Brennan made her way to Booth's office. He was sitting in his favorite chair as usual, tossing a Hacky-Sack in the air. She knocked on the door politely, although there really wasn't any need. Booth sat upright and set the ball down. Brennan noticed this and began to see him in a different light. She saw the way his eyes sparkled and how he gave that special smile he saved for only when he saw her.
"Oh, hey, Bones! What's up?"
"Nothing. I just came by."
"Okay." They sat in silence, not sure what to say.
"Booth, Ange told me something, but...."
"But what?"
"I don't know. It's complicated and confusing."
"You can tell me."
"I have to think about it. I should probably go."
"Yeah, we do have a murder to solve." Booth's face was just slightly disappointed, as if he was trying to hold back his own emotions. Brennan's heart fluttered, and she became aware of a strange sensation inside her as she gazed at him. It made her feel insecure and nervous, so she pushed it away.
"I'm going to go check on Ange, see if she's found a match on the victim yet." Brennan moved away from Booth's office.
"All right. See you later." Booth gave a little half-smile.
Perhaps Angela was on to something.
**************************************************
"Back again?" said Angela. "I finally identified our body. You're not going to like this. It's Robert Kirby, the deputy director of the FBI."
"What? Oh, no. I'll let Booth know later. By the way, I'm beginning-"
"To think that I'm right? Took you long enough!"
"Angela! But even if you are on to something, I'm not going to believe it until Booth tells me himself."
"Whatever. Dr. Saroyan wanted to see you in the lab."
"Thanks."
Brennan headed over to Camille's lab. Her boss was busy peeling off what little flesh was left on the body. It took a few minutes for her to notice Brennan standing at the doorway.
"There you are. I sent off a piece of the flesh to Hodgens and he discovered a residue made up of 85% gasoline, 10% lighter fluid, and 5% gunpowder."
"Gunpowder?" Brennan echoed in surprise. "Doesn't that explode? That would have blown the victim up, right?" But Cam was shaking her head.
"No. Gunpowder only explodes when it's contained, like in a bomb. My question is, why those three things just to burn a body?"
Brennan shrugged. "Maybe the killer wanted to make sure the job would be done, or maybe that's his signature."
Cam glanced at her. "Other than burning and gutting a man?"
"Well, it's a possibility. Hey, Angela keeps talking about-"
"About you and Booth? About how he's madly in love with you? Yeah, I know. It's quite obvious."
Brennan scowled. "Am I the last one to find out?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Sorry it took you so long. I don't think Booth wanted you to know yet. I don't think even we were supposed to know, except it's hard to mistake that sort of look on a person's face."
"Then how come I've never noticed it?"
"Well, either you're really dense, blind or he at least was able to hide it from you."
"Will you people stop calling me dense? Good God!"
"Sorry."
"But even so, the FBI won't allow his feelings."
"No, Brennan. Even the FBI can't control emotions. They just won't let you date."
"But Sully and I dated, and they didn't do anything about that!"
"You went out with Sully? I never heard - oh, right. Angela. Well, he doesn't work with you."
"We broke up. But he helped us on some cases."
"Sorry to hear about the split. Anyways, you aren't actual co-workers. Now, I'm almost done in the flesh department, so you can have the skeleton by this afternoon."
"Okay. I'll tell Zach." Brennan Went to her office. She flipped on the lights and sat down, taking a deep breath. The day's events were beginning to wear on her, considering all what she had discovered.
Someone closed the door and switched the blinds. Max Keenan stood there, smiling at his daughter.
"Hello, Tempe. You look nice today."