(Two Bodies in the Lab)

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I don't own Bones.

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Terrified that he was too late, Booth turned the corner and spied Jamie raising a pistol over the head of his partner. Certain Kenton meant to kill Brennan, Booth had no choice but to shoot the rogue agent. He shot him, but he did not go for the kill. Booth wasn't about to play judge and jury unless he had too.

With Kenton incapacitated, Booth shuffled into the room as fast as his damaged body would let him and helped his partner escape the hook her hands were tied to. Desperate to help her, Booth ignored the pain he was in. He could see she was terrified and she needed help. His help.

Never so grateful in her life to see anyone as much as she was to see Booth, Brennan held her arms around his shoulders until she realized that she was making him suffer. The broken pieces of his clavicle had to be grinding together from the weight of her arms on them, so she quickly moved her tied hands up and over his shoulders. Her hands now resting on her lap, she shook her head. "Booth we need to get you back to the hospital as quickly as possible."

Feeling nauseous from the pain, Booth agreed with her and slowly staggered to his feet. Hodgins who had been standing by while Booth had assured Brennan, pulled a pocket knife from his pants pocket and cut the rope that trapped Brennan's hands together. "Come on Dr. B you both need to go to the hospital. That cut on your head needs stitches for sure and Booth . . . well, Booth should never have left the hospital in the first place."

After she was on her feet, Brennan helped Hodgins walk her partner out of the building and into the SUV Kenton had driven to the abandoned building. Once Booth was partially lying down on the back seat, she jumped in the driver's side and drove away.

As the SUV disappeared from sight, Hodgins removed his phone from his jacket pocket and made a call. "Angela she's safe. Dr. B is on the way to the hospital with Booth."

Thank God. I'm on my way.

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She stood outside of Booth's hospital room and fought with her emotions. Brennan had come close to dying that day and she had been saved by Booth. With broken bones and in great pain he had been part of the search for her and she knew that he had risked further injury trying to rescue her. She had never met anyone like her partner and she found herself in a state of confusion.

I don't believe in love, but what he did . . . he risked his health to save me and that can't just be because he likes me. This is so confusing. I don't love him . . . I don't . . . I am under the influence of chemicals and endorphins. He saved my life and I'm reacting to that . . . It wouldn't matter if I did believe in love because he doesn't feel the same way about me and yet . . . and yet he risked permanently crippling himself to save me.

Her thoughts raging in circles, she finally shook her head. She'd gone home after having stitches sewn in for the tear on her forehead, changed her blood spackled clothes and she was back to see about her partner. She had scheduled a date with David earlier that day and she had every intention of going, but she had to check on Booth first. He had to come first. As she entered the room, she saw that he was watching television. Relieved that he was doing something so mundane, Brennan smiled and moved across the room to stand next to his bed.

"You know . . . I let you down, Bones." Booth was embarrassed and regretted that he'd endangered his friend. "I'm sorry."

Confused, Brennan shook her head and sat down on a nearby chair. "You saved my life."

"Yeah, but you know . . ." She didn't get it and she needed to. He should have known that Jaime was bad, but somehow he'd missed it."It shouldn't have gone down like that."

Before she could say anything further her phone rang. "Brennan." It was David checking to see if she was still meeting him at the restaurant. "I'm leaving now, David." Ending the call, Brennan decided she needed to explain the phone call to Booth. "We're finally having our dinner."

Disappointed that Brennan was actually going on a date with someone she'd met online, Booth sighed. "Yeah, I figured you didn't dress up for me."

She wasn't sure how to respond, so she chose to ignore what he'd said. "You sure you don't want anything?"

Booth picked up the TV remote and shook his head. "Nah, I'll be fine." Truthfully, he wanted to stop her from going on her date, but he didn't have the courage to try. He was afraid he might say too much and then where would he be?

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Reluctantly she stood up and started towards the door. She wasn't sure why she was hesitating to go, but she was.

"Yeah, have a good night." Booth flipped the channel on the television and stopped when he found an old movie playing. Willing to escape into a movie for a while, Booth tried to concentrate on the actors and what they were saying. He didn't want to think about Brennan on a date with anyone but him.

His sad look, the image of Booth hurt and alone in his hospital room, made Brennan stop just outside the door and come back into the room. Resigned that she just didn't understand her feelings she decided to skip her date after all. She sat down next to the bed and stared at the TV hoping that Booth would just accept it and not try to analyze why she was doing it. "I've changed my mind. I have a headache. I think I'll stay here for a while. We can watch television together and then I'll just go home."

With a sense of relief that she was staying with him, Booth placed the remote down on his lap and let the characters in the movie speak for a while. Her presence a comfort to him, Booth thought about their relationship. When he had found her and he had seen Kent almost kill her, Booth had had an epiphany. I love her damn it. I really do love her and I don't know what to do about it. She doesn't believe in love or romance or a lot of other things I believe in. We wouldn't make sense as a couple. Any relationship we had would be a disaster. She's a genius that believes in science all the way. Even if we could get past that stuff, she doesn't really know me and I don't know if she would like the real me if she did . . . damn what am I going to do? Should I do anything?

