Parker had been asleep for about twenty minutes but Booth had been unable to fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about Bones and what had happened between them tonight. Sure, to most people it wasn't much but to him, it was huge. A brick from the wall she had built around herself fell and Booth felt that tonight, Bones took the first step in healing.

Since he was unable to sleep he decided to go across the hall and check on Bones. His gut was telling him that she needed to be checked on and he never ignored his gut. He climbed out of bed, put his pants on, made sure Parker was still sleeping then he quietly snuck out of the room and shuffled across the hall. He knocked softly on the door. He figured that if she was awake then she would know he was coming in and if she was sleeping than she wouldn't wake. He opened the door and found her sitting up in bed, knees pulled to her chest and she was staring out the window into the dark night.

"Hello Booth." She said softly, never looking away from the window.

"Hey Bones." He sat next to her. "See anything interesting out there?"

"No. Just blackness. Just darkness."

"Then why are you looking out there?"

"I like the dark. No one can see in the dark and I like that. No one can see me."

"Why don't you want anyone to see you?"

"It's better that way."

"Bones, you can't live your life in the dark." '

"I feel safer in the dark. No one can see me and I have an advantage over everyone since my eyes have already adjusted to the dark so if someone comes in I will see them before they see me."

"Bones no one is coming for you. You are safe."

"You don't know that."

"Hodgins has excellent security. No one is getting in this house Temperance."

"What happens when I go outside again? Hodgins security team can't protect me outside."

"I'll protect you Temperance."

"You can't, you won't always be around."

"Yes I will. Bones, why are you looking for excuses not to come out into the world again?"

"I'm scared Booth. I am so damn scared."

"I know you are but for every step you take the braver you will be and for every step you take, I will be right next to you." Since the moonlight was shining on her face Booth could see the tears and fear in her blue eyes.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise Bones."

"I want to believe you Booth, I really do but…"

"No buts Bones. I want you to get better and for that to happen, you are going to need my support and you'll have it no matter what it takes." Bones laid her head against Booth's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her.

"I would like to discuss with you what you told me earlier."

"What I told you earlier?"

"You love me. You told me that you love me."

"Yes I did."

"Was that just a statement you made in the moment?"

"No. It was a statement from the heart."

"I thought…" Her voice trailed off.

"You thought what?"

"I thought I lost your love. I didn't think that I would never hear you say those words to me again."

"Honestly, after what happened I didn't think that I would ever say those words to you again but as it turns out I couldn't stop loving you. Maybe I should have fought more for us or maybe I just gave up to easily but…"

"You fought for us, for me. You fought harder for me than anyone has fought for me before and that's all that I could ask for."

"I'll always fight for you. I just need you to fight for yourself. Are you ready to do that?"

"If you would have asked me that a few hours ago I would have said no. I thought that I had nothing to live for. I thought that I was alone but apparently I was wrong."

"You were very wrong Bones. You aren't alone."

"I know that now so to answer your previous question, yes Booth I am ready to fight for myself, for my life." Booth placed his thumb under her chin and lifted her face up towards him.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to hear those words." Tears filled Booth's eyes. "You fight and I'll fight with you and one day, you will have the life that you deserve."

"A life with you?"

"If that's what you want then yeah, we will have a life together."

"I want that Booth but what about if I can't ever come out of this room."

"You're a fighter Bones and I know that if you want to come out of this room then you will but if you can't then I guess Hodgins will have another person in this mansion cause I will be moving in."

"You would do that for me? Give up your apartment, your life for me?"

"I wouldn't be giving up anything. I would be gaining so much. I would have you." He smiled tenderly at her.

"I love you Booth." Booth reached out, gently wiped her falling tears and then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Bones turned her body slightly so she was facing him. Her lips moved against his; her mouth opened and the kiss deepened. Bones wrapped her arms around his neck and lost herself in the kiss. Booth placed one hand on the back of her neck and the other on the side of her face with her burn. The instant his fingers grazed her burn she jerked away from him.

"Did I hurt you?" He gasped.

"No. I…just…please don't touch it or even look at it." She pulled away from Booth, hiding her burn behind her hand.

"Bones, you don't have to hide your burn from me."

"It's horrible. I am so ugly and I don't want you to see it or me like that."

"That burn makes no difference to me. You are beautiful to me with or without the burn."

"That's not possible." She whispered.

"It is possible and in time, I know that you will believe that too." He reached out, pulled her hand away from the burn and gently caressed it. "Beautiful. So beautiful." He mumbled placing his lips on her neck and for a few minutes, with his lips on her neck she forgot about the hell she had been through.

