Here's the next chap, thanks again for your patience in the delayed updates for a while there guys.

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Okay…so maybe running off without saying anything wasn't the best idea.

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"What the hell are you trying to do April? Give me a coronary?" Booth said, doing his best not to yell…and not really succeeding.

"Hey! Don't yell at her." Tommy stood and stepped forward, not a hint of intimidation in his posture.

"You stay out of this."

"Try and make me."

Booth and Tommy stood toe to toe in April's bedroom, staring each other down. The air was thick with testosterone and tension, but Booth was impressed nonetheless that Tommy was holding his ground. But that didn't change the fact that he was going to have to kill him.

Two hours after they ran off Tommy and April came waltzing into the apartment, slightly startled by Booth and Brennan's strong reaction to their little disappearing act.

It had been excuses, frustration, anger and ultimatums ever since.

"Stop it!" Brennan and April screamed at the same moment. Both men turned and without hesitation, April stepped forward.

"It wasn't Tommy's fault, Seeley. I just…I wasn't thinking. I didn't think you'd notice I was gone." She dropped her eyes, obviously well aware of how badly she'd screwed up.

Booth was taken aback.

"Didn't think I'd notice? April, in the past two months you've been kidnapped and in and out of hospitals, including today. How would I not notice?"

"Hospital?" Tommy frowned and turned to look at April, who was glaring daggers at her godfather. "What hospital? Today?"

Brennan decided to step in before Booth spoke again and made things any worse.

"April." The girl's eyes flicked toward her and back again. "Booth and I were worried, please don't run off without telling us where you're going again. We care where you are all the time."

April looked at the ground and then at the mural growing at the intersection of her walls. She nodded.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Next time I'll let you know."

Brennan nodded and pulled Booth from the room.

"If he thinks he's staying in there with her he's got a death wish." Booth grumbled when Brennan had safely escorted him down the hall to their room.

She merely nodded, knowing it was pointless to argue with him when he was like this. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door, watching as he paced away his anxiety.

After nearly five minutes, he collapsed on the bed, his head in his hands.

"Do you think I was too hard on her?" He half said, half groaned.

Brennan smiled sympathetically, glad he was asking her opinion.

Coming to sit beside him, she clasped her hands in front of her.

"No. I don't."

He looked up, the expression on his face saying he didn't believe her.

"Really?"

Brennan nodded. "You were worried, scared. I was too. Your reaction was completely appropriate under the circumstances and I think you were right not to punish her."

Booth dropped his head again. "Yeah, well…"

Sensing he was going to change his mind, she continued hastily. "I mean it. April didn't set out to worry you. She saw something she wanted and she went after it."

"But how could she not know I would be worried sick, literally sick, not knowing where she was?"

She pursed her lips and Booth watched as shadows of her past moved across her eyes.

"Think about it Booth. When was the last time someone cared where she was?"

Booth did think about it. And then he understood.

"Poor kid." He said sadly, shaking his head and rubbing his face.

Brennan nodded. Suddenly feeling constricted by emotions she'd always chosen to ignore, she stood and moved toward the window, looking out into the sunset. Her arms folded across her chest. Two stories below a young man kicked the flat tire on his car and a woman ran after her dog, shouting obscenities and waving wildly with her hands. But the look on Brennan's face was blank, as if she wasn't seeing any of it.

Sensing that her mood had changed, Booth silently got up and moved to stand behind her. He wrapping his large arms around her protectively and waited. He didn't speak; he knew it was best to wait until she had fought down her demons on her own.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, watching cars and people under the cloak of increasing darkness, feeling each other's heartbeats vibrate.

Brennan turned her head slightly and whispered, "I'm glad April has you. It's…more than I ever had."

Booth felt an immense sadness well up at the heavy tone of her words and found that, for once in his life, words failed him. He gave her a quick squeeze and kissed her hair once before she turned in his arms to face him.

Capturing his lips before he could see the shadows in her eyes, she allowed Booth to kiss away all her fear and heartache. A moment later when they separated, her blue eyes were light again and she smiled.

"I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to."

Booth gave her his cockeyed, I'm-too-sexy grin and kissed her quickly once more.

"We do. But first, I need to escort Boy Wonder off the premises."

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I'm not going, and that's final. Nothing he says is going to make me go to some whack job shrink.

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"The hospital?" Tommy moved into April's line of vision as the door shut behind Brennan and Booth.

She shrugged and turned away, picking at a loose thread on her purple tie-dye blanket.

"It's no big deal." April said quietly, refusing to meet his gaze.

She waited for him to refute her statement, but he didn't respond. Just as she was about to turn back toward him, he grabbed her arm and moved her sleeve so he could see the fresh bandages there.

"Tommy!" She exclaimed, yanking back her hand.

"You're doing it again?" He asked, his voice quiet and disbelieving. She turned to look at him and her heart sunk to her shoes, he looked hurt… betrayed.

