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Epilogue

Part 2

The week following Booth's faux funeral was exhausting in more ways than one. Gormogon had resurfaced with another body part delivered via mail, though this one had been sent to the lab as opposed to their home address. The case had unfolded quickly, but unlike the other Gormogon-related murders they'd investigated, this one brought about a conclusion to the mystery. The apprentice had revealed himself, and Gormogon had been taken out. Booth, Brennan, and their team should've been able to find some relief in the closure of their case, but that had been cruelly denied them.

Because Gormogon's apprentice was none other than Dr. Zack Addy.

Every member of the team was berating themselves for failing to realize that something was going on with him. Whether it was Sweets, who felt that he had missed something in his professional observations, or Hodgins, who was angry that his best friend had fallen prey to someone like Gormogon, everyone was feeling guilty. And Brennan was perhaps suffering through the worst of it. At nearly twelve weeks pregnant, her nausea had waned, and her physical energy was returning as well. Her emotional exhaustion, however, was overwhelming. While the rest of the squints had missed the signs, Booth and Brennan had noticed things, and now they were left with the remorse.

"Bones, you've got to eat. Are you feeling sick?" Booth watched her push her food around her dinner plate with a morose expression on her face. It had been another difficult day in a long line of difficult days, and her appetite had abandoned her.

"No," she shrugged, not meeting his eyes. Her mind was a million miles away, or rather approximately thirty miles away at the psychiatric hospital that was now Zack's home. He'd been released from the hospital that day following treatment for the third-degree burns on his hands. It would be some time before he'd be able to use them again, and even then, his doctors were predicting sixty-percent functionality.

"I know today was hard, baby. You know this was the right way to go though, right?"

"Yes," she sniffed. "I trust Caroline's judgment as well as yours, I just… I failed him."

"Maybe we all did, Bones." She looked up at him with her sad, blue eyes and waited for him to continue. "We all brushed off his long lab hours, thinking he was just being anti-social as usual, but it did occur to me that it might've been a coping mechanism for PTSD. And I know Cam talked to him a little about his time in Iraq… I should've made a point to talk to him about it. I mean, maybe he would've opened up to me, maybe…" He trailed off dejectedly, and Brennan's expression shifted to one of sympathy.

"He probably wouldn't have… But he might have talked to me. Why didn't I ask? I'm one of the only people who understands Zack, and I… I don't know if I can even say that anymore." She put her fork down and took a long drink of her ice water. "Logic or no logic, his actions shocked me. Gormogon tried to kill us both, he nearly drowned a child, he killed many innocent people in absolutely horrific ways… How is it that I didn't notice how vulnerable Zack was to the influence of someone like that? What if I had noticed? Would I have been able to stop him? To save him?"

Her eyes had steadily filled with tears while she spoke, and they spilled over her lashes as she finally gave up the pretense of eating her meal. Booth stood from his chair and came around the table to sweep Brennan out of hers. He carried her to the living room, releasing a weary sigh as he settled on the couch with her on his lap. There was nothing he could say to comfort her that he hadn't already said, so he merely held her against his chest and did his best to soothe her, stroking her dark hair until she fell asleep in his arms.

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Brennan glanced curiously at her surroundings as she was led by an orderly to a patient visitation room at McKinley Psychiatric Hospital. When they reached the tiny room, Zack was waiting for her at a small table, and he greeted her with a hesitant smile. His hands were heavily bandaged, and there was a new awkwardness about him. He'd never seemed particularly comfortable in his own skin, but this was a new level of discomfort. Brennan thanked the orderly and watched him close the door to give them privacy.

"Your ilia have widened by approximately twelve percent," Zack announced in his typical blunt manner. "I'd noticed your gait changes before, but I wasn't certain of the cause. How many weeks pregnant are you?"

"Almost twelve," Brennan smiled approvingly, pleased as usual with his superb skills of observation. A second later, she was struck again by the disheartening amount of waste created by Zack's actions. He was the most brilliant mind she'd ever had the privilege of knowing, and now he would be imprisoned for the rest of his life.

"Have you told anyone yet?" he asked, pulling her back into the conversation.

"Well, Booth knows, of course. We decided to wait until twelve weeks before telling our friends and family, so we'll be doing that fairly soon."

"Congratulations. My sisters could never wait that long to tell people when they were expecting my nieces and nephews." They shared a smile, but Zack's eyes were sad. "I'll probably never see them again. Children aren't allowed in the facility, and by the time they're grown, they'll have forgotten me."

