Look After You

BB Set after S1 'The Woman In The Garden' He didn't know how he had managed to go from worrying about protecting his partner to fighting her within the space of a few seconds.

Disclaimer: I have custody of my Muse and the plot but I humbly acknowledge that I have no jurisdiction over the characters themselves.

A/N:- I'm new to this fandom so I'm still learning as I go ...

'Look After You' – The Fray

They had gone to Wong Fu's after leaving the cemetery, not because they were hungry or particularly in need of a drink but simply because it was their place of refuge at times when they were at an all time emotional low.

They had sat down at their usual table and Sid had brought over an assortment of dishes and Brennan and Booth had sat there picking at the food in silence whilst Angela did her best to lighten the mood by narrating a supposedly private conversation that she had overheard Zach having with Hodgins.

Whilst Brennan appeared to be paying quiet attention, most of what Angela was saying had passed right over Booth's head. All he could think of was Ortez and images of him going after Brennan flashed through his mind. He hated how his partner had been dragged from her world of science into his world of violence and fear.

"You're quiet." Brennan observed, sipping her glass of wine.

"Yeah." Booth said dully, staring at his food, not looking up to meet her gaze. He couldn't face looking at her at the moment – she was an anthropologist, one look into his face and she would know that something serious had happened.

"Tessa not in town?" Angela teased.

Booth dropped his cutlery onto the plate irritably and an uncomfortable silence descended on the group. Brennan and Angela had never seen Booth be anything but upbeat and cheery outside of casework. Sure he could be serious and maybe even prickly towards them when a case wasn't going his way but never like he was now …..

Brennan shrugged at Angela and stood up. "Just going to the restroom." She said, edging out of the booth.

Angela stared at the FBI guy in front of her and whilst she was no anthropologist, she did have a great knack of reading people. "Where did you go before you came to the funeral?" She questioned.

"I don't want to talk about it." Booth said bluntly, leaning back and finishing off his drink.

"It's something to do with Brennan isn't it?" Angela said. "You haven't looked at her once since we left the funeral and that's really unusual because we all know how much you love looking at her …." She trailed off as Booth glanced at her from over the rim of his glass.

"Tell me what the deal is with Bones and gangbangers." Booth said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "The way she knocked Ortez to the ground …. It was more than self defence."

Angela sighed wondering what was worse: gossiping about her best friend or not finding out what Booth was hiding. "Let's just say Bren has a lot of pent up rage to take out against gang leaders. She's been imprisoned and most probably tortured by them before."

"Christ." Booth said, scratching the back of his head. That certainly explained some things.

"Now you have to tell me what you're hiding." Angela demanded, crossing her arms determinedly.

Booth looked at her, meeting her gaze as if he was sizing her up, trying to see if there was any way he would be able to get out of telling her. "Ortez put a hit out on her." He said finally.

Angela swore. "Why didn't you say anything? She's in danger, even now, I-"

Booth touched her arm to calm her down. "It's okay. I've taken care of it."

"No offence or anything Booth. I know you're FBI but when they want someone dead they're not scared of anyone and …."

"Trust me. I've taken care of it." Booth said quietly. He could still see doubt on Bones' friend's face and he knew he would have to tell her more to convince her to keep the information to herself. "Let's just say when you stick a loaded gun into someone's mouth they have a habit of doing what you want. Ortez won't be bothering Bones anymore."

"Why won't he be bothering me anymore?" Brennan questioned, catching the last bit of the conversation.

Booth sighed and looked away. "No reason sweetie." Angela said.

Brennan seemed not to hear her though and all her attention was focussed on her partner. "What did you do? Did you go and hunt down Ortez instead of coming to the funeral? I told you I can take care of myself – you saw the way I threw him on the floor. It wasn't like he was going to try something like that again."

Booth had to bite down very hard on his tongue to stop himself from saying anything in reply to her tirade. He silently stood up and threw down some notes on the table.

"You had no right to go behind my back like that, especially to threaten some gangbanger instead of going to a funeral I specifically asked you to be at …." Brennan continued frustratedly. People in the restaurant were starting to look at them and Sid was throwing them a disapproving look.

Booth grabbed his jacket and then gave her a hard look before going outside without another word.

Angela touched her friend's arm lightly. "Remember what we said about thinking things through before saying them aloud? …… you were kind of harsh." She said delicately, still trying to wrap her head around the image of Booth sticking a gun in a thug's mouth.

"I need to go and talk to him." Brennan stated.

"I don't think that's such a good idea sweetie …."

"In that book I was reading about work relationships it said that you should always talk about your problems and not ignore them." Brennan said and before Angela could convince her otherwise she was heading for the door.

Brennan was socially inept but she wasn't stupid and she knew that the offensive approach would get her nowhere this time so she quietly approached her partner ready with an apology. Booth was pacing up and down the sidewalk outside the restaurant in an attempt to walk off his tension but was apparently not having a lot of success. "I'm sorry I gave you a hard time for being late to the funeral and for trying to look out for me."

Booth stopped pacing and turned to face her examining her for a moment. Seeing her standing in front of him so alive, so strong, so independent made him all the more furious with the situation. "You're loaned out to the FBI, Bones. You're my responsibility, your safety is my responsibility, .."

"If you just let me have a gun you wouldn't need to look out for me or have my back …" Brennan started.

