As Strong as You Were
A/N: Ok so this was basically meant to be just something to overcome my writers block with What a Difference a Year Makes and it kind of just took over. Its fairly short for me (just 4 parts) and I've finished it so should be able to post the other parts up fairly soon. The song is Carry You Home by James Blunt. Hope you enjoy :)
Chapter 1
Trouble is her only friend and he's back again.
Makes her body older than it really is.
She says it's high time she went away,
No one's got much to say in this town.
Trouble is the only way is down.
Down, down.
The rain spatters against the window with an intensity and persistence that gnaws away at her final nerve. She downs the brandy that has been lounging at the bottom of her glass for almost an hour now and hisses as the dark amber liquid burns at the back of her throat. She isn't used to drinking and yet she'd poured herself a generous measure almost on instinct when she'd gotten home that evening. It had been a tough day in the culmination of what had slowly become a tough week. A double homicide, three new interns and a backlog of museum specimens to examine were bad enough but they aren't the reason she's sat in silence in her living room nursing an empty glass at half ten at night.
She rubs her temples and sets the glass down on the coffee table, her eyes flicking over this mornings hastily discarded newspaper proudly displaying the headline that had so unnerved her earlier that day.
Keenan Trial - Latest News
Max Keenan, estranged father of world renowned author and forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, makes his first appearance in court tomorrow for the beginning of what could become the trial of the decade. Kennan is on trial for the murder of FBI Deputy Director Kirby amongst other offences. He is also expected to comment on supposed government corruption and give a detailed account of several classified events, including details relating to the "Augustus Harper Conspiracy" of last spring. Controversially his daughter will act as witness for the defence whilst her partner Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI, with whom Miss Brennan is rumoured to be seeing in a personal capacity, will participate as witness for the prosecution…
The story continued on page four but Temperance hadn't bothered to read on. She'd rushed to work, her mind a flurry of activity, and had struggled through the day until the strain had become too much and at a quarter to five she'd simply snapped. She hadn't caused a fuss, that wasn't what she did. She'd simply packed up her things and calmly informed Cam that she was leaving early. Cam hadn't asked why and Brennan didn't offer an excuse, the reason was obvious. She'd gone straight home, heading straight for the cupboard where she stored the dusty bottle of brandy. Then she stopped.
She'd sat on the couch, the half filled glass on the table before her, and had simply stared out of the window, the minutes ticking by. Memories flitted in and out of her consciousness with one specific memory haunting her as it had all day. It wasn't an old memory, not even a year old, but it had had as profound an effect on her life since its creation as some memories she'd carried for decades. It was this memory that had been scratching away at her all day, this memory that had caused her finally to pack up her things and run for the comfort and solitude of her apartment.
Flashback
12th August 2007
The air smelt of blossom and freshly cut grass, of the height of summer and the vestiges of a lazy Sunday afternoon. She found him where she knew he'd be, hidden beneath the hood of his latest project. He turned when he heard the sound of her shoes scraping the gravel but when he smiled at her it didn't quite reach his eyes and she didn't even try to smile back. He straightened, rubbing his hands across the thighs of his worn jeans.
'Hey Bones. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this sunny afternoon?'
She squinted against the sun and moved to stand in front of him, her eyes finally coming to rest on the car rather than him as she speaks.
'I'm assuming Caroline's called you?'
He didn't answer…which was an answer in itself.
'They've set a date for the trial.'
He sighed.
'Yeah, next May, I know Caroline called this morning.'
She turned to him finally, her eyes finding his.
'My dad…he'll want me to testify for him.'
He nodded slowly but still didn't say anything.
'We'll be on different sides.'
He sighed again, he'd been waiting for this. He leaned back against the hood of the car and she copied him, her shoulder bumping his own.
'We'll get through this Bones.'
'How? Either way you look at this when we go to trial one of us is going to lose and I have a strong suspicion that it'll probably be me.'
'Bones…'
'The deputy director of the FBI is dead Booth, someone has to pay for that. The public are out for blood and my dad is guilty.'
'How's he pleading?'
She made a noise in the back of the throat, a twisted smile dancing across her lips
'Not guilty.'
'Is that a good idea?'
'He doesn't have a choice, we don't know what the sentence could be. If he pleads guilty and then is awarded the death sentence he'll struggle when it comes down to the appeal process.'
'But if he pleads guilty he's less likely to get the death penalty.'
'Nothing's certain.'
Across the street a small girls laugh echoed through the air as she was filled with the thrill of that first fifteen seconds of riding her bicycle without training wheels. Her father watched on nervously and was quick off the mark to comfort his daughter when she fell.
'How long do you think the trial will take?'
Booth answered openly.
'Not long. Prosecution has a strong case, three weeks tops...maybe'
'Then…?'
He turned to look at her and couldn't resist his impulses as he reached up to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear. He didn't miss the shiver that ran through her body and moved his hand back to his lap, his eyes never once shifting from hers.
'Then we get back to normal Bones…then we get back to normal.'
She sniffed before pushing away from the hood and turning back to face the car once more.
'Its nice Booth…the car I mean.'
He grinned and shifted his tone of voice to mock horror.
'This Bones is not 'a car', it's a vintage 1964 Buick Wildcat and for the next few months at least its my baby.'
'I never got that, the whole personifying of cars, it doesn't make sense.'
He smiled again.
'Hey, maybe when its finished we could take a ride together some time.'
She looked at him thoughtfully, her head cocked elegantly to one side.
'Maybe Booth, maybe when everything's over.'
He nodded grimly and she said her goodbye's before turning to depart, leaving him alone with his thoughts and the car he would spend the next eight months restoring, saving that first drive for her.
End Flashback
She reaches for the phone without really thinking. All she knows is that she cant spend all night sitting there, she needs to do something…anything. The number she dials is familiar and he answers on the third ring despite it being almost eleven.
'Hi'
It's lame and her voice is a nervous flutter but what else could she say
'Bones?'
She bites the bullet. Fight or flight. Now or never.
'Hey Booth….still wanna to go for a drive?'
As strong as you were, tender you go.
I'm watching you breathing for the last time.
A song for your heart, but when it is quiet,
I know what it means and I'll carry you home.
I'll carry you home.
So, what did you think? All reviews welcome lol :) I'll have the next part up probably tomorrow