"BURNED, Inside Out"
CHAPTER I : Soul Searching
Fifteen All Over Again: Bren's PoV
I didn't think that I could live much longer. I look around, to see the surroundings one more time. I could feel my lungs constricting but never returning to its normal shape. I feel like I'm shrinking. What's worse is, no one who I thought cared about me was there. All of a sudden, I feel like I'm fifteen years old all over again. Alone.
As I opened my eyes, I felt weird. I didn't think I could live to see another day. I look at the calendar that hung on the crème-colored wall. It was January 19 2009. And I have been here for officially five months. No visitors, just alone. I thought I'd go crazy.
I stood up from my bed, and decided to go get some food out of the fridge. Some pudding will fill my empty stomach. I devour half the cup, and watch some bat thing on the TV. And I remember Booth. FBI, Special Agent Seeley Booth. Booth is the man who introduced to me the world of baseball. I just looked at the TV, and for once, I've always hoped that they would find me. They, as in, Booth, Angela, Cam, Zack, Hodgins, Dad, Russ, all of them. I couldn't wait till I was in their life again. Sometimes I begin to wonder : Was I forgotten? Did they think I was dead? I don't know what's going to happen now. I feel so, alone, so robotic, so still.
"Hey, Tempe." The nurse, Azanna comes in. "How are you feeling?" She asks me, her voice gentle, and kind.
"Meh, quite fine, I guess. Still no visitors?" I ask her, desperate for an answer. I stare at the white fridge, then proceeded to the white rolling table with all the medicine on top, until I get an answer.
"I know, It's hard, Temperance. Feeling that no one remembers you, that you're all alone. I get it." She smiles, and I see a glimmer of sympathy in it. She grabs a tablet from a sealed bottle on the rolling table, and gave it to me, together with a glass of Vitamin C Powder mixed with water.
"So, does that answer equate to the fact that no one remembers me?" I queried. I wanted to know. I badly wanted to.
"I'm sorry, Tempe." She gives me a small hug, and leaves the room. I watched television again, staring at the humans in white legging-like pants, and huge blue and white shirts, catch a ball and all that jazz.
I grabbed my old, but favorite bag, and took my cellphone. I dialed Booth's number, but it always ended up to be busy, or no one could answer. I tried Angela's, but it's all the same. For everyone's numbers, it was all busy. I opened the back portion, and noticed that my SIM Card was missing. This is not something to be happy about. I sulk for a while. I slip inside the covers of my bed, and tried to sleep again, even though it was still 9 in the morning.
Until I Find You: Booth's PoV
"Please, tell me you've found something, Hodgins. It's been two weeks since we discovered a few things. We know she was kidnapped. We got that far. We found her car in the coast of Seattle. We've searched every body of water near that area, to find a clue. But not a single piece of important evidence was found. Tell me you've found something. New." I leaned on his table, as he types fast on his iMac.
"I did. But it's kind of vague and rough. There are 103 places with the same minerals we found in Dr. Brennan's car, in the coast of Seattle. Let's say, she drove away from her kidnapper/attacker, so it might tell us where she was held." Hodgins said, as he typed furiously on the keyboard.
"Oh for God's sake, that is kind of indistinct. Can you narrow it down?" Dr. Camille Saroyan said, as she tried to comfort Angela. The clues start popping in just this month, and Angela was uncertain if her best friend was still alive. They've started searching ever since there was a case that had become a matter of national security, but she decided to do an investigation on her own, but then they didn't find anything. Later this month of January, clues resurface, and they search for her, even just a hint of her.
"Uh, I'll try. Let's see.." Hodgins removed places that are public. Places that are too obvious. Places those are indiscreet. There are 59 places left.
"Mm, try removing places that are impossibly far from the place where we found Dr. Brennan's car." Camille suggested. I leaned on the railings, and looked at Brennan's office. It's lights have been out for such a long time now. Oh god, how much I missed her. Her cluelessness. Her logic. Her rationality. Just about everything.
