A Pain That I'm Used To—Chapter 22
Disclaimer: (sigh) Still not mine…not even after that long awaited kiss.
Author's notes: Thanks for reading and special thanks as always to those of you who are reviewing. Everyone, with the exception of Howdylynn, seemed happy that I finally had them kissing—sorry I had to burst your balloon there Howdylynn, but the real deal is only a few days away! And I agree that the tension on the show is a big part of what keeps us coming back for more. (wink)
(Watches as jaed621 does a happy dance)—You're welcome. (grin)
To siapom—You knew that something or someone had to interrupt Booth and Brennan…it always does! And yeah, the Horseshack line…I just imagined cute little Zach sitting on the floor with his hand up in the air trying to get everyone's attention.
And to elliot02uk (my buddy Jean)—Sorry you had to wade through dialogue and plot to get to a half naked Booth and a kiss. (big grin) I am glad to know that you had your blood pressure thingy nearby! I would hate to be the reason you were sent to the hospital. Oh and the "revered author" comment…(blushes)….you keep saying things like that and my ego may become larger than Booth's! (LOL)
Okay everyone, enjoy this chapter and remember to review! If I don't update before Wednesday…remember to watch the new episode of BONES!
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McVicar was dead. Booth wasn't sad that that particular human being was no longer taking up space on the planet. His concern laid fully with the woman in the passenger's seat of his SUV—the woman with whom he had fallen head over heels in love.
He smiled slightly as he glanced over at her. Booth had admitted his feelings for Brennan to himself some time ago but he realized, at the time, that she had not been ready. She had lost her parents; her brother had deserted her; and she had closed herself off emotionally to just about everyone with the exception of Angela. Then Brennan's world was once again turned upside down with the discovery of her mother's remains and the truth of what her parents were. This time though, she had allowed him in…allowed him to witness her vulnerable side.
As he watched her read over one of the files on the Thompsons' murder case, Booth knew the step Brennan had taken last night had been an enormous one for her. Turning his attention back to the road, his mind drifted back to the moment Brennan had placed her lips on his. Booth decided that he would let her set the pace for the new part of their relationship. The last thing he needed was her running away from him or shutting him out of her life.
"Booth….Booth!" Brennan yelled.
"Huh? What?"
"You just ran through a red light!" She turned in her seat to look out the back windshield. When she didn't spy a DC patrol car with blue lights blazing behind them, Brennan positioned herself in her seat to face him. "Do I need to drive?"
"No, you don't need to drive. It was yellow when I went through it….you know, yellow as in 'go faster'."
"It was red and I don't what driver's training you received but yellow means 'yield'." She turned back in her seat and flipped open the file again. "There's got to be something we're overlooking," she mumbled to herself.
Booth pulled the SUV into the parking garage and into his newly acquired space as Brennan tucked the folders into her bag.
"You don't have to walk me to my office you know," she said as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
He reached over and took her hand allowing his fingers to slide softly down her wrist. "I know I don't have to Bones, but I want to. Okay?"
She smiled at him, recalling their moment on her couch before Cullen had interrupted. "Okay," she replied softly.
While Brennan felt apprehensive about this new part of their relationship, there was a certain amount of excitement and even…relief. She had felt something for Booth for a while but she had never been able to pinpoint exactly what the feeling was—lust was one of the obvious feelings but there had been something deeper. When she initiated their kiss last night, Brennan realized that she had not been able to decipher the feeling because she'd never felt the same way about Pete or Michael or any other man she had been with. Booth was different…in every way, in all the good ways.
As they exited the vehicle, both with wistful smiles playing on their lips, the couple was startled by the sudden appearance of Dr. Howard Nouvelle.
"So the big FBI guy and his little anthropologist girlfriend got their way," he snarled at both of them as he placed his chubby hands on his hips. "Because Dr. Brennan's precious little life is in danger…again!...you get my parking space."
"You don't even have a car!" Booth threw his hands in the air, exasperated with the weird little man.
"That's not the point! I applied for that space by properly following Jeffersonian protocol and filling out a mountain of paperwork that even the Egyptians would have had a difficult time moving." Howard's face was bright red and Booth was fairly certain the doctor was going to have a heart attack. "But you come in here with your….your height…and your good looks….and your full head of hair and voila, you take my parking space."
"Okay, look let's just calm down." Booth looked over at Brennan for support. She simply shrugged and watched as the rotund little archeologist turned on his heel and began to waddle away.
