Dear readers, apologies for the big delay. Getting ready for a vacation had something to do with it, though the MH17 crash was of a lot more influence. Our countries have been mourning and trying to get over the shock of so many unexpected, unjust deaths. Despite this unbelievable tragedy, we are glad to be able to give you this chapter, and for it to be a lengthy one that hopefully you'll find satisfying (we didn't mean to leave you with a cliffhanger for so long). Here it is:
Chapter 14
As soon as Elena spotted her father at the end of the hallway, she ran towards him, momentarily forgetting about her painful muscles. "Dad!" When she was right in front of him, she stopped and looked at him. "What happened? You promised to be nice to him!" Elena was almost in tears. She'd been completely stressed out ever since her mother had received the phone call that Alexander was in the hospital after attempting to commit suicide.
Booth gently took Elena by her shoulders and manoeuvred her into a quiet corner of the waiting room. "Sit down, princess."
Elena's tears finally started to fall and wiped at them as she sat down. "He needed help," she told her father deflatedly. "He just really needed help."
"I agree, Elena. And if he gets through this, then we'll help him. He's going to have to help me help him, though, and for some reason he decided not to do that. Do you happen to have any idea why?"
"Because of what happened to him the night his foster dad was murdered?" Elena suggested, wiping at her tears again. "He feels really ashamed, he could barely tell even me."
"Sweetheart," Booth waited until she looked up at him, "He didn't tell me what happened that night."
Elena let that news sink in. "That shows just how bad it is. We should never ask about it again."
Booth shook his head. "Actually, I think you should tell me."
"I promised not to tell anyone..." Elena hesitated, "I really want to tell you, though. Is it better for Alex if you know?" She looked up at her father.
"Honey, I can't help him if I don't know what the problem is," Booth told his daughter gently.
Elena looked down at her feet and nodded. She took a deep breath. "Alex almost got raped that night. He was pulled into an alley and a man hurt him."
Booth closed his eyes as he heaved a deep sigh, instantly feeling guilty that he had pushed the young man to tell him what had happened that night. It just hadn't made sense. Why would someone go out with drugs, with the intention to sell them, but return with a near-full bag? Now Booth knew. Because he got interrupted, worse, attacked in one of the most painful and humiliating ways. "Go on," he encouraged his daughter.
"Alex thought it was someone who wanted drugs, but that creep started touching him. He took off Alex' clothes and tried to rape him, but Alex managed to get away," Elena told her dad quietly.
"Did he say if he reported it? If he went to a hospital? Anything like that?" Because if Alex had, it was evidence to support the young man's innocence and Alex could use that right about now.
"Of course not. If he can hardly tell me, as his friend, do you think he would have told anyone else? I think boys feel even more ashamed about sexual assault. No, he didn't tell anyone. I'm supposed to be the only one who knows."
"Okay. Thank you for telling me. That is important information. Sweetheart, it really concerns me that you've been keeping so many secrets lately. Why didn't you tell me? Or even Mom?"
"I did tell Mom, you told me to," Elena said, looking at her father.
Booth glanced over at his partner, for a moment wondering what the hell she had been thinking not telling him. That was a conversation that would have to wait, though. "It's good that you told Mom. I would like you to not keep secrets anymore, Elena. Is that clear?"
But Booth's well-meant words were not received that way by his teenage daughter. "Dad, don't tell me what to do and what not to do. You raised me well, I can make responsible decisions. Besides, I'm fifteen. I'm almost turning senior," Elena was referring to her gymnastics age category, which was a big deal.
"You're a fifteen-year-old girl who got mixed up in drugs and a suicide attempt in one week," Booth replied sternly, then lifted her chin, so she would look at him. "I know you can make decisions, but sweetheart, I do not want you to keep secrets like this from either me or Mom. We are your parents and you can tell us anything. You know that, right?"
Elena frowned angrily at her father. "How many times do I have to tell you that I simply forgot about the pills and that I had no clue they were drugs and I was never going to take even one of them?"