"Okay, it's narrowed down to 25 places. Well, Agent Booth, you think we could search these places?" Zachary said. He poked me at the back, and I turned my head swiftly around.
"Uh, yeah, I will contact Director Cullen. Until this case is solved, I won't be able to work on other high-profile cases, so this is my number one priority." I said. I took my phone from my pocket and flipped it open. I dialed Cullen's number, and he said that half of the places I had mentioned were about to be demolished because they broke a few laws.
"So, what did he say?" Angela stammered.
"Uh, half of those places are about to be demolished. I have to go." I run off the stairs, and ran to the parking lot where the SUV was parked. Hodgins was right behind me. We hurry inside, and drove off to the first place : Mr. Rafra's Car Services. It was shut down for about 30 years now.
As I got to the location, I could smell fire. I looked deeper into the place, and there were tons of firemen putting out the fire. Damn. A possible crime scene has just been set on fire. This proves one thing. The person who held Brennan for hostage knew what we were doing. He was watching us. And he didn't want us to get close.
Hodgins bent over a place near to the fire, and grabbed some samples. He stored it in a plastic container, and stuck the sticker with the word EVIDENCE on it. He shook the container up high, as if he was successful.
"What did you find?" I approach him, and looked at the container. It was Brennan's favorite earring, the one that she almost lost when she started to identify victims of Hurricane Katrina.
"Dr. Brennan was held here." Hodgins concluded. He smiled at me. But what do we do when the one place where we can find clues has been burned down?
"But where does that lead us, Hodgins?" I ask him, praying for some other kind of clue that Hodgins' had come up with.
"Just a few particles. So, she was held hostage here. She escaped, drove all the way to the shore. Maybe they found her or something. We don't really know for sure. Sorry, Booth. It's kind of like a dead end." Hodgins smiled the weakest one I've ever seen. He too was upset. He knew Brennan for such a long time, and they were really good friends.
I looked at him, disappointed, but I wasn't ready to give up. Hodgins and I rode the car, and drove back to the Jeffersonian.
"Cam, what was Brennan doing. God, why did she have to investigate on her own?" Angela was sitting down in her office, and Cam was looking at her.
"Well, the case was kind of close to her heart. Detective Prilling was murdered. Detective Prilling and Dr. Brennan were kind of you know back then. Detective Prilling was working on a case when he was killed. Dr. Brennan got who killed him, why he was killed and all that. She didn't tell either me or Booth. She just left us a vague message that said : I know who did it, and she was cut." Cam sighed. She looked at Angela sorrowfully.
"I don't think I could be normal if we don't find her." Angela cried harder. I feel rather guilty about why Brennan wanted to investigate on her own. Director Cullen was going to pass this case on to another Agent, since I was about to get a high-profile case. I told Brennan about that, and that she should be able to rest from this case, and pass it on to Dr. Edison. I didn't know about Brennan and Prilling. When I told her that, she stopped talking to me for a while. And all of a sudden she leaves me the haziest message : I know who did it.
Coping: Bren's PoV
I stood up from my bed, and went outside my room. I looked all those other lost people, like me. I've never actually related to them, and some already call me distant, without even knowing me at all. I just went out to get some more food, and a young girl approaches me.
"Tempe, do you think you could get me a cookie inside that cookie jar?" The little girl was tugging on my hospital gown. I give her a soft nod, and she giggles in joy. I grab a cookie from inside the jar, and gave it to her.
As I started to search for noodles in the cabinet, and some hot water, Azanna approaches me.
"Hey, Tempe. I've got bad news." Azanna got a cookie, and started playing with it. "I mean, I don't know if you'd take this as good or bad, but, if no one will tell us who you really are, or if no one can confirm that you are you, then you'd have to be sent to Venezuela Holding Center for the Unidentified. It sounds bad doesn't it?"
"Yes, it is bad." I look at her. That was true. The reason I was here is because no one could confirm that I am Dr. Temperance Brennan. I am inside a resting home for the lost, but there's an increasing population, and it can't be helped if some people are being moved to other facilities, in and out of the country. "It's okay."
