A/N: This started as an idea that filled my head while I showered. It was supposed to be a one shot, but it ended up being 10 pages long, so I broke it up into chapters. Set at the end of Wannabe in the Weeds and through the opening of A Pain in the Heart, it skews away to a life all its own.
Disclaimer: I own nothing; I leave that to Hart Hanson and Fox. Big spoiler warning if you haven't seen the last two episodes of season 3
Letters Written and Promises Kept
She has sat in the unyielding waiting room chairs waiting for word and felt nothing. Her mind replaying the evening over and over searching for logic, for reason, for something to give her comfort. It found nothing but hurt…hurt that she forced far back into the recesses of her mind.
"Sweetie, let's go to the ladies room so you can wash up." Angela wanted her to wash his blood off her hands and out of her clothes but, for now, it's what she had as proof of a tangible existence. That was part of Booth dried to her skin and she held on to it more than she could admit, even to herself.
She saw the doctor come out, saw his mouth open to speak. "I'm sorry…" was all she heard before the world was muted. She never heard Angela's sobs or the concern of her friends. The room was foggy, the people moved in slow motion but she felt nothing. Tears didn't threaten her eyes and her heart continued to beat, yet she couldn't comfort or be comforted.
Dr. Temperance Brennan was surrounded by friends, and felt completely alone.
She didn't remember the ride to her apartment or how Angela convinced her to take a shower, but she stood naked under the hot water and watched as his blood loosened its grip on her and melted down the drain. Maybe it was the pink tinged water or the feel of moisture already on her face, but her eyes began to sting, arguing with her to let the tears escape their burning brims. With the shower to muffle her sobs and the spray to wash away the evidence, she sank to the floor and gave into her grief.
The moonlight lit her room as she watched her digital clock move red lines around to form increasing numbers at a painfully slow rate. As the hours turned into one day then two, she learned to count on the sunrise. With dawn, her world moved and her mind could clutter itself with other distractions, but with nightfall came quiet and with quiet came the memories.
Daisy… daffodil… Jupiter. Wilbur. Macaroni and cheese. Clowns, snakes, and Halloween costumes. Mistletoe…
It was 3am when she remembered the letter. He had made her promise, which she found silly, but she did anyway. She did it for him. She would have taken that bullet instead of him. Why did he get in the way? Why did he leave her to carry out her promise? Tip-toeing as quietly as possible, she picked up her keys and snuck past Angela and Jack who were snuggled together on one couch. There was a third person she didn't recognize on her other couch…was that Dr. Sweets? 'Illogical,' she thought, there was nothing for him to observe now, her partner was dead. With a silent sigh, she slipped out the front door and down to her car.
There was still more moon out than not so the fake rock was easy to find. She had told him that was not a smart place to hide anything, but his choice of key camouflage was not something he had wanted to discuss with her. As she stood with his key in her hand she heard the conversation again in her head.
"Bones, this is important."
"I realize that Booth, but you do realize that ridiculous looking rock doesn't even look real? It's obviously a polymer based facsimile. Anthropologically speaking, cultures evolve and the species within them adapt…."
"Bones…"
"…and it's very likely that someone else, looking to gain entry for what I would guess to be illegal purposes, will find and use that ill disguised key holder to enter undetected long before I would ever need to."
"I hope you never have to use it, but Bones..."
"I know," she had sighed. "I promised."
That had been so long ago but she could hear the words like he was speaking them beside her. She didn't have Wonder Woman's bracelets to stop the bullet, she couldn't prevent the blood from draining from his wound or heal him despite the title that preceded her name, but she could keep her promise.
