TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
BONES

A Month Later

Season 6, Episode 10: The Body in the Bag

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself to catch up to her. Even though she kept her pace at a jog, the steady speed had him falling behind every time he slowed down.

"Okay," panting as he finally moved up to her left, he worked at keeping pace with her, "This was not my idea of an alternative to the gym."

Laughing as she followed the natural curves of the Anacostia River Walk trail, her ponytail swishing against the back of her neck, "You said you wanted to do something different from your usual workout."

"Yeah, but I didn't think your solution would be running ten miles," Chris reached up to push his sunglasses back in place, groaning as he caught sight of a mile marker, "And we're only at four!"

Shaking her head, Brennan kept her breathing steady as they curved to the left along with the trail, the Anacostia River to their right, "Only six more to go."

"Next time, I pick the activity," he could feel his calf and thigh muscles burning, his abdominals not faring any better, "Otherwise, you'll end up killing me."

Laughing as the trail curved to the right, she let her mind drift; the silence between them was comfortable before Chris started falling behind again.

Forty-five minutes later, she was doing her post-run stretches, grinning when Chris finally reached the twenty mile marker, his t-shirt plastered with sweat, "Better than the gym, don't you think?"

Bending over, he rested his hands on his thighs, fighting to suck oxygen into his lungs as he shook his head, "I'm starting to think…you have a…sadistic streak…hidden away."

Brennan couldn't help laughing as they headed towards the coffee cart, the breeze brushing back the strands stuck to her damp neck, "You know running helps build and maintain stamina."

Chris chuckled as he handed a coffee cup to her before taking his own after paying, "I've never had any complaints about my stamina."

Laughing together, they found a bench to share, Brennan stretching out her legs and crossing her ankles as she blew across the top of her steaming coffee. They watched as people used the trail to walk their dogs, ride their bikes, walk or run as the sun rays bounced off the bright blue surface of the Anacostia River, making it sparkle.

"How's it going with Booth?"

Letting out a sigh, she took a sip of her coffee before answering, "I asked him for some space –he's been good about giving it to me. I texted him yesterday, since it was his birthday. He replied right away –I know it's not easy for him to back off, but he's really trying."

Chris nodded as he flexed his feet in an effort to stretch his calve muscles, "Did you doubt he would be able to give you the space you needed?"

"I've only doubted Booth once in my life," Brennan lifted her left foot up to the edge of the bench to stretch out her rectus femoris, "Incidentally, it was about this time, a few years ago. I felt so guilty, I threw a surprise birthday party for him. I promised myself I would never forget who he is and what he is capable of."

Chris nodded, finishing his coffee as she alternately stretched out her legs, "Keep holding on to that, Temperance. Don't lose faith in him –or in yourself."

"Faith is believing in something you cannot see," Brennan stood up just as her cell phone chimed an in-coming text message, "I'm not sure I can do that because what I'm seeing is telling me there's nothing there anymore –I wonder if there ever was."

Chris couldn't help feeling anger towards Booth, wondering if the idiot even knew what kind of damage he had done to this woman's vulnerable heart. Even having known her for such a short time, he had picked up that closely guarded secret, having seen the same with Lauren. Women like Lauren and Brennan worked hard at protecting their soft vulnerable hearts, sometimes to the point of being emotionally distant, and all so they wouldn't feel the pain of heartbreak.

Watching her read the text on her phone, he wished Lauren had given him the chance to protect that beautiful heart of hers, feeling his own wrench painfully in his chest because there never would be a chance for him.

"I have to go," Brennan gave him a small smile as she re-strapped the phone to her upper arm where it had been during their ten plus mile run, "They found a body."

Chris stood up, shaking out his legs before taking the empty cup she was holding, "I'll see you later. I start my shift at six tomorrow morning. Give me a call if you want to do breakfast."

"I will."


To say he felt awkward over the whole thing was putting it mildly, especially considering his unplanned conversation with Sweets earlier that morning.

Well, perhaps this is difficult because you still have feelings for Dr. Brennan.

Letting the hot water wash away the disgusting memory of being covered in dead person crud, he poured shampoo into his hand, vigorously scrubbing his hair before giving his face another pass, cupping his hands over his mouth and nose to breath in the clean scent in hopes of getting rid of the lingering smells of the crime scene and its regurgitated evidence.

