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Hannibal (i_consume) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2008-04-08 20:07:00

Entry tags:

challenge 1, hannibal lecter, temperance brennan, zz:status complete

All work and no play (Bones - Challenge 1)
There were many things that Hannibal could do. Many types of science that he could wrap his head around. What he knew well was done with ease, the things he didn't, he could pick up simply. He had very little need for outside help.

Of course, there were some sciences that hadn't been around in 1951. Things that he still hadn't had anything to do with in these new modern times. And unfortunately for him, he didn't have the time to sit down and learn. He needed information now.

A girl had come in. She'd been in a car wreck. Badly injured. She was so badly disfigured, that they'd had to find alternative ways to determine that she was, in fact, female. As unfortunate that all was, she wasn't the problem. It's what she had with her that was causing the issue. And it was his issue, because it had been handed off to him. Like he'd know what to do with it, other than look at it. He didn't even know what sorts of tests should be run, because he didn't know what he was looking for.

It frustrated him to have this road block. But people were demanding answers, and nobody was willing to be patient. Hannibal figured that it was dead anyway, so what was another week or so of waiting while he got the books he needed and studied them? They wanted the answers now. Whatever they could get right away. So he knew that he was going to have to call in somebody else. Some kind of help.

After some inquiry through various hospital channels, he discovered a name and a number. He sat in his lab and picked up the phone. It rang four times before it was answered.

"Yes. May I speak to Temperance Brennan, please?"

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i_luvbones
2008-04-10 03:54 pm UTC (link)

The sound of the voice coming over the phone was soothing. And low. Masculine in all its forms. In all cultures people spoke in low tones in order to instill a sense of comfort and security. She wondered why this doctor felt the need to do such with her. But she didn't like psychology, however, and didn't feel the need to disect it just yet.

"I'm a forensic anthropologist, Dr. Lecter. But I'm sure you know this if you've taken the time to call me. You would also know, then, that I only deal with bones. And not the kind still in a living body." He was calling from the City Hospital. They usually didn't get skeletons in there, and she couldn't fathom why he would be calling her.

"If it's bones you have, you can bring them to my lab. It would be easier for me to examine them here with all my equipment, rather than the Hospital. Do you know where I'm located?" She waited quietly on her end of the line while he spoke back to her. She nodded a few times.

"I'll see you shortly then. Goodbye, Dr. Lecter." She hung up the phone and sat at her desk for a few more moments before she stood up and went back to the skull she was trying to put back together.

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i_consume
2008-04-11 02:04 am UTC (link)

Hannibal hadn't known how to properly explain to Dr Brennan just what it was that he had for her to look at. So he'd just assured her that it was, indeed, bones that he needed her to examine, and not some full body, or still living person. Which he could have handled with no problem. He would have, at this point, preferred for it to be a living body or a full corpse. Then at least he wouldn't have to bother anybody else.

He decided that he really needed to just look at this as an opportunity. And opportunities were not to be wasted.

Once he arrived at the building Dr Brennan was in, the address given to him by the same source that he'd gotten the number, he was quickly escorted to where she was. He had to assume that she'd given somebody advance warning of his arrival.

"Doctor Brennan." He announced himself before fully entering the room. She looked as if she might be highly involved with something, and sneaking up on people wasn't entirely nice.

On his shoulder was the backpack containing what he needed her to look at. Hannibal would not put it down until directed to a spot. He didn't want to disturb any of her workspaces. He knew how much he hated it when people didn't consider such things in his own lab.

"I am Doctor Lecter." He offered her the classic nod of the head, instead of a hand to shake. "We spoke on the phone." He didn't think he needed to remind her where he'd come from, but it was a politeness thing.

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i_luvbones
2008-04-11 07:15 pm UTC (link)

She had lost herself again in the piecing togher of the skull and had almost forgotten the invitation she'd extended to Dr. Lecter. That is until she heard the familiar soothing voice call her name from outside the lab. She looked up, gently placing the skull on her exam table. Walking around the table she went to meet him.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Lecter." She nodded to him, peering at the backpack he carried behind him. "Please," she motioned to an empty exam table with light filtering up through the top, "put them here." She walked around the other side of the table and waited for the specimens to be laid out on the table.

She couldn't imagine why they were in a backpack, and she hoped they hadn't been too badly damaged bouncing about inside it. She watched eagerly as the contents of the backpack were brought out and set upon the table. She couldn't begin to explain her eagerness, but she loved Bones. She loved getting to the heart of their mystery. It was facinating still. They always told a different story, and none so far were very similar at all.

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i_consume
2008-04-12 12:13 am UTC (link)

A pair of latex gloves were slipped out of his pocket and put on. He didn't want any of his own dna to get onto anything really. There was a purpose for him bringing these here, and outside influence would ruin that possibly. Which was also the reason for bringing them in their original bag. Carefully, Hannibal laid out the bones from the bag. Placing them exactly where they would have been in the body. he handled them as gently as he could, considering the state of some of them.

When he was finished, there were bones left over. These he placed to the side. They couldn't possibly be from the same body. They were not the same size, nor thickness. And they didn't appear to be an extra appendage, as they weren't all from the same source.