"Ah jeez….hey, what if you park a car in your space?" he yelled at the retreating doctor.
Howard stopped and slowly turned to face the couple.
"Booth," Brennan eyed her partner suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"Gimme the key to your car Bones." He held out his hand, a serious expression on his face.
"No, absolutely not! That car was a gift…"
"Bones, just trust me on this. I cannot stand the thought of this guy popping up out of nowhere every time we park in this garage," he whispered. "Now give me the key to your car."
She glared at him as she reached into her bag and retrieved her keys. After she took her car key off the key ring, she shoved it into Booth's hand. "If he puts so much as a scratch on that car, you will be held responsible," she seethed.
Displaying his full charm smile, Booth leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."
He watched as the meaning of his words registered with her and a smile reappeared on her lips. "Besides how much damage can he do moving your car 75 feet to his parking space, huh?"
Howard had slowly waddled his way back to the couple. "What are you suggesting Agent Booth?"
"I'm suggesting that you take this key and move Dr. Brennan's car," he said as he pointed to the small silver sports car, "to your space. And I'll just park in her space until this matter is taken care of….deal?"
"Can I tell people that it's my car?" Howard put his hand out to accept the key.
"Tell them you're leasing it with an option to buy," he said as he gave the doctor the key. "That way when they want to know what happened to it…."
"I can say that it 'just wasn't me'." Howard nodded his approval of Booth's plan. "Let's move them now!"
"Fine, Howie. Bones get back in the SUV," Booth said as he turned around, taking his keys out of his pocket.
"Booth, the entrance to the lab is right there," she said as she tried to walk past him.
"Temperance, you're not going anywhere without me. Now please don't argue and just get in the car."
Brennan relented and began walking back to the SUV. "Did you tell him to be careful with my car?"
Booth rolled his eyes and glanced over his shoulder as he watched the happy archeologist fulfill a dream of parking a car in his authorized space. "Doesn't take a lot to make some squints happy," he murmured.
The deafening sound of the explosion hit Booth before it propelled him forward to the ground. The power of the blast threw Brennan into the side of the SUV where she had stopped to wait on her partner.
Brennan felt a nauseating pain tear through her right side as she hit the SUV and she immediately knew that several of her ribs were broken. As she fell to the pavement, her last thought before blacking out was whether Booth was okay.
Feeling the debris and glass from Brennan's sports car falling around him, Booth covered his head. "Temperance!" he screamed. His ears were ringing from the explosion and he knew that even if she answered him, he wouldn't be able to hear her. Raising his head, Booth's eyes searched the garage. He saw several people rushing toward him and one lone figure lying motionless on the ground.
"Temperance," he whispered.
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"Oh my god, oh my god," Angela mumbled as she paced the waiting room in the emergency room area. Zach sat motionless on one of the long uncomfortable benches watching her. As Hodgins entered the area with a cup of hot tea, his heart wrenched at the sight of Angela's pain. Placing the cup of tea on the table near Zach, he waited for her to turn around before pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Ange, they're both okay," he said soothingly as he felt her arms wrap around him. "Brennan's going to be okay."
"I need to see her Jack," she whispered. "I won't believe them until I see her."
He pulled back from her slightly and smiled. "Then let's go see her."
"But they said we had to wait here," Zach stated. "Those are the rules…we have to wait here."
"Yeah but I'm a rebel baby. Remember?" Hodgins released Angela from his embrace and took her hand, pulling her to the patient area of the ER.
"Sir, ma'am…you can't go in there," a nurse advised sternly as they walked past the front desk.
"Watch us," Hodgins said. "You won't tell us anything about our friends so we're going to go back here and find out what's happening ourselves!"
He pulled Angela along as he walked through, pulling curtains aside and peering through doors. They finally located Booth in a small curtained area getting the last of his few lacerations cleaned.
"Have you two seen Bones?" He winced as the nurse put antiseptic on the wound.
Angela shook her head. "They won't tell us anything either."
"Well we'll just have to find her then," Booth said as he stood and retrieved his jacket from the end of the hospital bed.
"See Ange…stick with me and Booth. We're like two peas in a pod." He slapped the agent's shoulder, causing Booth to wince in pain. "Sorry man."
"No problem. But you do that again and I'm throwing you out of the pod…man."
The trio left the area and began wandering down the hallway searching for Brennan. A security guard approached them with the nurse from the front desk.
"I'm sorry but you two can't be back here," the young man stated nervously as three sets of eyes glared at him.
