I a soooooooo sorry to all of you who have sent me review and asked that I update! This has been done forever, I just never think about posting! Plus Bones sucks so royally now, I have to haul out my DVD's for inspiration… I know, I know, excuses excuses. But the good news is, it's here now!
And you can all pat Katarina on the back for making me laugh and giving me a shove to post as well. Happy Reading!
"Mom?" Her throat burned, and she had long since gone hoarse from the continuous screaming, lungs aching for air. "Mom! Dad!" She tried to run, but felt something grabbing for her, tearing at her with determination. A heavy weigh attached itself to her legs, trying to pull her down. "No! Mom! Dad! Please!" Her voice broke and a strangled sob escaped.
She struggled against the darkness that tore at her, but only succeeded in making her chest burn angrily before she stumbled to the ground. She screamed when she felt the sickening presence slithering up her legs, creeping across her chest, crushing her. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. She wanted her parents! Where were her parents? She tried to wiggle free, but she was in so much pain.
"Bones!"
Temperance stopped struggling and froze, eyes darting around the darkness, looking for her savior.
"Mom?" That couldn't have been her mother, it had sounded like a man. "Dad?"
"Come on Bones, I've got you."
Bones? Who talked to bones?
Her panic began to lessen, the agony in her limbs fading and the strangling darkness began to fold back on itself. A warm presence surrounded her, beating back the grasping claws.
"Shh, it's okay. I've got you Bones. Come on, time to wake up."
Bones? Wake up… she was sleeping? The darkness faded completely and she blinked several times to clear her vision.
"Seeley?" Her throat hurt.
"Hey there Bones. You okay?" She blinked the sleep from her eyes, pulling herself into a sitting position on the couch. Lifting her hand to her face and was horrified to find it was wet with tears. She ducked her head, letting her hair hide her face from his eyes.
"What time is it?" She swallowed thickly, trying to rid her throat of its sandpaper coating.
"Time for lunch." Seeley knelt on the floor in front of her and placed his hands on her knees. She managed not to flinch, but he seemed to recognize her discomfort and removed his hands. "You ready for some food Bones?" She nodded mutely, thinking it wise to not aggravate her vocal cords anymore than necessary, but she continued to gaze at the floor and made no effort to stand up.
His fingers appeared in her line of sight before she felt a light pressure on her chin. She let out a deep sigh, wincing at the fire in her throat, and tilted her face up for his inspection.
But she wasn't prepared for the look of utter concern as he stared deep into her eyes. It was enough to make her tear up again.
"Oh Bones," he whispered delicately. He moved quickly, landing on the couch next to her and encircling her in his arms in a matter of moments. She resisted for only a moment before collapsing into his chest and weeping with everything she had in her. He was so warm, hard and soft at the same time, and she was startled to find that for second time that day, she felt completely and totally safe.
"Shh, I've got you Bones. It's okay. Shh…" Through her tears she let out a straggled snort of laughter. She caught Seeley's surprised look. "What?"
"N-Nothing-ing. You just s-seem to be say-ying that to m-me a lot tod-day." She sputtered around her tears and Seeley sent her a grim smile while he tightened his arms around her.
"Well I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it Temperance," and he laid a delicate kiss on her hair. They remained on the couch, Seeley rocking them back and forth, placing sporadic kisses on her scalp until her sobs turned into shuddering breaths and hiccups. "Better?" He whispered into her hair. She nodded against him.
"My throat hurts." Her voice was hoarse, and Seeley winced when he imagined the pain she was in.
"Yeah that'll happen sometimes when you really commit yourself to being a human fountain." She snorted against his chest where her face was still buried. He glanced down at her, poised to ask about her obvious nightmare. But the question died on the tip of his tongue, seeing her still sporting tear tracks and trying valiantly to hide that she was wiping her runny nose on her sleeve. He decided to save that conversation for another time. "What do you say we head to the kitchen and I'll get you a nice big glass of milk to go with your grilled cheese, hmm?" She pulled far enough away from his chest to look up into his face.
"I appreciate the offer. But I don't like milk." She smiled at the over exaggerated look of shock on his face. "Humans actually lose the ability to digest milk properly after the age of four, so really it has no nutritional value, aside from the additives present in most all processed foods now days. I prefer to get my vitamins from the correct sources." Her grin widened when his shocked expression turned to confusion, and she laughed. "But a glass of water would be lovely."
He still looked a little confused, but he smiled none the less and hoisted her into his arms for what to her felt like the hundredth time that day. To her credit, Temperance managed to hold her tongue on the subject, only letting out a disgruntled sigh as he began moving toward the kitchen.
"Well, if it isn't sleeping beauty herself!" Hank boomed when they entered the kitchen, and Temperance sent him a warm smile while she was delicately lowered into a chair.
"Hello again Hank. How was your visit with your friend?" He smiled at the girl and placed a grilled cheese in front of her.
"We're getting old. So it went as expected." Temperance's brow furrowed in confused, but Hank simply grinned at her and moved to place two sandwiches in front of the empty seat next to her.
"How does grape juice sound Bones?" Seeley glanced up from where he was studying the contents of the fridge.
"Perfect." He smiled at her and she practically glowed in response. Seeley moved toward the cupboard for glasses and Hank plopped himself into the chair opposite Temperance.
"So, Temperance, you don't mind that I call you Temperance do you? I can't seem to wrap my head around calling a young lady 'Bones'." He shot Seeley a look, who simply grinned in response, before he turned his attention back to the girl across from him.
"Temperance is fine Hank. Or Tempe if you like. That's what my-," she stopped short, hurt flashing across her face. Her gaze fell to her plate, hands in her lap. "That's what people used to call me."
Hank threw a look of concern toward his grandson, who quickly moved to her side, plopping a brimming glass of juice down on the table in front of her.
"There you go Bones, drink up. And look, just for you." She glanced up rather listlessly and he wiggled his own glass of juice in front of her before taking a swig. "But I still think you don't know what you are missing. Milk is delicious." He smacked his lips and watched in growing concern when she simply shrugged her shoulders and took a sip from her own glass. He had expected an argument. "Bones?" His hand slipped into hers under the table and she gripped it painfully.
Hank decided to excuse himself with as much grace as he was capable.
"Well shit! Look at the time. Sorry to run kids, but I completely forgot that I have a meeting with an angry principal this afternoon." Hank stood and watched in amusement when Temperance suddenly lost her downtrodden attitude, looking at Seeley with alarm. "Wrong brother Temperance. Jared is the offender this time." Hank placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as he made his way out of the room, throwing a pointed look at Seeley as he moved passed. His grandson sent him a slight nod, barely removing his eyes from the girl next to him.
"See you later Pops."
They waited in silence until the front door shut.
"Bones-"
"No." He was surprised be the vehemence in her tone. "I've cried enough for one day Seeley. I'm sorry I over reacted." She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath before she finally turned to meet his gaze. "I promise I'll tell you about it sometime. But for now… Let's just enjoy our lunch okay?" She sent him a hesitant smile, which blossomed into a full-blown grin when he smiled back.
"Okay Bones." He reached for his sandwich and she did the same, their hands remaining intertwined under the table.
Okay, not really worth a two month wait, but I needed to get from point A to point B. Next chapter has lots of goodies! Proof reading it now, so if it's not up by tomorrow night at the latest, someone kick me. Really really hard! =)