Venus POV
Sweets hands me a drink as he we are doing an exercise with Temp and Booth first. Sweets goes to the window as he opens the curtains a bit as he says, "It's quite simple. Whatever Agent Booth says, you respond with whatever word or phrase pops into your head. And vice versa." He then sits back in his seat facing us as Temp says, "Well, that's ridiculous. I can't properly respond without careful thought." Booth adds, "Can't we just make it a drinking game?" Sweets shakes his head, "No. This is a valuable psychological tool, Agent Booth. When you respond viscerally, we can get to the root of your emotional issues and figure out what binds you two together as partners." Booth and I then say, "Donuts." We smile and give each other a fist bump as Sweet asks, "Beg your pardon?" Booth says, "Donuts. Glazed donuts. I see 'em right there." Temp then adds, "Because you had no breakfast. You're hungry." I add, "We're starving." "Yeah." Sweets then says, "No, that's not the proper response." Temp looks at him, "Of course it is. I'm explaining why they said 'donuts." "The point of the exercise is not to explain, but to respond. Okay? Children can do this." "Because it's childish."
I try not to laugh as I drink my water as Sweets gives me a really look as I avoid his eyes. He sighs but continues, "Can we just try it, please? Just the two of you for right now." Booth sighs, "All right, okay, fine, here we go. Are you ready?" Temp looks at him as I sit back nodding. Booth begins, "Hunger." "Sex." I had wide eyes as Booth says, "Whoa." Temp then says, "Horse." "Cowboy." "Child." "Baby." "Booth." I just look between the two of them entertained as I drink my water more as Booth asks, "What, what do you think, I'm a baby?" "Your father." "Oh. Mother." "Birth." "Happy." "Sperm." "Sperm? Isn't this getting a little weird?" We look at Sweets as he shakes my head, "No, keep going." I nod agreeing still continuing to drink my water as Booth says, "Okay. Egg." "I want a baby." I choke and spit my water out as Booth says, "Whoa!" I cough as Temp says, "Horse." "Wait. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute." I nod trying to catch my breath as Sweets hands me a napkin and tells Temp, "Yeah, we can stop here." I choke out looking at Temp, "What?" She smiles, "I actually found that quite interesting." Booth and I say at the same time, "You want to have a baby?" She looks at us nodding, "Yes I do. I just- I just realized it. I should have a progeny. It's selfish of me not to." Sweets asks, "Selfish?" "Yes."
I then say, "I need to prepare myself! We need diapers, bibs, clothing, we don't even have the baby furniture, or the apartment baby proofed yet!" Booth stops me by putting his hand over my mouth as he says to Temp, "Don't you need a, you know, guy to...?" "Just sperm. You'd be a very good donor, potentially." We all looked shock as Booth says, "Me?" "But you need to be tested, of course." We were all shocked as Booth phone rings as he picks it up as Temp asks, "What, is something wrong?" Booth nods, "Yeah. Okay. You don't just go around asking for people's sperm." He then answers the phone, "Yeah. No, I wasn't talking to you. Uh... Right. Yeah, okay. On our way." He ends the call as he tells us, "We got a case." I was still in the state of shock as they both stand up as Sweets says, "Uh, wait, perhaps we should discuss this." Booth looks down at me still seeing me seated as he pulls me up and guides me to the door as Temp says to Sweets, "I'm not conflicted, if that's what you're concerned about. I've made a reasonable choice." Booth says, "In two seconds over some stupid game." Sweets looks at him, "This is a well-researched therapeutic technique, Agent Booth." "Oh, really? This happens all the time- patients asking for sperm?" "Yeah- no, well, not this specifically. Which is why I think some discussion is in order."
Temp then says to us, "Shouldn't we go? Don't we have a case?" I nod as Booth pushes me out the door with them as he nods, "Yeah. You're right. We gotta get going. Right." He turns to Sweets, "This is all your fault." He closes the door as we all go to the car. After a bit we finally made it to the crime scene as Temp says, "You're the one who's always touting parenthood, implying that my life is incomplete because I don't have a child." "I know, but this is kind of sudden. You even shocked Blueberry so much that you got her to stop talking." They look at me as I was in deep thought as Temp says, "Hmm, perhaps you don't want to help me." "Of course, I do." "So, you'll do it?" "I'll think about it." "What? I don't understand. It's a simple request. I'm sure you engage in masturba..." Booth stops her, "Whoa! Whoa!" I finally speak out, "Horse..." They look at me confused as he then says to Temp, "Enough. Okay, we'll talk about it later." "Well, I'm not asking for you to be involved. All I want is your sperm." We then stop in front of Marcus as Booth tried to play it off laughing, "That's a good one. 'All I want is your sperm.' I never heard that joke before." Marucs looks at me as I shake my head as to say don't even ask. He nods as Temp says, "I don't understand." "Yeah. Okay. All right." He looks back at Marcus, "Just close your mouth and point us to the body, okay?" He nods, "The barrel's over here."
