AN… I really struggled with this one, but I think I'm happy with how it turned out. Big thanks to GreysistheCatsPajamas for the read-thru and encouragement! Everyone else, let me know what you think! :-)

Chapter 14 - Demons

Brennan sat on the sofa in Angela's office. Her friend sat back and watched. Angela didn't like the weariness she saw in Brennan's features, but she was proud of her for sticking around and dealing with the situation.

She knew that things had been tough for her friend. Since his suspension and enforced therapy sessions with Sweets, Booth seemed to be more volatile than he was before. It was like, once his demons were brought out into the open, they thrived rather than subsided.

Brennan was tired.

"How are you doing, sweetie?" Angela asked.

"I'm fine, Ange," came the standard reply.

"Brennan, talk to me. I know you're not fine."

"No, really, I am."

"Okay then, how's Booth doing?"

"I honestly don't know, Angela," Brennan said. Opening her eyes for the first time in the conversation, she looked at her friend. "His mood swings are getting worse. I think that therapy with Sweets was a bad idea."

"He needs to talk to someone, Bren."

"I agree, but not Sweets," she said with a sigh. "Sweets is part of our family, he's too close to it. He's engaged to Daisy… she's too close to it… but mostly, Booth has never really given Sweets the respect that one needs to have for their therapist. I'm afraid he's not taking it seriously."

"I still can't believe you're advocating therapy," Angela said with a wry smile.

"I'm advocating whatever is going to give my husband his life back. And I will admit that therapy has been good for me."

"It just sucks," Angela said, dejected. "I mean, when is the universe gonna cut you guys a break?"

Both women looked up at Hodgins stepped in to the doorway.

"Hey, Dr. B," he said in greeting before turning to his wife. "Babe, it's getting late."

Angela looked at Brennan and then back at Hodgins.

"It's all right, Ange," Brennan said. "Go home, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Angela asked, preparing her things to go home.

"I'm sure. Go."

"Don't stay here too late," Angela said. "Promise me, Brennan."

"I won't," Brennan gave a half-hearted reply.

BnBnBnBnBnB

It was after midnight when Brennan returned to her apartment. She'd promised Angela she wouldn't stay late, and she knew she should've gone home earlier but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Today had been one of his bad days. She was doing everything she could to be a supportive and loving wife, but there were days when Booth made that very difficult. Today was one of his surly days. He was sulky and brooding. She liked it better when he was snappish and sarcastic, at least then she could fight back. She didn't know how to react when he was sullen and withdrawn. That's how he'd been each time she'd talked to him throughout the day. It had been taxing, to say the least. She'd stayed at the lab much longer than she needed to, and for that she felt guilty, but she just couldn't help it.

Tonight, she didn't have the energy to face him… and she hated it.

Silently, she made her way through the apartment and got ready for bed. She slipped in beside him and quickly fell in to an exhausted sleep.

BnBnBnBnBnB

Booth sat at the kitchen island, watching as Brennan poured coffee and carried two mugs over to where he was sitting. She set one of them down in front of him, and took the stool next to him.

"What are you going to do today?" she asked.

"I was thinking about sitting around watching soap operas and eating bon-bons."

She gave him the 'I'm not amused' look over the rim of her mug.

"What the hell do you want me to do, Bones?"

"Nothing, Booth," she said, standing up. "I don't want you to do anything."

She carried her mug to the sink, rinsed it out and then went to the living room to pick up her bags. It was the second week of Booth's suspension and he was growing increasingly tense. His mood swings were becoming more prevalent and he was constantly on edge. She took turns both ignoring him and trying to soothe him.

"I'm going to work," she said.

"Good for you," he spat, watching as she walked to the front door. "At least you have a job to go to."

"So do you," she said, spinning back around in the doorway. She set her bags down and closed the door. She walked back into the apartment and stood facing him. "Look," she said. "I know you're hurting. I hate seeing you go through this, but I can't help you if you're not going to help yourself."

She turned and talked back to the door. Picking up her bags, she turned back to him as she opened the door.

"I love you," she said, and closed the door behind her.

BnBnBnBnB

December:

Booth lay back against the pillows, holding his wife in his arms. He couldn't remember a time when he'd ever been this happy, but something was overshadowing his happiness. He was going to have to leave her in two days, and the weight of that was palpable… it was like someone had set a cinder block on his chest.

He sighed, more loudly than he realized.

Brennan knew he was thinking about going back. She thought she understood what he was feeling. They were still together, and yet she could already feel the loss of him. Part of her thought that was because he was pulling away… he was already going back there in his head. She knew that he had to prepare himself mentally, but selfishly she wanted to keep him with her as long as she could. She wanted to understand what he was going through. She wanted to be there for him in the way that a wife should. The problem was that she had no idea how.

