525600 moments Chapter 18
And I'm back for real! Exams are over and I'll be back to updating regularly. Hope you're still reading!
Chapter 18: True colors
"Hello?" Michelle said when she answered the phone.
"Hello, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute. I intended to call Dr. Jack Hodgins," came the reply.
"It's Michelle Welton, Dr. Brennan. Just a second, I'll get Hodgins," the teen replied with a laugh in her voice. "Hodgins!" she yelled then and held her hand over the speaker of the phone.
"What?" he yelled back from downstairs where he was training on his bike.
"Phone," she called back.
"Connect it to down here. I'm gonna take it in here," he screamed back once again.
"Ok, pick up, I'm hanging up," she yelled back and hung up.
"Are you two completely nuts? Do you really have to yell over two floors?" Cam asked and came out of the kitchen shaking her head in disapproval.
"I didn't want to walk down just to give him the phone," Michelle shrugged. "And man, you're in a bad mood."
"You could have just re-directed the call to the gym," her legal guardian replied and rubbed her temples.
"Headache still there?"
"Yeah, now that I have to take the kidney medication again, the migraine is coming back," Cam nodded and tiredly closed her eyes.
"Why don't you lay down for a bit?" her daughter proposed.
"Hodgins wanted to go grocery shopping and then get the part for our bathroom sink and install it," Cam replied.
"I doubt that he'll do it, cause Dr. Brennan just called," Michelle informed her and Cam groaned.
"I don't want to go to work today," she whined.
"You don't have to, Brennan and I are going diving this afternoon," Hodgins said when he came up the stairs and sounded strangely excited.
"Diving?" Michelle and Cam asked not exactly at the same time.
"They found a dead Tiger Shark with the undigested remains of a human leg in its stomach. Now we have to drive over to the Aquarium of the Atlantic to go and search for the rest," he told them and wiped his face with a towel he held in his hands.
"So a dead body in a fish tank is what motivates you to work on a Sunday," Cam said.
"Absolutely," he grinned. "You wanna come?"
"No, thanks. I think I'll lie down for a while. My head is killing me," she replied.
"You'll look after her?" Hodgins turned to Michelle.
"I'm gonna go to the movies with Paris later," Michelle shook her head.
"You'll be ok alone?" he turned to Cam and looked worried.
"I'll be fine. Unlike other people in this room I don't need someone to wait on me when I have a headache," she raised her eyebrows.
"Ok, then I'm gonna go shower and leave you with your misery," he laughed and hurried up the stairs to shower.
"Is he really looking forward to swimming in a tank with a rotting corpse in it?" Michelle asked her disbelievingly when he was gone.
"Do you even have to ask?" Cam dead panned.
"Not really," Michelle said with an eye roll and then suddenly started to snicker, then to laugh.
"What?" Cam wanted to know.
"Nothing… just he's taking a shower now, right?" the teen giggled.
"He always does after his work-out. Why? What did you do?" she wanted to know suspiciously.
"Me? Just some revenge for the pool thing," she laughed.
"I don't even want to know," Cam waved her hands and then turned around and walked up the stairs. She went into the bedroom and lay down, closed her eyes and let the sounds of the running shower lull her into a light sleep. It was a short relaxation however, because minutes later Hodgins burst out of the bathroom, clad only in his boxer shorts, rubbing furiously over his head with a towel.
"Michelle! I will poison you!" he yelled and Cam bolted up in bed, wide eyed. A second later Michelle came into the bedroom, already hunched over with laughter and unable to speak.
"Show me," she pressed out and howled with laughter when he took the towel away from his head and his hair was bright green.
"You look like a grasshopper," Cam said and had to grin as well, although she tried not to.
"What did you do?" Hodgins asked Michelle and walked closer to her, trying to threaten her. However she was still laughing too hard to care.
"Looks like she put hair dye in your shampoo bottle," Cam snickered.
"I have green hair now in places I don't even want to talk about," he complained to Cam which gave her the final push over, and she started laughing as well.
"It's Halloween hair dye, it'll come out with one wash," Michelle was able to say and then laughed again when she saw that his chest hair was light green as well. "I didn't know you use your shampoo as a body wash," she howled.
"It's two in one, shampoo and soap," he muttered and then stomped back into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Michelle let herself fall onto the bed beside Cam and held her stomach.
"Ow, that hurts," she giggled and tried to calm down.
"I should punish you for this, but after the laughter my headache seems to be gone," Cam grinned and they burst out laughing again.
Later at the aquarium Brennan and Hodgins were getting ready while Booth assisted.
