-No One POV-
Booth and Brennan drive to a voodoo shop. They entered and Booth started to smell something, "Oh, what's that smell?" Brennan answers, "I imagine everything smells in here." "Oh. Oh... Please just tell me that that car survived Katrina." Booth whistles as the owner of the shop comes up to them, "We used it to evacuate." Booth looks up, "Did you restore it yourself, or did you use, uh, voodoo?" "Ah... An unbeliever. What can I do for you?" "You, uh... you know what that is?" Booth puts down the evidence bag that contains the spell that Sam found in the victim earlier. "This is a dark spell. Forbidden magic, very strong. This is Secte Rouge. I certainly wouldn't make anything like this." "But you have the ingredients here." "Well, the individual ingredients are not malignant. It is how they are combined and what intention they are used for that makes a spell good or bad."
Brennan then asks, "Do you recognize me?" "No. Should I?" Booth then asks, "Anyone else work here?" "My daughter, Eva. What is this about?" "We are conducting an investigation." "Eva! What kind of investigation?" Brennan asks, "Is it true that this is the only place a person can buy black gum root?" "Yes. Most places like this are all gone now. It's not a coincidence." Booth and Brennan look at each other as Eva comes out, "Yes, Daddy?" "Have you ever seen this lady before?" "No. Why?" Brennan answers, "We need to know who's bought this lately?" "Don't they need a warrant?" Benoit the owner laughs, "Eva will pull what you need on the computer. Eva..." Booth then asks, "What you said before. What'd you mean it's just a coincidence?" "Most places like this where a houngan, a priest, can get what he needs -- they are all gone now."
Brennan speaks, "Because of the hurricane and flood." "Which occurred because of a lack of balance." "Mr. Benoit, are you suggesting that Secte Rouge somehow conjured up a hurricane?" Eve then cuts in, "Secte Rouge voodoo is much more powerful than ours." Mr. Benoit denies her claim, "No, Eva. Not more powerful. Destruction is easier than harmony, but not more powerful. There are a lot of misunderstandings about voodoo." Booth nods, "Yeah, I know that whole zombie stuff puts a crimp in your public relations, I bet." Eva then comes up to them with some papers, "These are the people who bought black gum root in the past month." Brennan reads the paper noticing a name, "Graham Legiere, the medical examiner." Booth takes the paper and looks at it as well.
They are at Graham home now as Booth tried to get in contact with Graham, "I tried to get in touch with him." Brennan states, "He was scheduled to be out in the field this week." Brennan opens his front door, "Graham? It's Temperance." "What if he's not here?" "He's probably asleep. He's been working nights. Graham! Graham?" "Cracker." "Hey that's not funny. I think he invited me to dinner that night, or drinks. Can't remember." "Mm-hmm. You know what? Maybe he roofied you and Blueberry saw you all knocked up and tried to help you, but he stabbed her. "I'm sure he bought the black gum root to look into its medicinal qualities." "Yeah, because we all know how effective that is." "Voodoo healing is quite effective. No crazier than acupuncture or exorcism." Hey, hey. Easy on the Catholics. Okay? Just easy. Your sister is also Catholic. Bones."
Booth points out to a mirror as Brennan starts to get flashbacks on the day everything happened and remembers being in the house before. She starts to walk off as Booth looks at her, "There you go again. Bones!" He follows her as she goes upstairs to the second floor as she recalls more and more of the event as Booth asks, "Are you okay?". "Something bad happened here. They got away." Booth looks at her and goes to open the door. They enter to see a Grahams body mantled up on the wall with half of his body skinned and a knife stuck out of his chest as Booth speaks, "Oh, yeah. Something bad."
Detective Harding and her forensic team are at the scene collecting evidence as she goes up to the two. "What exactly were you doing here?" Brennan speaks, "It's Graham, isn't it?" "Tell you what, Dr. Brennan. I'm going to ask the questions." Booth then cuts in, "Oh, come on, Detective. She was working with the guy." "How closely?" Brennan then asks, "What's that suppose to mean?" "Answer my question, please. What brought you here? Was it a social call? Business? Revenge killing?" Booth cuts in again, "Look, Legiere bought some black gum root from the voodoo store. We just stopped by to ask why." "Why?" Brennan was confused, "That's what we came here to ask." "You want to look behind me and remind yourselves why I'm a little low on sense of humor?" "What? That wasn't a joke." Booth sighs a bit, "All right, she's not wisecracking. She just tends to be a bit, you know, literal." Brennan continues, "Day before yesterday Venus and I showed a voodoo expert a mojo that Graham found lodged in the mouth of John Doe 361." "This, uh, voodoo consultation. Did it occur before or after amnesia?" Booth adds, "The amnesia's real." Brennan continues, "Graham purchased a rare ingredient at a voodoo shop on Pontchartain Ave." "So Graham made voodoo spells, shoved them into corpse's mouths and pretend to be surprised when he found them?"
