(The Blackout in the Blizzard)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

It was a dream. She knew that, but it seemed to awaken a memory that she had forgot about. She was playing with a puppy. The puppy was all black except for four white feet. He had large ears and he loved to follow her wherever she went. She couldn't remember his name and she didn't say his name in her dream, but she loved that puppy so much. He gave her unconditional love and she felt less lonely when she was with him.

The puppy was following her in the dream. She fussed at him and told him to go back home, but he wouldn't listen. Brennan was exasperated since she was going to be late for school, but she picked up the puppy that lovingly licked her face while she carried him back home. Once she was there, she placed him inside the house and closed the door securely so that he couldn't escape again. Satisfied she ran to school and wasn't late after all.

The dream changed and she found herself staring at the broken body of her puppy lying on the side of the road. Horrified, she ran to him, knelt next to his body and realized that he was dead. Crying she carried the puppy into the back yard, found a shovel in the garage and buried her best friend. She sat near the grave and wondered if she would ever have someone in her life that loved her as much as the puppy she had just buried.

Suddenly awake, Brennan grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand, dried her tear stained face and blew her nose. She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling and a name popped up in her head. "Albert, his name was Albert."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The previous day had been an emotional roller coaster for her. Brennan and Booth had been trapped in an elevator for a few hours. It had allowed them the time to talk about things they had been putting off and later that night, they continued to talk while they sat in Booth's apartment, eating popcorn and drinking beer. They had passed a hurtle that had been keeping them from moving forward and both were eager for the next phase of their relationship.

Tired, Brennan had gone to bed late that night and now that she was awake, she had trouble going back to sleep. She couldn't seem to let the memory of her puppy fade away. She struggled to remember what had happened to Albert, but for some reason she couldn't bring up that memory. Sadly, she realized that her childhood memories were full of holes. She had worked so hard to forget her past because of her abandonment and now that she wanted to remember a piece of her past, she was stymied.

Unable to go back to sleep, Brennan got up and got ready for the day. The Lab was closed because of the blizzard and she didn't want to bother Booth since his day had been as long as hers had been. After eating breakfast, she began working on a new story idea for a book. Working on an outline, she had lost track of time until she heard a knock on the door. Reluctantly leaving her notes behind, she left the dining room, walked into the living room and opened the door. "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, I wasn't sure how you were doing and I know a lot of the stores are closed because of the weather, so I picked up some supplies for me from a store I knew was open and decided to pick up some for you too." He held up two grocery sacks. "Just basic stuff."

Surprised that her father was moving around the city on snowy streets, Brennan allowed him to enter her apartment. "I don't need anything. I went grocery shopping two days before the storm hit."

Ignoring her, Max carried the sacks into the kitchen and unloaded them in the fridge and the cabinet. "Well, what I bought won't go bad right away." The sacks empty, he handed them to Brennan and she dropped them in her recycle bin. "So, what're you doing?"

"I'm working on a new book." As she walked back into the living room, her father behind her, Brennan brought up her puppy. "I dreamt about Albert last night. Do you remember that I had a puppy named Albert?"

"Yeah, he was hit by a car when he was seven months old." Max hadn't thought about that for a very long time. "He got out of the house when I went home for lunch. I didn't know he'd died until I found you in the backyard crying over his grave. He was a sweet little guy."

She didn't know why she reacted the way she did, but Brennan turned and slapped her father's face. "You caused Albert to die? You did?" She was angry and she couldn't seem to control it. It had been a long time ago and she hadn't remembered that Albert existed until her dream, but now she was furious with her father. "Get out. Get out now."

Shocked, Max held his hand against his face and tried to figure out what was going on. "Honey that happened a long time ago and it was an accident."

"He was my puppy. He loved me. Leave now." Her hand trembling, Brennan yanked the door open and glared at her father. "Leave Max."

Worried, Max moved towards the hallway. "Honey, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. If I'd known he'd left the house I would have looked for him."

"Like you looked for me?" Her father in the hallway. She slammed the door shut, turned her back and leaned against the door, tears rolling down her cheeks. "So, he allowed my puppy to die just like he almost let me die."

In a state of shock, Max stared at the closed door and wondered why his daughter was reacting to the death of a dog that had died almost twenty five years ago. "Honey, I'm sorry." The door remained closed and Max knew that he'd have to wait a few days and contact his daughter. "This has to be about more than the dog. Doesn't it?" Afraid that his daughter was cutting ties to him, he went home. There was nothing else he could do.

Oooooooooooooooo

Bored, Booth had driven over to Brennan's apartment to see if she wanted to watch movies with him. He'd brought several DVDs and his portable DVD player since she had a television but no DVD player. It had taken her years to buy the TV and it sat in the guest bedroom out of the way.

