(The Memories in the Shallow Grave)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Eight months pregnant and Brennan felt very uncomfortable. Her work continued to be the only thing that kept her from staying at home. She had bodies in Bones Storage that needed to be identified and Booth continued to have cases. The FBI forensics lab was overloaded with their own work and counted on the Medico-Legal Lab to take up the slack. She knew that sooner or later she would have to stop working but for now she felt she was still able to contribute to the team.

Booth was growing a little frantic when it came to his partner's safety. She didn't want to give in and stay at home the last few weeks of her pregnancy and he was afraid that going to crime scenes might endanger her life. He had thought she would quit going out in the field during her sixth month, but he had been sorely disappointed when she continued to ride with him to crime scenes. No matter how much he argued about her safety she ignored him and his feeling of dread grew steadily as the weeks progressed. He feared what would happen if anything happened to Brennan and or the baby. He was not prepared to lose either one of them, but no matter how much he pushed she pushed back.

The latest crime scene was in a paintball park. The grounds were steep and covered in mud and paint making walking precarious. Booth kept a watchful eye on Brennan and made sure the crime scene was secure. He had threatened several techs and agents with bodily harm if the crime scenes weren't locked down properly and they took him very seriously. No one screwed with Agent Seeley Booth especially when it was about his partner.

Ooooooooooooooo

The case was an unexpectedly emotional one for Booth and Brennan. The victim had been killed by a psychologist who had found out that his client knew where there was a large stash of stolen money. Dr. Yazrik owed a lot of money to the wrong people because of gambling debts and he was getting desperate. Claire Serrano was the answer to his prayers and he had killed her, took the money and placed her body in the hole that had held the small fortune.

Brennan and Cam had discovered that Claire had been attacked six months prior to her death and after Booth talked to Claire's husband, they found out she had retrograde amnesia. The woman had two complete set of memories. She had disappeared after she had been attacked and had led a life of crime for six months. Something triggered a memory of her past life and she returned home, but she was suffering from memory loss. Most of the time she didn't seem to know her husband and where she was, but her husband had reported that she was doing better.

The fact that the woman had started a new life had impressed Brennan. Claire had suffered from a violent attack and had survived. She had managed to find someone to hook up with and she had been fairly safe until she had returned home. The fact that they never determined who had attacked her six months prior to her death meant they didn't know if it was spousal abuse or not. Her husband denied it and they couldn't prove he was lying. It made Brennan sad that they could solve Claire's murder, but not her attack. Sometimes, justice wasn't completely served.

Booth hated that the victim had died because Dr. David Yazrik had let his addiction to gambling control him and allowed him to murder someone. Claire had been a means of continuing that gambling and he had felt little compunction about taking her life. He felt that his helping her had meant that she owed him.

One of Booth's biggest fears was that something might trigger his own addiction someday and he might gamble again. He attended meetings fairly regularly and he felt he had it under control, but sometimes doubts would invade his mind and he prayed that God would give him the strength to keep away from his old gambling habits. He was living with the woman of his dreams and they had a baby on the way and the thought of betraying them made him feel sick. He vowed that he would never jeopardize his relationship with Brennan by returning to gambling, but he knew that sometimes things happened in life that made addicts weak and caused them to fall back into old habits. The thought of betraying Brennan and the consequences made him all too aware that if he betrayed her his relationship with her might not survive.

Oooooooooooooooooo

"Bones . . . you know I used to gamble . . . that I'm an addict." Booth placed his fork down, placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. "I'll never betray you. I want you to know that."

She had noticed her partner's behavior had been rather odd since they had arrived home, but she hadn't realized that he was worried about his gambling addiction. "You aren't Dr. Yazrik, Booth. You haven't gambled in a long time. You go to your meetings at least once a week, you talk to Gavin. I'm not worried."

"But I am." Booth turned his face and stared at the clock on the wall. "I'm a recovering addict. I will always be recovering. There isn't a cure for my problem . . . But I know I have to fight it not just for myself but for you and the baby, for Parker. I want my kids to be able to count on me. I want you to be able to count on me . . . You guys will always be important to me and I'll try my damnedest not to betray you."

Slightly afraid, Brennan was wondering if Booth had felt the call to gamble since they had worked on their last case. "If you need someone to talk to Booth . . . about gambling, I'm here for you. You don't think the case affected you did it?"

"No, not really." Booth crossed his arms and leaned on the table and turned his head to look at his partner. "It's just that Yazrik was a successful doctor, a psychologist and he let his addiction take over . . . Addiction isn't a shirt you can pull on and then take off. I know that if I gave in and gambled just once, it would pull me right in and I . . . I don't want that to happen. I'm going to give up on playing office sports pools. They only cost a buck a week, but it's a slippery slope. I can't take the risk. I can't lose you and the baby. I can't risk it."

Moving her hand, she placed it on his arm. "You have a plan and that's good. You recognize that you're susceptible and you're doing something about it. I trust you, Booth. I'm on your side."

His love for Brennan ever growing, he nodded his head and sighed. "Thanks, Bones . . . my Dad never tried to fight his alcoholism or at least not as far as I know and Jared . . . he's following down the same path. I don't mean I think he's beating Padme or anything, but he's drinking again and I can't get him to see that he has a problem."

"Don't give up, Booth. If you wish to try to help Jared then don't give up." Brennan knew that the relationship between the brothers was often strained, but Booth still loved Jared and he didn't want to give up on him. "Perhaps we can invite them over to dinner and afterward you can make an excuse to see your brother alone and talk to him about going to a meeting."

"Yeah, we can try that . . . or maybe I can invite him to come and watch a game with me on my new television . . . that 52 inch screen is just what my man cave needed."

"It makes me cross eyed watching it. It's too big for the room." Booth had bought the TV on sale and he wouldn't admit that it was too big.

Picking up his fork, Booth twirled some of the pasta on it. "I've been thinking. I'm going to rearrange the furniture and see if I can put some more space between me and the television. It's not too big, I just haven't set it up right, that's all."

Amused, Brennan shook her head. "If you would like my help, I can work out the optimum layout of the room."

After chewing his forkful of pasta, Booth swallowed and smiled. "There you go, we'll do that after dinner. You just look the room over and once you figure out, I'll move everything around. We make a great team . . . And I will talk to Jared again about his drinking."

"Good." Brennan was proud of her mate. He tried so hard to help his brother even though Jared didn't want Booth's help and tried to keep his brother at a distance most of the time. "If you invite him over I will help you make appropriate snacks for your game. Perhaps seven layer dip and hot wings. No beer or at least not very much. I will make sure that there is very little beer in the fridge when he comes over for the visit . . . I hope he doesn't curse you like he did the last time you tried to talk to him about his drinking."

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a big boy, I can take it." Reaching across the table, he clasped her hand. "Even if Jared doesn't care about his addiction, I care about mine. I'll always fight for what's right, Bones. I promise."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thanks.