Booth sees a man carrying something, "What's that?" Harding turns around and asks, "Split cast, huh? More voodoo, just like the symbol on the wall. Bag it as evidence." Brennan asks, "Secte Rouge?" "What do you know about Secte Rouge?" Booth intervenes, "If you're done with us, Detective, we're going to go." "I'm gonna tear this place apart, and if I find one piece of evidence that ties you or your sister to the scene, I will take you into custody." Brennan then speaks, "Do you really think someone could go into a trance, commit a murder like that and not remember it?" "No, I don't. But I sure as hell think someone can fake amnesia." Booth grabs Brennan, "That's great. Thank you, Detective." They leave the home and left to go back to where Brennan and Venus was working at.
James Embry comes over to them with a file, "These files are everything you, Venus, and Graham worked on the day before yesterday." Brennan takes the files, "James, meet Agent Seely Booth. Dr. Embry is Graham's second in command." Booth nods, "Condolences on your sudden promotion." "Um... um... Why do you think the job had anything to do with Graham being killed and Dr. Venus being hospitalized in a sort of coma state." Booth answers, "Bones has voodoo amnesia; Legiere is voodoo dead; Blueberry was voodoo stabbed and unconscious; and the last thing they worked on together was a voodoo ritual murder, so I'm thinking there might be some kind of a connection." "Legiere's body-- is it, uh, bad as they say?" Brennan asks, "How bad are they saying it is?" Booth adds, "No matter how bad they-re saying it is, it's worse." James sighs, "I just want to mentally prepare myself. I-I start his autopsy in a few minutes." Brennan speaks, "The file I need is John Doe 361." "According to the records, these are the only cases you and your sister worked on the day before yesterday. Four sets of remains two were easy IDs, drowned victims processed and booted for burial. The other two were both males, John Doe 349 and 350." "Venus had sent 361's X-rays to the Jeffersonian." "Well, I'll check again."
James leaves to check as Booth speaks, "Can I make a lifestyle suggestion here?" "Go ahead." "You know, 'vacation'-- it's from the Latin, vacatio. It means 'freedom' or 'release.' You and Venus might want to consider that next time." "Learning Latin?" "This is the opposite of vacation. I mean, the one that you snapped, went insane and totally lost your mind." "Oh, thanks for your understanding." James comes back, "Uh, Dr. Brennan. There's no John Doe 361." Then whose X-rays did Venus sent to DC?" "No, I mean the file is gone." Booth and Brennan look at each other.
They are in the room where they keep all of the bodies as Sam chants the bodies a prayer with a snake as Brennan and Booth walk in as Brennan asks Booth, "Oh... Okay. I'll hold that." Booth grabs Brennan's phone as Zack answers, "Zack Addy." "Zack, it's me. Anything else on John Doe 361?" "Yes, Dr. Brennan, we found some damage to the pubic bone some kind of strike marks." "Did you get Angela to reconstruct the pattern?" Angela then goes to the phone, "Yeah. Hi, honey. I'm here. I tried to make a digital positive, but it didn't work." "Why?" Booth answers, "It was voodoo, probably." "The extrapolation protocols can't resolve the gradient fluxes in the bone shadings. I could send it to Venus, and she could fix it, if you want?"
James then asks, "What's that?" Booth answers, "That's mumbo jumbo. It's scientific voodoo." "Can you do them manually? Venus won't be able to do it right now." "Off an X-ray? Mm. not really. It would be better if Venus were to fix that problem for me." Zack then asks, "Can you send the actual remains?" "They don't exist." "That makes no sense." Booth adds, "It was probably voodoo." Angela asks, "Voodoo? Where is Venus by the way, I haven't heard her in about two days already." Brennan dismissed Angela's question about Venus and says, "Okay, quit saying 'voodoo.'" Booth then answers back, "Yeah, because, you know it's not a factor." "Okay, let me know what you find. Bye." Angela was about to ask about Venus again when they ended the call.
