I own none of the characters of Bones.
Booth had been locked in his office for the past three hours trying to formulate his plan for finding Bones and beating himself up for not figuring out what Julie was up to before now, focusing more on the latter then the former. He was sick that he had failed so misberably in finding her.
How the hell could I have not seen it? He fumed to himself. I'm an FBI agent for God's sake, I should have seen it. I should have figured it out sooner. I have seen her practically every day, how could I not of noticed? All of the cancelled and rescheduled doctor's appointments at times that I could never attend, the fact that she never let me touch her belly. All of the signs were right there in front of me and I didn't see them. Angela did though and she pointed out everything that I had not seen. Maybe she was right, maybe my judgment and ability to read people had been clouded by the fact that I thought that she was carrying my child and I couldn't see beyond that but it's still no excuse. I should have been more aware, I should have found Bones sooner. If something happens to Bones or their baby, if I'm too late, I will never forgive myself.
He decided to try and get confirmation on the fake and real pregnancy. He needed Angela's help. He picked up his phone and called over to the lab. She promised to be right over. He wanted Angela to call Bones' OBGYN and say that she was Bones and find out if she was really pregnant. Ten minutes later Angela was knocking at his door.
"Come in." He yelled.
"It's locked dumbass." She said from the other side. He had forgotten that he had locked it. He jumped up and opened the door. As soon as Angela was inside he shut and locked the door. "Why are you locking the door?"
"I don't want Julie sneaking up on us. She has a habit of doing that."
"So what do you need for me to do?"
"Do you know who Bones' OBGYN doctor is?"
"Yeah, we go to the same one."
"Can you call and tell them that you are Bones and get some info from them? I need to know if she is pregnant because if she isn't we are screwed." Without a word Angela picked up Booth's phone and punched in a number.
"Good afternoon. This is Dr. Temperance Brennan. I need to schedule my pregnancy check up appointment….That's right I'm 24 weeks along…My job has kept me out of the country and I have been getting my prenatal care in London…Thank you very much…I'll see you then." She hung up the phone and looked at Booth. "We have our proof. She is six months pregnant. Her doctor has been concerned that she hasn't been back since her first appointment." Booth didn't respond, he couldn't respond. He went and stood and went to the window and stared out into the rain. With this confirmation he felt like more of a failure.
"Booth." Angela said softly after ten minutes of silence. He didn't answer her. "Booth, this is not your fault." He turned around to face her, his face full of pain and guilt.
"How can you say that Ange? Everything that has happened is my fault. I started dating Julie while I was in love with another woman, I slept with Bones while I was dating Julie and then I slept with Julie, I used her for a subsitute for the one woman I really wanted and then I had the balls to tell her that. I fucked her and then when I had enough I tossed her aside. And then to add to my list of stupid activities, I told her that I used her and it was Bones that I was thinking every time we fucked not her. It's my fault she snapped and took it out on Bones. I should have seen that she was a psycho bitch. I should have protected her and our child." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
"Sweetie, you made some mistakes, sleeping with Bren while you were dating Julie was one big one…"
"I didn't sleep with Julie until after Bones and I." He quickly defended.
"Regardless of when it happened, it shouldn't have happened while you were dating Julie. There is no such thing a casual dating where a woman is concerned so in Julie's screwed up mind you cheated on her."
"I always told myself that I would never cheat on a woman, another thing that I fucked up. I am now a cheater."
"It was a weird situation. You have been in love with Bren for so long that is weird way that being with Julie was like cheating on Bren."
"Great, I have cheated on two woman."
"It's time to leave the pity party and come up for air. As I was saying earlier you made mistakes but what is the common denominator in all this?" He gave her a blank look. "It's Julie dumbass. She is the catalyst in this whole horrible situation. It was Julie that took Bren, it was Julie that choose to fake a pregnancy to keep your sorry ass around. This is not your fault Booth and you need to accept that fact if you have any chance of finding Bren. Your overwhelming guilt will cloud your judgement and ability to see what you need to see to find her."
"She wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for me." He said miserbly.
"Maybe, maybe not but you have to stop thinking like that. If she were here right now she would be kicking your ass until she knocked some sense back into your thick head. Now pull your head out of your ass and focus." His cell phone rang and Angela sighed irritably. She wasn't done giving Booth a piece of her mind.
"Booth…Hey Jules…Of course we are still on for tonight…Yeah sweetheart I'm looking forward to starting over too." He actually looked like he wanted to vomit as he spoke those words, but thankfully his voice betrayed none of his true feelings. "Now Jules it would ruin my attempt at being romantic if I tell you where we are going so no you can't meet me there. I plan on being super romantic and all manly and picking you up with flowers, opening the door for you and anything else I can think of to prove my feelings to you…I'll be there at seven…I love you too babe." He hung up the phone grabbed his trashcan and puked. After he finished heaving he grabbed a bottle of mouthwash. "I'll be right back." He mumbled and headed for the restroom.
