(This is just a new, edited version of my old story Always. I was re-reading it and decided that I had made enough changes to warrant replacing the old version with this one. :) I hope you deem it much improved.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, and if I did I certainly never would have written this!
Warning: CHARACTER DEATHS! (PLURAL!). So if the afore mentioned plot-line may lead to your own severe emotional break down then I suggest you don't read it...however this only applies to the very severe (so I don't get sued or something :) ) and I'm perfectly fine with causing minor emotional collapses. That's kind of the point anyway.
Enjoy!
Dr Goodman entered the lab at the Jeffersonian Institute for the first time in… in a very long time. His first thought when he walked through the door was that he would like to find Dr. Brennan and let her know he was back. From what he'd heard she hadn't exactly connected well with his replacement, so she would probably be very glad to see him.
Moving further into the lab he scanned the area for the dedicated Anthropologist. His eyes caught on a woman sitting on a stool, knees drawn up to her chest, on the platform; but she wasn't looking at anything on the table in the centre as expected, instead she was staring outwards. Approaching the platform, he recognised the woman as Angela Montenegro. He was about to give her a cheerful greeting when he came closer and saw her face.
Her eyes were wide and red-rimmed, and the rest of her face was completely blank other than the slightest pinching of her mouth, as though she was just barely holding back an immense amount emotions. In fact if he looked harder he could see what looked like the remnants of tears staining her cheeks. Goodman followed her line of sight and discovered that she was gazing with her full attention at Dr. Brennan's office door. Utterly bewildered at the situation he looked to his right and saw another of his former employees. Dr. Hodgins stood in the opposite corner of the platform, arms crossed tightly across his chest, and staring fixedly at Miss Montenegro's hunched back.
Amazingly he also had tear stains on his face and had an almost matching dazed look about him. Neither of them had yet noticed him, so absorbed were they in their own thoughts. Goodman was starting to feel quite alarmed. 'What on earth was going on?' He turned full circle, as if some detail in his surroundings would give him his answer.
He did not receive an answer but he did come across another fixed member of the team. Dr. Zach Addy was standing in the doorway to one of the adjoining rooms just behind him. He sported the same shell-shocked look as the other two and he looked like he could have been standing there for hours and not moved an inch.
Goodman didn't know what to do, but each of the three companions seemed to exude a force that screamed "Leave me alone!" Figuring, as he usually did, that what he needed was more information, he moved swiftly towards Dr. Brennan's office. He reached the door, stretched out his hand for the door knob, and opened the door. All of a sudden the thick, heavy silence was broken. However the sound was not from the room in front of him, it was from behind him.
"Don't… Don't touch it!" Goodman turned to the source of the wild scream. Miss Montenegro was no longer curled up on the stool. She had leapt off it and was now hanging over the barrier of the platform, one hand stretched out towards Dr. Goodman, the other clutching at the railing in front of her. Her face was panicked, eyes wide and fearful.
"Put it back!" she screamed at him. A wretched sob escaped from her. "Just… just put it back!"
Stunned, Goodman shut the door fast, barely getting the chance to register that Dr. Brennan's office was empty. He stood there, completely lost for words as he watched the scene on the platform unfold in front of him. After watching him intently, apparently to be sure he had shut the door as she asked; Miss Montenegro burst into yet more tears and collapsed onto the floor. Dr. Hodgins quickly crossed the platform to sit on the floor next to her and her sobbing soon became hysterical as he pulled her into his arms. As he held the distraught woman he turned his head slowly and looked straight at Dr. Goodman. Looking at him face to face Dr. Goodman could see the profound pain etched deep into Dr. Hodgins features, grief poured from his eyes. Dear god, what had happened here? He walked cautiously forwards until he stood below the corner of the platform. He needed to know what was going on.
"Dr. Hodgins." He said softly. Hodgins' focused his gaze on him and he took it as an invitation to continue.
"Dr. Hodgins… where is Dr. Brennan?"
Slowly, painfully, Hodgins closed his eyes. Just as slowly, he shook his head. "Dr…" Goodman stopped when Hodgins opened his eyes and looked at him again. He waited anxiously for him to speak.
