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Brennan stared at the little boy sleeping beside her in first class. The bruise on his cheek was still evident from the last time she saw him, just a little more faint. She examined it now since before she had been too focused on getting him to safety to look at it properly. It almost looked fist size, but she didn't want to go there just yet. She'd ask him questions later. She sighed and examined the rest of him. He had walked with a bit of a limp when they left the orphanage. She wasn't sure how she had missed that before. She chalked it up to being in a hurry and mostly carrying him. Brennan looked out her window and at the clouds. Louis had been fascinated with the plane. The television specifically had grabbed his attention, and he was in awe by it. This caused Brennan to wonder about his parents. Did they not have a television? Everyone had a television. Well, not her because she didn't have time, but most people did. Like Booth. Booth. The thought of him made her wince inside. He'd be furious that she took off on him like that, but the longer she sat there, the more she began to believe that it was none of his business. They used to tell each other everything, and then he went off and fell in love without so much as a word. They hadn't really been in communication, but there had been at least one letter, and he hadn't mentioned Hannah. She would have remembered. Brennan looked back at Louis. He was her secret. Just like Hannah had been Booth's. Louis stirred then and opened his eyes. He shook his head, his blond curls shaking at the movement, and rubbed his eyes.

"Are we there yet?" he asked hopefully. He looked pale. Brennan didn't think he'd been on planes very often since he was violently sick right after take off. The flight attendant had been wonderful about it.

"Almost," Brennan promised. He looked around.

"How come there's so little of us here?"

"Because it's first class," Brennan explained.

"What's first class?" he asked, confused.

"Well," Brennan hesitated. How could she explain to a child that she was loaded?

"Is it because we got to the plane first?" Louis went on.

"No. It's because I have a lot of money," Brennan answered. His eyes widened.

"Really?!"

"Yes. I write books, and I work as a forensic anthropologist," she added.

"What's that?" he questioned, scratching his head.

"I examine...people who have died," Brennan said. She had some sense not to get too gory in front of him.

"Like my parents," Louis nodded solemnly.

"Yes," Brennan agreed.

"Temperance," he started. "Why did they die?" Her breath caught in her throat. Even if she did have the answer, she wasn't sure she could tell him.

"I don't know, Louis," she answered. "I really don't."

"Oh. I just thought that since you looked at dead people, you'd know," he said, looking disappointed.

"I didn't examine them, Louis. I was too concerned to get you to safety," she told him softly. He just nodded and looked away. He swung his legs and picked at the armrest.

"How old are you?" Brennan asked. She had wanted to know since they'd left.

"I'm six," he answered proudly.

"That's a good age," she smiled at him. "Were you always from Paris?"

"Yes. Mama spoke English and Papa spoke French and English. He said he met Mama when she was on a trip there, and she just never left," Louis told her. "Mama was always sick, though. Papa was too, sometimes. Uncle Jerry would look after me when they were sick."

"Oh," Brennan said, her stomach clenching. He had an uncle? "What happened to Uncle Jerry? Was he sad you all left?"

"No. He's dead too," Louis said. "Mama said he was."

"I see," Brennan nodded, relaxing. "Do you have any other family?"

"No. I never met my grandparents. Mama said they died in a fire," Louis explained matter-of-factly. "Papa never talked about his family. Mama said he was an orphan. Hey! Just like me!"

"You're not an orphan anymore," Brennan reassured him. "You have me." She reached over and ruffled his hair playfully, making him smile brightly at her.

"What do I call you?" he asked. "I don't know if I want another Mama just yet."

"Temperance is fine. Until you're ready," Brennan added. He had just lost his mother after all. It made sense to her. She wasn't sure she was ready to be called a Mama just yet either. This boy seemed mentally older than he was. She was pondering over what he meant by his parents being sick all the time.

"Okay, Temperance," Louis said. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes again. Brennan had so many questions about his parents still, but she left it alone. He was visibly tired. She'd wait for a better time.


Booth was pacing his apartment and staring at his phone. Why hadn't she called? Where the hell was she? How could she have done this to him in the middle of such an important case?! Was she sick? Was she hurt? Was she lying somewhere dying and trying to get a hold of him and couldn't?

"Seeley, slow down," Hannah laughed. "You're gonna put a hole in the floor." She sat at the kitchen counter flipping a newspaper. She knew he was upset about Temperance leaving. She wished he would talk to her about it. After all, she'd only just gotten back to D.C., and he was obsessed with this doctor woman. He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. She met his eyes with a slightly raised brow.

"You're right," he agreed. He came to sit beside her. "What are you reading?"

