(The Brother in the Basement)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

While Booth recovered from surgery, Brennan went through the bag that held his clothes and emptied the pants pockets. One by one, she laid the objects on the nightstand near the hospital bed, lining them up in an orderly fashion along the edge. First his wallet, it was fairly new and had replaced the wallet he had lost (or was taken from him) when he had been shot in their home the previous year. It contained pictures of her, their kids, Parker and his grandfather and grandmother. It also contained some money, three credit cards, an insurance card, a debit card, military ID and three coupons for their favorite Chinese restaurant. The coupons were going to expire soon and Brennan knew her husband was going to be unhappy that he didn't get to use them.

The second object she found was his watch. It was a Wittnauer watch, fairly old and had been given to him by his grandmother. The watch had belonged to her father and there was an engraving on the back. Believe you can and you're halfway there – TR. Booth's grandmother had told him that her father had been given the watch by Teddy Roosevelt for something he had done for the President, but her father died before she had found out what the story was behind it. Brennan had offered to find out what the history was, but Booth had told her it wasn't necessary. He liked the mystery surrounding the watch and he didn't want to know. He had told her that it might have been for something mundane like faithful service or something exciting and he didn't want to lose the possibility that it had been given to his great grandfather because of something he had done that was heroic. It had seemed rather odd to her at the time, but Booth was a romantic and she allowed him to have his mystery. It made him happy, so why not.

Next came the gold zippo lighter. The story behind the lighter was very amusing or at least Brennan thought it was. While Booth was in basic training, he had discovered that he had talent when it came to shooting a rifle. He never seemed to miss no matter what he shot at and his DI was impressed. One day, a friend of the DI had come by, heard about Booth and bet Sergeant Wilkins that Booth might be good, but not as good as he was. The DI had taken the bet and asked Booth to meet him at the shooting range. Wilkins had told Booth about the bet and asked the private to try his best. If he beat Wilkins' friend, the sergeant would give Booth his lighter as a reward. Booth had won and when the sergeant had offered him the lighter, Booth had decided not to hold the sergeant to the bet. Amused, the sergeant had laughed, slapped the lighter into Booth's hand and told him that the lighter had been the prize his friend was trying to win. He didn't smoke and he didn't need the lighter. He had only accepted the bet because the lighter had been won in a poker game by Sergeant Wilkins from his friend. The man had been harassing him for years trying to get his lighter back and the sergeant surmised that if he gave Booth the lighter his friend would stop harassing him for it. Booth had accepted the lighter and for the next ten years Wilkins' friend had tried to get the lighter from Booth. He had failed and Brennan found that very amusing. Booth could be very stubborn.

Though he no longer gambled, Booth carried a pair of dice and a poker chip. The chip and the dice represented a time in Booth's life when he was out of control. Before he had met Brennan, he was a gambler. When he wasn't at work, he was in a pool hall or a poker game. His need to gamble had got so bad, Rebecca had stopped letting Booth see his son. His work at the FBI was fine, but he had been doomed to remain in the bullpen for the rest of his career because his gambling was more important than putting in the long hours to get noticed by the Director or the Assistant Deputy Director. Caroline Julian had seen a spark of brilliance in Booth, but at the time it was just a spark and not the brilliance he was capable of.

All of that had changed after he had met her. Brennan didn't know what Booth saw in her that made him want to change and give up gambling, but he had worked hard to overcome his addiction. He had remained sober for over eleven years, but had slipped the previous year. He had lost control and it had been a hard fight to get back his sobriety. She had seen him struggle and win and she knew he had struggled not just for him, but for her and Christine.

Reaching for the dice, she clutched them in her fist as she felt the tears fall down her cheeks. While Booth had fought his addiction, Brennan had hoped that he would win. Her greatest fear had been that she would lose Booth to his addiction. She had cried silent tears in her bedroom while they had lived apart, but her husband had won and his victory was their victory. With a tissue taken from a box sitting on the nightstand, Brennan wiped her tears from her cheeks and placed the dice back on the nightstand.

The last thing she had found in his pants pocket had been his St. Christopher medal. It had been around his neck under his shirt the day he had disappeared. Someone must have removed it from his neck and placed in his pants pocket at the hospital so it wouldn't get lost. He hadn't had this medal for very long. He had given his first St. Christopher medal to his brother Jared in April of 2009 when Jared had decided to tour India on a motorcycle and Booth had lost his second medal when he had been attacked in their home and the FBI had arrested him for murder. When he had been released from prison, his wallet and his medal had not been returned. It had infuriated Brennan, but Booth had accepted the loss and told her not to worry about it. She had bought the medal she now held in her hand and she had made sure the chain was strong. She didn't want him to lose this one. Carefully she placed the medal back on the nightstand and dabbed at her damp cheeks.

"Booth, I have all of your talisman here for when you wake up. None of them have been lost. I know you consider them good luck charms. I'm not sure why except you are superstitious . . . Even though I don't believe in miracles and good luck you do and so I have made sure they are here for you when you wake up. You must wake up, Booth. You held out long enough for me to find you and now I am waiting for you. You can't leave me, Booth. You promised you wouldn't and I must insist that you keep your promise."

Her husband continued to sleep and that didn't surprise Brennan. She knew he would sleep for several more hours and she could be patient. She could be very patient. Booth was going to be alright. He had promised her he wouldn't die and she knew he would keep his promise.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.