Did she say she loved you? Was she that direct?

Sighing, he shut off the water, grabbing a towel and stepping out onto the cold tiled floor. He had to tell Hannah. He owed her his loyalty –he loved her so he couldn't keep something like this from her.

But didn't he owe his loyalty to Bones too?

He let out a groan, tossing the damp towel into the hamper before moving into the bedroom, quickly changing into a clean suit and stepping into his black Vans. Grabbing his wallet, watch, phone, lighter, poker chip and sobriety coin from the dresser where he'd placed them, he headed out of his bedroom, stopping in the middle of the living room as Hannah walked in the front door.

"Hey," he slipped his watch onto his wrist, watching as she hung her trench coat on the coat rack and dropped her messenger bag on his recliner, "What are you doing home?"

"They still haven't found office space for me," she rolled her eyes as she kicked off her shoes, "Thought I'd work on my article here. What about you? Don't you have a case?"

"Yeah," looping his tie around his neck, he efficiently tied it into a knot, leaving it loose as he slipped on his suit jacket, "There was a bit of an incident at the crime scene so I had to shower."

Hannah smirked at the look of disgust on his face. Crossing the room, she slid her hand over his tie before pulling him down for a kiss, "Got time for lunch?"

He smiled at the mischievous glint in her green eyes, kissing her lips just as his phone dinged. Pulling it out of his pocket, he looked at the text message, "Actually, no. Bones needs me at the lab. How about we meet tonight for drinks?"

"Founding Fathers?"

"Of course," he brushed his fingers over her cheek, pushing back a lock of blond hair, "Meet you there?"

Letting go of his tie, she gave him a peck on the lips, "Call me when you're free."

"Will do."


Next Day

"I would have done the same thing and you would've understood. Right?"

She stared at her, not sure what to say.

Hannah let out a breath before speaking again, "I wasn't avoiding you…I was just confused. I don't want to do anything to mess up your friendship with Seeley…or my friendship with you."

Seeing the driver waving at her and pointing to his watch, she gave Brennan a small smile, "Now, if you can please step aside, I'm actually late to an interview with the President."

"Oh? Really?"

"Yes."

She moved to the side, turning to face her as Hannah walked past her towards the white van, "Can you please ask him to devote more resources to the conflict in the Congo?"

"Of course. Drinks later? I won't cancel."

"Absolutely."

Brennan stood in the middle of the street, watching Hannah climb into the van, staying where she was as it drove away.

He told her…Booth had told Hannah about her confession.

Trying to breathe as emotions welled up inside her, she shoved her hands into the pockets of her cream colored coat, pulling out her phone and thumbing through her contacts.

He had told her…the most humiliating, painful night she'd experienced and he'd told Hannah about it.

"Hello?"

"He…I can't…I don't…"

Why couldn't she talk? Her lungs weren't working; she could feel her heart beating hard against her sternum, sudden nausea making sweat pop out along her brow.

"Temperance? What's wrong?"

"I can't…I can't breathe…He told…I can't…"

"Listen to me –you need to take a deep breath. Can you do that for me?"

Struggling to suck in air into her starving lungs, she shook her head, certain her throat was closing, "I can't…he told her…I can't…"

She knew what was happening, knew this panic attack was all in her head, causing physiological symptoms to manifest, but she couldn't seem to rationalize herself out of it.

"Sit down, Tempe, and put your head between your knees."

Stumbling towards the curb, she sat down, dark spots swimming before her eyes. Bending over, she gripped the phone hard, the position forcing her diaphragm to contract, moving downward as her lungs expanded up painfully, tears filling up her eyes. Pressing her free hand against the warm concrete in an effort to ground herself, she took in another deep breath, her nose stuffing up with the need to cry but she swallowed back the sob rising up her throat.

"Keep breathing for me, Temperance. You're going to be okay."

Nodding even though she knew he couldn't see her, she worked at taking deep breaths, spacing them evenly to keep from hyperventilating.

"Better?"

"Yes," she sniffed, closing her eyes as the nausea abated, the breeze drying the sweat that had covered her face, "I'm okay…I'm okay…"

"I'm at DC Memorial, on stand-by for the next five hours. Come up to the heli-pad as soon as you're able to drive."

"Okay…I'll be there."

