temp and I look at the remains and I speak up first as Temp goes in and touches it. "Vertical brow ridge suggests female. Recently dug up, looks like." Temp nods and looks over at Booth "Could you hold his hands up, please? We should analyze the dirt on his hands and compare it to the dirt on the shovel and the remains." I jump, "Oh, I got that. I could take the samples and send it over to Hodgins later, so one of us could figure it out." She nods as Booth speaks, "Where was she buried?" Temp then translates in a kind of bad Spanish, "Sabes donde esta enterrada? Por que la desenterraste?" I chuckle as Booth looks between the two, "Great. Now he's ignoring us in two languages. " I shrug, "Maybe he could only do sign language." I start doing sign language asking the same question, when I stopped midway as he gave me a funny look. "He doesn't know sign language. Yeah, he was just ignoring you Ranger." Temp then asks Well, Where's the nearest cemetery?" The officer answers, "Closest one I know about is Holy Rood, but it's a good ten miles from here."
I sigh as Temp and turns to the public, "Disculpe... Nos podrian ayudanos? Es que queremos saber se hay un cermenterio aqui?" We watch as the people leave the scene as Booth speaks, "Maybe your Spanish is a little rusty." I shake my head, "Nah, she said the words right, but she did sound bad, right?" I look over at the suspect and he just nods. As Booth looks at this interaction, "But you do answer her question." "Hey, at least you know he knows English." Temp ignores our statements and speaks, "They come from a place where getting involved gets you killed." I sighed knowing she was right. Right then we start hearing gun shots coming towards us. I start pushing the two to cover as the windows broke. We jumped to get down and I jumped towards Temp laying on top of her and covering her with my body as Booth takes his gun out. The car leaves as Booth starts chasing the suspect and Temp and I are still on the ground with me still on top of her. I looked all around to make sure there was no one else and looked down and I roll off her. We both get up slowly as I check her making sure she was okay. "Are you okay Temp?" "Yeah..." before she could ask me the same, I cut her off, "That's good let's go catch up with Ranger." She nods and we head where Booth ran into an alleyway, and we see him alone. I sigh knowing he didn't catch him as he turns and looks at us.
He walks to towards us, "Hey... are you both okay?" I nod, "I think so... But now that the adrenaline has died down, I am getting a stinging sensation on my back and right arm." They both looked at me and Temp takes of my sweater seeing blood coming out from my back in different areas and we all looked at my arm seeing cut on it. Temp then lifts my shirt up from behind and checks it out making sure it wasn't as bad as it seems. She sighs, "It's a good thing you just got skimmed but it still looks like you will need some stitches in some areas, especially your arm." I nod as Temp takes out a cloth that she had in her pocket and wraps it around my arm and tying it to make the bleeding stop. Booth then speaks, "Alright, let's get Blueberry to the hospital and then I will drop both of you off at the lab. We nod and head towards the car as Temp sits in the back with me and makes sure to look over me again just in case, I didn't have any more injuries anywhere else.
We were back in the lab, and I had a wrap around my body for my back as I needed some stiches there and a wrap around my arm also having stiches there. Angie started freaking out when we told her what happened, but she calmed down knowing we were somewhat okay. We are on the platform as Zack was speaking to us. "Well, decomp, insect activity... volatile fatty acid levels in the soil, due to putrefaction... suggest she was buried for approximately six months." Hodgins then adds in, "Typically, gravediggers are necrophiliacs looking for a little action" Angie then adds in, "Um... ew." I chuckle as Zack continues, "Dental exam shows shoveled incisors and striated enamel." Temp the asks, "Indicating?" "Malnutrition. Which is consistent with anthropometrics, suggesting the victim is from Central America." I then added, "The body was found in Salvadoran neighborhood." Hodgins then pipes in, "In Pikeville, Tennessee, a guy dug up the graves of all these people, because he wanted to make sure their bodies were still there. They weren't." I nod intrigued in what he said as Temp speaks, "Make a sketch of the face. I'm not sure if we'll find a match. She might have been undocumented." I pipe in, "Ohh, Boss is an expert in religious iconography. Maybe him and I could be able to determine where this rosary was made." Temp nods and hand me the tray and I shrugged over Angie and we both made our way to her office.
I was sitting in Angie's couch as she was doing some work and I was waiting for Boss to come over so we could look over the rosary together. I was doing some paperwork as Angie speaks up, "So are you seeing anyone right now Ven?" "Hmmm... no I was going out with someone a couple weeks ago, but he was bosting himself too much." "Ahhh... the big ego type of guy. Yeah, I have been with one of those before." I nod "I would like to be with someone who is kind, quirky, hardworking, but can understand me and comfort me when I need it." "Every woman's dream guy." "If only they actually exist." "Oh, what a wonderful world we will be in." I checked the time seeing it was time to change the bandages and I sighed, "Hey Angie, could you help me change my bandages to new ones." "Of course, let me just close the door and shut the blinds really quick. I nod and wait for her to do so as I take out a new pack of bandages.
