Temperance Brennan was painfully aware of the complete silence of the parking structure. The only sound as she quickly strode to her car was the echo of her heels clacking on the cement. It was completely deserted.
She tried to reassure herself. She was completely safe, nothing was going to happen at 8 o'clock at night, in the parking structure of the Jeffersonian Institute.
What about the gravedigger incident? That doesn't count?
Brennan hadn't meant to let her thoughts drift there. She was just tired. Exhausted really. She and Booth had just closed a particularity draining case about a young boy who had turned out to have been murdered by his mother.
Brennan's reaction to the news hadn't been good. She had almost thrown up, and had been extremely grateful when Booth hugged her. It felt comforting to be in his arms.
She reached her car, rummaging in her bag for her keys when she felt someone violently jerk her head back from behind. The fear struck her, as she felt and arm snake around her waist. She elbowed him in the ribs, trying to get away, but he didn't seem to feel it.
He pulled her head up, so she was directly facing him. Her breathing was heavy. She definitely couldn't overpower him.
"Oh I wouldn't want to be doing that Dr. Brennan."
"Why?"
He slammed her head against the car. The first hit was painful. The shock of the blow rattling her entire body. She cried out, but he continued to bang her head against the car. She could feel warm blood dripping down her face as he stopped, yanking her head back.
She felt light-headed. Her entire head throbbing. She muffled a sob, not wanting him to think that he had hurt her.
"Is that a good enough answer for you?"
She nodded, feeling her skin crawl as he continued to roughly hold on to her. The cool blade of a knife was painfully pushing against her side.
"I've been watching you for months Dr. Brennan."
"What do you want from me?"
" At first I was planning on killing you, but I decided against it. It would be a pity for the world to loose such a beautiful women as yourself."
The arm that was gripping her tightly around her waist, slid up across her hips underneath her shirt, then up her stomach, and over her bra. She wriggled, but he held her tightly. Pushing the knife harder against her back. She winced, feeling searing pain that signaled he had pierced her skin. She felt disgusting.
After what seemed like forever he removed his hand, his mouth close to her ear. She could feel his hot breath on her neck.
"Just as I imagined."
"Please. Let me go."
"I'm afraid I can't do that Dr. Brennan, you see you've become a part of my life."
He immerged his face in her hair, and seemed to relish in the scent of her lavender shampoo. The knife didn't move from her back, but she could feel blood soaking through her skirt.
She realized her entire body was shaking, she couldn't help it.
He's going to kill me. Booth, where are you?
She knew exactly where Booth was. In his office at the FBI building. He had to finish the paperwork on the case. She wished she had taken him up on his offer to drive her home.
"Please don't kill me."
"I already said I wasn't going to kill you Dr. Brennan. Here's your situation. If you tell anyone about this, I will kill you. You even mention a word to your FBI agent and I will find you and slit your throat. I won't think twice."
"What if I tell him, and we catch you?"
"That's where you'll get in trouble Dr. Brennan. You won't catch me. I know everything there is to know about you. I know you set your alarm to 6:55 every morning, but you hit snooze until 7:30. You like to listen to rap music on your way to work, and rock on your way home. And most of all, I know exactly where you live, and the first moment you're alone. I will find you. And it would be quite painful for Agent Booth to find you dead in your apartment, don't you think?"
"Booth." Her voice came out as a soft whimper. She wished she wasn't as terrified as she sounded.
He had been following her. Stalking her. Watching her. How had she not noticed? How had she let this happen.
"It seems you have quite the attachment to Agent Booth. You wouldn't want to see him hurt, would you?"
She shook her head.
"Then you won't mention this to anyone."
She shook her head again.
He pulled up the sleeve of her shirt, removing the knife from her back. He exposed several inches of milky skin. Taking the blade, he slid it up her entire forearm, relishing in the dark red blood that oozed from the wound. She muffled a sob, the pain from the knife almost unbearable.
"There you go Dr. Brennan. A little something to remember me by."
He slammed her against the car once more, and then disappeared. She held her fingers to the slash on her arm, the blood immediately covering her fingers. Finally the tears came, pouring rapidly down her cheeks.
