A/N: Thank you all for the feedback. =] I'm glad you were all so happy that it was Booth to the rescue. I love me some heroic Booth. ;]

This chapter was kind of a pain in the neck to write. I'm not sure why, but it took me forever. So just tell me what you think. =]

Chapter Fifty:

"Don't Apologize"

The crisp, cold air was blowing softly through Brennan's hair as she explained her injuries to Booth, as opposed to the EMT, who was the original person to ask the question, occasionally letting go of his shirt to gesture towards the part of her body she was speaking of. Booth was nodding intently as he listened to her, keeping his eyes on the top of her head, since she had her head tilted to watch her hands as she spoke, only occasionally glancing up to make sure he was still listening. He'd glance at the EMT every so often to make sure he was listening, because even though she thought she was explaining to Booth, it was the EMT who actually needed to know, so he could help fix her up.

"I'm sorry," Booth whispered, feeling immensely guilty when she spoke.

"You didn't kidnap and torture me," she stated, simply, looking back up at him, even when her hands didn't leave his shirt, "don't apologize."

"I shouldn't have let you go get your wallet," he shook his head, feeling slightly ashamed of himself for being so stupid, "I should have went with you. I should have been able to-"

"Stop," Brennan demanded, her voice soft, even with the undeniable tone of firmness, cutting him off mid-sentence as she went back to watching her hands, "just, stop, Booth."

"Alright," Booth kept his voice quiet, giving her a nod of his head as his gaze shifted downwards to rest on the same place hers did, watching her absent mindedly bunch up the fabric of his shirt between her fists, then unclench, only letting go to smooth the fabric back down.

"Okay, Doctor Brennan," the EMT said, continuing even when she didn't make any indications that she was listening, "I'm going to just give a quick examination here, then we'll take you back to the hospital. You're going to just have to stay for tonight, since there's no major trauma to your internals," he paused when she didn't respond, "Doctor Brennan?"

Brennan's face was blank as she took a sip of her water, having completely blocked out everything the EMT had said to her.

"Bones?" Booth asked.

"What?"

"Are you listening?"

"Yes, of course I am."

Booth stepped to the side, giving the EMT his silent okay, hearing only a small whine of protest from Brennan when he stepped out from in front of her.

"It's okay, Bones," Booth promised, when she reacted like he was leaving again, "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay," Brennan's voice was uncertain, as she clutched at his hand, like a child reaching for it's favorite blanket, comforted when she once again felt the warmth of his skin.

Brennan peeked up at the man next to her, making sure that he didn't make any sudden motions to leave her side. Booth only looked down at her, flashing her a reassuring half smile, the best he could muster up at the moment, since he was growing increasingly more concerned about her mental health at the moment. He knew it was normal for her to be standoffish after the trauma and abuse she'd been through in the past week, but he couldn't help but feel like it was more than just that. She literally wouldn't respond to anybody except him, and, while she was normally independent and bold, she was acting shy and helpless, like she'd die if Booth left her side again. He didn't mind the fact that she wanted to be with him at the moment, he just knew that something was wrong, because she was acting so out of character, getting upset when he'd take a step back, and grabbing onto his hand for dear life. Maybe tomorrow he'd call Sweets and see if this type of personality change was normal in abduction victims.

Brennan felt content, for the first time in a long time, one hand wrapped around her water bottle, and the other holding onto Booth's as he held it comfortingly, trying to make it look the least romantic that he could, so nobody got suspicious, and thought he was just being a good friend to the poor scientist. Her happiness and tranquility only washed away when the EMT said something, that she didn't pay attention to, and picked up her bruised arm, pressing his stethoscope to her wrist to check the strength of her pulse. He was shocked when she jerked her arm out of his grip, going from being calm and serene, to panicking and thrashing around in only a split second, taking him by surprise.

"Don't touch me!" She shouted, drawing attention to herself as Booth grabbed her arm gently to keep her from thrashing it too hard and injuring her shoulder more than it already was, "Don't-don't touch me!" She turned her attention to Booth, her chest rising and falling with her quick breaths as a sob rose in her chest, "Don't let him hurt me, Booth. T-Tell him not to touch me. Tell him!"

