This Is An Author's Note Read First: Sorry for the slight delay on this, I've been working at camp for two weeks and had virtually no time and, after the first week, no internet service at all. This chapter is shorter than the last few, and it cuts off sooner than was originally planned, but my beta is out of town for the next week or so but she managed to read most of this before she left. And I didn't want to wait too long to post, but the next chapter transitions us into a new stage of the story (bet you can guess what) and I was hesitant to introduce that without feedback. But I love this chapter a little, as it explores another one of my favorite aspects of the show besides Booth/Brennan, and hopefully it works on its own.

Oh, and the song is by Brandi Carlile and you should all know her uh-huh.

Chapter Eight

Long is the day, take it away
Hold it up and you don't let it fall
Cause devils play, was yesterday
And I don't care about that at all

I just smile, once in a while
Because I don't want the lines on my face
I sit right here, holding the years
And I count all the stars in space

You fall apart again and you can find a friend
Don't turn to someone else because they wonjust smile, once in a while
Because I don't want the lines on my face
I sit right here, holding the years
And I count all the stars in space

You fall apart again and you can find a friend
Don't turn to someone else because they won't understand...

Brennan opened the door to her apartment and immediately pulled Angela inside with one hand, the other plucking the small plastic bag from Angela's hand.

"Sweetie…" Angela's voice was rich with concern.

"You didn't say anything, did you?" Brennan demanded immediately, her eyes not on Angela but on the small box she'd pulled out.

"Of course not, Bren, but just…hey." Gently, Angela put a hand on Brennan's arm, waiting for her to look up at her. "Just take a second. Relax. Either way, it's going to be fine."

Angela hadn't been sure what to expect when she arrived at Brennan's apartment; now, as her best friend stared back at her, the strength of terror in Brennan's eyes nearly stole Angela's breath.

Still, Brennan's voice was a forced, deliberate calm when she stated, "I just need to confirm. Right now it's merely a suspicion." She turned the pregnancy test box over in her hands, making no move toward the bathroom. Finally, she lifted her eyes to meet Angela's, then said quietly, "You'll stay? Until I know?"

"Sweetie, of course. As long as you need me, okay? Now, go." Angela gave Brennan a gentle push in the direction of her and Booth's bedroom. "You'll feel better when you know for sure."

~(B*B)~

"Bren?" Angela called out cautiously. She was sitting on the edge of Booth and Brennan's bed, waiting for Brennan to emerge from their bathroom. By her watch, the results should be in. After a pause, she repeated, a little louder, "Brennan?"

Slowly, the bathroom door opened and Brennan emerged, stone faced, her shaking hand clutched around the paper towel wrapped pregnancy test.

Off Angela's questioning look, Brennan admitted in a strained voice, " I can't." Biting her lip, she thrust the test in her best friend's direction. "Please?"

Gingerly, Angela took the stick and shifted it to see the result.

Lifting her gaze to meet Brennan's, a soft, understanding smile on her face, Angela said resolutely, "Congratulations."

Brennan closed her eyes, her only visible reaction. Then, her voice a tight whisper, she said, "I knew."

"It's a good thing," Angela told her gently. "I know it's not the best timing-"

"Angela." Brennan opened her eyes, expression anguished. "What happens if I-"

"You are not going to be convicted."

Instinctively, Brennan's hand drifted to her stomach, her fingers splaying across her skin. A strange sort of awe slowly swelled in her chest.

It quickly dissolved, however. Brennan couldn't seem to force herself to process this beyond the immediate consequences, the most pressing fear.

"I can't tell Booth."

Angela gave her a look, clearly believing this was a knee jerk reaction that was nothing short of ridiculous. "Sweetie, of course you can. You can't keep this from him."

"Angela, I have to. Until after the trial." Again, Angela looked steeled for an argument, and Brennan quickly continued, "He's always wanted…he wants more kids, he talks about being a family." To her utter humiliation, Brennan felt the beginnings of tears rising along the column of her throat. "I want him to be happy when I tell him-"

"Bren, he will-"

"No, he'll be worried. Even more worried than he already is, and I can't…" Brennan shook her head hard. "No. There are less than two weeks before the trial starts and then it will be over and…and I'll tell him then."

Angela was quiet for a moment, sympathy etched in her expression as she studied Brennan. "Sweetie…you really think you should keep this from Booth?"