Resting her outstretched arms on her knees, she stared blindly at the sight before her, not letting herself think about anything other than the movement of her intercostal muscles as they contracted and expanded and the slowing rhythm of her beating heart.

A good half hour later, she was on her way to DC Memorial, working hard at keeping her chaotic thoughts in control by mentally labeling the human skeleton, starting with the skull.

Frontal, glabella, supraorbital foramen, supraorbital margin, superior orbital fissure, orbital plate of frontal bone, coronal suture.

She was going to be okay.

Zygomatic, nasal, lacrimal, middle nasal concha, sphenoid, infraorbital foramen.

She had to be okay…


"How'd she take it?"

"Okay, I think. She seemed upset you told me…"

Booth stopped shuffling through the papers on his desk, leaning back on his chair and closing his eyes as Hannah continued to talk.

"I'm going to be meeting her tonight for drinks."

"Good," Booth opened his eyes in response to the light tap at his office door, "That's good. I gotta go. Sweets is outside my door."

"Okay. See you when I get home."

Hanging up the phone, he gestured for Sweets to enter, listening to the kid-wonder as he spouted off his theories and psycho-mumbo jumbo. As soon as he was alone once more, he turned his attention to the dreaded paperwork on his desk but couldn't concentrate on what he was reading.

She had been upset…

He could still hear her soft sobs, could still see the dimming hope in her tear-bright eyes.

I understand. I missed my chance.

Dropping the papers on his desk, he rubbed his hands over his face, letting out a soft groan.

He had told Hannah…and Bones had been upset…

What the hell was he doing?


As soon as he wrapped his arms around her, the tears she had been fighting broke free, her face buried into his chest, her fisted hands between them.

"It's going to be okay, Temperance," Chris rested a hand on her head, his other arm wrapped around her shaking shoulders, "You're strong –you can get through this."

"I don't know what I'm feeling," she sucked in a mouthful of air, pulling away as she wiped a hand over her wet cheeks, "There's so many…emotions inside me right now, I can't…I feel like I have no control over any of them. I can't push them away –I'm having difficulty compartmentalizing what I'm feeling right now."

Guiding her towards the bench, he sat beside her, taking a small hand to hold in both of his, "Let me help. Tell me what happened, just the facts, and we can work from there."

Her breath hitched as she nodded, "Hannah and I had plans –but she cancelled. Twice. Angela told me it was probably because she was hiding something from me, so I confronted her. She told me Booth told her about what happened –about my confession. I just…I didn't…I didn't expect that to be the reason why. I didn't even think he would tell her about any of it. Hannah said he had to, because they were a couple, but…it was his rule. What happens between us is ours –that was his rule, and then he went and told her about that night, about what I said. Why would he do that?"

"Oh, Temperance," Chris pulled her back into his arms, holding her as she cried into his shoulder, wishing Booth were right in front of him so he could punch the bastard in the face. If only the agent knew how much damage he was causing, "I'm so sorry. I know it hurts, and I know you're feeling betrayed, but it's going to be okay."

"Yes," pulling away from him, she wiped her cheeks, blue eyes sparkling as she looked at him, "That's what I'm feeling –betrayed…and angry. It was his rule –"

Reaching up to frame her face with his hands, he gave her a gently smile, his brown eyes filled with compassion for her, "You need to talk to him, Temperance. You need to tell him how you feel about what he did."

"He should have warned me," blinking back fresh tears, she sucked in a deep stuttering breath, "Don't I deserve that much? Doesn't everything we've been through guarantee me a warning before he shared my pain and humiliation with others?"

"Talk to him, Temperance," Chris dropped his hands to take hers, giving them a supportive squeeze, "He needs to know how you feel and you need to voice your feelings. This is what you're striving for, right? To feel, to live, to grow…to become stronger. This is how you start."


It was past two in the morning when Booth walked into the Founding Fathers, quickly zeroing in on his partner and his girlfriend, both women leaning into the bar giggling nonstop. Looking over at Lucas, the bartender, he gave him a nod of thanks for calling him.

Both women were way too drunk to get home safely.

"Hey, you two," Booth moved around Bones, his sniper reflexes saving Hannah from falling on her ass when she turned in her stool at the sound of his voice, "You okay?"

Hannah nodded, closing one eye as she tried to focus on him, "Some guy tried to buy us drinks –like, both of us. Can you believe it?"