"My competition," she smirked. "I like to get a feel for what I'm up against."

"That's my girl," he smiled, giving her a kiss. His phone vibrated, making him almost leap to his feet in hope. It was soon dashed.

"Not her?" Hannah asked.

"No. Just Cam," Booth sighed.

"I'm sure she's just fine," Hannah reassured him.

"I hope you're right," Booth muttered.


Brennan and Louis had made it through the airport security without too many hiccups. Her papers of adoption were legit enough, and his passport helped. That was a miracle it was on him at all when she found him. It had been around his neck like a necklace, which raised more questions, but she didn't ask them right now. She breathed a sigh of relief. She briefly wondered if security was so lenient because it was Maluku they were coming from and not some prestigious place. She found the ignorance of people laughable sometimes. Louis tagged along behind her, eyes wide as he scanned everything around him. She laughed as he asked her a million questions about things. Then she had another question for him.

"How long have you been at Maluku?" she asked. Louis stopped staring around to look at her.

"A long time. Since I was three, I think. I don't really remember Paris," he said.

"I see," she nodded. This made a lot more sense now, why he was so in awe of everything. Living in a bush for three years would do that to you, especially if you didn't remember a city such as Paris.

"Are we going home?" he asked excitedly. She laughed.

"Yes, Louis, we are going home," she told him. He grabbed her hand and swung it back and forth with his. She felt pain inside at his little hobble. She was going to X-ray that leg as soon as possible and see what was wrong.


"TEMPERANCE!"

Brennan shot forward out of bed, gasping for air. She scrabbled for the light and clicked it on. Thunder cracked in the distance. Booth's face swam before her eyes. He had been screaming her name. She had been buried in that car again...

"TEMPERANCE!"
She whirled her head around. Someone was still shouting her name. She sat there confused for a moment until it hit her. Louis. She leaped out of bed and ran down to the guest bedroom where Louis was crying. He was sitting up with the blankets bunched around him.

"Louis," she said, sitting beside him. She stroked his forehead, which was damp with sweat. "Louis, what's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare," he said in a small voice.

"Tell me," she commanded. She tried to keep her own nightmare at bay while she listened.

"I...I was very small. There...there was a lot of shouting. I d-don't remember their faces. Guns w-went off. I was screaming..." Louis trailed off. Brennan rubbed his back rhythmically as he kept talking.

"I can't see them. I feel it's wrong to leave them behind, but they were so nice..." Louis muttered. His eyes fluttered as he grew sleepy from Brennan's comforting touch.

"You're safe now," Brennan said soothingly. "No one can hurt you here." She was sure he was talking about her and Daisy taking him away from his dead parents on Maluku. It was the only thing that made sense. Then she frowned. He said he had been very small, so what did that mean? His subconscious made him into a little boy instead of being his proper age? She was not one to interpret dreams. She briefly thought of Sweets, but shook that away. Louis was finally calm again, and he was muttering something incoherent as he drifted off to sleep again. Brennan sat there watching him, feeling her love for this child swell up inside her. Louis had her heart. She didn't think it was possible to feel like this for someone, but it was happening, and she welcomed it. She got up carefully and went back to her own bed. She couldn't fall asleep as the storm grew worse outside. She kept thinking about Booth. Why couldn't she stop thinking about Booth?! It was insane. She had been the one to push him away and tell him no. She was the one who couldn't let herself be loved by him, so he moved on. Why was that suddenly so heartbreaking to her? Lightning flashed again, followed by a heavy crash of thunder.

"Temperance?" Louis' small voice said at her doorway. Brennan lifted her head to look at him.

"Yes?"

"Can I sleep with you? I'm scared," he whimpered.

"Come here," she said. He came over and crawled in under the sheets beside her, pressing his face against her to block out the lightning. She cuddled him close to her until she felt him breathing deeply and evenly again. Eventually, she fell asleep too from the warmth of his little body next to hers.


"Pick up, pick up," Booth muttered to himself, listening to the phone ring in his ear.

"Hi, you've reached Dr. Temperance Brennan. Please leave me a message and..."

"Damn it!" he growled, hanging up furiously. He wasn't going to leave another message. That would make him look desperate.

"Whoo bad storm last night, huh?" Hannah asked, coming up behind him and kissing his neck. Booth felt slightly irritated by this, which surprised him.

"Yea," he answered.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Hannah asked, helping herself to his toast that he had left on his plate. He couldn't bring himself to eat.

"Work," he said a little roughly. "I'll see you later, okay?" He got up and grabbed his keys. Hannah sat there looking a little wounded that he hadn't even kissed her goodbye. Who was this Temperance anyway?