I was walking around the building making sure everything was running smoothly as I was put on hold from going with Temp and Booth for the investigation. Temp had called me letting me know that the girl was 5 weeks pregnant and that they found another burial where another body was, but it was no longer there. They were now going to see the senator's home and have a look around with Hodgins joining them. I sigh wanting to go with them, but then I see Boss come into the lab and I walked over to him. "Hello Boss. It's wonderful to see you today. I am sorry for calling you here in such a short notice." "It's alright Dr. Venus, you had saved me from a long meeting." I nod, "We had found a rosary earlier and Temp, Hodgins, and Booth found the missing piece of it. We just have to reassemble it and see what we could get out of it." He nods, "Well then lead the way." I nod and we make our way to the examination room.
We had finished our examination and were walking up the platform where Temp and Booth was back. Boss spoke first, "We reassembled the rosary found on the young woman. The carving of fire in the centerpiece is an archetypal symbol found in an area of El Salvador since the Chaparrastique volcano erupted in 1787." Temp then asks us, "So this might indicate where the female victim's from." I nod, "A village called Milagro de la Paz in the southeast of the country." "I was there three years ago, identifying victims of the death squads." I nod as Angie comes up, "I finished the sketch of the woman. She was pregnant, starting over in a new country, so I gave her a smile, made her look hopeful." Temp nods, "Thanks Angela. All right, let's clean the bones so we can find a cause of death." I look over at Zack as he speaks, "I think I just found it." I go over and looked at it and I sighed, "It's a bullet. Looks like steel core, copper jacket. It's military issue. It's the kind of weapons gangs like." Temp then adds, "They escape from the death squads and wind up being killed by the same weapons they were running from."
Temp just came back from finding the suspect named Jose wife and baby. We were in Zack's station with Angie as he speaks, "This is interesting." Angie then cuts in, "Interesting or horrible? Because sometimes it's the same thing with you." Zack continues, "This hole in the sternum. It's definitely not a gunshot wound." I look at it with Temp and I say, "It's a sternal foramen." "I found the same exact thing on the female victim's sternum. It seemed like a meaningless anomaly..." Temp then adds, "It's a hereditary condition. The two victims were related." Zack adds, "Based on their ages... father and daughter? Angie speaks, "So father and daughter buried next to each other, right? Then dug up. But the father is reburied. Why?" Hodgins then suggests, "The gangbanger was probably taking the daughter to be reburied when the cops pulled him over." I nod as Temp speaks, "This is the stuff that Booth is good at. The murky ways of the human heart, all that. " Zack adds in, "We work the hard evidence." "We've used up all the evidence." Temp sighs at Hodgins, "Okay, okay, let's just... You know what? Let's just pretend we're Booth, okay?"
I chuckle at this idea as Hodgins speaks getting all excited, "Oooh, let me try." He then gets into his act as he throws something in the air and catches it and squints pointing at us, "The daughter got pregnant from the killer in El Salvador, then came here. He catches up to em', they fight..." He does a little arm movement as I try not so hard to laugh as Angie chuckles joining, "He joins a gang and then kills her." Hodgins continues, "The father comes after him seeking revenge, and the killer kills him." I shake my head as Temp speaks, "No, no. The father's death preceded the daughter's by at least six months." Zack then jumps in, "I found something. I can't get this bullet out of the pelvic bone." Temp and I look at it in amazement as Zack continue, "The bone started healing around the bullet. See the remodeling?" I nod, "This wound healed years ago. He didn't die by being shot." Hodgins then speaks, "Tough old bastard." Angie then asks, "How was he murdered?" I shake my head, "He wasn't murdered." Zack added, "Metastatic carcinoma." I nod as Temp speaks, "Probably originating in the prostate." Angie speaks, "So, he survives being shot, but then he dies of cancer?" Hodgins adds, "Mega-tough old bastard."