Bones giggled as she looked over her shoulder at Booth, her elbow on the oak surface of the bar, one foot on the floor to keep herself from falling off the stool, "You ever had a ménage a trois, Booth?"

"Really, Bones?" Booth stared at her in surprise before shaking his head, "I think it's time to take you two home. You both okay to walk?"

"I am," weaving slightly as she stood up, Bones looked over at Hannah, laughing as the blond stumbled as she got off her stool, "Want to know why?"

Keeping one arm around Hannah's waist, Booth reached out to take Bones' arm once he noted she wasn't as steady on her feet as she thought, "Why?"

"Because I have a high alcohol tolerance," Bones let him guide her towards the door, her blue eyes bleary as she tried to walk a straight line, "I drank bang. Remember, Booth? To bang!"

Hannah giggled as she leaned forward to look across Booth's chest towards Bones, "To bang!"

Trying not to cringe at the reminder of, what to him, had been a life-changing night, he helped them into the back of his SUV, giving Hannah a hand with her seatbelt as he looked over at Bones, watching as she finally got her own seatbelt secured after the third try, "How about we take you home first, Bones?"

"Fine, fine," Bones leaned her head back, closing her eyes as she let out a sigh.

Hannah reached out to grab his tie, pulling him to kiss his mouth before whispering, "Are you really related to John Wilkes Booth?"

Jaw tightening, he looked over at Bones, surprised when he locked eyes with her, having thought she'd fallen asleep, "Bones tell you that?"

"Yup," Hannah hiccupped as she let go of his tie, her head falling back against the headrest, "She said since we're a couple, I should know your secrets…the ones you haven't told me…"

Letting out a giggle, she reached up and grabbed his jaw, turning his head side to side, "I can't believe you're afraid of clowns…"

He let out a sigh, not breaking eye contact with Bones, seeing something in her blue eyes that took him several seconds to identify as anger, the knot in his gut twisting viciously.

"I'm not afraid of clowns," he took Hannah's hand off his face, placing it on her lap before stepping back and slamming the door shut.

Rubbing both hands over his face, he took in a deep breath, tilting his head back as he closed his eyes, God, help me.

Short prayer said, he got into the driver's seat, easily maneuvering into flowing traffic and heading towards Bones' place, looking at the rearview mirror to see both women had passed out.

In the six years he'd known her, he had never thought Bones to be the kind of person to seek payback, especially the emotional kind. He knew after having told Hannah about that night without letting Bones know first had not been the smartest decision he'd ever made. Really, as he thought about it, he deserved her anger. And it wasn't like she'd shared his deep dark secrets, the ones he only trusted her with, the ones he'd never even thought of sharing with Hannah. Granted, he hadn't wanted Hannah to ever know about him being related to John Wilkes Booth, or about his strong aversion to clowns, but he knew despite her drunken anger at him, Bones wouldn't share what really mattered with Hannah. It still hurt, though, to know he'd hurt her bad enough for her to spill some of his secrets to his girlfriend.

Finding a nearby parking spot outside her building, he left Hannah asleep in the backseat as he helped Bones out of his vehicle, into the building, and up to her apartment. Using his key when she couldn't pull her keys out of the front pocket of her jeans, he kept an arm around her waist as she stumbled beside him, easily keeping her on her feet as they moved across the open floor living room and down the hall to her bedroom.

Pushing him away from her, she crawled onto her bed, her hair keeping her face hidden as she mumbled, "You're a liar, Booth…total bullshit. Everything you've ever said was total bullshit."

Collapsing face first onto her bed, she wrapped her arms around her pillow, words muffled but still heard by Booth, "You promised…not to betray me…and I forgot to remain vigilant…my fault…"

Closing his eyes, he tried to push past the tightening pain in his chest, finally rubbing the heel of his right hand over the heavy ache on the left side of his chest. The quiet sound of her deep breathing let him know she had fallen asleep, but he still felt the weight of her words. Swallowing as he looked at her sleeping form, he gently removed her boots, flipping the duvet cover over her still body as he moved to the side of the bed closest to her head. Pushing back her dark hair with a finger, he stroked his thumb over her wet cheek, letting out a heartfelt sigh before pressing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry Bones. I'll fix this –I promise."