"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Brennan said over and over to herself. She tried to stand, and ended up falling back to the floor with a painful yelp. Stretching her leg out in front of her, she felt her swollen ankle. With a groan of pain she ran her fingers up and down the bones. Yep, definitely broken.
"Great, Brennan, now what are you going to do?" Brennan asked herself bitterly. She was down in the basement of the Jeffersonian, putting away some WWII bones when she had tripped over a box on the floor. She had twisted in the air, and heard a sickening crack when she landed on the ground.
Unfortunately, it was 11:30 at night. No one would be around until tomorrow. And her cell phone was in her office upstairs. With a sigh, Brennan lay her head down on the floor.
Well, there's no way that I can crawl out of here. My phone is upstairs... No one will hear me if I yell, She thought.
With another tired sigh, Brennan gritted her teeth against the pain in her ankle and closed her eyes. Maybe if she slept, the time would pass more quickly. Right before she fell asleep, she whispered the name of her savior, her knight.
"Booth..."
Across town, FBI agent Seeley Booth sat bolt up right in bed, her name on his lips.
"Bones!" He yelled, panting from the nightmare. Something was screaming at him that she was in danger. In a state of panic, he grabbed his cell phone and was half way through dialing her number when something stopped him. He was being stupid, she was fine.
He'd just get up early tomorrow and go over to her place to ask her out to breakfast. Yeah, that's it. There's nothing to be worried about, she's a strong, sexy, independent, sexy, hot, sexy, woman. With a groan, he sank back onto his pillow, knowing that he wouldn't rest until he saw her the next morning.
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Whistling happily, Booth tossed his keys in the air and then caught them on the way down. With a beep, the elevator opened and he strolled out of it to the end of the hall to knock on his partner's door.
"Morning Bones! I know you're in there, so open up!" He said cheerfully. When he got no answer, he knocked again. Frowning, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed her home number. Pressing his ear to the door, he was disappointed when he heard it ring all ten times. Then her voice mail picked up.
This is Dr. Temperance Brennan. If that's you, Booth, I'm fine. I'm probably at the lab, you can reach me at...
Noting that she had changed her voice message, he smacked himself in the head with the heal of his hand. The lab. That's where she was.
Turning on his heel, he headed back down the hall, and down the elevator to his SUV. Jumping in, he turned the key and sped off.
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"Morning, Squints!" Booth said cheerily, jumping the steps to the platform. They all glanced up at him.
"You're here early, Booth. New case?" Angela asked, before returning to her sketch.
"Nope, I'm just looking for Bones." He said, his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heals nervously.
"Well, all of her stuff is in her office. I assume that she is here, but I haven't seen her all morning. Booth?" She asked, noticing that the Agent was far from listening to her. His head was cocked to the side, and he seemed to be listening for something. "Booth? What is it?"
Wordlessly, he took off down the steps.
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Down below, in the basement, Brennan was stirring. Uncurling from her position on the floor, she yelped as her ankle hit the hard linoleum. Dam, that hurts. What time is it?
Craning her neck, she tried to see if there was a clock in the room. Why would they put a clock in the basement? She wondered, and put her head back on the floor. Squeezing her eyes shut, she let out a deep sigh as she heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Booth, what the hell are you doing?!" Came Angela's confused voice. Brennan heard the footsteps getting closer, but didn't open her eyes. Her ankle hurt too much. All of a sudden, the door banged open.
"Bones!" Came Booth's shout as he rushed to his partners side, dropping to his knees beside her. He scooped her up into his lap as she let out a moan of pain. "Bones, talk to me." Receiving no reply, he tried again. "Temperance, wake up baby..." He said, brushing her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.
Opening one eye, she glared at him. "If I didn't have a broken ankle, I'd probably deck you for that."
With a chuckle, Booth placed a kiss on her forehead. "I know you would, Bones. Wait-" He stopped to look at her ankles. "A broken ankle? How?"
"I was putting away some bones and tripped over a box. I couldn't exactly walk out of here by myself." She explained.
"Let me see it." As he pulled up her pant leg, their audience let out a collective gasp. It was swollen and black and blue.
Booth glanced up at the rest of the squints, who were hovering in the doorway. "How long have you been there?" He asked.
"Long enough, hun." Angela said teasingly. Ignoring her, Booth turned back to his partner.
"I am guessing you can't stand." She answered him with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you think?! If I could walk, I would be out of here!"
"Alright, alright, simmer down Bones." Booth shushed her before leaning down to scoop her into his arms.
"Booth!" She protested, clinging to his neck.
"I'm not gonna drop you, Bones." He reassured. Brennan looked doubtful for a minute before she sighed and buried her face in his neck. He carried her up to the main floor and out to his SUV.
"Thank you, Booth." Brennan said, once they had reached the parking garage. Leaning up, she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. Pulling back, Booth quirked a smile.
"For what?"
"For saving me again."
They were back later that afternoon, Brennan with a new cast and crutches, Booth with an ear to ear grin. If you looked closely, you could just catch the lipstick on the corner of his lips.
