If you haven't heard Rihanna's song "Russian Roulette" yet, you have to listen to it before you read this. Everything in that song inspired this songfic.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, this song or this artist.
The DNA results had come in, confirming that Jake Austine, one of their first suspects, murdered the five people that had been found in a garbage dump a week before. The only problem was that Brennan had decided to go and talk to the suspect and had left before the results had come in. And now Angela sat in her office, leaving a worried message on her best friend's answering machine.
"Bren, sweetie, call me the second you get this. Austine killed those people. If you haven't talked to him yet, please, do me a favor and wait until Booth gets there, I'm sending him out now."
She hung up the phone and took a deep steadying breath before picking it back up and dialing Booth.
He was just headed out of the Hoover and to his SUV when his phone chirped in his pocket. He pulled it out as he continued his stride and put it to his ear with his usual greeting.
"Booth, it's Angela. DNA came back as a match to Jake Austine. He's our killer," she said.
"Great. Thanks, Ange," he said then went to hang up.
"Wait!" Angela exclaimed, successfully stopping him from hanging up. "Brennan left to talk to him before the results came in."
He stopped in his tracks as he was grabbing the door handle of his SUV.
"What? Why the hell would she do that? Have you tried calling her?" he asked.
"That's why I called you. She's not answering."
"Dammit," he spat as he hung up and got into the SUV, switching on the siren before he had even pulled out of his parking spot.
Take a breath, take it deep
Calm yourself, he says to me
If you play, you play for keeps
Take a gun, and count to three
I'm sweating now, moving slow
No time to think, my turn to go
She took a deep breath, smelling the mold on the walls of Jake Austine basement. Her wrists hurt in the too-tight handcuffs that had her bound to the chair she sat in in the middle of the room, her back to the door.
"Calm down, Dr. Brennan," he said casually, as if he wasn't holding a revolver pointing at her. "It's just a game. Let's play for keeps. If you win, you keep your life. If I win, I keep my freedom."
"My partner will find you and put you away," she said, faking calm.
Jake just laughed, circling her like a predator stalking his prey. She could feel a bead of sweat forming on her brow as his circling slowed until he stopped in front of her, gun still pointed at her pounding heart.
"You can have the first turn," he said with an evil smirk.
And you can see my heart beating
You can see it through my chest
And I'm terrified but I'm not leaving
I know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger
She wanted so badly to stand up and walk out, leaving this lunatic behind, but the pull of the handcuffs when she tried reminded her that she wasn't leaving.
Still with a smirk on his face and the revolver aimed at her chest, he spun the barrel and fired. Brennan jumped in a start, expecting to hear a loud pop, not the hollow click, followed by his laughter.
"My turn," he said, putting the gun to his right temple and pulling the trigger without hesitation, the click making his smile grow larger and the look in his eyes just a little crazier.
Say a prayer, to yourself
He says close your eyes, sometimes it helps
And then I get, a scary thought
The fact he's here, means he's never lost
'Please, please let Booth get here in time. Don't let him kill me' she thought to herself as she stared down the barrel of the six-round revolver that was now aimed at her face.
"Close your eyes," said the smirking psychopath holding the gun. "It helps...sometimes."
She defiantly kept her eyes open and glaring at him in anger with a hint of fear in the blue depths. He shrugged, not caring if she took his advice or not, and pulled the trigger, the click informing them there would be another chance for him to get the bullet instead of her.
"Well, looks like you get to live for a few more seconds," he said.
"This is how you killed those people," she stated instead of asked because she already knew. "That explains the gunshot wounds being in different places on each body."
"Yes, I do love this game. Those people didn't really want to play, but like you, they didn't have a choice," he said, his smile never fading.
At that moment, she realized something that made her blood run cold.
He's never lost.
And you can see my heart beating
You can see it through my chest
And I'm terrified but I'm not leaving
I know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger
Her heart was beating harder and faster than ever, sending vibrations through her body that upset her stomach. In one fluid motion he pressed the gun to his head, made it click with no bullet and aimed it back at her.
"Two shots left and one bullet," said Jake. "I wonder if this is it."