After rinsing out his mouth he stared at his reflection in the mirror. His normally bright vibrant chocolate brown eyes were full of pain, agony and despair. He threw some cold water over his face trying to get himself focused again on the task at hand. He still couldn't get over the feeling that he had failed his Bones. She has been held captive for five months while he has been out living life. He had to get her back, tonight. He hated the things that he said to Julie. He knew that it was a means to an end but he couldn't help thinking that he was betraying Bones.
"Oh my God." He said suddenly. Throwing his paper towel away he ran back to his office. "She has her in her house." He announced to Angela.
"Huh?"
"When Julie called, she tried to convince me to tell her where we were going so she could meet me there. She doesn't want me at her house because that's where she has Bones."
"Have you been there since Bren went missing?"
"Only once." He visably paled. "Oh my God I was there and so was she somewhere in the house and I…"His voice trailed off. Once again the guilt overtook his body.
"Booth, don't go there." Angela looked at her watch. "You have two hours until you meet her. What is your plan?"
"My plan is to get her back." He said with determination.
--
"Dinner time Temperance." Bones slowly sat up fighting a wave of dizziness. "Come on slow poke. You need to eat up. I have dinner plans." Julie shoved a grilled cheese sandwich at Bones. "Yep Seeley and I have a big romantic dinner planned." Bones stared at the sandwich in her hand. "I told you to eat." Julile yelled and Bones took a bite of her dinner.
"Water?" A bottle of water was thrown into her lap and She drank it quickly.
"Seeley called me today and said that your friend Angela finally helped him see that he really did love me." She gushed. Bones struggled to hold back a sob. " I know, I couldn't believe it either. I went to his office at lunch and she was already there and he was taking her to lunch. I was so angry because he broke up with me AGAIN. I honestly considered coming home and just ending this whole charade, it's becoming quite bothersome keeping you here, but anyway he called and told me he loved me."
"Goody for you."
"What's wrong Tempe? Jealous? Seeley told me that he is so over you, that he doesn't love you anymore. It looks like I finally got everything that I always wanted and deserved. I now have everything that you once had. I have your precious partner, your best friend, and in three months your baby will be mine. I think that I will ask Angela to be my maid of honor. Everyone you once held dear is now mine and it's all because of you." Julie wrapped her arms and Bones' neck and she stiffened. "Thank you so much. If I didn't hate you so damn much we could have been friends"
"I'm really touched." Bones mumbled.
"Oh by the way, he has stopped looking for you. Actually, he gave up looking for you about a month after you left." She used air quotes when she used the word left. "He is over you. He told me that if you came back and managed to get rehired at the Jeffersonian he would never be your partner, friend or lover again." He never actually said that to her but Bones didn't know that. Julie watched in delight as Bones' eyes filled with tears. This was more fun than she thought. "Not that you would even have a chance of getting your job back because Cam really didn't appreciate you resigning with no notice. You really should have thought that through. Did I tell you that they have hired another foresinc anthropologist to replace you? Your squint squad, as my boyfriend likes to call them, really like him, probably more than you. But why are we even talking about this? We both know that as soon as you delivery my baby I will have no more use for you and we know what will happen then."
"You bitch." Bones' spat and in her usual response Julie hit her in the face.
"Seeley has lots of romantic plans and he is insisting on coming over her. I tried to talk him out of it but you know Seeley, once he gets something in his mind he can't be deterred so I need to take precautions to keep you quiet in case you have any crazy ideas about alerting him to your presence. We wouldn't want to ruin my happy plans now would we?" She grabbed a pair of handcuffs and cuffed Bones' free arm then she tied a gag in her mouth. "Now it will only be for a short amount of time. I don't want the mother of my baby to uncomfortable. When my date is all over I'll come down and give you every detail." Julie smiled and headed upstairs to finish getting ready.
As soon as the basement door shut Bones' broke down in sobs. Her entire body shook from the violence of her crying. For the first time since this whole ordeal began she gave up hope. She gave up hope that Booth would find her and their baby. She gave hope that she would ever see Booth, Angela, her dad, Russ, Amy and their girls ever again. She gave up that she would ever smell fresh air again. She knew that it was only a matter of time before it would be her bones on the exam table at the Jeffersonian. She assumed that the doctor that took her place would be doing the exam but she wondered if Booth would be the agent assigned to her case. Would he solve her murder without her to help him or would she end up in limbo, like her mother? Would Angela do her facial reconstuction? What would their reaction be when they realized that it was her lying on the cold, metal table? Would they cry? Would they mourn her death? Would they realize that Julie was the one who killed her? As long as they solved her case and Julie was punished she could accept her death. Besides the feeling of hoplessness that had enveloped her, she was also feeling betrayed. How could Angela and Booth given up on her? Angela's betrayal hurt most of all. They were supposed to be best friends. She had been pushing her and Booth together for years so she couldn't understand why she was encouraging Booth and Julie's relationship.