"I should get back into my room before Parker wakes and notices that I am not there." Booth said, reluctantly pulling away from Bones. He knew if he didn't pull away now he wouldn't be able to pull away and he didn't think Bones was ready for that yet.

"Can you stay for just a few more minutes until I fall asleep? I have trouble falling asleep."

"Of course I will." Bones pulled away from Booth, got under the covers and Booth laid next to her, wrapping an arm around her, holding her tightly. "Sleep well Bones." Booth whispered into the darkness. "I love you."

"Goodnight Booth. I love you."

Booth found himself sneaking back into the bedroom he was sharing with Parker a few minutes after eight the next morning. He had only planned on staying in Bones' room until she fell asleep but he ended up fall asleep, not waking until morning.

"Morning Dad, did you sleep good?" Parker spoke up from under the covers, causing Booth to jump.

"I…uh…I was looking for coffee." Booth stuttered. Parker rolled over and sat up.

"You are such a bad liar. I woke a few times last night and you weren't in here."

"Well I…"

"Really dad? Are you going to try and lie your way out of this? I know that you spent the night in Bones' room."

"You know no such thing."

"I have no proof cause I didn't want to snoop in case I would see something that I shouldn't see." Parker grinned and Booth rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I was in Bones' room. We were talking late last night and I ended up falling asleep."

"This is so cool." A goofy smile crossed Booth's face.

"Yeah Bub, it is cool. It is very cool."

Thirty minutes later the Booth boys were freshly showered and ready to begin their day. Together, they stepped out of their shared room and across the hall to Bones' where Parker knocked and a minute later the door opened. "Good morning." Bones greeted.

"Morning Bones." Parker wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Once Parker pulled away from Bones the three of them stood in the hallway, Booth and Bones looking at each other and Parker looking at the two of them with a knowing grin. "You guys know you want to so go ahead and do it." He told them.

"Do what?" Bones asked.

"Kiss."

"Well I…um…we…" Bones didn't know what to say.

"He's right Bones so we might as well do what the boy says."

"But shouldn't we…" Bones never got to finish her sentence because Booth surprised her by leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers.

"Good morning." He whispered when they finally broke apart.

"Good morning." She responded looking into his brown eyes and seeing nothing but love in them.

"Did you sleep well last night cause I know dad did?"

"Parker knock it off." Booth warned.

"I slept very well. Thank you for asking."

"Let's go have breakfast."

After everyone enjoyed breakfast Booth and Parker managed to convince Bones to take a walk outside to the stables. She hasn't been outside without a sedative since her attack so to say that she was anxious was an understatement.

"I…I…can't breathe." Bones gasped, clutching Booth's hands.

"Yes you can. Take slow deep breaths."

"I…"

"Bones you're safe. Look around. The sun is shining. It's a beautiful day. Take a deep breath and inhale the fresh air."

"I want to go back inside." They were five feet away from the door. She turned to go back inside but Booth held firmly to her.

"No. You aren't going inside. You're fine."

"I'm not fine. I'm scared. I want to go inside." She was sobbing softly.

"Fine go but if you do go inside then the fear wins and I thought you were going to fight."

"I'm sorry." She pulled away from Booth and rushed to the porch. Booth started after her and Parker followed.

"Hey Bones did you know that I used to be afraid to swim?" Parker asked before Bones had a chance to retreat back inside the house.

"What?" Her voice was full of confusion.

"I used to be afraid to swim." Booth was curious to see where Parker was going with this so he let this conversation continue.

"But you love swimming."

"Yeah. Now I do. When I was a kid…" Booth had to grin at that comment because Parker was still a kid. "Dad and I were swimming at some pool. Dad was already in the water and I was on my way in but I slipped on the wet cement and fell into the water. I guess I swallowed some water when I fell in and I started choking while I was under water. I thought that I was going to drown but of course dad was right there and had a hold of me the whole time."

"I'm sure that was scary." Bones sniffed and Parker nodded.

"After I fell in the water I was scared to go swimming. Even though swimming was my favorite thing to do I was scared to swim. I thought that I would drown if I went swimming again so I didn't swim for a long time." Booth was immensely proud of his twelve year old son.

"How did you overcome your fear of swimming?" Bones asked him softly.

"My dad helped me. He took me swimming and told me that he wouldn't let me drown. He told me, he promised that he would make sure that I would not drown and guess what? He kept his promise and he made sure that I didn't drown."

"You're father kept you safe." Bones concluded from this story.