"Shh, sh," Booth wrapped a careful arm around her shoulder, pulling her down ever so gently so she could rest her head against his chest and cry into his shirt, "relax, Bones. He's not gonna hurt you. He's gonna help. He's do a few examinations, then take you to the hospital."

"No," Brennan shook her head, looking up at him with pleading eyes, "I, don't want to go to the hospital. I don't need it. I'm fine."

"Bones, you're not fine," Booth told her, knowing that this was no time to try and spare her fragile feelings, "you're hurt. You need to get checked out by a doctor. You can barely move."

"I can move," she insisted, "it just hurts when I do."

"I'm gonna start driving so I can be at the hospital when you get there," he said, giving her hand and gentle and reassuring squeeze, "you just need to ride in the ambulance without me, then I'll stay with you as long as you want."

"No," Brennan's eyes welled up with desperate tears, giving him her unintentionally irresistible pleading face, her lip quivering just enough to make him feel like the biggest ass on the planet when he would reject her, "please don't make me go, Booth. I don't want to go," by the time she finished the two sentences, she was crying again, "please. Don't make me go."

Booth sighed and turned to the EMT.

"How bad is she?" He asked, actually, to his own surprise, debating whether or not he should let her just come home badly injured, or stay a night at the hospital, "like, does she really need to go to the hospital, or would it just be for precautions?"

"Mr. Booth, I would have to recommend that she see a doctor," the EMT seemed surprised by his question, "but, I mean, I guess if she'd kept under extremely close supervision, she wouldn't have to go to the hospital, unless things get worse of course. And when I say extremely close supervision, I mean she doesn't go anywhere without somebody right behind her. She'd have to be bathed, and can't be on her feet for long periods of time."

"Fine, that's fine," Booth waved off, what the EMT thought was such a big request, "it's done. I'll do it. She's just, kind of freaked out right now, and I think it would be better for her to be somewhere that she's comfortable, instead of a hospital."

"I see your point," the man admitted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I mean, if you think you can handle it..."

"I can," Booth assured him, determined to prove that he could take care of her, since he'd failed so miserably the first time, allowing her to get into this whole mess, "it's not like she'd be letting anybody else help her right now anyway."

"Right," the EMT knew he may have been making a mistake, but, since it was two thirty in the morning, didn't have the strength to fight with the pigheaded FBI agent, "just, if anything changes, if anything gets worse, bring her to the hospital or call the ambulance. Don't try to fix it yourself."

"Hey. How stupid do you think I am?"

The EMT bit his tongue to keep from answering that question, as he simply just turned to pack his tools up and get back to the hospital. Booth, disregarding the fact that the EMT never answered his question, slipped his arm under Brennan's shoulder to help her up, slowly, gently, and extremely carefully, as she kept the blanket around her shoulders, and breathed a small sigh of relief when she didn't have to go to the hospital, and was allowed to stay at home. Her home. With Booth. With Booth was her home, regardless of the house they were in.


"Alright, easy, Bones," Booth grunted, as he helped her through the door, trying his best not to put too much pressure on her injuries, which were all over her body, making them difficult to avoid, "come on, just a few more steps," she was wincing in pain when she would rest too much weight on her left leg, her knee screaming as she rested the majority of her weight on the man that was helping her through the door.

Booth let out a rough breath when he kicked the door shut behind him, and placed Brennan gently on the couch, his back relieved when he no longer had the extra weight resting on his shoulder from the injured anthropologist. He took a seat next to her, breathing a sigh of relief as his hands raked through his hair, his nervous body having not adjusted to the fact that the stress of Brennan being missing was over, and he could relax again. After only a few seconds of breathing time, Booth stood back up again.

"I'll go get the bath started," he offered, knowing if he stayed on that comfortable, welcoming, couch much longer, he'd be dead asleep within the hour.

"I'm capable of showering," Brennan swore, pushing off the couch with her left hand, since her right wrist was one of the parts of her body that needed some rest, "my left hand is working fine. I only need one hand to wash my hair."

"Bones, jeez, sit back down!" Booth sidestepped in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders to guide her carefully back down to the couch, "you're insane. You can barely stand, and you're going to just get up and stroll right into the shower? No."

