OOM: Meeting With Booth
Jan. 18th, 2009 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Hannah has three missed calls, and a voice mail message, all from Agent Booth, when she turns her phone back on after class. The message is a little ominious in its brevity -- Hey, kiddo, call me when you get this, okay? Whenever that is. Or maybe it's ominious in that for all he's clearly trying to sound light and neutral, Hannah can hear in Agent Booth's voice that whatever he wants her to call him about is going to fall into the category of Not Good.
She doesn't even bother going back to her room to drop her things, just calls him on her way to the Metro station. She's not surprised when he asks her to meet him, as soon as possible, though she is surprised when he asks her to come to his office. And while it's clear he doesn't want to talk about Whatever This Is over the phone, Hannah's starting to genuinely and truly worry.
The last time someone had news they didn't want to give her over the phone, it was that Agent Booth was dead.
It takes an eternity to get to the Hoover Building, and another eternity to get through security even though they've been told to expect her and had she realized where she was coming she SO would have gone back to the dorm to dump her stupid bag.
Eventually someone shows up to escort her up to Agent Booth's office, and she doesn't know if he's an agent or what, because aside from confirming her identity and asking her to come with him, he doesn't say a damn word. Hannah doesn't know if that means he knows what she's there to talk about and it's so bad that he doesn't know what to say, or if he's assuming that she's some sort of suspect or something and therefore not worth talking to, or if he just has the social skills of a cactus.
"Your visitor's here, Booth," the man says, and leaves Hannah standing in the door to Agent Booth's office.
She doesn't even bother going back to her room to drop her things, just calls him on her way to the Metro station. She's not surprised when he asks her to meet him, as soon as possible, though she is surprised when he asks her to come to his office. And while it's clear he doesn't want to talk about Whatever This Is over the phone, Hannah's starting to genuinely and truly worry.
The last time someone had news they didn't want to give her over the phone, it was that Agent Booth was dead.
It takes an eternity to get to the Hoover Building, and another eternity to get through security even though they've been told to expect her and had she realized where she was coming she SO would have gone back to the dorm to dump her stupid bag.
Eventually someone shows up to escort her up to Agent Booth's office, and she doesn't know if he's an agent or what, because aside from confirming her identity and asking her to come with him, he doesn't say a damn word. Hannah doesn't know if that means he knows what she's there to talk about and it's so bad that he doesn't know what to say, or if he's assuming that she's some sort of suspect or something and therefore not worth talking to, or if he just has the social skills of a cactus.
"Your visitor's here, Booth," the man says, and leaves Hannah standing in the door to Agent Booth's office.
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Date: 2009-01-18 06:25 pm (UTC)Papers are strewn across Booth's desk, and it's clear he's very, very busy and extremely stressed out.
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:15 am (UTC)She can't quite make herself actually step into his office.
Nothing to do but start with the most viable candidate for Worst Cast Scenario.
"Is Brennan . . .?"
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:19 am (UTC)That's not exactly true - none of them are fine - but she's alive. "She's uh, busy, or she'd be telling you this herself. Um. Which is. You remember the Gormogon case? The one we've been working on for what seems like forever now?"
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:22 am (UTC)Can't imagine why.
"What about him?"
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:25 am (UTC)"He's dead. The case is closed. But we arrested his assistant."
Significant pause. "It's Zach, Hannah." There's really no good way to say that, is there?
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:27 am (UTC)Because he can't mean . . . there's just no . . . well, it's not . . .
Is it?
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:32 am (UTC)Booth trails off, unable to say anything else about why Zach would ever, ever work with Gormogon.
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:34 am (UTC)"Are you . . . are you sure?" she asks, and then shakes her head.
He wouldn't say it if he wasn't, she knows that.
"Sorry."
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:41 am (UTC)He sighs heavily. "I know this is a shock. It hasn't sunk in for any of us, I don't think."
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:45 am (UTC)"Can I . . . ?" she gestures vaguely to one of the chairs in front of Agent Booth's desk.
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:49 am (UTC)The phone rings. "I'm sorry, I have to take this. It's my boss."
A short conversation takes place, mostly consisting of Booth saying, 'yes sir,' a number of times.
Clearly, there is hell to pay on this case. The deputy director is not pleased that the crack scientists were working with a murderer.
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:52 am (UTC)Which would be easier if she could focus on anything at all.
Well, anything aside from Dr. Addy is a murderer.
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Date: 2009-01-19 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-19 01:58 am (UTC)"Oh my God, how's Dr. Hodgins? And Angela and . . . ?"
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Date: 2009-01-19 02:28 am (UTC)He sighs. "Hodgins was the reason Zach confessed. Zach rigged an explosion to distract us while Gormogon stole the skeleton we had in the vault. Hodgins, though, delayed Zach, the explosion was bigger than expected, and Zach deviated from the plan to keep Hodgins safe."
He frowsn. "I think 'wracked with guilt' pretty much describes Hodgins' situation at the moment."
