Hello, hello! This one takes place between seasons 7 and 8, but calls way further back than that. Aliens in a Spaceship, anyone?
Thanks to the incomparable jadedrepartee for the help!
Faith
It was 2am and he was still awake. He'd tried, just like every night, to sleep but he just couldn't drift away into peace like he wanted to. His dreams were fraught with tension and the sound of Christine's cries and if he was lucky enough to be dreamless, it was only because he tossed and turned and never actually slept at all.
He was so tired.
He wasn't about to give up, of course. His girls were out there, somewhere, and he would find them.
But damn if he wasn't exhausted.
He hadn't slept well since they'd left, but if he was honest, he would admit that something new was keeping him up at night.
He was losing his faith.
Faith that this nightmare would ever end.
Faith in his abilities to bring them home.
Faith that he would ever get to be happy again.
He was trudging along, every day, but it was getting harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other when every step seemed to get him exactly nowhere.
Desperate for something to numb his mind, he pulled one of his partner's books off the shelf. "Hunting Humans: The Anthropology of the Serial Killer."
It seemed interesting enough to attempt to read, but dull enough to put him to sleep.
Until he opened it and a paper fell out.
His eyes fell to the chapter header. "The Grave Digger," he read in a mutter, as he fingered the paper that had fallen into his lap.
It wasn't a regular piece of notebook paper or computer paper, but smaller, not unlike the pages of the book he was reading. It was smudged with dirt and slightly yellowed with age. For some reason his heart was pounding and everything in him knew this wasn't just a bookmark.
With slow and careful fingers, he unfolded the mystery.
Written in his partner's even hand were words he'd never seen before:
Booth-
Don't feel guilty. I am certain you did everything you could.
Thank you—for everything.
-Bones.
He was astounded by her faith in him so long ago.
He knew her belief in him, in what he could do, was stronger now.
With her endless faith in him, he could feel his own faith returning.
He settled back on the couch, running his fingers over her writing as if he could feel her presence in the words.
He would do this.
He would bring them home.
And with his hand on his chest, her note of confidence tucked securely between his palm and his heart, he slept.