Chapter 4
Partnership
His tone was light, but even Brennan could detect the tension in her partner. His knuckles were almost white and locked on the steering column, his shoulders hunched and tight. The pallor in his face only served to highlight the rigid set of his jaw. He refused to look at her, glaring determinedly out the window at a fixed point instead. It was a defensive mechanism Brennan was more than familiar with, having perfected it herself.
"It didn't look so bad back then, you know." His choice of words bordered on apologetic. Embarrassed. "Not this bad, anyway."
Brennan struggled to find words to express what she was feeling. "I know how painful the memories of your past are, Booth. You didn't have to do this."
"I figure," he answered softly, "That if you have to face your ghosts in order to please Sweets, the least I can do is confront mine and keep you company."
For the first time, Brennan understood the idiom of having a lump in the throat. While she knew there was no physiological reason for the sensation, she suddenly found it very hard to swallow or speak.
Still without looking at her, Booth shoved open his door and climbed out. A blast of cold air leached into the SUV before he slammed the door shut. He turned his back and leaned against the car, hands jammed into his pockets as he stared at the house. Brennan watched him from her side of the vehicle, uncertain of whether he wanted company or space. In spite of his large, well-built frame, his broad shoulders suddenly seemed small when juxtaposed with the enormity of the past he was confronting for her sake. He looked very alone, and she knew loneliness better than most.
Coming to a decision, Brennan unlocked her own door and went to stand beside him. He didn't acknowledge her. She would have liked to say something appropriately compassionate or grateful, but such words were his strength, not hers. She settled for offering support by just being there for him. After all, Booth had been the one to teach her what such gestures truly meant.
The partners stood shoulder to shoulder in the cold spring wind, each lost in their own thoughts and memories. Finally, he looked over at her. "Take a walk with me down Memory Lane, Bones?"
She glanced at the address on a mailbox several houses down. "Isn't the street named Peralta?"
Booth offered her the shadow of a smile and Brennan was relieved that for once she seemed to have said the right thing. He held out his hand and she laced her fingers through his.