I'm so mean to Brennan in this! I'm so sorry! But there is a purpose :D I hope you enjoy it

After a few minutes of agonizing silence and feeling Sweets' eyes bore into her, her scars prickling under his gaze, she slowly lowered her shirt with trembling hands, the rest of her body trembling slightly.

'Doctor Brennan, I don't see how you could keep this to yourself, you trust Booth with everything.'

'Sweets, I need someone who knows what it's like to be in care, knows the pain and the feeling of abject terror when you don't belong.' She bit back what else she was going to say, forcing herself to stop before she went too far.

'Booth was abused as a child.' Sweets informed her.

'I know, but he never… he never went into care with someone he didn't know Sweets… he never knew what it was like. You did.' She clenched her hands together and stared at the floor. Sweets kept pacing, running a hand through his critically short hair.

'You came to me… does that permit me to ask questions, Doctor Brennan?'

'Don't try your psychology on me… just… I need a friend Sweets. But yes, you may ask questions.'

'What happened to you?' He asked, still pacing.

'You really want to know?' Her voice was dull, like many people he'd talked to before, people with a past that scares them.

'Talk to me, Doctor Brennan.'

'I need a friend; please… call me Temperance.' Sweets nodded.

'Okay, Temperance. Tell me what happened.' Brennan nodded, her eyes filling rapidly with tears.

'I was sixteen. My best friend was sixteen… her name was Sarah; she was the only one not scared of me. And she was dying, terminal cancer. Before she died she wanted to go to a carnival…'

The smell of stale popcorn hung in the hot air of summer, the heat making their shirts stick to their backs and the sticky heat press down on them. Sarah smiled, despite her shaved head and bruises under her eyes; she was filled with life that was only discovered when you found out you had not long to live.

'Come on Tempe!' Brennan found herself smiling, enthralled by her friend's enthusiasm for the moment, caught up in the swirl of life that crackled all around like lightning during a storm.

'I'm coming!' Brennan caught up with Sarah and together they walked through the carnival, lights dancing on their faces from the rides, the mingled shouts resonating in the air. Sarah stopped suddenly, causing Brennan to nearly trip over her. 'What?' Sarah pointed at a sign fixed in the ground, her eyes widening.

Airbrush Tattoos

'Something to remember each other by, if only for a little while?' Sarah smiled, dragging Brennan by the arm.

'I don't think this is a good idea…' Her mind wavered to her foster parents.

'Oh come on Tempe! You only live once! And not very long if you're me, please do this for me!' Sarah begged Brennan, tugging on her best friend's hand. Brennan smiled; tossing her auburn waves over one shoulder.

'Okay then.' Sarah squealed and led her to the two woman with the airbrushes and colors, smiling as they paid their dollars and got each other's names printed just below their ribs. When it was done, they both leapt up and admired the loopy curls on the 'S' and 'P'

Temperance

Sarah

'I'm going to miss you, you know.' Brennan sighed when they lay flat on their backs in the damp grass, counting stars. Sarah looked over at her and smiled, clutching Brennan's hand.

'Don't be too sad… I'll be watching you.'

'So you got airbrush tattoos, then what?' Sweets asked her, leaning on his hands.

'I went home… and when I got there, he was waiting for me.' She took in a deep shuddering breath, steadying her nerves.

'And what did he do, Temperance?'

'He thought it was real. I shouted and screamed and told him it wasn't, cowered when he came at me with the knife, shrank back against the wall, scared to show my back. I knew what he was going to do.' She sounded distant, cold; but her eyes were the haunted eyes of a war survivor, of someone who has died a little inside.

'He cut you?'

'There was so much blood, it hurt so much…' She trailed off and took a deep breath, steadying her nerves again, forcing herself to tell the truth. 'But that's only that one.' She lifted her shirt again and traced the thick, ugly scar that ran along her lower back, the flesh puckered and knotted where the scar tissue had formed, forever blemishing the smoothness. There was another, above that one, just below her ribcage.

'What's the other one?' Sweets asked her, reaching out a hand to trace it gently. She sprang back, pulling her shirt down again and pressing herself against the leather of the couch.

'I'm sorry.' He shook his head.

'It's my fault.' He stepped back and sat in his chair, steepling his fingers and observing her over the top of them.

'I lost my virginity at sixteen.' She whispered quietly, into dangerous territory now.

'But before you said you lost it at twenty one.' Sweets raised an eyebrow.

'I first engaged in a sexual relationship with someone I truly cared about when I was twenty one, but when I was sixteen, my foster father molested me.' She shredded a tissue in her hands, staring at the dimpled surface of the fabric, waiting for the gasp, the revulsion. It never came.

'Keep talking, you're getting there Temperance.'

'I hate psychology!' She snapped, but then smiled sadly. 'I'm sorry, just… be a listening ear for me. I got pregnant at sixteen, scared, alone and worried, I hid it, kept it to myself. Thankfully, although I know I should have been in a deep depression, I miscarried ten weeks in. I didn't know what was happening, all I knew was pain and blood, and I was lying there… crying. And he screamed at me to stop being a baby, yelled at me, cut me… it made me cry more. And then… his eyes went blank, he staggered backwards and fell… he stroked out. And his wife, who had never known about any of this, never known about the abuse… she came in and saw me curled up in a ball on the floor, bleeding and crying. And she left.' Brennan closed her eyes, clutching her stomach as if remembering it made the pain more real. Sweets handed her a tissue and she took it dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

oOo

Booth had finished the job Cam had set him and was walking the corridor towards Sweets' office when he caught sight of them through the window. Brennan was crying, actually crying in his office, her head bent and her hair spilling over her face. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Sweets hug her, saw her step back and dip her head to her hands once again. He stormed to the office and flung the door open, making Brennan jump.

'Agent Booth, Doctor Brennan and I were having a session.' Brennan turned to Booth; her face streaked with tears and then found herself in his arms, shaking from the memories and the sobs.

'What did you do?' Booth asked angrily, holding her to his chest.

Reviews feed my mind, sorry for the angst and pain, there will be less in the next few chapters (: I promise. (I might not update for a while because I'm actually trying to write a novel so... sorry if I neglect you for a while)