Brennan's chest twinged painfully, and she wished that she could reach across the table to hold his hand. She knew that would cause him pain, however, so she did her best to show her sympathy in her expression. She couldn't find the words to argue with his assessment of the situation, and he looked back at her anxiously.

"Are you ashamed of me?" he asked quietly, not quite meeting her eyes.

"No, Zack. Of course not. I… I wish you'd made different choices. I wish you'd talked to someone when you were struggling and feeling lost," she reasoned. "But I will never be ashamed of you. You're still the best and brightest student I've ever taught, and you've done truly remarkable work. I'll always be proud of you for that."

He nodded a silent thanks, and after a few more minutes of awkward conversation, the orderly returned to announce that Zack's time was up. Brennan hugged him gingerly, careful to avoid his hands, and left the facility the same way she'd come. She sat in her car for a few minutes, trying to clear her mind enough to focus on driving home. She hadn't driven more than a few miles when her cell phone rang.

"Brennan," she announced, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hey, Bones. How'd it go?"

"It was… awkward. And sad. He's in a lot of pain, and there isn't really anything to be done for him." Booth could hear the hopelessness in her voice, and he wished more than anything that he could fix the situation.

"I'm sorry, baby. It'll be a big change for him, on several levels. We'll just have to do the best we can to help him adjust." He paused and heard her sigh in response. "Hey, where are you? I was calling because the squints want to get together in a little while at a bar Cam likes. I think everyone just wants to cut loose a little, you know?"

"Yeah, okay. What's it called?"

"The Founding Fathers. It's a pub a few blocks away from the lab."

"I know where it is. I can't drink though," she reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. If anyone notices, maybe we can just make the announcement. You'll be twelve weeks tomorrow, and everyone will be there. Everybody needs something positive to focus on right now anyway." She could hear the smile in his voice and felt her own lips curving upward in return.

"Okay. Maybe this weekend we could take Parker to visit Hank and tell them both together."

"Sounds good. What about your dad?"

"I'm pretty sure he already knows."

"How's that?"

"He made bacon for breakfast a few times."

"Oh," he snickered a little. "Right." Bacon had been banned several weeks ago when Brennan was suffering through a particularly violent bout of morning sickness. The smell had permeated the entire house, and although they had opened windows on both levels, she'd insisted that she could still smell it days later.

"I'm surprised he hasn't said anything. I'm sure it's driving him crazy."

"Well, we can give him a call this weekend. Russ and Amy too."

Brennan agreed with the plan and told him that she would see him at bar shortly. He was waiting at one of the high tables when she walked in, and she melted into his comforting embrace. Cam and Sweets were there as well, and Angela and Hodgins joined them a few minutes later.

Several quiet conversations buzzed simultaneously through the group. Sweets was talking Cam's ear off about a profile he'd recently completed, and Angela asked Booth how Parker was doing. Hodgins knew where Brennan had spent part of her afternoon, and he hesitantly asked for a status update on their friend.

"He's… different," she shook her head dejectedly. "He's sad; he's hurting. We need to help him."

"Well, yeah, we all want to help him, but what can we really do?" Hodgins replied. The rest of the group had stopped talking to listen to their conversation.

"I'm going to make sure he has what he needs as far as material things. He gets an allowance, but I plan to add to it. He was sending money home to his parents each month too, so I'm going to make sure that continues. But it's more than a financial issue. He needs to keep his mind occupied."

"So we should… what? Give him homework?" he asked with a dubious tone.

"Maybe," Brennan shrugged. "It's not silly if it helps him." Everyone sat in relative silence for a few moments, sipping their drinks absently. Hodgins' eyes fixed on the glass of water Brennan held, and he lifted one eyebrow curiously.

"So why aren't you getting tanked like the rest of us? After my visits to the loony bin, alcohol is usually the first thing on the agenda," he said wryly. Brennan glanced at Booth for guidance, and they shared a secretive smile. He curled his arm around her shoulders and gave her a nod of encouragement.

"Well, I won't be drinking for a while… because I'm pregnant."

Exclamations of surprise and joy erupted from the small group, and there was a genuine smile on every face. They all took turns congratulating Booth and Brennan, exchanging hugs and well wishes. The only person who didn't appear completely surprised by the news was Angela, and she was quick to announce her reasoning.

