A/N: A BIG thank you to all those you stuck around and reviewed. I appreciate it! I'm also happy to know that everyone is on board with where my story is going, makes everything a lot easier for me. :) Here's a long chapter for making you wait for a long time! Enjoy!
His world had been turned upside down; a rollercoaster of 180° turns with no beginning and no end in sight, but a guiding light had managed to disrupt the internal, chaotic struggle into a fit of borderline qualms that edged out the darkness—making room for a possible future. She had become his reason; his one reason to fight the absolute pending fall down the engulfing spiral of the insane. He had his reason.
Opening his eyes, his vision slanted in a sleepy haze, Booth slid his head off the edge of the bathtub and scooted his stiff body upright—his visage fixed. Cranking his head around to stretch the muscles, Booth soon discovered that Brennan was huddled in a ball next to his side, her head and arms draped across his chest.
Streaks of dried blood lay strewn across the tile, the dark red seeping deep into the cracks—unevenly haloed by jagged glass. His face reflected hauntingly back at him, the splattered shine of the light in the glass making his stomach churn uncomfortably. He had to get away.
"Bones, hey. I think it's time we got out of the bathroom." Booth dug around in his pant pocket for the distasteful watch, the glowing numbers ratcheting his heartbeat. "Yeah, I think I …need to get away…the blood and…"
Brennan sat up quickly, keenly aware of the loud thud against her ear. "Booth?"
"I'm fine Bones; I just had a…you know what how about we get something to eat…away from the apartment. I'm starving!" Booth grabbed Brennan's outstretched hand and helped her up, brushing off the bits of glass clinging to her clothes.
Realizing he was closing himself off from exuding any extreme emotion, all she could do was go along with his wishes and hope to break down his walls over pancakes. "Alright, alright." She giggled slightly as Booth twirled her out of the bathroom and into the bright room, both landing backwards on the messy bed. "You know we'll have to clean up that glass some time; preferably before we lose our feet to infection. Do you have any idea what kind of bacteria can develop…" Silenced with a soft, but forceful kiss, Brennan melted into the surrounding ebony cloth.
"At 6:00 in the morning Bones, that is an observation you keep to yourself."
"Duly noted." A sharp buzz of the doorbell startled the pair out of their gaze.
"What the…" Scrambling off the bed, Booth and Brennan rushed toward the door; an aching pain echoing in the back of his head began a sudden circuit as Brennan opened the door to two stiff-legged police officers, their badges shoved into her face.
"Excuse me miss, but do you happen to be a Ms. Temperance Brennan from the Jeffersonian?"
Confusion etched Booth's face, but his annoyance at the disruption only peaked when the trio stood in a strangled, tight silence. "That's Doctor Temperance Brennan."
"Of course, our apologies miss."
"Booth!" Brennan glared sharply at the dumbfounded man behind her.
"What?"
"Doctor Brennan, you're under arrest for aggravated assault on one Liam Jacobs." Grabbing hold of her hands, the two cops clicked on the cold handcuffs and walked her down the apartment.
"What?"
"Aggravated! Are you serious…I…Booth don't worry, stay here and I'll call you! Stay in the apartment! I'll get this mess all worked out…aggravated, the nerve!" The bickering trio disappeared out the front door and into the rising morning light, leaving a distraught Booth standing alone in the doorway. "What?"
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The ignition lighted, a roar of commotion thrumming in his ears as he pressed the gas pedal and sped off down the street. He silently cursed himself for leaving his shoes at the apartment as his cut feet rubbed against the hard rubber, but for some reason had managed to remember to throw on a wrinkled button-up shirt. An insistent ticking reminded him that wearing his seatbelt was important so he strapped it on in a flurry—the ticking gone. Sweat dripped from his face and he rubbed at the stinging droplets, but the nervous sweat only increased its flow as he gripped the wheel with a death-like hold. He had to fill this sudden void inside him.
Forever it seemed; his life had been continuously molded into that of a lone wolf. A soldier of one. Years spent under the harsh words of his father and the military taught him his mistakes were his burden to carry—no one else's. The blood was on his hands only. A man must fix his error or go down alone, there is to be no dragging along others.
Booth blasted his horn in a fury as a pigeon swooped dangerously close to his wheels. Brennan was in his crosshairs, on the brink of demise. He had to save her before his demons became all too real, before he lost himself.
The phone in the passenger seat buzzed loudly, the vibrations sending Booth whirring back into the bloody field of Rubishia. Reaching for the cell phone, now transformed into a small pistol, Booth clutched the weapon closely. Sweat turned to blood. The ground rumbled under him, crumbling into wind-blasted trenches, bodies draped along the edge.
