"Booth, I still don't understand why you won't let me have a gun of my own!" Dr. Temperance Brennan cried, exasperated.
"Bones, we've been over this, I'm your gun. You don't need one!" Booth yelled. He'd already been having a bad day because Rebecca wouldn't let him have Parker this weekend, and when Brennan had started up this same old argument on their way back from their most recent crime scene, it took everything in him not to kick her out of the car and drive off without her.
Stopping at a red light, he looked over to shoot her an angry look, but when he saw the slightly hurt look on her face, he felt a little guilty and changed tactics. "Besides, Bones, I'm a little worried about you shooting me…" he said, giving her a forced charm smile.
"Booth, that's ridiculous, I'm an excellent marksman," Brennan replied, clearly not ready to let this one go.
"Did I saw anything about it being an accident?" Booth smirked, "I'm worried about you getting mad and shooting me on purpose!"
He shot her another charm smile, and this time he got the desired effect. Brennan chuckled a little, but any response she might have given him was cut off by her phone ringing. She looked at it, frowned a little, and then answered the call as they pulled into the parking lot of the Jeffersonian.
"Hello? Yes, it is…" she said as she entered the Jeffersonian and headed towards her office Booth followed her, a little concerned by the fact that she seemed so confused about the caller
"Yes… I am… I – oh…" suddenly the look on her face changed from confusion to shock, as the phone fell from her hand and hit the floor with enough force to send the battery spinning away from it. For a second, Brennan stood completely frozen, staring at the phone, as if she couldn't believe she'd just dropped it. Then she collected herself, picked up the phone and walked into her office calmly, closing the door behind her.
Booth watched her carefully, knowing that though she looked calm on the outside, she was really struggling to compartmentalize whatever it was that had just happened. He looked down, noting that she'd taken her phone, but not the battery, and picked it up. He was getting ready to go into her office when she came storming out, face expressionless, but eyes slightly panicked.
"Bones?" He queried, but she walked right past him as if he wasn't even there. After a moment he ran after her, catching up with her on the forensics platform.
"Bones…" He tried again. She ignored him, but he could see that she was forcing herself to breathe normally and focus on her work.
"Bones!" This time it wasn't a question at all, it was a command, but she still wouldn't look at him, instead staring down at the human jigsaw before her. By now she was gasping for air and clutching the table for support, her knuckles white with the effort.
"I-I need to reconstruct this s-s-skeleton, Booth!" she said, her voice pitched so high it was almost painful to hear. Booth stepped closer, so he was standing close enough to touch her.
"Temperance, look at me," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her breath was coming in short pained gasps between her gritted teeth, and Booth could see that she was going to break down any second. Angela, who had been on the platform talking to Hodgins when they arrived now walked over and said "Bren, sweetie, what's going on?"
At her words, a small sob escaped Brennan's lips, and she jumped away from the metal table with a look of absolute panic on her face. The moment she no longer had the table for support, the strongest woman any of those in the room had ever met crumpled into a sobbing heap on the floor.
"BONES!" Booth cried, bending down and gathering her struggling form against his chest. "What's wrong, Bones, tell me what happened." His voice left no room for argument, but Brennan didn't answer. As soon as she opened her mouth, a high pitched whine tore from her throat, followed by a frantic gasp for air. Her hand reached up to grab Booth's arm so tightly he winced, and did the only thing he could do for her; squeeze her closer to his body and take her back to her office, leaving a stunned Angela and Hodgins to stare after them.
"Can't… breathe… eeee… heee…" she gasped out, staring up at him with terror filled eyes.
"I know, hon, you're having a panic attack." Booth said gently as he set her on her couch. He pulled his arm away from her grasp, but quickly replaced it with his hands to prevent her from further panic. He was frustrated beyond belief not knowing what was causing her pain, but decided to take care of the immediate problem before pressing her for details. "Temperance, look in my eyes, and breathe. In… Out… In… Out…"
After a moment, she seemed to calm down, but then turned her head to the side and started crying in earnest, sobs ripping from her throat in a manner that was so totally un-Temperance Brennan that it almost scared Booth. He sat beside her on the sofa and pulled her into his arms, enveloping her body in a warm hug. His thumb traced comforting circles on her back and he whispered meaningless phrases in her ear while he waited for her sobs to die down.
"What is it, Bones, what happened?" Booth finally asked when she was a little calmer.
"Russ…" she managed, her voice breaking. "He… he… uh…" she was sobbing again, but managed to get her next sentence out between sobs. "He… sob… k—k—killed… sob… himself."