"Okay, you know what? You don't have to go in, Bones," Booth said, not too fond of the idea of letting these two into the fish tank.
"Yes, I do. We need to recover what's left of the victim to have any hope of identification," Brennan disagreed.
"Time out, okay. Have Hodgins do it," he replied.
"I look like Richard Dreyfus, don't I? 'We're gonna need a bigger boat!'," Hodgins joked.
"No - we don't need a boat," Brennan said. "Wh-why are you wearing that hat?" she asked him then, confused, realizing only now that he had come in with the hat and was still wearing it.
"Keep his brain warm, okay," Booth brushed her question off and Hodgins was glad he didn't have to answer. He had washed his hair again, but a slight greenish shimmer had remained on top of his head. The ends of his hair were looking ok by now, but the back of his head… he didn't even want to think about it. So he had put on the hat- and wouldn't take it off until the green color was gone. He had already decided that his revenge on Michelle would be horrible. "Make Hodgins go in there and do it," Booth went on.
"There is nothing to be afraid of, Booth," Brennan tried to calm her colleague.
"Yeah, you know, sharks - they don't eat people," Hodgins added.
"Really? Tell that to the guy who got, ya know, coughed up by a grouper, okay," Booth turned onto him. But Hodgins really didn't care. His nearly-step-daughter had ruined his hair and he was about to go diving in a ?; Booth really wasn't intimidating at that moment.
"Okay, who's going in?" A guy asked and both Brennan and Hodgins raised their hands. "You guys know what you're doing, right? It isn't a swim in a fish tank."
"Isn't that exactly what it is?" Brennan asked him clueless.
"Yeah, a really big, cool one," Hodgins added excitedly.
"No, no. It's the recovery of a body in an investigation of a potential homicide. Alright? Any questions, you ask me. Understand? Keep your eyes on me," Booth lectured them.
"Gotcha," the guy agreed.
"Ready?" Another worker at the aquarium asked.
"Yes, I am," Brennan said while her colleague only nodded.
"Okay, Ben here will escort you to the tank. Agent Booth, follow me. You'll be able to communicate with Dr. Brennan on our intercom system," she told them.
"Thank you," Booth replied.
"And good luck to you," she told Brennan and walked off with Booth.
~'*~
"I have the anterior aspect of the skull," Brennan said once they were in the tank and had found something a fish had coughed up.
"You'd call it a face, Booth," Hodgins couldn't help himself saying.
"Pipe down there, pal," Booth barked back. Hodgins started sifting through the sand while Brennan dove around.
"Hodgins. Over here," she called and he swam over. "Look," she told him and he saw the skeleton they had been looking for.
"And is the green finally gone?" Cam asked him with a smile when he came into her office later that day. She had had to come in as well, on a Sunday - dead bodies didn't respect the weekends.
"Took me three more hair washes to get rid of it. I will kill Michelle when I see her next time," he grumbled and leaned against her desk.
"Just please no more revenge. This will be a vicious circle," she begged.
"She started it!" he insisted.
"You threw her in the pool," Cam pointed out.
"She dyed my hair," he protested and made her sigh. "You're feeling better?" he asked her then, his voice turning softer.
"It's down to a dull throbbing pain, so yeah, I'm feeling better," she smiled bravely.
"If I can do anything for you just say the word," he smiled back.
"Don't take revenge on Michelle. At least not until my migraine is gone," she requested immediately.
"Anything but that. We're at war now, there's no going back until she surrenders," he shook his head.
"Oh boy. I'll just leave Michelle at your place and move back to mine permanently until you two are done," Cam said.
"How about we ship Michelle back to your place while you stay with me? Alone? We could have so much fun," he grinned, his smile showing that his thoughts were anything but PG rated.
"Not happening. You know we come as a package deal," she shook her head.
"I know," he nodded and turned serious for a moment, before he grinned again. "But maybe I can just lock her up somewhere on the premises?"
"Leave me out of it," she only replied.
Another hour later Cam had changed into her autopsy clothes and was listening to Clark Edison who was presenting his findings.
"The pelvis verifies the osteon count. He was between the ages of 30 and 34. The fusion of the vertebrae could indicate an injury to the spinal cord," he told her.
"Huh. Anything off the spectroscope?" she wanted to know.
"Yes. The distal tibia from the leg we found originally. It confirms the presence of perimortem bruising," he confirmed her suspicion.
"When the shark attacked the victim, he was still alive?"
"Yes. Take a look right here. I found a cleft fracture of the styloid process," the intern nodded.
