Okay, here's the next chapter and it is dedicated to my Boneyard Sis, LOONY aka Bellabun. XP
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My heart is pounding in my ears. My blood is racing, hot and loud. I don't want him to have to see me like this.
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Booth felt nauseous. His eyes traced April's bony figure while she held the shirt up for him to see. Her stomach and sides descending far below the waistband of her shorts and no doubt far above where the shirt stopped, were riddled with ugly black and purple bruises, the likes of which he hadn't seen in quite some time. And the few times he had, had never left his memory.
Brennan slowly turned the girl and pushed her shirt up to her neck so Booth could see her bare back. More bruises, more scars and Booth felt more dizzy and light headed.
April turned back around, pulling unconsciously at the shirt, now hanging loosely to her frame. She stared at the floor and waited for the ringing in her ears to stop.
The room was thick with silence, which Brennan gladly broke. Something had been bothering her from the moment she saw the first bruise on April's arms.
"April, is there someone else at your house? Someone besides Layla and Rodger?" Brennan herself felt sick to her stomach at the thought of the little person who belonged to those eyes she'd seen at the top of the stairs. Afraid and alone with the man who did this to April.
"Jessica, my foster sister…she's only ten." April took a deep breath, still staring at the ground. "She's not there right now though. She'll be safe tonight, Layla took her to the hospital."
"Hospital?" Booth choked out. April nodded but didn't look up.
"Tommy and I…stayed out late. Too late. Rodger freaked…Jessica…she didn't deserve that. She didn't even do anything…she just…got in the way. She and Layla will be at the hospital the rest of the night I'm sure." Her voice wavered between a whisper and just above, but her eyes never left the floor.
After a few moments of silence April gathered the courage to look up and found her strong Seeley teary eyed before her.
"Seeley?"
The sound of his name on her lips, said in her small, smooth voice finally did Booth in. The tears overflowed and a sob escaped his throat. A crushing feeling in his chest caused him to stumble backward a few steps and sit on the edge of the couch.
"I'm sorry April. I'm so sorry, I should have been there." He shook his head. "I'm so sorry."
April's own vision was blurry with unshed tears and she shook her head, stepping up to him and pulling him into a hug, burying her head in his chest.
"Don't be sorry. Please don't be sorry. You're here now, that's more than I can say for anyone else ever." She mumbled, soaking his shirt in silent tears.
Booth hesitated, he knew she needed to be hugged as much as he wanted to hug her, but the sight of those bruises on her skin haunted him like nothing he'd ever known.
"April I…"
April felt him stiffen and leaned back to look at him, the pain and tenderness in his eyes was obvious even to her, a teenage girl who'd never prided herself on her people skills and hadn't spoken to this man in years. Even she knew.
"Seeley," She said in a steady voice, keeping a firm hold on his eyes, "You could never hurt me. That's a fact."
Booth still looked hesitant and it nearly broke her. April needed to feel his arms around her, assuring her everything would be all right. She wanted to know it would be all right.
"Seeley?"
For the first time April's eerily smooth voice cracked and Booth gasped. Thinking he was too afraid to hug her, April buried her face back in his chest and let go of a few more tears.
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Even when he's not here he keeps hurting me.
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April inhaled sharply as she felt hands gently begin rubbing circles on her back and she could only respond by hugging Booth tighter.
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Keep me safe. Please Seeley. Please keep me safe.
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I'll always keep you safe. From now on I'll protect you April.
Brennan had slowly been backing out of the room, feeling awkward and out of place. She was now just inside the doorway leading to the dining room, watching the scene play out.
Knowing a mad dash for the door was illogical and inappropriate and would break the already fractured hearts of the two wounded people in the living room, Brennan decided to burn off the urge to do so by making some tea.
Just as she was about to turn away, Booth pulled out of his hug with April and stood.
"Stay with Bones April," He smiled the girl and wiped her cheeks before placing a protective kiss on her forehead, "I'll be back in a few minutes."
After I've found Rodger and made him wish he was dead before I haul his ass to jail.
Booth's anger had subsided when he saw her bruises, but now it was back and burning a hole in his stomach. This guy was gonna pay for what he did to April. Period.
Booth started to move away when the panic flooded April's dark green eyes.
"No." Her voice trembled, Booth just couldn't get used to the sound of that.
"April," He soothed, reaching for his coat and keys, "I'll be back alright? Stay here with Bones and watch a movie, you won't even know I'm gone." He leaned forward to kiss her forehead again but she ducked away, shaking her black ponytail from side to side.
"NO!" April's voice cracked and tears stung her eyes, sobs she'd been choking back for months, maybe years had suddenly sprung up in her lungs, not allowing her to get air.
"No! No you can't. Not now! Please Seeley please don't leave me here now don't leave." She was nearing hysterics as her legs gave her up to the tears.