"Tommy I'm not…"

"The bandages on your arms say otherwise." He cut her off, slowly recovering and the pain on his face was replaced with concern. "You said you would stop…you said...I need you April."

April bit her lip as tears sprang to her eyes and she folded her arms across her chest.

"Tommy…I'm not going anywhere. I promise." She tried.

His face closed up and he shoved his hands in his pockets. "That's what you said before. That you promised…God, April." He suddenly moved forward, causing April to step back until she was pressed up against the wall. "What am I supposed to do without you? You're everything I've got…if you…if you hurt yourself too badly…" His voice cracked and he blinked hard, knowing boys shouldn't cry.

"I know Tommy, I know. I'm not going to do it again."

They stood mere breaths apart, silently searching each other's eyes for understanding.

April could feel him tensing up and guessed that he didn't believe her. Grasping desperately for something to hold on to she blurted out, "They want me to see a shrink."

"I think that's a good idea." He replied, not missing a beat.

"You're kidding."

"No. April…the things you've seen and been through…I don't know how you've made it this far keeping all of that bottled up the way you have."

Immediately she turned away, her face set in stone.

"I'm not going." She said, stubbornly.

Just as Tommy was about to reply a quick knock sounded and the door swung open.

"Hopkins," Booth said, "Time to go."

Tommy closed his eyes and sighed. Then, leaning forward, he hugged April while whispering. "I'll see you tonight."

With a miniscule nod of her head, she pecked him on the lips and watched him follow Booth out the door.

"I need to tell you something. Two things actually."

Booth lay in bed with Brennan beside him, skin on skin. She was lazily tracing patterns on his chest while he fiddled with her hair and the night sounds outside lulled them to sleep.

She stiffened slightly when she spoke, but immediately relaxed again.

"Now what was that you were telling me about 'bedroom talk'? That definitely sounds too serious to qualify as 'bedroom talk'."

Booth smiled. "Well, I am probably breaking my own rules here, but I need to tell you."

Seeing that she wasn't going to deter him from whatever all-too-serious topic he felt the need to divulge, Brennan gathered the blanket up around her and shifted so she was propped up by her elbow and facing him.

"What is it?"

Booth also shifted and they were facing each other. With a tender smile he reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear. "You were great today, at the hospital. You were exactly what she needed."

Brennan smiled softly, that wasn't what she had been expecting. "It felt…good. To be there for her. Scary but good." Booth nodded and she knew he understood. "It was the first time I've ever really felt like, 'I can do this'. Parenting, being someone's mom. I think…I can."

"I'm glad, I think you can too. I know you can." Brennan noticed how he was suddenly picking at the sheet instead of looking at her.

"Booth, was there something else?"

He sighed and nodded. "You remember that meeting I had with Cullen today?"

"Yeah..."

"He's um," He stilled his hand and looked her square in the eye, "He's sending me undercover. Big case."

Brennan grew still and after a moment turned away and sat up against the headboard looking straight ahead at the wall.

"Temperance?"

She'd heard but couldn't believe. The first thing to pop into her mind was 'I'm not ready' 'It's too soon'. She'd turned away, ready to deal with the fear the best way she knew how, run.

But as she started to sit up her eyes fell on the single, solitary picture of her mother that she owned. It was displayed atop Booth's dresser on the far wall.

She paused long enough to let her brain catch up. Booth had faith in her, April trusted her…if she could only find a way to have confidence in herself, she could do this.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Brennan pursed her lips and clasped her hands together tight.

She turned to Booth and he almost flinched at the fiery determination that lay in her deep blue eyes.

"I can handle this."

And the way he smiled at her quelled any doubts she may have had to the contrary.

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Nightmares follow me like my shadow on the sidewalk. Fear sometimes grabs me by the throat and squeezes until I can't breathe. Trust and betrayal have always gone hand in hand. Love and pain. Apathy and protection.

That doesn't mean I need a shrink.

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April waited patiently until midnight, not making a sound or moving a muscle. She didn't want Seeley to have a reason to check on her.

She was bold, not stupid.

A light knocking on her window and she was off the bed in an instant, pushing it open and welcoming Tommy inside with a kiss.

"Geez, baby, let me get inside first. You're two stories up you know." He muttered against her lips.

"Oh, sorry." April pulled back and allowed Tommy full entry into her room before attacking him again, this time falling backward onto the bed.

"You're squishing me Tommy!" She complained, trying to push him off her.

"I'm sorry but you tripped me." He replied, rolling to one side. The room was dark though, and he couldn't see. He ended up flopping onto the floor.

"Shhhh! Tommy, if Seeley finds you in here he'll kill you!" She whispered loudly through her laughter.

"Ah! Damn girl, what's on your floor?" Tommy groaned and pulled a boot from beneath his back, and laughed when she hit him in the face with a pillow.

"Shhh!"

"What was that?"

