Hi everyone! I want to apologize for not putting a warning up for the last chapter as it contained parts that may have been difficult to read. So I hope I didn't offend any readers. THANK YOU for the continued support of this story. – Mac

Chapter 23

Booth ran over to Bones the moment he burst through the door. When the woman had fled the house, looking utterly upset, his stomach lurched and he'd run inside, feeling like his heart was in his throat. He felt relief the moment he saw the man on the ground and Bones standing up, looking like she'd basically kicked his ass. Pride danced alongside worry as he noted a little blood and a scratch on her cheek.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked, looking at the man again. He'd meant what he told him. If he'd done anything to hurt her in any way, he'd kill him.

"No," Bones said, touching her cheek, an almost catatonic look on her face. Then, something in her eyes shifted and she looked down at the man, determined. "No. He can't hurt me. Not anymore."

The guy moved slowly to the couch and then sat down. "Look," he said, looking at Bones. Looking a bit afraid of her actually. And Booth. "I am sorry."

Bones moved her face to lift her chin, just a slight amount. He could see she was holding herself together, but desperate for him to elaborate a bit more. She'd been waiting for this. Booth didn't move or make a sound. He waited. And he stood by her.

"I'm not the same person I was back then," Bones said quietly. "But you… you are. And that man wouldn't have been sorry. I didn't come here for an empty apology."

"So, what, did you come to hit me back? Because you've definitely managed to leave a mark."

She shook her head, and he saw rage in her eyes. "No. I came here to look you in the eye and tell you that you have no control over me. That this time in my life – it has no control over me. I will leave here and I will leave this behind. Last time, I carried it with me because I didn't have a choice. So now, I will go but you will still be here. That same, horrible person that you always have been."

The man looked like he wanted to do something – Booth could see his anger coursing through him. But his eyes skittered over to Booth's fierce gaze and he backed down.

"Is that all, then?" the man asked, not meeting anyone's eyes anymore. "Because I've had enough. My daughter's left. My son hasn't talked to me in years. My wife died when I was in prison. I'm still on house arrest. There are signs in the neighborhood and everyone basically knows and won't come anywhere near me. I've had to tell people that I'm a… an offender. I can't get a job or a new house so I'm stuck here. So… maybe that makes you happy. You dealt with some pain for a few days. I've had to deal with it for years. And probably until the day I die."

Bones' eyes filled with tears but her expression was completely resolute. "A few days? The pain you caused me… you think it was a few days of my life that I felt pain?"

Booth took a step toward her. In the past, he would've put a hand on the small of her back, a reminder that he was right there. But right now, he just stayed close.

"I still have nightmares about you. I lost a piece of myself that I'll never get back. When I say I am not the same person, I am stronger and I did rise above this… this place. And you. But it doesn't change the fact that you ruined me. And even though I'm stronger and you do not control me anymore, parts of this place continue to find ways to ruin me. The way I am with people. The… the way I see the world. The reasons I have always preferred science and knowledge to people and relationships. So much of that is because you're a coward. You're such a coward that when I woke up, I told myself that to survive, I needed to just stay away from people."

Booth's mind was buzzing – he was beginning to shake with anger at the destruction this man had caused her. But also, his heart hurt with understanding of who she was. And he realized how often he'd put her down for being exactly that way in the past.

You're bad with people.

For once, Bones, maybe try not to piss everybody off.

Before he really knew her well, he was up against her walls of steel and he'd been cutting at times. And he'd seen the look in her eyes – the questions. Sometimes the genuine confusion at his lack of acceptance for her.

But she'd let him in eventually. She'd trusted him. He realized more now than ever before what a privilege that really was. And he ached all over again for everything that had happened in the past year – his own actions that pulled them apart.

After a brief knock on the door, it opened and a local police officer walked in.

"Jerry," the man said, looking embarrassed.

"Clive. I, uh… I have to take you in."

"Why? This is under control and they were just leaving."

"Because Mary just… Clive, she just gave a detailed statement about… a lot of things that have happened in this house and… you need to come with me. Clive, you're under arrest."

B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B*B**B

Brennan walked out of this house, feeling a range of emotions. Without a word, she gave Booth the keys to the rental and opened the passenger side door and climbed in. She leaned forward and put her face in her hands, trying desperately not to break down. Booth stood outside for a long moment before sitting in the driver's seat.

"You okay?"

She nodded. But… she wasn't really. Not right now. She'd just thrown herself back into the scene from her worst nightmare. It left her feeling raw. Exposed. It had unraveled all of the hurt she'd buried a long time ago. Though she meant what she'd said to Clive. She was stronger than he was and had risen above all of this. She felt immense relief – she'd gotten to face this coward and say everything she couldn't say then. She got to say it for that girl she used to be – and give a voice to people like her who'd never have a voice. She felt relief. She felt the weight of that awful night begin to lift off her chest.

And it left her feeling like crying. But she couldn't. Not right now.

Booth drove back toward the bistro, and his inn, and she just wanted to be on her own. To break down, to feel it all. He stole a look at her. "You were amazing. Bones… what you did. That took guts. Bravery."