Booth then looks at Sam, "How do we know this is not the guy shoving mojo bags into dead people?" Sam answers, "Those spells are the work of a sorcerer. Priests-- houngans-- can make healing motions mojos, but I'm not allowed." "But snakes shaking-- that's fine?" "The snake pulls the evil out of the soul, freeing the spirit... I must do what small thing I can. The floods washed away to much of what was good." "Hey, Bones, how's about while you're a murder suspect, you, uh, act more like a normal woman and less like Lily Munster, okay? Bye. Good snake. Bye-bye. This is why we need your Blueberry around. You know, call me crazy, but I'm suspicious of snake man." Brennan sighs loudly, "Oh! That's because you've been inculcated by the mainstream culture's prevailing Judeo-Christian tradition into instinctive skepticism of alternative mores." "Yeah. Thanks for that explanation."
Back at the lab Hodgins is up on the platform with Zack as he speaks, "I've been over every inch of these X-rays." Zack nods, "Me, too." "There's evidence of particles on the bones, but there is no way for me to know what they are. Unless Venus could send me some particulates from over there, but she isn't answering her phone." "Probably dirt." "Yes, thank you, Zack, but dirt is meaningless word. It's as non-specific as saying air." "You can't see air on an X-ray." "What? I never said you could. What? I'm not even talking about air." "You can see a space where air might be, like a cavity, but not the air itself." "What I'm saying is that, yes, there are flecks on the X-ray that might be dirt, but that doesn't tell us anything. Is it sandy, hmm? Silty, hummusy? Is it clay? Is it more organic than mineral? Is it soil? Is it pulverized gravel? What minerals are in it? Are the minerals crystalline? See, these are all details a person cannot get off an X-ray no matter how long he stares at it." "Sometimes a person should look for things that aren't there instead of things that are there." "You mean me? In dirt?" No. Me. On the X-ray. I've been looking for anomalies which exists instead of anomalies which don't exist." "Zack, if you are ever going to successfully mimic being human, you have to stop making everything about you, and feign interest in the other guy. Zack!" "I've noticed that you try to look taller." "When?" "Around Dr. Brennan." "I do not." "And Angela, because they are both taller than you." "You know what? I take it back. Don't take any interest in the other guy." "Thank you for your help." Hodgins got so irritated that he tried to choke out Zack from behind him without touching him.
Booth and Brennan are at her hotel as it was getting dark as he asks her, "So, do you remember anything else that could help us out?" Brennan sighs and shakes her head, "It could have been me." "You remember that?" "Look at it objectively." "Graham Leigere was killed between 11:00 P.M Tuesday and 3:00 A.M. Wednesday. Not only did I or Venus not have an alibi, I... I can't even explain to myself where I was or what Venus was doing there with me. It could've been me." Booth scoffs, "No, it couldn't." "Yes... Wha...? How do you know?" "I just know, okay? I'd bet my professional career on it. I already did." "What?" "Nothing." "What did you do?" "Bones... stop. This is the last time and place that you want to be rational, okay? Let's just be wildly emotional and assume that you didn't psychotically murder a co-worker who invited you over for dinner and Venus just happens to be there." Booth looks behind Brennan on her pillow seeing something on it, "What's that?" "What?" "That." "Ew..." "It's another voodoo dumpling?" "It's some kind of flesh. And these are seashells. Leather, I think." "Is that a human tooth?" "Yes. A canine."
The door was smashed open as Harding comes barging in with her team as her and Booth raise their guns, "Put down your weapon, Agent Booth." "Put down your weapon. There's no threat from us." "You're holding a gun on me." "Yeah, well, you know, my finger here is not on the trigger. It's the best I can do under the circumstances." They both put down their guns as Harding orders the other two cops, "Holster your weapons. I'm here to arrest Dr. Brennan for the murder of Graham Legiere. I also have Dr. Venus under surveillance, so when she wakes up she will also be arrested." "Oh, that's not going to happen." "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is." "I told you, Booth." "Bones, please! Just once in your life will you be quiet?" "That's good advice because everything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. What is that?" "It's uh... I found it on my pillow." "Bones!" "Thank you, Dr. Brennan." "What's the probable cause?" "Traces of Dr. Brennan's and Venus Blood in Legiere's home, Legiere's blood on both of their clothing's." "From the clinic. Is that it?" "All I'm prepared to share with the federal government. Now... please, step away from my collar." "I'm afraid I can't let that happen." Brennan then pushes Booth to the side, "Bones! Geez!" "It's better if nobody else dies while we get to the bottom of this." "Uh! Well, you know what? I wasn't planning on dying." "Ow! It's not you I worry about. Ow! You're welcome to the room. It's paid for." They escort Brennan out as Booth sighs, "Ohh Blueberry... It would be a great time to wake up right now. You are the only one that could keep Bones in check."