"She's…" Hodgins said the words so quietly he didn't hear.
"She's what?"
Hodgins took a deep breath and spoke only marginally louder. "Gone, Dr. Goodman. I said she's gone."
"Gone where? You mean she's gone on a trip? What's going on?" Goodman didn't understand.
Hodgins groaned. "No she's…she's…" he didn't seem to be able to finish his sentence. But unexpectedly, Miss Montenegro pulled her tear stained face from his shoulder and turned towards Goodman.
"She's gone!" she yelled. "Don't you see? She's dead! D…Dead!" tears continued to stream down her face, and Goodman just stood there, completely staggered.
"No…" he whispered to himself. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. His mind clutched at straws and suddenly came across a very solid one. "No. What about Agent Booth?! She couldn't… he would never let…he would have saved her, he always saves her…" At these words Miss Montenegro buried her face in her hands, her entire body shaking.
Hodgins held her tight, whispering to her, trying uselessly to soothe her, and ignoring Dr. Goodman. He was left trying to sort through the rush of thoughts swirling around his head, all trying to latch on and fighting for his attention. That is until they were all interrupted by a small voice behind him. Goodman turned and saw the previously forgotten Dr. Addy standing very close behind him. He immediately prayed that this ever-logical young scientist would come up with an answer that would solve all of this mess and put everything back to normal.
"Sir." Dr. Addy said, still looking as stunned as earlier. "…You're right. Agent Booth always saves Dr. Brennan. Always. But…" No. Goodman pleaded. No buts. No buts.
"But if the circumstances are impossible, if the outcome is inevitable…'always' cannot apply. If the situation leaves no room for Agent Booth to save Dr. Brennan…"
"You mean to say Agent Booth couldn't save her? He let her die? He..." Dr. Addy was shaking his head in much the same way as Dr. Hodgins had done earlier.
"No sir. You misunderstand me. Agent Booth…well you see, his ability to continuously save Dr. Brennan's life is based on the mind set that he would do anything to keep her alive and safe. To be willing to do 'anything' contains a very limited degree of reasoning. Therefore, when a life is coming inevitably to an end, and there is no possible way of preventing it, the person does not see all their options disappearing. There is always one, completely illogical, option left in such a circumstance. Agent Booth possesses this mind set, and in the case of Dr. Brennan he was presented with this final, unreasonable option. Sir, do you understand what that option was?"
Dr. Addy gave all of this information in the same quiet, withdrawn voice. Goodman's mind was not up to jumping to the unthinkable conclusion. He didn't answer and so the subdued young scientist continued on.
"Dr. Brennan's life was in danger. More than danger, because there was no chance of saving her. Agent Booth did not accept this. As is his character, he 'could' not accept this. He could not sit by and do nothing as…as it happened. In his eyes he had no choice. He went after her, as always. He thought he could save her, as always. He couldn't think otherwise. But sir, it didn't work. This one time, he couldn't save her. And that was enough. He shared her fate, sir. Do you see? He took the hero's stance – save a life, or die trying. He didn't save her. Dr. Brennan is dead. Sir, Agent Booth is dead."
…15 HOURS EARLIER…
Booth was in his car driving towards Temperance's apartment at 7 in the evening. He had called her earlier that afternoon and asked what she was doing later. When she had told him she was planning on staying home alone and working on her book, as he had expected she would, he told her she was most definitely not hanging out alone again. After much futile arguing she had finally agreed to let him take her out for a casual dinner.
So here he was driving round to pick her up and trying not to let the thought enter his mind that, with anyone else, this would basically be considered a date. He turned into her street and frowned. There was a large group of people standing on the road. He edged closer, trying to avoid hitting anyone, until he couldn't go any further. He stopped the car and got out, looking over the small crowd of people.
Their focus seemed to be on the building to his right…Bones' building. There was a high pitched alarm sounding from somewhere inside. He watched as two more people exited it at a run and joined the crowd. One of them was coughing into their sleeve. What was going on? Booth registered the smell of smoke and a wave of panic swept over him. He grabbed a bystander by the arm.
