AN: So, I was gonna stick to the one-a-day postings but this chapter is already edited and I just couldn't help myself. Jim and Bones have a conversation and shit gets real. Well, more real.
"You can't stay here," Sheriff Pike told Jim as they sat or stood in her kitchen.
"I'm not leaving," Jim said, her voice hoarse. He already told her not to talk but she wasn't listening, as usual.
"Don't be stubborn, this place is a crime scene and this door is busted, Jimmy," Pike tried again. "Pack a bag and go to my house."
"No. Why the hell should I let him run me off my own goddamn property?" she growled. The gruffness of her voice giving it a scary quality.
"Stop moving," Leonard told her as he patched up the gash on her head. Since she refused to go to the ER, she was stuck with him and he was already pissed off. His eyes kept drifting to the marks on her neck. This guy was lucky that he wasn't in the house. "I was here when you left earlier, you locked the doors. How'd he get in?"
"We're trying to figure that out," the sheriff sighed. "In the meantime, you can't stay here, Jim."
"You can stay with me if you want," Leonard offered before he could think better of it. "Joanna thinks I messed up your special pancakes, you can teach me how to make 'em. Besides, Jessica Jones is getting interesting." He was lying about the pancakes, Jo thought he did a good job, but he had to say something. Jim can't stay here by herself and he'd feel a whole lot better if he could keep an eye on her.
"She got you hooked on that show too," Pike chuckled. "It's one of us or I call your brother."
"Fine," Jim said with a groan. "I'll go with Bones."
"That wasn't so hard," Leonard smiled.
"Bite me. That hurts," she sighed as he moved to her hand. It wasn't deep and there wasn't any glass in it, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
"Don't be an infant," Leonard told her. He offered to give her something for the pain but she said no.
"You have horrible bedside manners," Jim chuckled.
"You're not exactly patient of the year," Leonard retorted.
"Fuck you," she snapped.
"Promises, promises." Leonard could play this game. Jim gave him a heated look like she wasn't exactly opposed to the idea. He tried to shake his head clear of all the very inappropriate thoughts that ran though his mind.
"Okay, you two," Pike chuckled.
"That should hold and I can check on it later, go grab some stuff for the next few days," Leonard told his friend as he secured the bandage on her hand. She scowled at him and Pike but left the room just the same. "Stubborn."
"As a mule," Pike chuckled. "Thank you for helping. She'd fight with me until the sun came up over this house."
"Can you blame her? It's the place she feels safest. Even with someone in here, I doubt she's gonna let him rob her of her peace of mind," the doctor said.
"You know, don't you?"
"About the asshole her mom married, her juvie record and all the other crap that went with it? Yes, I know."
"Huh, I never thought I'd see the day she'd tell someone," Pike said with a look on his face that Leonard couldn't place. "Look, I don't know what this guy's endgame is but coming after Jim was about the dumbest thing he could've done. She's not gonna stop until she finds him. That said, someone is gonna need to keep her from doing every stupid thing in the book."
"You want me to keep an eye on her?" Leonard asked.
"Yea," the sheriff nodded.
"I was gonna do that anyway."
"I thought you were gonna get Jo," Jim gave him a look as he drove to his house.
"No. Like you said earlier, it's late or early. It's almost two in the morning. She's asleep. We can get her later," Leonard said. He talked to George for a few minutes, just to let him know what was going on. "I'll uh… I'll take the couch and you can have my room."
"I'm not kicking you out of your bed, Bones. I'll take the couch," she sighed.
The pair lapsed into a not-so-comfortable silence. Jim was more antsy than he's ever seen her and it worried him. Leonard reached over and wrapped his right hand around her left, "It's gonna be okay."
"I almost had him. I actually had my hands on him and he slipped right through my fingers. Anyone he hurts now… it's on me," Jim whispered.
"His actions are his own, Jim. You can't take responsibility for something someone else does and you know it," he told her as they pulled into his driveway. "This isn't your fault."
"If you say so," she sighed as she grabbed her bag and got out of the car.
Leonard groaned in frustration, they were having a really good day until all of this. The thought crossed his mind that had he not pulled her out the house, she would've been home when this guy showed up. The idea of her tied up, raped, strangled and mutilated made his chest hurt, actual physical pain. He took a deep breath before he got out of the car.
"What are you doing?" Leonard whispered into the dark.
"Can't sleep," Jim whispered back huskily as she climbed into bed with him.
"I offered you my room and you shouldn't talk," he chuckled.
"I think it's more to do with being by myself," she told him, ignoring his attempt to help her voice. Leonard turned onto his side to face her and found Jim's blue eyes on him. "Wasn't really a problem until now."
"Being alone?"
"Yep. I was perfectly fine until you showed up." The way she said it was accusatory but Leonard didn't have it in him to feel bad about it. He was perfectly fine until she dropped into his life; a little bitter but still fine.
"I have that effect on people," Leonard smiled.
"You do. It's annoying," Jim chuckled hoarsely.
"Watch it or I'll kick you outta my bed and stop talking."