Booth flashed his badge in front of the man. "They're with me and none of us are leaving until we find my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. Which room is she in?"
The guard glanced over at the nurse who rolled her eyes. "Oh for god's sake, follow me. Damn stubborn people…don't wanna follow no rules…nu-uh, following rules is not the cool thing to do. Here, this is the room! I shoulda known her damn friends would be as stubborn as she is," she said as she stomped away from them.
Booth smiled before opening the door. If Brennan had managed to piss off one of the nurses then she was more than okay.
"Bones?"
They found her sitting on a bed, a hospital gown covering her upper body. Angela rushed past Booth to get to Brennan. "Sweetie!"
"Don't hug me Ange…I'm fairly certain the ribs on my right side are broken. I'm just waiting for Dr. Seats to confirm it." She winced with each breath and watched as a disappointed Angela dropped her arms.
"Fine, sweetie but the minute you are completely healed…big hug!"
Brennan nodded and then turned her attention to Booth. He had small cuts on his cheeks and forehead and she noticed that the left arm of his white dress shirt was torn and bloody. "Are you okay?" she asked.
The relief of seeing her alive and then her concern for him overwhelmed Booth. He felt his eyes begin to water and realized he was on the verge of tears. He stepped toward her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm good now," he whispered, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Howard Nouvelle wasn't so lucky," she said softly.
Booth shook his head, guilt quietly settling in over the little man's death. At least it wasn't Temperance, he reminded himself. It wasn't Temperance.
"Okay Dr. Brennan you do indeed have three broken ribs," Dr. Seats announced as he breezed into the room. "And three unauthorized visitors I see." He eyed Booth, Hodgins and Angela with amusement before he placed the x-rays on a board, switching on the light.
"Yes, pretty nasty breaks…I can see from your x-rays though that you're no stranger to that…"
Angela and Booth both glanced over at Brennan. "Sweetie? El Salvador…?" the artist asked her best friend softly.
"Yeah." She nodded and avoided Booth's gaze. There were still certain things she was hesitant to share with Booth, especially with his overprotective nature.
"You can go ahead and get dressed now Dr. Brennan. I'm going to write out a prescription for a pain killer just in case you have trouble sleeping or the pain becomes too much. It shouldn't interfere with the medication for your panic attacks." He scribbled out the prescription and handed it to Booth. "Exactly how did you become injured?"
"Her car was blown to smithereens by a bomb," Hodgins offered.
"Oh goodness," Dr. Seats replied as he watched Brennan slowly slide off the bed with Angela's help. "I'm going to write out another prescription for the panic attacks too…"
"Why don't you guys wait outside while I help Bren?" Angela gestured for Booth and Hodgins to leave.
The two men exited the room and stood in the hallway watching as sick people were wheeled past them. "Panic attacks huh?"
"Angela didn't tell you?" Booth looked over at the entomologist.
"Nope. Contrary to popular belief, Angela is very good at keeping secrets…especially Brennan's." He placed his hand on Booth's shoulder. "In all seriousness man, I really am glad you two are okay."
"Me too," he whispered. He couldn't put a face to the person who had tried to harm Temperance this time as he had with Kenton and that frustrated the hell out of Booth. It also scared him.
"Jack I want you to stay here and wait for Temperance and Angela. Do not leave the building. I need to make a phone call." Booth slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and removed pieces of his cell phone.
"Damn it all to hell," he muttered as he spied a pay phone a little further down the corridor.
He put his money in the slot and dialed Cullen's number. "Sir, it's Booth. Yes we're both fine….no neither one of us will be staying overnight…sir, I need a favor….I need extra agents placed around the Jeffersonian and outside of Dr. Brennan's apartment….yes, I understand that we're understaffed right now. That's why it should be on a volunteer basis. Thank you sir. Could you also have a team sweep Dr. Brennan's apartment for any other explosives and possibly bugs? Thank you…Goodbye sir."
Booth placed the phone on the hook and leaned his head against the pay phone. The happy image of Brennan kissing him had been replaced with the nightmarish image of her lying on the pavement of the parking garage, fiery debris falling all around her. He imagined that somewhere in Hell, McVicar was laughing at him.
Author's notes: Sorry for the short chapter. This is all I managed to write today between running errands and getting ready to start my next round of midnight shift. I promise to try and update soon! I also promise you that I will never, never, never ever kill one of the main characters of this series. I may harm them a little but I will never kill one of them.