A/N: Takes place almost four years in August after Love on the Inside, making Drew six and Clara almost four.
In order, the fics in this series are: Long Nights, Love on the Inside, and this one, Lifeline
"I don't want to fight with you anymore, Booth. I'm tired. Tired and I'm sure our yelling has probably woken up the kids. Can we just go to bed?"
He nodded. "We're not done, Bren. This fight isn't over," he mumbled as he pushed in his chair at the kitchen table, tugging at his tie and Bren put her coffee mug in the dishwasher. Silently, they climbed the stairs. Booth immediately went to their bedroom. Instead of following him, Bren went to check on Clara. The three year old had recently graduated to a 'big girl' bed. When Bren peeked in, the little girl's princess blankets were thrown back, revealing an empty bed. Rather than panicking, she followed the likely trail of her daughter to her son's room. Drew and Clara were fast asleep next to the air vent. Knowing what probably happened, she went in search for her husband.
"The next time we…argue, let's find another place to do so," Bren announced as she walked into their bed room. Booth, who was already in sleep pants and a t-shirt, looked up at her, confusion evident on his face.
"I need your help getting the kids back into their beds. I can take care of Clara, but Drew's too heavy for me now." Booth followed her out of the room and to Drew's, what used to be their old office. Booth stopped in his tracks when he saw the scene in front of him. It was eerily similar to moments from his childhood. His father would come home drunk with friends, eager to play a game of poker in the basement. Lizzie, when she was still around, had been brave enough to shoo away his father's drunken friends and make an attempt to calm him down. Yelling matches ensued, and two curious young Booth boys fell asleep next to the air vents, listening to their parents argue one floor below. Booth's heart ached for his son and daughter. He wondered how much they heard, how much they really understood what was going on between their parents.
Wordlessly, Booth scooped up Drew and hoisted him back into his bed, tucking in the Toy Story sheets around him while Bren lifted Clara and took her to Drew's old room. The nursery had been repainted pink and the evidence of baseballs, footballs and superheroes moved down the hall. Once in Clara's room, Bren held the little girl for a long time. She needed some comfort after the taxing argument she had just had with her husband and her daughter was just what she needed. Clara's little snores were the only sound that filled the room. Soon, she put Clara back in bed, whispered one last goodnight and slipped out of the room.
As she wiped away the tears that had fallen, Brennan went to their bedroom and put on her nightgown. When she climbed into bed, she rolled over on her side and turned off the bedside lamp, drowning the room in darkness. It was cold and the blankets did nothing to help. And as stubborn as she was, she refused to cross the vast sea between them to lay with her husband, who she knew would keep her warm.
The next day of work was a long one for both Brennan and Booth. Brennan and Zach spent their day identifying which bone belonged to which Ice Age warrior. Booth spent his downtime between cases catching up on paper work with his new partner, Teddy. Since his promotion to the Homicide division a few years back, Booth felt like he was spending more time doing paper work than catching murderers. Teddy's desk phone rang and he snatched it up, listening to the person on the other end.
"We have a case, Sarge. Sounds like a nasty one too."
They made their way out to the crime scene, supervised the techs with the forensic evidence and had the body sent back to the morgue. Back at their side-to-side desks in the bullpen, Booth and Teddy reviewed what they had so far.
"Female. Early twenties. Been dead only a couple of days," Teddy told him.
"Gunshot wound to the head. Nine mil," Booth added, "I had blood sent down to Marcus. He should be getting back to me soon. Hopefully, we'll have an ID on our girl by the end of the night."
"I'm running her face though the missing persons database now. Might get a hit soon," Parker said. And like magic, Teddy's computer beeped.
"Olga Lebedev. Twenty three. Moved here from Russia on a fiancée visa two years ago. Reported missing by her husband, John Lewis of Lewis and Northrup Law."
"Sounds like quite a pair," Booth mused.
"Let's go check him out."
The two intimidating agents strolled into the Lewis and Northrup Law offices like they owned the place.
"Can I help you, gentlemen?" the bubbly secretary asked.
With a single glance at the other, Booth and Parker pulled out their badges and showed them to the secretary.
"Special Agents Seeley Booth and Edward Parker, FBI. We need to speak to John Lewis."
"Aw, I'm sorry. Mr. Lewis is on an important conference call at the moment. He asked not to be disturbed."
"You don't understand, Miss," Parker tried, pulling out his charm, "We have very serious, important information about his wife."
Her eyes widened and directed them to the conference room. Peeking though a small window, Booth and Teddy saw a lone man sitting at a large, oval conference table, talking to a little black speaker sitting near him on the table. Booth rapped a knuckle on the door and flashed his badge before the two walked into the room without an invite.
"I'll call you back," Lewis said, reaching for the speaker.
"Wait! Anton will not-" another voice said over the phone, but it was cut short as Lewis ended the call.
