Message received, chapter 3

12pm

"Bones!" Booth exclaimed, sitting bolt upright, eyes frantically searching the room for any impending danger.

"Bones, you awake?" the TV illuminated the sleeping silhouette of his partner, the light catching the wetness of her cheeks as he realised that she was crying in mist of a nightmare. He moved quietly to her semi-visible form, kneeling to get a better view when itstarted.

She started to move violently like she was trying to escape the images in her mind. "I'm sorry" she mumbled, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…. I didn't mean to do it" The tears seemed to increase at these random admissions, her head thrashing this way and that.

Booth was stunned; he was in a difficult situation unaware of the right thing to do. He thought back to when Parker had nightmares, he found it easier if he could reassure him in his sleep.

"Shhh…. It's okay, I know, it wasn't your fault" Booth did his best to sooth her back into a peaceful slumber. He slowly caressed her face, removing the ever-falling tears off of her heated skin. "Its ok, Temperance. Its just a nightmare, your safe."

"NO, Don't Please…" She exclaimed. Her eyes snapping open in a millisecond, to reveal pure fear in her cloudy eyes. This all happened so quickly for him, he was just about to reassure her when her fist connected with his face jolting him backwards, eliciting a painful grunt from him as he travelled towards the floor. She sprang from the couch and into her karate stance. Not even noticing any pain being inflicted by her injuries.

"Bones, it just me. Its Booth." He practically shouted from his position on the floor, he could see her body tense then relax, as he talked to her in a soft voice in order to sooth the panic that had followed her out of her nightmare. "It's okay Bones, you're safe." She lowered her arms as things began falling into place for her; she was at Booths. She remained still, rooted to the spot. Her arms wrapped around her chest as if she was literally trying to hold herself together. That's when the first tears started to emerge.

"Booth…" At this Booth awkwardly got up from the floor, moving towards her shaking figure. Carefully he encircled her in an embrace, mindful of the many injuries scattered around her body.

"I'm here, it's okay." Tears were burning her eyes, causing sobs to brake through her rock solid facade. She just clung to him like a toddler. "Nobody's going to hurt you while I'm here."

"I didn't mean to I swear, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." She spoke hysterically. She then finally, let go. Painful sobs erupted from her as she buried her head into his t-shirt. They stood like that for a while. She was letting the emotional baggage that had been accumulating for years slowly disintegrate.

He caught her as her legs buckled underneath her and managed to sit them back on the couch, which caused Brennan to curl into him, arms wrapping around him as she tried to calm down. He slung his arm across her shoulders pulling her to him. "I'm here." He whispered. "I will always be here to catch you when you fall."

Time passed and Booth started to believe she'd fallen back asleep. So he switched his gaze to the TV, staring at the screen but not really seeing it.

"I'm sorry." She said all of a sudden, she had calmed down by now but embarrassment now clouded her thoughts. How did I lose control like that?

"You keep saying that Bones, but your not really explaining it. I get that your sorry for the situation and for punching me in the face. So what else is on your mind that has you so sorry."

"Just because..."

"Bones, you should never be sorry for your emotions. And you were scared…. we said that if either one of us were scared we'd hug each other. The same goes with crying and stuff." He managed to convey this by squeezing her shoulder. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"Bones stop evading, I know you actually got that one."

"Fine. Ask away but I can't guarantee anything."

"How long have you been having nightmares?"

He felt her tense at the question and he could feel her retreating into herself. She physically pulled away from his embrace, never looking him in the eyes.

"For as long as I can remember." She replied defeated.

"For as long as you can remember?"

"I used to suffer from night terrors when I was little. Then my parents left and I was thrown into the foster care system. They never seem to stop."

"Do you want to talk about it, because it's meant to help." He said looking directly at her eyes. What he saw was a brokenness that he hadn't seen since the case of her mother.

She hesitantly kept eye contact; the concerns portrayed in his deep brown eyes were evident. "I don't remember it anymore." The look he gave her told her he didn't believe her so she quickly added. "I don't really want to talk about this now." She spied the clothes resting on the coffee table. "Um, do you mind I change and head to bed, I'm exhausted." She motioned at the clothes on the table.

"No, go ahead." He felt defeated; he knew he'd pushed a little to hard.

She stood up slowly; the damage to her ribs was more evident now. With every movement she felt as if her bones were grinding together. She carefully grabbed the clothes, trying not to show any evidence of the pain she was feeling. Before she rounded the corner Booth spoke the words she was dreading. "We'll talk about this in the morning, don't think you're getting out of this Bones."

"Okay, Night"

"Goodnight"

"Booth?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you, really…Thanks."

"No problem. Sweet dreams Bones."

Progress had been made.