(The Woman in Limbo)

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I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

To say Brennan was shocked would have been an understatement. Her mother's remains had been discovered in Limbo and unbelievably she had been at the Jeffersonian as long as Brennan had.

Brennan had started working in the Jeffersonian in 1998 and that is when her mother's remains had been discovered at the Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Salisbury, Pennsylvania. Her body had been illegally buried there and since there was no record of who she was, her remains had been sent to the Jeffersonian for identification.

Booth was in agony over Brennan's tears. They were in her office along with Dr. Goodman, Hodgins, Zach and Angela. He couldn't comfort her and not give away their secret, so he stood near her desk and fretted.

"Dr. Brennan, Angela has volunteered to take you home." Dr. Goodman felt bad for his star employee and he wanted to help as best that he could.

"No, I'll take her home." Booth spoke up quickly before Brennan could respond. "Bones, I think you should go home for the day."

Devastated, Brennan looked at Booth with tear stained cheeks and nodded her head. "Alright." She stood up, clutching the dolphin buckle and slowly placed it in the evidence bag. Handing it to Zach, she nodded her head, turned, grabbed her purse from the coat tree near the door, followed Booth through the open doorway and down the hallway towards the main entrance.

Once they were out in the parking garage, Booth placed his arm around her shoulders as they moved towards his SUV. "I'm sorry, Bones. I'm sorry this is happening to you. I'll take you home. You need to be able to grieve."

"Take me to my apartment, Booth." Brennan felt numb inside and wanted to be surrounded by her own things. "I need to be alone."

Booth removed his arm from her shoulders and opened the passenger door. "Sure, whatever you want." He was feeling hurt that she was shutting him out, but he knew she didn't like to deal with her emotions in public and he tried not to take it personally.

Thankful that Booth was being so understanding, Brennan entered the truck, closed the door and leaned against it.

Once he was in the truck, he patted her knee, started the truck and drove her home.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Once they were standing outside the apartment door, Brennan rummaged in her purse for her keys, opened the door and entered the living room. Once she was in, Booth debated on whether or not to follow her in. Since she didn't close the door, he slowly entered the apartment and closed the door behind him.

Brennan had stopped in the center of the living room and appeared to be frozen in place. Booth moved closer and when he did, Brennan whirled around and placed her arms around her lover. Her sobs surprised Booth, but only momentarily. He knew she hid her emotions from everyone and he felt honored and loved that she trusted him enough to cry in front of him in this way. "I'm here Bones. You tell me what you need and I'll do it."

"Just hold me." Brennan was used to crying alone, so this was a new experience for her. Ever since she had been thrust into foster care she had learned to hide her tears. She had learned quickly that tears were considered a sign of weakness and they could lead to a worsening of her situation. That she allowed herself to cry in front of Booth was mildly surprising to her, but she knew that her trust in him was the prime factor.

He held her and listened to her cry. He wanted to ease her pain, but he knew that wasn't possible. Her mother was dead and any hope of a future with Christine Brennan was now destroyed. He hadn't had any contact with his parents for years and knew he would not mourn their loss, but he would mourn for his grandfather and obviously the loss of Brennan's mother could be equated to that.

They stood in the living room for a long time. Gradually, Brennan stopped crying and stepped back from Booth's embrace. "Thank you."

Booth smiled at her and pointed at the couch. "Why don't you sit down and I'll make you some hot tea or coffee."

"Tea would be nice." Brennan moved over to the couch and sat down. "I keep some tea in a canister on the counter near the refrigerator."

"Got it." Booth moved into the kitchen, boiled some water in the microwave and made the tea he found in the canister. Not sure if she was hungry, he made her a cheese sandwich and placed it on a plate. Carrying the mug and plate out into the living room, he found her hunched over, her face resting in her hands. "Hey, here's your tea and I made you a sandwich. You should eat."

Brennan took the mug and sipped the hot tea while Booth sat down next to her. "Bones, I know this is a shock, but I promise I'm going to look into this and try to find out what happened. I give you my word."

Grateful that her boyfriend was with her, she placed the mug down on the coffee table next to the plate. "I'll look at her remains as soon as I can. Perhaps I can discover what happened to her and that will give you something to work on."

Not sure if it was wise for her to handle her mother's remains, Booth decided to remain silent on the subject. Brennan was strong and if she thought she could do it then he would back her up. "I'm sorry for your loss, Bones. I really am."

"I knew they were dead, my mother and father." Brennan sighed. "I just didn't expect to find my mother's remains in the Jeffersonian. I thought I would never find out what happened to them. It's been fifteen years."

She was calmer and Booth knew most of the storm was over. "Well, we have something we can work with now. You know just because we found your mother doesn't mean your father is dead."

"I think he is." Brennan shook her head. "Why wouldn't he have contacted me by now if he was alive? No he's dead. We just haven't found his body yet."

