The Science of Belief
Title: The Science of Belief
Rating: PG
Crossover: Bones/Harper Connelly Mysteries
Summary: After discovering a body, Harper Connelly gets questioned by Special Agent Seeley Booth and his partner, Temperance Brennan
Prompts: "Big bang" for XOVERLAND.
Disclaimer: Fox owns "Bones" and related characters; Charlaine Harris owns "The Harper Connelly Mysteries" and related characters; I own nothing.
I drummed my fingers against the cool metal table, waiting for the FBI agent to come in and question me. I could already predict what he was going to ask me and his reactions to my answers. Who am I and why am I in an FBI interrogation room? My name is Harper Connelly, and I find dead people. I've had this dubious gift ever since I was hit by lightning back when I was fifteen and living in my drug-addicted parent's trailer with my family--including my then-step-brother and now-husband, Tolliver Lang. I can sense the bodies, know who they are, and how they died. No, I can't find out who killed them, and yes, I do charge a fee for my services. I need to make a living somehow.
The door opened and the FBI agent and the forensic lady walked inside. They took seats in the chairs from me, the agent flipping a file open. He scanned the contents for a few minutes as if trying to make me nervous. He was out of luck. I've had too many experiences getting questioned by law enforcement for a successful discovery to be fazed at this point in my life.
"Ms. Connelly, I need to ask you a few questions," he finally said. I did my best to remember his name. I had been exhausted when he and the forensic squad had finally shown up from trying to find the body of ten year-old Liza Carpenter in the Virginia woods. I think it was something Booth.
"Go ahead," I answered, giving nothing away. The best way to deal with this was to keep calm and not give them too much.
"I just want to go over how you managed to find the body," he continued, looking up at her. "I'm a little confused about how you knew it was there and how you were able to identify it."
"I can sense dead bodies," I explained simply. "I know who they are and how they died."
"That's not possible," the woman butted in, her light eyes incredulous. "There's no way that a person can sense like her file says she does. What, Booth?" she asked when the man nudged her slightly. "I'm just telling the truth."
"Bones," Booth warned her under his breath. I watched behind a stoic mask, secretly amused. I'd met plenty of people like her before who only trusted what science told them and they never ceased to amaze me. "We talked about this."
"It's fine," I cut in. As entertaining as this was, I wanted to be out of here and on the road as soon as possible. "I get that reaction a lot."
The rest of the interview went just like that, with Booth trying to catch me in some sort of lie, "Bones" studying me like I was an interesting specimen, and me giving the shortest answers possible.
"Look, Agent Booth, are we almost done?" I finally asked after he started to ask the same questions, only phrased differently. "I have another job that I need get to, and driving at night isn't something Tolliver and I particularly look forward to."
"You're free to go, Ms. Connelly," he finally answered after giving my file another look-through. "I think we've got all the answers we need." I gave him a forced smile and got to my feet.
"If you have any more questions, feel free to call," I told him, ignoring the measured gaze of the doctor. I didn't know why she had been part of that interview, but out of everybody who had questioned my abilities, she was the one who made me feel the most like I was under a microscope.
I started walking down the hall to the waiting room where Tolliver was when I heard a woman shout, "Ms. Connelly, wait!" I turned around, and grimaced slightly when I saw the doctor woman.
"Yes?" I asked sharply despite my attempt to be polite.
"How do you do it?" she asked. "It doesn't make sense, and yet after looking at your record, there's no other explanation. Why?"
I shrugged. "Sometimes things happen that you can't explain," I answered, not sure if this was the answer she was looking for. From the tightening of her mouth, I don't think it was. "Look, Dr. ..."
"Brennan," she answered, and then it clicked. She was the mystery writer who I had just started getting in to, the ones about Kathy Reichs who could make the dead speak and tell their story just by looking at their bones.
"Dr. Brennan," I continued, "I can't explain it. It's just something that I have and that's as far as I or anybody else has ever gotten." I glanced down the hallway and towards the doors that stood between me and freedom. "I'm sorry that I can't be more help, but I really do need to meet my husband so that we can leave."
"Of course," she answered, somewhat automatically. I shrugged mentally, and once again started towards the doors. Before I opened them, I glanced behind once more at the still figure in the hallway, trying to reconcile her belief in science with the walking enigma that I am. Wishing her the best of luck where so many had failed before her, I gently opened the door and walked outside to my husband and the next body.
