Bones does not belong to me! (But I wish it did)
"Message Received"Booth found himself staring aimlessly at the blank television screen, thinking of the day's event. Strong emotions were surging through him at speed, surrounding his every thought.
He had had this feeling for about a week. The object of objection was his partner, Doctor Temperance Brennan. She had been acting oddly; she had seemed quiet and opinion-less all week. Which of course was weird as Bones always had an anthropological comeback, for about everything he said.
However, today was different, he couldn't pinpoint what but her emotions seemed more intense. She was more avoidant, and when he gained the courage to ask her, she literally yelled at him in the middle of the platform to "mind his own business".
He was in deep thought, when he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. This jolted his senses into overdrive, and he completely suppressed his train of thought. He knew something was wrong, which was quickly backed up by a series of banging, and finally screeching of tyres as they sped off.
He sprang to his feet and instinctively reached for his firearm and went to check the outside of his apartment. Walking on the soles of his feet, quietly so not to be heard, he learnt this quickly being a sniper and an FBI agent.
A shiver corsed through his body causing bile to rise in his throat as one shaky hand reached out and clenched the door handle, like a lifeline. He then yanked the door open, and the sight before him made his heart sink.
"Oh my God, Bones!"
Before him, slumped against the wall, was Dr. Brennan herself. Beaten and bloody, it was hard to see the woman he secretly loved, and not just in an 'atta girl' kinda way, in that kind of condition.
Kneeling down beside her he took in her appearance, cataloguing her injuries. He could see a sickly black bruise on her forehead, which was accompanied by a deep cut. Blood seeping from the recent wound, dripping down her pale and lethargic face. Her knuckles where skinned, indicating that she fought back. She just looked so broken.
He slowly moved one hand and did the one thing he was dreading, he checked for a pulse. He let out a breath of relief as he received a strong pulse beneath his shaking fingers. He managed to squeak out and unsure "Bones" his gaze not moving from her face. Seeing her broken-unconsciousness figure, gave him a rise in anger and adrenaline that took all his self-control and strength not to leave a fist shape crater in a wall. "Bones' common, wake up" he shook her slightly, trying to rouse her.
His breath caught in his throat as the anthropologist started to stir from her unconscious state. This gave him a sense of hope; she was all right.
"Booth…." She asks weakly in a low whisper as her blue eyes fixed on his warm, comforting brown ones. "What are you doing here?" she asks, very unsure of what's happened. She takes in the appearance of a trembling Booth.
"Are you ok, Booth?"
Before she has a chance to ask another question, Booth suddenly explodes into full FBI interrogation mode.
"Bones, what the hell happened to you…?" He demands, with a fixed stern look on his face.
All of a sudden he spots a lone tear trickle down her cheek, leaving a trail of mascara behind. The confused look that crosses her face, leaves him reaching out to wipe away that tear with the pad of his thumb. His face retreats to the soft look of concern as he slowly asks, "Do you know where you are Temperance?".
"Booth…. I don't know what happened…. where did you come from, didn't you leave already?" her voice shaky and uneven as she attempts to un-muddle her thoughts.
"I came to check, I saw something, which I can know say is you. You're outside of my apartment, Bones. Come on, let's get you up and we'll try to figure this out." He says, carefully going to take a very unfocused Bones' hand in his own, pulling her to her feet. He leads her into his apartment; they take very slow and steady steps until they reach a very inviting couch.
He sits hers down and goes to fetch a glass of water from the kitchen. He returns to her just staring into space, try to sort through her thoughts. He tries to hand the glass to her but she doesn't notice at first, her eyes not registering the glass in front of her face. So, he perches on the coffee table before her and searches for a sign that's she's actually in there.
All of a sudden she springs to her feet looking for a way out as a sense panic overcame her. She jumps as Booth instinctively clutches her arms saying her name gently and reminding her that she is safe. She slowly lowers herself to her previous sitting position, her eyes never leaving his.
