Secret Graves and Hidden Pasts
By Mistreated and Forgotten
Summary: A case comes up which brings back all the memories from Brennan's teenage years in foster care.
Spoilers: None that I am aware of, if there is could you please let me know.
Pairings: Booth/Bones
Warnings: Sexual assault content
Disclaimer: I don't own Bones or its characters
A/N: This is my first Bones fanfic and I haven't watched many episodes so please go easy on me for any irregularities within this story. For the purposes of this story I'll refer to teenage Brennan as 'Temperance' and adult Brennan as 'Brennan'. Enjoy :)
**********
Brennan was sitting in her office when booth walked in.
"Hey Bones."
"Hi booth, do we have a case?"
"Yeah we do. A guy was digging a hole in his backyard when the ground caved in revealing human remains."
**********
Booth and Brennan were in the car on their way to the scene, the pair were discussing what they were going to do over the weekend.
"We have Parker this weekend, I was thinking maybe we could take him to go see a movie. What do you think Bones?"
"I don't know it is you're weekend to spend with your son."
Booth briefly turned his eyes from the road to quickly look at Brennan. "Bones he likes you, I know you know that and I want to spend my weekend with the two people I love."
Brennan took a deep breath, "I still feel I need to let the two of you have some time alone so how about we both spend Saturday with Parker and Sunday can be just for you and him?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I thin..." Brennan went quiet as they turned around a corner, the neighbourhood they turned into was unnervingly familiar to her.
"Bones are you okay?" Booth asked concerned for his partner.
"I remember this neighbourhood, I've been here before but I can't remember when or why."
"We haven't had a case in this area before."
"I know, I don't remember this place because of a case we've worked on."
"Okay maybe it'll come to you later."
"Yeah maybe."
Booth turned into a lower class residential street. He pulled up out the front of the house that had the least damage and graffiti. There were already several other cars on the scene. The odd feeling of remembrance that Brennan was feeling only grew stronger. Booth killed the engine and they both got out of the car. Brennan grabbed her gear out of the car and the pair walked up to the front door of the house. They had to go out to the backyard and there wasn't any side or alleyway access points so they had to walk through the house and out through the back door.
The backyard was dry and desolate, the ill maintained grass having died long ago. Off to the left there was an old rusted swing set and an area of beach like sand most likely the remains of a sand pit which used to be just behind the house. Brennan's mind was assaulted by the memories of warm summer evenings spent laying out on the grass doing homework. In a yard exactly like this with its lush green grass, the sand pit wasn't just a pile of sand and the swing set was fire engine red. The yard of her last foster home. She took a deep breath and pushed the memories into the back of her mind.
"I'm going to go talk to the home owner, you okay to go ahead without me?"
"Yes, I'll start examining the remains."
"Be careful Bones."
"I always am Booth, you don't need to keep reminding me."
"I know that but I do it because I worry the one day that I don't something is going to happen to you."
"Whatever rocks your ship."
"Boat," Brennan gave booth a confused look, "It's 'whatever rocks your boat' Bones."
The pair went off in their separate ways, Booth walked off to the right to interview the owner and Bones went down to the back of the yard where there were several agents standing around the small opening into the cavern below. Brennan climbed down the ladder that had been secured at the opening to the cavern. The cavern was dry and dusty due to the lack of moisture that would have seeped through when the grass was still alive.
Brennan knelt down next to the remains and began to examine them. By the time that Booth made his way down into the cavern Brennan had already completed her preliminary analysis of the remains and was about to order the remains to be sent to the lab.
"What you got Bones?"
"Well the shape of the pelvis suggests that these remains are female and the overall size suggests she was between the ages of 16 and 20 at the time of death."
"Anything else?"
"I won't know anymore until I get these remains back to the lab. What did the owner have to say?"
"He said he's only had the place for a week and doesn't know anything about this."
"I would have to say he is probably telling the truth. These bones are undisturbed and have been her for a lot longer than a week."
"I told him I might need to ask him more questions later on in the investigation."
**********
Booth walked onto the platform where Brennan was leaning over the remains. She was facing away from him so he had a good view of her ass.
"Have you got a cause of death for me Bones?"
"The victim sustained several stab wounds to the back and chest, the knife nicking the spine and ribs leaving the visible indentations and one to the neck. The wound to the neck was what killed her, the killer sliced through the jugular vein and severed the spinal column. She would have bled out in minutes, well before the back and chest wounds."
"Thanks Bones."
"Wait, I also found calcification on the right radius this could be caused by multiple fractures."
"Do we have and ID yet."
"Angela is working on that at the moment, I'll let you know when we have one."
"Cheers Bones, don't work to hard I want you home at a reasonable time tonight."
**********
Booth and Brennan walked into her office. Brennan sat down in her chair and Booth sat down on the edge of her desk.
"Angela got a name for our victim. We found a match in the Social Services Database, the victim's name is Melissa Johns."
Brennan handed Booth a folder containing all of Melissa's information.
"There are five reports for treatment of broken arms in her medical file. One was when she broke her left arm when she was five before her parents died, the second report was when she was ten she broke her right arm at school and the last three happened in the last foster home she was in before she went missing."
