This will be a series of one-shots and drabbles set in different episodes as Max ponders Brennan's relationship with Booth; therefore, all action takes place from Max's POV. I started with my favorite episode, Aliens in a Spaceship, because it was the one that gave me the idea in the first place several months ago. I'm hoping this exercise will help me write the B&B scenes I need in order to finish my ongoing fic 'The Bones in the Dungeon.' I'm having some trouble writing a "Boothy" Booth lately, mainly because his "Boothyness" was absent for much of Season 5 and so far in Season 6 I just want to give him a swift kick in the pants. I hope you enjoy my first one-shot and please remember to review and let me know your thoughts! :)
Max whistled as he stepped into the kitchen to pour his morning coffee. He took a sip of the black brew and reached for the remote to turn on the morning newscast. He set about making a breakfast of eggs and toast as he listened with half an ear to what was happening around the nation. He caught part of a story about the discovery of two teenage boys who had been buried alive several years earlier by someone known as the Gravedigger. He snorted as he mentally scoffed at the ridiculous name that some reporter had no doubt been responsible for.
He sat down at the table and turned his full attention to the screen. A rather brittle looking blonde stood on the steps in front of the Hoover building in Washington D.C. A man with black hair and darker features now stood next to her. He looked nervous, running a hand through his hair and tugging at the collar of his shirt as he waited for her to finish speaking.
"I have Thomas Vega here with us now, the man who wrote the book on the Gravedigger after leaving the FBI. Mr. Vega, there are rumors that another kidnapping has taken place since the discovery of the Kent boys. What can you tell us about this developing story?"
Max took a bite of his eggs as he watched Vega take a deep breath. "I've been authorized to release the names of the two kidnap victims in order to make an appeal on their behalf. Last night two members of the investigative team working the case were kidnapped from the underground parking structure at the Jeffersonian Instititute. Dr. Jack Hodgins and Dr. Temperance Brennan are believed to have been buried alive by the Gravedigger, who has demanded a ransom in exchange for their release."
Max felt the fork he was holding fall from suddenly nerveless fingers. It was a mistake, he thought to himself. Not my baby girl, not Tempe. Breakfast forgotten, he stood and walked to sit directly in front of the small television as the man, Vega, continued to speak.
"I've been asked to deliver a message to the Gravedigger. If you're listening, we need more time in order to raise the money for the ransom. Without proof of life our hands are tied."
Max watched as the reporter now began to focus on this new angle, the Kent boys' story pushed aside in light of juicier news. Pictures flashed across the screen of his daughter from various news articles along with press releases related to her book that had been published the previous year. She reported on Tempe's academic success followed by the many cases she had helped the FBI to solve since partnering with Special Agent Seeley Booth. A picture showed the two posed together in her lab, Booth's hand resting comfortably on her shoulder.
He shook himself from his stupor and stood, walking to the counter to open a locked drawer. He removed a small, untraceable cell phone and began to make calls. Max would call in every favor anyone had ever owed him and he would find out what hole that Gravedigger bastard had crawled into and then... then he would kill him. An hour later he was frustrated as he waited to see what information might come from the flurry of calls he'd made. He might have been out of the game for a while, but he still knew the ballpark and who was running the bases. If there was any information to be had he knew he would find it.
Suddenly there was a lot of movement on the screen and he sat forward, a mixture of dread and hope clutching at his chest. Several vehicles tore out of the parking structure of the FBI building, sirens blaring. The newscast switched to footage of similar activity from the Jeffersonian building as the reporter continued her speculation.
"We've just been informed that the FBI believes they have located the area where Dr. Brennan and Dr. Hodgins may have been buried. We intend to report to you live from that location as we bring you more on this developing story." The reporter signed off as coverage switched to local news once more.
Max clenched his fists as he flipped channels, desperately looking for another station covering the story. He finally found what he was looking for on a national news network. Reporters had apparently followed the FBI vehicles to a quarry outside of the D.C. metro area and were now reporting live amid a hive of activity. Max didn't believe in God or prayer, but he would have made a deal with any god or devil in that moment if it meant he could see his baby one more time. He and Ruthie had sacrificed everything to keep their kids safe and the idea that Tempe might be ... he couldn't finish the thought.
Suddenly there was a change in the activity on the screen - more sirens as another ambulance arrived and then he saw paramedics rushing past the barricade that had been set up to keep the press out. Max sat forward, afraid to breathe, fists clenched so tight he could no longer feel his fingers, waiting, and then he saw her. Agent Booth walked beside her, a protective arm around her shoulders as he led her past the line of reporters. Several of the reporters surged forward, microphones out as they shouted questions, but one hostile look from the tall, forbidding agent had them falling back again. While the cameras were too far away to pick up sound, Max could clearly see the protective stance Booth adopted as he stood over his daughter. He watched as the paramedics urged Tempe to accept an oxygen mask and checked her for any injuries that might need to be dealt with immediately.
The camera switched to another scene for a moment as he saw a man being carried on a stretcher through the barricade and lifted into an ambulance. He was followed closely by a tall woman with long, dark hair. Max assumed it was Dr. Hodgins and he wondered how severe the man's injuries were since he was apparently unable to walk. The camera switched back to Tempe as she removed the oxygen mask in order to speak to her partner. While her face was composed, Max noticed that her hands were shaking. She must have noticed it too because she suddenly clasped them together just as Booth stepped forward and rested both of his hands on hers. No words were exchanged but he detected the slightest shift in his daughter's expression as she looked at her partner. Booth reached one hand up to brush some dirt off her cheek and then suddenly he pulled Tempe closer, wrapping both arms around her tightly.
Max felt the anxiety of the last couple of hours slide away as he watched the two of them together. He had kept up with his daughter over the years and he knew that she spent much of her time alone. People skills had never been easy for her and Max had worried about his baby being alone in the world and too wrapped up in her work with the dead to let the living get close to her. Not for the first time, Max was thankful for Booth's presence in her life because she wasn't alone anymore. If he couldn't be there for his baby girl, he was glad this man could be.