Booth doesn't know what to do; she is fairly unresponsive.
"Why am I here?" She says.
"Bones, I don't know I found you outside, remember"
"The last thing I remember is I'm at the lab, you had left and…and…nothing."
The worry sets in what the hell happened!
He gets up heading to the kitchen, where he grabs some ice out the freezer and bundles it into a towel.
Returning to the living room he slowly approaches, sitting next her, placing the kitchen towel against her forehead, hopping to relieve her pain. "That looks painful"
She nods but winces. She carefully lifts her hand from where it is nervously entwined with the other, picking at her cuticles. A nervous habit she experienced constantly as a foster child. She touches her forehead, wincing as she goes, when she removes her hand it's covered in blood. She starts to panic at the sight of it. But Booth realises and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, which seemed to calm her immediately. "Booth, why is there blood?" her voice shaky.
"There's a nasty cut above your eyebrow"
He slowly moves his hand to cup her face, so he could inspect the cut more thoroughly. He tilts her head keeping his eyes on the wounds. While her eyes were glued on his warm chocolate-brown eyes, worry and warmth present in them.
" Looks like you where hit with something, would explain the lack of memory and the confusion. It's also very bruised."
Removing his hand from her face, he carries on. " I think you may need a few stitches. Common we're taking a trip to the hospital" What is it… like the 4th time we've been this year! he thinks.
Booth stands up, while pulling Bones up by her arm. All of a sudden she gasps, wincing as tears automatically spring to her eyes. He quickly lets go off her arm at the sight of tears. They just stand there for a moment, Brennan clutching her arm trying the get her breathing under control. He stares at her finally grasping what had happened. She was favouring the arm hehad pulled her up by.
"What's wrong, did I hurt you?" he asks panic clearly showing.
Brennan nods slowly. She takes a breath and asks, "Can I use your bathroom?" He nods as she hobbles towards his bathroom.
As soon as she steps in she locks the door and then slowly removes her coat, and pulls up her the sleeve of her top to find words carved into her skin. Her skin was raised with each letter, blood seeping from the wounds. What she read was even worse, it cause bile to rise in her throat. She quickly made it to the toilet and emptied her stomach, and started retching when nothing was left.
Booth was pacing up and down the hallway waiting for a sign of Bones. He didn't know what was wrong with her. Nothing really made Bones cry though; it must be bad he thought. He couldn't take it anymore, he walked up to the bathroom door and rose his had ready to knock but was stopped by the sound of her being sick. He started banging on the door as calmly as he could. "Bones" he shouts. When no reply came he took out his wallet pulling out a credit card to jimmy the lock. "Bones, I'm coming in" still no response, but he could hear her crying.
When he finally swung the door open he found her slumped against the wall, crying. He quickly moves towards her and sat on the floor beside her. As soon as he sat down she learns over and rests her head against his shoulder. He responds by rapping his arm round her shoulders, pulling her to him. She burred her head in his chest and began to sob.
As the sobbing slows she began to think. She doesn't know what to do, should I show him? She thinks. It's inevitable she tells herself, he'll find out sooner or later.
"Are you alright?" he questions, when he notices she's not crying anymore.
"Booth, I'm very confused, I don't really get what's happening"
"I know that's why the hospitals the best bet. You need a MRI or something. You were sick, you could have a concussion."
"No that's not why I was sick"
"Huh…. ar…. are you pregnant?"
"What? No I'm not pregnant."
"Then what made you sick."
"I…. I…. was sick because of my arm." She stood up slowly; he stood up too facing her.
"How did your arm make you sick?"
She looked at him, doubt in her eyes, but as soon as she saw that confused, concerned look, she knew she could trust him. She lifted her arm and carefully rolled up her sleeve.
There was complete and utter shock on his face when he saw it. He took her arm and examined it more carefully.
"What the hell?"
And then he read it. Carved into her arms was the word "Traitor"
