Title: What's Locked Inside
Rating: As a whole this story is M. This is slightly spicy… mostly just a bit of an implied sex scene.
Disclaimer: Fox owns them, I'm just showing them a good time. Oh, Naveh's mine. You can borrow her if you like, she's a fun kid.
Summary: "I feel so lost, it's like I've woken up in this totally different life and I don't know how to handle it. I'm scared Booth."
Author's Note: Ok, so here we go again! Thanks to everyone who's sent me a review about this story, you guys have some great ideas! Special thanks to WhiteRose0925 for being a sounding board recently! I think it's just what I needed.
Brennan turned from the coffee machine when Parker, giggling loudly, ran into the kitchen. Naveh came into the room just behind him and caught him around the waist. She lifted him off the ground and turned around before setting his feet on the ground and tickling his ribs and stomach.
"Jellybean," The boy exclaimed still laughing and wiggling to try and get away from Naveh. "You're so silly,"
"I sure am," Naveh smiled and stopped tickling Parker, hugging him warmly against her chest. Parker giggled again and turned around in Naveh's arms to return the hug.
"Can we play in the yard for a while?" Parker asked pulling back from the hug.
"Sure," Naveh nodded. "Go grab your shoes,"
"Great," Parker said running from the room towards the front door where his shoes were waiting for him.
"Are you having fun?" Brennan asked pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"We always do," Naveh smiled and nodded. "Parker wants to see his dad though,"
"I'm sure Booth will be home soon. He said he'd try and be home by noon." Brennan said. She saw Naveh's face fall and the teenager sighed.
"Yeah," She said and turned away as Parker came back into the room with his shoes on.
"Are you ready Jellybean?" He asked almost jumping on the spot.
"You bet," Naveh smiled and nodded guiding Parker towards the back door with a hand affectionately on his shoulder.
Brennan went upstairs to her office to see if she could find any notes about the book she was writing. She opened the French doors onto the balcony and let the warm afternoon breeze into the room as she sat down at the desk. Occasionally, as she thumbed through the pieces of paper on her desk, she could hear Parker and Naveh laughing and calling out to each other from the yard. Brennan paused for a moment and smiled when she heard Naveh shriek and start laughing hard, probably as Parker began tickling her. It seemed right to have the sound of children in such a large house.
Brennan turned her head towards the French doors when she heard something that wasn't a child's laughter coming from the yard. Concentrating hard on the sounds she heard a deeper male voice again, she was on the balcony looking into the yard within seconds. Brennan's stomach untwisted from the knots it had formed and her heart slowed down when she saw Booth standing with Parker and Naveh. He was holding a soccer ball and talking to both children, teaching them something about the game.
"Two against one, no fair," Booth said rolling around on the grass. He was playing in the back yard with Naveh and Parker. Brennan loved it when Booth was out of a suit and she loved to watch him playing with his kids. She laughed and shook her head, rolling her eyes as Booth struggled to get back to his feet.
Parker and Naveh had tackled him to the ground during a game of football and the trio were nothing more than a bundle of arms and legs as Naveh and Parker tried to pin Booth down and Booth tried to tickle both of them in an attempt to get back up. They finally reached a truce and lay together on the grass laughing. Naveh and Parker lay either side of Booth, their heads on his shoulders and they looked up at the clouds, finding patterns and pictures in the white fluffy blobs.
The memory ended and Brennan looked back down to Booth, Naveh and Parker. Naveh and Parker were kicking the ball backwards and forward to each other, but Naveh was distracted looking towards Booth who was pacing in short lines talking on his cell phone. Brennan frowned slightly at the look on Naveh's face. She looked let down, disappointed that work was taking her father away from her again.
Brennan left the office, hurrying down to the back yard before Booth could leave again. She met him in the laundry as he was coming in from the yard. "Booth," She said putting a hand on the top of his arm.
"Hi," Booth said smiling and bending forward to kiss her gently. Brennan gasped and closed her eyes as an image of herself half naked and pressed back against the washing machine flashed through her mind. "You ok?" Booth asked. Brennan opened her eyes still able to feel Booth's lingering touches on her skin, his mouth exploring every part of her body.
"We've had sex in here," Brennan stated simply. Booth chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah we have," He said. "We were trying to make Bri some muffins with apple cider in them but we did something wrong and the batter exploded everywhere. We figured the best thing to do was just put our clothes straight in the wash and jump in the shower to get the batter out of our hair. We got there, eventually." Booth shrugged.
Brennan could see the steam from the shower, feel the heat of the water against her skin and Booth's arms holding her weight, her fingers tangled in his hair, his dark brown eyes locking with hers as he vocalised his love for her.
"We have a healthy sexual relationship?" Brennan asked swallowing hard and trying to suppress the shudder that ran down her spine.
"Very healthy," Booth smiled, bending forward to kiss her passionately again.
"Booth, I need to talk to you." Brennan said determined to focus on the reason she'd wanted to catch Booth in the first place.
"What's the matter? Are you ok?" He asked.
"I'm fine," Brennan nodded. "But you need to spend some more time with Naveh, she misses you. Every time I've seen you lately you're rushing off to work and I'm certain it's not a recent development. It breaks her heart every time you leave Booth and she's starting to expect that you just won't show up because you're working."
"I'm doing the best I can Temperance," Booth said, his temper beginning to flare quickly.