Booth felt something snap inside of him, his frustration at her blindness suddenly reaching fever pitch. He walked up to her so he was so close that she could feel his breath on her face and after holding her stare for a minute he started pacing up and down in front of her . "You don't need a gun." He said, his voice quiet but with an edge as sharp as a knife. "You have me to look after you. I do the shooting, I keep you safe. You don't need to be so independent and closed off all the time because we're partners and we share lives, not just cases." He said, shooting her a look. "And you don't need to be so damn strong all the time because You. Have. Me." He finished forcefully before seeing an empty can on the ground and kicking it so hard his pent up frustration sent it flying across the road. "Damnit." He swore, rubbing his face in the palm of his hands trying to gain control of himself. His emotions were blinding his rationality and he knew he just had to get away from her. Without another word he headed towards his car.

Brennan just watched him go in stunned silence. She wasn't sure what had just happened but she felt like things had suddenly changed between them. Like it had just dawned on her that she really, truly mattered to someone for the first time … ever.

Angela had seen the whole thing from the doorway of the restaurant and after the car had pulled away, she came and stood next to Brennan, putting her arm around her friend. "Come on sweetie let's go inside."

"I don't understand." Brennan said, confusion evident in her voice. "He …..

Angela sighed and started leading her towards the door. "He's just scared Bren ….. and in some guys like Booth his fear takes the form of anger …. It's more macho - if you can twist your head round the psychology of that."

Brennan turned to look at her friend. "He shouldn't be scared about my safety. He saw what I did to that guy in the FBI building, I can take care of myself." She stated.

Angela smiled slightly at her naivety. "Sweetie, you're amazing in martial arts but you're not invincible." She paused, bracing to tell her friend the whole truth. "The gang leader put a hit out on you."

"Oh." Brennan said, her eyes widened slightly in full realisation.

"You've seen these people; you told me yourself the kind of things they've already done to you." Angela said softly, rubbing her friend's arm soothingly. "Booth cares for you, sometimes I think more than just as your work partner, and that bastard had just threatened to do the one thing he's afraid of the most: hurt you …. You should cut him some slack."

Brennan felt numb. "You going to be okay getting home?"

Angela smiled. "Don't worry about me hun. You just go and do what you gotcha do."

Brennan headed to her car, knowing exactly where Booth would have gone to. He had once told her that the only way he could de-stress was by going to the FBI gym and work out until he was so tired he would go home and collapse. She drove there now, unsure what she was going to say to him but knowing that she had to say something after he had done so much.

She entered the building and passed through the X-Ray machines when a security guard whom she recognised approached her.

"I'm sorry Dr Brennan but it's outside operational hours and only Agents and their associates are allowed access to the building."

"I'm with Agent Booth." She said, starting towards the elevators but the guard blocked her path again.

"I'm afraid he hasn't said anything to me and without clearance from him I can't let you walk around unattended ….."

Brennan rolled her eyes. "The gym. Take me to the gym and I'll stay down there I promise." The guard raised his eyes. "I need to see Booth." She insisted.

Brennan stood at the entrance to the sports hall and watched Booth punch the punch bag repeatedly, his face tense in concentration, sweat dripping down his face and seeping into his wife-beater. If she ever did need protecting she was pretty sure she would want Booth to do it. She stepped into the room her shoes clicking loudly against the polished floor but Booth didn't even so much throw a glance in her direction.

Booth felt her watching him long before he heard her enter the hall but he still didn't stop punching the bag with all his might. He imagined it was Ortez's face and with each punch, his anger subsided slightly. He didn't know why she was here but he dreaded having to face her …. He had come here to get away from her damnit.

She didn't need to be a seasoned interrogator to realise that he was intent on ignoring her until he had let out all his pent up rage and since she had had something to do with causing it she decided that she could at least help him let it out. She pulled off her shoes and slipped out of her jacket and walked over to him, moving the punch bag out of his reach and grabbing Booth's arm but he had seen it coming and blocked her.

He didn't know how he had managed to go from worrying about protecting his partner to fighting her within the space of a few seconds but here he was apparently taking out his frustration on her literally.

Brennan hadn't fought anyone who could give her a run for her money in a fight for a long time but Booth was certainly on target for gaining the upper hand. Whilst she might have the greater skill, he had a knack for foreseeing her next move, not to mention his strength was a great advantage.

After he had blocked several of her kicks and got out of a headlock Booth swiped the back of her legs catching her off guard. She tumbled to the floor pulling her partner with her and although she squirmed and kicked her legs it didn't seem to have any effect as he pinned her to the ground, arms and legs either side of her.

Brennan stopped struggling and took a few gulps of air. She had found fighting Booth strangely exhilarating, so much so that the thought that she had just ruined a good suit doing so didn't even bother her.

Booth stared down on her. Finding himself in such a position was causing him to think wild things and if she had been anyone other than Brennan his lips would be pressed on hers right now. Instead he held her gaze intensely for a few seconds before rolling off her and finding himself able to breathe again.

They lay next to each other on the floor facing the ceiling. The only thing breaking the silence was their heavy breathing and the steady whirl of the air conditioning.

Once she was able to speak again, Brennan turned her head slightly to face Booth. "Thank you. For taking care of Ortez for me."

Booth didn't say anything for a long time and Brennan wondered whether he was still angry with her but then he reached over and placed his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. Then he turned to face her. "We're partners Bones. We look out for each other." He said with a small smile but he knew deep down that to him his Bones would never be just a partner.

A/N:- Feedback is food for my Muse so reviews are greatly appreciated.