"An accident victim came in with this bag. And these bones. Clearly this didn't happen in that same accident. I have been unable to do much with them. Did some mild testing, but didn't come up with anything conclusive. The body wasn't poisoned. There's no obvious trauma. It didn't die of old age, there was no disease. The DNA in the full skeleton doesn't match the DNA in the extra parts. And there is the extent of what I could do, and what I know. So I sought you out. People want answers, and it's my hope that you can help them."

Hannibal moved around the table and pointed to the left side. "There is what appears to be burning here, but I assume that was done way after the death. I could be wrong, of course."

He looked at Dr Brennan and stood away, allowing her space to examine and explore the bones.

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i_luvbones
2008-04-12 02:38 am UTC (link)

Tempy watched the doctor snap on his gloves and arrange the bones on the table. She moved closer and began to examine the skull. It was amazing that a fully grown human could fit in a backpack, but when you took away all the tissue, skin, muscles and organs, you could pretty much make it fit anywhere. When he was finished, she set her hands on the edge of the exam table.

She pointed at the skull. "You can see from the blunt superior margins and the larger supraorbital ridges, the zygomatic arch extends, as a ridge, posterior to the external auditory meatus and the mastoid process is large and rugged, indicating that this is a male. The bones are also heavier and broader and the pelvic bone is deeper and narrower than a female's." She reached out and lifted the skull, pointing out the various indications that this was a masculine skeleton. "The higher nasal bone and pointier chin indicates the man was caucasian."

She turned it over, looking for unusual marks. She found nothing unusual. She took some tissue markers out of a drawer and began applying them to the skull. "The lab has technology that will connect the tissue markers and put a face to our victim." She wished Angela were there with her. She would be able to put a face to the victim faster than the people in this lab. "They should have an answer for you in a few hours." She set the skull back down in its place on the exam table and began her tour of the rest of the skeleton, looking for indications of blunt trauma or another cause of death.

She glanced at the pelvic bone. She measured it just by eyeing it. "The size of the pelvic bone tells me the male was of middle age." She then eyed the height of the full skeleton. "He looks to have been about six feet two inches in height. Wear on the bones of the spine and hips indicates that he was slightly overweight, and the erosion of the right kneecap speaks of an old injury, sports related."

She looked up at Dr. Lecter. "Will your accident victim regain consciousness?" Bones assumed the victim was unconscious because otherwise they would have at least an inkling of where the bones had come from, or at least why she had them in her possession.

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i_consume
2008-04-12 05:52 am UTC (link)

Hannibal listened to everything that Doctor Brennan was saying, his eyes alight with the joy he felt in hearing her speak. It had been ages since he'd encountered anybody else with such a fine medical vocabulary. River could speak, yes. And she had a very lovely and large dictionary and thesaurus in her mind, but he couldn't particularly speak with her about medical whatnot. It might upset her, and she wasn't particularly interested from what he could gather.

"It's not likely." He admitted to the question of the victim waking up. "She's suffered an incredible amount of trauma. I'm actually quite stunned that they've been able to keep her alive thus far. The state she was in was not at all pretty. She's missing quite a good amount of herself and lost more blood than is normally acceptable to continue living. Even if she does wake, I doubt she'll ever speak again."

His eyes turned to the body. "Where this was found, and why it was in this bag will forever remain a mystery, I fear. This is what she brought it in with."

A male. Hannibal studied what Brennan pointed out and memorized it. Used his mind palace to construct a room of forensic anthropology. To record and store everything that Brennan said so he could use it later.

"I appreciate everything you're doing, Doctor Brennan. And I'm sure the authorities will appreciate the help as well. What can you tell me of the burn marks? And can you tell how this person died?"

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i_luvbones
2008-04-13 02:42 am UTC (link)

Bones frowned when he said that the girl wouldn't be regaining consciousness. She had hoped there would be some explanation for this. But there wasn't to be one, unfortunately. Nodding her head, she reached for the backpack and looked inside. Other than being ridiculously grungy and dirty, there was nothing special about it.

She set the backpack aside and looked at the burn marks. "The scorching is definitely post mortem." Because there was no remaining flesh or tissue on the bones, she had to believe that the body had been decomposed long before the burning. "The burn marks are only on a few of the bones which leads me to believe that perhaps the pile of bones was meant to be set on fire, but they didn't catch. As to why, I cannot say."

She stepped up to the bones of the ribs and looked at them. "As for cause of death, I believe it was a stab wound. There are corresponding marks on these two bones. Do you see it?" She pointed it out and looked up at the doctor. She moved down the table to the pile of remaining bones that weren't a part of the complete skeleton.

"These were in the bag as well?" She picked one of them up and scrutinized it, then turned her eyes on Dr. Lecter.

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i_consume
2008-04-14 03:04 am UTC (link)

Hannibal leaned in carefully and looked at the marks. "I do see them." He nodded. "It's amazing what eye for detail you have."