"You're okay with being moved to Venezuela, where surely no one could find you? At least here, it's more evident that this is where you go when you are lost and no one could identify you. Over there, they just put you inside a cell, and serve you food like you're in prison." Azanna frowned at me, thinking that I would try to stay here and convince someone else to move instead.
"Look Azanna, whatever the government tells me to do, I have to do. I am not Temperance Brennan to them. I am just some unknown, unidentified woman. I am not with the FBI, for them. I don't have rights anymore." I said. I hug her, and brought the noodles with hot water inside my room together with a spoon.
As I settled into a chair, and placed the food on the table, I started to think. If I do surrender myself in Venezuela, then Booth will never find me. None of them will ever find me. I sighed. I should just give up, maybe they think I'm dead. I slurped my noodles, and hugged my knees. I miss my life. The life that I almost took for granted. I miss Booth. I love him, but I never actually told him that. I love him, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to him. That's why I didn't tell him about Prilling's case when I investigated, or else I'd get him into trouble again. The government murdered Detective Prilling. Prilling was investigating on the murder of Gus Harper, and when he found out there was a government conspiracy, the government killed Prilling. I just found Prilling's notes in his house about this case. I didn't want anyone to get hurt in this one. Especially Booth.
"Tempe?" Azanna opened the door and a little girl comes in, prancing around.
"Thank you for the cookie, Tempe." She smiled at me, and kissed me on my cheek.
"No problem. What's your name?" I ask her, trying to sugar-coat my feelings.
"Suzie. My mom's been here for 8 years." She says, like it's something to be proud of.
"Why?" I ask Suzie.
"Because she is amazing, that's what mommy tells me. And you're amazing too." She smiled at me. I laugh at her analogy of the situation, and she laughs along.
"Alright, Suzie, go back to your mommy now." I said, and pinched her cheeks, and she left.
"Okay, now what are you trying to do, Azanna?" I ask her, my face disgruntled.
"Well, you have to stay here, Temperance. I believe someone is still looking for you. You know that too." Azanna said warmly.
"I don't anymore. It's been what, five months since I was here, and no one found me yet. You think they're still looking for me?" I look at her, my eyes filled with hurt.
"Look, Temperance. It's still five months. Suzie's mother, Emalynne Drusilla, has been here for 8 years. She has been requested to move for 15 times, but she keeps begging to stay here, since she still believes that her husband is still looking for her, even though she knew he was married to someone else. And it's also for Suzie. Suzie can't live like a prisoner. Not when she's still a child." Azanna was desperate. She believed in me.
"I don't know, Azanna." I muttered. I took my cellphone, and looked at the picture of me with Booth. I smiled. "But I have to go."
"I'll miss you, Temperance. You'll be leaving tomorrow." Azanna hugged me deeply, and I believe that even though they haven't found me yet, they still remember me at the very least.
Can't Breathe Without You Here: Booth's PoV
"I don't know, Rebecca." I told her. Rebecca pounced on me that night, when I was dropping off Parker.
"What do you mean, Seeley?" She looks at me. We were together, I knew that, but it didn't feel right. Not like I was committed to someone else, but it just felt morally wrong. "Is this about Dr. Brennan?"
"No, of course not, Rebecca." I told her. But she was right, this was all about Brennan. I miss her so much, that I can't even focus. It's been like this for me for nearly a year. Director Cullen is having suspicions whether my ties with Dr. Brennan are pulling me away from my concentration. I kept telling him, that it's just me, and nothing to do with anyone else. Then again, he was right. If Brennan hadn't disappeared, then it wouldn't have been like this for me.
"Then what's wrong, huh? We've been in this frozen state ever since clues about her disappearance started popping up. No wait, it's been like this ever since that woman disappeared!" She said angrily. She stood up, and looked at me in rage.
"That woman was Temperance Brennan, my partner, Rebecca! And I love her. Hell I do." I shouted at her. "Look, Rebecca, I know we've been together for a long time now, but, I just can't do this anymore." I grabbed my things and stormed outside Rebecca's house. Just before I reach the door, Parker tugs on my shirt.