"Abusive foster parents?"
"That would be the most likely reason."
"I think it's time to go interview the foster parents."
"Under normal circumstances yes, Melissa's foster parents disappeared just over a week ago when the sale of their house was finalised."
"I'll see what I can do about finding them."
**********
Angela stood up on the observation deck and looked down on her friend as she worked down on the platform. Brennan had been acting weird since she returned from the scene with Booth and Angela was starting to get worried. Angela noticed that Brennan looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders but Angela couldn't see Brennan's face so she didn't see that her best friend was deep in thought and scared of the memories this case was bringing up. Angela had had enough of looking down on her friend so she made her way down onto the platform.
"Hey sweetie."
Brennan looked up, "Hi Angela."
"How are you? You look like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders?"
"Angela, it would be impossible for me to have the weight of the world upon my shoulders."
"It's a metaphor Bren, do you want to tell me what's going on in your head?"
"I assure you Angela there is nothing going on that I need to talk about."
"You sure, because you've spent way more time in your office today and you've been acting a bit out of character."
"Yes I'm sure, I'm just a little tired and want to finish the day up quickly so I can go home."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
"Bye."
Angela was not convinced by Brennan's words. She left the platform and once she was out of Brennan's earshot she pulled out her cell and dialled Booth's number.
"Booth"
"Booth its Angela."
"What can I do for you?"
"It's Bren, she's been acting weird since you guys came back from the scene."
"Well she did go all quiet and distant down the road from the house when I turned onto the street. What has she been like since we got back?"
"She's been very quiet and she's spent most of the afternoon in her office, not doing anything just staring off into space. It's only gotten worse since we identified the victim."
"Has she told you anything?"
"I couldn't get anything out of her, maybe you'll have better luck."
"Thanks, I'll be right over."
**********
Brennan sat on the couch, the file on Melissa Johns open in her hands. She was so engrossed in reading the file that she didn't even notice Booth walk in until he sat down next to her.
"What are you reading?"
"It's the file on Melissa Johns."
"Why are you reading that for Bones?"
"Because I want to know who she was."
"It's not like you to read a victim's file. What's up?"
"What?"
"What's going on Bones? Why are you reading the file?"
"It's my fault this girl is dead. All because I chose not to tell anyone about what happened to me."
"This isn't your fault Bones."
"Yes it is, I can't help but feel guilty for what he did to her."
Booth placed both his hands on either side of Brennan's face. "Are you listening to me Bones? This is not your fault."
"Yes it is," whispered Bones.
"If it is then tell me why."
"She was put into the same foster home as me but a few years after me. She's dead because of what happened to me in that same foster home and because I kept quiet about it."
"About what Bones? What happened?"
"Not here," her voice was quiet and lacking its usual confidence.
"Come on let's go home."
Booth took the file from Brennan and placed it on her desk on their way out of her office.
**********
The car was filled with a tense silence as they both sat there, lost in their own thoughts. Booth would occasionally glance at Brennan to see how she was but she was still looking out the window like she had been when they left The Jeffersionian.
The elevator ride up to their apartment was tense like in the car but continued to build up as they got closer their front door. The elevator doors opened Brennan was a little hesitant to get out knowing what she would soon have to face. The pair walked down the hall to their apartment. Booth let go of Brennan's hand so he could fish his keys out of his pocket and open the front door. He placed his hand on her lower back and guided her through the door.
Booth helped Brennan out of her coat and placed it on the rack before he removed his own and joined her in the living room. He stood just behind Brennan and waited for her to begin her story.
"I haven't told this to anyone before because it still haunts me to this day and every now and then I'll have a nightmare about it."
Brennan's face was blank as if she were deep in thought. This blank look didn't go unnoticed by Booth.
"Bones, you're starting to worry me."
Booth stepped around Brennan so he was now standing in front of her. He placed a finger underneath her chin and tilted her head so that she was no longer looking down at the floor but looking directly into his eyes. Brennan's eyes were distant, empty and starting to fill with tears.
"It happened in the last foster home I was in before I got out of the system, it was the reason I got out. I was originally supposed to stay in this last foster home until I finished my senior year of high school. I didn't stay because that was when...." Brennan replied in a quiet voice that Booth could only just hear.
She couldn't finish what she was saying. Brennan turned around and started to walk away from Booth.
"Bones where are you going?"
"I need to go outside."
Brennan walked through the front door, Booth grabbed his keys and both their coats. He walked out the door locking it behind him and rushed after Brennan. He caught up to her in the elevator.
"Here I thought you might need this," Booth passed Brennan her coat.
"Thanks. You didn't have to follow me."
"Yes I did, you're going outside and I didn't want to let you go alone."
**********
He didn't need to ask her where she was going he knew she was headed for the park where she went when she needed to think or needed a change of scene whilst writing.
Brennan sat down at her usual table and Booth sat down next to her. He hoped this change in scene would help her to open up about this part of her life.