"Hi, Cam," Brennan said into the phone. "I'm not coming in today. Or for the next few days."

"O-okay," Cam replied. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes. Everything is fine. I just need a bit more time," Brennan told her. She heard Cam sigh on the phone and felt bad. She knew Cam needed her, especially since she'd almost lost the Jeffersonian.

"All right. Call me when you're able to come back," Cam said finally. "Are you ever going to explain why?"

"Soon," Brennan promised. Then she hung up. Louis was at the table staring at the avocado as if it was a grenade.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She didn't know the first thing about kids and food. Was this not okay?

"What is it?" he asked instead, poking it.

"It's healthy food. An avocado," she explained. He wrinkled his nose. "What?"

"Don't you have any cereal? Or toast?" he asked.

"Yes," she said quickly. Toast! Honestly, what was the matter with her? She plunked two pieces into the toaster as Louis pushed the plate with the lone avocado away from him as if it would bite him.

"What are we doing today?" he asked.

"I was thinking we could go shopping and get you some clothes and stuff," she answered, smiling.

"Okay!" he cried, excited. "Can we get some licorice? It's my favorite."

"I don't see why not," she laughed. The toast came up, and within moments Louis was chewing on it eagerly with a happy expression on his face. Her phone buzzed again. She glanced at it.

Where r u?

Booth again. She set it down without answering. Let him sweat.

"I'm ready!" Louis called, wiping the crumbs off his hands.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go!"


"What do you mean, Bones isn't coming in to work today?" Booth asked Cam angrily. "We have a case!"

"Yes, and she needs some time off," Cam responded. "I'm sorry, Seeley, but she's not coming in." He stared at her.

"What could she possibly need time off for?" he demanded.

"I don't know. Can you just go do your thing so I can do mine?" Cam asked. "Take Clark with you. I'm sure he'll enjoy a walk in the woods to the cave where the bodies were found last night. Those poor hikers. Trying to escape the storm and finding that." Cam shook her head as Booth growled and turned to find Clark.


Brennan tried not to think about what Booth was doing that day as she shopped with Louis. The little boy made her laugh constantly at either his marvel at something or his jokes. She wondered who he got the humor from, his mother or his father. His limp became more evident as the day went on, and she knew he'd had enough when he couldn't keep up to her and complained of being tired. They had accomplished a lot. She had gotten him everything he needed. When they had reached the toy section, she watched as he fingered the Hot Wheels cars hanging on the rack.

"Did you want one?" she had asked.

"Can I?" he had asked back, astonished.

"Yes," she had laughed. "You can have some."

"Like, how many?"

"Um, five?" Brennan hadn't known the appropriate answer. They were cheap after all.

"Cool!" Louis had shouted. He picked the five he wanted, and they went on their way. Brennan was still thinking about this in the car as they drove home. He had acted as though toys were something he'd never had or been allowed to have. She watched as he drove the cars around the backseat, imitating noises of engines. When they got home and settled, Louis came up to her as she made dinner.

"Thank you, Temperance," he said shyly. "For the cars." He hugged her legs tightly and ran off to play. Brennan made a note to take him to the doctor tomorrow for a check up and to talk about that leg. She busied herself when pounding came at her door. Heart racing, she went to answer. Louis hadn't heard as he was in his room busy playing. She opened the door to Booth's face.

"Yes?" she asked. He looked angry. She could tell that right away. She came out and shut the door behind her.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. "What is going on? Bones, this is not like you to just abandon me during a case!"

"I did not abandon you," Brennan answered hotly. "You had it figured out."

"That...that doesn't matter!" he said angrily. "What is going on?!"

"It's nothing to concern yourself with," Brennan told him. He gaped at her.

"Are you serious right now?" he asked.

As a heart attack, she thought to herself.

"Yes," she said out loud. "Can you please leave?"

"What?! Why?!" he asked, getting worked up.

"Because! You're upsetting me," Brennan answered. They stared at one another. I could have loved you, she thought. I really could have if you hadn't found her instead, if you had just given me another chance...

"Fine," he said, his voice clipped. "I'll leave you alone."

"Thank you," she responded. She watched as he ran his hand through his hair, exhaling loudly before turning and walking away. She felt bad then. It didn't last long. He had moved on, and so had she, just in a different capacity. He didn't need to know about Louis right now. She didn't need the judgment. She went back inside and was glad to see Louis hadn't heard anything. She resumed cooking and tried desperately to not think about the hurt on Booth's face when she had asked him to leave.


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