Booth squealed his car away from the trenches—lamps dissolving into sun kissed palms as he zoomed past the disturbing hallucinations. A red blur barreled up alongside him, trapped in the unraveling seams of his mind. One bold look at the dead, maniac terrorist solidified Booth's apprehensions. The nightmare ended in a deadening crash, steaming engine buried deep within the corner of a brick building.
Booth opened the car door, shards of glass cascaded to the asphalt, dampening the scene in a frazzled white.
"Sir, are you alright?"
Head screaming and eyes blazing red heat, Booth turned threateningly on the concerned pedestrian. "Alright! I just…I…my head and car…oh my God! Alright!?" Booth halted his torrid yelling and stared wildly at the beeping name on his cell phone. "Bones…" Looking up at the man who was now backing cautiously away, Booth quickly realized he needed the man. "Sir, come back please." Booth gingerly waved the man back over.
"Is there any thing I can do to help?" Booth looked down his nose at the shorter, concerned man, saddened by the fact that he was about to scare the living daylights out of him. Laying the craziness on thick wasn't as hard as he had expected as the shadows in the back of his mind directed his motives.
"You know, I'm feeling a little crazy right now!" Booth threw the man against the car, a tight grip on his shirt collar. "I don't know if it's the heat or your cologne, but something is making me feel…like ripping something to shreds!" The man whimpered uncontrollably, his lip trembling as Booth cocked his head, a smirk on his face. Booth released the man and backed away, hands waving sporadically in the air as he animated his words. "Get it together man!" Booth tossed his phone to his unwarranted victim. "Call the police before I do something really stupid! My head is going crazy right now I might just end up releasing all my anger on you!"
Dialing the number, the man screamed into the phone. Tearing off his shirt, Booth spun around, feet burning on the hot street. "Bars. I think the metal bars may hold me back you know. God I feel like hulk right now! I may not be green and humungous, but I have the fury of a big green man with fake muscles! Haha, come on man don't look at me like that! Everybody wants to be hulk!" Booth burst out laughing, his stomach aching as he doubled over. The man's face had turned a bright scarlet, the veins along his neck about to burst as he held his breath to stop his tears.
A police siren blared as it parked next to Booth's crushed car. Reining in the wild side of his punishment, Booth took a deep breath and calmed his frazzled nerves. "Look man, I feel horrible about putting you through all of this. You'll be getting a big payoff for being such a sport and putting up with my antics. I'm truly very sorry." Booth stuck out his hand, but received a dumbfounded jaw drop instead.
"What the…You're crazy!"
"Tell me something I don't already know." Booth strutted over to the police men, hands waving around. "Take me home boys!"
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A short forty-five minutes later, a chattering Booth and two peeved cops walked through the swirling doors of the station and halted at the check-in counter to speak with the bored woman behind the window.
"No ID, no valuables, a stolen car and he calls himself "The Hulk" which means he's just another run-of-mill, living on the street, crazy that got to cocky and scared the shit out of a pedestrian."
Leaning forward, gum smacking, the woman gave Booth the once-over and raised her eyebrows in approval. "Put him in the holding cell, he'll be out soon enough."
Hands cuffed together, Booth tapped lightly on the glass to get the woman's attention. "Excuse me miss, but do you think you could keep the gum smacking to minimum, it's mighty rude. Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't gawk at my butt as I walk away," Leaning forward to look her in the eyes, Booth smiled sheepishly, "It makes me feel self-conscious."
The two cops snickered amongst themselves as they watched the woman's lustful stare become replaced by a scorned glare, the gum rolling around in her mouth. "Yeah, whatever. Holding cell 3 for him."
Brennan stood up abruptly as Booth's voice drifted down the short corridor. "Booth, finally. I've been trying to reach you, but you didn't answer your phone. You have the bail money right…wait…why are your hands cuffed…"
The bars slammed open, where Booth was tossed in with Brennan, the pair looking disheveled, baffled at the current circumstances. Taking a seat on the wood benches across from each other, Brennan looked questioningly at Booth, his head resting against the cement wall, eyes sparkling. "Booth, what on earth are you doing in this cell with me?"
"Oh, I felt like experiencing the system firsthand. I've never been to jail before, and since I'm starting my life over, I though, hell, why not! They really need to get some new employees though, did you see…"
"Booth!" Brennan gasped, a smirk on her tired face. Booth glimpsed the sadness in her eyes, felt her concern creep into his bones. She knew him all to well.
"I didn't want to be alone."
"Well, now we get to experience the jail system together. Speaking of which, what did you do to get thrown into jail, you look terrible."
"Thanks, but that, my dear Bones, is a story for another day. Right now we have to think about who will bail us out." Walking over, Brennan sat down next to Booth, her head lighting on his shoulder.
"That's why I called you."
"Well, it wouldn't help any since I'm dead."
Brennan reached for his face, "Booth you can't…"
Shrugging his shoulders, Booth shook his head at Brennan's thoughtful attempt to make him feel better. "No Bones, I mean I'm literally dead. I never signed off on the death certificate."