She inhaled deeply though when she exhaled, her breath quivered. He knew her well enough to know she was on the edge.

"Thank you," she said simply. "What time is your flight?"

"It's not… I can stay if you need me to."

If you need me.

She shook her head quickly. "No. You should go. I've kept you long enough, Booth."

"There isn't anything more important, Bones. Not to me. I want you to get that. Please. Understand. I want to be here. For you. With you. If you need to cry, scream, talk, I want to –"

"No," she said, sharper than she'd intended. "Sorry, Booth. I know you came all this way. And thank you. I don't know, actually, if I could've done this without you."

He shook his head as the car stopped. "There's nothing you can't do."

She nodded and pulled her hands up to angrily swipe away one tear that dared to fall.

"You can talk to me, Bones."

"I can't," she said, almost helplessly. "If I talk, I'll cry."

"That's okay."

She shook her head. "No, Booth, I just… I can't."

I'd rather be shot at than deal with things like this.

Right? I agree with you on that.

He looked confused. Concerned.

"I have more things I need to do here," Brennan said. "I want you to go back to DC. I will be back in a few days. I promise. And you won't have to deal with… all this."

When he said nothing, she finally looked over at him. His head was bent and now he looked like he was going to cry.

"I know what I said. What you heard. What that meant. Bones… your feelings matter to me. They will always matter. I messed up. I am so sorry. You have no idea how sorry. I just… " his voice was cracking and he put a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do here. Everything is broken – and I know it's my fault. And I just wish I could go back and change everything."

Her tears didn't fall, but her eyes were wet as she smiled sadly at him. "Booth, we're stuck." She shrugged. He looked at her and waited, his pain evident and beyond that, his concern for her still showing strongly. "If I hadn't heard you that night at Founding Fathers, I wouldn't have ended our partnership. If I hadn't ended our partnership, you would've kept chipping away at me and at us. Little by little. We would've kept going in that limbo. You probably would've gotten married to Hannah. And maybe someday we would've realized the friendship was gone. And by then, it wouldn't have mattered. And we would've eventually parted ways as partners. And that wouldn't have mattered. Because time would've made it impossible to keep going. For both our sakes, we would've left. It was inevitable. But I heard. And I reacted. And you don't like to hurt people, Booth. It's one of the best things about you."

He looked down, a tear falling down his cheek. "You're wrong."

She shook her head. "I'm not. Booth – you never even noticed anything was different. And you seemed really happy going down that road without me."

He faced her. "I would've noticed, Bones. I can see these last six months clearly now. And I can't believe how I… I can't believe myself. It's why I'm not with Hannah anymore. Because that man wasn't me."

"Except that he was."

He rested his head back and looked at the ceiling. "Where do we go from here?"

"You go home. You go back to work. Try to work with someone else, Booth. You're too talented to not get right back out into the field."

"I can't—"

"You should try. You might even like it. Booth, sometimes you hated working with me. You were often very exasperated by me," she added with a small smirk.

But Booth didn't smile back. "I never hated working with you. Bones, not for one minute. Even when you and I disagreed, or our differences clashed – I was always thankful for your honesty and integrity. You – being exactly the way you are – earned my trust faster than any agent ever has or ever could."

She ached inside, seeing how hurt he looked. The man sitting here with her reminded her so much of the Booth she'd always known and loved. But he wasn't really the same. He wanted to be. He was trying to be. But knowing how easily he'd walked away once made it clear that he was capable of doing it again. And she would not put herself through it again. She couldn't.

"When you get back to DC, can we talk? About everything?" he asked, an almost desperate edge to his voice.

She nodded. "Yes."

"How will I know when you're back?"

"I'll text you when I'm back, Booth."

She stepped out of the car. Booth did, too. He walked around until they were standing close enough to touch.

"Do what you need to do here, Bones." He looked quickly at the bistro, nodding at someone inside. "Rob, Amy… that chatty waitress Kiley—"

"Keeley."

"They're lucky to have you. And they know it." He looked out at the lake for a moment. "Can I ask you a question?"

She nodded, that warm comfort of his presence washing over her, calming the storm inside – like his presence often was able to do for her. Except, she didn't want to feel the reliance on him right now.

"When you're back, would you be open to starting over?"

She creased her brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… if I can't fix the past, can we have a fresh start?"

She looked down. "It's not that easy, Booth. Too much has happened. It would never be new or fresh, when there's so much history there."

He looked down and then back at her. "Can I hug you before I go?"

She nodded and went into his arms and he held her tight. He held on like he would never let go. She could feel all of his protectiveness from the day's events, and all of the things that used to hang there between them, in this embrace. It was bittersweet, longer than a friendly hug, and then it was over. It was goodbye.

And when he drove away to leave for the airport, she did it. She broke down in tears. She sat by the water, away from the view of the bistro's windows. And she cried. For that night. For that girl. For the relief at coming out alive and strong and okay. For Booth. And for goodbye.