We follow him to the barrel as they open it up for us revealing the body parts. Booth sees and his eyes widen, "Whoa!" The owner of the place says, "Dr. Granger said it was a human bone, but... that's impossible. This may be an animal, a rat. That could happen, right?" Temp and I look inside at the remains as Booth ask the man, "And you are?" "Uh, Sean Mortenson. This is my winery. And this is Bruce Hanover, my viticulturalist." Temp then says, "The remains are human." Mr. Hanover then says, "This cask has been sealed since 1997. I did it myself." I then say, "The seal must have been broken when the body was thrown in here. Exposure to air turned the wine to vinegar." Booth then says, "Looks like purple Smurf." I add, "Pelvic bone indicates a male." "More like a rubber purple Smurf." I look at him, "Bones in vinegar leech calcium and will become gelatinous within three days." I show him by bending the bone as he says, "That is actually cool." Temp then says, "This cask is filled with debris decomposed tissue and organs. It all has to come back to the lab." Temp then pulls out the skull as the two begin to groan in disgust.
We are back in the lab on the platform as Cam says, "Liquefactions suggests he's been there at least eight months." Temp adds, "Scapula, clavicle." Cam adds, "Fat globule." Fisher then says, "We're all just one step away from dissolving into the primordial ooze. Mandible and ilium." Cam then says, "Rendered brain matter." Hodgins then says, "You got a sock, a belt." I add, "Molar, lateral incisor and canine." Cam then looks at the rest, "And this is just goo..." Hodgins then says, "Okay, I got a grommet, three nickels, and I am guessing a chocolate kiss." Cam says immediately, "Bingo! A chunk of liver, enough for a tox screen." Fisher then says, "My guess- you'll find a high alcohol content." I chuckle loudly as Fisher smiles as Temp then says, "Tibia. I've decided to have a baby. Capitulum." They all look at her in shock as we continue examining for more parts as Cam says, "Wait. Baby, like a small human?" Temp looks at them, "Yes. I know I've had no interest in the past. But neither did you and you seem to find parenthood very fulfilling." "Uh... yes. I do. And... you brought this up now... why?" "Well, I wanted to give you a notice. I'll be needing some time off when the baby comes. About six weeks I imagine." She then looks back at the bone, "The staining makes it very difficult. to see any anomalies on the bones." Hodgins then asks, "Is there a father?" "Well, I'd like to use Booth's sperm." Cam then says, "Booth. What do you know!" I then squeak out, "I'm going to be an aunt! I love babies... I hope I some of my own in the future." Fisher then says, "If Booth doesn't work out, I donate my sperm monthly. I have a high IQ, excellent genetics, and motility. No emotional baggage. I'm kind of a catch." He then looks at me, "And for you call me whenever time of the day and I'll give you mine personal up close." Hodgins looks at him, "Okay, down, boy."
Cam adds, "Weren't we investigating a death?" Angie comes in laughing, "Oh, my God." Hodgins then tells her, "Dr. Brennan wants to have a baby." Fisher adds, "I offered my sperm, but she's leaning more towards Agent Booth." Angie looks at her, "You're joking, right?" "Booth and I discussed it in Sweet's office. He's thinking it over now. Although, I don't understand why he'd be protective of his semen. There are six evenly-spaced cavities along the sides of the frontal and parietal bones. Hand be that grommet you found." They were all still shocked as Hodgins says, "Huh?" Fisher whispers, "Grommet." "The grommet. Yes. Right. Mm-hmm. There you go." "Thank you." Fisher then says, "I could get you my little swimmers at a substantial savings. I know you'll enjoy them Dr. Venus." I didn't know what to say as Angie says, "Uh, Fisher, just scoop, please." "Sure." I watch as Temp places the grommet onto the skull as she then says, "He had a craniofacial implant." Cam adds, "The way they're spaced, they're positioned to secure a prosthetic hairpiece. Those are not very common." Fisher then says, "I'll strain for the rug." I then say, "If there's a missing persons report on the victim, it would definitely mention a surgical hairpiece." Temp adds, "You can also replace the teeth in the mandible and confirm with dentists."