"He promised me he would and he did." Parker walked over and kissed Bones' cheek. "I think Angela is yelling for me." He told them as he walked off of the porch.

"Angela is not calling for him." Bones said as Parker descended down the porch stairs.

"No she isn't."

"I don't believe that was a random story that decided to tell."

"No it wasn't. My boy is smart."

"He was reassuring me that you would keep your promise to keep me safe." Booth nodded. "I trust you Booth. It's the world that I don't trust."

"No one really trusts the world. It's a scary place." Booth reached out his hand. "One step at a time."

"I really would like a Xanax right now."

"I'm your Xanax Bones." Slowly, Bones wiped her tears and linked her fingers with his.

"One step at a time."

"Temperance Brennan. You can come back now."

"Are you coming?" Bones asked fearfully.

"If you want me to." Booth answered.

"I can't go without you."

"Let's go."

Bones was at her appointment with the plastic surgeon, her first without a sedative. It had been a week since Booth and Parker's weekend visit and since then she has come out of the Hodgins mansion. She had been coping fine on the grounds without a sedative as long as Booth was close by. Today was her first visit off the grounds.

"How are you doing?" Booth asked her once they were alone in the room.

"Fine." She snapped but Booth knew he was far from fine.

"You're blood pressure was really high."

"What do you know about blood pressure?"

"The nurse said it was high."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not." She was pale; she was sweating; she was shaking and her eyes were full of unshed nervous tears. "Take some deep breath Bones."

"I want a damn Xanax."

"You don't need one sweetheart. You are going to be fine."She was shaking her head.

"Booth…please I…" Suddenly the door to the exam room opened. Bones shrieked and jumped behind Booth. He could feel her tiny body shaking behind him. He turned around and cradled her to his chest.

"Shhh. It's okay Bones." He crooned in an attempt to soothe her soft sobs. "It's just the doctor. You're safe."

"I'm sorry I startled you Temperance."

"I…I guess that I should get used to it." Booth handed her his handkerchief and she blew her nose. "Thanks." She attempted to return the handkerchief.

"No. You keep it." He led her to the exam table and she sat down but never let go of his hand.

"How are you feeling Temperance?"

"Fine." She mumbled.

"You're blood pressure is high."

"I'm nervous."

"We'll check it again at the end of the appointment." Bones nodded. "Now, I'm going to examine your burn okay." She nodded but stiffened as the doctor examined her.

While the surgeon examined Bones, Booth held her hand and rubbed her back with his free hand, reminding her that he was there and she was safe and after a few minutes she stopped shaking and her breathing returned to normal.

"The burn is healing well. Any problems with your eye or sight?" The acid had hit her eyelid when she closed her eyes.

"None."

"If you want the surgery the burn has healed enough. Is that something that you still want?"

"It is."

"Now once the surgery is complete it will take about six weeks for you to heal and then if necessary, we will then do another graft."

"Where will the skin be grafted from?"

"Your thigh." Bones nodded.

"Will I have to take immunosuppressants?"

"No. The skin is coming from your body so your body won't think that it is foreign because it's not."

"Is there any way that you can do a hair transplant for my eyebrows?" Due to the burn, Bones lost her eyebrows and lashes of the affected eye.

"Unfortunately no. I do have the name of a tattoo artist that some of my patients use. He is very talented, very clean and very safe. He can tattoo eyebrows on and no one will know that you have a tattoo."

"Thank you. I will consider it." She took the number from the doctor. "What about scaring? After the surgery will I have scars?"

"Yes Temperance there will be scars. The burn affected all three layers of tissue so there is only so much I can do. When the surgery is done, yes there will be scaring but the damage won't be as obvious. By the time I am done, there will be a marked improvement."

"I…I…don't want scars." She whispered tearfully.

"It doesn't matter." Booth whispered. "Remember what I said. You are beautiful with or without scars." Bones simply nodded. Booth knew she wasn't ready to believe him yet but in time, he hoped that she would.

The plastic surgeon discussed the surgery with the two of them and answered questions that they had. Bones had done her research and they were sitting in the best plastic surgeon's office in D.C. Dr. Baker, does not do any non- medically induced cosmetic procedures, meaning he didn't perform any procedures on patients who wanted to change their body without a medical reason. Skin grafts on burn victims, repaired cleft palates and lips and breast implants on women who had mastectomies due to breast cancer were just some of the procedures Dr. Baker did and that was important to Bones because any other reason for plastic surgery, she did not agree with. Walking out of the office with Booth holding her hand, Bones felt confident in Dr. Baker's hands.