"I have to," Brennan gritted out, breaking eye contact. All she could think of was how quickly and easily Booth had described his plan for turning himself in last night, and the fact that he hadn't promised not to actually carry through with it.

Brennan had meant what she'd said; if that happened, she would stick to her story, insist he was the one who was lying. But Booth had the truth on his side, and he would find a way to prove it, to make everyone believe him. He was much better at that than she was.

"Oh, God. Oh my God…." Brennan murmured, not even realizing she was speaking aloud until Angela's arms closed around her.

"Everything's going to be okay," Angela told her firmly. "No way a jury finds you guilty of this. You're going to be completely free in a few weeks, and then, I am going to congratulate you and freak out and celebrate the fact that our kids will get to grow up together and be best friends and all of us can take vacations together every summer…" Angela halted then, her rambling coaxing a small smile from Brennan, just as she'd hoped. Gently, more seriously, Angela added, "This is a good thing. An amazing thing, really."

Brennan swallowed hard, fighting the tightness in her throat. "I want to view it that way," she said softly. "But, Angela, there's a chance…there's a chance I could be going to prison."

This was the first time Brennan had admitted this possibility out loud. In all her conversations with Booth, she had only pointed out why, exactly, the self defense had an excellent chance of acquittal.

But she had never said it was a guarantee; she'd been always been aware of the worst case scenario. Brennan had understood this as a calculated risk, and it was one she was willing to take to protect Booth.

Yet suddenly, the worst case scenario had changed.

Not only could she end up in jail; she could end up in jail through a pregnancy, a pregnancy that would end in the baby being taken away from her. She could miss out on the majority of her child's life.

Logically, Brennan could rationalize this. Her child would be taken away from her only to be given to Booth, who was perfectly capable of raising the baby on his own, who would, objectively, make a much better single parent than Brennan would if the situation was reversed.

Yet just imagining this possibility made Brennan's chest ache, her breaths becoming shallow and harsh as panic descended.

Alarm stripped through her face, Angela grabbed Brennan, whose face had gone paper white, and led her to the couch. "Bren, sweetie, I need you to breathe for me, okay? C'mon slow, even breaths, that's it…" Angela's hand began tracing slow, soothing circles on Brennan's back. "There you go, you're alright."

The ring of Angela's cell phone startled both of them, and Angela grabbed it with her free hand. "Hey, Cam, what's up?" She cut her eyes at Brennan. "What, right now?" Before Brennan could stop herself, her eyes widened in panic, which was all Angela needed to say, "Actually, can you guys just…handle it?" There was a pause, and Angela rolled her eyes. "Get Wendell to do it, I gave him a crash course in the Angelator after the last time he nearly destroyed it...yes. Yes, I'm sure. Call me if you need me to talk you through anything, I just can't get back for another few hours." Another pause, another eyeroll. "Tell Hodgins it's nothing for him to worry about. I'm fine, Ally's fine, everything's fine."

When she'd hung up the phone, Brennan dragged her gaze toward Angela and asked weakly, "You're sure it's alright if you stay?"

"I'm staying as long as you need me to," Angela replied firmly. "And I won't tell any of them what's going on. But Bren…even if you don't tell Booth, which….that's your decision, but…you still have to go the doctor."

"After the trial-"

"No, now." Angela's voice left no room for argument. "Or, as soon as possible anyway."

"Ange, I can't even leave the apartment-"

"Well, talk to your lawyer, get her to get you the same sort of pass you get when you meet with her…Brennan, this is serious. Look at you, you're not exactly at your most healthy. You've been losing weight, you're stressed…You need to get this confirmed and get on prenatal vitamins and all the other early pregnancy stuff."

Flushing, Brennan shook her head. "I can't go without Booth," she muttered.

Immediately, Angela's eyes softened. "It's probably too early for them to do a full ultrasound…you just need to get checked out, confirm everything. Booth won't miss anything big." Tentatively, Angela added, "Or you could always just tell him. Booth can handle it, Bren."

Again, Brennan's mind flashed to Booth's plan to come clean; if he knew that she was pregnant, he'd be on his way to see Detective Kinley within moments. And suddenly they'd be locked in a legal mess, truth and lies competing.