"What's going on? Is there a fire in there?" he gestured to the building. The man gave him a contemptuous look.
"Of course there is. What, you think we're standing out here for fun? Can't you smell it? That's why everyone's been evacuated. The fire brigade's on their way." He yanked his arm out of his grasp.
"Everyone?" Booth asked urgently. "Are you sure everyone has been evacuated?"
"I don't know. No one has said anyone's missing." Booth turned quickly away from the unhelpful man and dove into the crowd, searching left and right for his Bones. He grabbed random people, asking them if they'd seen Dr. Temperance Brennan. Most of them shook their heads, some just ignored him. His panic began to rise, not gradually but in great leaps. He couldn't find her anywhere. He came across the man from earlier and grabbed his arm again.
"Where's the fire?"
"Jesus I don't know. From what I've heard it's just in one apartment at the moment. As far as I know no one's owned up to it." The man said angrily, again yanking his arm from Booth's grasp. Seeing Booth's expression however, he hesitated. "Uh, you know I think it might have been the third floor… in fact, there," he pointed to the building. "You can see those windows there. That must be from the smoke."
Booth squinted and spotted the windows the man was pointing at. They were streaked black. He quickly counted with his eyes how many floors up they were. Three. He flinched inwardly. He had been hoping the man was wrong about it being on the third floor. That was Bones' floor. Oh God. He thought. Please no. he couldn't remember exactly which apartment was hers. It was two…no three doors from the stairs. No it was two. But that didn't help – where were the stairs?
This was pointless; he was fooling himself. This was too much of a coincidence. Accidents happened all the time around Bones, but they were never just accidents, and she was always involved…and Bones didn't believe in coincidences. He sprinted off towards the building without a second glance at the now rather confused man. Just before he reached the doors another man grabbed his arm.
"What are you doing? You can't go in there! Just wait, the fire department will be here any second." Booth wrenched his arm free and continued on, completely ignoring the man. If she was in there he was not going to waste precious minutes waiting for the fire brigade. He pulled open one of the doors and plunged inside without a second thought.
Disregarding the elevator he made his way quickly up the first flight of stairs. When he reached the top of the second flight of stairs, on the third floor, he turned the corner and was met by a thick haze of smoke. He took a step back and covered his nose and mouth with his jacket sleeve. He took a deep breath through the material and charged on down the corridor. He stopped at the second door on the right and tried the handle. It was locked. Dammit.
This was the one time he actually regretted telling her to keep her door locked. He eyed the barrier, backed up a few steps and slammed his shoulder into the door. It swung open hard and slammed into the wall behind it. Yet more smoke attacked Booth as he stepped across the threshold, accompanied by a wall of smothering heat. He squinted through the dense grey-black and edged slowly forward.
"Bones!" he called out. He immediately broke into a bout of coughing, accidentally inhaling smoke while his sleeve wasn't covering his mouth. He recovered and tried again.
"Bones. Are you here?" Another coughing fit ensued, but it wasn't his. He sped forward, following the sound. He spotted a form on the floor, halfway between the kitchen and living room. He ran and dropped down beside her. Temperance Brennan was sitting in a heap in front of a support post that stretched up to the roof, coughing severely. Kneeling in front of her Booth swallowed his panic and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Bones." He said in a low voice, trying to inhale as little smoke as possible. "Are you alright? We have to get out of here." She stopped coughing and raised her head.
"Booth." She murmured, her voice scratchy. "What are you doing here?" If the situation wasn't so dire he would have laughed at the ridiculous question.
"Bones I'm here to get you out." Booth could feel the intense heat of the fire on his left side, in the direction of her bedroom. "Come on, let's get you out of here. Why didn't you leave with every one else?" His eyes searched her face as her features suddenly turned fearful.
"Booth I…I can't!"
"What? What do you mean…"
"Booth…" she choked back a cough. "My hands!" He looked down, re-covering his mouth with his sleeve to hold back the surrounding smoke, and saw that her hands were pulled back behind her, out of sight. He looked over her shoulder and his sleeve dropped from his face.
