Well, it's been so long since I posted in this fic I wouldn't be suprised if none of you remember it, but in case you do, here's the next chap, more to come later when I'm not about to pass out with exhaustion.

---

I'm so used to being in hospitals, it's sort of like a second home to me now. I stare off into space as the nurse comes in and checks my stitches again. They don't hurt and I tell her so. She smiles at me like I'm nuts, and I know she's thinking 'You're a liar, those hurt like h3ll.'

And she's right.

---

Brennan sat ramrod straight in the uncomfortable waiting room chair. Somewhere to her left a small child was wailing and behind her there was a group of motorcycle riders muttering curses and making phone calls.

But she didn't notice. She stared unseeing at the wooden table in front of her, the edges worn and banged from years of tragedy and elation, a pile of old magazines sat to one side, mocking her with trivial things.

Booth paced a hole in the carpet on the other side of said coffee table. He couldn't sit still; he was frantic with worry and wished he knew how to make April better. He hated that she was in pain, the worst kind of pain. The kind you can't see or heal with a band-aid and some antiseptic. The kind on the inside that gnaws away at your very being until you have nothing left but the next roll of the dice. Or the next slice of the blade.

Sighing heavily, he fell into the chair beside Brennan, wishing for an escape from his whirlwind of thoughts. Brennan on the other hand, suffered from the opposite problem, not being able to form a single, coherent thought.

"Hey Bones, you okay?" He asked gently, laying his hand on her knee. Their fight was forgotten for now, more important things had moved to the forefront.

After a moment she turned toward him, the blankness in her eyes both broad and piercing.

"There was…so much blood." She said quietly, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

The hair on the back of his neck bristled and he fought down a wave of nausea as the memory of April passed out on the kitchen floor assaulted him again. He swallowed and nodded, squeezing her hand as she snaked it into the area between her jeans and his palm.

"I mean, it's illogical that it should bother me so much…I see blood everyday." She sighed, running her free hand through her hair. "But it was as if it was different somehow this time. But blood is blood, so I don't understand why I feel like that was the worst thing I've ever seen. Because it wasn't."

She turned to him, seeking guidance the way she often did when something important to her didn't quite make sense. Of course the distressed, inquisitive look she wore was usually preceded by some common, socially accepted idiom; not the blood of a sixteen-year-old girl.

"It was because it was April." He answered her unspoken question and she nodded, turning away again.

And then, right then and there, Booth realized what a horrible mistake he'd made.

"Temperance." He said, more urgently than intended.

Her head whipped around back toward him, her first name catching her off guard.

"I…" He sighed and turned toward her more fully, "I was an idiot. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about Booth?" She asked, growing concerned at his odd behavior.

He opened his mouth and then shut it again, the words were harder to find than he thought. After a moment, he stood and took a deep breath, pacing the way he always did when stressed.

"What I said to you last night…I was way out of line." He glanced at her, but her face was neutral, neither challenging nor understanding. He had been wrong, she knew it, and her pride wouldn't allow her to let him off easy.

"You were." She said simply.

Booth continued quickly. "It's wasn't fair of me to ask you to be a part of her life and then discount your opinion the first time you offered it…And I'm sorry."

He finally turned to meet her gaze and was surprised that her posture did not indicate that she wanted to fight with him anymore. Her shoulders now slightly hunched as she absently straightened the pile of old magazines on the table.

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"No Booth. I'm sorry. I was so adamant about something I know nothing about. You said I'm not a parent and your right. I'm certainly not her parent. Maybe I should just…"

Suddenly Booth was kneeling in front of her, an earnest look on his face. Taking her hands, he held her gaze steadily.

"No, Temperance." He began quietly, shaken to his core by what he was afraid she was about to say, "You are a parent. You are the closest thing to a mother that girl has had in years. She needs you."

Brennan felt her heart rate speed up and resisted the urge to pull away from him.

"She does?" Her voice squeaked, both were surprised by the tears it held.

Booth nodded, removing his hand from hers and placing them on either side of her face.

"We both need you, and she needs us." He kissed her softly and after a moment, she turned to lay her head on his shoulder, clutching him for dear life, hoping the fear she felt in her stomach would not rob her of the family she felt forming around her.

Booth rubbed her back as he continued. "We're in this together from now on. Fifty-fifty."

She squeezed him once more and nodded. "Partners."

---

I feel like my body is made of dead weight. It's kind of nice. I'm tired.

---

April stared blankly at the wall across from her bed. Its pallid green color with the supposedly uplifting faded photo of a sparrow on a split-rail fence made her want to throw the nearest heavy object at it.

To her left a nurse was checking the bandages wrapped around her listless arm, humming a tune softly. The woman's kind brown eyes flickered every so often over April's small, black-clad form and a look of pity moved across them. She wondered silently what the girl had gone through in her life to make her think there was no way out and she wished for the right words to say.

"You've got some pretty worried parents out there." She said finally, in a gentle voice that fit in perfectly with the quiet, just-this-side-of-dead atmosphere.

April rolled her head toward her and glared.

"They're not my parents."

The woman merely nodded, placing April's arm beside her on the bed and patting it gently before she turned to leave.

"Well, whoever they are, they certainly do love you."

She was gone before she could see the hope masked with suspicion in the girl's dull green eyes.

---

Booth and Brennan stood outside the hospital room and exchanged a quick glance and a reassuring squeeze of their hands, both feeling more confident than ever that they could do this.

Together, they could do anything. Booth had faith and believed it to be true. Brennan had facts, and knew it to be true. That was all they needed.