It is morning and Brennan was being interviewed by Harding, "Were you sleeping with Graham Legiere?" "I don't... I don't think so." "You don't think so? How about your sister, was she sleeping with him?" "I don't remember sleeping with him, and at the clinic, they said there was no sign of sexual activity. Also, Venus has never had sex with a person before." "You're saying that Dr. Venus is a virgin." "Yes...". A lady comes in, "I hope you kept your mouth shut." Booth comes along with the lady, "Okay, Temperance Brennan, Caroline Julian. She's yours and Venus's lawyer. She's from the US Attorney's office. She's the best there is." Harding then asks, "You found a prosecutor to defend her and her sister? Interesting tactic." Brennan then speaks, "I told Detective Harding everything I know so far." "She's a fool? You didn't tell me she's a fool. Is her sister the same?" "No, she's a brilliant forensic anthropologist. Her sister as well."
Brennan then adds, "Well, we both have three degrees. I've pioneered research in..." "What's that" "A gris-gris bag. I found it in my hotel... room... I'm assuming the person who left it there is trying to frame me, so the tooth is probably Graham's." "Three degrees and still a fool. I hope the sister isn't the same. This interview is over, Rose. I need to speak with my client alone before she gives herself a lethal injection. Also, if my other client wakes up, you cannot speak to her until I get there." "Of course. It's nice seeing you again, Caroline." Harding leaves as Booth speaks, "Okay, Bones, what the hell were you talking to her for?" "I was just trying to help." "You sew those lips together, girl, because there is no such thing as helping the New Orleans police. They just want to close the case as quickly and easily as they can, and you are making it Christmastime for them."
Booth then speaks, "Okay, listen, there's no way that Bones or Blueberry could have killed Legiere. I mean, it's just not them. I, mean look at her and if you look at her sister, you could easily see that she didn't do anything." "I am doing you a favor taking this case, Booth. But as the lady cop, says, I'm a prosecutor. And as it stands now, I could try this case in my PJs and still get a conviction." Brennan cuts in, "Well, shouldn't you get to know your clients before you make snap judgments?" Booth looks at her, "Bones..." Caroline looks at her, "Fine. Stop me when I get something wrong. Trained in three types of martial arts, two assault charges, registered marksman with the NRA, hunting licenses in four states..." Booth then asks, "You hunt?" "Only for food." Caroline continues, "Shot an unarmed man." "He was trying to set me on fire." Booth cuts in, "All right, just arrange bail for us Carolyn, so we can get out of here." "Sure. sure. Don't want to get this one made at me. Just to make clear, the sister isn't like her." Booth shakes his head, "No, she is the jolly type and is more normal than the other squints." Caroline nods and leaves to make bail. Booth then turns around to Brennan, "Bones, you just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?"
Booth and Brennan where at a restaurant with Sam as he spoke, "What, a human tooth?" Booth nods, "Yeah, it was some kind of... some flesh, some fabric; it looked like some kind of shell." "Yeah, sounds like to make you forget." "Somebody doesn't want you to know what happened to John Doe 361." "Booth, I'm not under a spell. How come Venus didn't get one then?" "Well, you forgot a whole day. And Venus is still not waking up, but doctor says that she is recovering well and could be waking up soon. She just can't move around that much when she wakes up." Sam then adds, "The spirits don't need you to believe in them, Dr. Brennan; they believe in you. See you back at work, huh?"
Sam leaves as Brennan asks Booth, "How'd Venus and I get away? You know, Graham got killed. We got away. How did we do that?" "You know, Bones, all those things that Carolyn mentioned you know, the martial arts, the shooting, the assaults... it's just you're just the type of woman those fights. Also, Venus was trained in any type of situations even if she was injured in the process, she knows what she is doing. Plus, she would do anything to get you out of harm's way, that's why maybe she put herself in the way causing her to get stabbed to protect you. Maybe they didn't expect it. Maybe they thought some kind of magic could hold you both." "I don't believe in magic." "Exactly. You both are surprising women. Sometimes that's enough for getting away and you have a bad ass sister."
