A/N: Thanks for the support so far. Please let me know what you think. This story is still evolving and your reviews help me write faster. Thanks again and enjoy!
Chapter 1
April 21, 2010
Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab
11:33 am EST
The tension in the lab was so thick that even Brennan knew it was there. Ever since the trial date had been set for Heather Taffet AKA the Grave Digger, the lab had been a tense environment. Brennan was just waiting for the trial to begin and end so that they could all get back to what they did the best: catch people like Taffet and put them in prison. Everyone's work had suffered because of the tension but especially Hodgins. Brennan wanted to help him but she knew that her lack of social skills would probably make the situation worse than it already was. She had consulted Booth about the situation and even though Booth told her that he trusted her to say the right thing to Hodgins, she still wasn't sure. A crash in the lab startled her out of her thoughts. She looked around, realizing she was on the forensic platform and had been staring at the same sternum for the last five minutes. This was another reason why Brennan wanted the trial to be over. She was usually not prone to fits of introspective thinking but lately, she has been completely unproductive and it has been driving her crazy. She made a mental note to talk to Booth about this; to see if he was experiencing the same thing that she was. He had been in a mood recently as well. Even though Brennan was not very good at reading people, she knew him and she knew that he was trying to mask his feelings to protect her. It was classic alpha-male behavior and if Booth was anything, he was an alpha-male.
"Bones!" Speak of the devil, she thought as she heard his shout in the lab. She looked over at him as he jogged up the steps to the forensic platform after swiping his card through so the alarms did not go off. Even in times like this, when everything seemed like it was upside down, she was always comforted by his presence. They had been spending more and more time together recently and the weekly dinners at each other's apartment had become nightly dinners and ended in late night movies and talks. She found that as much as she was comforted by Booth's presence, he seemed to be equally comforted by hers, which gave her a feeling of contentment that she had never gotten from her work. And while this feeling frightened her, it was like a drug; she constantly wanted more.
"Booth, what are you doing here? Please don't tell me we have another case. I am already working on the identification of two other sets of bones and we have the trial in three days. Even with the help of the multiple interns here at the Jeffersonian, there is no way that I can handle another case right now," Brennan told him.
"Whoa, Bones, easy. We don't have another case. Hacker has taken us off the active duty rotation until the case is over. So instead of doing the mountain of paperwork that is sitting on my desk, I decided to come over here and see if you were ready for lunch," Booth told her as he joined her on the forensic platform, giving her his classic charm smile, but giving her the special 'Bones variety' that was only for her. He knew that she had been stressed out the last couple of weeks, ever since they had gone over the evidence for the trial and Booth had seen the note that she had written him when she was in the car with Hodgins.
*********
April 2, 2010
J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building
1:30 pm EST
"Ms. Julian, I think that is all of the evidence for the trial right? Because if it is, I really need to get back to the lab. I realize that even though Ms. Wick is a very capable intern, I am nervous about how the other members of the team-"
"Dr. Brennan," Caroline Julian interrupted. "We have more one piece of evidence to go over and your input on this one is essential, Cherie."
Booth could feel the tension rolling off of her in waves. He knew that the trial was stressful; hell, he was feeling the stress more than any other case had affected him. He would wake up at night and think that he was still in that yellow submarine, still in that ship that was set to blow up. He hoped it hadn't affected his Bones in that same way but he could see it in her face and in her mannerisms. Now, she looked like she was ready to bolt. He looked over at Hodgins, trying to read why Bones wanted to leave so bad. Hodgins was leaned back in his chair, staring at his hands that were underneath the ledge of the conference table they were sitting at. If Hodgins knew what this evidence was, he wasn't reacting. But then again, Hodgins had really withdrawn into himself since this process began. Booth had a feeling he still had a lot of guilt over his kidnapping by the Grave Digger but Booth didn't think it was his place to talk about it with him.
"Dr. Hodgins, Dr. Brennan, the last piece of evidence that we have to go over is the notes that the both of you wrote in the car while you were both kidnapped. Now we are using this evidence to prove your mental state during the kidnapping and to show the trauma of being buried alive. In my opinion, this will help the jury get a picture of exactly what Taffet did to you," Caroline told them. Booth was immediately intrigued. He had no idea that they had written notes during their ordeal. Sitting up more in his seat, he leaned toward Brennan just a little bit, ready to give her any support that she needed.
"Dr. Hodgins, first is your note to Ms. Montenegro," Caroline said as she pulled the note out of her file and placed it on the table.
"I know what it says, Ms. Julian. All I ask is that Angela not be in the courtroom when it is read at trial. She knows my feelings. She doesn't need to hear them read to everyone like that," Hodgins said, breaking his self-imposed silence and speaking for the first time that day. Booth automatically felt for the guy. He flashed back to three years ago and remembered how in love with Angela he was. He knew now that Hodgins not only was reliving his experience in the ground; he was also thinking about his failed engagement.
"And secondly, we have Dr. Brennan's note to Agent Booth." With that statement, Booth felt Bones instantly tense beside him and he became conflicted. While he really wanted to know what was in the note, he didn't want Bones to be uncomfortable or in pain because he knew. He would do anything to keep her from being in pain.
"Dr. Brennan, are you okay with having Agent Booth know the contents of your note to him? Because if you are not, then we can make the same arrangements for you and ask Agent Booth to leave the courtroom when it is read," Caroline asked her in an uncharacteristically soft manner.