"Can I ask what is so important that you had to interrupt my call?" Lewis spat.
"I'm Agent Seeley Booth. This is Agent Teddy Parker. We're with the FBI. We have some information about your wife."
The room grew silent again while the agents waited for some sort of reaction from the man.
"Okay. And?" Lewis asked impatiently.
"She's dead," Teddy told him blatantly.
"Dead? You mean she didn't run away? She didn't go back to Leningrad?"
"It's called Saint Petersburg now," Booth informed the lawyer.
"Whatever. When did she die?"
"About four days ago," Teddy said.
"How?"
"Gunshot."
"Where did you find her?"
"In the Potomac."
"Hmm," Lewis said, "Well, thank you for updating me. I'll make the arrangements for her body to be sent back to Russia to her family."
Lewis ushered them out of the conference room without another word. With one last look of his shoulder, Booth saw Lewis pull out a cell phone and call a speed-dial number. When Booth and Teddy were back out in the lobby, Booth spoke first. "Well that was weird."
"What the hell?" Teddy said.
"If Bren was missing, I'd be doing everything I could to find her."
"By the way, how is Bren?"
"Mad at me. You know how they say 'never go to bed mad'?"
"Uh, sure."
"Well, it's true. I woke up mad, I'm still mad, she's still mad and that just made it worse. Hey, when we punch out tonight, you wanna head down to the bar? My hot streak is still on fire from last night."
"I don't know, Seel."
"I don't want to go home. Not right away or anything. But the minute I walk in the door, Bren's gonna start raggin' on me and I just don't want to deal with that tonight."
Teddy rolled his eyes. "The later you put this off, the worse it's gonna get."
Booth shrugged. "I'm already in the doghouse. How much worse can it get?"
"Nice shot, Sarge," Parker said as Booth sunk the eight ball into the corner pocket.
"Another round?" Booth proposed.
"No. We're done. Bren, Drew and Clara are at home waiting for you. And I'm not going to let you sink back into this. I'm done babysitting you while you come drink your sorrows away while your wife and kids sit at home waiting for you," Teddy said, letting his anger get the better of him, "Look, if I had what you have, I wouldn't be throwing it away like you are. No wonder why Bren is mad at you! She's trying to hold things together for Drew and Clara and you're ruining it. You love them, I know you do. I'm taking you home, Sarge. You know what, if you want to go to a few gamblers anonymous meeting, I'll go with. I'll help you out. But, we're not coming down here anymore. No more playing strangers for money, no more. I'm done. You're done. We're both done. You're doing Bren a favor by giving this up. No more fights, no more missing out on Clara's first steps or her dance recitals, no more missing out on Drew's football games and tee-ball games."
"Alright," Booth sighed, "Let's go home." He knew Ted was right. He had missed so much, put his family though so much. It was time to put an end to the madness and fix things on the home front.
Teddy pulled the SUV away as Booth put the key in the lock. Opening the door, he knew things were wrong. Blood spatter was on kitchen floor. Pots and pans spilled out of an open cabinet.
"Bren! Clara?" Booth called, "Andrew! Where are you?" He ran back out into the street and waved at Teddy's retreating car, motioning for him to come back. Booth breathed a sigh of relief, if only for a minute, when Ted turned the car around and came speeding back down the Georgetown street.
"What's wrong?" Teddy jumped out of the car.
"They're not here. There's blood and…and…"
"Just keep looking," Teddy told him. He knew Booth was panicking, but if his family was missing, time was crucial.
They stormed inside and searched everywhere, careful to avoid the blood and other evidence.
"Drew! Are you here? Clara?"
"Daddy?"
"Drew? Where are you, buddy?"
"Where you told me not to hide anymore." His voice sounded small, but Booth immediately knew where to look. A month ago, Booth, Drew and Clara were deep in a game of hide and go seek. It had been Clara's turn to 'go seek' and she had found her dad easily, but Drew was nowhere to be found. They searched everywhere and even enlisted Bren's help when they ran out of ideas, but he seemed to have vanished. Just before their fear got the best of them, Drew appeared and Booth told him to never hide there again.
He pulled open the storage closet near the back door and pulled a few boxes out. In a dusty corner, behind the Christmas ornaments and Thanksgiving decorations, Drew sat curled up waiting for his dad, tears stained his face.
Booth picked up Drew and held him close. "Where's Mom and Clara?"
Drew pulled out of the hug. "Someone started pounding on the door. These guys asked for you. And then Mom said something and they talked back. I don't know what they were saying. She told me to hide Clara and then go hide where you told me not to hide for hide and go seek anymore. I took all of the pots out of the cabinet, helped Clara get in and told her to stay there. She was crying and I couldn't get her to stop. Once she kept the cabinet door closed, I went to hide. Did Clara get out of her hiding spot? Where's Mommy?"
