Disclaimer: I don't own Underworld or Bones, they are owned by Len Wiseman and Kathy Reichs respectively, I think, I am not sure who owns it the important part is that I don't and that I don't make any money out of this.
Nomad-117: This story takes place in an AU Crossover universe where the events of Awakening never happened. This is just a short-story, if I decide to continue this than there is the chance that other changes will appear.
Summary: It seems like the past will always find ways to come back and haunt you, at least when you are immortal…. and you find yourself working with a team of brilliant scientists.
Blood and Bones
Special Agent Seeley Booth was confused as he drove with more than legal speeds towards the Jeffersonian Institute. The confusion wasn't something new considering that the people he worked with used terms he couldn't even pronounce on a daily basis.
Only a few minutes ago he was called by his Partner Temperance Brennan, apparently she discovered something "Impossible" as she chose to phrase it. Which only added to his confusion since they didn't have any ongoing investigations, but was truly bothered him was her insistence that the presence of his FBI partner Selene Corvin was critical.
So he called his other partner and told her to come to the Jeffersonian, he knew that she wasn't happy, this should have been one of the few days she would have been able to spend with her family.
He wondered what could have caused Bones to insist on Selenes presence, she was a competent agent, excellent at hunting down leads and suspects, obviously knew how to command a team and could more than handle herself in a firefight, her combat abilities were impressive especially for someone so young. The only thing she didn't seem able to pull of was the good cop act, she wasn't even a bad cop, when she led an interrogation she was the suspects Nightmare given form.
Other than that she was a very private person, and hid her emotions well. However he still could see her happiness when she talked to her daughter or Husband on the phone or the way she fondly gazed at their picture on her desk.
But outside of work Selene and Bones rarely if at all interacted with each other. The two women respected each other and could be considered friends, but both of had often a hard time showing affection.
He just pulled into the car park of the Jeffersonian Institute when he returned from his mental recollection. He got out of his car and tried to spot any sign of his FBI partner, neither her car nor herself were in sight. With a shrug Booth decided to meet Bones and hopefully get an explanation for all of this.
Preferably one he could understand.
He barely made it through the doors that led to the grand laboratory where Bones usually worked, before said anthropologist came walking towards him and shouted his name.
"Booth! Finally you are here, where is Corvin? I told you to bring her with you." Scolded Dr. Temperance Brennan her partner.
"I told her to meet us here, Bones. She should arrive soon, now can you explain to me what is going on?" Asked Booth his long time partner patiently, after working with her for so long he knew how underdeveloped her "People skills" were.
As soon as he finished speaking he could almost see her eyes lighten up when offered the chance to explain this particular problem to him. She signed him to follow her before she began to explain.
"A week ago we were called by a anthropologist from Hungary, he analyzed a few skeletons which the C14 dating determined to be almost 700 hundred years old. The skeletons were found in swamp and the wounds made clear that they were killed, however no wound matches any known weapon or Animal. So he sent us one of them in the hope that I would be able to determine what killed them.
But none of these wounds are like anything I have ever seen!" She huffed in frustration, she certainly wasn't used to not knowing something.
"So I told Angela to reconstruct everything related to the body. It looks like the Ulna and radial bone were crushed while her neck was simultaneously snapped, the pattern of those injuries correspondences with a human who would grab her forearm with enough force to crush the bones with his left hand while grabbing her head and twist it to the side like this."
With that she walked up to Zack, grabbed his left forearm and twisted his head hard to the side, Booth had to admit that he was impressed by the kids ability to stay silent. It was obvious that this little demonstration was extremely painful.
"We have yet to determine the true cause of the shattered bones, for no human could apply enough force to break them like this." Said Bones and took a step back from her Assistant, who still rubbed his neck and tried to put some space between himself and his mentor.
With that Bones pointed towards Angeles holographic projector where the face of a woman seemed to float. But what really got his attention was the fact that the woman looked like an older version of Selene.
The rest of the squints were also present, Hodgins seemed to practically glow with excitement.
"Before we called you I ran the DNA test twice to make sure that it wasn't faulty. And according to both tests this is Selene's mother! She is probably part of a secret goverment time-travel program!"
Explained the scientist smiling, and his eyes shining in obvious happiness.
For someone who loves conspiracy theories this is probably something akin to the Holy grail. Thought Booth wryly, but they had to be mistaken. It is impossible for a almost 700 year old corpse to be Selenes mother.
"I know what you are going to say Seeley, but we double-checked everything. I have no idea how this is possible, but I can guarantee you that the tests weren't faulty." Said Dr. Camille Saroyan confidently, but he could see that she asked herself the same question he did.
How is this possible?
"You wanted to see me?" The whole team turned towards the subject of their discussion as Special Agent Selene Corvin entered the room in her usual attire, a black leather mantel over her shoulders, black blouse and black skin tight jeans combined with equally black shoes.
She stopped mid stride when she saw that everyone stared at her, but as soon as she noticed the holographic projection of her apparent mother, the team saw her stoic mask slip, if only for a moment, but in this moment they could see a combination of surprise, affection and hurt.
But the moment only lasted a split second before the usual calm and stoic look was back.
"What is going on?" Asked Selene in a neutral voice while eyeing every member of the team carefully.
"Hodgins thinks that you are part of secret time-travel program." Explained Zack Addy who had seemingly recovered from his previous 'abuse'.
In response Selene arched a single eyebrow before turning her attention to said scientist. "And how did he reach this conclusion?"
"We compared your DNA to the DNA we extracted from the bone marrow of a almost 700 year old skeleton." Answered the young doctor and lab assistant instantly.
"Why would you even do that?" Wondered Selene out loud, after all it wasn't exactly standard procedure to test the DNA of centuries old corpses.
