Hi everyone! Sorry for the slight delay in getting this out to you all. I must say, thank you so so much for all the reviews, I'm absolutely overwhelmed with thanks to you all for taking the time to leave such nice reviews, and thanks to everyone that added the story on alerts and things, you're all lovely lovely people! :) Hope this part is OK!

Brennan snapped her eyes open, fear filling her when she didn't recognise her surroundings. Hopping out of bed, she cursed as she tripped, landing flat on her back. Thinking back, she remembered Booth and her sitting in her office, and Booth was holding her, then she fell asleep and...Booth! Groaning, Brennan cursed as she tried to find her phone and other personals, jumping as the door banged open.

"Bones? What the hell is going on? Are you OK, I heard banging?"

She almost laughed, he looked so cute standing there with his hair all messed up, still obviously far from awake. Realising the gravity of her situation, she smiled briefly and pushed past him, Booth following her around as his sleepy mind tried desperately to catch up with what was happening.

"I'm fine, Booth, and I...well thank you, for last night, I really appreciate what you did," she replied, turning and looking him straight in the eyes, letting him know that she really meant what she said.

"That's OK, Bones, anytime. You know that," he replied, still bemused at how wound up she was as she pulled on her shoes.

"But right now I have to leave. Thanks for looking after me."

"Hold on, leave? Wait a minute, Bones, I don't understand," Booth began, holding her arm gently and pulling her around to face him.

"I just have to go," she replied, smiling sadly as she moved away from him.

"What's the rush?"

He watched her evenly as she looked at the floor as if debating telling him the truth. She opened her mouth to speak before clamping it shut again, shaking her head and offering him a slightly tearful smile as she turned away.

Booth cursed as he slammed his hand against the door that Brennan had just opened, sending her curling into a ball on the floor in fear. He gulped, kneeling before her until she felt brave enough to look up into his kind face.

"I'm sorry, Bones, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, offering his hand to help pull her back onto her feet again.

He could tell that she was embarrassed, a red tinge creeping up her cheeks, and he understood completely. Bones was not a person who liked to appear weak, especially in front of him. She shrugged and made for the door again, Booth gently pulling her around by her shoulders so that he was in her way.

"I can't let you leave like this," he told her, watching as she looked up in indignation.

She pushed against him, Booth gritting his teeth and holding her gently enough that it didn't hurt, but strong enough that she couldn't leave. As he watched her, he saw the uncertainty in her face, as if she were weighing up her options, and he let his eyes show her how much he wanted her to choose him. Eventually, the strong barriers crumbled and his heart broke in two as he saw tears start to well, Brennan letting her hands drop from his shoulders to cover her face. Sighing sadly, Booth scooped her into his arms, letting her cry against his shoulder as he held her gently, rubbing her back as he comforted his broken friend as best he could.

Gently leading her to the sofa, Booth took her hand, waiting until Brennan was able to look up at him again, as he reached forwards and softly wiped the last traces of tears from her face.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you're not suffering, and that there's nothing that I can do, and I'll let you go," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper but she heard every word.

She really wanted to, so that she could save him. But somehow, she knew she couldn't lie to him like that. So she kept silent, dropping her gaze to her hands as she thought, wondering what her best course of action was.

"Just tell me, Bones. Tell me what's wrong, because it's killing me to watch you hurting and not know why or how to help."

Brennan thought for a moment. Would it really be so bad if Booth knew? She wouldn't necessarily have to tell him how she came to have the injuries, she could just let him help. Maybe that would be enough, and he'd stop looking? Because if he found what he was looking for, there was no saving either of them.

Without looking up, she shakily started to unbutton her shirt, seeing Booth's face out of the corner of her eye turn to one of horror as he watched what she was doing.

"Bones...I...you don't have to do this," he told her, embarrassed to see what she was going to show him.

He understood when she turned around on the couch, showing him her back. A gasp left him before he could stop it, and he reached out his hand, only just stopping in time before touching her. All across her back were criss-crossed marks, bruised and bleeding, where someone had hit her with a stick or a belt again and again. She half turned to see his face, hating the pity and anger and hurt she saw there.

"I can't reach to do them myself. I dealt with the others, but I can't reach them. Can you help me?"

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak and realising what a privilege she had given him to let him help her in any small way. Dashing to the kitchen, he returned with a first aid kit and they were silent as he cleaned and bandaged her wounds, Brennan trying her best not to let him know that it hurt when he put the cream on, but Booth feeling every twitch anyway in his heightened awareness.