"Probably blunt-force to the throat," Cam replied.
"And here, several multidirectional grooves along the glabella and the supraorbital ridge," he went on.
"The victim was stabbed in the eye?"
"Varying degrees of force may suggest that someone tried to stab the victim in the face with a narrow, sharp object," Clark said and showed her.
"Okay. Well, that makes this an official homicide. The victim was assaulted and then dumped into the tank alive as a means of disposal," Cam said and knew that homicide meant more paperwork than a simple accident. At that moment Hodgins walked into the room with a victorious smile on his face.
"I think I know when it happened," he informed her and nodded with his head in the direction of his lab so she would follow him.
"Just a second Hodgins, I want to write down the last few findings," she told him and took off her rubber gloves.
"It's ok, Dr. Saroyan, I can do it," Clark told her.
"Oh, ok. Thank you," Cam said surprised and looked a bit suspicious. The intern waved uncomfortably when she left with Hodgins, glad that they were gone. He was still carrying the scars of too much knowledge from Hodgins relationship with Angela and he wasn't too keen on reliving that time.
"Meet deploria labyrinthiformis. Better known as the groovy grooved brain coral native to the Caribbean, Bermuda and Bahamas," Hodgins told his girlfriend and boss in the Ookey Room.
"Why is it here?" she asked him and stayed on the other side of his table.
"Coral skeletons accrete tiny crystals of calcium carbonate at night. So for us, this provides a timeline similar to tree rings. Coral can tell us what was in the water and when it got there," he said.
"If you have a year to wait," she dismissed his findings.
"No. That is the beauty. Because of the rapid nature of the growth, the timeline is condensed," he grinned proudly.
"How specific is it?" she was still doubtful.
"Within hours," Hodgins said and was even happier when she looked impressed. "Now, a spike in ammonia and nitrate levels found within the coral skeleton tells us that something died in that tank on Friday night between midnight and 6:00 a.m. Something big. Like human being big," he explained with the necessary excitement.
"Ok, so we have a time of death," she nodded and couldn't help but smile about how adorable he was all proud and excited about his findings.
"Hey, before you leave: I had an idea concerning Michelle," his grin got even wider.
"Oh boy," she muttered and her smile vanished.
"Do you think she'd freak out if I dump buckets of maggots over her bed and desk? Or wouldn't she mind?" he asked.
"Wouldn't she mind? Who wouldn't mind thousands of stinky maggots in their bed. I think that's the most disgusting thing ever. She might be damaged for life and never be able to sleep in a bed again. Don't you dare!" she huffed.
"It's not worse than green hair!" he tried to defend himself and held up his hands.
"Maybe not for you. I might have nightmares now from just hearing the idea. No maggots, no bugs not even a single fly or spider, Hodgins, or I'll re-think the moving in together thing," she threatened.
"What? You're kidding, right?" he exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Try me," she replied and put her hands on her hips in a "don't mess with me" stance.
"But that's so not fair," he complained.
"No more revenge, Hodgins. This thing is over. Knowing you two nutjobs one of you will blow the house up while 'taking revenge'. The lab is already like a huge kindergarten, do I really have to play teacher at home as well?" she asked him and raised her eyebrows. He didn't back down though, but looked her straight into the eyes. After everything they'd been through she wasn't as intimidating anymore as she had been when he had met her. "I'm a coroner, I deal with dead people. There's a reason why I'm not a doctor. I don't help other human beings! Most of them make me want to slap them silly. That's why I deal with the dead; they don't talk and they don't play pranks on each other. So you and Michelle will stop or I'll kill you both and let the crazy European plastinate you and then set you up in the house so I can have the quieter version of the both of you around," Cam threatened. Hodgins watched her ramble and had the guts to snicker when she talked about plastination.
"You're so beautiful when you're angry," he grinned, leaned over the coral on the table and kissed her softly.
"Don't think you're off the hook," she muttered, clearly appeased and then turned around and walked out of his lab.
"Look what I found in the filter from the aquarium. It's a five-inch piece of tanned putrescible animal raw hide," Hodgins said when he walked into Angela's office and found her and Brennan playing with the live aquarium feed she had installed on her screen.
"From a fish?" Brennan asked.
"From a wallet," he corrected her.
"Well, if you go into a fish tank willingly, you remove your wallet, right?" Angela asked her two friends.
"Yeah," Hodgins agreed and noticed the screen for the first time. "Oh, wow. Oh, you should leave this up. It's beautiful. Peaceful. Pure," he gushed.
"It's kind of scary, though, right?" Angela smiled at him.