"You have met me, right? I'm always talking. And you wouldn't kick me out, you're too worried about me and you know it."
"Maybe."
"Not maybe. It's why you offered to let me stay the night with you. You would've stayed up all night worrying about me if I had gone to Chris'," she pointed out.
"I'm not that easy to read," he sighed.
"You are to me."
"What am I thinking then?"
"That you've never seen me rattled and it doesn't mesh with my usual indifference. Though, you know I've never been as indifferent as most people assume," Jim sighed. "I put on a brave face for everyone else but I'm scared and you can see it. You want to fix it but you don't know how. So, if I want to lay in your bed with you, you're not gonna fight me or send me away because you know how much it takes for me to actually admit something like that. And the fact that I'm within arm's reach makes you feel better. You care a lot more about me then you thought you did."
Well, damn.
"I'm right," Jim sighed.
"You usually are," Leonard chuckled.
"Can't help it," she sighed. "Not that I would ever really want to."
"Wouldn't be you if you did," he said.
"True," she said as she rolled onto her back. Leonard just stared at her. "What?"
"Something's on your mind. What is it?" the southerner asked.
"You mean, other than the man who tried to kill me a couple hours ago?"
"Yea, other than him."
"I don't know if I should tell you. My voice is all messed up, anyway," Jim muttered.
"Now I really wanna know," Leonard told her with a smile.
"It's just…" she paused. "Today… err, yesterday."
"What about it?"
"It was nice. Being spontaneous. Haven't done anything like that in a while."
"Figured as much. It was nice seeing you relax," he smiled.
"I don't have the luxury around here," Jim sighed.
"You would if you didn't try to save the world by yourself."
"I've never been good at that. People have a habit of letting me down. It's easier to do it all by myself," she told him.
"No it's not," Leonard said. "It's exhausting. I see it. It's like you got this little rain cloud hanging over your head."
"And it's always pouring."
"Maybe you just need a new umbrella," he chuckled.
Jim stared at him, "You don't want my rainstorms, Bones."
"I think you should let me decide what I want, Jim."
"What do you want?" she asked. Leonard set himself up for that and he knew it. He opened his mouth to answer when Jim sighed. "Don't answer that. We should go to sleep."
"Jim…"
"It's been a long day, we're both tired and I sound like a frog. Just ignore me."
"What if I don't want to ignore you?" he asked her. He opened his mouth, he might as well go for it. "What if I want to pull you closer? Or sleep with you in my arms? Or find out if those lips are soft as they look? What if I want you as much as you want me?" He was well aware that she was sitting up and staring at him. When she didn't say anything, he smiled. "Don't tell me you're speechless, darlin'. You honestly think that I don't think about you?"
"I'm not a rebound."
"That's cute," he groaned, turning on the lamp as he got out of bed. "Is that what you think this is?"
"Don't tell me you're all offended," Jim said as she got out of bed and stood on the other side of the room. "You told me that you don't want to date anyone. Now, you wanna… make out with me. What the hell am I supposed to think?"
"Dammit. Did you ever consider that maybe I was in denial because I didn't want to admit that you're under my skin? I wake up thinking about you. I go to bed wondering if you're okay. I actually check my phone like a fuckin' teenager for those annoying texts you send me all the time. You have no idea what it felt like when I ran into your kitchen earlier. I don't know if I'm more pissed that someone was in your house without your permission or that he hurt you."
"I'm fine."
"You were sitting on your kitchen floor, surrounded by glass, pulling a rope from around your neck with a gun in your hand and bleeding. Don't tell me you're fine. I'm not fine and I'm not the one who was fighting a killer," he growled.
"I'm obviously okay," she glared at him. "Besides, I didn't know I owed you an explanation about someone attacking me in my house."
"You're right," Leonard said, "you don't owe me an explanation. Just… I care about what happens to you and I don't think you get that. For those seconds when I didn't know what I'd find in your kitchen, I was terrified. I rounded the corner and you were… All I wanted to do was get you as far away from there as I could."
He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Leonard's admittedly never been good with words. Hell, he's not even that good with people. He didn't know how to tell her how he feels. It was like a war raging in his brain. Part of him knew that he couldn't take any of this back but the other part of him didn't give a shit. He could've lost her before he ever had her and it didn't sit right with him.
"Bones," Jim whispered and his eyes snapped open. When did she get so damn close? She had moved and now she was standing in front him. Jim reached over and took one of his hands in hers before pressing it against her neck. "Feel that?" He nodded. Her pulse was strong and even under his fingertips. "I'm okay. You distracted him enough to give me a fighting chance. You know I'm telling the truth because my pulse hasn't changed, has it?"
"No," he whispered, running his thumb over the line that the rope left on her skin. "It hasn't."
"You gotta have some faith, Bones. I know what I'm doing and this guy… he may be stronger than me but he's not smarter. I will catch him."
"Before he tries to kill you again?"
"Yes. I have something that he doesn't have," she said with a small smile.
"Oh, yea. What's that?"
"You."