They both smile and laugh at his comment as Brennan asks, "Why are you nice to me?" "Because. Because they think they get away with it." "What?" "They burn their victim. They blow him up. They toss him in the ocean. They bury them in the desert. They throw 'em to woodchippers. Sometimes, you know, years go by, they relax. Then they start living their lives like they didn't do anything wrong. Like they didn't spend somebody else's life in order to get what they got. They think they're safe from retribution, but you know... you make those bastards unsafe. That's why I'm nice to you." "I couldn't do that without you, Booth or Venus." "Yeah. So, um, you should be a little nicer to me like your sister, huh?" "I really should." Caroline then comes over to them, "I walk in on something? Yeah. Beignet and a cafe, cher. Hospital records. The tox screen was negative." Brennan looked at her confused, "What? That's impossible." Booth then asks, "No, rohypnol, no ketamine?" Caroline shakes her head, "Nothing but a touch of alcohol, not enough to affect a baby. And they found no traces in the sister either not even alcohol. A jury is never going to believe this amnesia story." Booth adds, "Well, but it's true." "Maybe this is true, too. Legiere tried to rape you or your sister. He was a notorious horndog. We claim self-defense, cop a plea, you're out in three years." Booth shakes his head, "No, I don't care what it looks like, or how you're reading the evidence, Caroline, she nor her sister didn't do it." "Could be that's true, Seeley. You vouch for them, that's good enough for me. But, Cheri, this looks bad. All you've got on your side is proof you got roughed up and your sister stabbed. These picture from the clinic, these X-rays."
She gives Brennan her X-rays as Brennan checks it, "New wrist. The doctor was wrong. He said this was a Colles' fracture from a fall. This break shows surface trauma on the outside of the bone. This was either defensive, or someone slammed my wrist into something." Caroline then speaks, "Maybe because you tried to stab him in the heart with a knife but got your sister instead." "No, think about it. "If I'd already stabbed the attacker, he wouldn't have been able to break my wrist." "I like this story. What else?" Booth adds in, "Well, Venus is trained in military force. Was part with the marines and special force, she could've easily killed him or take the knife away from them, unless she had to protect her sister who was injured and couldn't defend herself any longer. So, she put herself in between her and the attacker and took the stab herself and disarm the attacker scaring them off just long enough for her to escape with her sister."
Caroline scoffs, "Well, why didn't you tell me your little friend here had served the military. She might become my new friend. Anything else?" Booth nods, "There's the mojo bag. I mean, someone was trying to put a forgetting spell on her." "Booth." "Hey, I can work with that. This is New Orleans, baby. And where's my beignet?" Brennan phone rings and she picks it up, "Brennan." Zack speaks first from the other line, "John Doe 361 is named Rene Mouton." "How can, you be sure?" "I looked for something that wasn't there, which turned out to be a shunt channel." "Good work." Angela then asks, "You understood that?" "All Zack had to do was cross-check with D-Mort." "I only thought of it because of Hodgins." Hodgins then speaks, "I can discern particulates on the X-ray, but I have no way of telling you what they are." "Some kind of dirt?" "Okay, everybody, the word "dirt" means nothing here in the lab, scientifically Ask Venus." "Any progress on the design that was pressed into the pelvic bone?" Angela then speaks, "I've tried three different computer programs. I fed in the information into multiple impact scenarios, but this isn't going to work on X-rays. I need the actual remains or Venus to come up with a program that could help with the design." "Booth and I are looking for them as hard as we can." "Or, better still, you and Venus could forget the whole thing and come home." "Don't worry. I made bail and the doctors said that Venus's recovery is going well from the stabbing and loss of blood. She should be waking up soon." Each one of them asks, "Bail?" "Stabbing?" "Waking up soon?" Angela then asks, "Bail? For what? What happened to Venus? Why isn't she awake?" "I told you. Don't worry. The murder charge won't stick." Hodgin then speaks, "Whoa, Whoa, whoa. Murder charge?" Angela then speaks, "Brennan, the next plane, okay? Pay extra to bring Venus as well. The next plane, or I'm coming down there to get you both myself. What in the world did you both get into, for Venus to not be waking up from loss of blood from a stab wound?" "Everything's fine. We are healing up satisfactorily. Bye for now."
Angela sighs when Brennan hangs up, "You know what? This whole state affairs where Brennan and Venus just runs around fighting crime? It's stupid. It's nuts. Don't you agree?" Zack and Hodgins shake their heads. "Go. Go. I'll be... fine." Hodgins was about to leave as he looks back at Angela, "Brennan and Venus will be fine, Angela. She got bail, the murder charge won't stick, and they said Venus will be waking up soon." "What is going on with them? I understand Venus, but Brennan?" "Angela... Brennan started to change the day she met you." "What?" "Well, she sees how you do it. All fun and involvement and pizzazz. Big you know? Big life. Booth came along and gave her the opportunity, as Venus follows her wanting to have that bond with her that she never got when she was younger, but Brennan she got the idea from you. Brennan wants a big life like yours, while Venus wants to make that happen for her. That's how it looks to me, anyway, but what do I know? I'm a bug guy. Bug and slime. And dirt." "Yeah." Hodgins leaves and Angela thinks about what he says and smiles. "
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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.