"Oh my god, Bones…" In his shock he inhaled another round of smoke, choking off his words. His mind began to race uncontrollably. Her hands were tied to the support post behind her! Who the hell did this! He recovered his voice. "Who did this to you?" she opened her mouth to answer but a frighteningly weak cough escaped instead. He needed to get her out now!
He took half a second to try and reassure her, placing one hand on her cheek and looking into her eyes. "Don't worry Bones, I'll get you out. I promise." Then he shuffled around behind her and squinted at the knotted rope around her wrists. Damn it was tied tight! He began picking at it quickly with his fingers, struggling to get it undone.
"Booth…" He looked up and saw Temperance slowly shaking her head from side to side. "Stop." She croaked. "Leave it." Booth's already erratic heart skipped several beats.
"No way Bones. This knot's difficult, but it's not impossible, ok? I'll get it."
She kept on shaking her head. "No Booth, you have to leave." She choked on yet more smoke and he had to wait for her coughing to pass again. "There's no time, Booth. You have to get out."
"Stop it Temperance. I'm not going anywhere. I promised I'd get us out, remember?" Inside his heart was racing so fast he would swear he was having a heart attack. "Have I ever broken a promise to you Bones?" Even as he said the words he could feel his fingers fumbling, losing grip on the rope, and it was getting hard for him to focus. He saw her shake her head again slowly, then a tear slipped down the side of her face, just visible to him from his position. He didn't know if it was because of what he'd said or because of the smoke stinging her eyes and nose, like it was doing to his.
Booth could feel the heat getting stronger by the second; advancing towards them gradually like a hunter that knew it had its prey cornered. His concentration was slipping and his attempts to get the knot undone further were repeatedly interrupted by his throat's own attempt to expel the poisonous smoke. He could hardly see the rope now through the black.
Through the haze he saw Temperance's body give a pathetic shudder and then give up, obviously too weak to even cough out the oppressive smoke. Come on, Bones. Just hold on a bit longer…please. He heard her moan over the roaring sound in his ears.
"Booth." She whispered.
"No." he croaked in reply. "Temperance. Don't say it."
He saw her close her eyes. "Booth…it's too late." He wouldn't listen. He wouldn't. "Go."
His eyes were almost completely closed against the sting of the smoke, and tears leaked out of the corners, but he could see well enough to notice when her head dropped down onto her chest. He had to give up on the knot, for all he knew he was just making it worse. Instead he dragged himself back round in front of his partner. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. he took her face in both of his hands. "Bones, come on…" he felt his throat constricting, shutting off from the black smoke. She wouldn't open her eyes. Why won't she open her eyes? His wavering mind thought desperately. She could live through anything. This wasn't how it ended, she would pull through, like always. Like always.
He couldn't focus on her face; it kept swimming in and out of his vision. But he held on to it with his hands, trying to rouse her. Coughs wracked his body. "Come on Bones." He gasped. "You're too strong for this…you can pull through. You have to so you can have lunch with Angela tomorrow like you said…and so she can drag you out shopping on the weekends……and so Hodgins can bore you with more of his con…more of his conspiracy theories…and so Zach can spend another day hanging on your every word…" He broke off for another coughing fit, tears now making thick tracks through the black soot on his cheeks.
"…and so I can come and visit you at work…with some stupid excuse just…just so I can see you…" coughs attacked his body so severely that his hands dropped from her face to the floor. His eyes were now completely shut. In the darkness the searing heat receded to a distant warmth. He slid his hand over and managed to grasp the one hand that he had freed from the rope. Bones. He thought, no longer registering the difference between thinking words and saying them aloud. We can make it. We always do…always. His arms gave way and he collapsed to the hard floor, his consciousness slipping away into nothing, still grasping her hand.
Dr. Goodman stood, utterly stunned, in front of the desolate young Dr. Addy, who was looking sorrowfully at the floor between them, while Miss Montenegro sobbed wholeheartedly into her colleagues' shoulder behind him. Dr. Goodman opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Behind him, he heard Hodgins whisper something.
"Always is for forever…until the one time it isn't."
Sad? Tears? Wild fits or writhing?... Laughing? Please review.