"Well, now the fainting incident makes more sense," she chuckled. "I thought it was more than stress, but you seemed so sure of yourself."

"I didn't know then," Brennan smiled. Booth, however, was definitely not smiling.

"You fainted?" he asked in alarm, turning her barstool so that she faced him. The rest of the group may as well have disappeared. "When? What happened? Why didn't you tell me?" Brennan pursed her lips in chagrin and glanced at Angela's nervous expression.

Oops.

"Booth, it's very common in early pregnancy. I wasn't hurt," she assured him with a calm voice. "It was right before my dad's trial, and you know how much stress we were both dealing with. My blood sugar was low because I'd had no appetite, and I was a little dehydrated..."

"Bones, you have to tell me about things like that. I can't take care of you if I don't know what's going on," he insisted. Brennan quelled the reflex to argue that she could take care of herself and felt herself nodding compliantly instead.

"Okay," she soothed. Booth sighed, his features still tense with anxiety, and he belatedly recalled that they still had an audience.

"So when are you due?" Angela asked, attempting to redeem herself by redirecting the conversation.

"December 15th," Brennan replied. "I'm twelve weeks tomorrow."

They spent the rest of the evening discussing baby-related things and passing around a sonogram picture Brennan had been carrying in her purse for several weeks. They'd gone to the doctor right after the fake funeral and had gotten their first glimpse of the baby. Everyone cooed and gushed over the tiny black and white image. When at last they decided to call it a night, Brennan left alone since she had driven separately. Booth pulled Angela aside on their way out.

"Hey, Ange. Look, it's not that I don't trust Bones, but…"

"You want me to call you if I notice anything off?" she guessed, smirking. He seemed relieved that she'd said the words for him.

"Will you? If she thinks I'll be worried about something, she'll go out of her way to keep it from me, and I need to know."

"I get it," Angela said earnestly. "I'll try to help keep her honest. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it. Bren said she would, so I didn't bring it up. Same as with the blacking out at the hospital-"

"What?!"

"Uh…" she faltered, once again wearing her 'oops' expression. "Well, she was extremely upset after the shooting. We had to hold her back so that she wouldn't follow you right into the OR. She was screaming and sobbing, and then she just collapsed. We were already in the ER, so they gave her IV fluids and had her lay down for a couple of hours. She didn't tell you about any of it?"

"No," Booth grumbled.

"Well, go easy on her. There was a lot going on; she probably just forgot."

Booth sighed and thanked Angela for her help. When he got home, Brennan was already upstairs getting ready for bed. He didn't want to chastise her or argue about the things she kept from him, but he had to be sure that she would be more forthcoming in the future. He kissed her hello but kept silent until they were lying side by side.

"Just say it," Brennan said knowingly. "I know you're upset."

"I'm more concerned than anything else, Bones. This happened twice, and you didn't think to tell me about it either time?"

"Twice?" she echoed in confusion.

"Angela said you passed out at the hospital too."

"Oh, that."

"Yeah, that. I know there was a lot going on, but I would've thought you'd have gotten around to telling me eventually."

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "The first time, at work, I really did think it was stress-related. I knew you were already feeling guilty about having to testify and because I wasn't coping well, and I couldn't bring myself to make you feel worse. I knew you would've blamed yourself, even though it had nothing to do with you. So I kept quiet."

"And the other time?"

"I'd honestly forgotten about it by the time you woke up. Everything was so chaotic that night. I'd just found out about the baby, you were shot before I'd had a chance to tell you, you were in surgery, and then you were asleep for longer than you should've been... The fact that I fainted in the ER was the last thing on my mind. I haven't thought about it since."

Booth expelled a deep sigh of regret for all she'd been through in the past two months, wrapping his arms around her a little more tightly. She snuggled against him gratefully.

"Alright," he relented. "But I need you to promise me that you won't keep things like that from me. Maybe you forgot about the second time, but you deliberately kept it from me the first time. I understand your reasons, but you really should've told me. I want to take care of you and the baby, and means I need to know what's going on."

"I know, Booth." She stretched a little to press her lips against his. "I promise."

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There will be more overprotective Booth in the future, of course. And in case you're wondering about the timeline, they conceived in chapter 16 of HIO after Booth promised not to take unnecessary risks. Kudos to anyone who picked up on my foreshadowing there. :)

Next time, we'll find out the sex of the baby and see what the hormones are doing to Brennan. Review if you've got a second, and have a wonderful day!