As my life flashes before my eyes
I'm wondering if I will ever see another sunrise
So many won't get the chance to say goodbye
But it's too late to think of the value of my life
Images of her friends, her brother and her father flashed through her mind. Her father and brother were going to lose her just when they had gotten her back. Angela was going to fall apart as sensitive as she can be. But the person that stood out against the others was Booth. He was going to blame himself for this even though it was her own fault. She was a scientific genius, but sometimes she did really stupid things, like going, alone, to talk to a suspect, instead of waiting for her 'knight in shining FBI standard issue body armor' as Angela had referred to him. And now that Brennan thought about it, he really was just like a knight. He was kind, generous, courageous, strong, honorable, chivalrous, protective, noble. In the beginning, she hated that he opened doors for her, put his hand possessively on the small of her back, helping her stand after she knelt beside a body or helping her with her coat. And she especially hated his over-protectiveness of her. But over time, he had helped her evolve into an independent woman that let herself let him do those things for her, and she showed true appreciation for it. And right now, she wouldn't mind his over-protective self busting through that door and putting a couple rounds into this freak.
She was suddenly brought back to reality when the revolver clicked behind her head.
"Well," Jake said with faux surprise in his voice. "I guess you win."
He came back to stand in front of her.
And you can see my heart beating
You can see it through my chest
And I'm terrified but I'm not leaving
I know that I must pass this test
He put the gun to his temple once again and closed his eyes. His finger slowly started to tighten around the trigger. Then, he stopped and opened one eye, looking at her.
"You know what?" he opened the other eye and lowered the gun. "I'm feeling generous today. Why don't you take my turn?"
Raising the gun to aim at her again, his smile widened, but the crazy look in his eyes turned to pure evil.
And you can see my heart beating
You can see it through my chest
And I'm terrified but I'm not leaving
I know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger
He laughed. "I can see your heart beating through your chest," he said, staring at the skin showing above the swoop neckline of her long-sleeve shirt. "Now I know where to aim," he hissed as he stepped closer and pressed the cold steel against her racing heart, making her involuntarily shiver.
She was shaking, terrified and wanting so badly to be able to leave. One tear escaped when Brennan clenched her eyes shut, not wanting Jake Austine to be the last thing she saw. Her partner's face was what popped into her mind when she asked herself what she wanted the last thing she saw to be.
"Just do it," she fought for her voice to not sound like a whimper and hated that it did.
One shot echoed in the small room. The only thing she could hear was her own ragged panting and nothing else until she felt the handcuffs release and a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly she could hear again, and what she heard was beautiful.
"Bones."
Her eyes shot open wide and met the brown eyes of her partner, knelt in front of her with a hand on her shoulder. She glanced past Booth to see Jake lying on the ground, alive, but with a bullet in the shoulder. Looking back at Booth, her heart ached at the concern in his eyes. Paramedics went rushing past them to Jake and that was the first time she noticed the two other agents in the room that were now leaving with the paramedics and Austine.
"Are you ok?" he asked, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Good," he stood and extended his hand to her. She took it and stood, instantly wrapping him in one of their 'guy hugs'. He held her against him tightly, giving her the comfort he knew she needed. "Don't ever do that again. You wait for me to question people," he said, pulling away enough to look at her. "I could have lost you."
She smiled and shook her head slightly. "No, from now on, I don't go anywhere without my knight."
"I like that," he chuckled softly.
His hands were resting on her hips, hers on his chest, and she could feel the muscles flex as he moved one hand to her face as she leaned into his touch and his eyes turned serious again. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes, Booth. I'm ok," she rolled her eyes and smiled, making sure not to take any part of him for granted, even the protectiveness.
"Alright, alright. Just making sure," he smiled his charm smile. "C'mon, I'll take you home."
He dropped his hands and grabbed one of hers. He took one step towards the door, but stopped when she didn't follow. The second he turned back to look at her and ask what was wrong, her lips were on his, her hands back on his chest and gripping the lapels of his jacket, her tongue instantly begging for entrance which was granted as he held her face in his hands. It felt like it had been hours when they finally broke apart for air. Foreheads resting against forehead, he stared into her cerulean eyes, happy to not see the lust he saw there when he saw her with another man, but what he imagined was in his own eyes when he looked at her. He couldn't help but to smile, which made her smile.
"What?" she asked.
"Did you know you have beautiful eyes?" he replied in a voice that sounded like rolling thunder.
"I've been told that, yes. But I like it best coming from you."
Her eyes twinkled and he couldn't fight the urge to kiss her again.
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