Brennan, who'd walked over to them, interrupted before the two egos would clash. She placed her hands on Booth's and Elena's shoulders. "Booth, let's forget about the pills, Elena meant no harm and nothing happened. Elena, all your dad wants to hear is that you won't keep things that hurt you to yourself."
Both Booth and Elena listened to Brennan, taking in her clarifying words as they'd done so many times before. "Right," Elena said, "Well, I'm sorry, but I've never been in this situation before. I won't keep big secrets anymore." She looked at her dad.
"And I'm sorry for bringing up that incident again. I believe you, princess," Booth gently embraced her. "I believe you and I trust you."
"Finally," Elena mumbled, then hugged her father back. "Is Alex awake yet? Can I see him?"
Booth looked up at his partner. When she nodded, Booth kissed the top of Elena's head. "I'm not sure that he's awake yet, but if you're allowed to see him, I don't see why not."
"Am I allowed? Who do I ask if I am?" Elena wanted to know.
Booth pointed to the nurses' station. "I'm sure they can help you. If they give you a hard time, tell them you're his girlfriend and he doesn't have any family."
Elena huffed. "Dad, you're gross." With that subtle comment, she stood and walked over to the nurses' station, asking to see her friend. A nurse went into Alex' room with her and Elena approached his bed. She studied the clean bandage around his throat. It didn't look as scary as she'd expected. Elena asked the nurse if she could hold Alex' hand, and when the nurse said she could, Elena sat down on a chair next to the bed and placed her hand over her friend's.
As soon as their daughter was out of earshot, Booth turned to his partner. "What in the world were you thinking, Bones? You knew that Alex has been sexually assaulted? And you didn't tell me? Why for god's sake?"
Brennan reacted rationally. "I couldn't. It was a secret and the boy should be able to decide who knows about it and who doesn't. It's very private information, Booth. Elena told me because it was too hard on her, it wasn't up to me to tell someone else. Even you."
"Bones, damn it. That was critical information! If I had known, I would've conducted my interrogation in a completely different manner. I wouldn't have pushed so hard." Taking a deep breath, Booth leaned in and whispered, "I'm starting to think there aren't any rules left that I have yet to break. As soon as they start an investigation on this, I can kiss my career goodbye, you realise that, right?"
Brennan frowned. "Explain the situation to me, darling, and I'll help think of something. What did you do so wrong it might cost you your career?"
"One, I flushed the drugs down the toilet, which turned out to be evidence. Two, I harboured a suspect in a murder case. Three, my daughter is friends with the current prime suspect. And last but not least, the prime suspect tried to commit suicide with a shard of glass that came from my house." He glanced around almost nervously. "My career is over, Bones."
Brennan thought about it. "What if you tell your boss you want to be taken off the case because of Alex' suicide attempt? That you feel responsible and are now too psychologically involved? Then you wouldn't have to tell about the other things, would you?"
"They are going to find out. Especially about the drugs." Booth sighed. "I don't know what to do, but you're right. I am too close. We both are." He reached for her hand and took it in his. "You were right, you know?"
"About what?" Brennan asked him as she squeezed his hand, wrapping hers around it.
"About us working together. It's brought nothing but trouble."
"Well, I don't agree completely. I think it's brought us closer together, I mean, now that I've worked with you, I can understand what you go through on a daily basis. I get how much you need us as your family, and I'd like to do more fun things with each other so you can forget about work for a while. I admire what you do, Booth, even more now than before this case." She stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.
He took a deep breath and nodded. "At least now I know what I have to do. It's crossed my mind for today. I thought I could help Alex more by staying in charge of the case, but I know now that that was a big mistake. I'm going to have to call Hacker."
Brennan nodded. "I really think it's for the best."
Booth got up. "Will you go check on our daughter? I'm really worried about her. And about Alex too."
"You're going to call your boss right now?" Brennan stood, sensing that this situation was so hard on her partner that it was really the best thing to take some distance, lower the pressure.
