The slow creak of the rocking chair echoed throughout the room. Each movement sent an aching moan through the room as if chanting a mantra. The child in her arms lay sleeping, curled in the fleece blanket, warm from the chill of the room. Her voice echoed eerily off the walls as she sang a tender lullaby to the baby. It was a song she knew from long ago, a song her mother would sing in her ear as she swaddled her closely and tucked her in for the night. The creaking chair repeated the tender beat of the song, as she looked up at the sound of another voice, in the next room echoing the song a beat or two off.
She hushed herself and stopped the chair, allowing the quiet to slide into the room like an unwanted intruder, sending a chill up her spine. She listened to the voice, the mellow tune that was being rattled out in the next room and recognized the voice as Booth's. Soft and tender, if not but a bit off tune, he whispered the lullaby aloud. She listened for a moment, to the echoing sound of his voice, and felt a chilling breeze in the room. She pulled the child toward her and felt that the heaviness that was there a moment before was no longer there. A gasp escaped her lips as she searched the blanket for the baby that had been in her arms just a moment before, and leapt from the chair when she found that her arms were empty but for the crumpled fleece blanket.
The gentle wind in the room became stronger, and the curtains moved in waves of the frozen breeze, glittering specks of snow entered the room as she rushed for the window. She pulled the window pane down with a resounding slam, and turned to see a light turned on down the hallway, dim and haunting as Booth's voice echoed through the apartment. She rushed toward the doorway, nearly tripping over the blanket that had been in her arms as her heart pounded angrily in her chest.
"Booth?" She called to him, feeling a sharp current of horror enter her body as she followed his voice down the hall. "Booth, where are you?" She called. The hallway seemed to be longer than the last time she had walked down it, and as the sound of his voice came nearer, the room seemed to become colder. She stopped in the middle of the hallway as clouds of steam emanated from her lips, her breath melting into the air around her. "Booth?" Her voice was desperate as she followed his voice once more, feeling the intense chill on her body as a frigid wind swirled around her. "Booth!" She exclaimed, running around the next bend, she saw him standing beside a Christmas tree, decorated brightly with shiny baubles and twinkling lights. He was holding a bundle in his arms, singing gently to the child.
The windows were all open, snow and wind billowing the curtains. Booth's voice just continued its soft, sweet song as she moved to the windows and started pulling them down, attempting to cease the constant draft. "Booth! Help me!" She exclaimed, slamming another window closed. She stood up to see that the one she had just closed had opened once more. The baby in his arms began to cry, and Brennan turned to see Booth, holding the child out with his arms extended. The baby's skin was blue from the cold, as it screeched angrily. "Booth! The baby! Cover the baby! It's too cold!" She exclaimed. She reached her hand to close the window beside her, and her fist swung too quickly, she didn't realize that the window was already closed as her fist went crashing through the glass, sending streaks of scarlet down her arm and onto the carpet, onto herself. She turned in shock as her eyes met Booth's, and his stare stopped her immediately.
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She let out a muted scream as she leapt from the bed, nearly tripping over her own feet as she grabbed for anything around her that she could to steady herself. She felt the sudden urge to cry or scream as the images from her nightmare paraded through her mind. She started to pace, and could feel the ache of her muscles protesting as she felt a sob erupt from her throat. She was breathing heavily, trying to hold in the tears that were threatening to fall as she paced. Her mind was racing, and her heart was trying to keep up.
She jumped when she felt his hands on her arms, and she turned directly into his chest, pushing her body into him.
"Woah… woah, Bones…" He whispered, wrapping his arms around her. "Hey… hey, it's okay." He said, unsure of what exactly had gotten her so rattled. "Hey, it's okay… it's okay."
He stood in the middle of the room, holding her trembling body to him for several moments as she cried into his chest, not knowing what had happened, only that she had screamed loudly enough to pull him from the exhausted slumber he had been in. Her cries were tortured and broken, and as he held her, he could feel the icy cold flesh beneath his hands as he rubbed her arms to warm her. "It'll be okay, Bones." He whispered. "It was just a nightmare. It wasn't real, just a nightmare, Bones."
Her sobs slowly calmed, but she shivered with cold against him. He led her back to the bed, and pulled the blanket back. He rested beside her with his arms around her, nuzzling his lips into her neck as he wrapped the blanket around her. "I'll keep you warm. I've got you, Bones." He whispered. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." She whispered. "It was just a dream." She swallowed hard, wishing that the visions in her mind would disappear. If she knew what had caused the nightmare, she would have stopped it, but there were no answers to be had in her bed that night. Her eyes were closed tightly as her shivering slowly stopped, but sleep would not come, and she found herself simply listening to the sound of Booth's breathing. The warmth of his body and the blanket cocooned around them warmed her slightly. He whispered into her ear as she calmed, and he drifted into a dreamless sleep, his arms wrapped protectively around her.
Brennan, however lay with her eyes still wide open, as the vision of his dark, soulless eyes stared back at her through the darkness of the night, and into the early hours of the morning.