Another worst case scenario edged its way into her mind. Booth in jail, away from her, away from Parker. Brennan alone with their baby, raising it alone, Booth missing all of it….

Angela could see Brennan was precariously close to tears, and she hastily dropped the subject before Brennan could even manage to protest. She remembered, briefly, how ecstatic Hodgins had been when she'd told him. Who was she to take that sort of moment away from Brennan? "I'm sorry, Bren, you…you tell him whenever you're ready, okay?" She gave Brennan's hand a quick squeeze. "But you do need to go to the doctor, alright. Promise me you'll arrange that with your lawyer?"

Wordlessly, Brennan nodded.

"And I'll go with you," Angela told her. "If you want."

The relief in Brennan's eyes palpable, she nodded again. "Alright."

"Good."

Angela stayed with Brennan for the next few hours; they didn't say much, and when they did talk it was forced conversation that had nothing to do with pregnancy or trials.

Finally, when Brennan was no longer teetering on the edge of a panic attack, she casually told Angela that she might want to get back to the lab.

At the door, Angela gave Brennan a firm look. "Talk to your lawyer. Make an appointment. I mean it." Something else occurring to her, Angela added, "I'll even call Dr. Bano for you…explain the situation. She'll be discreet, you don't have to worry about this getting out."

At that, Brennan nodded gratefully; as the trial drew closer, the media interest had swelled once again.

"Hey…." Angela waited until Brennan met her eyes, and she smiled softly. "You're going to be a really good mom, Sweetie."

Just like, Brennan's throat tightened, and before she could reply, Angela was pulled her into a tight hug. "It's gonna be fine," she murmured softly, the reassurance automatically.

Brennan found her voice just as Angela had gotten a few feet out of the apartment. "Ange?" Angela turned expectedly. "Thank you. For everything."

With an easy smile, Angela replied simply, "Always."

~(B*B)~

Less than an hour later, Brennan was curled on the couch, trying to sleep; it was a practical activity given that she'd lay awake for most of the previous night, worrying.

The sound of the door opening startled her, and Brennan sat up quickly, already tense, before seeing it was only Booth. Immediately, her stomach clenched. He was hours early from work, and as he came closer, she could see his expression was strained and somber.

Brennan's first panicked, irrational thought was that he knew. But that was ridiculous; she and Angela were the only two people who did, and Angela knew not to tell Booth.

"Bones…" His voice only scared her more; it was low and rough, and Booth's eyes held hers as he came and sat beside her on the couch, a sort of dread etched into his face. "We gotta talk, okay? It's Angela…"

The irrational panic surged forward, sending Brennan's mind spinning. Could Angela have let it slip in such a short time frame? Did Booth take one look at Angela and realize something was wrong? Did his supposed gut instinct go that far?

Then came the words "There was an accident", and all of Brennan's thoughts came crashing down.

She stared blankly at Booth, as though refusing to believe the statement might make it less true. "What?"

"She was on her way back to the lab, and another car ran a red light…" Booth kept talking, but his words didn't register with Brennan. There was a strange sort of rushing in her ears, and in a dim, disconnected way, she observed the way Booth was barely sitting on the edge of the couch, his body tense as though he was ready to leap up at any moment.

"-unconscious when they brought her in is all we kno-"

"No." Brennan's voice, loud and forceful, fell between them like a cleaver. "I just…I just saw Angela, she was just here, I was just talking to her…" The words tripped over each other in her hurry to prove Booth wrong; Brennan forgot that he wasn't supposed to know that, forgot to worry about the implications if Booth asked why Angela had been at the apartment in the middle of the day.

But he didn't even ask. "She must've been on her way back, Bones." Suddenly his hands were on her arms, his eyes boring into hers. "Listen to me. Cam went with Hodgins to the hospital, and she's going to call as soon as she hears anything…"

There was something strange in his voice, almost placating, and with a jolt Brennan realized why.

She couldn't leave the apartment.

Angela was in the hospital, and Brennan couldn't leave the apartment.

In seconds she was on her feet, moving toward the door, a hurricane of fierce determination.

Booth, though, had clearly been waiting for this, and he jumped up in front of her, catching her in his arms. "Bones, Bones, you can't, you know you can't…"

The pitch of her voice inching toward hysteria, Brennan protested, "I have to, I have to see her…"

"Cam's gonna call, any second she's going to call.."

Brennan shook her head vigorously, terror choking her and turning her voice into a raw, trembling wreck. "C-call Alex, I…I get out for idiotic meetings with psychiatrists, they can…they can turn it off for this-"

"I've tried," Booth said, his voice determinedly soft and soothing, a complete contrast to Brennan's tone. "She's not picking up her phone." Brennan seemed to wilt in front of him, and Booth pulled her close. "Cam's going to call-"

Brennan, though, pushed against him, resisting the hug. "Call her now," she demanded. "They should be there, they should know something, you…call her."

Booth nodded, already pulling out his phone, while Brennan sunk onto the couch, her head in her hands, trying to process.

She'd been the one to call Angela over. She'd been the reason she'd stayed for hours, away from the lab.

Brennan's mind seized on their last exchange at the door.

Thank you. For everything.

Always.

Always always always always. The word ran in loop in Brennan's brain, the warm, sincere tone of her best friend's voice…Angela had always been there. She'd never once varied, never pulled away…something Brennan could say about no one else, not even Booth.

Except what if she wasn't?

"Hey, Bones, hey…." Booth was beside her, then, his voice rough with concern, eyes softened. He reached out and brushed his fingers across Brennan's face, wiping tears she hadn't realized were falling. "It's alright…"

"What did Cam say?"

"She didn't answer," he admitted, wincing slightly.

Predictably, Brennan tried again to shove past him, but Booth moved in front of her, his hands held up in surrender. "Bones, just…give her five minutes. Okay? It's a hospital, bad cell service…she said she'd call no matter what the news." Booth could feel Brennan shaking beneath his touch, and he ran his hands up and down her arms, soothing. "We don't know anything about what happened. Ange might be perfectly fine."

"She was unconscious," Brennan shot back, her voice splintering.

"Five minutes," Booth repeated, his eyes pleading. He slipped his hand into hers and sat down on the couch, guiding Brennan with him. "I'll call Alex again, too…"

They made it one minute. A call to Alex and then a second call to Cam went unanswered, and suddenly Brennan wrenched her hand from Booth's, her eyes flashing with something almost primal, and ran toward the door.

Booth took off after her, her name catching in his throat. He barely made it in time to squeeze himself between Brennan and the front door.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Get out of the way, Booth."

"Bones, no. They will revoke your bail, you'll go to jail-"

"Only for two weeks!"

"Plus the trial!"

"I don't care!" Brennan was yelling now, her chest heaving. "I don't care, Booth, just let me go."

"I care!" He, too, was shouting. "I don't care if it's two hours until the trial, Bones, I don't want you spending another second in that jail-"

"That isn't your decision to make," she gritted out. For a moment, they stared at each other, unbending, until, in a split second, the fierce irritation on Brennan's face cracked open, and she gave Booth a pleading look that was somehow worse. "Booth, please."

"I can't." Booth told her again, his voice ragged. "You know I can't let you." He paused, desperate. "Think about it rationally, Bones." She winced slightly, eyes flashing, as though she knew he was using her own way of thinking against her. "We haven't heard anything either way, and you being there won't change-"

"Angela is my best friend," Brennan said thickly, her face twisting. "She could die-"

"That isn't going to happen."

The reassurance came automatically, before he could rethink it. In the silence that followed, Brennan gave him a look of such deep, heated anger that Booth physically flinched, regretting his words instantly.

"Don't do that," she told him finally, voice dangerously quiet. "Don't lie to me. You have no idea how bad it is, you have no idea…" She sucked in an uneven breath, narrowing her eyes. "I need to go to the hospital, just…just let me go."

"I just…I can't let you do this, Bones." His apology was written in his eyes, wide and sorrowful.

For a moment, they stared at each other, at an impasse. Then, a fierce, strangled sound pulling itself out of her throat, Brennan shoved forward, reaching under Booth's arm to grab the doorknob, her other hand trying to shove him away.

Brennan tried to force herself forward, and Booth kept himself pressed to the door, stilling her flailing wrists with as gentle a grip as he could allow himself. Still, Brennan struggled against him, her inability to do anything that might hurt him hindering her effort.

"Please…." Her voice was breathless and pleading, a complete contrast to the hard, determined violence of her movements. "Booth, please, I have to go…"

"I'm sorry," he murmured, over and over, the only thing he could manage. "I'm so sorry…"

Booth had his hands on Brennan's upper arms, and he had pulled her close in the struggle. Still, she wrenched her hands between them, shoving his chest, trying to push away. Her face was slick with tears, her voice trembling. "Let me go….Booth, please…"

"It's not just the bail, Bones," he protested, panting. "It won't look good, at the trial…"

"I don't care!" Brennan yelled, some final thread of calm breaking inside her. "I didn't kill anyone!"

They froze, the weight of her words hovering and ringing in the breath of air between them.

Then, slowly, Brennan visibly crumpled. Her face fell, the fight draining out of her, and suddenly Booth's grip on her arms was not to hold her back, but to hold her upright.

A low, anguished moan ripped through her, and in the next moment sobs were tearing themselves from Brennan's chest, hard, coughing sobs that made her ribs ache with their force.

Brennan was slumped against Booth, and he slowly lowered both of them to the floor, pulling Brennan onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her.

She buried her face against his collar; her hands, still poised against Booth's chest from attempts to shove him away, suddenly seized fistfuls of his shirt, gripping like he was her only anchor, an instinct she was too weak to fight at the moment.

Booth pressed his lips against Brennan's hair as sobs wracked her entire body. His voice thick with threatening tears, he murmured quiet, soothing words, all the while feeling as though some crucial part of him was crumbling.

He'd thought he was sorry before…it was nothing compared to this.

"God, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, baby." The endearment, still a rarity, always escaped in the most vulnerable moments. "It's gonna be okay, I'm right here…I've got you…I'm so sorry…"

He held her that for what seemed like hours. In reality, though, about twenty minutes passed before his cell phone began to ring.

Brennan stiffened instantly, falling quiet as Booth grappled for the phone. "Camille?" Brennan stared at him, her heart seizing in her chest as she waited.

Then, a relieved smile split Booth's face. "She's okay?" Brennan went limp, her face falling into her hands, a different sort of tears staining her palms. "Great. Yeah, no, it's alright. Thanks. Okay. Yeah." Booth cut his eyes at Brennan. "Can she talk to Bones?" A pause. "Oh. Yeah, alright. Just…have her call when she's awake? Yeah, I know. Okay. Thanks again, Camille. Bye."

He hung up the phone, exhaling slowly and shakily. "She's alright." Brennan stared at him, waiting for more, and Booth gently brushed aside a strand of hair that was sticking to her cheek. "She was pretty beat up, stitches and some broken bones, but she's alright. She's got a concussion, and Cam said they just took her into surgery for her shoulder. But she's going to be just fine."

Saying nothing, Brennan continued to stare at Booth, her expression blank, tears still falling.

"Cam promised to call after the surgery. And I told her to have Ange call you as soon as she's awake…" When Brennan's expression still didn't change, Booth reached out, his thumb grazing her cheekbone. "Bones…"

The second he touched her, Brennan recoiled, rocking back on her heels so quickly that Booth jumped, startled.

Wiping her eyes with the edge of her sleeve, Brennan shakily got to her feet, staring down at Booth. There was an angry heat in her eyes, and such a sense of utter betrayal that it stole Booth's breath. He reached out toward her, purposelessly but instinctively.

"Just get away from me," Brennan gritted out, through clenched teeth.

She turned, moving away from him, slamming the bedroom door behind her and leaving Booth sitting alone, sick and dizzy with leftover panic and the now familiar sense that he had made an irrevocable mistake.

~(B*B)~

"Bones! Bones, come on, we need to talk about this."

Booth's voice was distant and dim from Brennan's position in the bathroom, two locked doors between the two of them. She was crouched in front of the toilet, having thoroughly emptied the contents of her stomach, and now simply felt too weak and shaky to move.

The sickening terror of the last half hour lingered, a pain after the sharp, initial cut.

Brennan was a person who didn't believe in dwelling on what ifs. Such mental pursuits were a waste of time.

Except suddenly she couldn't stop thinking: What if Angela had died?

And, on the heels of that thought, What if she had died and Booth kept me from seeing her?