"I like scary," he replied and smiled back at her.
"Yeah, so do I," she nodded and kept looking at him for a moment. He held her look, and was happy that she seemed happy. It had been a while since he had seen her smile like that.
"Clark is trying to determine what sort of weapon the killer may have used when stabbing at the victim's face. Hodgins, please keep me posted about what you find in the filter," Brennan said and sounded a bit uncomfortable.
"Uh-huh," he replied and kept staring at the screen. Brennan left and after another few seconds of watching the fish swim over the screen, his mind occupied with the beauty of it, he noticed that Angela was looking at him again. He glanced to the side and met her eyes. Then he realized for the first time that his smile as a good friend could be mistaken and Brennan had obviously interpreted the situation as a 'moment' between the two former lovers. He wasn't worried about Brennan misunderstanding the situation, but he imploringly hoped that Angela hadn't made the same mistake. Glancing at her again and seeing the small smile on her face he knew she had though.
"I should go and check on Cam. She wasn't feeling too well today and I don't want her to work too much," he said and this time he waited a second to catch her reaction. He saw the disappointment and hurt flicker in Angela's eyes when he mentioned Cam. After a split second she had herself under control again and the smile was firmly back in place.
"Yeah, she told me about the migraine being back. I hope she feels better soon," she replied and he left the office with a tentative wave that she returned and then turned back to the cyber aquarium in her office.
"So then I told her that I am not ok with it and if she does that again she'll be grounded," Cam finished the tale of her latest fight with Michelle, who had decided to spend the night at her friend Paris' place without telling Cam. When she had called her around ten at night her daughter had told her that she hadn't thought they'd make it out of the lab that night and therefore wouldn't even notice that she wasn't home. "From now on I'll call her around nine whenever we work late. This time it was Paris, but next will most likely be Perry," she added worriedly. She leaned back against the red couch again after she had placed her cup with tea back on the table.
"Didn't we already agree that if they want to have sex they will have sex and they won't need a night together for that? If she officially spends the night at his place it will be too late already anyway," Hodgins replied and took another sip of his tea and kept his cup in hand, but slid down more on the sofa. He propped his feet up on the table where his cup had been before.
"Yeah, I know you're right," she sighed. "I just don't know how to handle the responsibility for a sixteen year old. Soon to be seventeen year old."
"I think you're doing well so far. Has she said anything yet about what she wants for her birthday or what she wants to do?"
"No, not to me at least. Who knows what she's planning with her friends," Cam shook her head.
"I think the time will come when she'll tell us," he shrugged and grabbed the remote that was lying between them on the cushion and turned down the volume of the TV. "How's your head?" he asked her then and placed his cup on the table again.
"Better. I'm not really fond of taking another pill, but if it's necessary I'll take the kidney medication and the migraine medication from now on. Hopefully my test results will get better soon enough and I can stop taking them again," Cam replied.
"Ok, cause I want to talk to you about something and I fear it'll bring back your headache," he admitted and placed one leg bent on the couch and turned sideways towards her.
"Nice way to start a talk Hodgins," she grinned and turned towards him as well, so he knew that he had her attention.
"Today Brennan, Angela and I were in Angela's office and I was admiring the live feed she installed from the aquarium," he started.
"It's amazing, isn't it? I asked her if she couldn't display something like it on the walls of my office, but she assured me it wouldn't work," Cam recounted with a small smile.
"Awesome really," he nodded. "But what I wanted to say is that I think you're right," he went on.
"Right about what?" she asked confused.
"Angela and I had a moment today… or I think she thinks we had a moment," he admitted.
"Define 'a moment'," she asked and drew her eyebrows together.
"I came in and saw the aquarium, complimented her and we smiled at each other," he started to explain the situation and reached over to her, took a strand of her hair that was resting on her shoulder and let it glide through his fingers. "I was happy to see her smile again, because it has been a while since I saw that smile on her face last. But when Brennan left the room looking somewhat flustered I realized that maybe Angela misunderstood the situation as well and thought we had a moment," he explained the situation to Cam.
"Did she say anything?" she asked him and watched him play with her hair for a moment before she looked back at his face. She was not angry or annoyed, simply seriously listening to him.
"No, but I know her and I saw her face when I told her on purpose that I was leaving to go see you," he shook his head. "The look in her eyes made me think 'Shit, Cam was right'."
"I guess it's the same look she had on her face when she came to see you after your nun-chuck accident and I was opening the door. As I said, I think she was really disappointed that I was at your place at the time," Cam replied.
"Damn, I just don't know how to get out of this mess," he sighed and let her hair fall back on her shoulder. "We both think we saw something, but we have no proof. If I walk up to her and initiate this big talk and she simply denies everything then I look like a total narcissistic asshole. But if I let this go on and we're right then she might think that there somehow is still a chance for us and will fall even harder when I reject her should she ever try something," he voiced his concerns. "And seriously it just pisses me off. Why can't we just be friends like you and Booth? I like Angela, I love her as a friend now and I don't want to lose her. But I can't have her running around hoping for another chance..."
"Do you want me to talk to her? Woman to woman?" she asked him and he couldn't stop himself from laughing.
"Can I bring some mud and water before you do?" he chuckled.
"Really funny, Jack," she rolled her eyes but had to smile as well." I'm only trying to help here and I'm not going to wear a bikini for that."
"I know," he smiled back and kissed her softly. "Thank you," he said and placed another kiss on her lips. "I think I'll just wait for the next opportunity and then address it," he said and pulled Cam sideways against him, so her head was resting against his shoulder. "Just want you to know that there's nothing going on between Angela and me, no matter what it might look like."
"I know that," she nodded against his shoulder and then yawned.
"You wanna head to bed?" he asked her and his hand was back in her hair, massaging her skull this time.
"No, I wanted to see the movie. I always miss the end and I want to see it today," she replied.
"I'm not carrying you to bed this time if you fall asleep on me again," he said, seeing that her eyes were already half closed.
"You say that every time and every time you do," she replied and slid down on the couch and then snuggled more into him. He didn't reply, but just smiled and kept massaging her head.
The next day Hodgins was putting Cam's blender to good use again when Clark entered his lab.
"Oh. That is the most unpleasant smell," the Dr. complained.
"Angelfish smoothie?" Hodgins grinned.
"Man, you killed the Moroccan angelfish?" Clark gasped and couldn't believe it. Jack was reminded that he had a real animal lover right in front of him, remembering the zoo conversation they had had when Andrew Welton had been killed.
"No. No, I did not. They died on their own. Only afterwards did I puree them," he defended himself.
"Oh, I really hope you can prove that. Those aquarium people love their fish," his colleague replied.
"Don't worry. The angelfish died from a generic organic protein-based neurotoxin that's found in lots of different yummy places - like the flagellum of bacteria," he explained.
"What, did they absorb it through their gills?" Clark asked.
"I think they ingested it."
"By snacking on our victim?"
"No. This neurotoxin's not strong enough to kill a fully grown human male," Hodgins replied in the negative.
"Wait a minute. What if it was injected through his eye? You know, more than once," Clark had an idea.
"Well, it'd be disorienting - as would any injection into the eye," the entomologist replied after thinking about it for a second.
"Perhaps Dr. Saroyan can find traces in what's left of the body. Thank you," he said and turned to leave when Hodgins stopped him and burst out with the topic that had been on his mind the whole morning.
"Oh, hey, Clark," he called him.
"Yeah?"
"Feel I should warn you. Angela and Wendell; they broke up," he informed him although he knew the intern wasn't too keen on knowing private things about his coworkers.
"Uh, I'm sorry. What's that got to do with me?" he replied.
"She may be on the market for a new intern," he attempted to joke.
"Okay, okay, okay. Listen. I'm gonna - I'm gonna break my cardinal rule for you and offer some good advice. Don't do that," he told Hodgins sternly.
"Do what?" Hodgins didn't know what he was talking about and was still grinning.
"Channel your own frustrations into snide allusions," he clarified.
"Oh. Snide is a strong word," Hodgins said and Clark only raised an eyebrow. "Um... I, uh, I found this for you. It was in the vacuum," Jack stuttered then, still stunned by Clark's advice. How had this guy gotten so much insight in what was going on in his head? How could he know that his frustration was linked to Angela?
"Looks like an enterolith. In cats, you would call it a hairball. Though, in this, I see some bone fragments within its composition," Clark said as he looked at the ball.
"Well, take it. It's all yours," Jack said and had clearly sobered; the humor was gone.
"Thanks."
"Clark," he stopped him again.
"What is it now, Dr. Hodgins?" the intern asked and sounded slightly annoyed.
"Thank you for breaking your cardinal rule. I'll, uh, I'll take what you said under advisement," he told him and meant it.
"Good. Just know that I really don't need to know the outcome," Clark replied and hurried off.
"Hiding?" Hodgins grinned when he stepped onto the roof terrace of the Jeffersonian. He had seen Cam leave and had followed her when she hadn't been back after a few minutes.
"No, just taking a breath for a minute," she replied and gave him a small smile when he walked up to her and leaned beside her against the banister.
"For a moment I thought you'd started smoking again," he admitted.
"No, I haven't... but oh, what I would do for a cigarette now," she sighed with a wistful smile.
"Why do you need your smokes? Something wrong? You look pensive," he asked after studying her facial expression for a moment, stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I don't know, maybe I'm overreacting but I feel like Brennan and Angela just ganged up on me," she told him what was bothering her.
"In what way?" he asked her and nuzzled her neck with his nose.
"I just asked a simple question concerning zooming in on a picture and they both went into painful detail why it wasn't possible. I felt like an idiot for even asking," Cam replied and leaned back against him.
"Isn't that what Brennan always does?" he asked.
"Brennan yes, but Angela usually stops her and doesn't join in," she said.
"You think it has to do with what we talked about last night?" he wanted to know and felt an uncomfortable feeling settling in his gut.
"I don't know. But if it was Brennan would surely be on Angela's side," Cam shrugged.
"First opportunity I get I'm gonna talk to Angela. I don't think she's being mean on purpose or anything, but just as I can't let my frustration lead me to make snide remarks, she can't let hers make her be unfair towards you," Hodgins said thoughtfully.
"She wasn't unfair... it's just one of those feelings I get without being able to explain them."
"Your statistically inaccurate gut?" he grinned teasingly.
"Exactly that. And to whom did you make snide remarks?" she asked then.
"Clark told me earlier that I should pay more attention to what I say and why I say it. And he was right," he admitted, leaning his chin against her shoulder and gazing over the garden of the Jeffersonian.
"You insulted him?" she wanted to know and turned her head to the side so she saw his face.
"No, I just made a stupid comment without thinking about it. Nothing important," he told her. "I was just frustrated about some things and I told him he was right so we're ok," he added then so she knew they didn't have another mine field at the lab.
"What about?" she wanted to know and turned around in his arms, leaning against the railing.
"You not letting me get revenge on Michelle, Angela and the whole thing," he told her.
"No revenge," she insisted.
"You saw where exactly I had green hair. You know, with the chemicals in the dye it could have easily been fatal for the sensitive skin on… some areas of my body."
"But it wasn't," she said and placed her hands on top of his on her hips. "We should get back," she told him and gave his hands a squeeze.
"We could stay and make out for a while," he suggested and made her smile.
"Maybe another time when we don't have a murder to solve. I think my test on the toxins should be done by now," she replied.
"I'll hold you to that," he said referring to the first part of her statement and then they made their way back down to the lab.
A while later Brennan, Clark, Cam and Angela were standing around a tank beside the platform and Brennan explained to the others what had most likely happened to the victim.
"The victim and the killer gained access to the back area of the aquarium before the door was locked. Jazz saw the lionfish in quarantine," she said and tapped the fish tank. "This represents the quarantine tank," she informed them and called the intern over. "Jazz was all about facing his fears. He saw one of the world's most venomous fish and was taking a look at it from above the surface of the water, when someone forcibly pushed," as she said it she pushed the unsuspecting intern's head into the tank and held him under water. Cam and Angela both looked surprised and Cam even felt sorry for the poor guy. Brennan sure had a way with her interns. Zach had always been the victim, Wendell had been assaulted with a paint brush and Clark had once been nearly strangulated and now held under water. "…his head down into the tank, causing a cleft fracture of the styloid process," Brennan went on without even realizing what she was doing and finally let the poor guy up again. He gasped for air and dried his face.
"We used to do that in junior high, but we used a toilet," he remarked but no one really paid attention to his comment.
"This man died of a lionfish swirly?" Angela asked.
"Yeah. Now several of the venomous spines penetrated the eye area. A few broke and remained embedded. Now with the victim disoriented and possibly unconscious, it was very easy to drag him off to the big tank nearby," the intern explained and Cam was glad that Brennan didn't re-enact that part of the murder.
"Unconscious underwater, he was dead with his first breath. And those fish tore him apart. That's where this poor nut case's theory actually holds true: eat or be eaten," she concluded and nodded appreciatively at the team. Now Booth only had to find out who pushed his head into the tank and then threw him in the aquarium and then they would be done with yet another murder investigation.
"I really hope he was only right in his own case. I don't like this whole 'It's a bad world out there so you have to be even worse yourself' crap," Angela said as Brennan and Clark pushed the tank away and she and Cam were left alone standing beside each other.
