Booth ran down the ally, his hand unfastening his gun from his holster as he went. Raising his gun and flipping the safety off, he stopped as the little street went left or right. He listened for the footfalls of the perp he was chasing to see which way to turn. When he heard Brennan scream his name his heart leapt into his throat. Without a second thought he ran in the direction of his partner's cries. He ran as fast as his feet would carry him until his chest burned with exertion and his heart threatened to break free of his chest. It had gotten dark and his foot slid in the mud. Mud, wait a minute, when did. . .? Seeley thought to himself as he became dizzy.
"Where did she go?" He muttered as he stopped and listened to the night.
"Booth! Help!" Brennan cried out from somewhere in the night in front of him.
Booth pushed past the dizziness and realized he was standing on the bank of a river. He slid in the mud and made his way down to the rushing water. When he reached the edge his feet refused to move as his eyes beheld the sight of Brennan's car sinking in the water, the roof barely visible.
The rhythm of his heart threatened to suffocate him as he waded into the water. "Bones!" He called out as he reached the car. He clawed at the handle of the door to open it but it would not budge. He dove down into the water and the cabin of the car was earily lit by the lights in the dash. In the driver's seat, belted in, was Temperence Brennan hunched over the steering wheel. Booth banged on the window but she didn't respond. Using his gun he bust out the window and opened the car door, pulling Brennan free. He swam for the surface and pulled his partner to the muddy embankment.
"Bones! Wake up! Open your eyes!" He pleaded. He began CPR, counting aloud as he went, "One, two, three. . ." He dared not stop when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"She's gone, Seeley." He heard Cam say.
"No! Eleven, twelve, thirteen. . .Call an ambulance Cam, don't just stand there!" He barked.
"She's dead Seeley. Let her go. She's gone." Cam said solemnly.
"No. No. No. Booth cried as he cradled his partner's limp body to his chest. No, she can't be, Cam." Booth cried as he ignored his phone ringing.
Booth woke up confused to the sound of his cell phone ringing next him. He looked at the clock next to him. 2:00 am it read. He flipped it open.
"Hello?" He groggily said into the phone.
". . ." No response only the faint sound of breathing.
"I can hear you. Who is this?" He questioned his phantom caller, his agitation evident. Again there was no response. A few seconds later the call disconnected. Booth closed his phone and restrained himself from throwing the damn thing across the room.
He ran his hand over his face in an attempt to rid the nightmare from his memory. He laid back down but was unable to go back to sleep, nor was he sure he wanted to. His nightmares had become horrible. He had tried to do as Sweets suggested and try to direct his dreams, but to no avail. It was almost lucky that the 2 am prank calls were interrupting them before they got as bad as they usually do.
Accepting that he was not going to be able to go back to sleep he walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. Moving the bottles of beer aside he grabbed the orange juice and poured himself a glass which he only half drank hunched over the counter. Moving into the living room he picked up his weights and began his workout.
By eight o'clock a clean shaven Seeley Booth was seated outside Sweets' office.
"Booth, come in, have a seat." Sweets called from the doorway, his secretary not due in for another hour. That was their arrangement. Once a week Booth met with Sweets before the Hoover Building and the FBI officially started their business day. This way Booth was in and out before prying eyes could scrutinize him.
Sweets eyed the agent before him as he walked slowly into the room and sat in his usual seat, his shoulders slumped and his empty holster still at his side. Lance couldn't help but notice the absence of Booth's trademark "cocky" belt and brightly colored socks. Sweets closed the door and crossed the room picking up a blank notepad and setting it on the table between them.
"You've lost some weight, Seeley." Lance said as he sat down across from Booth. Booth nodded his head in agreement; he knew he was in rough shape.
"And the nightmares?" Lance asked, spreading his hands in an inviting motion.
"Not as bad." Booth lied.
"But still nightly?" Sweets pushed, noting the circles under Booth's eyes.
"Yeah" was the only response Booth gave, avoiding eye contact.
"And you still allow them to affect you that much?" Lance pushed further knowing it would have an explosive reaction, but Seeley Booth was not want to talk about his feelings, especially since the suspension.
"Allow them!" Booth huffed in indignation as he stood and began pacing the room. "I could still feel her cold dead body in my hands! I can still smell the seawater on her skin, in her hair. Allow them!" He spat as he ran his hands through his hair.
Sweets remained calm and let Booth vent for a minute before pushing forward. "Have you given any thought to my suggestion from our last session?" He inquired.
Booth turned and looked at the younger man. "I don't know how" he said, deflated.
"If you want these nightmares to stop you have to let go of your guilt." Sweets explained.
"But it is my fault!" Booth shouted.
"It's been nearly five months since your partner went missing." Lance coaxed without using her name.
Seeley held his head in his hands and nodded.
"When is it time to let it go?" He asked him.
"When I have her back home where she belongs!" Booth spat as he stood up and headed towards the door.
