Booth made his way up to his office, dialing Brennan on the way. He wasn't surprised when she failed to answer. "Goddamn it." He muttered, pushing down on his phone, he took a step into the bullpen from the elevator and sighed, making his way toward his office.
"Hey, Booth." One of the agents shouted over a desk or two. He looked up and nodded his head toward the other man. "Doctor Brennan is in your office." He said, tipping his head to side. "She's got a baby with her?"
"Thank you, Roberts." Booth said, ignoring the obvious question in the other man's tone. He picked up his pace toward his office. Sure enough, there she was, pacing slowly as she held the baby against her. He opened the door, and she turned toward him. "Bones." He said in a near dramatic sigh. "I thought you went to the lab."
"I..." She stopped, waiting for the door to close. "I do have to get back to the lab, and I was on my way." She said, pausing for a moment. "I just..." She swallowed hard. "I don't like being angry with you. I just want a few answers." She sighed. "Why wouldn't you tell me about what happened in Afghanistan? Why would you tell me that it was mostly administrative, when it was clearly not. You were clearly in combat. You were clearly in danger. You weren't just training soldiers, you were fighting. Why wouldn't you tell me that? Don't you... don't you trust me?" She asked, trying desperately to keep her panic to a minimum.
He could see the conflict and panic in her eyes, in the way she held herself, the way she was bouncing the baby in her arms, the way her teeth seemed to grit tightly. "Bones, I don't want to make things any worse."
"Worse?" She said, swallowing hard.
"Your nightmares, your fears. What happened with me, has happened. It's in the past. Of course I was in danger over there. I can't train soldiers in a classroom setting. It's real life, it's real war. I had to do my job, Bones. I came home whole and alive, and I'm never going back into the Army." He said, walking around her. She seemed to be following him, but refusing to get too close. "I'm never leaving you and Parker again. If I told you what happened, the details... If I told you everything, it would just be fodder for your nightmares. I just really didn't think that it was a really good idea."
"You didn't know that I was having nightmares when we first reconnected, Booth. You didn't know, and yet you still withheld information. I refuse to accept that excuse. I refuse to accept your reasoning. You don't have to protect me from my own thoughts, Booth. I am an adult. I have experienced a multitude of dangerous situations, and I am mature enough to deal with what you've gone through. I know what happens in a war zone. I just don't like being lied to." She said, stopping when her back was to the door, he leaned back on his desk across from her and crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head a bit.
"You still haven't gotten help for your night terrors. You are still waking up in a sweat, scratching the hell out of me, waking me up out of a sound sleep screaming." He said, pointedly, nodding toward her. She narrowed her eyes and sucked air through her nose sharply, her cheeks turning red.
"I've been home for less than a week!" She exclaimed, feeling the baby start to fuss, she lowered her voice. "I have been home for less than a week, Booth. This case has taken up all of our time, and now we have Michael with us on top of all of that. I haven't had a moment to myself to make a phone call."
"Don't use Michael as an excuse." He said, pointing a finger toward her. "Have you called anyone? Have you done any research? Michael has been in daycare all morning. Have you even given it a thought? It's a pretty big deal, Bones. I don't think you're taking your mental health seriously enough." Booth said, standing up straighter, he started to walk around his desk. "Do I have to worry about Michael's safety?" He asked, watching a fire rage in her eyes at his words. "Are you going to do it?" He asked, his stare hard and angry. "Are you going to call someone?" He asked.
"Yes." She replied, feeling her emotions start to unwind. He was pushing her, and she hated being pushed, and he knew that she hated being pushed, which was making this all the more irritating for her. "You are making me very upset." She said, letting out an angry growl.
"Well, Bones. You need help. It's important for our job." He snapped, sitting down in his chair. "I can't do it for you. Your sleep is being affected, and that can affect your reflexes. It's affecting my sleep too. If your reflexes are compromised, I can't take you out into the field." He said, feeling his own temper rising with her stubbornness. "Is that what you want?" He asked. "Would you rather just sit in the lab and play with your bones all day? Is that what you want? I mean, you beat up a couple of armed guerillas, so beating up an innocent bed partner really shouldn't be too difficult for you, should it?" He growled. "Maybe I should take the baby, you know? You might end up hurting him in your sleep too." His tone was irritated and sarcastic, and while she sometimes had difficulty reading sarcasm, Booth's tone was dripping with it and unmistakable.
She stared at him angrily, shaking her head as her ears became hot and red, her blue eyes showing pure rage. "You are just angry because I withheld information about Maluku. This has nothing to do with my nightmares. It has everything to do with your ego, and the fact that I bruised it." She said, shaking her head. "I don't have time for your ego right now, I have work to do." She said, stepping toward him, he turned in his chair, prepared to stand up. Before he could do so, she set the baby firmly in his lap. "He is your responsibility now." She said, watching as Booth's eyes widened. "I don't want to be responsible for injuring him." She said, her voice breaking as she fought to keep control. "I need to get back to the lab and play with my bones." She snapped. "And if you're so concerned about getting woken up and scratched up in the middle of the night, or so torn up about my nightmares, then stay the hell out of my bed!" She exclaimed, clearly on the verge of tears. She turned directly for the door, refusing to look back.
"Bones." He said, standing up with Michael in his arms. "Bones, please!" He exclaimed, stepping toward the door as she swung it open and stomped out. "Bones!" he shouted again, and she was gone. He stepped toward the door to follow her, swinging the door to his office open as she disappeared around the corner. With Brennan gone, Michael suddenly let out a mighty wail. "Oh God, no..." He whispered, turning the baby in his arms. "No, no, no... please... please no." He whispered, trying to soothe the screaming child. He looked around the bullpen as everyone's attention went to their senior agent, standing in his office doorway, holding a writhing, screaming infant in his arms. "What are you all staring at! Get to work!" He barked, as he turned and walked into his office. Michael was inconsolable as Booth walked across his office toward the diaper bag, hoping to find something that would calm him. "Aw, come on, buddy. She took off on both of us..." He said, looking through the bag. "You don't see me crying about it, do you?" He mumbled, rifling through the bag. It was then when he felt a warm wetness seeping through his shirt sleeve. "Oh god, please don't tell me..." He whined as he saw the wet spot on his arm, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, almost ready to let out a cry just as loud and as frustrated as the baby in his arms, as he quickly worked on consoling the extremely angry baby in his arms.