From the word 'accident' on, Brennan's mind had sped toward the worst case scenario, something she was apt to do these days. Angela had been unconscious when she arrived at the hospital, and the whole time they waited for Cam to call, the whole time Booth held her back, Brennan was imagining the dozens of ways her best friend could die in a car crash.

The worst case scenario hadn't happened. But Booth had no way of knowing that; even when it was a possibility, he had kept Brennan away, physically stopping her from making her own decision. He had to have known what might happen, that there was a possibility that she would never see Angela alive again…yet he'd held her back.

For all Booth's guilt over every facet of this ordeal, this was the first time Brennan had blamed him for anything.

Brennan moved quietly out of the bathroom and lay down on the bed, desperately tuning out Booth's voice on the other side of the locked bedroom door. Curling up on the bed, Brennan squeezed her eyes closed to prevent a fresh wave of threatening tears.

Her best friend could have died, and Brennan had no way of going to see her. It had happened, based on the chronology of events, because of Brennan forcing Angela to sit with her for hours. And that had happened because Brennan was pregnant, at the worst possible time, a time when something that should have been terrifyingly exciting was merely terrifying.

Today had already been the worst day in a string of difficult days, and it had left Brennan feeling sick and empty and bone tired. Her instinctive desire, in moments like this, was to go to Booth, to curl up beside him until she could breathe a little easier.

Except, right now, she couldn't so much as look at him without feeling breathless with the weight of her own anger.

~(B*B)~

Eventually, Booth abandoned his position at the locked bedroom door, reluctantly recognizing that he needed to give Brennan space.

It was several hours later, around dinnertime, when he once again knocked lightly on the door. "Bones?" Predictably, there was only silence. "Bones, c'mon phone for you….it's Angela."

That got her to her feet, and after a few seconds the door swung open. Brennan looked exhausted; her heavy, bloodshot eyes did not even graze Booth's face as she took her cell phone from his hand and turned back into the bedroom.

"Bren?" Angela's voice, slightly weak, hit Brennan, and immediately her throat constricted, the full force of relief finally hitting her. Suddenly afraid that any attempt to speak would cause her to start bawling, Brennan didn't reply.

After the pause had lingered, Angela prompted again, "Bren, you there?" Something about this simple statement drew a crooked sound from Brennan's throat, and Angela's voice immediately melted into concern. "Oh, sweetie…"

"I'm sorry," Brennan managed. "I'm so sorry, Ange…"

"Okay, we're putting a stop that right now," Angela said firmly. "This was in no way your fault, alright?"

"But-"

"Nuh-uh," Angela cut her off instantly. "Use your logic, Bren. You had no way of knowing. I could have just as easily got into an accident on my way home from the lab one night…would that have been your fault, too, because you gave me a job? No way."

Brennan nearly smiled, and the movement felt foreign. It faded quickly, though, as she told Angela, "I tried to go the hospital, I wanted to-"

"I know, Booth told me," Angela replied. "it's okay."

"It isn't," Brennan countered fiercely. "You could've…I thought you might die."

"But I didn't. I'm fine. And, hey, maybe now you know how I feel when you spend half your life running after dangerous murderers," Angela teased gently, a smile in her voice.

For some reason, this started Brennan crying again.

"Hey, hey, hey….it's okay." Angela's voice was soothing, and slightly taken aback. She waited for a moment, and when Brennan's cries only intensified, Angela added worriedly, "Bren, talk to me. Come on, Sweetie, don't cry so hard…" Helplessly, hindered by the phone, Angela tried, "Do you need to go get Booth?"

"No," Brennan choked. "No, not that…"

Her sympathy palpable, Angela said softly, "You're having a rough time of it today, huh, sweetie?"

With great effort, Brennan sucked in a breath, forcing strength into her voice. "You're the one who's in the hospital."

"Yeah, but I'll be okay," Angela told her. "They're probably going to let me go home tomorrow, even. Two days at the latest."

"They are?"

"Yes. And I'll come by and see you, okay? First thing."

Brennan didn't even try to protest the necessity of this. "Alright."

"Are you gonna be okay, Bren?" Angela asked softly after a moment.

"As long as you are," Brennan replied honestly.

"I am," Angela insisted, her throat tightening. "You know I love you, right?" Without waiting for an answer, Angela continued, "And, yes, I know you love me, too."

Brennan nearly smiled again.

