A/N- does Angela call Bones Brennan or Temperance? I couldn't remember. Next part probably won't be until next week.
Angela saw the dirty coffee mug on Brennan's desk and frowned. Her friend had obviously pulled an all nighter again, she was normally fastidious when it came to the cleanliness of her lab. Angela glanced at her watch, it was 9.05, there was no way Brennan wouldn't be in yet, she must be getting breakfast.
Shaking her head at Brennan's inability to let go, Angela grabbed the coffee mug off her desk, she could just imagine a sleep deprived Brennan explaining at length to one of her long suffering interns why cleanliness in a lab was necessary, and that was an experience best avoided. As she left she noted the fax on Brennan's machine, it was the ID's for the other victims. Putting down Brennan's coffee mug, Angela perused the documents. It only took her five minutes to note the link, all of the victims had been patients of a Doctor Leaman.
A quick background check on Brennan's computer showed he was a psychologist who had been arrested for attacking one of his patients. The patient hadn't pressed charges and the psychologist had stopped practicing. The patient was a fifteen year old Temperance Brennan.
Angela felt her heart miss a beat. She looked around the forensics lab, there was still no sign of Brennan. She felt a wave of panic rising, and grabbed the nearest phone.
"Booth," Angela crossed her fingers as he answered.
"Please tell me she's with you."
"Hi Angela, who's with me?"
"Brennan!"
"No, is she not in yet? She pulled a late one last night though, maybe you need to cut her some slack..." Booth never got a chance to explain that was a difficult case for her as Angela, virtually hysterical by this point, cut over the top of him.
"You need to get to her apartment now. All of our victims are former patients of a Dr Leaman, a psychologist who attacked one of his patients. The bone damage each victim sustained is consistent with that attack. The patient he attacked was Brennan."
"You have got to be kidding me. I can be there in five, get Cam to send backup."
***
When Brennan had finally made it home it was past eleven. She was distracted by the case, and by trying to ignore the feelings Booth had stirred up in the parking lot. So she hadn't noticed that someone had been through her apartment, that things that had been moved hadn't been put back in exactly the right place.
She didn't notice anything until a needle was shoved into her arm, and by that point it was simply too late. As she moved to turn against her attacker, she felt her limbs become numb, and even as she managed to get a block in, she felt herself begin to fall. She was unconscious by the time she hit the floor with a sickening crunch.
So she was unaware of her attacker shaking his head as he examined the injuries he hadn't meant to inflict. "You never do things properly, do you Temperance?" Then he set about inflicting the injuries he did intend for her to suffer.
***
When she awoke, it was to a thumping headache and a strange smell in the air. If not for the headache, she would have recognised it sooner, but as she began to wake up she recognised it as gasoline. She tried to sit up, but that was a mistake as pain shot through her body. Her wrist was broken, and possibly some of her ribs.
"Good morning Temperance," a man called from the corner of the room. "You remember me of course."
She squinted at him, trying to make sense of what she saw. Everything was tainted with a haze of pain, and her thoughts came sluggishly. "Dr Leaman," she managed eventually.
"Yes, I couldn't let you go without saying goodbye, you were always the most captivating of my patients, even if you were the most difficult."
"Go where?" Brennan asked, confused.
Dr Leaman continued on, ignoring her question, "You know its interesting how little you've changed. No pictures anywhere, no television, nothing of any personal significance. You always loved being alone, and now you get to die alone."
"What?" Brennan asked, she was beginning to lose consciousness again, she couldn't focus on what he was saying. She wouldn't die alone, of course she wouldn't, Booth would be there, he was always there. "Booth," she said, as if it had some significance.
"Don't be ridiculous my dear, there's no one coming for you. You have no one, just like always." With that he knelt down and pressed a kiss into her forehead. "Goodbye Temperance," he uttered as he lit the match and let it fall.
