Disclaimer: Don't own Bones.
A/n: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I lost a bet to pal Dispatch a long time ago and payment was long overdue! :)
Let Your Walls Come Down
He could see her stress mounting with every day. His own frustration bubbled just under the surface, contained but scalding hot.
It didn't help matters any that Brennan had retreated one small but discernable step since the morning she woke up wrapped up in his arms. It was nothing overt, but he could sense it in the way she was oh so careful when she touched him, the studious way she avoided meeting his gaze every night when they were alone in his library playing Scrabble.
He let her get away with it because as much as it drove him crazy, Booth could see her struggle too. It was in the way her hands lingered just a second longer over him when they sparred. In the heat of her gaze, blue eyes going dark with something between desire and yearning in that one second before she composed herself.
Nearly every day he battled the urge to cut through the little pretense they had going and just tell her. How he wanted her all the time, how he couldn't imagine not having her in his life. Reassure her that her vulnerabilities were safe with him. Confess that just looking at her made him yearn too.
But he didn't because something told him that rushing this woman would never end well. So he waited, never imagining that losing his cool would be so completely out of his control.
-x-
She believed in what she could taste, touch, see, and hear. But walking into that auditorium it was impossible to shake the feeling that this wouldn't end well.
Brennan stood backstage, taut as a wire. The shining overhead lights made it practically impossible to see into the crowd and she was counting down the minutes until this goddamn pretend oral argument wound down. She drowned out the talking law students and scanned the packed auditorium again and again.
On stage, Daisy took the microphone after the final argument and announced the winner. There was polite applause and all four panel members—Booth and three federal judges whose names Brennan couldn't remember—moved to the center of the stage to congratulate the winning school.
Brennan watched every robe-clad judge shake hands with the two young women who eliminated the rest of the competition. Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, she chanted silently, willing herself not to rush forward and rush Booth off the stage. A movement on the upper level caught her attention.
Her body tensed. The upper level was supposed to be empty. She took a step forward, coming out of the backstage shadows and raising a hand to shield her gaze against the bright auditorium lights. There was definitely someone up there. Her heart beat erratically. "Agent Sullivan," she said tightly into the small in-line microphone of her earpiece. "Are any of your agents on the upper level?"
Sully had gotten permission to sprinkle a few agents in the crowd during the competition. His answer came back two heartbeats later. "No."
"Booth!"
She was running, heart pounding. Her body slammed into him and the unmistakable sound of a fired shot had screams erupting in the packed auditorium.
-x-
She still had a key and she didn't hesitate to use it.
"Sully!"
He looked rumpled and strained and uninjured. Cam launched herself at him. "You're fine," she said in gut-clenching relief. "Oh god, you're fine."
His arms closed around her. "Yeah," he whispered, meeting her lips in a soothing kiss.
"I didn't … I heard on the news there had been—" Cam swallowed, pressed her forehead to his shoulder. "They said someone was injured. W-was it Booth?"
"Brennan."
"Oh no," Cam said softly. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah," Sully sighed, soothed himself by stroking a hand down her back. "Bullet just grazed her. She got patched up on scene."
"God, Sully." Her distressed gaze met his. "What a nightmare."
"I know." He picked her up and walked with her to the couch, settling her on his lap. "Bastard was out of there in the blink of an eye, but CSU is going over the scene with a fine tooth comb. If he left anything behind, we'll find it."
"That's twice," she shuddered. "What if next time—?"
"Shhh," he kissed the top of her head. "I'm gonna fucking make sure there's not a next time."
"If this bastard hurts either of you," she whispered against his neck, "I'm gonna kick his ass myself."
Sully smiled into her hair, cupping a hand over her nape. "I love you, Cam."
Her eyes closed, heartbeat jumping. "Sully…"
A heartfelt sigh escaped his lips as he tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. "Look at me." He'd had a hellish day, he was exhausted, and he was home just to shower and change before heading back to work, but she was the one thing he would never consider giving up on. "I'm too tired to fight you today, but I love you and that's just not gonna change."
His voice was low and steady and it made her eyes practically tear up. "Oh, Sul."
She said his name in a tiny voice that hit him right in the gut. "Tell me you don't love me," he dared softly.
Lips pressed together before Cam replied, just as soft, "You know I can't."
Eyes firing up, he captured her mouth in a hard kiss. "Come home." It was demand and plea as he wound his hands into her hair and landed kiss after kiss on her lips. "Come home, baby. I miss you so damn much."
Just like that, her frighteningly weak self-control shattered. With a soft cry, she was twisting in his lap, yanking open his shirt, running feverish kisses over his face. His hands slid along her thighs, pushing up her skirt, fingers tangling in her underwear. He swallowed her moan, spilled a groan of his own into her mouth.
Sully flipped her under him and she tore at his pants, hands shoving down his boxers. He was hard in an instant, rasping out her name as she stroked him firmly. God, it had been too fucking long since he'd touched her.
There was a flurry of frantic touches and missed-you-so-hard kisses. Cam spread her legs as much as possible in the narrow confines of the couch and begged wordlessly with the sensual movements of her body under his. He slid a hand to cup her bottom and buried himself inside her in a single stroke.
"God, yes!" she gasped, shuddering in pleasure and relief.
His forehead pressed against hers. "I'm not letting you go again," he warned, lips brushing hers on the words. "You're staying." Teeth bit gently on her bottom lip. "Say it, Cam."
Her hips bucked under him, urging him to move. He didn't. "Sully," she panted.
"You're staying," he repeated implacably. "And you're marrying me."
Her eyes dilated wildly. "Are you crazy?"
He grinned down at her. "You make me crazy." A sweet kiss fell against her mouth. "But in this, I'm dead serious. I've got a ring that's been waiting for you for nearly six months."
"Six months?" The math made her head spin.
His grin disappeared, gaze turning solemn. "I got it the day before you left," he confirmed softly.
Her heart squeezed, remembering that night. Her tears, his pleas, walking out the door and frantically telling herself it was the best thing for both of them. Her arms went around him tightly. "I'm so sorry."
"Just say yes, Cam."
"This is blackmail," she groaned with a small bite to his shoulder.
"Just say yes," he repeatedly softly, an open-mouthed kiss to her throat and the barest roll of his hips. "You know you want to. You know I'll make you happy."
She did know; that had never been the issue. "But will I make you happy?"
"Every damn day." He had no doubt. She made him happy just by breathing. "I love you, baby."
"God, I love you too, Sully."
He smiled, nuzzled at her neck. "That's a yes, right?"
She laughed, almost six months' worth of tension and sadness unfurling into pure happiness. "Yes, you crazy man." Her legs tightened around him, arms winding around his neck. "Yes, yes, yes."
He captured her mouth and began to move in an easy rhythm that picked up speed and force with every soft moan out of her mouth. When she cried out, he groaned loudly, letting himself go as well.
Sweaty, panting, and still half-dressed, he held her in his arms and stroked her hair. Wet tears against his chest made him tense up. "Cam?" Sully shifted, trying to look at her face. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"We can't have children, Sully," she sniffled sadly against his chest. "It's so unfair."
"Oh, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead and comforted her the way he hadn't been able to do months earlier. "I know it is. So damn unfair. But that doesn't mean we can't have a family of our own, if that's what you want."
"What do you want?"
"I want to wake up with you and make love to you and fight with you and let you drive me crazy for the rest of my life."
Cam let out a watery laugh and pinched his stomach. "Hey."
He gave a goofy smile and laced his fingers with hers. "I swear to god, Cam, that's what I've wanted since I saw you sitting in that restaurant." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "All I could think about was that I had been an absolute idiot fighting Booth for so long when he tried to set us up."
She giggled. "I just went so that he would stop bothering me about it." Her lips curved up in remembrance. "And I had my sister ready to call me with an emergency if things went south."
"She did call you!" Sully remembered in mock outrage.
"Yes." Cam nodded primly. "But lucky for you, I had no interest in being rescued anymore."
Sully chuckled softly. "Damn right."
-x-
While Cam and Sully smiled foolishly at each other, Booth and Brennan made their way back home, barely even sparing a glance in each other's direction.
Booth stormed into his house with barely controlled fury. Brennan followed him warily, well aware that her adamant refusal to go to a hospital pissed him off. But it would be absolutely worthless; she had a scratch, the bullet just barely grazing her forearm. Certainly, she'd had much more serious injuries in the past but informing Booth of that didn't seem the best idea.
He'd argued with her at the scene as the EMTs patched her up and when he realized her resistance was absolute he'd simply waited in stony silence while she'd spoken with the FBI. Then he'd driven them straight home without saying a word. Brennan had to admit the stormy silence had her on edge.
"Booth—"
"You're fired."
She didn't even blink. "You can't fire me."
"I just did."
She gave him a frosty look. "I don't work for you."
"You're not my personal security detail anymore, Brennan," he gritted out, the gut-wrenching panic in his stomach when he realized she'd been hit still very much present. "End of discussion."
"No," she denied, stubbornly. "Look, I'm sorry he was able to take a shot at you today, but I warned you about that damn competition didn't I?" She was angry herself just thinking about it. "And the fact of the matter is, that there's almost no one else that would have been able to react quicker than I did. You have every reason to be angry, but if you think someone else could have prevented—"
"Oh my god," he breathed in disbelief, finally realizing her thought process here. "You think this is because he took a shot at me!" The end of the sentence was practically roared and she blinked in surprise. "You're fucking unbelievable."
Furious and goddamn it, still feeling that residual shot of terror, Booth walked away from her. He stalked to the kitchen, thinking maybe a nice stiff drink would calm him down because at the moment he was losing every ounce of control.
"I'm confused," Brennan conceded, a little cautiously as she followed after him. He looked angrier than she'd ever seen him. "Do you not want to fire me because I failed to do my job?"
"Yeah," he seethed, refusing to enlighten her. Booth turned to face her, gaze shuttered, voice cold. "That's exactly the reason why."
"All right, you're obviously lying." He actually looked ready to strangle her, but she took a tentative step forward. "I am obviously missing something important here. Can you please just tell me so I don't have to guess."
"No, you know what, I don't think I will." Booth could hardly believe her obliviousness level and it angered him enough that he refused to play translator. She didn't realize the thought of anything happening to her was enough to make him homicidal. Which probably meant that he was playing alone on this particular chess board. Awesome. He was crazy about her and she was goddamn clueless. "Doesn't matter anyway. Your protection is no longer needed and—"
"I am not going to put your life in someone else's hands," she interrupted harshly, ramming an angry finger into his chest. "Whatever ridiculous reason you suddenly have for deciding you don't need my protection anymore, you can shove it. I am not going anywhere."
Any other time, he would have been amused by her words. He knew the term shove it had not been in her lexicon until last week. But he was in no mood to be amused. In fact, he felt just about ready to come apart at the seams.
"My reason is not ridiculous," he hissed, automatically grabbing her wrist to stop her poking finger.
"Then tell me," she demanded, her voice suddenly desperate. "Please, just tell me what's going on. I'll fix it, I swear. Whatever it is, I'll take care of it."
"You can't." He laughed, but the sound was hollow. "You're the reason."
She blinked at him, her gaze still uncomprehending and he just broke. Yanking her against him, his arms closed around her like steel and his mouth crashed on hers furiously for just a second. "It's you, all right. It's the fact it makes me crazy just thinking about you, jumping in front of that bullet today. It's the fact I can't stand that you got hurt today because of me."
"It was nothing," she whispered hoarsely, feeling almost dazed by the passionate fury in his kiss and his arms holding her so close to him. "And it's my job."
"Not anymore," he replied, implacably.
"I'm not leaving." She was just as determined. "I'm not going to trust you to anyone else." The mere thought was unacceptable and her hands skimmed over his chest in unconscious reassurance.
Her words were telling and they made him swallow. It seemed he'd been wrong about one thing; whatever was going on between them, he wasn't alone in it. Booth wanted to let her go, but yet he could only bring her closer. "I can't let you stay," he said huskily, breathing her in.
"And I can't go," she whispered as her mouth crashed against his in a frenzy.