Brennan rolled her eyes, irritated that he'd stopped what he was doing.

"Neighbors." And she silenced his protest with her lips.

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Tommy wanted to go further…I told him I was serious about Seeley killing him.

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Several hours later, before the sky was lit with the eerie gray of dawn. Before birds left their nests to find breakfast or paperboys started their routes, the apartment was silent and asleep.

Booth snored softly, his face buried in the hair of the woman curled of beside him. Tommy snored a bit louder, sprawled out across the small bed made for one because the other occupant wasn't beside him.

Sensing the warm space where April was supposed to be was empty; he slowly rolled over and opened his eyes. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands.

"Baby?" His voice was hoarse with sleep and he squinted at her in the darkness. "April, you alright?"

She took a deep breath and lifted her head, whispering, "I'm fine, go back to sleep."

But Tommy didn't buy it. Sitting up, he ran a hand across his face to get rid of the sleep and then touched her back.

"You're cold."

April nodded but didn't move.

A bit puzzled by her silence, he began rubbing slow circles on the back of her shirt, hoping to warm her a bit and get her to talk. It wasn't until she turned and the streetlight illuminated tear tracks on her cheeks that he knew what was plaguing her.

"Nightmare." It wasn't a question. April nodded again.

Sighing, he touched her hand and squeezed. "Wanna talk about it?"

After only a moment's hesitation she turned toward him. "You don't mind? I mean, you've heard it before."

"But sometimes it helps right?" He replied, laying back down so he could look up at her.

"Sometimes."

"Then go ahead."

Taking a deep breath, she drew his hand into her lap so she could distract herself with something, namely, playing with his fingers.

"I was at home, back on the base. I was looking for my…my mother. I um, I was running through the house, calling her. I knew she was there because I could smell her perfume…But she wouldn't answer me." April paused and shifted on the bed, working up the courage to continue. "I went into my dad's office and he was there…working at his desk. Like always. I um, I asked him where she was…but he wouldn't say anything…like he couldn't hear me." She swallowed hard and licked her lips. She hated this nightmare. Tommy squeezed her hand reassuringly and she continued.

"I walked over to him, I said 'Dad, where's Mom, she's here isn't she?' and he…he, uh, he looked up at me…and…" Her voice cracked and it looked as if she couldn't continue. Tommy started to reach for her but she shook her head. "No, I have to get it out."

He nodded and sat back.

"He looked up at me and…there was a…a hole. Right between his eyes and I could see the wall behind him through it. I…I started to scream, but I didn't make a sound. I turned around to run…and there was…blood. Blood everywhere on all the walls and all his books. It was on me…I…and then I woke up." She finished and Tommy could feel her trembling. This time he reached for her and she allowed him to pull her tight against him, his arms wrapped around her, protecting her from all he could.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and his heart broke with every tear and swallowed sob that shook her small frame.

After a few minutes her breathing returned to normal, but he knew she wasn't asleep.

"Tommy? Did you ever…did you ever just want to run away?" She whispered even quieter than before, as if she was afraid the darkness surrounding them would hear.

He smiled and kissed her temple. "Yeah, sure. All the time."

April didn't smile, she continued in that disturbingly calm, detached voice that was so uniquely hers. "Why didn't we ever run away?"

He turned so he could see her, her eyes were still shining with tears. Settling back, he followed her gaze to the ceiling.

"You never asked." He sighed. "What's this anyway? I thought you liked Seeley and Tempe?"

"I do. It's just…their relationship is so new. They need time to grow, and…constantly worrying about me isn't helping any. They deserve better than me."

Tommy's grip on her tightened and he turned suddenly. "Don't ever say that. Ever. You understand?"

April's gaze flickered toward him and she could see the urgency in his eyes. "Yes."

Tommy relaxed again and a few more minutes of silence ensued. The kind of soft, comfortable silence only the early morning can bring.

"Baby, why don't we run away? Lets just…go. Somewhere where nobody knows us…where the past can't find us." She held her breath and waited for his answer, knowing that if he said 'yes' she would follow without hesitation. And if he said 'no'…

"No." His response was even and resolute.

April turned to face him. "But you said…"

"I know what I said, but it's different now. Tomorrow I have to back to school…I'll face whatever Court Marshall, or obstacle course they decide I deserve for sneaking out because it'll be worth it. Seeing you is worth it." He loosened his grip on her and turned to face her more fully. "And you…this place, Seeley and Tempe, they are the best thing that's happened to you…probably ever. They care about you, they love you. I can't…won't be responsible for taking you away from that."

April watched determination, strength and love playing like a symphony in his eyes and she smiled. Kissing him slowly as the need for sleep returned, she laid her head on his chest and squeezed his middle, his arms encircling her once more.

"Thank you."

Tommy smiled and kissed her forehead.

"And you're going to that shrink."

Too tired to argue and too in love to try, she shrugged.

"Okay."

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How can I argue with that logic?

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