A/N - Sadly, I have not seen enough Bones episodes to know if I've portrayed these characters well or not. But I have seen Judas on a Pole. And this is what I came up with.
The knock at the door caused him to glance questioningly at the clock before rising from the couch. Phone calls were more common than visitors at this hour of night. "Bones," he acknowledged as she entered the room without waiting for an invitation. "What's up?"
"Up?" she questioned, looking to the rather blank ceiling above her.
"Why are you here?" he amended.
"To see you," she stated obviously.
"Okay, let's try this again. Hi Bones! Come on in! It's rather unusual for you to drop by at 11 at night. Would you mind sharing the reason with me?" His tone was light, but concern shone in his eyes.
"I need you to tell me what to do."
"You're going to have to be more specific here, Bones."
"Oh," she sounded confused. Tilting her head at him she pondered, "Often you can tell what people are thinking or feeling, as though you have an uncanny ability in reading people's expressions and body language. Why aren't you doing that?"
"You walked in my door 30 seconds ago, Bones, cut me some slack." He held up his hand, knowing she didn't know what that meant. "I don't have a context to use my uncanny ability, as you call it. Can you give me some facts?' Her eyes dropped to the ground as he asked this question so he prodded, "You didn't stay too long at the diner to celebrate with Zach. Tell me why."
Her brow furrowed as she considered his question. "While I'm very proud of Zach and pleased with what he's accomplished, the day's….previous events…led me to be distracted from the celebration. I thought if I stayed he might pick up on this and think I was not fully enjoying my time there."
"So, you're happy for Zach, but not in the mood to party with him."
"Correct."
"So, what did you after you left?"
"I concluded that since exercise normally releases endorphins that…." She stopped the science when he waved his hand at her. "I ran five miles and I still don't feel right."
"Don't feel right?" he echoed, guiding her to the couch.
"When you pour a carbonated beverage the chemicals react in such a way that the bubbles rise and…"
"Fizz? You're talking about fizz?"
"I guess that may be it," she allowed, her voice losing confidence as she left the academic realm she knew so well. "It feels like that, fizz, right here," she pointed to her chest. "Very…unsettled, unpredictable. But heavy, at the same time. And sort of…restless, stormy."
"Did you start feeling that way at the diner?" he probed gently.
"No, it was earlier in the day," she admitted. "But it became more noticeable at the diner. My emotions didn't match every one else's. I didn't share their enthusiasm. I positioned myself on the outskirts of the group so as not to influence the ambiance. But then it was even more noticeable to me, so I left." Her voice caught and he was able to catch the glint of tears in her eyes. "Why didn't running help? The endorphins…" she asked, truly perplexed.
"Endorphins are great if you're angry or stressed, but they don't do too much when you're sad." He brushed his thumb across her cheek to catch a tear as it fell, holding it up to show her the proof. "You're sad, Temperance," he states, identifying the emotion for her. "Sad, hurt, probably a little scared. And it has nothing to do with Zach."
"So then, logically, it has to do with my father and Russ," she conceded, a few more tears dripping from her eyes. "And the fact that I was unsuccessful at apprehending him."
"I think it has more to do with the fact that they left you…again." He saw no use in being anything less than blunt with her. "That fizziness you felt…you probably need to cry to get rid of that feeling."
"I hate crying," she said, wiping at her eyes and bending her head to avoid his gaze.
"I know," he said softly, laying his hand on her shoulder, waiting. His patience won out as she leaned her head into his shoulder, and he was able to wrap an arm around her. Every few seconds her body would convulse and he could feel her ragged breaths, but she was silent as she sobbed. He did nothing aside from run his fingers lightly over her arm, knowing his presence was almost as unsettling to her as her father's absence.
Spent and embarrassed, she turned her back to him, but he kept his arm around her and pulled her to him, her back against his chest, her head just under his chin. "Booth!" she protested as he used his other hand to drag a quilt over the two of them.
"This is what families do, Bones," he explained. He felt her still at the word family and relax against him. Pressing a kiss to her hair he assured her, "This is what we do."