"I was eighteen when my then foster father, Mark," Booth could hear Brennan trying to control her breathing, "came into my room one night when I was studying. That was normal though, he would come in and ask of how I was going and help me with school work if I needed help but never when there was nobody else home."
Brennan's breathing picked up despite her attempts to keep it regulated. Booth picked her hand up off the table and held it in his, as a gesture of silent comfort.
"He always gave me the creeps and after that night I knew why. Other than my foster mother I was the only other female in the house. Whenever I was in the living room or the kitchen I could always feel a pair of eyes on me I always thought it was just one of the other foster kids. Thinking back afterwards I knew it wasn't one of the other kids it was him. Out of everything I remember from being in that foster home, that day I remember the most. The memories never fading forever burnt into my mind. I've never been able to forget it."
Brennan was silent for several minutes, Booth continued to hold her hand rubbing circles on the back of it with his thumb. Her breathing sped up even more as she thought through what she was going to say next and Brennan's eyes again filled with tears that threatened to fall.
"When I woke up that morning I had no idea that when the day ended I would never be the same Temperance Brennan ever again. I went to school, I came home and I did my schoolwork like any other day and my foster mother had to almost drag me out to dinner."
"My foster brothers were over at a friend's place, my foster mother went to her book club meeting after dinner which left me and my foster father home alone. I went back into my room and continued studying and he went into the living room to watch TV. That was until he came into my room later that night. I was sitting at my desk, my back was turned to the door so I didn't see him come in as he snuck up behind me."
FLASHBACK
Mark leaned over Temperance's shoulder to see what she was working on, she was working on her calculus homework that had been set that day. His hand entered her peripheral vision. Temperance though he was going to point out something wrong with her calculations however instead he wrapped his arm around her torso and dragged Temperance over to her bed, knocking over the chair in the process.
"Let me go!" Temperance screamed while trying to fight him off.
Mark didn't listen, instead he used his body to pin her to the bed. Temperance's attempts to fight him off were easily overpowered by Mark. Using both hands he ripped open her button down shirt, buttons when flying everywhere. He pulled the shirt off her shoulders and threw it to the ground. He then savagely removed Temperance's bra and panties and pushed up her knee length skirt so it was bunched around her waist.
"Please don't do this, please."
"No one has ever denied me what I want," Mark grunted as he thrust his dick into Temperance.
Temperance let out a loud high pitched scream as her flesh tore to accommodate his large girth. He began to pump into Temperance's unwilling body. Mark's control over Temperance's attempts to fight him off faltered as he continued to pound into her relentlessly. His thrusts gained speed as he got closer to his release and Temperance's whimpers of pain were drained out by Mark's grunting and groaning.
Mark thrust into Temperance's bleeding body several more times before he spilled his seed into her. He collapsed onto her, crushing Temperance's lithe frame and making it hard for her to breathe.
Several minutes later Mark climbed off of Temperance. He stood beside the bed and readjusted his clothing. "I'll be back in an hour, if you're still here when I get back I'll do much worse to you."
Mark walked out of Temperance's room. She listened to his footsteps as he walked down the hall. His footsteps were muted by the plush carpet when he walked into the living room. Even though Temperance could no longer hear his footsteps she knew he had left the house when she heard the front door slam shut.
Temperance laid there on her bed curled into the foetal position. She had no idea of how long she had laid there for, it could have been ten minutes or it could have been half an hour.
As she sat up on the edge of the bed, Temperance's head began to spin from the lack of movement. Standing on shaky legs she stumbled over to the drawers on the far side of the room. Temperance got dressed then gathered her clothes and anything else she thought she might need into an overnight bag and packed away her school stuff into her school bag.
Temperance turned around and walked out of her room not once turning back. She didn't care if she had forgotten anything because she was never going to walk back into that room or this house ever again. Temperance went to the only place that she knew she could turn to, her good friend Sally's house.
END FLASHBACK
"I didn't tell her what happened or why I was there. She knew my foster father freaked me out and knew that it would have been only a matter of time before I left and went to her place. The next day after school child services came around to Sally's house, they needed to talk to me about why I had left my foster home. I didn't tell them what happened but what I did tell them wasn't a lie, it was how I felt. I didn't want to go back into foster care. I was eighteen so they couldn't force me to and they didn't. I spent the rest of my senior year living with Sally at her house. I never told anyone about what happened that night because I didn't know what to do and I thought no one would believe me."
By the time Brennan had finished her story the tears were flowing freely from her eyes. She looked down at their joined hands and a small smile graced her lips, he had held onto her hand the whole time not letting go once.
"Oh Bones, why didn't you tell me before now?"
"I had been able to compartmentalise it all so well," Brennan paused and continued on in a barely audible whisper, "and I thought you would think less of me."
"You don't have to compartmentalise everything Bones, you can tell me, and there is nothing that would make me think any less of you."
"Really?"
"Yes. I'll listen to anything you have to say and will never judge or think any less of you."
Booth pulled Brennan into a hug and held onto her and she began to sob into his shoulder. He held onto her until the sobs subsided and she stopped crying.
"Let's get you home."
Booth reached down and entwined his fingers with Brennan's and the pair made their way back home.