The phone rang, Brennan stood up and walked over to the counter to answer it. "Brennan."

Sweetie are you alright? Do you want me to come over?

"No, that won't be necessary." Brennan glanced at Booth and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm fine. I'm going to lie down for a while. Thank you for calling though."

If you need me, call me. I can be there in no time at all.

"Thank you." Brennan stared Booth. "I'm really fine. It was just a shock that's all. I'll be in tomorrow. I'll talk to you then." She ended the call and placed the phone back in its docket. "Would you lie down with me Booth?"

Glad that she wanted him to stay, Booth stood up. "Of course. I'll call in and tell them I have a headache. I'll stay the night if you want me to."

"I want you to." Brennan moved slowly to her bedroom, Booth following her. "Thank you for being here with me, Booth. It helps. It helps a lot."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

The next few days were odd for both Booth and Brennan. The investigation into the death of Christine Brennan led from one clue to another and with it the return of Russ Brennan into Brennan's life. At first she had been furious with Booth for bringing her brother to D.C and found it unsurprising that her brother was a convicted felon. With the added information that her parents had been bank robbers, well that just seemed to be part of the whole Brennan package.

Booth thought it ironic that Brennan's family were criminals and that they had produced a champion of justice in his girlfriend. She abhorred the fact that some people thought it was alright to kill someone and think it was something they could get away with. Long before she started to work with Booth, she had actively worked in foreign countries identifying victims of purges and death squads. She worked to get them justice then and she worked to get victims of murder the justice they needed now.

Though Brennan was not happy with Booth about Russ, she didn't let that affect her relationship with him. She knew that he was working hard to find out what had happened to her mother and he was using all of the sources available to him. They both made sure that Russ didn't realize that they were a couple and slept alone in their apartments while he was in town. Brennan didn't trust her brother and Booth wasn't sure he did either.

Probably the most shocking thing to come out of the investigation was the fact that Christine Brennan had died in 1993. Brennan had assumed that her parents had died in 1991 when they had disappeared and to find out that her mother was alive until 1993 was one more bitter pill for her swallow.

Once Vince McViker was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Christine Brennan and was no longer free, the couple drove to North Carolina and invited Russ to come back to D.C. to stay at Brennan's place for a visit. Booth had meant to just drop them off at her apartment, but in the end he came up to her apartment just to make sure everything was as it should be before he went home. There was a message waiting on her answering machine when they arrived and when they heard it, it shocked everyone, Brennan most of all. Her father had left a message warning her to back off and not to continue looking for him. Shocked at the turn of events, Booth had remained at the apartment for a few hours and tried to calm down his girlfriend while Russ looked on. Careful not to give away their relationship, they both talked about the investigation and in the end decided they would continue. Russ thought it was a mistake, but they didn't seem to care about his opinion.

After Booth left, Brennan pointed out the guest bedroom and gave him a sad smile. "I've been told that the mattress is comfortable from my guests."

Pleased that Brennan hadn't asked him to leave after the call, Russ stayed overnight at his sister's apartment and being a Brennan, he was observant enough to notice some items in the apartment that clearly belonged to a man and not his sister. Curious, he mentioned them to Brennan. "I noticed that there's some men's clothes in the closet and some sports gear in the guest bedroom. Are you dating? Do you have a boyfriend?"

Since her trust was very limited when it came to her family, Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "I'm seeing someone, yes."

When she didn't volunteer any more information, Russ knew that further questions would be useless. "Well, I hope he makes you happy."

"He does. He's the only one." Brennan had nothing further to say and the conversation died.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

That night, Booth called Brennan. "Hey there. Is everything okay?"

Yes, I'm fine. Russ is in the guest bedroom . . . he saw your sports bag and your clothes in the closet and asked if I was dating. I told him yes, but not your name.

Booth sipped some beer and nodded his head. "I forgot I have some stuff there. I'm going to have to keep my sports gear in closets. The last thing we need is for Angela to see my gear there. At least she doesn't snoop in closets . . . I hope."

Yes, I didn't think that through either . . . I'll miss you tonight. I find that I'm more comfortable when we share a bed.

"Yeah, me too." Booth sighed. "Russ is only going to stay for two days, so it won't be too bad. I'm going to miss your snoring."

Outraged, Brennan gasped. "My snoring. I don't snore."

Amused, Booth laughed, "I'm kidding Bones. I'm just joking."

"Oh." Brennan blushed. "You know I have a hard telling when you are joking. I do better when you are in the room with me because I can see your expressions."

"I love you Bones." Booth flipped the off button on the remote of his TV. "If you need me then call me. I won't mind."

Thank you. I should be fine.

"When Russ goes home, prepare for some major love making Bones." Booth smiled. "I am definitely going to show you just how much I'm missing you right now."

I'll take that as a promise, Booth. I miss you too.

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