Sighing audibly as she got up, Brennan threw up her hands in mock disbelief. "That's certainly a problem, but we'll get it taken care of."
Booth turned slightly away from her gorgeous smile, his hands straying back to their tight grip on the wood bench, the thud of his heart beating in his throat as he tried to swallow. "Yeah…"
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A boisterous voice echoed between the bars of their cell, followed by a leering whistle and a high-pitched giggle offered gratuitously. His black, polished shoes squeaked across the dirty tile until he was situated in front of their cell. He stood silent, hands on hips, chest puffed out and his head cocked back with an air of self-righteousness. "That's her." He pointed his slender finger accusingly at Brennan, her face twisted in disapproval. The police officer nodded and walked back down the hallway.
"So glad you took the time to come all the way down here to point fingers, Liam. I guess some things never change." At the sound of the other man's name, Booth jerked forward, his curiosity ready to explode as he kept his mouth shut and focused on the pair.
"Actually Temperance," Liam reached up to his broken nose, the blistering, purple bruise painted across the left side of his face had sealed his eye shut in a puffy mess. "After being the innocent victim in a raging woman's unjustified attack I should be pressing charges, but being the absolute gentleman that I am—and have always been—I decided to drop them and post your bail. Hopefully this mess will be resolved quietly and without any problems."
Brennan could hardly believe what she was hearing. Turning to Booth, she voiced her thoughts out loud so Booth would understand. "He's a lawyer now. The Agency asked him to resign after he was caught stealing from the Bureau's funds." She turned her attention back to Liam. "Really, it should be you behind bars. I still can't for the life of me figure out how you managed to pull off only being asked to resign. You must have paid off quite a few crooked cops and agents." Looking at Booth, his jaw now clenched tightly, the anger in his eyes. "Looks like you got some work to do over there."
Liam pressed his face against the bars, suppressed fury burning hot fire on every hissed whisper. "You shut your mouth right now."
Smiling delicately, Brennan narrowed her eyes. "You're wearing a wire to show your "generous" side. I guess the court is sniffing around and you don't want something this minor to blow up in your face, what with your federal crimes and all."
Speeding hands shot through the bars, snaking around her soft, fleshy throat and gripped tightly, strangling her soft laugh into a coughing sob. "I'll kill you!"
Booth dashed over, cracking Liam's wrist against the bar as he pulled the wheezing woman out if his vehement grasp. Rage collided with the ferocious voices in his head—kill—chanting on repeat as he felt the heat of violence fog his conscious. Their positions switched, Liam pinned against the cold, metal bars, his neck and arm trapped by Booth's steady, precise hands. Kill. He was losing the battle against the rigid soldier within him, his body and soul begging his mind to execute his hidden wishes, his mission. Kill.
Booth's fingers squeezed the rough skin a little tighter, but his internal struggle escaped him when his darting eyes came in contact with the scared, tearful eyes of Brennan, her face ashen from shock.
"Booth…?"
Fighting off the now shrieking voices, Booth released the spluttering man and backed away from the bars. He had his reason. Chest raising in unison with each nervous breath, Booth new the situation was now dire as he attempted to apologize for his violent outburst. Brennan wandered cautiously up to the wounded soldier and wrapped her arms around his waist, warm auburn locks resting against his heart.
It hit her hard. The realization of what Booth was going through finally sunk in and it hurt her to see him so lost. She had to be there always. She had to give him a reason.
"That's Booth!?" Liam kicked a nearby trashcan only to cry out in pain as his toe throbbed under his scuffed shoe. "Forget it! I'm not posting your bail!" Yanking the wire out of his shirt and throwing it into the trash, Liam screamed at the faraway guards for not paying attention. "Damnit! Why is everyone against me! I don't deserve being threatened by the likes of you two! Believe me, this is anything but finished!" Striding haughtily down the corridor, Liam ripped the old photo frames off the wall, the glass smashing against the tile, splintering into thousands of pieces. He threw one last comment over his shoulder as he slammed threw the spiraling doors and into his waiting cab. "You two deserve each other! You're both fucking crazy!"
Still clasped together, the pair was consumed by each other's loving touch, both trying to find a way to let the other now that there was a reason for them to hang on. They just had to find a way to avoid temptation, to avoid slipping into a darkness neither could navigate.
Drumming up the courage to speak, Booth pressed his cheek into her hair and whispered lightly. I'm so sorry Bones…but I think I just scared away our bail money."
Brennan laughed delightedly, her face shining as Booth's mouth twitched into his charm smile. The tension and angst had disappeared, leaving behind the ecstatic, love-struck man who commanded all her feelings; her very own knight in shining FBI standard-issued body armor.
"So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you two are finished?"