I take off my gloves along Temp as we then leave as Angie says, "Bren..." But Temp left first as I look at the others, "I'm still shocked as well." I left following Temp to her office. We are looking at the pictures she took earlier as Angie comes in, "Brennan?" Temp then says, "There's a fracture on the zygomatic. Probably from a blow to the face." "The guy is pickled, honey. He can wait. You can't just announce you're having baby and walk away." "15,000 babies are born every hour. It's not all that exceptional, Angela." "Brennan.. this is crazy." "Why? I'm intellectually gifted, financially secure. Statistically, I could expect to have an exceptional child." "Fine. Yes. Absolutely." I then ask, "But you do know how, this is supposed to work, right?" Angie then says, "You get naked together. You devour each other in passionate frenzy." I was confused, "I wasn't going that route..." Temp then says, "Booth would think that would create an emotional bond between us." Angie says sarcastically, "Of course that's ridiculous." Temp didn't seem to understand as she says, "I knew you'd understand." "Then why use Booth at all? Why don't you use Fisher and his discount sperm?"
I add, "Apparently he would give me his for free and up close. I don't understand that at all..." Angie pats my leg, "That's a topic for another time." Temp then says, "No, Booth has a larger mandible and a more prominent zygomatic than Fisher, as well as a more pronounced ratio between the width of his clavicles and his ilia." Angie looks at me for an explanation as I say, "Booth is more fit and muscular than Fisher." She nods looking at Temp again, "So, it's because Booth is hot. Now we're getting somewhere." "Statistically, attractive people are more successful. I'm only thinking of the child, Angela." "Then do this right, honey." "I am. Emotional ties are ephemeral and undependable. Look at you and Hodgins. you and Roxy. Booth and Rebecca. Booth and Cam." "Brennan, I..." "I appreciate your concern, but I have thought this through rationally." Angie and I look at each other knowing she really isn't ready yet as Temp says, "This fracture hasn't fully remodeled. It occurred within a month of death." I then say, "Possibly from an attack."
Booth has picked us up as we were making our way to the victim's house as Booth says, "So apparently, Holt's wife was pregnant when he disappeared." Temp says, "So she's raising the child alone?" "I guess so." "You know, and no one thinks twice about that. There are millions of single women raising healthy, productive children." I then look at the file, "There was a domestic disturbance report filed a month before he disappeared." Booth then says to Temp, "Uh, you know, if we go, uh, through with this, and I'm around, and if you need help..." "Well, I'll have a nanny or Venus." "I-I figured. But, you know, if it's her day off." She looks at him, "You don't have faith that I can do it?" I look between the two sitting all the way back into the back seat as Booth says, "What? I didn't say that." "But you think I'd be a good mother, don't you?" "Yeah, of course." "I know sometimes you don't think I'm empathetic. And it can be difficult for me sometimes. But I would love my child, Booth, I would." "I know. I-I know that, Bones." "I know people disapprove. If you're uncomfortable, Fisher sells his sperm monthly he's very intelligent and..." Booth cuts her off, "Oh, Fisher? Fi- Oh, no, you are not having Fisher's kids. You'd be giving birth to the spawn of Satan, okay? I'll do it." "N-no obligation. I don't want you to feel any obligation." "I'll do it. Don't worry about it, okay? It's your kid, it's totally yours." "Not worried about it." "I- just saying I'll do it." She nods as I say, "Hey, what do you think about me?" Booth asks, "You what?" "When I want kids, Fisher says he'll give me his for free. I don't understand the up close and personal part, though." "He said that to you as well?!" I nod, "Yeah." "You know what just stay away from him and his dark personality. And if he tells you anything again. Tell him I said I'll make sure he can't donate anymore, bye, bye birdy." I nod, "All right. Roger that Ranger."