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Date: 2009-01-19 02:33 am (UTC)The end is the only part that really matters, anyway.
"Oh, God."
Her eyes widen.
"Are you okay?"
She knows, even as she asks, that she hasn't phrased that right.
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Date: 2009-01-19 02:36 am (UTC)Booth sighs (he seems to be doing that a lot in this conversation). "Sorry. I'm tense, getting chewed out by my boss, and completely shocked. I'm sure I'll be upset and sad and all of that, but right now I just don't have time to deal with it."
Giving her a sad little smile, he adds, "Brennan's not the only one who's able to compartmentalize."
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Date: 2009-01-19 02:41 am (UTC)There are things you don't do to someone who's just found out that a colleague is a murderer. Like, say, chew him out.
"Do you need for me to go?"
Because, you know, he sounds kind of busy.
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Date: 2009-01-19 02:45 am (UTC)Still, the chewing out is not exactly helpful, and it's hardly Booth's fault Zach decided to start murdering (but not eating) people.
He waves off her question. "No, you're fine. Um. Anything else you need to know? Brennan figured the whole thing out, talked Zach into telling us what was going on and where to find Gormogon. It was some crazy logic thing, didn't make much sense to me, but it had to do with Zach putting Hodgins before the good of mankind."
Booth shakes his head, then walks around the desk to close the door. Time to get his head away from the case and into the room. "Do you have any questions? Is there anything I can do to help? I'm not explaining this very well, I know. I don't know that I really understand it all that well myself."
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Date: 2009-01-19 02:58 am (UTC)Still, that's not helpful.
"I don't know that it's understandable," Hannah says, after a second.
"What's going to happen to Dr. Addy?"
God, should she even still call him that? It's not like you get your docotrate revoked for murdering people, but . . . oh, God.
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:02 am (UTC)Booth looks very grave, but for the first time all his attention is on Hannah, not on the papers or the phone or what's going on outside the office. "He'll probably never leave."
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:08 am (UTC)"I mean, well, you can't have him out if he . . . since he did what he did.
"But it's probably easier for everyone else if he's not in prison."
For Brennan. For Dr. Hodgins.
Certainly for Dr. Addy.
"Why . . . why did he do it?"
(She knows it's not fair to ask Agent Booth, but it's maybe a little less not fair to ask him than to ask the other people she could ask, and she has to ask someone.)
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:17 am (UTC)"He met Gormogon at a conference, and they became friendly. Gormogon used logic to entice Zach - said secret societies are evil, that they should end them for the greater good. I don't know that it really makes sense to anyone but Brennan, but Hodgins is blaming himself for that part, too. Since he kept talking about conspiracies and secret societies and...you know. Things like that."
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:23 am (UTC)Also, there has to be a more logical, more rational way to work against secret societies than eating the members.
"I just don't understand."
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-19 03:29 am (UTC)Hannah thinks.
"There really won't be a trial, will there? If Gormorgon is dead, and Dr. Addy is crazy and plea-bargaining?"
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:31 am (UTC)"No trial," Booth says, the grin fading quickly. "Thank God for that. I'm pretty sure nobody could handle that, especially after how rough Max's trial was. And the whole shock of all of this, you know?"
And Booth's fake death. Really, it's just been a whole ball of awfulness hitting at once.
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-19 03:38 am (UTC)They had better be. He's so over all this senseless drama.
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:43 am (UTC)She shrugs.
"I'm really glad you're not dead right now."
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:44 am (UTC)Being dead was deeply boring, anyway.
"I'm - I'm still sorry about how that went down, Hannah."
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:52 am (UTC)"Since, you know, we're kind of in the middle of some kind of flood that seems like could pretty easily wipe out the brigde and the dam, you know?"
She pauses.
"Yeah, I took that metaphor too far.
"It would just be a lot worse if you weren't here."
She knows, because she has seen what it looks like, what Brennan looks like, when Agent Booth isn't there.
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Date: 2009-01-19 03:56 am (UTC)"Thanks," he says sincerely. "I'm trying to keep everything together, keep everyone together, as best I can, and making sure those who can't manage it are able to fall apart."
Brennan's handling things. Cam is handling things. Angela's handling Hodgins, who has fallen into tiny pieces.
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Date: 2009-01-19 04:00 am (UTC)She has no idea what it might be.
But, still, if there is anything.
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Date: 2009-01-19 04:03 am (UTC)He has no idea what it might be either, but the offer is worth a great deal.
Then the phone rings, and the real world comes rushing back.
"You mind if I get back to work?" Booth asks, jerking his head toward the phone. "You're welcome to stay, if you're not ready to leave, but I really should finish some of this stuff up."
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Date: 2009-01-19 04:06 am (UTC)Because well, she should. He has enough to worry about in this office right now, without adding her in.
That much, anyway, she can do.
"Thanks. For making sure I knew."
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Date: 2009-01-19 04:08 am (UTC)It's a small thing to be glad about, in this situation, but it's about the only one there is.