We were back at the hospital, but not for me, it was for Jose who was dropped of injured. We were standing there as the doctor spoke to us. "He had a collapsed lung, several broken ribs, one arm is broken, the other shoulders dislocated." Booth then asks, "But we can talk to him?" "You can try." "Hey, thanks. Wow. Wow, your own guys, they do this to you? Hey, geez, I wish I had my own gang." "I don't belong to no gang. I'm a gardener." "Oh, a gardener with a Mara Muerte tattoo on his neck who can now understand English and who likes to plant dead bodies." "Hey, maybe that stuff's private." "Hey, you know what? You're an illegal immigrant. You're a gang member. You're under arrest for transporting a dead body in a stolen car, and you're under suspicion for murder. I'm gonna call I.C.E. and have you and your wife deported bacj to El Salvador." "I got a son." "Forget it. We keep the son." "That's my son. It's my only son. You got kids?" "No." Temp looks up from a file, "Yes, you do." "Difference is, I'm a fit father. I'm not going around murdering guys and... little girls, burying them, digging them up..." I look at his x-ray and notice something. "Ranger... Temp? I don't think he murdered those people." Temp comes over to look at the X-ray with me as Booth asks, "You can tell if he murdered someone by looking at his X rays." Temp answers, "She is right, he has the same genetic condition the two victims had. A sternal foramen." I nod adding, "Thet were probably his sister and his father." Booth asks him, "That true? Hey, you know what, buddy, you want to be on my good side, because I wasn't joking about keeping your kid." "Yes. It's my sister, it was my father." I sigh, "Your father died of natural causes. Fine, but... your sister was murdered." Booth then cuts in, "Eh, you know what? Forget it. Gang is the only family Jose cares about, you know? Enjoy your trip back home and have fun explaining to your wife why she doesn't have a baby in her arms." I give him sad eyes as Temp speaks up, "Give us something. Help us to do the right thing for your sister." "I cannot." I add, "Just... anything. At least you could tell us their names." "You want their names, huh? Duarte... was our family name. Maria was my sister; our father was named Augustin. That's all I can tell you."
We are now in the interrogation room As I stand next to Temp who is sitting down next to Booth. We are interrogating Mr. Ortez as he spoke, "Jose's sister hated him." Booth asks "Hated him? Why?" "She didn't approve of his associations." Temp then adds, "You mean associations, like the leader of one of the most murderous street gangs in the country?" I nod, "I think it is that one Temp." Booth continues, "If she hated Jose so much, why was he moving her body?" "The burial site was threatened. He wanted to move her to a better place. And his father. Real family guy, you know? I'm not the leader of the whole gang, just the DC chapter." I put my hand on the table causing him to back up into his seat as I smiled, "You shot at us so Jose could have a chance to get away." "Mara Muerte takes care of its own. Even throwaway like Jose." "Could I ask you something Mr. Ortez?" "Yeah, go ahead." "Jose's all beaten up, so he won't tell us anything, but you, you don't even ask for a lawyer, yet you hardly stop talking." "Blueberry..." "Heym I'm the boss, lady, okay? Jose's a subordinado. That retraso not as smart as me." I shake my head as Temp adds, "You intimidate him into silence, but you can walk in here to the FBI, say whatever you want and walk away like you own the place." "That's right." Booth cuts in, "Look, all I need to know is, who would have to kill his sister." "Who cares, man?" "Come on, Ortez, a sister of the Mara Muerte. It's the most feared gang in the city." "She wasn't my sister, man." Temp adds, "It had to be somebody else in the gang..." I nod adding, "Somebody more important than Jose." Mr. Ortez looks at Temp and I, "You know what, ladies? You think too much. Maybe you both need a man like me to get your mind off of things, you know what I'm saying? I can be your adorin' Salvadoran." Temp gets up first and leaves as I scoff, "It's not that we think to much, it's just that you think too little with that brain of yours." At that I also leave following Temp.
We are by the elevator door waiting as Mr. Ortez walks up next to us. He stands next to me as he speaks, "You both been waiting for me? Push that button again, and we can go down together." I push Temp behind me a bit noticing she was getting angry as I spoke, "You think you could intimidate people into doing what you want?" "Okay, I'll push it myself." Temp then asks coming out from behind me in front of the button, "How do you handle someone who isn't afraid of you?" I internally scream as I knew Temp was trying to be brave and I know what she would do as I step right next to Temp, "Just get out of my way. I stand still as Temp still doesn't move from her spot. "I said, move your ass." I see he was about to grab Temp and I reacted by putting my hand in the way as Booth comes over saying, "I wouldn't..." as he said that I twisted his arm and punched hard on the face making him bleed and stumble back as Booth finishes his sentence. "That's gonna hurt in the morning." Mr. Ortez looks at his hand seeing as he is bleeding a lot and looks at me. I push Temp over a bit not wanting her to get in the way as he yells, "Bitch!" and swings at me. I duck and trip him a bit as he stumbles and turns around and swing his arm at me again as blocked it with one hand and punched him in the gut with the other hand. Making him go down as I grabbed his head and kneed him in the face again making him go all the way down to the ground knocking him out. I turn to Temp and Booth with a smile, "I am sorry for my actions, but as you can see, he was going to grab Temp without consent, and I just happened to take action in worries of my sister. It also seems he couldn't handle Temps question, so much for being smart." Booth just nods as I walk inside the elevator as Temp comes following me, before she gets in, she kicks him in the gut, and I made a little wincing sound as Booth did as well. She stands right next to me as Booth speaks, "Feel better?" She smiles, "Yeah. I really do." I pipe in looking down on my hands. "I might need to ice my hands for a bit and check if I didn't rip any stitches from my arm. That would be bad, but I feel happy if you feel good now." As the door closes the last thing Booth hears is me scolding Temp for trying to start a fight with someone and how proud I am for her to stand her ground. He just sighs.
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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.