"Me either," Cam nodded and smiled at Angela. The smile she got back wasn't as honest as she had wished and she could feel the distance that hadn't been there before. Angela had never been a really close friend, but still someone she considered more a friend than a coworker. She didn't like it one bit that the tension between them seemed to grow now, nearly a year after she and Hodgins had first got together. "And now the reports are waiting for me," she sighed to get out of the situation and Angela nodded and then walked off to her own office.
"What is that?" Cam asked Hodgins when he lifted something into the trunk of the car as they were leaving to go home that night.
"It's the filter from the aquarium that we didn't need for the investigation. I asked them if they wanted it back, but they said that they had already replaced it with a new one," he replied and closed the car trunk.
"What do you need it for?" Cam asked him and looked suspicious.
"It's really awesome quality and I'll just place it in my lab at home. I'm sure I'll need it one day," he shrugged innocently and got into the car.
"You're driving over to your place?" she asked him.
"No, I thought I'd drop you off at your place first and then head over to mine and get something to eat on the way back," he shook his head.
"Alright. Cause I need to talk to Michelle and then call a friend of mine. She already left three messages on my voicemail, telling me that she's in town, so I need to call her back and arrange a meeting," Cam replied.
"A friend from New York?"
"Yeah, a friend from college. We later worked in the same hospital as interns. She now lives in San Diego and works as a surgeon," Cam said and looked out the side window as they drove through town.
"Speaking of friends: What's going on with Booth and the aquarium chick?" Hodgins changed the topic as he pulled on the ring road.
"You mean Dr. Bryar?" she asked just to point out that she didn't approve of the term 'aquarium chick'.
"Yup," he nodded unconcerned.
"Last thing I heard is that they will go out. He liked her and she was more than interested from what I heard," Cam said.
"She is hot, no wonder he'll go out with her," Hodgins said approvingly.
"You know, if I were a jealous person that comment would have put you in the dog house for at least a week," Cam rolled her eyes.
"Nah, I let you lust after football players and hockey players and in return I can look as well. I consider it an unspoken agreement," he grinned cheekily.
"Alright," she laughed. "We haven't been to a football game together yet. Don't you have seats? I think Seeley mentioned something like that," she asked then.
"Yup, I do, but I only told Booth about the basketball seats I have. You wanna go?" he asked her.
"I'd love to. When's the next game?"
"Friday evening, I think. I have the schedule at home and can check when I go over later," Hodgins said and pulled up to Cam's house.
"When will you be back? An hour?" she asked him and unbuckled her seat belt.
"More like two. I want to get some work for the Cantilever Group done as well, since it's not that late yet," he told her.
"Ok, then see you later," she nodded and pecked his lips.
"You're ok with Italian ?" he asked her as she got out of the car.
"Sure, don't forget the garlic bread," she nodded and closed the door. A second later he was off to his home.
"You're ready?" Hodgins asked Cam when she came out of the bathroom on Friday evening.
"Yep, now we just have to wait for Michelle. Isn't she out of the shower yet?" she asked him.
"I haven't seen her yet," he shook his head. There was something in his eyes that caused her to do a double take and then narrow her eyes at him.
"Hodgins, what did you do?" she asked and walked closer to him, her hands already on her hips.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said and tried to look innocent. However when a grin slowly spread on his face Cam knew she was right.
"Jack!" she barked and he actually jumped a bit.
"She put green hair dye in my shampoo bottle," he pointed out again. "I can't let that one slide," he insisted.
"What did you do?" she asked him again, putting emphasize on every word.
"Let's just say you shouldn't use the showers in the guest rooms," he chuckled, glee and mischief in his eyes.
"I… you… urgh," Cam grunted frustrated and then walked off to the guest room Michelle had been using since the construction work had begun in the penthouse. "Michelle?" she asked when she knocked on the door.
"Go away!" the teen yelled furiously from inside.
"Whatever he did, I had nothing to do with it," Cam said and tried the door handle, but the door was locked. "Come on, honey, what's going on? Open the door please," she begged. After another minute she heard the key turn in the door and then it slowly opened.
"Look what he did to me! I look like a smurf and it just won't go away. All the water is blue," Michelle said and Cam gasped when she saw that her daughter was blue-ish everywhere. Even her hair had a blue-ish shimmer.
"I will kill him," Cam said through gritted teeth.
"Leave him to me," Michelle said angrily. "It just won't come off," she added and sounded close to tears.
"Hodgins!" Cam yelled loudly and a few seconds later he came into the room, then burst out laughing when he saw Michelle.