"Well, this woman looks incredibly similar to you, and we didn't have any new cases so..." Angela trailed off awkwardly as soon as she noticed the intense gaze of the female FBI Agent upon her.
Of all the people who could have analyzed my mothers remains, not that I can blame them for their curiosity, I probably would have done the same if our roles were reversed...but I never would have thought that after all these years this would come back to haunt me once more.Thought the vampiress starteld, it seems that the past would always find ways to haunt you when you are immortal. How to lead them astray? I believe a good offense is the best defense in this case.
"Did I understand you correctly when you said that you tested this because you were bored?" Exclaimed Selene disbelieving, of all possible reasons she didn't expect that one.
"Actually Hodgins insisted that we should do this since it should be impossible for two people, who live centuries apart, to look so similar to each other." Threw Zach in helpfully which earned him a small glare from Hodgins.
"Hey! Thats not the important part! The test confirmed that she is your mother, we made a second one to make sure that there wasn't a mistake." Said Hodgins in an attempt to turn the conversation back to the matter at hand.
Agent Corvin still looked disturbingly unimpressed, she gazed deeply into the eyes of each of them before returning her gaze onto Hodgins who seemed to squirm under her intense stare.
"Well Doctor Hodgins." She made sure to put extra emphasis on the doctor. "It seems like you are implying that I am 700 years old, however if you can't give me a plausible explanation as to how this could be possible, then you have wasted my time." Said the Special Agent coldly while openly glaring at the intimidated scientist, she turned her gaze to the others present. "That includes all of you! Can anyone here give me a reasonable explanation for all of this?"
She saw how their body language subtly shifted from confident and curious to doubting and unsure. I managed to unbalance them, time to end this. Thought the Death Dealer with a small amount of satisfaction. She knew that they were too stubborn to be so easily dissuaded but it would buy her time, she just hoped that until than she could find a way to prove them wrong once and for all. Not an easy goal, since each of them were uniquely talented in their chosen field.
When no one spoke up she nodded to herself, as her suspicions were confirmed. "I see, you forgive me if I take my leave now? I would prefer to spend my free day with my family." And with that last comment she turned on her heels and marched out of the lab, the team didn't move until they couldn't hear her steps anymore.
"She is hiding something." Stated Dr. Saroyan calmly, still staring at the spot she last saw the enigmatic woman.
"Maybe, but to be fair we all have our secrets." Said Booth, thinking back to the many things he did in his military career that he told no one about.
"I agree but I doubt that hers is being several centuries old." Added Bones, and yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that things weren't so easy. "I don't know how to explain any of this, but we double checked the equipment and our findings, they were accurate."
"I know that I dont even know half as much as you guys about any of this, but maybe this is simply one of those things that science can't explain, at least not yet?" Suggested Booth hesitantly, knowing full well that he was the odd-one-out so to speak with his believe in god and the supernatural, and this could be taken as such a comment and right now he would prefer to avoid a discussion about his beliefs. "Like um... Dark matter? You know everyone knows it has to be there but they can't prove it yet?"
"That...makes sense." Conceded Bones it was the only reasonable explanation they had left. She had to admit she had been careless, she only looked at the data and not at the impossibility of this whole situation, she tried to ignore the last rests of doubt gnawing at her but they simply wouldnt go away. After all the tests were not faulty and yet at the same time logic dictates the impossibility of it.
Unbeknownst to her everyone of those present had similar doubts.
Outside the Jeffersonian Institute Selene drew a mobile phone from her pocket and started dialing a number she memorized. Aside from her family few people knew that she had a second mobile phone, this lessened the probability that someone would listen in or track her through this mobile considerably. Many would probably call her paranoid but she didn't want to take any risks.
As soon as the phone was answered she began speaking."Selene Corvin speaking, identification number 343-04-816-SC."
She waited patiently as one of the 'cleaners' cyber-division operative verified her identity. After all the elders of both, Vampires and Lycans, were killed a lot of things changed. The driving forces behind the war were suddenly absent, and Selene and the cleaners tried to achieve a truce between the two warring species. No easy task, the hatred of centuries cannot simply disappear overnight. However on both sides the younger members of the species welcomed this chance for peace, since they had no desire to fight in a war that began so long ago and they didn't even know anything about.
And so they managed to secure an uneasy truce after long months of work between the species, of course there still radicals on both sides who tried to reignite the war, these radicals were so blinded by hatred that they didn't consider that the acts they committed could very well lead to the discovery of both immortals species. The cleaners who Selene occasionally helped made sure to cover such things up, which is why Selene called them.
"How can I help you?" Asked the operative her as soon as he verified identity.
"My colleagues discovered the remains of my mother and on a whim compared the DNA of the bones to my own. I have no doubts that the results have caused them to become suspicious. I want to make sure that my digital records, everything they could try examine, is foolproof. They are smart and resourceful enough to figure out that some things doesn't add up if given the chance." She answered while getting in her car and checking her surroundings out of habit.
"I will personally make sure that there isn't anything to find. However I am sure you understand that we can't simply make the remains of your mother disappear, this would only cause further suspicion." Replied the operative and she could hear how he began to type.
"Of course." She replied calmly. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter." Said Selene before she broke the connection.
She glanced one last time in her rear mirror before she drove back home to her family. She would keep an close eye on her colleagues in the future, experience taught her how stubborn they could be, and she had no doubt that they were very intrigued by this particular paradox.
They would undoubtedly would observe her in turn but she would give them no further reasons to suspect her of something. And yet despite her best efforts to remain analytical about the whole situation she couldn't help but wonder, how would they react if they knew? They had proven to be extremely loyal towards each other, would they still see her as a friend and ally? Or as a threat?
This was a question Selene had yet to find an answer for.
Author Notes: Nomad-117: