Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.
Leland Adama: I put lyrics in because I like music including the words, I do not assume everyone knows what song I am speaking of. This story is tagged as Romance/Drama so there is going to be drama in it. Not to be rude but if you don't like drama feel free at anytime to stop reading. There will be alot more to come.
Mendenbar: Thank you for that math lesson and just like in high school I"ll ignore it cause I hate math =P.
Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews!
Chapter 34: I Couldn't Watch
"I thought tomorrow while you were having some classes I'd talk to Dr. Brennan about some therapeutic methods," Sweets told Booth.
"That's fine but don't push. She's talking and I don't want her to close up," Booth told him.
"Hellooo I am the psychologist here," Sweets mumbled.
"Yeah but you don't know how to talk to her," Booth grunted. Finishing his dinner Booth stood up, left the mess tent and headed towards Brennan's tent.
"He's a mess," Parks said. Sweets nodded in agreement and continued to eat.
"Are you going to help him?" Parks asked him with a grunt.
"When he's ready he will talk to me. Booth knows when he needs help," Sweets said with confidence. Booth knocked on the door of Brennan's tent and waited for an answer.
"Come in studly," Angela called out, so he opened the door and stepped into the tent.
Angela and Brennan were smiling and laughing. Booth knew by the way that they were looking at him they were sharing details, his face turned pink, which caused the to laugh even harder. Rolling his eyes, he lifted Brennan into a sitting position. Scooting in behind her, he pulled her back between his legs and supporting her upper body with his chest.
"You know Ange my pillow is all hard," Brennan told Angela with a grin. Angela burst into laughter and Booth's face flamed red.
"Angela, I believe she was talking about my stomach," Booth groaned out.
"Yes, I was what did she think-oh no Angela he does not currently have an-" her sentence was cut off by Booth's hand over her mouth. Angela was laughing so hard tears were rolling down her face.
"I swear you two are a pair. One blunt and one prudish," Angela giggled.
"I will remove my hand if this conversation takes another direction," Booth told them.
"Okay studly we'll let your prudish ways direct the conversation," Angela agreed. The sounds of the guitar drifted over the night air. Conversation in the tent paused as the occupants listened.
"Okay children I have to go eat if you need anything Hodgins is here," Angela said cheerily.
"Bye Ange," Brennan said turning her head to the screen with a smile. Angela stood up and walked away.
"I hate laying here day after day doing nothing," Brennan grumped.
"Your healing baby, you're not doing nothing," Booth soothed her.
"Don't call me baby," she grumped again. Booth chuckled at her grumpiness.
"Okay sweetheart," Booth teased her. Thumping her head on his chest in frustration Brennan caused him chuckle.
"You are going to get in trouble if you keep staying in here every night," Brennan told him.
"Nahh Henderson thinks you walk on air. So if it makes you happy it makes him happy," Booth smiled at her.
"It is physically impossible to walk on air Booth," Brennan corrected him.
"It's a saying Bones. It means he thinks your perfect," Booth explained making her laugh.
"I figured some time tomorrow I could take you to the showers. I'm sure you're tired of sponge baths," Booth told her.
"Mmm yes that would be nice. However I cannot stand by myself or move my arms so that might not be feasible," she said with a frown.
"Let me worry about that," Booth told her with a smile, having already figured out to do it. As they sat there listening to the music that had continued drifting around them Booth felt a wet feeling under his knee.
"Um Booth. I think I'm bleeding again," Brennan whispered in a mortified tone. Booth eased from behind her and stood up. He pulled back the sheets and assessed where the bleeding was coming from.
"Is it well uhh you know?" Booth asked waving his hands in an embarrassed manner.
"No," she whispered.
"Jesus Bones," Booth rasped out. He saw the bruising creeping above her short line. She started to cry again and Booth picked her up and pulled her into his lap.
"Booth I'm bleeding all over you," she cried on him.
"Doesn't matter," Booth muttered as she continued to cry on his shoulder.
"I thought you were a virgin until you were twenty-two," Booth murmured.
"Voluntarily I was. It was an important decision," she cried.
Booth squeezed her tighter to his chest and continued to let her cry, this was one trauma he was not going to ask about. Pain and anger constricted his chest and clenched around his heart. It took an hour before Booth heard her deep and even breathing, at that point he knew she was asleep.
Laying her on the bed he picked up the container they had been using for sponge baths and went to get some water. When he stepped out of the tent, he found Legates standing there. He glared at the man who just shrugged.
"What do you need Sarge?"
"Clean sheets," Booth grunted and headed to get the water.
Carrying the water back into the tent he set it down on the floor. Steeling himself he gently stripped off her clothes and stared in horror at the hand shaped bruises on her hips and thighs. Briefly closing his eyes, Booth took a deep breath, exhaled through his nose, reopened his eyes and quickly wiped the blood off of her. Picking her up, he sat down with her in his lap.
"Legates get in here please," Booth called out quietly. Legates came in the room and quickly stripped the sheets and put clean ones on.
"Look Sarge, I was in the system to. I know it happens and I won't say a word," he whispered with sad eyes.
Booth nodded and Legates quickly left the tent. Booth laid her on the bed, then stripped down and crawled in with her. Carefully he wrapped himself around her and let the silent tears for her pain fall. Falling into a restless sleep, he spent the night in a world of strange dreams.
Afghanistan: July 21st
Booth jerked awake an hour before reveille and gently slid from the bed. He moved her over so she was more comfortable. Looking down he sighed and pulled on his clothes and headed to his tent for clean clothes. When he entered he heard Parks whistle at the blood on his clothes.
"What the hell happened to you man?"
"Nothing."
"Uh huh," Parks said nonchalantly. Booth whirled on him and with a glare told him,
"Bones bled on me okay? Why is completely none of your business," Booth snarled causing Parks to jerk back.
"Is she okay?"
"Relatively speaking yes. Now if you will excuse me," Booth growled as he quickly changed his clothes.
Turning he snapped to attention and saluted the flag as reveille drifted around the camp. When the morning ritual was complete, Booth headed to the mess tent, got his breakfast and sat down. Sweets sat down next to him and appraised him. Booth rubbed his hands down his face.
"Be careful with her this morning she is going to be very resistant to talking," Booth murmured to Sweets who nodded. Booth drank his coffee and ate a piece of bacon. Staring at his plate his eyes glazed over.
"It is going to get worse before it gets better Booth," Sweets said in a low tone. Sweets jerked back as Booth turned to stare at him with eyes glazed in tears.
"I don't think it can get much worse than what it did last night Sweets," Booth whispered.
Standing up he left the table, leaving everything behind. Striding across the camp to the range, he signed out a weapon and began to shoot, the rhythmic routine somewhat soothing his nerves. By the time, his unit showed up he had emptied one clip and was working on his second one. They watched in stunned amazement as he fired shot after shot through the target, effectively shredding the paper target. When he emptied the second clip, he turned to them.
"Your turn sign out your weapons," Booth yelled and walked off to observe their practice shots.
"Let me guess you think you're a bad ass because you can shoot really big holes in a target," Francis taunted from behind Booth. Booth ignored the man and went to help Oaks adjust his line of sight.
"Sergeant Francis, let me give you a piece of advice. Beware of the anger of a patient man. It's not smart to piss off a sniper that holds the record for the longest shot. He could shoot you between the eyes from over a kilometer away," Henderson told Francis. Francis jerked around and swallowed hard as he realized the implications of his actions.
"Yes general," Francis said and walked away.
Sweets knocked on Brennan's tent door and went in when he heard her call for him to enter.
"Good morning Dr. Brennan. How are you today?"
"Fine," came her reply.
"Okay," Sweets said in a doubtful voice. She rolled her eyes at him as he sat down.
"I'm not here to ask you about anything that happened. I will listen if you want to tell me but I know you are a very private person." She nodded slowly and her eyes began to cloud over. Sweets looked at her and saw her start to tremble.
Leaning over he called softly to her,
"Dr. Brennan are you okay?"
She began to cry and Sweets blinked as blood seeped between her fingers. He grabbed the cloth Booth had left from the night before. He wrapped her fingers and applied light pressure. Sweets watched in helplessness as the ever strong woman start sobbing.
"He left me; he died and left me alone. He promised he wouldn't leave me," she gasped out between sobs. Sweets swallowed as he saw the evidence of the trauma he caused with his experiment. Hearing men walking down the path, Sweets listened harder until he heard a voice he recognized.
"Booth! I need you in here," Sweets called out.
"Sarge! Dr. Sweets needs you," Brown hollered over his shoulder. Booth ran passed his unit and came rushing into the tent.
"Jeez Sweets what did you do? Why is she bleeding?"
"She is bleeding from her fingers on her left hand," Sweets told him. Booth sat on the edge of the bed.
"Bones, what's going on," Booth questioned softly. At the sound of his voice, her breaths came in ragged gasps as she cried.
"You left me alone. You promised me you wouldn't leave me alone," she sobbed. She lifted her hands up near her face and began to weep even harder.
"I had your blood all over my hands. I couldn't wash it off it was all I had left of you," she cried.
"Sweets go get some gauze right now," Booth said in a low deadly tone.
Booth pulled her into a sitting position and held her against his chest. Holding her with one arm he pulled her hand to his chest so she could feel his heart beat. The emotion she was showing from his supposed death rocked him to the core. He had thought that she had not cared when he died from her actions at his funeral, now he knew differently. Sweets walked in carrying bandages. Picking up her hand gently Sweets wrapped Brennan's hands. Booth's jaw was clenched as he glared at Sweets.
"Booth I-"
"Don't Sweets just don't say anything," Booth gritted out. Sweets finished wrapping her hands then quietly left the tent.
"I shot her and it didn't bother me. She had shot you and you were dying. The doctor came to me at the hospital and told me you were dead. I went numb I didn't know what to do. I-I took a cab to your apartment," she was still crying. Booth pulled her tighter to his chest and rested his chin on her head.
"I slept in your bed, in one of your shirts. I slept with your blood on me. I didn't leave your for a week. It took me two days to wash your blood from my hands. I couldn't go to your funeral. I couldn't watch them put you in a hole in the ground." Booth took a shuddering breath and held on to her.
"That will never happen again. I'll make sure that I am the last to go," he whispered.
"You can't promise that," she half sobbed and half laughed.
"I'll do my best," Booth promised. Sniffling she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him to her tighter.
"Hey you're moving your arms," he teased her.
"I'm tired," she whispered in an annoyed tone, he chuckled at her annoyance.
"Yeah, okay," he said then kissed the top of her head. Gently laying her back on the bed, he stood up and left the tent. Moving to the mess hall, he got his lunch and sat down. His unit sat clustered around him in concern but Booth remained silent as he picked at his food. Henderson sat down across from him.
"Is she getting better?" Henderson asked and Booth looked up with his eyes red rimmed.
"Yeah she's getting there. She can move from the waist up now," he told the general. Sweets sat down next to him.
"Agent Booth none of this is your fault," he told Booth.
"No Sweets this last go around this was your fault. You and your stupid experiment. Do you realize how much you hurt her? DO YOU? The other stuff THAT was my fault. If I had not taken her into the field, she would not have to deal with most of this. Her compartments would not have filled up," Booth was just above a whisper strained with anger and pain.
Booth stood up grabbed his tray dumped it in the trash and stormed to his tent. He changed into his running gear, jogged to the running track and began to run. Parks was sitting on the benches near the running track when Booth blew past him. Looking up from his book, Parks frowned then glanced at his watch. Half an hour later, Booth's unit was on the same set of benches watching him run.
"Wonder how many miles he'll do today?"
"Given the difference between times that he started today and yesterday. His average length I'd say ten miles give or take a lap," Goodman estimated. Davis let out a low whistle and sat back to watch.
"I wonder what Dr. Sweets did to piss him off that much?" Johnson wondered out loud.
"Agent Booth was shot in the chest. They wouldn't let her back to see him. The FBI faked his death and I was responsible for notifying people he listed that he was not in fact dead. Dr. Brennan was on the list and I failed to notify to see if I could make her face some emotions she wouldn't otherwise face," Sweets said in a low tone.
He was standing just behind the benches with his hands in his pockets watching Booth run. Booth's entire unit snatched their heads around almost in unison.
"Dude that is fucked up," Techie growled. Sweets nodded in agreement to Techie's statement.
"I did not realize her emotional trauma at the time. If I had I would not have done it," Sweets said to no one in particular. Techie growled low in his throat and stalked off, he came back a few moments later and joined Booth on the track.
"Ten and half miles for Sarge and seven for Techie," Goodman said looking at his watch.
"How in the hell do you do that Goodman?"
"Like I said yesterday simple math," he smirked. They stood up and went to the mess tent or their own tent depending on their stomachs. Booth slowed down to a jog and took a cool down lap. He walked to Brennan's tent and heard voices coming from the tent.
"Come in Booth," she called out softly at his knock.
"Hey how'd you know it was me," he said grinning when he stepped inside.
"I saw your shadow," she smiled back. He looked over and saw her talking to Cam. He smiled at Cam who smiled back.
"Okay Bones how about a shower?" She glanced hesitantly at him as if she expected him to treat her different. He raised his eyebrow in question, she nodded just as hesitantly.
"Let me go get a nurse to remove your medical stuff," he told her. Turning he left the tent and walked to the med unit.
"Dr. Brennan," Cam said gently, Brennan turned to look at Cam.
"Booth loves you, nothing that has happened to you or anything you may say because of it will change that. Trust him," she told Brennan quietly.
A/N: I know no where in the cannon did they say that she was sexually abused, but given the statistics and I'm not going to list them because they are outright horrifying, the probability was likely. Okay so on to next chapter...showering, Rwanda, Francis being stupid (nothing new there), Booth in his drawers, cats in briar patches, more Francis ( cause I know how much ya'll love him), and a chicken dinner.
I doubt any of my readers will know who I am talking about but I still am going to say it. R.I.P Krey MacCleod you will be greatly missed, the world is dimmer place without you in it.
Reviews make me feel loved and I need some love today