"I never thought it would be so blue. It's like navy blue," he laughed. "That Russian guy is a genius."
"Make it come off. Now," Cam ordered.
"But she'll match the jerseys tonight," he had the guts to reply, still laughing.
"Jack! This isn't funny anymore. Make it go away, I'm serious," Cam barked at him, furious now. Her eyes were shooting daggers at him and turned from warm brown to icy black.
"Come with me, I've got the soap that will get it off in our bathroom," he told the teen and she followed him without talking to him. She took the soap from him without a word and slammed the door of their bathroom shut and then got into the shower.
"Come on, the idea was good. It took me hours to install the filter in the water pipes so we'd still have clean water," Hodgins said to Cam when she came into their bedroom as well.
"When we have kids you'll hit them when they hit you? Burn down their rooms when they paint on the walls or run them over with the car if they ruin the garden with a soccer ball?" she spit out angrily.
"Oh come on! Michelle is not a kid anymore. She started this revenge crap and strangely enough when I was all green you found it funny. Not that she's blue you're pissed at me? How's that fair?" he asked her offended.
"It's not fair, Jack. But Michelle is my daughter and no matter what she'll always come first. I know you don't mind too much running around with green hair for a day. But for a girl her age it's not even close to funny when someone messes with her hair, let alone color you blue from head to toe," Cam told him, still angry and then took a deep breath to calm herself. "How long will it take until the water won't be blue anymore?" she asked him.
"About a week?" he guessed. "But it's only in the guest rooms and the bathrooms there. The rest has filters," he said.
"Michelle and I are going to spend the next week at my place," she decided.
"And me?" he asked wide eyed.
"You can stay here with your blue water. Maybe take a shower in one of the guest rooms and see if you still find it funny when you look like the Blue Man Group," she said and then left the room before he could even attempt to discuss it with her.
"You're sure you don't want some ice cream?" Hodgins asked Michelle for the fifth time since they had arrived at the stadium. She just threw him a death stare, but didn't reply. Slowly he was getting worried that he had really overdone it this time.
"I can't wait for the second half. First time in two years I'm at a game and the seats are awesome," Cam gushed. Ever since they had entered the stadium Cam's mood had improved by the minute.
"If you want to you can go up to the VIP lounge and get a drink," he told them and again didn't get any reaction from the teen.
"I'm good," Cam grinned and slurped the rest of her coke, then snuggled more into his side. He looked at her and smiled. The large football jersey and the jeans were such a change from her work clothes, but she looked adorable.
"I'm glad," he said and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Michelle who was sitting on Cam's other side threw him a dirty look and made him sigh quietly.
"Oh Jack, look," Cam laughed suddenly while he was still deep in thought and when he looked up he saw that the kiss cam had zoomed in on them and people were waiting for them to kiss.
"I'll gladly do that," he laughed and sealed her lips with his. When she wanted to pull back he placed his hand on her cheek and deepened the kiss for a moment, so that their audience started to cheer and whistle. Flushed and laughing they broke apart and once the camera was gone Cam kissed him softly again.
"Where did Cam go?" Hodgins asked Michelle when the game was over and Cam had left to get herself one last drink but still wasn't back after ten minutes.
"Dunno," Michelle just shrugged, still refusing to talk to him.
"Not that I mind, but she has my wallet and the car keys," he added and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. It took about five rings until she picked up.
"Hey, where are you?" he asked her confused.
"On my way home," she replied and he could hear the smile in her voice.
"What? You're kidding right?" he exclaimed.
"Nope," she laughed.
"But you have my wallet and my car keys. I can't even get a cab," he told her.
"Take it as my revenge, honey," she used the term of affection exaggeratedly. "I think the walk home will do you and Michelle good. Gives you time to talk and to think about what you've done to each other and to me. Have fun," she said and ended the call. Hodgins stared at the phone in his hands and then turned to Michelle.
"She took the car and the money on purpose. We have to walk home," he informed her, still shocked and wide eyed.
"That's at least two hours," Michelle replied just as stunned.
"I know. We're lucky if we make it home before midnight," he agreed.
"Why is she doing this?" Michelle asked him as they slowly walked to the exit.
"To teach us both a lesson," he said.
"This day sucks," Michelle groaned. "And isn't it dangerous to walk around at night?" she asked him then.
"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you," he replied.
He would never admit it to Cam but by the end of their walk he was glad that they had had the time to talk, because they had called truce and Michelle was talking to him again. That was worth a two hour walk in the middle of the night. And Cam might even let him live at her place until his water wasn't blue anymore.
TBC