Rating: PG
Crossover: Bones/Harper Connelly Mysteries
Summary: After discovering a body, Harper Connelly gets questioned by Special Agent Seeley Booth and his partner, Temperance Brennan
Prompts: "Big bang" for XOVERLAND.
Disclaimer: Fox owns "Bones" and related characters; Charlaine Harris owns "The Harper Connelly Mysteries" and related characters; I own nothing.
I drummed my fingers against the cool metal table, waiting for the FBI agent to come in and question me. I could already predict what he was going to ask me and his reactions to my answers. Who am I and why am I in an FBI interrogation room? My name is Harper Connelly, and I find dead people. I've had this dubious gift ever since I was hit by lightning back when I was fifteen and living in my drug-addicted parent's trailer with my family--including my then-step-brother and now-husband, Tolliver Lang. I can sense the bodies, know who they are, and how they died. No, I can't find out who killed them, and yes, I do charge a fee for my services. I need to make a living somehow.
The door opened and the FBI agent and the forensic lady walked inside. They took seats in the chairs from me, the agent flipping a file open. He scanned the contents for a few minutes as if trying to make me nervous. He was out of luck. I've had too many experiences getting questioned by law enforcement for a successful discovery to be fazed at this point in my life.
"Ms. Connelly, I need to ask you a few questions," he finally said. I did my best to remember his name. I had been exhausted when he and the forensic squad had finally shown up from trying to find the body of ten year-old Liza Carpenter in the Virginia woods. I think it was something Booth.
"Go ahead," I answered, giving nothing away. The best way to deal with this was to keep calm and not give them too much.
"I just want to go over how you managed to find the body," he continued, looking up at her. "I'm a little confused about how you knew it was there and how you were able to identify it."
"I can sense dead bodies," I explained simply. "I know who they are and how they died."
"That's not possible," the woman butted in, her light eyes incredulous. "There's no way that a person can sense like her file says she does. What, Booth?" she asked when the man nudged her slightly. "I'm just telling the truth."
"Bones," Booth warned her under his breath. I watched behind a stoic mask, secretly amused. I'd met plenty of people like her before who only trusted what science told them and they never ceased to amaze me. "We talked about this."
"It's fine," I cut in. As entertaining as this was, I wanted to be out of here and on the road as soon as possible. "I get that reaction a lot."
The rest of the interview went just like that, with Booth trying to catch me in some sort of lie, "Bones" studying me like I was an interesting specimen, and me giving the shortest answers possible.
"Look, Agent Booth, are we almost done?" I finally asked after he started to ask the same questions, only phrased differently. "I have another job that I need get to, and driving at night isn't something Tolliver and I particularly look forward to."
"You're free to go, Ms. Connelly," he finally answered after giving my file another look-through. "I think we've got all the answers we need." I gave him a forced smile and got to my feet.
"If you have any more questions, feel free to call," I told him, ignoring the measured gaze of the doctor. I didn't know why she had been part of that interview, but out of everybody who had questioned my abilities, she was the one who made me feel the most like I was under a microscope.
I started walking down the hall to the waiting room where Tolliver was when I heard a woman shout, "Ms. Connelly, wait!" I turned around, and grimaced slightly when I saw the doctor woman.
"Yes?" I asked sharply despite my attempt to be polite.
"How do you do it?" she asked. "It doesn't make sense, and yet after looking at your record, there's no other explanation. Why?"
I shrugged. "Sometimes things happen that you can't explain," I answered, not sure if this was the answer she was looking for. From the tightening of her mouth, I don't think it was. "Look, Dr. ..."
"Brennan," she answered, and then it clicked. She was the mystery writer who I had just started getting in to, the ones about Kathy Reichs who could make the dead speak and tell their story just by looking at their bones.
"Dr. Brennan," I continued, "I can't explain it. It's just something that I have and that's as far as I or anybody else has ever gotten." I glanced down the hallway and towards the doors that stood between me and freedom. "I'm sorry that I can't be more help, but I really do need to meet my husband so that we can leave."
"Of course," she answered, somewhat automatically. I shrugged mentally, and once again started towards the doors. Before I opened them, I glanced behind once more at the still figure in the hallway, trying to reconcile her belief in science with the walking enigma that I am. Wishing her the best of luck where so many had failed before her, I gently opened the door and walked outside to my husband and the next body.