We are now speaking with the wife as she says, "You hold out hope, but in my heart, I've known for months. What happened?" Booth says, "Well, we don't know yet; we're still investigating." Temp then says, "He was found at Bedford Creek Winery." "At Bedford Creek?" I ask, "You been there?" "I'm the wife of a wine critic. I've had to sit through tastings at half the places in the country. I don't even like wine." We hear a baby cry as my heart starts to swell as we look at the baby as the wife says, "Oh god. I am all covered." Temp then says before me, "I'll get her." Booth says, "Bones." She goes to get the baby as I follow behind as the wife says, "Spencer always wanted me to give up my carpentry business. Said I smelled of stain. Ruined the bouquet when he was tasting wine." The baby cries as Temp was trying to calm her down as Booth asks, "Bones, you need help?" "No, no, I'm fine." She was holding the baby a bit awkwardly as Booth says, "You got to help with the..." But she then says to the baby, "Ah. Hey, hey. You like spatial disorientation, don't you?" The baby quiets down as she nods, "Yes, you do." I had baby fever already as I just stared at the baby as the mother says to Temp, "She likes you. All Spencer could ever talk about was having a little girl. He would've made a good father."
She takes her kid as I watch holding myself from wanting to grab the baby as Temp says, "Your husband also exhibited a facial fracture that hadn't fully remodeled." "Yes. He tried to break up a fight at the wine expo. Mortenson was going after Charles Dunwood." Booth asks, "Mortenson from Bedford Creek?" "He's a real bastard." "He and your husband didn't get along?" "No. Mortenson loved him. Spence gave his cabernet a 99. No one gets that. It was Charlie Dunwood Mortenson hated. Because Charlie made a cheap wine next door and he wouldn't sell out to Mortenson." I ask, "And you saw this fight?" "No. They all deny it, of course. But Spencer told me about it." Booth then says, "There was a domestic disturbance report filed approximately one month before your husband disappeared. Can you explain that?" "Our neighbor heard us arguing. That's all. She called the police." I then say, "The report says it was more than an argument, Mrs. Holt." "I threw some dishes. But not at Spencer. It was just pregnancy hormones, you know? I would never hurt Spencer."
We are back in the car as Temp asks Booth, "You don't believe the victim's wife?" "I just think that we should check with this guy Dunwood. He might have a different story." I then ask, "What about the owner of Bedford Creek Winery?" "Mortenson is rich. If he's involved, you don't want to spook him or he's just gonna hire an army full of lawyers to go make our lives miserable." Temp then asks, "Would you like legal protection?" "What?" "With the child, so you feel secure that I won't be asking for money or support." "No, I-I don't need legal protection." "But if you do..." "I don't." "Okay. I've made an appointment for you at the fertility clinic. They will check your semen for motility, morphology, sperm count." Booth and I were shocked as Booth says, "Whoa!" I then say, "Horse..." They looked at me weirdly as I say, "Sorry, that just stuck with me." Booth then tells Temp, "My boys can swim. All right? I have a child, do you remember?" "This isn't personal. I-I'd be remiss if I didn't look at an analysis of your semen. It's a very simple process. You just go to the clinic, give a sample. It takes five minutes. They have pornography if you need stimulus." Booth then says, "I get it." I add, "Don't you two want to talk about this when I am not here. I appreciate that you both are comfortable talking about this around me openly, but there are just some things I don't need to know." Temp nods, "Okay."
Booth then says, "You really liked holding that kid, didn't you?" Temp smiles, "Yeah. I've been thinking about how exciting it will be to expose my own child to early pattern recognition." I add, "That would be so beneficial to them when they grow older." Temp nods agreeing as Booth says, "You know, they like singing and, uh, when you make funny faces at them, too." "Yeah, of course. I-I will make a diverse schedule." Booth gives her an awkward smile as I say, "And when she does, I will come in and we are going to have loads of fun." Booth nods, "That's what you want." The next day we were at the FBI headquarters as they brought in Dunwood to Booths office. I was sitting on my beanbag in the corner as Booth and Temp were sitting with Dunwood by Booths desk as Dunwood says, "Ah, shame about Holt. He was a good guy. One of the only critics who didn't dump on my wine." Temp then says, "But your wine sells for three dollars a bottle." "That's right, yeah. In a bottle or a box. It's a good honest drink." Booth nods, "That's good." Temp then says, "I didn't know you knew anything about wine." "It's good stuff; it's like the beer of wine." "Holt got that. He knew I wasn't trying to be more." "Holt's wife said that, um, he had to break up a fight between you and Mortenson from Bedford Creek Winery." "Yeah. Yeah, it was at the wine expo, in the parking lot. I told Holt to stay out of it. I shoved Mortenson, all right? The guy was in my face. Holt got in the middle right when Mortenson was taking a swing, so he took the hit. Mortenson walked out. Just left him."