"Yeah. I'm going to do some damage control. If I can."
Brennan leaned down and pressed her lips to Booth's. "You're a good man, Booth. I love you."
He cupped the back of her head and gently pecked her lips a few times before he released her. "I love you, too."
Brennan gave him a smile and then gently knocked on Alex' door.
Alex looked up at Elena. He felt impossibly weak and vulnerable, but he nodded to his friend. He didn't know if he could speak and he hadn't tried yet, but Elena's presence made him feel stronger. Whoever it was could come inside.
Elena gave him a reassuring smile and went to open the door. "Hey, Mom," she said quietly.
"Hi, sweetheart, can I come in?"
Elena nodded and stepped aside to let her mother in. "Alex, it's just my mom," Elena told him.
He nodded and looked up at Elena's mother hesitantly. "I'm sorry." When he realised he could speak normally and without a lot of pain, tears started to fall. "I'm sorry, Ma'am. I didn't mean to cause any more trouble."
"Alexander, please don't worry about causing trouble. People have been causing you a lot of trouble, and you deserve to get some help for once. Booth's taking himself off your foster dad's case so he can help you. Nobody's angry, but we all feel that you need help urgently and we want you to have access to it," Brennan explained.
"Is he very angry with me?" Alex swallowed and winced in pain.
"Booth?" Brennan asked. "No, he's not, but you scared him. Luckily, he found you in time. Alex, you don't have to worry anymore. We're going to help you."
Hesitantly, he nodded. Alex looked up as the older man entered and averted his eyes.
Booth walked into the room after having had a hard conversation with Hacker. He sat down next to his daughter and looked at the young man. "How are you feeling, son?"
"Reasonably well, considering the circumstances, Sir." Alex glanced up at Elena and when he saw that her hand was resting on top of his own, he almost wanted to pull it under the covers, afraid Elena's parents would see and start worrying about his relationship with their daughter.
It wasn't an action Booth missed, but he didn't comment on it. Elena just wanted to do whatever her friend needed. Someone needed to be nice to him for once.
"Did everything go as planned?" Brennan asked her partner, distracting him from his daughter.
"Actually, better. I talked to my boss and he agreed that I should no longer be overseeing this case as the Senior Agent. I have 24 hours and then another Agent will take the case from me." He turned to Alexander. "That means I have one more day to try and help you. I really do believe in your innocence, but sadly that is not enough. I need evidence to convince the DA."
Elena squeezed Alexander's hand. "Can I tell him, Alex?"
Alex nodded gratefully, happy that he wouldn't have to tell his story again.
Elena felt proud that her friend would trust her like this. She cleared her throat. "Dad, Alex was sexually assaulted while he was dealing drugs the night his foster dad was murdered. It's very difficult for him to talk about."
Booth nodded. "Thank you, princess. Alex, did you report it?" The young man shook his head. "Did you go to the hospital?" Another shake from his head. "Do you have any idea who could have done this to your foster father?" Booth saw the boy clearly hesitate. Bingo. Booth stood rather abruptly. "I'm going to get a pudding from the cafeteria. Elena, one for you too? Heck, I'll bring pudding for everyone. Bones," he tugged her up by her hand. "You can help me carry them." Booth looked over his shoulder to both teenagers. "We'll be right back. Talk quietly amongst yourselves."
Elena made a face. What had got into her dad? He was acting really strangely. When her parents had left, Elena turned back to her friend. "Do you feel a little bit better now?"
He shook his head. "No. Your dad... he knows that I know. That's why he left. He knows I'll talk to you but not to him. Not directly."
"Ooooh," Elena sang upon the revelation. "Okay, so... Wait - you know who killed your foster dad?"
"No. It's not that I have a name, but I think I know who could've done it. Some members of a rivalling drug gang. They are really dangerous. Jason used to work with them, but he got out and got a new supplier... After that, he forced me to learn how to shoot a gun. I had to sleep with a gun and a knife under my bed. Some nights he would..." Alex gripped her hand tighter. "He would pretend to be one of those men. To see if I would be able to survive."