Brennan patted the tip of Booth's nose, smiling at the hint of jealousy in his voice. "Believe me Booth, we never even got started."
"Oh, because I mean you…"
"Booth, because of your little tantrum, we now have to resort to calling the one person we didn't want to discover our little side trip to jail." They looked at each other, the name passing their lips simultaneously.
"Angela."
Brennan nodded, pushing Booth's half-struggling body towards the phone hanging on the cell wall. "She's all yours tiger!"
Booth grabbed the greasy phone off the receiver, the metal cord twirled in knots. No dial tone. A scratched paper asked for fifty cents, so he dug around his pant pocket but only found a quarter. "Um, Bones…"
"What?"
"I need a quarter."
"Yeah. Okay, let me see." Brennan fished around, but quickly stopped after remembering what she was wearing. "I'm in my P.J.'s. I don't have any pockets."
"Great, now what."
"Well, I'm sure you could get a couple bucks off the woman at the front counter seeing as how you decided to go to jail looking like a Chippendale." Brennan raised her eyebrows, her attention directed at his body.
"For your viewing pleasure." Booth added defensively, mock indignation coloring his face. He looked down at his bare chest, the jeans hanging limply on his hips, his tousled hair shifted slightly to the right. "Hmm, you think I could get in, their pretty elite. I could go for a career change; maybe that is my true destiny, to become a male stripper…"
"Booth, the woman passes by the cell every half hour to refresh her makeup in the bathroom. You'll just have to stop her when she comes by, flirt a bit and get us our quarter."
Booth sat down on his bench, laughing cheerfully at their predicament and at Brennan's serious determination. "Bones, I think I'm worth a little more than a quarter and besides, the woman hates me."
"Why would she hate you? Everybody loves you! Grandmas love you! You can't get anymore lovable than that! Come on Booth, you're just going to give up! We need that quarter!"
Leaping up, Booth gave Brennan a joyful hug, unable to control the mirth coursing through him. He loved her quirky, serious resolve and he found it impossible to deny her of her quarter, especially when she looked at him with that confused, earnest pleading in her eyes. "Thank you Bones! You've helped me see the light!" It was all fun and games now for him, the past forgotten in the back of his mind for a few fleeting minutes as the present took hold.
Heels clacked across the tile as a deafening voice sung the recent rap song to hit the charts. Her hair flicked around like a cat tail as she swayed her butt back and forth, the tight miniskirt about to burst.
"Excuse me Miss, but I really wanted to apologize to you for what I said before."
His sincere voice caught her attention and the spark in his eyes pulled her closer to the bars. Brennan watched in awe, amazed that she had been blind to this side of him for years. "I didn't mean any of it. You see, I was just playing a character, to confuse the cops." Booth leaned in and gripped the bars, his hot breath tickling the brunette's cheek. "I think smacking gum is really sexy." Booth had to drop his head to stop from laughing out loud, his cheeks burning red as her hand drifted across his bruised knuckles.
"Oh, you poor baby. My name's Tracy." She replied, her gum smacking louder than usual.
"Tracy…that's a beautiful name; fits you perfectly." Booth gave her his best charm smile, hand outstretched to help her keep her balance as she about fainted. "Listen Tracy, I could really use your help. See, I'm absolutely poor right now and need to make a very important phone call. Do you think you could spare a quarter? I would greatly appreciate it." Booth tilted his head questioningly.
"Oh honey, you are worth way more than a quarter!" Her eyelashes sagged under the mounds of mascara as she took in his body once more, giving a short sigh of approval.
"That's what I said!" Booth found that his cocky ego was enjoying this little escapade very much. Brennan was ready to teach him a lesson once they got out of the station. "But really, all I need is a quarter."
Tracy scrounged around in her oversized bag, yanked out her coin purse and took out a quarter. "Here you go babe."
"Thanks so much Tracy, you're a doll." Booth took her hand lightly and kissed it, adding the cherry on top. Fanning herself with her elongated nails, she smiled sweetly and turned away.
Booth twirled around, a smug smile on his face that wilted under Brennan's glare. He jumped suddenly as Tracy tucked a twenty dollar bill in his waistband and sauntered off down the hallway.
Walking over the Brennan, Booth placed a sincere, lustful kiss on her pouting lips. Leaning back he smiled genuinely as he watched her savor the kiss, her eyes still closed. He set the twenty in Brennan's hand, an outline of red lipstick stuck on it. "I think this belongs to you."
Booth made his short walk over to the phone, put the quarters into the slot and dialed the number. A clipped, cheerful voice answered the phone.
"Angela, this is Booth…" Her screaming, thrilled voice came through the intercom in a frenzy. Brennan fell to the floor, her belly laughs bouncing off the walls as Booth tried to interject his words in between Angela's shrieking chatter, his face a mix of annoyance and excitement. They had a reason.