Booth turned his head to look at her, trying to get a sense of what was going on in that genius brain of hers. She turned toward him and looked him right in the eyes. He saw fear and pain in those bright blue orbs and it felt like a fist squeezed his heart in his chest. He was happily surprised when he felt her discreetly put her hand on his leg right above his knee and gave it a squeeze as she nodded to Caroline to read the note. As Caroline held the note, encased in its plastic evidence bag, up to read, he recognized the type on the page as a page from one of her books. The writing on the edge of the paper outside the text was definitely hers, but not the careful script that he was used to seeing from her. Instead, it looked hurried and he saw the blood spots on the paper along with her handwriting. It broke his heart.
"To my partner Special Agent Seeley Booth: At this point, I am unsure if anybody will ever find Hodgins and I and I know that you will blame yourself for not finding me in time. Please do not do that to yourself. I want to you know that I knew that you would never give up. You have helped me grow and find other aspects of life that I did not know previously existed and I will be forever grateful to you for that. Thank you for being a great partner and an even better friend. Sincerely, Bones."
As Caroline read the letter, he felt Bones' hand squeeze his leg harder and put his hand over hers and linked their fingers together. He was in a state of shock. He was honored that she would write a note like that to him but was really surprised that even just a little over a year into their partnership that she would feel that way. He turned his head to try and catch her eyes but she studiously avoided his gaze; the only indication of her pain was the pressure on his hand that was currently holding her own. He needed some time to sort through his feelings about that note but his first priority was Bones; his first priority was always Bones no matter what the situation. Distantly, he heard Caroline say something about the meeting being over and he heard her and Hodgins get up and leave the room. His hand still gripped her own and he was content to sit here as long as it took for her to be okay with what just happened. Finally, she turned her head and met his questioning gaze. There were barely restrained tears in her eyes and Booth could tell that it had cost her a lot for him to be able to hear the letter. It just made him fall in love with her a little more.
"You okay, Bones?" he said to her softly, still holding her hand underneath the table. She gave him a soft smile.
"Yeah, Booth. I will be. I just want her to be in prison and for this whole thing to be over," she told him as she released his hand and got up from her seat. "Can you give me a ride back to the Jeffersonian?" she asked, clearly ready to drop this line of conversation and get back to the place of order and discipline, the place where she knows what is going on and her place in the world. Booth had always been the one to tell everyone never to push her and right now, he was going to take his own advice.
"Okay, Bones. Let's go."
*******
April 21, 2010
Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab
11:45 am EST
"Booth? Are you okay?" Brennan said. She thought that he looked a million miles away, even though that was physically impossible. He seemed to snap out of his trance and look at her again, with a gentle look in his eyes that he sometimes got when he looked at her, more frequently over the last several months, especially since he woke up from the coma. He broke eye contact and began shifting from foot to foot.
"Sorry, Bones. Kind of spaced out there for a minute. So, whatcha say, huh? Lunch time?" he asked, giving her that special smile that Brennan was convinced he only gave to her. The kind of smile that gave her a warm, tingling sensation throughout her body. It was a completely irrational feeling but she liked it, just like she liked the feeling it gave her when he was comforted by her presence. Deciding that she really wasn't getting any work done anyway, she decided that lunch was a good idea.
"Sure, Booth. Let me get cleaned up and then we will go," she told him, chuckling at the happy expression on his face as he followed her to her office to wait for her.
In his office across from the forensic platform, Dr. Jack Hodgins heard Brennan and Booth's playful conversation but instead of lifting his spirits, it only made him feel more detached from his friends.
He had not given up the theory that Taffet has an accomplice and he was angry that nobody believed him. This was not one of his conspiracy theories! This was a serious matter and one he truly believed was happening. He was worried about an accomplice coming back and mucking things up even more than they already were. He woke up thinking he was back in that car, only this time, he was stuck in the car with the dead bodies of Brennan and Booth and the knowledge that it was his fault that they were both dead. Hodgins knew that Booth's kidnapping was his fault; it was his fault that he took the evidence from the FBI and that action lead to Booth being taken and electrocuted and drugged. He had always considered Booth a friend (even if Booth had not felt the same way) and it sickened him that he was the reason that Booth had to go through that.
Not only did Hodgins feel the guilt from Booth's kidnapping but all of the feelings he had regarding his own kidnapping were all being brought to the surface as well, and while that involved terrible memories from being stuck inside that car, it also involved thinking about his feelings for the one person that got him through that experience: Angela. But of course he had messed that up as well. He knew he was in a dark place right now but if he could just get through the trial intact, he felt that things would begin to look up again. He worked tirelessly, pouring over the evidence again and again, looking to see if he had missed something that would point out the accomplice's identity. But so far, he had nothing.
"Hey Hodgins, you there man?" he heard Booth call out to him. Hodgins looked up to see Booth poking his head into his office.
"Yeah Booth, what's up?" he answered.
"Caroline called. She needs to see you, me, and Bones right away. I'm here to give you a ride. Let's go," Booth told him.
Hodgins felt the hair prickle at the back of his neck. "Did she say what about?" Hodgins asked, trying not to let his anxiety slip into his voice.
"Nope," Booth told him. "But she said it was urgent so let's go. The last thing I want is an angry Caroline."