"He attacked you while you slept?" Elena asked him disbelievingly. "That's horrible. Do you think those men, the old suppliers, killed him?"
"Yes, I do. Now I'm dead for sure."
"Are you afraid they'll come for you, now?" Elena wanted to know, feeling ill-at-ease at the thought that men as dangerous as that might be after her friend.
He nodded. "Why wouldn't they? I'm not a witness, sure, but I can pick them out of a line-up."
"You can? Alex, that does make you a witness, I think. If you can pick them out, my dad can investigate them, and he could find evidence. If it goes like that, you'll have basically solved the case. Alex, you have to tell my dad! I mean, I could tell him, but we have to let him know." Elena felt excited at the prospect of closing the case so Alex could continue with his life.
"I'm scared," Alex admitted quietly. "I couldn't even..." Clumsily he pointed at his throat, "What makes you think I can solve the case?"
"You have more information than anyone. You lived in that house, you know who your foster dad hung out with. Nobody else knows that, except the other dealers."
"Do you think your dad will still let us be friends? If I'm in that much danger?"
"My dad doesn't 'let' me be friends with anyone. Whether he knows how this works or not, I pick my own people and he can think it's okay or not. If it's not, I'll listen to his reasons why not, but I make my own decisions in the end. So, I'm going to be your friend no matter what my dad says," Elena let Alex know that she did exactly what she thought was right.
"I don't want you to get into any more trouble, but I'd like you to be my friend. Do you think I should tell your dad?"
"Yes, you should definitely tell him. Underneath all his toughness, he's a really wonderful person, and a little crazy sometimes, but always caring. He cares about everybody, basically. And he always solves the case," Elena said proudly.
"Okay. I'll tell him. Will you stay with me?"
"Yes, of course. I'll give him my pudding to bribe him," Elena proposed. "He'll do pretty much anything for hospital pudding. It's one of his weird things."
Despite the horrible situation he was in, Alex smiled. "You're awesome."
Elena grinned. "I know." At that moment, the door opened.
"Are you done?" Brennan inquired, to which Elena nodded. Booth and Brennan walked in, their arms full of pudding.
"Chocolate or vanilla, princess?"
"They didn't have strawberry?" Elena made a face. "You take mine, Dad. I'm good." She gave Alex a look that showed she knew what she was doing.
"Alex, would you like one?"
Alex shook his head. "No, thank you, Sir. It, uhm, it hurts to swallow."
Booth nodded understandingly and opened a chocolate pudding, grabbing a spoonful of the gooey, delicious dessert and scooped it into his mouth. Before he took his next bite, he looked up. "So, what did you guys talk about?"
Brennan couldn't help but chuckle. When Booth gave her a questioning look, she said, "Very subtle, Booth."
Elena chuckled as well. "Alex, can I tell him?" she asked her friend again.
"Yes, you can tell him."
"Alex' foster dad changed drug suppliers before his murder. The old suppliers weren't happy. Jason felt very threatened because he forced Alex to sleep with a gun and a knife next to him. Alex doesn't know their names, but he knows the old suppliers' faces," Elena gave her parents the information.
"Is that what happened, son?" Booth asked him urgently.
Alex nodded. "I think they are the ones who killed my foster dad. He wasn't a good man, but he didn't deserve to die."
Elena looked at her dad. "If the FBI has information on drug gangs, you might be able to organise a line-up for Alex. He'll be able to tell you who supplied for his foster dad."
"I know that, princess. And we will," he added when he saw the scowl on her face. "Right now though, I'm more concerned with Alex's safety. I think it's best that you and Mom go home now. I'll stay here with Alex."
"I promised to stay with him," Elena told her dad matter-of-factly. If he was a wise man, he wouldn't try to make her do otherwise.
"Thomas is going to be getting home soon. And visiting hours are almost over. Plus, Alex needs to rest now. You can come back tomorrow," Booth countered.