I then ask, "What was the fight about?" He looked behind him seeing me as he then says, "My vineyard's next door to his, and, uh, he thinks I'm an embarrassment. He wants to buy me out. He threatened some bogus lawsuits. My family's been working those fields since 1928. This is my life." Temp then asks, "So you had no issue with Mr. Holt?" "Hell, no. You know, if he were alive, I'd pat him on the back." Booth asks, "For what?" "For taking that bastard Mortenson down a peg." I then say, "Yeah, but he loves Bedford Creek wine." "Yeah. But I heard he loves sleeping with Mortenson's wife even more." Temp and I went back to the lab as Fisher informed us that he was able to remove the stains out of the bones and clean them. He takes us to the bone examination room as we look at the bones as Temp says, "There are tiny fractures near the coronal sutures. We never would have noticed these before." I then say, "The denture cleaner was an excellent idea, Fisher." "Now if I only possessed rudimentary social skills." Temp then says, "They aren't really necessary for your work." "I wish my parents were that understanding. You're gonna be a good mother." "I would imagine so." I then say to Temp, "That's where your supposed to say thank you Temp. But that's fine." I looked at the skull, "Evidence of hemorrhaging on the underside of the fractures. There was a perimortem blow to the head."
Temp phone rings as she goes to answer it, "Brennan. Okay. Uh, Booth is waiting for us. Check the degree of hemorrhagic staining to see if it was cause of death." Fisher then says, "If Booth is still reluctant..." "No, he offered- 28.8 million viable sperm in a mere three milliliters of ejaculate." I then scrunch my face, "I didn't need to know about that at all Temp." "Right." We then went Mortenson family home as the wife greeted us as she lets us in and says, "Spencer Holt was a big supporter of Bedford Creek wines. He was here for numerous tastings." I then say getting baby fever again as I coo, "Your little boy is adorable." "Oh, thank you." Temp then tries to play with him saying, "Phalanges dancing phalanges." Booth then says, "Bones. Blueberry." We look at him and nod, "Right, sorry." Temp then says, "So you were sleeping with Spencer Holt, weren't you?" Booth looks at her, "Subtle." The wife looked at us confused, "Sleeping with him? Of course not. Who told you that?" Booth then says, "Seems like your husband had, uh, quite the temper, huh?" "Charlie Dunwod, right?" Temp then says, "That is not your husband's child." "What? I think you should leave." I add, "The bone markers bear a clear resemblance to Spencer Holt." Booth looks at us, "They do?" I nod, "Yeah. Research shows that babies strongly resemble their fathers in the first year of life." Temp adds, "The evolutionary theory being that they're less likely to be abandoned if the fathers recognize themselves in their offspring." The wife then asks Booth, "What are they talking about?"
Booth then says to Temp, "Oh, does that mean that your kid will look like me, at least for the first year." She nods taking out her phone taking pictures of the baby, "There's a high statistical probability, yes." The wife says, "Excuse me." Temp then says, "I can compare these photos against Spencer Holt's remains. The maxilla and nasal aperture..." The wife then says, "Stop. My husband could come in any moment." The three of us looked at each other as Booth says, "So it's true?" "Sean and I tried. It's all about business with him, but I really wanted a child. Spencer understood, and one night after a little too much wine... I appreciate everything Sean does for me, but Spencer was, you know..." Booth says, "Kind?" She nods, "I wish he had the chance to see his child." Temp then asks, "So does his wife." Booth then says, "Maybe your husband found out that you were having an affair, and, uh, he decided to get rid of Mr. Holt. Seems like the kind of guy who likes to get what he wants." "Sean has a temper, but he would never hurt anyone." We then see him come in as he says, "What the hell are you doing, Kim?" Booth says, "We were just asking a few questions about Spencer Holt." "Uh-huh." He then looks at his wife, "Keep your mouth shut." He then looks at us, "Now look, I told you everything when you found him, and we're not saying anything else without our attorneys present. Is that clear?" I smile, "We're clear."
***********************************************************************************************
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.