A/N: Okay guys, I am reallllly hoping for more reviews for this chapter. You wouldn't want to add to my sadness over the end of the 100th episode, would you?


"I – I'm sorry Bones," Booth stammered, "I needed to know."

"Then why didn't you just ask me?" Bones asked.

"Would you have told me?" Booth replied quietly.

Ignoring his question, Brennan said, "Where were you?"

"Where was I?" Booth asked, hoping to postpone either having to lie to her or tell her a truth that was destined to escalate her anger.

"Yes, when you were supposed to be meeting with Malone. Where were you?" she spat.

"I was," Booth hesitated and stared at the floor, "I was at your Dad's."

Taking a rare intuitive leap, "You told my father about this?" she asked incredulously.

He should have lied, he thought to himself, said that he fell asleep or something. He couldn't lie to her though, never had been able to, except of course for the five years of not telling her that he was in love with her. That was more a lie of omission, though. Booth knew the moment he knocked on Max's door that he was making a mistake, that he'd let his anger take control.

"Bones, I'm sorry," he said walking towards her.

"Get out!" she demanded angrily.

"Bones, please," Booth pled.

"Seeley. Get. Out."

Seeley. Bones only called him by his first name when they were making love or when she was very angry at him.

"No, Temperance. I am not leaving," Booth said softly but firmly.

One rule of thumb that he'd learned in being married to Temperance Brennan was to never walk out, not under any circumstances. He'd learned that the hard way during an argument when Natalie was an infant. He didn't even remember what their argument had been about, but she'd told him to give her some space. So, he did. When he returned two hours later, take-out in hand, Booth found her inconsolable in their bedroom holding the baby close to chest. That was the last time that he'd granted her request for "space". Now, he knew to give her a few minutes to cool off then hold her.

"Why do you always do this to me?" Brennan implored.

"Do what?" Booth asked, genuinely confused.

"This," she said, waving the file madly, "make me confront the past. First, you bring Russ to the lab after I hadn't seen him in fifteen years, then you told me I should forgive my dad, now this!"

She waved the file at him violently enough to dislodge several of the photos from the envelope in the file. The photos rained onto the floor, and Brennan instinctively reached to pick them up. Her fingers found the photo of the bruises encircling her wrist. She ran her thumb over the glossy surface of the photo.

"Just leave it, Bones."

Booth heard her let out a sob and immediately was by her side. He helped her rise to her feet and walked her over to the couch in her office. She was still clutching the photograph as she buried her head into the curve of his neck. His hand lovingly caressed her back as she began to speak.

"I never told anyone, anyone not related to the investigation," she said breathily into his shoulder.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, baby," Booth said weakly, not knowing if he had the strength to hear her account of what was done to her.

She looked up at him, her crystal blue eyes moist with tears, "I think I do."

Booth nodded.

"I should never have let it go on for as long as it did, but I was scared. I thought that if I just could get through each day, then I would graduate and get the hell out of there."

"Then, when I saw what he was doing to Sarah," Brennan said, her bottom lip quivering, "I had to do something."

"That took extraordinary courage, Bones," Booth acknowledged.

Brennan shook her head, "No, if I'd had extraordinary courage, I would have reported the abuse after the first night that Steven went into Sarah's room rather than mine. Instead, I was relieved."

With this admission, she began crying again, and Booth's strong arms pulled her closer.

"Tell me what happened."

Through her sobs, Bones recounted her eight months with the Rosses.

"At first, they seemed nice, kind even. The family I was with before was clearly in it for the money. Lisa said they got rid of me due to Mr. Olivio's health problems, but I know that wasn't the truth. Mrs. Olivio told me I was a freak."

Booth recoiled at the thoughts of any adult telling a teenager in their care that they were a freak.

"But, the Rosses, I let myself think they were different. They took me places; we played games; when I got home from school, they asked me how my day was. Mr. Ross, I thought," Bones scoffed, "seemed particularly nice."

"I should have noticed that the attention he was paying me wasn't the attention that a father pays a daughter. He would tell me that I looked nice or would let his hand linger on my arm too long. Once, I recall him tucking my bra strap back into my shirt."

"It isn't your fault, Bones. None of what happened was your fault."

"Maybe not, but I should have noticed long before he started coming into my room at night."

"It started out with him asking me to undress then fondling me. After a few times, he started making me," Bones paused, "manually stimulate him. Then, he'd-."

She looked away from her husband before finishing her statement, "digitally penetrate me."

Booth felt his stomach clench as bile rose to the back of his throat, "Oh, baby," he said holding her impossibly tightly.

