Chapter Seven
Booth stared at his sleeping partner; he was memorizing the angles of her face, the curves of her body. Brennan had no clue what turmoil that she put him through today, and he would be damned if she was going to stay on this assignment. She had barely survived the first night on the job, and Booth, well he was fighting with his inner demons. He went to the kitchen and reached underneath the sink where he had taped a gun. He pulled it out, checking the magazine.
"Put it away Agent." Booth turned at the sound of his boss's voice.
"She was drugged. Bones was nearly raped . . ." Booth trailed off. "What kind of man would I be if I didn't go and protect her?" He whispered.
"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan knew what the dangers were when she took this assignment, and whereas the first night didn't go the way we would have liked . . ."
"It was the first night!" Booth's voice was escalating. "She has already been through so much, she doesn't need to go through anymore. I want her back in DC in the safety of the lab. We aren't doing a good enough job protecting her!"
Cullen shook his head. "We need her back in there. Look, her boss had called the phone apologizing, wanting her back. He likes her, and she was a hit there."
Booth clenched his fist, through a punch into the wall, smashing his hand through the paper-thin drywall. He growled, knowing that he was going to lose this fight.
"I'll get someone in here to fix your wall in the morning, put your hand on some ice, and get your head back on the assignment Booth. I'll get more Agents filtering in and out a little bit later on through the week. We will do better."
Booth nodded.
"Can I be assured you aren't going to go all Maverick on us? I'm not going to wake up and see a dead bar owner on tv?"
Booth nodded.
"Glad to hear. We called the base, and even though you are supposed to be there tomorrow, we moved some stuff around and you have off to take care of her."
"Thank you." Booth replaced his gun underneath the sink, escorting his boss out the apartment. He turned, knowing that it was going to be a long night.
--
Booth walked back into his room, finding Brennan awake, tears were streaming slowly down her face. He wanted so much to scoop her up and just hold her, but he felt restrained, not knowing how to approach her. Booth cautiously made his way to the bed, lowering himself down, placing his large hand on her back. "Hey." He softly said.
"I must disgust you." She muttered, turning her face away from him, trying to hide herself in her hair.
Out of all the things that had happened, she was most worried about his opinion of her. "Oh God Bones, you could never disgust me . . ." He trailed off. "You are the most beautiful, intelligent, wonderful person I know. You are brave, loyal, and you have a huge heart. You could, would never disgust me." Booth gently brushed the hair out of her eyes, pushing the hair out of her face.
Brennan sniffled a little, moving her head slightly to get a better look at her partner. "You have to say that because I'm you partner, and I screwed up royally."
"I shouldn't say that because I'm your partner." He muttered, just out of her range of hearing. "You didn't screw up royally. You were scared and you ran. You saved yourself. I'm just sorry he got close enough to you to get his hands on you." Booth ran his hand through his hair, scrubbing his face slightly.
She tried to sit up, the movement making her nauseous. He noticed the reaction of her body, escorting her to the bathroom, yet again holding her hair back as she wretched. He pulled down a washcloth, wiping the back of her neck.
Brennan leaned back into him, enjoying the feel of him rubbing small circles on her back. She relaxed for just a moment, the first time she relaxed since having to go into Dream Lounge that day. She sighed, tears, threatening to fall again. "I can smell him in my hair and I can feel his hands on me. I can feel all their hands on me." She admitted to him. The tears were falling freely now. "I can hear Jimmy telling me that I am a good fuck . . . a great piece of ass."
"Shh Bones. We don't have to go into this now."
Brennan was rubbing her arms now. "Booth, I can feel them, smell them, hear them." She kept repeating it over and over again.
He felt lost sitting on the bathroom floor with her. His heart was breaking into a million pieces. Booth didn't know what he could do for her, and he knew that he needed to do something for her. She needed him to do something. He stood up and cut on the shower, he helped her on to her feet.
"What are you doing Booth?"
"Trust me Temperance." He told her as he, helped her into his the shower. He stepped in right after her, standing there letting the hot spray hit both of them, fully clothed.
"Booth what are we doing?"
He stripped himself of his shirt, standing only in front of her in his jeans, completely soaked. "I'm taking care of you. I want you to trust me completely."
"I do."
"Then let me take care of you." He told her as he tugged the shirt she was wearing over her head. He untied her G-String and threw it to the floor. He saw how beautiful she was, and he wanted her to know how beautiful he thought she was, but now wasn't the time. Now was the time for him to take care of her.
The stood in silence for several minutes as Booth let the water cascade down their bodies. "Close your eyes Temperance."
She obeyed, much to Booth's surprise. He grabbed some body wash and poured a generous amount of the substance on his loofa sponge. "What do you smell?" He held the loofa just underneath her nose.
"I smell you." He saw a smile grace her lips.
"I want you to just remember what I smell like, remember what I smell like on your skin." He whispered. "I want you to remember what I sound like, I want you to remember me telling you how brave and courageous you are." He whispered. "Don't think about them, think about me." He paused, letting all the sensations he was bombarding on her sink in. "I'm going to wash you now. Is that okay?"
"Yes Booth." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but she relaxed in his arms.
He ran the sponge all over her body, lathering small circles all over her. He leaned in, giving her a slight kiss on the lips. "And when you think that you are feeling all of those men's hands on you, think of mine, holding you and caressing you."
She opened her eyes after an eternity. She drank in the sight of him, standing in front of her in his completely wet jeans, the droplets of water cascading down his chest. Brennan knew in that moment that he would do anything for her, that he would always figure out a way to protect her.
She closed her eyes again, letting Booth chase away her demons. She felt his breath on her skin. She felt his hand tilting her chin up. She felt his lips crash down on her, rough yet soft at the same time. She sighed, and that little opening was all he needed to slip his tongue in to dance with hers. Her arms went willingly around his neck, pulling them even closer together. He picked her up effortlessly, carrying her out of the shower. The cold room air caused chill bumps to rise up on their damp skin. He pulled out a towel and quickly dried her, giving her another t-shirt to pull on, opting for sweats himself. She was immersed completely in what was Seeley Booth. He had done it; he had made her forget the events of the night . . . Booth made her feel safe again. He had succeeded in protecting her.
He laid her down on the bed, pulling the covers over her. "When you go to bed at night, I want you to think of me, chasing away those demons."
She yawned, the exhaustion of the day overwhelm her. "You have been doing that every night since we first met." She let the admission slip. "Thank you."
"Anytime Temperance. Anything for you." He got up to leave the room, when he heard her whisper for him to stay, and knowing that he would never deny her anything, he slid down next to her, sending prayer to God to keep him and his partner safe.
AN: Yet again me deepest apologizes for not getting this out sooner. I have been planning my wedding, then there was a funeral, and then my niece was born, so yeah, lots of life changes. Just bear with me, all of my stories (yes even How Much More) will be updated. Please review, it rocks my socks.