"You're being needlessly protective again," Brennan looked up at him with uncharacteristically pouty eyes, "you don't need to bathe me like I'm a toddler. I'm perfectly capable of washing myself. And besides, look at you. You're exhausted. How long has it been since you slept?"

"I got about two hours of sleep before I came to get you," he told her, proudly.

"How about before that?" She asked.

Booth remembered back to the last time he slept before that, which had been a day after she was kidnaped, when he passed out with his head on his desk, until Sully came in and woke him up when he thought he had evidence, which turned out to be nothing of use.

"That's not important," he brushed off her question, "what's important is making sure that you don't hurt yourself even more than you already are, because you're stubborn and not only will you not go to the hospital, but you won't let me take care of you either."

"I don't need to be hovered over. The injuries are minor," she winced when she thought back to how far from minor they felt when they were happening, "I can function."

"Don't fight me on this," Booth pleaded, kneeling in front of her, taking her hand gently in his to try and coax her into just listening to him, for once, "please."

Brennan tensed up when his lips brushed over her knuckles.

Relax, Brennan. It's just Booth. He's being affectionate. He's not going to hurt you.

Her mind was trying to rationalize with her body when even just the smallest brush of his lips caused her body to tense up in fear.

"You okay?" Booth asked, when he looked up to see the blank expression on her face.

"Yeah," Brennan managed, nodding once.

Booth stood up, letting her hand fall from his before he reached around her waist to help her off the couch. Brennan was going to groan in frustration, and tell him that she could walk to the bathroom herself, but even she couldn't deny that she needed help with that part. Just walking the few feet from the living room to the bathroom would be a project in itself if she didn't have Booth to lean her weight on, although, she was feeling bad when he'd let out a hissing breath or grunt quietly, the added weight of his partner proving to not be satisfying for his back.

When they reached the bathroom, Booth drew up the bath with his right arm only, leaning awkwardly when he did so to make sure that Brennan could still lean on him comfortably. Brennan, however, pushed off his shoulder with her good hand, starting to slowly but surely shed her clothes, occasionally wincing in pain or hissing a sharp 'ow'.

"Bones, do you need help?" Booth asked, at this point, wishing she would just stop being so stubborn and let him help her.

"No," Brennan snapped unintentionally, more annoyed with herself than she was at him, "I can be self sufficient. I don't want you to leave me, but I don't want you to have to treat me like an infant either. I don't know why everyone thinks I'm so terribly hurt, or traumatized, or whatever they think I am, because I'm not. I'm fine. I'm," she paused when a lone tear trickled down her cheek, her voice crackling against her will, "fine."

"Hey," Booth softened his tone, using his thumb to wipe the tear off her cheek, feeling her recoil slightly under his touch as she winced in anticipation, "it's okay for you to let people help you sometimes. You're only human, Bones. You don't have to be embarrassed because you want and need help. It doesn't make you weak."

"I don't like when people smother me," she informed him, "and it's not you, it's everyone. The EMT, Angela, and probably everyone else once they get the chance. I want to just forget about all of this. I don't need people hovering over me constantly. It honestly makes me uncomfortable, and it makes me feel like there's a spotlight on me."

"We won't talk about it unless you want to," Booth promised, "but, you have to let me help you. I know you want to forget about it, but I'm not going to ignore that," he gestured towards her bruised and cut up body, noticing then that she was only wrapped up in a towel to cover herself up, "you have to let me take care of you. Only until you're healed."

Brennan sighed and gave the slightest eye roll as Booth shut the water, when he noticed that the bathtub was starting to get a little too full.

"Fine," she muttered, gesturing with her finger for him to turn around, "look away."

"Bones, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before," he reminded her.

"Not like this," she said, lowering her voice, "please," she pleaded with him, "just turn around until I get in."

Booth silently turned around, wanting so badly to tell her that she didn't have to be embarrassed of her injuries, but not wanting to make her feel 'smothered', as she put it. Brennan struggled to get into the tub, but made no noises, in fear that he'd think he needed to help her. She wanted to at least be self sufficient enough to step into a bathtub by herself. The warm water of the bath felt like heaven when she relaxed into the water, the heat relaxing her tensed muscles slightly as she let out a satisfied sigh.

