Sorry! I know it's been a while, and it's short, but it's what I have. Hope you enjoy what's here. Aaaaaand TA-DA! We're done with flashbacks! Until I change my mind, of course … but for now, we're sticking to the present. Enjoy. -JF
Chapter 10 – Powerless
Calcutta, India
She was dying in his arms, and he couldn't save her.
It was his worst nightmare, except it felt worse than he ever could have imagined.
Booth sat kneeling on the ground, Brennan's torso cradled in his arms, his head bent over her. Not knowing what else he could do, he just repeated over and over the only thing he could think of.
"My Bones, my breath, my heart, my life…"
Her silence cut him deeply.
"Lochana!" he found himself screaming. "Lochana, I need your help!" He held tighter to his life, his heart, his soul. As the owner of the inn bustled in to see what had gone wrong, Booth felt like he had been submerged in water. Everything Lana said to him was muffled and he limply followed her orders, never saying a word.
He just didn't know what to do.
XXXXX
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
All the beeps in the world wouldn't convince him. The reassurance that her heart continued to beat meant nothing to him.
He should be doing something, he knew. He should be interrogating doctors or badgering nurses or anyone else he could talk to in order to find out what the hell was wrong with her. He should be actively seeking a cure. He should be sacrificing himself to save her life.
But he just sat there. Helpless. Just as silent as she was.
XXXXX
"Mr. Moore, shall I bring you a cot?" The familiar voice of Doctor Rajan kindly asked from behind him.
"Don't trouble yourself, I won't use it," Booth's low whisper answered. "I'm not moving."
"Mr. Moore, your princess will be alright, we hope. You should get some rest."
"Your hopes mean nothing to me." He never looked away from her face.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Moore. I understand. I will go." He guessed the doctor had left when it was silent again. He reached out and touched her for the first time since they had gotten to the hospital. Her hand was blazing. The sensation made his eyes sting with the threat of tears.
"Mr. Moore?" the voice he thought had left suddenly asked. "I'm sorry, sir, but is there anyone you can call? To be here for her? To be here for you? It might be a good id—"
"There's no one else in the world, Rajan," Booth interrupted him. The doctor slowly shuffled out without another world. "You hear that, Bones?" he whispered to the woman in front of him. "No one else in the world. You can't leave me. I can't lose you like I lost everyone else. I can't do that."
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
"That's not good enough. I need more than that, Temperance."
But of course, he that was all he was going to get. Booth pressed her smooth, burning hand against his forehead as he leaned forward in his chair. He was physically exhausted beyond comprehension and his emotions began to go numb, unable to stand the pain any longer. Inch by inch, he was losing it.
And ever so silently, one by one, Booth's tears finally fell.
Jeffersonian Institute
"Faked their deaths?" Angela asked, trying to contain her anger.
"To protect them," Blanche/Kantar or whatever her name was answered quickly.
"Like hell," said Jack, proud of being right about someone for a change.
"I can explain."
"Oddly enough, I don't really want to hear it. I kind of just want to hit you. And normally I'm opposed to punching women in the face. But right now—"
Cam interrupted Jack with a hand to his shoulder as he tried to advance on Blanche again. "Stop, Dr. Hodgins. Unlike you, I'd like to hear her story." Cam gave Blanche a sort of death-glare. "Tell us everything you know, Dr. Blanche, or so help me God I will let Dr. Hodgins here beat it out of you."
Blanche slowly slid down the wall she had previously been pinned to. Taking a deep breath, she began with meeting Brennan and Booth at the mass grave site over a year and a half before.
XXXXX
"It was difficult to get Dr. Brennan to leave it to me," Blanche continued. "She knew you'd all be tearing the case apart. It was Booth's idea to position the bodies like we did, with the male embracing the female. He said if anyone knew him at all, anything else would prove it a fraud." Blanche sighed. "We gave them false identities, a reason for being in Calcutta, and a place to stay. But I couldn't do anymore before I had to leave. Some people I trust in Calcutta check in with them every once and a while. In case anything goes wrong."
"Have you had recent contact with these people you trust?" Cam asked.
"Ever considered they were the ones who tipped off the gang this morning?" Hodgins accused. Cam glared, and then turned her attention back to the woman sitting on the floor, awaiting an answer.
"Yes, this morning. They assured me Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth were not harmed. And no, Dr. Hodgins. These people don't even know Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth's real names, much less who they're hiding from or that they're hiding at all."
"Call them," Angela demanded suddenly.
"I…I can't just…I don't…"
"Call them," she said again.
Blanche hesitated a moment, and Jack took an angry step forward. "Okay, okay! My phone is on my desk."
Zack grabbed it and tossed it at her with uncharacteristic distain. Blanche shakily dialed as the room became tenser by the second.
"Shawn? It's Marie. Where are Weston and Tazara?"
There was a long silence.
Blanche's eyes shot up to Cam, then to Hodgins, her pupils constricting in fear. She hung up without another word to the person she trusted, whoever the hell they were.
"Well?" Hodgins prodded.
"Tazara is very ill," Blanche answered, staring at the floor, unblinking.
"Brennan," Angela said slowly through her teeth. "Her name is Temperance Brennan."
"They don't know if she'll live," Blanche whispered, as if hoping they wouldn't hear her. But theses words spoke louder than any others.
None of them knew what to think or what to do. It was an odd feeling, this powerlessness.
Over eight thousand miles away, Booth felt this powerlessness a hundred fold, and wept endless tears because of it.