"We're both going to be okay. Go let Booth take care of you, alright?"

Not wanting to tell Angela yet that she was angry at Booth, Brennan only said, "I'll see you tomorrow. Right?"

"Of course. Unless something changes. And hey…call your lawyer. I'm not letting you get out of seeing a doctor."

~(B*B)~

Half an hour after she got off the phone with Angela, Brennan emerged from the bedroom to find Booth sitting on the couch, Ally on his lap, a picture book open in front of them.

Taken by surprise, Brennan stared for a moment until Booth explained, his voice cautious, "I told Angela we'd keep her tonight so Hodgins could stay at the hospital…I just ran over to pick her up from the nanny."

Brennan didn't say anything, but something about the image, the baby perfectly relaxed against Booth's chest, made her chest constrict painfully, and she thought again of the pregnancy test, the secret she couldn't tell him.

"Are you alright?" Booth asked quietly.

Blinking back tears that wouldn't seem to stop, Brennan turned her back to him without answering, going to the kitchen, searching the fridge for something to eat.

"Bones, I'm sorry," Booth told her; his voice was quiet, but she could tell he was moving toward her. "I know you're mad, and I get it, but…please, just…I had to-"

"Don't," Brennan said sharply, whirling around to find him standing behind her now, Ally balanced on one side. "I can't…I can't talk about this. Not now."

"Okay," Booth agreed softly, his eyes searching her face, the weight of his gaze so heavy that Brennan immediately lowered her eyes. Booth started to say something, but stopped as Ally began reaching her arms toward Brennan. "You want to see Aunt Bones, Al?"

Brennan lifted her gaze to take the little girl in her arms. Ally grinned up at her, babbling softly, her fingers tangling in Brennan's hair. A smile pulled automatically at Brennan's lips, and she thought suddenly of what Angela had said, about their kids growing up together and being best friends. This pulled to mind a fuzzy mental image of all of them, having family vacations together or whatever else Angela had said, and abruptly Brennan passed the baby back to Booth, walking out of the kitchen without getting food.

~(B*B)~

Booth's heart clenched as he watched Brennan disappear into the bedroom yet again, closing the door behind her, a clear message that he wasn't to follow.

They were two weeks away from the trial, and Booth had thought that the shock and confusion of Sweets' subpoena had been enough of an issue to complicate this final stage of waiting, but it was nothing compared to this.

He couldn't let Brennan pull away from him again, especially not now. Not when the worst part of all this was finally coming.

And there was something in her eyes tonight that scared him, something behind her anger and the remnants of fear. It was like something in Brennan had finally broken, as if whatever had nearly happened to Angela without her there was the final crack that caused her strength to crumble.

Booth needed to be there for her; he needed to make that look in her eyes go away. But he'd screwed up, badly. Brennan rarely retreated into quiet and avoidance; she and Booth bickered and fought with heat and ferocity, never holding back frustrations and rarely letting issues hover silently. And when she was angry, Brennan had no problem rationally and matter-of-factly explaining what, exactly, Booth had done.

So when Brennan pulled away, it wasn't manipulative. It was never a punishment, or some sort of tactic. It was merely because being around him was too hard, and that thought scared Booth more than anything.

Still, he knew better than to push her too soon. So Booth spent the rest of the evening outside of the bedroom, feeding Ally dinner and later putting he to bed in the portable crib he'd taken from Hodgins' and set up in Parker's room, along with a baby monitor.

Booth had been flicking dully through the television channels, the volume low, for nearly an hour and a half when the door to the bedroom slipped open.

At the sound of footsteps, Booth whipped around just in time to see Brennan, eyes lowered, her hair damp and loose around her shoulders, retreating back into the bedroom, deliberately leaving the door propped open.

The gesture, in all its silent simplicity, tore at Booth's heart.

Angry as she was, as long as she'd spent avoiding him this afternoon, Brennan wouldn't go so far as to keep him out at night, and she wanted to make that perfectly clear.

Booth kept his eyes on the doorway, waiting until the glow of a lamp disappeared before standing up and quietly heading inside.

Brennan was curled on her side on the bed, facing the wall rather than the center of the bed as usual. Booth set the baby monitor on his bedside table, then let his knuckles graze Brennan's arm before he straightened, moving quietly into the bathroom.

