(The Brother in the Basement)
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I don't own Bones.
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At first the beeping was annoying. He didn't know what it was, but he wondered how he was supposed to sleep with that constant noise. Groggily, he attempted to open his eyes and found that to be a struggle. Puzzled, he blinked several times and finally managed to keep his eyes open. The ceiling above him was white and appeared to be tile, not a sight he was expecting. While he tried to concentrate, he suddenly heard a whirring sound to his left and a band of pressure on his arm increase with each passing second.
Suddenly afraid, he turned his head and saw a pole with tubes running from a box to his arm. There were also two clear bags above the box with tubes leading to the box. Nauseous, he stared at the contraption and he knew where he was.
Afraid to move, he stared at the box as some numbers changed. The pressure on his arm suddenly lightened and the whirring noise stopped. Mesmerized with the drips from the bags to the tubes, he knew where he was, but not why.
In a fog, he felt like there was something he was missing, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. He tried to think about his predicament, but he couldn't seem to latch onto any recent memories. Unable to concentrate, his mind seemed to jump from one thought to the next.
Am I sick? I must be . . . my stomach hurts . . . Damn my head hurts too . . . What's going on?
A noise to his right caused him to turn his head slowly.
"You're awake." Brennan was relieved to see Booth's eyes open. For a few days she had feared she would never see his warm brown eyes again. Her desperate search to get to him before he died had been all consuming and once she had found him and spoke a few words to him, he'd passed out and collapsed on the sidewalk. After that, once again she had feared she would never see those eyes again. His injury was horrific and what he had done to stop from bleeding to death had taken a lot of courage on his part. Brenan knew he was tough, but it was incidences like this that reminded her of just how tough he really was.
"Yeah." He was afraid, but he didn't want her to know it. "Why am I here? What's wrong with me?"
A little disturbed, Brennan tried to remain calm when she answered him. "Don't you remember being shot in the stomach?"
Booth slowly shook his head, confused and worried that some of his memories were gone. "Who shot me?"
"Either Victor Masbourian or one of the people working for him." Brennan saw his confusion and knew that he didn't know who she was talking about. "He was an arms dealer, into drugs and a human trafficker . . . you and Jared tried to steal back a list of names of undercover FBI agents from him, but you were shot during the robbery of the safe at Masbourian's house."
"Jared." The memory of his brother's lifeless body came to mind and with it the missing memories. "Jared is dead." He was filled with sadness and longed to cry for his younger brother, but he couldn't. Not yet. "He tried to do the right thing. He really wanted to do the right thing."
Brennan saw her husband's pain and she wished to help him, but there was nothing she could do about Jared. "Jared took up with bad people Booth. I know that, but I also know that when he found out about the list of undercover agents he knew he had to find a way to get it back . . . Booth you should have trusted me. You should have trusted the FBI to help you. You didn't have to do this on your own."
"How can I trust the FBI, Bones?" Booth knew she was probably angry with him, but he was certain that he had made the right choice. "How am I supposed to trust them after what they did to me and you? Look what happened to Sweets, he was murdered. Look at what happened to me. I was almost murdered and then tossed in to prison for something I didn't do. The FBI betrayed me. I can never really trust them again."
"Booth, the agents that were turned by Durant are gone." Brennan had had this argument many times since Booth had been released from prison and Durant's treachery had been uncovered. She had thought he had finally begun to trust the agency again, but she could see she was wrong. "What about Aubrey? You can trust him. Why didn't you go to him or Caroline?"
"I knew that there was someone at the FBI waiting to buy the list from Kevin O'Donnell." Booth was tired and in a lot of pain, but he needed her to understand. "Jared had found out about the betrayal from Kevin and the only one he could trust was me . . . once he told me that there was someone at the FBI willing to betray other agents then who was I supposed to trust? Sure I've worked with Aubrey, but I don't know him that well. How could I trust him or anyone else at the FBI when there were so many lives at risk? I did that once before and I almost died."
She understood his distrust, but that didn't explain leaving her out. "Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you. How can you ask me that?" Booth's head was throbbing, his throat was dry and his stomach was a massive black pit of pain. "I couldn't tell you because you would have wanted to help. I couldn't risk getting you killed. Not you. Never you." His lips were parched and he licked his lips. "Please give me some water, I'm so thirsty."
Embarrassed that she had neglected to make sure he had water, Brennan quickly filled the small cup on the table with ice chips and placed some in his mouth. "You should have told me Booth. You almost died. I could have helped you come up with a better plan . . ."
"No!" Booth closed his eyes. "I couldn't risk losing you, Bones. I've lost Pops and now Jared is gone. What do you think would happen to me if you died before me? I can't let that happen." Sweat popped up on his forehead, his body was trembling from the pain in his stomach. "I love you so much, Bones. So much."
His pain was now causing her great concern and Brennan knew that she had pushed him when she shouldn't have. This conversation should have waited until he was better. Reaching out for the pain pump, she pressed it a few times. "Alright Booth. I understand." She watched his body relax and then his face became calmer. She knew he was asleep. "We will speak of this again, Booth. When you are not in so much pain, we will speak of this again. You have to trust someone. You can't give up on everyone."
Brennan sat down and studied his haggard face. "I know I can't change you Booth. I know that this is who you are, but you have to trust me to help you." She knew she would have to talk to him again about what he had done, but this time she would make him understand that she wasn't asking him to be who he wasn't. She just wanted him to understand that he wasn't allowed to die. He had to remain with her and that meant he would have to learn to trust someone besides her. Aubrey had been to the hospital to see Booth, but had returned to the Hoover because of a new case. She considered him to be trustworthy and she would convince Booth to let his guard down. If Booth was to return to the FBI like she hoped he would, she knew that he would have to find a partner to protect his back. As far as Brennan was concerned, he could trust Aubrey. After all, Sweets had investigated Aubrey's background and he had trusted him. That was good enough for Brennan since she had trusted Sweets' judgment when it came to profiling. Since Booth trusted her, she knew he would at least listen to her. Aubrey had worked well with Booth before Booth had quit and Brennan knew that Booth would be safer with Aubrey beside him. Things were about to change and Seeley Booth would have to accept it.
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