OOM: Scene 9, or Booth gets backstory

[paladinsuitsyou]

Previously...

Starbucks, Booth reflects, has no soul. It's beige and green and sort of bland, but at least you can always count on your coffee having exactly the same amount of burned flavor.

If there were pie, he might come to a grudging acceptance of the coffee company's hegemony. As it is, he sort of resents them. Muffins are no substitute for pie.

Still, it's quiet and teenager-free, which is all that really matters right now.

Comments

[argyle_princess]

"Not really," says Hannah, shaking her head. "Um, she was the guest director of the school play last year. Hamlet. Back when everyone thought she was dying. And then it turned out that she was the principal's illegitimate daughter with a former deaf student who was a lunch lady.

"I ran into her the bathroom day, I don't think she even saw me. Too busy fixing her make-up."

[paladinsuitsyou]

God, this town. All Booth can do is shake his head.

"What kind of place is this?" he asks, then gives Hannah a rueful look. "Don't answer that. I've had at least three people shrug and say, "It's Neptune" since I got here."

[argyle_princess]

Hannah starts to shrug, then stops herself.

"It's . . . Neptune is a pretty bipolar town, Agent Booth. Very rich, and very poor. And all the problems that come with both of those things -- drugs, gangs, racial and class divides, a bunch of entitled people and a bunch of who resent that. Add in a couple of really high-profile murder cases, leave to simmer."

[paladinsuitsyou]

"And I'm just adding one more," he says thoughtfully. "Explains why no one's really thrilled to see me, doesn't it?"

[argyle_princess]

"Are people ever thrilled to see you? I mean, I like you. But you're FBI, Agent Booth. You show up at someone's door, and things are about to get bad.

"Or at least, you know, pretty awkward," she adds, thinking of the effect of his visit to her high school.

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Thrilled? Not so much. Sometimes a little less...generally irritated, though. The sheriff thinks my investigation is one big joke."

Booth is not a fan of Vinnie Van Lowe, for some reason.

"Everyone else is acting like it's just one more irritation. I guess being interrogated by the cops or the feds or whoever is pretty routine for all concerned, huh?"

[argyle_princess]

"Well, the sherriff is . . . " Hannah dismisses Vinnie with a vague wave of her hand.

"Probably. I mean, I really doubt you're gonna intimidate someone like Logan by interrogating him by now. Just speed dials his lawyer and waits."

[paladinsuitsyou]

And that's all that needs to be said about vinnie, really.

"Yeah. He didn't bother with the lawyer, even. Just seemed kinda...defeated, somehow. I guess his mom was the only relative he really got along with, most of the time."

[argyle_princess]

Hannah shrugs again. "I wouldn't really know. He never mentioned her. Or any of them, really.

"I'm sorry I'm not more help."

[paladinsuitsyou]

Booth waves off her apology. "No, don't worry about it. I mean, it wasn't exactly a deep spiritual connection you guys had, if I understand things right. Anyway, he's not a suspect or anything. I'm just trying to get a handle on why Lynn bailed on them the way she did."

[argyle_princess]

"No, it really wasn't.

"I'm assuming you've seen all the public stuff, right? Tabloids and Tinseltown Diaries and all?"

[paladinsuitsyou]

Booth nods, then makes a face. "Yeah, and it's all awful, isn't it? But there's not a lot concrete there - I mean, yeah, rehab, drugs, abuse allegations, whatever, but...I don't know. Why not just get a divorce? Faking your own death seems extreme."

[argyle_princess]

Hannah shrugs. "Got me," she says. "Maybe . . . yeah, I got nothing."

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Me either," he says. "And I feel like I'm not gonna get anywhere until I figure stuff that out."