"Are you and mommy fighting, Dad?" He looks at me in despair.
"It's nothing, buddy, nothing big." I kissed him on the cheek and started the SUV. As I got in, I looked at the passenger seat. I missed the person who sat there frequently. The place where our arguments develop and I just miss her. So much. Not only do I miss her, but I love her too.
As I arrived at the Jeffersonian, Zack approaches me happily.
"We found something." Hodgins smiled. "After analyzing the particles we picked up in Mr. Rafra's Car Services, other than the earring, I find some polyethylene with a red dot on it. Well, there's only one place that has that plastic."
"Where?" I ask him, in suspense. "It's actually used as a candy bar wrapper called Choco Chomps. This product has been last delivered to a place over in Seattle. It's a Home for the Lost, Booth. There's a pretty good chance that we'll find her there."
"So how can I contact the Home for the Lost right now?" I ask Hodgins urgently.
"Uh, you could try calling the number here." Hodgins pointed at the numbers at the bottom right of the Home for the Lost's website. Shockingly, they have website. They only accept calls in the morning till early afternoon. Darn it.
"No answer." I sighed.
"You should just call tomorrow." Zack said. "They have mentioned that they only accept your calls from morning until early afternoon."
"I don't know. I'll drive over there right now." Booth started his car.
"Are you crazy, or are you out of your mind, Booth?" Angela looks at me.
"I'm not, okay." I shuffled inside my pocket for the car keys.
"You are going to have to drive 2,700 miles to get to Seattle, you know that." Hodgins pushed in.
"I am willing to drive farther than that, if that's what it takes to find her." I said.
"Stop this craziness, Booth. One day won't change much. You can stay here, and call first thing in the morning, okay?" Cam said, trying to settle me down. I forced myself to stay, even though I wanted to go to Seattle badly, and just be able to see her again.
"Booth, we will find her. I still have this feeling that she's still alive." Hodgins tried to calm me down more.
"Well, I have a nagging feeling that she's-"
"ANGELA!" Cam and Hodgins stare at Angela. This was definitely not the way Angela is supposed to be.
"Look, you guys, its okay. I think I'll just drive home. Maybe it's just depression." I walked out of the platform, and remembered those times when she'd swipe her card and argue with me about the case. I shook my head trying to forget those times and try to focus on the case.
I approached my SUV, and opened the car. I rode in, and drove out of the building.
I was on the road already when the Home for the Lost calls in.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Good evening, this is Dr. Joyce Berell, head doctor of the Home for the Lost. You called approximately 10 minutes ago. How may I help you?" This Joyce character said.
"I'm FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, and I am wondering if you have records of your patients in the resting home?" I asked.
"Pardon me, Agent Booth, but it's a Home for the Lost. They are unidentified. No records. Would it be possible if we'd simply send pictures of our patients, and the names they claim that is theirs?" She said. I could feel her smile falsely.
"Thank you, please. Send them to my phone." I said. I ended the call. I couldn't wait till she took pictures of all her patients. I turned the car around and headed to a small 24 hour mart and grabbed a few goods. I went to the gas station and pumped up the vehicle, and prayed as I begin to travel to Seattle.
It's been officially 6 hours, and I am a few miles away from the Seattle city proper. I smile at my achievement. I have blocked all calls from the Jeffersonian. I haven't received anything yet from the resting home. I felt like she was scamming me. That's why I wanted to drive all the way to Seattle.
As I arrive at the busy city, I took a take out of McDonald's and drove to the Home for the Lost. Seattle was a bustling city, but the traffic wasn't heavy. I got to the resting home in 10 minutes.
"Good morning, Sir, but you are here for?" The nurse who waited at the reception asked.
"Dr. Temperance Brennan." I replied confidently. Hopefully she's still here.
"I'm sorry sir, there is no record of a doctor named Temperance Brennan that has been assigned here." She told me, her fingers still on her keyboard, her eyes locked on the monitor.