"Too warm?" Booth asked.

"Mmm," Brennan mumbled, "no, it's perfect."

Booth turned back to her once he was sure she was settled in to her bath, taking a seat on the bathroom floor next to the tub, resting his arm against the edge and his head against his arm. Brennan cupped some water in her hands and dropped it over her head, wetting her hair and face to rinse some of the dirt away. She never thought water could make a person feel so much better, but just feeling the slightest bit more clean and relaxed did wonders. Booth, realizing that she wouldn't be able to reach, sat up and reached over her to grab her shampoo, body wash, and conditioner, setting them on the edge where they were of convenience to her. Mumbling a soft thanks, Brennan opened her shampoo and squirted it in her hand, rubbing it into her now wet hair to work it into a lather. She only noticed Booth leaning against his arm, his eyes closed in exhaustion, when she cupped more water to wash the shampoo out of her now clean hair.

"You're exhausted," she observed again, taking a few minutes to get all the traces of her lavender shampoo out of her hair.

"Mmm," Booth mumbled in response, surprisingly comfortable against the hard edge of the bathtub, since, right then, he could have gotten comfortable pretty much anywhere.

"I'll try to make this hasty," she promised, squirting some conditioner into her hand, putting it in her matted hair, "I'm sorry, but can you hand me my brush? It's on the sink and I need to brush the conditioner through my hair."

"You don't have to rush," he pushed off the edge of the tub to lean over and grab her brush of the edge of the sink, handing it to her once he was back in his comfortable spot, "take as much time as you need."

Brennan said another small thanks as Booth resumed his half nap against the cold surface of the bathtub. Even though he told her to take her time, Brennan still did things as quickly as she could, since she was feeling tired as well, and couldn't wait to just climb into that big, warm, bed of his where she could actually get a good night's sleep. After she finished cleaning up, she looked to her side, noticing only then that Booth had drifted off. He awoke with a jump when he felt water in his hair, courtesy of Brennan, when she ran her hands gingerly through his wild looking dark hair.

"Hmm," he mumbled, his head perking up from where it was resting against his arm, feeling the now lukewarm water drip down the side of his neck.

"You fell asleep," she observed, pulling up the drain stopper in the bottom of the tub to let the water drain out "so I wanted to tell you that you should probably move to your bed, but then I realized that I can't really get out of here."

"Oh, right," Booth stood up, grabbing the towel she had wrapped around her before, leaning down so she could grab onto his arms for support.

"Close your eyes," she said softly, not making any motions to stand until his eyes closed.

Booth huffed lightly as he shut his eyes, feeling her wet hands clutch tightly onto his arms to pull herself up. He blindly shifted his arms under her shoulders to help her out, handing her the towel once he was sure she was safely on the tile floor. Brennan wrapped the towel around her body, running her fingers through her wet auburn locks of hair. Booth opened his eyes, taking another towel off the towel rack to rub through her hair, so it was no longer dripping, seeing her pull away slightly before she realized that he was only drying her hair. He'd noticed that she winced and tensed up every time he touched her, but left it alone for that night, since he promised her that they wouldn't talk about anything until she was ready.

"Alright," he said, dropping the used towel down on the floor once her hair was slightly dried, "I think we both need to go to sleep."

Brennan laughed lightly as she held onto his shoulder, allowing him to help her over to the dresser, where she pulled out only his Flyers t-shirt and her plain emerald green panties, making him look away again before she changed into them. Allowing her to change at her own pace, Booth made his way to the welcoming bed, sighing when his back touched the mattress, which felt much more comfortable than usual that night, pulling the comforter up warmly over his shoulders. Once Brennan was dressed, she hobbled over to the bed, slipping in carefully behind him, draping her arms around his waist when she did.

"Booth?" She asked the half asleep man.

"Hm?" He responded.

"I love you," Brennan whispered, rubbing his upper arm softly with the palm of her hand.

"Love you too," he promised, the last thing either of them said before they fell asleep comfortably in each other's arms, sleeping deep and dreamless sleeps.