He stood again to reply to the rest of her questions. "They did. I was just as surprised as you are when I found them. They were just mixed in with the others. The DNA isn't the same on them, not even a familial connection to them. They're much smaller. Smaller than even an average human female, from what I could tell, but more worn than a child's would be. I was hoping that you could help me there, I'm more curious I think than the authorities are. They didn't seem to care much that there were extra bones."

She was amazing. He had not incountered another doctor in this city, not anywhere, that he felt he could learn from since House had vanished. Hannibal felt he could learn from her.

"I have a question that has nothing to do with these bones, Doctor Brennan. It can wait if you prefer."

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i_luvbones
2008-04-14 05:45 pm UTC (link)

Temperance stood up, glancing over at the Doctor. She smiled internally, appreciating that he was acknowleging her skill. "It appears to have been a short, slender knife, though sharp enough to nick the bones and pierce the heart."

She furrowed her brows in though. The bones were in the same bag, but were they from the same site? She wanted to run some tests, to see if she could find any particulates on the bones. Any residual soil that would place the different sets of bones at the same place. "I'll need to run some more tests, but these extra bones are human. There aren't enough or the right kind to determine sex or race, however." She might be able to get it from DNA if she could get a sample.

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back slightly, her eyes still trained on the bones. When he spoke again she looked up. "What is it, Dr. Lecter?"

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i_consume
2008-04-14 09:46 pm UTC (link)

"Run as many tests as you like. I think the parties involved are far more interested in discovering the truth than preserving the bones." It might have been unfortunate, but that was the way it went sometimes.

He watched Doctor Brennan until she asked him to expound on his query. Then there was a careful smile.

"I'm very interested in this, all of this. And I admit that I know nothing about it. I would very much like it if I could intern under you. If you're at all willing, of course."

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i_luvbones
2008-04-17 03:11 pm UTC (link)

Bones nodded. She might need to run quite a few tests, and she didn't want to worry about the other parties. But maybe if they knew she was working on it, they would stop breathing down Dr. Lecter's neck. "Do you think your people will be satisfied with what we have discovered thus far?"

Looking up, she studied him carefully. He was handsome. Definitely attractive. She was allowed to observe that. Clinically speaking he would attract the opposite sex, and perhaps the same sex by his looks alone. He was also a doctor. He could provide for a mate. Anthropologically, he was a good catch.

She was surprised when he asked his question. Not only because he was a doctor already, but because he seemed so interested. Most people who already had some occupation they enjoyed didn't show interest. But, perhpas it was a desire for knowlege more than a love of anthropology. She saw the careful smile, and she returned one of her own.

"I suppose that would be acceptable. I don't know where my other intern is." She didn't know where anyone else she knew was, actually. She stood back from the exam table. "Let me get you some books." She walked into her office and grabbed a few books off of the many shelves and loaded her arms with them. Returning, she set them down on the edge of the empty exam table behind him. "These are some of the basic books. Later, we can get into more specific studies."

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i_consume
2008-04-17 08:06 pm UTC (link)

"I think they'll have to be." Hannibal looked at the body. "I tried to tell them that the information wouldn't come to them overnight, but everybody seemed so sure that it would be an easy answer. At least now I can tell them there's a specialist working on it."

He was pleased when Brennan became agreeable to his internship. And happy to see the books that she brought out for him. It was a fairly hefty stack, but nothing so much that he would call daunting. Hannibal was eager to crack the first book and begin his new learning.

"Thank you, Doctor Brennan. I appreciate this very much. Both the internship and you examining the bones. Is there any way that I could get you to write up a cursory report about the latter? Something tangible that I can hand over to those asking the questions so they can see something really is being done?"

Hannibal could have written it out himself, but he felt they would be even happier to see her signature on it. People were funny that way. The more experts involved, the more relaxed they would get.

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i_luvbones
2008-04-17 10:07 pm UTC (link)

"Death never gives an easy answer. And bones are no exception. It is unfortunate that you work for such people." She had deadlines too, but she usually didn't have people breathing down her neck for answers. Unless you counted Booth. He was always breathing down her neck for answers. But him she could ignore.

She saw the excitement on his face when she handed him the books. It was rare for a student to be so eager. Usually when she brought out so many their faces fell. They always thought it was going to be hands on from the start. She was happy to note that Dr. Lecter was the exception.

"Of course. I shall write up the report and have it taken to the hospital as soon as I finish." She smiled. He covered all his bases, too. She could see a kindred spirit in Dr. Lecter. She nodded to him and picked up another one of the extra bones, frowning. She was going to crack this if it took the rest of her life.

She looked back up at him. "Is there anything else I can help you with, Dr. Lecter?"

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i_consume
2008-04-18 02:44 am UTC (link)

"Thank you." Hannibal nodded. "And no, that's all I think you can do for me for now, Doctor Brennan. I'll return as soon as I've finished reading these books."

He hefted the pile and let them lean against his body. Hannibal was very much looking forward to reading these. And learning much from Brennan.

"I'll just leave the backpack here, in case there's anything you may be able to glean from it."

One more nod from him and he turned, smiling quite happily, and escorted himself out of the building in the exact route that he'd been brought into it.

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