Chapter I: Part II
Booth's POV
I glance over at Bones again.
"You can go faster you know. We can put the blue light on if you want." I bark not meaning to sound harsh. But she is going a lot slower than I usually do when going to crime scenes. I feel my face pull into a frown regretting the fact that I let her drive today. I couldn't help it though. She had looked so much like a kicked puppy when I entered her office this morning that I just had thrown her the keys. The small smile of joy she had offered when she had the keys in her hand had been enough to put me at ease...at the time. Now she was driving slow. And we were in the middle of nowhere.
From the driver's seat Bones shrugs and then gives me a sideways glance out of the corner of her eye.
"What's the rush, Booth? The person is already deceased, it's not like we can save them."
I shift uncomfortably in my seat-which is usually HER seat- and turn to stare out the window. I hate not being in control. The SUV rolls to the stop at a red light.
"C'mon, Bones! You can at least put the blue light on to go through the red light!" Did I fail to mention that we are on a dirt country-road in the middle of rural Virginia and that I haven't seen another car for the past twenty minutes? I look around and feel a slight shiver run from the top of my head to the end of my spine. All I can think of is the movie Deliverance. I almost want to make a crack joke about it, just so I can tell her to "never mind" about what Deliverance is.
Bones ignores my statement but then guns the SUV when the light turns. Why does she always have to take me so literally? All she had to do was go a little faster, not bring the needle up into the red zone-on a dirt road.
I lurch forward in my seat and nearly slam my head into the windshield. We go careening over the bumpy road and I can feel my bones rattling. I hope that we are close to the crime scene.
She lets up on the pedal and then turns and looks at me as if to tell me that there is always a reason she wants it done her way.
Our dynamic has changed a bit since her admission of her feelings several weeks ago. I thought I felt her opening up again and it almost felt as if we were back-really back, baby. But today is different. Today I can feel her almost pulling back from me-she feels more guarded then she was even just yesterday. I want to break down that wall again but I feel like a guy trying to break out of prison with a spoon. I thought I had escaped, but today I find another obstacle in my way.
Damn! I suddenly remember that I have to ask Sweets about a dream I had the other night. Actually, I have had it for a couple nights in a row now. In it, I propose to Hannah and when I look back up from opening the ring box I see Bones. I always wake up before anything else can happen.
I press my face to the window, and a flash of Parker smashing his nose against the window of my truck on vacation rushes into my mind. "Are we there yet?" echoes faintly in my ears and I bite back a laugh. Parker is probably just like me-he'd rather be driving.
Suddenly a rickety old white farm-house with a veranda full of broken spokes pokes into view. I swear there should have been a sign somewhere that said "Welcome to Appalachian Country-home of the creepy."
Bones pulls up the long dirt drive and I can see the familiar crime scene bustle gathered about the Barn.
"Booth, we're here."
I sigh, and probably look as creeped out as I feel because she gives a little wiggle from the driver's seat.
"I said that only because you looked like your mind was somewhere else."
"Oh-thanks." I say with both of my eyebrows raised. That was almost a Sweets caliber statement.
We sit for another minute and then Bones jerks open the drivers side door and hops out. It briefly occurs to me that she was waiting for me to try and open the door for her. I scratch my head and wonder why I hadn't had the impulse to reach over her lap and open it for her. Today is a very off day for us and I hope we both loosen up soon. Springing into action on a case usually gets us to relax around each other. It is like muscle memory kicks in and we are back to where we were before I blurted out my feelings too soon. I hop out of the car and shake off the uneasy feeling that this place gives me.
I take one look at the LEO's swarming the place and feel a cold fist clench in my stomach. There are too many of them here for it to be someone of insignificance. Either that or-
"It's a child." Bones chirps quietly next to me, "It has to be."