"There's got to be some mistake. Temperance Brennan, are you sure?" I ask her again. At the same time, a nurse from the entrance door on my right came inside, and approached the reception.
"Hey, Nicole. I'm exhausted. I just dropped a patient off in the airport with Joel. She seriously packs big. Do you have a glass of water?" The nurse asked the nurse in the reception.
"Please can you check this first? Um, please? A woman named Temperance Brennan. I have been investigating this case for close to a year, and I'm pretty confident that she's here." I asked the nurse sitting down.
"Temperance Brennan? Well, sorry, but we just dropped her off the airport. She's being flown to Venezuela's Home for the Lost. By the way, I'm Azanna, the nurse in charge for Tempe." She said.
"Do you think I could catch up?" I asked her.
"Well, her flight's in 20 minutes. If you could drive fast, I guess you could catch up. Out of curiosity, why are you looking for her?" Azanna asked me.
"Because I love her." I started to walk out. "More than you think." I turned my head around to say that, and I ran out, rode the car and called up Hodgins.
"Hey dude, you haven't been answering my calls, what's up?" Hodgins asked me, his voice with little enthusiasm.
"I'm in Seattle, and I'll explain later. Could you send me a map leading to the airport in Seattle?" I ask him.
"O-kaay. But you better explain yourself why you're out there later." Hodgins said, his voice demanding.
"I already said that I'd tell you, okay? C'mon, send." I said. "I'm in a hurry, Hodgins."
"Okay, sent. Did you get it?" He asked me. I looked at the upper right corner of the LCD of my cellular phone, and there was a blinking envelope.
"Thanks." I ended the call, and opened the file to the program I have in my phone that would tell me where to go. And without a doubt, I was in the airport in no time.
Can't Believe I Gave Up: Bren's PoV
"Flight to Venezuela will be in ten minutes. Please proceed to the gate immediately." I stood up and headed to the gate. Joel, the guardian was right behind me.
"Alright, Bren, I'll drop you here. When you get to Venezuela, Agent Pinscher will meet you and bring you to the Venezuelan Home for the Lost. I'm sorry you have to go there. Have a good flight. It would probably be your last one." Joel hugged me, and walked out of the airport. If I do go to Venezuela, then I'd better be ready for a new life. Going to Venezuela, will make me invisible in the system, and it will be impossible to find me.
I strode across the airport, making snide comments on a few lovers who showed a public display of affection. You know, a Filipina and a foreigner making out in the middle of the airport is not exactly a way to encourage American tourism. It makes it even worse. These malicious comments on others are a way of trying to forget things for me.
I continued walking to the place where I'm supposed to ride the airplane. I gave my ticket to the smiling stewardess and slowly turned right. At the bottom of my head, I hear a silent scream.
"BONES!" There was only one person who called me that, Booth. Meh, probably it's a simple hallucination. I continued going inside the airplane, and settled in the comfy chair. This will be the last hint of joy I'll ever get. Then on, I'd be in pure and utter loneliness.
"BONES!" It shouts again. I stood up from my seat, and cried: "WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP!"
People beside, behind and in front of me glared at me, and the stewardess shushed me. I sat down, my face, flushed in embarrassment. The smiling stewardess approached me and told me that someone was looking for me. I stood up and followed her, and I couldn't believe my own eyes. It was Booth.
"Bones." He hugs me, and I hug back tightly. I missed him, and his guy hugs. But this time, this didn't feel like a guy hug. It felt like a real hug.
I stare into his eyes, and I just couldn't believe I gave up on him. His eyes were filled with exhilaration. I smiled at him, and he hugged me again.
"I missed you." I whispered.
"I missed you too." He let go of me.
"What took you so long to find me?" I asked him, as I started to cry.
And then it was silent.
a u t h o r ' s n o t e : gad, I hope you take into account that majority of the places & rules are made up by a thirteen year old head. Anyways, ahh, thank you for reading :) review please! Hope you enjoyed. Me shall continue with next chapter soon, if you review enough to inspire mee.
p s. I apologize for my inconsistencies and grammatical errors. AND I AM NOT A NERD XDD