Brennan wiggled in his grasp a little and continued telling her story, "Then, Sarah came, and I saw the pattern repeating itself; Steven paying her a lot of attention. Then, one night, he went into her room instead of mine. I would hear her cries and just pull the covers over my head. After a while, she learned to stop fighting. It was just easier that way. One night, I heard her scream – a blood curdling scream. I ran into her room. Honestly, I thought he was killing her, like he always threatened he would if we told. Instead, I found him on top of her, raping her. Her nightgown was hiked up, and his pants were off. He had hand wrapped around her neck. I just kept yelling "stop". Needless to say, he didn't. I tried to pry his hands from around her neck and dug my nails into his forearms. It worked, he got off of her. He pulled me off the bed and onto the floor. Then, he kickied me in the side until I cried."

Booth swallowed hard, "The scar on your hip, it wasn't from falling off your bike, was it? "

"No," Bones confessed, choking back tears, "After he left, Sarah was bruised and bleeding. I told her that she had to tell her caseworker, but she was terrified that Steven would make good on his threats. Sarah said she'd just tell Donna that she'd gotten her period if she asked about the blood on the sheets. I got her cleaned up, and she spent the night in my bed"

"She was fortunate to have you, Bones."

Brennan laughed wryly, "No, she wasn't. I should have done something a long time before that; reported him the first time he went into her room. It wasn't until the third time he raped her that she agreed to go to the police."

Booth nodded solemnly, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I could leave it behind. It's been over 20 years. I should have recovered."

Booth shook his head, "No, Bones. It takes a lifetime to get over that kind of pain. But, I don't think that is the only reason you didn't tell me."

Bones raised her eyebrows, "I didn't want you to think I was damaged, or more damaged than you already knew."

Booth locked her gaze, and cupped her face, "You are not damaged, Temperance."

"Yes, I am Booth," she said quietly.

"No, Bones, you are a survivor. You have unbelievable courage and strength."

He kissed her forehead softly, "The people who love you, Bones, they want to share the burden of your pain."

She nodded, "I love you. I never thought that anyone could ever love me the way you do."

"Always and forever, Bones."

"Where did you go after the Rosses?" he asked, wanting to give closure to her story.

In his mind, he knew the clock was ticking, and they should be following any leads to find Natalie. But, he knew that right now, his wife needed him. She needed to him to listen to her and hold her through her pain.

"Lisa, my caseworker, she placed me with a nice family, the Adlers. They were very kind, and let me stay with them after I graduated high school. They wanted me to stay with them on breaks from college, but I didn't. Lisa, I think she felt guilty, so she pulled some strings to let me stay at Deerfield high school."

Booth nodded, "There was a card from Lisa, in the file, marked 'return to sender'."

Lisa seemed to have chronicled Bones' life long after she was out of foster care. Her file contained the program from her high school graduation, an article in the local newspaper listing Temperance Brennan as the class salutatorian – Booth couldn't imagine who'd been smarter than her -, and a copy of Bones' acceptance letter, with a full scholarship, to Northwestern. Lisa had also kept a short human interest story on Bones - a foster care success story of a Northwestern graduate accepted into Binghamton University's doctorate of forensic anthropology program.

"Yes, she sent me cards for Christmas and my birthday, and she would write occasionally. I never wrote back, but I enjoyed her notes."

"Why didn't you write back?" Booth asked, already knowing the answer.

"That part of my life was over. Although her notes were thoughtful, I would rather not have had the reminder of the life I'd lived for three years."

"Do you ever wonder what happened to Sarah?"

"Yeah, sometimes," she said, shrugging her shoulders, "statistically, children in foster care, particularly those who had been sexually abused, have a poor outcome."

"Well, you didn't have a poor outcome," Booth said softly, "I'd like to think she did okay too."

"So do I. She was a sweet kid. The Rosses were her first foster family. Sarah's father was incarcerated, and her mother had mental health issues. Sarah was removed from her custody when a neighbor saw her eating out of trash cans."

Booth shook his head, so many terrible stories.

"Have you ever tried to find her?"

"No, I am sure she wants to leave her life in foster care behind."

Booth nodded, "I am sorry I told your dad. I had no right to do that."

"I know you had good intentions."

Booth smiled, "I just – I wish I could have protected you back then."

"That's ridiculous, Booth. You were on another continent."

"I know, Bones, but I just always want to protect you."

Booth noticed Bones begin to open her mouth in protest, and he silenced her with a quick kiss.

"I know that you can take care of yourself, but you had to take care of yourself for a long time. Now, I'd like to do that for you, baby."

Brennan sighed loudly.

"You could have married someone else and had an ordinary life, a house with a white picket fence, kids, and a dog," Brennan said sadly.

"Hey," he replied pulling her onto his lap, "if I wanted an ordinary life, I would have married an ordinary woman."

She looked into his warm brown eyes, trying to decipher her meaning.

"Instead, I married an extraordinary woman and have an extraordinary life that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world."


So, I am not sure where they said that Brennan did her doctoral work at in the show, but Binghamton actually has a doctoral program in forensic anthropology. Also, I am in no way trying to demonize foster parents. As a matter of fact, my husband and I are in the process becoming foster parents right now