"What is it like?" she asked quietly. They'd talked a little about it while he was in the hospital, but she knew he'd intentionally kept the conversations as light as possible. He was always trying to shield her from pain. Even when the pain was his…especially when the pain was his.

"What?" he asked.

"What's it like for you," she repeated. "Over there?"

He lay silently for a few minutes, searching for the words to ease her mind. He couldn't tell her how it really was. Fortunes of war, and all that. Those were things that you only talked about with other guys who lived it.

"You know," he said finally. "It is what it is. It's tough, watching the kids I'm training… You know I can't really talk about it, but I thought I was coming over here to teach them to be cops, not snipers. Here's a lesson, Bones. Always read the fine print."

He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

"I don't really want to talk about it, baby," he said quietly. "I'm laying in bed with the most beautiful woman in the world. I don't want to waste precious time talking about that hellhole. I just want to enjoy the rest of our honeymoon," he went on, slowly tracing the length of her spine with his fingers, "then get back there, finish up the next six months and come home to you and our life."

"Sounds like a good plan," she said. "I always knew you were very intelligent."

BnBnBnBnB

"Damn it, Sweets," Booth said, pacing the younger man's office. "I thought you were supposed to be fixing this. It's not getting better, it's getting worse."

Sweets sat back and watched as Booth continued to pace.

"Two weeks ago," Booth went on. "I was doing fine. I was handling things, you know? Then one little blow-up and I can't seem to rein it in. This anger, it's like letting a genie out of the bottle. I can't sleep, I'm edgy, I'm taking it out on Bones… this is unacceptable, Sweets."

"You're right," Sweets said calmly. "It is. So what are you going to do about it?"

"Isn't that your job?" Booth asked.

He was in full-blown seething mode, to the point of nostrils flaring. Sweets had been on the receiving end of these rants before. He knew that Booth would pull it together on his own, he just needed to vent. That was his way. Up until now, Sweets had thought that the method actually worked for the agent, but he was coming to realize that it wasn't a coping mechanism, it was a mask.

"I can't fix you Agent Booth, and neither can Dr. Brennan."

"I get that, Sweets," Booth said, sitting down on the couch. "I really do. But I don't know what to do about it."

"First thing?"

"Yeah," Booth said with a nod.

"You need to find someone to talk to," Sweets said. "Did you do what we talked about?" He stood, watching as Booth looked up at him. "You didn't, did you? Booth, I know you hate this. Believe me, it's no picnic for me either," he let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry. Look, I know you want to work through this, it's not just about Hacker forcing you to see me. Let's find what's gonna work for you. You recognize the problem, and you want to change it. Your friends, your family, they're all behind you. Dr. Brennan is here for you and so am I, but you have to do the work."

"All right," Booth said. "All right. I'll do it."

BnBnBnBnBnB

Booth looked up at the house in front of him. He'd been sitting in the driveway for almost ten minutes. He was sure they knew he was out there, so he couldn't just back the car out and drive away.

He didn't know why this visit was so hard. It's not like it was the first time. They were his friends, and had been there for him for years.

So why did it feel now like he had failed?

Slowly, he opened the door and climbed out of the car. By the time he made it to the front porch, the couple was there at the opened door to greet him.

"Hi Jenny," he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Nice wheels," her husband said.

"Yeah, I could say the same to you," Booth said with a genuine smile. Then he looked over his shoulder at the Mercedes. "One of the perks of having a wife who's rich and famous. It was actually a gift from her publisher a few years back."

"I thought maybe you were gonna stay in there all night."

"I'm going to go in and finish dinner," Jenny said. "You boys take your time. I'll bring out some drinks."

"The boss has spoken," Hank said with a smile, indicating for Booth to take a seat.

Hank Lutrell was one of the few people Booth felt comfortable really talking with. They had served together in Kosovo, where Hank had lost the use of his legs. Booth had always admired Hank because he never let anything get in his way. Some guys would have been so stuck in anger and defeat after an injury like his that they never climbed out of it. But not Hank, he just picked up and went on. He went to law school, married Jenny and had three great kids. Now, he served as a family court judge.

If anyone could understand what Booth was going through, it would be Hank. Sweets had sent him to talk to his old friend about the things that he still couldn't bring himself to talk to Sweets or even Bones about. Sweets said it was the first step in getting over whatever it was that was holding on to that anger that was so embedded within him.

So, here he was… doing what the baby duck told him to do. If talking about the war was going to fix things, then he'd do it. He'd do it for Bones.

But he'd rather be building a barbeque.