It was May. The air was humid and she could feel his eyes on her as she walked toward the building. Booth had just dropped her off at her apartment, insisting she get some much needed rest. She walked up the stairs, unlocked her door and walked to the window. There was the SUV still sitting there. He always did this, she flickered the lights a couple of times and he waved out the window then left. 'alpha-male' she thought in her head. She walked into the kitchen to get some water and then the lights flickered off. She thought this odd so she started to walk towards the light switch when all of the sudden something heavy and hard crashed down on her head and she was engulfed in blackness.
Ring…Ring…Ring…Booth woke up with a start and searched blindly for his cell phone. He sat up in bed and looked at the caller ID. The name 'Bones' flashed on the screen.
"Bones?" he answered and received a dial tone. He called her back.
He wasn't answering. After one ring he usually answered, he didn't. Please Booth, she silently begged, the one time I need him to be my knight in shining whatever is the one time he chooses to ignore my call. A sob shakes her frame as a knife cuts along her slender for-arm.
"Now now, what do you think you're doing," her phone rang off in her hand, he dug the knife further into her arm, "When you answer you're going to be the little actress I know you can be and reply sweetly 'I'm fine, just dialed the wrong number' and hang up. You hear me?!" She just nodded and picked up the phone.
"Bones? Everything alright?" She heard Booth's slightly distressed voice. The knife was now on her collar bone slowly going downward.
"I'm fine, just dialed the wrong number, I'll talk to you tomorrow Booth." She choked out and with that he snatched the phone away from her hands and threw it across the room.
Booth tried her cell one last time, before getting dressed. She didn't sound right, her response seemed forced and there was something hidden beneath the simple words. He grabbed his keys and began the trip towards Brennans apartment, which was at least 20 minutes away.
With one last attempt at defending herself she swung her legs around, knocking the attacker off balance. Little did she know there was more than one, another pulled her up by her hair and slammed her into her large book shelf. She felt a vase she got from china break as the book shelf shook. Its broken shards of glass slicing her skin open. She reached behind her back and took one of the shards, shoving it into his bicep, next she went for the groin, assuming by height and weight her attacker was male. She was right. He shriveled to the ground and she made a second attempt to a phone. 911. She pressed the 3 numbers down with anxiety and adrenaline pumping through her veins.
"I'm Doctor Temperance Brennan, someone's inside my house. I'm bleeding, please, I live a-" her words were cut of when she felt cool metal being pressed against her throat.
"I have questions that need answering Dr. Brennan and I'd rather not have the police here during our little chat." He once again slammed the phone to the floor. His fist made contact with her ribs at least 5 times; she apparently made a good punching bag. She felt the wind knocked out of her. She was now limply leaning against her counter top.
"Do you know who Max Kennan is, Tempe?" she felt anger rise in her as he used her name. With what little power she had left she tackled him to the ground ignoring the shear pain she felt as the knife made contact with her appendix, she assumed. She struggled off of him and began kicking his abdomen with all her might. This is when the second man kicked her ass, literally, and she was sent flying towards the couch. She flipped over it and landed on the floor. She slowly crawled on the floor towards the fire escape in her apartment.
"Come on Dr. B? I just have a few questions, where are you beautiful?" he was taunting her now, walking around the apartment searching. She opened the window and just made it out before he ran over and took out a gun. She was running, more like jumping down the stairs as he opened fired. Something heavy came down on her arm, perhaps a brick or something, she had no idea. She made it to the latter unharmed, or so she thought and without giving it a second thought jumped to the ground. It took everything she had to rise from the ground. She walked down the searching for someone to help her in the dim light of the vacant avenue.
After receiving the phone call Joe had immediately sent a unit down to the Brennan residence. He knew the author, having talked to her at a book signing, and the grocery store, oddly enough. She was one of his favorite writers and he was concerned for her safety, so he followed silently in his Honda. As the flashing cars came to a stop he slowed a little. Looking at the quant street, his wife and him had looked for a place when they first married, but it was too expensive. That's when he spotted her and jumped out of his car. She swayed blindly down the street, blood dripping from her body, her closed completely drenched in the red liquid. Joe grabbed hold of her and lifted her up running her towards an ambulance, he couldn't help but notice how feather light she was, being a middle aged man he wasn't all that strong but she seemed to weigh as much as his 7th grader Tony and was easy to carry.
"Help! Help!" she heard someone scream as her eyes adjusted to the blinking lights. She felt cool plastic beneath her as she was laid on the gurney.
"Call Seeley Booth." She whispered to the man with kind eyes who had just released her from his arms. He nodded mutely as an oxygen mask was placed on her face and for the second time that night was engulfed in blackness.