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I can't think. I can't hear or talk. I don't know if I'm falling or if gravity has simply stopped working, but for some reason I can't feel my legs. I know I shouldn't be like this. I'm a foster kid for crying out loud! I know how to handle it when someone leaves. But still…
I just can't let Seeley go. I can't. This is the first time I've felt safe in…years. He can't walk out that door…what if he never comes back? What if I never get to feel this way again? What if…
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Booth jumped forward and caught April before she fell; Brennan was immediately at his side, helping him move the sobbing girl to the couch.
"Okay, okay." Booth pulled April up close to him and held her head to his chest with one hand; whispering urgently and wishing the tears would subside. "Okay. I'm sorry April I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere okay? I'm right here. It's all going to be okay."
Booth rocked slowly and locked stares with Brennan, whose blue eyes were glassy as she grasped one of April's trembling hands. He needed Rodger to be brought in, but he couldn't leave April. Not after that.
Meeting Booth's gaze, Brennan read him like no one else could and silently, she nodded and rose from the couch, pulling out her cell phone.
"Hello? This is Dr. Temperance Brennan; I'm partners with Special Agent Seeley Booth. I need to speak with Director Cullen…" She disappeared around the corner into the kitchen.
Booth watched her go and became aware of April's breathing as it returned to normal.
Sniffling, she sat up and tucked her skinny legs beneath herself.
"Sorry." She whispered, blushing slightly at her uncharacteristic emotional display.
Booth took her hand and spoke low.
"Do not apologize. You haven't done anything wrong."
April nodded and Booth could tell she didn't believe him.
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I've heard it all before Seeley.
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Booth sighed and tossed his keys and cell phone onto the table, before he turned to look again at April. Some of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail and was hiding her face again. One of her hands grasped his firmly, while the other was wrapped around something small she'd produced from her pocket.
"Whatcha got there?" He asked, a light smile on his face.
April glanced at him before slowly opening her palm to show him a dull silver coin. Booth took it gingerly and examined it.
It can't be. He thought, disbelievingly.
"April do you know what this is?"
April shrugged her uninjured shoulder. "A fifty cent piece. Dad gave it to me just before he…died."
Booth nodded and smiled slowly, turning to face her more fully.
"April this isn't just any fifty cent piece. It's a 90 percent silver half dollar piece minted in Philadelphia in 1964. That was the first year these were ever made." April furrowed her brow.
"How interesting." She tried not to roll her eyes and reached for her coin.
"April."
She stopped and looked at him, something about his voice…
"Your mother was a coin collector, you remember that?"
April only nodded, her voice often failed when her mother was mentioned.
"This was her half dollar piece." Booth watched as her eyes widened with curiosity. "Do you want to know the story?"
April nodded and snuggled up closer to Booth's side, reminding him of Parker when he read storybooks. Taking the coin, April carefully turned the coin over and over in her hand, running her fingers along the engraving as Booth spoke.
"April, your dad Joey, he used to love to tell this story. Drove our whole infantry crazy." Booth shook his head and allowed Joey's voice to invade his mind for the first time in years. He didn't even notice Brennan come and take a seat on the other side of him.
"When we found out we had to go overseas, your mother was devastated. Your father too…they were head over heals for each other." Booth finally noticed Brennan sitting next to him when she laced her fingers with his and leaned on his shoulder. He continued his story uninterrupted while the girls listened.
"Lauren said Joey needed something to take with him, to remember her by. He had a picture but she said it wasn't enough, she wanted him to take a piece of her with him and all she had was her coin collection. April, your mom loved her coin collection, but she loved your dad more. This half dollar," he pointed to the coin in April's hand, "was her favorite piece. She said your dad already had her whole heart, he might as well have part of her coin collection too." Booth smiled at the memory and though he couldn't see them, he could tell the April and Brennan were smiling as well.
"He would take that coin out and look at it all the time. It never left his pocket, no matter what. And when things got rough out there, I pulled out my Rosary, and your dad pulled out that coin. That fifty-cent piece did a lot of good for your father April. A lot of good, sometimes it was the only thing that kept him sane." Booth quieted and waited for her to respond.
April sat up slowly and looked at him, a mixture of sadness and amazement on her face.
"Is all that true?"
"Every word."
April smiled and looked at the coin in wonderment. "Wow." She whispered.
Booth smiled and touched April's cheek, turning her face toward him. "April, that coin was a piece of your mother to help your father through tough times. When your father gave it to you, it was like giving you a piece of both of them to hold on to." He used his large hand to fold April's small ones around her coin.
"You'll never be alone April. Never."
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I believe you Seeley.
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Awwww. That was sweet. But don't worry, the Angst Train isn't retired yet...