the infinite freedom of confined spaces
bones, brennan; hodgins, (implied brennan/booth, angela/hodgins) rating pg, 646 words, missing scene "aliens in a space ship" (the first of the grave digger episodes) in the back of her mind, she can see Booth bend his head and pray, rosary beads in the church and then, she can feel her vision blur
notes: for ellaboston
She doesn't realize she'd dozed off, till she opens her eyes and tastes sleep in her mouth. Her knees snap against the door of the car as she stretches her legs. The well of panic resting quietly in her chest, bubbles up again. Her throat tightens.
"Hodgins?"
He shudders. His eyes are closed. She watches, half horror as his lips move, dry, parched and desperate.
Her hand hovers over his shoulder. "Jack."
Brennan's voice crackles in the carriage of the car. He stirs. Eyes open.
She wonders if he knows he says Angela's name in his sleep.
---
"We'll get out of here."
His voice is low, sure. Steady.
She wonders why.
"They'll be looking for you," he says.
She draws a hand over the side of her jeans, legs still stiff.
"Yeah. They'll be looking for us." She nods.
Hodgins' eyes are blue.
---
Their bodies are wound around the seats, tight. Uncomfortable.
She hasn't really thought about him. About dying in this car with only him beside her. She was only grateful that the man locked in with her was dirt guy, the bugs and slime guy.
She was only- secretly, she was only grateful that she wasn't alone.
As the hours trickle into minutes, she thinks, that maybe- she doesn't want to be sentimental. Irrational. But she's considered the risks of her jobs. She's considered death by unsavory means before.
Truth be told- every time that she's thought she might die on the job, it's Booth who's been by her side.
---
She spills verbs, adjectives, her mouth moving just to talk. Keep him conscious. He's losing air, fast. His mouth is slack.
Time is tight, a cage. Brennan is tired of bending the bars.
His eyes move wildly across her and the moment of panic tells her she can't lose him.
---
They were stuck once before.
It isn't a fair comparison, perhaps- that night in the lab one Christmas. But they were stuck then, too. Family pressing palms against the glass and she didn't need anyone.
She wonders if she's grown or regressed since then.
She needs them now. She needs them, her partner, her best friend, her family-
-and maybe she always did.
Maybe all that's changed is the knowledge of what she has. Her chest heaves- the knowledge of what she has before she loses it.
---
They figure it out. They figure something out because they're them and hell, this why their in this mess to begin with isn't it?
Squints. Too smart for their own good and too apt to go poking where their noses don't belong. Cats, curiosity- they've been crossing the line for a while.
And only just tumbled through, now she isn't sure if it will work. Because there isn't a precedent, after all.
They're playing this by the ear, which she hates, he loves.
In the back of her mind, she can see Booth bend his head and pray, rosary beads in the church and then, she can feel her vision blur.
Booth.
---
The waiting might be the hardest part.
Slow. Silent- there aren't many words to fill the void between rescue and death. She can hear Hodgins breathing from the other side of the car. It's even more labored than it was a minute ago.
The door bursts. She stars and isn't her life supposed to flash before her eyes, right about now?
---
Booth hauls her out of the sand. He's panting, like he's been running.
She can hear voices, loud. Hodgins might be crying.
She hears voices.
Angela is wiping the sand from Hodgins face, covering his mouth with her own and the world stops- stops spinning.
She clings to Booth and it isn't the first time she's done this. She twists her fingers around his tie as he lifts her off the ground and she feels at home.