"Dad, you can't make me leave. I don't mean to be difficult, but I need to stay with Alex for now. I'm his only friend who's allowed into the hospital. The other friend is called Ripley and he's a dog."
Booth stood. "We're going outside for a talk. Come on."
Elena heaved a sigh but stepped outside with her father. "Dad, we've been having too many private talks. I know you'd rather not have me be friends with Alex, but I am. That's not going to change."
"This is not about whether or not you should be friends with Alex. This is about safety. Your safety, Mom's safety, Thomas' safety, Alex' and my own." Booth placed his hands on his daughter's strong shoulders and looked into her eyes.
Elena rolled her eyes. "Dad, please. Nothing's going to happen, we're in a hospital. And I promised I would stay with him; I already broke my other promises to him - please don't make me break this one, too."
Booth knew he was dealing with a teenager, and he couldn't keep saying 'no' to her if her heart was in the right place. He could think of a solution to make sure his little girl would be safe while being there for her friend. She'd just worry about him at home, anyway. "I can see that you're determined to stay the night. I think I might be able to get that cleared with the staff. You're not staying here on your own, though. I was going to call one of my colleagues to stand guard, but if you're determined to stay, so will I."
Elena's stern face broke into a smile and she nodded. "Okay, Dad. Thanks for finally letting me keep a promise to Alex." She gave her dad a hug.
"No more secrets though, princess. I can't stress that enough, okay?"
"No more big secrets," Elena adapted their deal.
"No more big secrets," Booth agreed. He released his daughter and stepped back. "You should tell your mom what you need from home."
Elena nodded and went back inside the hospital room. She'd been expecting a harder conversation with her dad, but she was glad he went easy on her.
Elena had been willing to spend the night in the chair, but she was given a bed. Her dad was used to an irregular sleeping pattern, so he was going to stay up and work from the hospital hallway. Now, they were tucked in and Elena was comforted by the sound of her friend's breathing. She was well-aware she might as well have been standing over his deathbed right now. "Alex?" Elena whispered into the darkness. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah," he whispered back. "I'm tired, but I can't fall asleep. Why are you still up?"
"Can't sleep, either," Elena whispered back. "Alex, do you think you'd try to, you know, end your life again?"
"I don't know..." His eyes teared up. Luckily, in the darkness, Elena couldn't see it. He'd been so damn weak lately. "Maybe. If things don't change... then yes. I really don't want to do this anymore."
Though she didn't want him to die, Elena understood his point. "If I asked you to, would you call me instead of doing something like that?"
Alex rolled onto his side. "I think so, yes."
Elena smiled, relieved. "Good. Because I'd talk you out of it. And if I couldn't, I'd come to visit you. Oh and Alex, I can take care of Ripley for you."
"You're a really good friend," Alex smiled into the darkness. "I'm going to have to go to a rehabilitation centre and get clean."
"Yes, that's the most important thing right now. So you can have a future."
"I'll miss you. You're my only friend. If I didn't have you, I think I might have tried again by now."
"You have to fight for yourself, Alex. I'm your friend, but you can be your own friend, too. You have to do something that makes you feel proud of yourself. For me, it's gymnastics. For you, it could be getting clean."
He nodded. "Will you help me? It'll be very hard. I'd like to write letters or something."
"That's a great idea. I'll send you pictures of Ripley, too."
"That would be nice," Alex agreed. "I'm sorry you had to come here. I know you should've been resting today."
"There are things more important than resting sore muscles, Alex," Elena chuckled. "I'll admit this is the worst case I've had, but I always manage. Besides, I wanted to come. I care about you and I want you to be okay. You're my only real friend outside the gym."
Surprised, he looked over to where he knew she was, even though he couldn't really see her. "Surely you have different friends - better friends - than just me."
"Well, I have the girls from my team, they're like my sisters and we share everything. I spend a lot of time with them because we train a lot, so I've never really been that interested in other friends. But you're different from them, we can talk about other things. You're interesting."