Brennan leaned against the bed careful not to press against Booth's arm. She knew the only reason why he wasn't in pain at that second was because of the pain medicine he was taking. I'm attracted to him, strongly attracted. It can't be love because that doesn't exist, but I want to be a part of his life. I want a physical relationship with him, but he doesn't want one with me. We're just friends. I wish I knew how to change that, but I don't know how. How do I tell him that I want more from him? If I did, would he accept me or push me away? I don't know what to do. I guess that means that I will do nothing. It's for the best I suppose.

Her silence was a welcome relief while Booth mulled over his dilemma. She had asked him about his childhood a few weeks ago and he'd been afraid to tell her. He hadn't wanted to lose her respect, but if they were ever to be more than they were at that moment, he knew he would have to tell her. She needed to know who and what he was. Maybe I should tell her now. At least I can watch her while I'm telling her and if she decides I'm too much of a loser to be her friend then at least I'll know and I can try to move on . . . yeah right.

Slowly inhaling, Booth drew in a deep breath and tried to relax as he once more exhaled. "Okay um . . . Bones, you asked me about my childhood not too long ago and I . . . I lied to you and told you that I had a normal childhood . . . I want to talk to you about that if it's okay with you."

Surprised, Brennan shifted her chair until she was facing him. His tone of voice was somber and she was curious about what he was about to say. "Yes, of course, if you wish to tell me. You don't have to though."

"Yes, I do." Afraid he was about to lose someone he valued a lot, Booth swallowed and decided to get it over with. "I didn't bring it up because it was far from normal . . . well, what I assume is normal . . . I was raised by my grandfather. He rescued me and my brother Jared when we were little kids . . . I, uh . . ." He was struggling and he wasn't sure how much to tell her. "My father was an alcoholic. He drank a lot and when he did, he uh . . . he lost his temper and he'd beat my mother and me." Booth paused to see if Brennan was disgusted with his confession. Her face a blank mask, Booth plowed on. "It got so bad, he hurt my mother and they had to take her to the hospital and she never came back home . . . Oh, she didn't die. She just ran away. If she had come back my old man might have killed her someday. It was that bad."

It still hurt him to think about it. His mother whom he'd adored had left him and his little brother in the hands of a vicious monster. He still didn't know what to think about that. She was right to leave, but why didn't she take them with her? "It got worse after that for me and I thought I was going to die, but my grandfather came over one day and caught my father beating me and he . . . Pops took Jared and me away from my father. I haven't seen my old man since . . . anyway, that's why I don't talk about my childhood. It's not good and most people don't want to know about shit like that."

Appalled that Booth's childhood was as bad if not worse than hers, Brennan leaned over and placed her hand on his sheet covered thigh. "I'm sorry, Booth. I'm sorry that you had to go through that." She had known of course or at least she knew that something bad had happened to him when he was young. Once she'd seen his x-rays and the remodeled bones she had felt sick. She had struggled with the proper response at the time. Uncertain about his reaction, she had not mentioned it, but now, maybe she could. "I saw the signs on your x-rays. You have a lot of remodeling on bones that were damaged at a very young age."

Surprised, Booth stared at her in wonder and realized that he should have known better. Of course she knew. She is a bones genius. "You didn't say anything." Booth was afraid of her answer, but he needed to know.

"You were upset when I mentioned the signs of torture on your feet." Brennan tried to be cautious with her answer. "I didn't want to assume anything and I know you are a person who values his privacy."

Still not sure what she thought of him now that she knew about the abuse, Booth sighed. "I was afraid you might think I was a loser."

Astonished, Brennan pressed her hand against his thigh. "Booth, why would I think that? What happened to you was not your fault. How could it be? I know what it is to be abused as a child, remember? I was treated horribly by my foster parents . . . I almost died. Your parents were terrible, but that doesn't reflect back upon you. Not in the least."

His throat tight with emotion, Booth swallowed and then cleared his throat. "I wanted to be honest with you. I wanted you to know something about me even if it's pretty bad. That abuse I went through . . . it's part of who I am. Friends should be able to talk to each other about the crap in their life and I . . . You mean the world to me Bones. I . . . I like you a lot and I . . . I'm glad I found you in time. I would've hated to lose you from my life. I . . . you're probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. You've made me want to be a better man since the day we met. I was a gambler and because of you, I started going to meetings. I wanted to be more than I was because of you. Do you understand? You've helped me more than you can know."

She wasn't sure she did understand. Was he telling her that he really liked her or was he trying to tell her there was a possibility that there might be more between them in the future? She was confused and she was afraid she was misinterpreting what he was saying. "I really like you too, Booth. You accept me for who I am. You aren't afraid of my intelligence or my successes."

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "You're a genius. I love that. I do. Why would I be afraid of that? It's who you are. Look um . . ." He was afraid to tell her that he loved her. He wasn't sure how she would react. She mistrusted love and it all went back to her parents abandoning her. "Bones, I want to tell you something, but I don't want to upset you. I don't want you to . . . aw hell, Bones I love you."

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A/N: I told you I had a plan.