She couldn't call anyone, so she sat in her car, her entire body trembling. She reluctantly started the engine, holding one hand to her bleeding arm, while she attempted at driving herself home. She didn't want to be alone in parking lot anymore.
Brennan let herself into her apartment. It was completely dark, and she was afraid that he would be there waiting for her. Maybe he changed his mind about killing her. She quickly reached for the lights.
As the apartment illuminated she felt comforted that there was no one visibly in sight. She locked the door, using the giant bolt.
Immediately she rushed to the bathroom. She reached up to touch her face, feeling how sore the skin was. It was already swelling up, and she could tell by the next morning there would be angry purple bruises covering the entire right half of her face.
The thin skin of her temple was bleeding. She splashed water on her face. Maybe it was all a dream, and she just needed to wake herself up.
Its logically impossible for this to be a dream. I know that.
Of course it wasn't a dream. The pain she was feeling on her arm, and her face were completely real.
Luckily her arm had stopped bleeding. She ran it under the water, wincing as it hit the raw skin. She reached up, looking for where she knew the ace bandages were in her medicine cabinet.
As she reached up she became painfully aware of the cut on her lower back where he had pressed the knife against her bare skin. She quickly bandaged her arm, and then peeled off her skirt, trying to get a clear view of the gash.
It had stopped bleeding, but it was deep. Grabbing Neosporin, she ran the gel over the cut, and pulled on a large Band-Aid, hoping that would suffice for the moment.
When she stepped out of the bathroom into her bedroom, it was obvious how alone she was in the apartment. She had nobody to protect her. He could break in, kill her, and nobody would even notice.
Booth would notice. He always notices.
Booth. If he knew what had happened to her tonight, he would be furious. What was she going to do when she went to work tomorrow with bruises all over her face?
Although she pretended to be smothered by his constant protective nature over her, yearned for him to be here to protect her now. She wanted someone to hold her, and let her cry. But there was nobody.
Instinctively she reached for the phone, letting her fingers dial his number. As it rang she tapped her fingers on the counter. She half hoped he would pick up half wished he wouldn't.
Then she remembered his words.
"You tell anyone about this, I will kill you. You even mention a word to your FBI agent and I will find you and slit your throat. I won't think twice."
She heard his voice. He wouldn't know it was her since she was calling from her apartment phone.
"Hello."
I can't tell him? He'll come over here, and I'll start crying again.
"Hello?"
She quickly hung up. She believed him when he said he would kill her. She couldn't tell Booth. She wanted to. Badly. She wanted him to protect her like he always did. Now she had gotten herself into a situation where she couldn't get his help, no matter what she did.
Even if it wasn't logical, Brennan opened the closets, and looked under the bed in her bedroom. When she was satisfied that he wasn't in there, she locked the door to her bedroom, and climbed into bed.
As soon as she turned off the lights, she felt her heartbeat quicken. She pulled the sheets over her head, knowing that her dreams would be haunted with nightmares as soon as she closed her eyes.
Booth closed his phone, puzzled by the phone call. He had heard someone breathing on the other line.
His first guess would have been Brennan, but it wasn't like her to call and hang up. Unless something was wrong.
Why do I always jump to conclusions? Especially with her.
It was probably just some prank caller, or someone with the wrong number. He reminded himself to ask her about it tomorrow.
Honestly he was worried about his partner. He had seen the look on her face when the truth had come out about the McMiller case. Christine McMiller had killed her own son.
Brennan had looked like someone had almost killed her. Without even hesitating she had wrapped her arms around him, sobbing quietly into his shoulder. It had become habit for them. Or at least for her. Even if she denied it, he knew she took comfort in his embrace.
It wasn't like her though, to get so emotional over a case. He knew that even the great number of bodies she had identified as murder victims, didn't change the fact that she emotionally connected to the people had been killed.
But this was different. Brennan had thrown her entire self into this case. Not sleeping or eating until they found the truth about the little boy. But when they found out the truth, he knew that she would have been fine without knowing.
The way she had looked at him. Her eyes pleading for him to tell her that it wasn't true. He knew that it had hit her hard.
Booth turned off his cell phone, knowing his mind would be on Brennan and Brennan alone until he saw her the next morning. It wasn't that rare of an occurrence anymore.
If only he knew what had happened to his partner that night.