"You're interesting too, Elena Booth," Alex smiled at her and scooted closer to the side of his bed, sticking out his hand. Elena saw it and Alex felt her fingers close around his in a tight grip. "Goodnight," Alex said.
Elena gave his hand a squeeze. "Goodnight, Alex," she whispered, then they let go of each other and tried to get some sleep.
Booth had just been about to go into the hospital room to gently remind the kids that everybody on this corridor was already asleep, when it suddenly quieted down in the room. Due to Alex' suicide attempt, the investigation had been put into a higher gear. Booth had ordered his colleagues to get him the mug shots of all drug gangs in DC. At 11PM, he finally received them. Quietly, Booth snuck into the hospital room. He turned on one of the lights near Alex and gently woke the young man. "Alex?"
Alex slowly woke up. It was dark and he couldn't see who was next to his bed. Immediately, he was awake. "Yes?"
"Can you take a look at these? See if you can recognise anyone?" Booth held up the improvised book with mug shots.
Alex blinked against the night light. He sat upright and took the book in his hands. He studied each picture, then effortlessly pointed out the individuals he'd seen while he lived with his foster dad.
Booth sat by his side as Alex pointed out four men in particular. After Alex looked through the entire book, Booth spoke up. "I talked to the hospital staff, they have arranged it so that you can start a detox program here. After that, you will be moved to a rehab centre, free of charge. The DA decided to do that for you, since you showed a willingness to help. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, though. If you leave the program early it's jail time."
"Because I was forced to deal drugs?" Somewhere, it felt wrong to be punished for being forced to do something. On the other hand, girls who were forced into prostitution could also get arrested. The justice system definitely didn't work perfectly, and sometimes, it was plain wrong.
"That's what the DA said, Alex. But look, if you just stick to the program, you won't have to worry about jail. You can do it."
"It's the only chance I have," Alex said. "I'll give it all that I have."
"That's the most important part. Motivation and perseverance. Then you'll get there," Booth told him. "Would you be surprised if I told you that I used to be addicted to gambling?"
Alex looked up at the other man. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I am. I struggled with it for quite a while. My Pops helped me through therapy and even now, when things get extremely hard, it's still in the back of my mind. But I've learned to control it. You're young, Alex. Your life isn't over. And ending it yourself is not a good solution, either. You can turn your life around. I did. Why wouldn't you be able to do the same?"
Alex shrugged. "I'm not used to succeeding at things. I don't think I ever have."
"You'll learn how to do it. All you have to do is listen and do what the experts tell you. They know what they are talking about. And I know that you can always call her," Booth gestured towards his daughter, and added jokingly, "Just not in the middle of the night, okay?"
"I only have Elena's best interest at heart. I never meant to get her involved in my problems," Alex felt he could finally assure Elena's dad. "She's a really good friend. We'll be writing each other when I go to rehab, if that's okay with you."
Booth nodded. He sighed and sat back. "I uhm, I think I owe you an apology. Not as an FBI Agent, but as Elena's dad... I owe you an apology."
"No, you don't. You seem like a really good father to Elena. There's nothing wrong with being protective and caring. I missed that almost my entire life, and I've never felt truly safe or truly at home. You're giving her a lot. She has security." Suddenly, Alex wasn't as scared of Elena's dad anymore. Turned out he was just human, too.
"You're her friend now. Have been for a while I suppose. I just want you to know that I'm glad you two get along as well as you do." Booth stood. "You should get some more sleep. I'm going to let my colleagues know we have an ID. Good night, son."
"Good night, Sir," Alex said, "Thank you." After his talk with Elena's dad, Alex felt reassured. Finally, he could really sleep.
The best thing about writing stories is that you control how it ends, and so this one has ended well for Alex. There will be one more chapter this week, and then we'll have a vacation hiatus, since we're going places without a proper internet connection. We promise not to end with a cliffhanger, though! We'd love to hear from you all again :). Stay safe, everyone!