Her sobbing subsided as Julie's words and Booth and Angela's actions finally sunk in. No one had given up on her. Booth knew that she was here. It was the only reason that he would have said those awful things about her. He somehow knew that if he let Julie think that she still had a chance with him then she would keep her alive. She knew the romantic dinner was a façade to get into the house and rescue her. She had a sudden spurt of energy knowing that this nightmare may be over in a few short hours.
--
Booth pulled into Julie's driveway and sighed. He could see her standing on the porch waiting for him. He knew that he had to get her back into the house if he had any chance of finding Bones. His gut was full of nervous jitters. He kept praying that he was not wrong, that Bones was inside the house.
"Don't come in until I'm inside."
"I got it." Came Angela's muffled voice from the back seat. "Be careful and find her Booth."
"I will." He planted a fake smile on his face, grabbed the roses that were on the passenger seat, took a deep breath and stepped out into the night air. Julie ran over to him.
"Seeley." She breathed as she pressed her lips to his and he reluctantly kissed her back. "You came."
"Of course I came. I said I would didn't I?" He flashed her a smile. "These are for you." He handed her the roses.
"Oh thank you. They are beautiful." She buried her face in them and inhaled. "They smell wonderful."
"Let's go put them in some water." He took her hand and led her to the house.
"Oh, I can do it when we get home."
"No way. I spent way to much money on these beautiful roses for my beautiful woman to let them wilt." She nearly swooned when he called her beautiful.
"You're right. We don't want them to die." She slowly led him back to the house. "I'll be just one minute." She said as she unlocked the door.
"I'm coming in too."
"I don't want us to miss our reservation."
"Oh don't worry, we've got plenty of time. It's not for another hour. I was hoping that we could use this time to get reacquainted." He whispered seductively. He knew that he was a sexually attractive man and he has never used that to his advantage before tonight. He knew she couldn't resist him.
"Well….um…okay." She allowed him to follow her inside. She went to the cupboard and pulled out a vase and began to fill it with water.
"Nice place you got here." He said as he looked around for any sign of Bones.
"Thanks."
"How about giving me the grand tour?'
"I thought that you wanted to get reaquanited?" So much for plan A. He decided to move on to plan B.
"I did say that didn't I?" He reached out and pulled her to his chest. "Well let's get started." He leaned down and softly kissed her. She eagerly kissed him back. He ran his hands through her hair and then down to her belly.
Feels real. He thought. But those fake pregnancy belly's are supposed to feel life like. He moved his hands to her back. There has got to be a strap around here. She moaned into his mouth and continued on his mission. He moved his hands down lower to her hips. Maybe we were wrong. Maybe Julie really is pregnant but if that's true then I'm back to square one when it comes to finding Bones. Wait, what the hell is that? When one quick flick of his wrist he unsnapped her pregnancy belly.
"Seeley…I can explain." Fury was written all over her face and she actually looked frightened. He shoved her against her the wall.
"Where the hell is she?" He seethed.
"Where is who?"
"Don't fuck with me Julie. Where the hell is Bones?"
"Dr. Brennan? Why would she be here?"
"Ange…you can come in." He yelled and Angela walked in. Still holding Julie against the wall he tossed the belly to her.
"Oh my God, we were right."
"Now, where the hell is she?"
"Angela, please help me." Julie begged. "He has lost his mind."
"Where is my best friend bitch?" Angela sneered.
"She's not here."
"Ange, get my gun out of holster." She did as asked. "Now watch her. Don't let her out of your sight. If she tries anything shoot her."
"My pleasure." She said as she aimed the gun at Julie.
Booth quickly ran through the house looking for any evidence of Bones. He looked in every room but found nothing. On his way back to the kitchen he noticed a china cabinet that looked slightly out of place and it wasn't all the against the wall. Pushing it away he saw a door. Hope surged through him as he pushed the cabinet to the ground. He yanked the door open and flew down the steps. Reaching the bottom he searched for a light and was finally rewarded. He pulled the string and the room was instantly bright. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust and when they did, he wished they hadn't. He saw his sweet Temperance sitting on a flimsy mattress, arms and legs chained up, and a gag was in her mouth but the worst thing about it was she was not moving.
"Bones." He shouted but she did not respond. "Oh God, I'm too late."
Thanks so much again for all of your great reviews. I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story. Sorry about the cliff hanger but I love angst. Please keep those reviews coming.