Once he was done, he pulled her shirt over her shoulders, hugging her to him and feeling her hold onto his arms that had snaked around her waist, letting him know that it was OK, even though from where he was standing, nothing was OK.

"What others," he asked eventually, his voice cracking slightly as he asked.

Brennan blushed, wishing she hadn't admitted that. "It's nothing, Booth..." she started, only to be cut off by his gentle fingers on her lips.

"Temperance, you're not moving off this couch until I've made sure you're OK and there's nothing more I can do to help," he told her, the seriousness in his voice letting her know that she really had no choice.

Sighing, she pulled off the rest of her shirt, showing him the livid bruises on her stomach and ribs. He touched her side gently, hearing her hiss and pull away and knowing that she'd broken at least two ribs. That explained her pain when he punched her playfully the other day. She was surprised when he ran his hands gently over the bruises, as if that could take away some of her pain. In any other situation, she realised that's exactly what she would want, for Booth to be there like that. But not now.

"Are there any more?" he asked, his eyes boring into hers so she couldn't lie, so she couldn't tell him no like she had planned to. "Show me," he requested, Bones sighing as she realised that this was crossing so many boundaries that she had kept in place on purpose.

Standing slowly, she lowered her pants, Booth closing his eyes as if in pain as he took in the bruises and cuts all down her legs. He set to work with the cream and plasters, Brennan not realising how much better she could feel until he had finished. His sharp eyes took in the bruising on her upper thighs, even as his brain refused to comprehend what that meant. That couldn't have happened, could it? his mind asked, even as he knew that logically that would explain why she was so nervous around him, and why she had been avoiding him.

"Booth..." she started a moment later, so upset by how tenderly he cared for her, not being used it before, that she could hardly speak.

"You don't need to say anything, Bones, I already know," he told her, his eyes full of tears that he knew he couldn't let fall, that someone had done this to his strong, brilliant, beautiful woman that he loved completely. "Do you need to go the hospital? To get the bruises checked out, I mean?"

Brennan shook her head. "I can't do that, it'll only cause more trouble for me," she told him sadly, pulling her pants back on as Booth grabbed her shirt from the back of the sofa, holding it out for her so that it caused her less pain to slip back into it.

"Hold on a minute," he told her, coming back with a brace in his hands. "I was given this when I broke my ribs once, and I know it helped a lot. I mean, it's gonna be too big for you, but I just thought it might give you some more padding..." he said, seeing her eyes blur with tears for his thoughtfulness again.

"Can you help me put it on?" she whispered, Booth obeying, and gently buttoning her shirt for her, as she watched him in amazement. If it hadn't been for him, she might never have trusted men again, and somehow he had taken all her fears away in an instant, just by being him.

"Tell me who did this, Bones. Please?" he begged, desperately wanting her to be safe.

"You can't do anything more to help me now, Booth. But I feel so much better already," she told him, her eyes radiating thanks as he pulled her to him, kissing her forehead gently.

"Promise me that you'll come to me when you need to? If this is really all I can do at the moment, then please at least give me the chance to do that," he asked, seeing a tear finally break through her control as she sniffed and nodded.

She headed for the door, and this time Booth didn't stop her, instead trailing behind so he could make sure everything was as OK as it could be before she left. Turning at the last moment, she stepped back to him, reaching up and kissing him gently on the cheek, holding his other cheek gently in her hand. It was the best thank you he could have.

As she pulled away with a proud smile that she had done the right thing. "Thank you."

She was bowled over when Booth pulled her back, his lips finding hers for the sweetest kiss she had ever received. To her surprise, Brennan found herself kissing him back just as enthusiastically, her heart pounding as their tongues danced, Booth's hands holding her gently to him, careful of her sore back.

She was breathless when she pulled away, keeping her eyes shut as she tried to compose herself. When she opened them again, she saw Booth standing anxiously, worried that he had upset her. His worries were put aside when her face split into a huge beam, love radiating out of her eyes for him. It had been so long since she was kissed like that, that she had forgotten what if felt like.

"Don't mention it," he replied, slightly breathless himself.

Smiling a smile that was so full of promise, and so much happier than before, he let the love of his life walk out of the door, praying to God that she would be OK while he started working out who had done this and stopped them before they hurt Bones again.

So that's the next part! Hope you all enjoyed it, and that it was OK! Thank you so much for reading, and please let me know what you think! :)