"Naveh's already told me that she accepts that you and I both have demanding jobs and that we'll have to be away from her from time to time but even I understand that we have to compensate for that somehow. We have to devote what time we can to her and find a way to ensure that that's enough. It's evident that this kind of special treatment is crucial to her development. Our lives with Naveh have to compensate for the first sixteen years of her life in order to ensure she's as well adjusted to the world as possible. She will need that in order to function correctly in the world during her adult life."
"There's nothing more that I can do," Booth said shaking his head. "Until this case is put to bed, there's nothing I can do."
"There has to be Seeley." Brennan said trying to remain calm. Anger was irrational.
"I need answers Temperance,"
"Your daughter needs you, I need you."
"Steve Sax, the man who hurt you, the man I killed," Booth said and everything suddenly became clear to Brennan.
"You're guilty," She said cutting him off. "You're guilty about killing that man. That's ridiculous Booth, it's illogical to,"
"Don't talk to me about logical." Booth said shaking his head. "Tell me how it's logical that that son of a bitch kidnapped my daughter, kidnapped my wife. Find the logic in what he's done to you, what he's taken from us."
"What's he's done to me?"
"Yes," Booth said loudly, glancing over his shoulder hoping his voice hadn't carried into the yard. "He's stolen my wife away from me Tempe, he's taken our life together away. He's taken you away from me again. And he'll never pay for that. He'll never be brought to justice but I need answers. God damn it Temperance can't you see that I'm doing this for you and for Naveh. I need to know why he did these things to my family.
"Not quite a week after Bri was found, you were abducted from the hospital parking lot. Bri overheard me on the phone talking to someone else at the bureau about it and she got up out of bed for the first time. At this stage she was still in terrible shape and she hadn't spoken since she'd woken up. She pointed out Sax's house on a map and it lead us straight to you. It was the same basement where she'd been held and the bureau hadn't been able to locate until then.
"You were only gone for a few hours. Except for a little bit of rope burn around your wrists from being tied up you were unharmed. Pissed off, but not hurt. He hadn't had enough time to do anything to you. All your injuries were a result of your struggles to get free. Bri had left the hospital against doctors' recommendations and followed us to the house. Agents stopped her before she could enter the house but as soon as the EMTs brought you out on a stretcher there was no Agent that could hold her back. She sat with you and held on to you for days and she wouldn't speak to anyone else.
"I need to know why that bastard hurt my little girl, and why he targeted my wife." He shook his head again, anger falling to despair in his features.
"Booth," Brennan said squeezing his arm. "I don't know much about our life together, or much about Naveh, but I know you. I know you want answers but you can't let this consume you because you will lose Naveh. You're doing it for her, I know that, but if you're not careful you'll push her away. She's my daughter Seeley, don't hurt her."
"Your daughter?" Booth said his temper flaring again. "Your daughter? Jesus Christ Bones, that's a line and a half. You didn't even want her," He was almost yelling again now. "You didn't want her. I had to adopt her. I had to give her a home,"
"I didn't," Brennan stopped and shook her head, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "I thought we'd moved past that."
"You don't even remember it. You don't remember her. You know nothing about her."
"But I want to learn," Brennan said quietly looking down at the tiles on the laundry floor. "Isn't that enough? I thought," She stopped and swallowed her tears. "I thought that was enough."
"It is," Naveh said from the door to the backyard. Booth and Brennan both looked around at her. "Of course it is,"
"Bri," Booth said. Naveh shook her head and pushed past him into the kitchen. "Bri stop," Booth called after her. "Come back, we need to talk about this." He said following her quickly through into the lounge room.
"Talk about what?" Naveh asked spinning around. "I am not a possession for you to use in your petty little arguments." She said. "I am a human being, I am a person, I thought I was your daughter. If all I am to you is a game piece to use, to hold over other people like a trophy than I'd rather be back on the streets."
"Naveh, you're over reacting." Booth said. The look on Naveh's face told that she couldn't believe the words she'd just heard. Her eyebrows shot to her hairline and her mouth dropped open slightly.
"No," Naveh said. "No, you did not just say that to me. I can't," She stopped and shook her head.
"Bri, please, just,"
"No, you know what, I don't even want to hear it. Just don't bother," She said turning around again and running up the stairs.
"What's going on Dad?" Parker asked. Booth turned around and saw Brennan and Parker standing in the doorway to the kitchen.
"Nothing Bud, Bri's just a bit upset."
"Is she ok? She said we could play T-Ball, she was going to get her glove and a ball we could use."
"I don't think Naveh feels up to playing T-Ball with you right now Parker." Brennan said locking eyes with Booth, making sure he was fully aware of the situation.
"Can you play with me Dad?" Parker asked. Booth broke eye contact with Brennan to look at his son.
"I," He stopped.
"Will you teach me how to play?" Brennan asked putting her hand on the five year olds shoulder. "I'm sure your dad will play after work."
"Ok," Parker shrugged. Booth's chest suddenly felt very heavy and a lead weight dropped in his stomach. Brennan had bailed him out, despite everything he'd said, she was still willing to bail him out.
"We'll teach her Sport, I'm sure she'll be pretty good once she's figured out the physics or something," Naveh said descending the stairs and smiling at Parker. She walked straight passed Booth without looking at him. "I'll race you," Naveh smiled holding up a catcher's glove and small softball.
"Cool," Parker smiled and turned around running out into the yard again. Naveh ran after him making sure to give him a decent but unnoticed head start. Brennan looked up at Booth again before turning around and following Naveh and Parker into the backyard.