April heard the knock at the door and closed her eyes before slowly turning around. There was only one person she wanted to see right then, and he wasn't coming. It was his bunks' turn to clean the barracks.

Booth watched her from his spot at the doorway, her posture was defensive and confident, arms crossed over her chest as she stood by the bed all her weight on her right foot. But her eyes told a different story, they held the look of the small child, one who was frightened to death. Booth, resisted the urge to run over and scoop her up, to protect her from harm forever.

That would have to wait.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, a practiced coolness in her voice he'd only ever seen matched in one other person, the woman standing beside him.

"April, where else would we be?" Booth asked.

April looked at the floor, and shrugged as if she didn't care, but they all knew that was far from the truth.

"I just figured you'd left, that's all."

Keeping his body language neutral, he stepped further into the room, Brennan staying back near the door.

"April…we aren't going to leave you. Not now, not ever."

Brennan tilted her head and observed the interaction. She noticed April's posture softening the longer Booth held her gaze and was relieved to find some color back in the girl's pale cheeks. Her dark hair was matted but pulled back, revealing that 'angel-face' Booth was always talking about. There was now another bandage donning her left arm and judging from what she'd seen at the apartment, it probably had stitches.

April took a deep breath, attempting to loosen the tightness in her chest.

"I wish you wouldn't say that." She sighed, hoping she sounded stronger than she felt.

Booth frowned and reached for her. "Why?"

Shivering, April stepped out of his grasp and turned toward the window, hoping the sun would help warm her chilled body. Blaming the goose bumps on the unbelievably cold air-conditioning, she bit her lip and closed her eyes.

"Everyone leaves."

Booth's face fell and his shoulders slumped, this was not going at all how he planned. Of course…nothing really had concerning April.

He turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder and smiled weakly at Brennan. At his nod she gave him a reassuring squeeze and stepped carefully toward April.

Booth tilted his head slightly when Brennan paused about a foot and a half behind April, seemingly frozen in place. She placed her hands on her hips and he could almost see her biting her lip, even with her back was to him. He suppressed a smiled. She was trying to decide the best course of action.

Taking a deep breath, Brennan stepped forward and mimicked April's position, head tilted up toward the sun with her eyes closed.

"Do you have a list April?"

Upon hearing the voice beside her, April opened her eyes and turned her head.

"What?"

Brennan didn't move. "A list. When I was in the system I kept my list of foster home names on the bottom of a shoe."

April was speechless for a moment, then nodded slowly, never tearing her eyes away from the seemingly calm woman beside her.

"Yeah. Mine's written in black marker on my backpack. Thirteen names."

Brennan nodded and finally opened her eyes, feeling Booth's intense gaze from where he stood but refusing to look over at him, afraid of losing her focus.

"April, how would you like Dickens to be the last name on that list."

April swallowed but made no other response.

"I don't know about you, but I have a very hard time believing in something until I've seen hard evidence of it. April, we, Booth and I, are not going to leave you."

"But how can you be sure?" April squeaked, her voice betraying her as she lost her battle with tears.

"Look at the evidence April." Brennan stepped toward her, and took a steadying breath. "You've done your worst, given us all you can and look." She gestured to herself and then Booth and April warily let her eyes flicker between them. "We're still here…we're right here April and we're not going anywhere. If you need more evidence we'll find a way to give it to you just…"

It was when the first sob broke from April's trembling frame that Brennan frowned, thinking she might have missed something. It was as she watched her sink down against the wall to the floor and stood frozen beside her that she thought she might be in over her head.

But as April curled up against the wall, hugging her knees and shaking uncontrollably, it was like a light bulb went off over her head and she knew exactly what she needed to do. She was on her knees beside the girl even before she knew what was happening.

The fear and adrenalin mixed in her brain until she had no logical thought left and the panic started to set in. Biting her lip and acting on instinct she thought she lacked, Brennan reached out and pulled April into her arms.

She had no idea where the words came from, but they sounded right and oddly familiar as she whispered them into April's hair.

"It's okay, April. I'm here, you're going to be okay." She cooed softly, stroking her hair and back. When April's small frame melted against hers and she clutched the fabric of her sweater, Brennan's overworked brain suddenly decided to kick in.

Her hands stilled, still clutching April close but growing increasingly stiff.

Booth stood on the other side of the room, fidgeting awkwardly and trying to fight the urge to go to them. He knew this was what they both needed, but he couldn't help the protectoral instinct screaming in his ears as he watched instead of participating.

When Brennan's gaze caught his he could see the panic rising there and the pleading in her eyes was something he couldn't refuse.

Brennan saw him approaching and attempted to wiggle away from April, causing the girl to clutch her tighter. Booth knelt beside her and touched her cheek. When she turned to look at him, the confidence and admiration in his eyes slowly quelled her fears.

You can do this.

As if hearing his silent encouragement, Brennan relaxed and hugged April closer, leaning against Booth's side as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rubbed circles on April's back.

"Let it out kiddo," He whispered, "you've been brave for too long."

Being in their embrace was the safest April could ever remember feeling since her parents died, and for the first time she believed herself to be brave enough to let it out like Seeley told her to do. So she did.

Half an hour later her hiccups turned to sniffles and her sniffles to attempts at rapid breathing. Brennan felt Booth squeeze her shoulder and slackened her grip slightly looking down into April's flushed face.

"Better?"

She nodded, "Much."

Then she gave Booth and Brennan the one thing they hadn't even realized they wanted so badly.

She smiled.

Hope you enjoyed it, drop me a line if you'd like.