Once he was in the apartment, he knew that something was wrong. Brennan seemed to be sad and withdrawn. "Bones, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Brennan had been trying to understand why she had treated Max so badly earlier that day and she still didn't quite understand it. "Max came by this morning . . . I . . . I asked him to leave . . . I slapped him. I still don't know what happened."

Alarmed, Booth set the bag holding the player and DVDs on the coffee table and stepped closer to where Brennan was standing. Taking one of her hands in his hand, Booth cleared his throat. "Did he do something wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was silly." Brennan was embarrassed. She couldn't understand what was going on and it worried her. "I had a dream last night . . . I dreamt about a puppy that I had when I was young . . . His name was Albert."

She didn't say anything else and Booth tried to encourage her. "Albert is a pretty good name for a dog."

"Yes, I named him after Albert Einstein." Brennan sighed. "He was given to me on my twelfth birthday . . . He loved me and he was very affectionate." Her throat feeling tight, Brennan cleared it before continuing. "One day, when he was seven months old, my father came home for lunch. Albert escaped from the house and Max said he didn't know it. Albert ran out into the road and . . . and he died. I assume he was run over by a car or a truck. I found him when I came home from school and I buried him in the back yard."

"Okay, that's pretty sad. I'm sorry that happened." Booth was still not sure why Brennan had slapped her father and kicked him out of her apartment. "Do you blame your father for that?"

Grasping Booth's hand harder, Brennan looked down at the toes of her shoes for a moment then back at Booth. "I think I must. I know that you know I don't really remember much from my early childhood . . . Sweets explained why to me a few years ago . . . Anyway, the memory of Albert is fresh because of my dream and I remember that I loved him. I . . . I remember that I took it badly at the time when he died. My father offered to buy me another dog shortly after the puppy was killed, but I refused the offer . . . He . . . after I slapped Max this morning and asked him to leave, I said something odd . . . I said it to myself since there was no one else here." She needed him to understand that she hadn't said it to Max. "I . . . I said he allowed my puppy to die just like he almost let me die." Her cheeks were pink from embarrassment. "That's an odd thing to say. He didn't really kill my puppy and he didn't almost let me die."

Instantly understanding what was going on, Booth pulled his partner over to the couch, sat down and encouraged her to do that same. Once she was settled by him, he turned so he was facing her. "I think I see what's going on Bones . . . when your parents abandoned you, you were on your own. That time those foster parents locked you in the trunk of their car was pretty horrific. You could have died from heat exhaustion if you hadn't been found in the car. Your father wasn't there to save you from that and he let your puppy get out of the house and since the puppy was alone on the street, he didn't prevent Albert from getting killed . . . I think you're just connecting the two things together and they made you mad. I think if Max hadn't come around this morning, you would have had time to process your dream, but he came over early and you reacted. It's human, Bones. We all get bent out of shape about stuff. It's normal. I promise. We all have irrational moments."

"I never knew how Albert died. I mentioned my puppy to Max this morning and he told me that Albert had got out of the house when he went home for lunch. He was responsible for Albert getting out of the house . . . this is ridiculous. I was angry with Max for something that happened twenty five years ago. He didn't run over Albert and he didn't lock me in the trunk of the car. A stranger killed Albert and my foster parents locked me in the trunk of the car. Being mad at Max doesn't accomplish anything and yet . . . and yet I was angry enough to slap him."

He could see that Brennan was worried about what she had done and he wanted to help her. "Hey, you've been having a bad time lately. We both have. Last night, I think we got some things out that needed to be said and we're going to be okay. You and me, but . . . well, you've been under a lot of pressure since we both got back from the ends of the earth. I was a big part of that pressure, I know that and I'm sorry. I think the memory of your puppy just brought up trust issues with Max. You remembered being in Foster Care and how badly you were treated and . . . I know you hate psychology, but I think slapping Max was a cathartic moment for you. He abandoned you when you were a kid and you were put through a wringer. I think you've wanted to slap Max ever since he came back and the memory of Albert gave you the freedom to do it. I think if you wait a few days and call Max and talk to him I think it will be okay. Explain what happened or don't. I don't think Max is going to make a big deal about this. He loves you and if you reconnect with him, I think you two will be okay." I'm going to have to call Max tonight and talk to him.

What Booth was saying made sense to her. She had been uncertain what was going on, but it seemed that he knew. "Thank you for explaining this to me. I was very confused . . . I will call him tomorrow."

Feeling a little bold, Booth leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Hey, I brought some great movies over to watch. If you want me to go home that's okay or I can stay and we can watch my movies. It's up to you."

"Please stay." Brennan knew that she didn't want to be alone. "I have beer and oatmeal cookies."

"Oh, that sounds perfect, Bones, just perfect."

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