Cool moonlight illuminated the second floor veranda of the bed-and-breakfast inn where Booth and Brennan had been staying the past five days. They had come to the end of a nasty murder investigation involving the skeletal remains of two young children, found in a small town in Virginia, and it had taken its toll on the partners. When the victims were so young and innocent, it made everyone's job just a little more heartbreaking.
Booth stepped out of the room in which he'd been staying, onto the wide veranda, which spanned the entire front of the inn. All the rooms on the front of the inn led out there. He stopped when he saw his partner sprawled exhausted on one of the balcony's comfortable chairs. She was always beautiful to him, but the way the moonlight lit her porcelain skin took his breath away. Shadows and light played on her face, and it seemed as if all the suffering and all the pain the victims had experienced were now etched onto her troubled face. All he wanted was to wipe it all away, give her some peace, see her smile at him.
Her eyes were closed, and she didn't hear him as he quietly approached. He sat on the edge of the chair's wide arm, and couldn't resist smoothing her furrowed brow with his thumb. Her eyes flew open and she looked up at him, but uncharacteristically did nothing to resist, too fatigued to protest.
"Booth— "
"Shh…"
"Booth, I don't understand how anyone could hurt those children like that. I just—," she broke off, shaking her head in confusion and pain.
"I wish I knew, Bones, I wish I knew… But we caught the bastard, and with your evidence, he'll rot in jail for the rest of his sorry life."
"I know. I just wish—. They were so young, Booth, younger even than Parker."
Booth shuddered. He'd tried to suppress any thoughts comparing their two victims to Parker, but his mind inevitably jumped to his son with cases like these. He hated that his son had to grow up in the same world with psychopaths who perpetrated such horrors on children, and he prayed—prayed every day—that he would be able to protect his son from such evils. He had Bones to thank for getting their current monster locked up.
All this passed on his face within seconds, and Brennan, usually unsure about reading people, understood every thought on her partner's face.
"I'm sorry, Booth," she whispered, placing her hand tentatively over his, which had come to rest on her shoulder. He turned his hand over and squeezed her hand tightly. Her head sank back against the wall, and she closed her eyes again in exhaustion. She looked so fragile there in the moonlight, as if she really were made of porcelain and might break at the slightest touch. Booth knew better though—he knew better than anyone how incredibly strong his partner was. Strong and beautiful. But a case like this would overwhelm even the strongest person. He was fighting mental and physical exhaustion himself. He leaned back against the wall, still clasping his partner's hand. As long as they had each other, he thought, they would get through it. And leaning into each other, hands clasped tightly, the partners fell asleep in the moonlight.