"Sooner or later you may have to come to terms with the fact that your partner is dead and we may never find her body." Sweets said quietly as Booth stormed out of his office. Sweets shook his head and scribbled some notes in the file in front of him.
Booth stormed down to his SUV. He knew Sweets was trying to help him but he refused to give up looking for Brennan as everyone else around here seemed to be. This was why he was suspended, unable to rationalize and focus. "Damn them!" He cursed as he slammed his door shut.
He pulled out of his spot and headed to the Jeffersonian. He had an idea and he was hoping Angela would be able to help. Fifteen minutes later he pulled into the employee only section for the parking garage at the Jeffersonian and waiting for Angela to arrive. Thirty minutes later he saw Angela pull in with Michael Vincent in the back seat.
"Hey Booth, what brings you here?" Angela said as she embraced her friend before turning to get her son out of the back seat.
"I came to see you, actually. I am hoping you can help me with something." Booth replied.
"Oh, okay. Well, while you're here you can help me carry this to the daycare center." She said, handing him a diaper bag as she wheeled her son in his stroller.
"Where's Hodges?" Booth inquired, realizing that this looked like a two man job carrying all of this stuff.
"Oh, he's out at a site with Cam." She replied, silently praying that Booth would not push the issue.
After Michael Vincent was set up at Daycare, Booth and Angela went to Angela's office. "So what can I do for you, Booth?" Angela asked sitting down on the sofa in her office.
Booth reached for his phone and handed it to Angela as he sat down next to her. "I've been getting these prank calls in the middle of the night but the number is always blocked. I was hoping you could work some magic with your computers and find out who is harassing me." He explained.
Angela took his phone and plugged it into the computer. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That's a lot of blocked phone calls at two in the morning." She said with a smile. "What do they say?" She asked.
"They never speak. But I can hear the person on the other end of the phone breathing." He explained. "It's driving me nuts." He conceded.
"Well, right now all I can tell you is that it is a blocked cell number, a burner phone perhaps." She said. "You should try recording them. Maybe I can pick up something in the background with the computer filters. But I'll keep trying." He nodded his head. "Here, I programmed it to automatically record any calls that come in as a blocked or unknown number." She offered while handing him back his phone.
"You know, Ange, I may be suspended from work for being unstable, but I can still read most people like an open book. You're hiding something." Booth said, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Huh?" Angela chuckled nervously.
"Where exactly is Hodges?" Booth asked.
"I'm not allowed to say." Angela said quickly.
Booth stood up and crossed the room to her, a tear slipping down his cheek. "Please Angela, if this has to do with Bones I have to know." He begged.
Angela's guilt could take no more. She had seen Booth slowly fall apart. This was killing him. "They may have found Brennan's car." She said quietly with her head down.
"What!? Why didn't anyone call me?" He demanded.
"Because you're off the case." She replied sheepishly.
"The Hell I am. Where are they?" He demanded as he paced the room like a caged animal.
Just then a text came through on her phone. She flipped it open and read the message. Her hand flew over her mouth as she dropped the phone like it was on fire. Booth stared at her for a moment as she struggled to breathe before bending down and reading the message.
"Positive ID on Brennan's car. On our way home."
Booth could only pace back and forth while he waited for Cam and Hodges to return. He refused to go into Brennan's office which remained locked up in her absence. Nearly two hours later his heart sank into his shoes as a wrecker brought in a car covered with a tarp.
Hodges and Cam walked in and spotted Booth pacing and looked at each other warily. Booth looked at them for a second before he ran up to snatch to covering off, ignoring their calls for him to wait. As the tarp fell to the ground, Booth's breath hitched in his throat. There was no mistaking Brennan's very expensive car sitting on the platform in front of him. Jasper the Pig still dangled from the rearview mirror. There was mud and rust everywhere, the paint was eaten away, and mud and weeds were everywhere.
"Where did you find it?" He asked; his voice shaky.
Cam stepped forward. "A fishing boat found it in Virginia." She explained. "It was completely submerged."
She placed her hand on his shoulder, "I had to be sure before I called you." She tried to explain but he shook off her hand as if it had burned him.
"Was there a body?" He asked, his back to her.
It was Hodges turn to speak up. "No. Her purse and phone were in the car but there is no evidence of a body. Looks like he just dumped the car there."
Booth looked over his shoulder at them and nodded his head, not trusting his voice, and left.
Booth drove around to try and clear his head before hitting the liquor store and heading home. As he stepped into his apartment he found a large envelope had been shoved under his door and immediately recognized Cam's handwriting. He grabbed a glass, poured out some whiskey, and sat on the couch. He took a sip to steel his nerves as he opened the folder. In it were photos of the car when they recovered it as well as several shots of the interior. It was like someone took his nightmare and plucked Brennan's car from it and laid it in front of him.
He was startled awake by the sound of his phone ringing. He couldn't remember what he had been dreaming about but he had been chasing something. He reached and grabbed his phone.
"Why do you keep calling me?" He asked. He thought he heard something before the line went dead.