After a shower, Booth returned to the bedroom, flicking off the light before moving stealthily across the room and sliding into the bed beside Brennan.

Her breathing was slow and even, but Booth wasn't convinced she wasn't merely feigning sleeping. Just in case, he rolled over, leaning over her and brushing his lips against Brennan's temple.

"Love you," he whispered softly against her ear, the slightest bit of desperation tingeing Booth's tone. Without waiting to see if she would wake up, Booth rolled away, moving to his own sign and curling inward, his eyes on Brennan's back until he eventually drifted to sleep.

~(B*B)~

"Is it, um…okay if I come in?"

Angela lifted her eyes, and immediately smiled. "Of course, G Man. Get in here." His face paled a little, and Booth visibly hesitated. Angela tilted her head, smirking slightly, deliberately ignoring his discomfort at her appearance. "You're cute…flowers and everything."

"Oh, right." Stupidly, Booth thrust them in her direction and finally moved into the hospital room, unable to tear his eyes from the artist's face.

Angela's left arm was in a full sling, obviously from her surgery. The left side of her face was swollen and bruised, and a row of stitches ran the length of her forehead.

"Uh…where's Hodgins?"

"Getting me lunch," Angela replied easily, eyeing Booth. When he continued to stare openly, she told him gently, "I'm really alright. It only looks hideous."

He gave her a small smile, finally relaxing slightly and sitting down in the chair beside Angela's hospital bed. "I'm glad you're alright, Ange."

"Thanks. So am I." She paused, almost as though she was waiting for him to say something. When he didn't, Angela continued, "Thanks for taking Ally last night. She do okay?"

"Oh, yeah, she was no trouble at all. Back with the nanny now."

Angela eyed him. "What about Bren? How's she doing?"

Booth's entire body wilted. "I…I really don't know. She's…" Her face twisted, and Booth whispered, "She's so, so mad at me, Angela."

This was news to Angela, but it didn't surprise her at all. "For not letting her come here?"

Booth nodded, his throat narrowing. "I messed up," he admitted hoarsely. "I should have let her, she…I had to physically hold her back at the door." Angela's whole face softened, but she said nothing. "I just…I panicked. I knew she'd try to bolt, I knew she'd have to see you, but…the thought of her going back to that prison."

"I know," Angela assured him gently. "For the record, I'm so glad she didn't risk that. A messed up shoulder and a concussion would not have been worth it."

After a moment, Booth said softly, "Except I didn't know it was just a messed up shoulder and a concussion. And I still stopped her." He looked away, setting his jaw. "She knew what she was doing. She knew the risks and I wouldn't…I wouldn't let her make her own decision."

"Okay. So you get it," Angela replied seriously. "You know why she's mad, and you know she has every reason to be." Her tone softened slightly. "But just give her a little time, Booth. She's just kind of shaken. I talked to her yesterday, remember, and…she was scaring me."

"You should've seen her, Ange," Booth whispered. "She was so scared, she wanted to get to you so badly."

Angela's eyes were shining with tears, but she kept her voice resolutely steady to reply, "Exactly. She's angry at you, but there's more to it than that. The trial's getting closer, the house arrest is frustrating…she's dealing with a lot." Privately, Angela thought of the pregnancy test, the baby Booth didn't know about. It was possible that, on some unconscious level, Brennan was grasping to her anger at Booth to make keeping the pregnancy from him a little easier.

Booth, too, fell quiet, thinking. Brennan's panicked statement in the doorway echoed in his head.

I didn't kill anyone!

Remembering the knee jerk response, the insistence of the statement, made Booth's stomach lurch sickeningly.

It was the first time Brennan had ever stated the facts in this way, as though trying to convince him. And it worried Booth that, now that a potential unforeseen result of her situation had presented itself, Brennan was feeling everything she hadn't let herself feel before.

Like anger over the fact that Booth killed Sean Lowell without considering the consequences. Or regret over taking the fall herself.

Last night, Booth had been the one to hold her back, enforcing a punishment that should have been his, in spite of the potentially devastating effects.

How could she not hate him for that?

"She'll be alright," Angela said hesitantly after awhile. "You'll work it out."

"Yeah," Booth muttered distractedly. "She'll be better when she sees you, I think."

They nodded, both avoiding the others gaze, both rendered silent by their secrets.