Author's Note: Next snippet. There's no exact timeline for this one, other than it taking place some time after The Crack in the Code.
I do not own Bones or any of its characters.
Thank you to everyone who is reading/following/reviewing this. It is always appreciated.
Lives in the now: Yeah, that familial aspect of B&B and Sweets' relationship always appeals to me, I must admit. If anything, it seems like that bond is only increasing in this season. It'll be interesting to see what happens after Brennan has her baby. And yes, I imagine that they ordered Thai as well. :)
Charlotte Thornton: Thank you. I agree that we let our emotions overwhelm us and make ourselves a little more miserable than we need to be. In those situations, it seems like all that is needed is a friendly reminder from someone who cares that it doesn't need to be that way...
D: Oh I wish that HH did read fanfic at times. If he ever did, I'd want him to read any of my fic that deals with Sweets' past so that we can finally get some resolution to that whole part of Sweets' character. :) Putting that aside, I still hold out hope that this is the direction that the writers are moving with the B&B&S relationship. Time will tell if I've tapped into their vibe or not...:)
Chapter Seven—Assurances
"…talk to me, Sweets," Booth said, urgency in his voice. "Stay awake…."
The evening had started out in a routine way. Booth was going out to interview the wife of the victim in his latest homicide case. At the last minute, he decided to take Sweets along with him so as to get a better read on the widow and anything she might know about why her husband had been found dead at an abandoned construction site. On the way over there, the two of them had talked about the case briefly before lapsing into a bickering session over whether or not there ever is a reason to re-make a movie.
"I mean, if you've already done it, why do it again?" Booth argued. "Why not just enjoy a classic for what it is?"
"Well yeah, some movies probably shouldn't be tampered with," Sweets conceded. "But there are some movies that would really benefit from having a remake. Especially old sci-fi films."
"What's wrong with the old sci-fi films?" Booth grumbled. "If they were good enough to entertain people back then, they are good enough for people now."
"But think about what we can do with them now," Sweets insisted. "All the great CGI effects and enhanced filming techniques. I mean, come on, are you really saying that you wouldn't love to see some old film you grew up with updated with the latest and coolest special effects?"
The argument continued on until a crackle of static and then a voice from Booth's radio halted the conversation. There was an urgent call for assistance in an armed robbery at a nearby credit union, and Booth quickly realized that the two of them were only seconds away from the given location. He then responded to the dispatch and turned on his siren as he headed over there. As his mind prepared itself for what was sure to be an intense situation, he suddenly remembered that Sweets was in the car with him.
"Listen, when we get there, I want you to just stay in the car, you got that?" Booth told him. "Let me handle this."
"But Booth, I have a sidearm," Sweets reminded him. "I could…."
"No," Booth growled. "You are not ready for this kind of situation, you understand me? So just stay in the car, keep your head down, and watch for backup."
Sweets did not say anything more as Booth sped to the location given. As they arrived, they could see people rushing out of the building with their arms raised and their hands waving about. Booth swung his SUV over to the side and parked, nearly jumping out after it came to a complete stop. Seconds later, a man with a gun burst out into the street.
"FBI, drop the weapon and put your hands in the air," Booth yelled at him, his gun already aimed and posed to fire.
The man let out an inarticulate yell, his eyes wild, and pointed his gun at the agent. Booth immediately responded by pulling the trigger, and the man went down with a bullet wound to the chest. Seconds later, a woman came running out, screaming and crying hysterically.
"Please, someone help me please," she cried out. Booth lowered his weapon and headed over to her. He tried to drag her to safety, but the woman resisted, sobbing.
"No…you don't understand," she wailed. "We need to get Sacha. Oh Sacha…."
"Who's Sacha?" Booth asked as he tried to pull her along.
"My baby," she said, tears streaming down her face. "Please we have to get Sacha."
"We'll get her. We'll get her, I promise," Booth said forcefully. "But right now, you need to…."
"Agent Booth!"
Booth only had seconds to look up to see Sweets running toward him. He opened his mouth to yell at the psychologist for getting out of the car, but was stopped by the sound of a gun cocking. He was about to turn toward the sound when Sweets ran into him and the woman fell to the ground. Booth heard the sound of a bullet firing, and he scrambled back up to his feet.
A second gunman had appeared, and Booth fired back, taking him out with a single bullet to the head. Booth then saw police cars driving up and officers running into the bank.
"Sweets, I told you to…." Booth said as he turned back toward the psychologist but the words froze on his tongue when he saw that Sweets was still lying on the ground.
Booth dropped down onto his knees beside Sweets and turned him over to see a bullet wound in his abdomen, blood spreading all over his shirt. The therapist's eyes were closed and he did not respond to Booth turning him over onto his back. Booth reached down and started to put pressure on the wound. He then faintly heard the sound of the woman scrambling away and someone approaching him and asking about the situation.
"We need an ambulance here now," Booth yelled at the voice behind him. The agent could hear the officer behind him call for help, but he couldn't take his eyes away from Sweets' still form.
"Come on, Sweets," Booth said. "Stay with me, all right? Help is coming, so just breathe, ok?"
Sweets' eyelids began to move and soon his eyes slowly cracked open.
"Booth," he gasped as he started to squirm.
"No, no don't do that," Booth said, tightening his hold. "Stay still. I know it hurts, but I need to keep the pressure on your wound."
In that moment, Booth thought back to the last time he had had to do this. When Vincent Nigel-Murray lying on the lab floor, bleeding to death from a gunshot. Just like then, blood seeped all over his hands, staining them scarlet while someone struggled to breathe, to live, on the ground in front of him.
It was then that Booth began to panic. It had been bad enough when it was Vincent. He did not want to think about history repeating itself with Sweets.
'Why didn't he stay in the car?' Booth asked himself. 'Or at the very least, just use his gun instead?'
"This way, I'll have your back, Agent Booth."
Booth remembered Sweets saying that just as he realized that the psychologist had been shot trying to get him out of the line of fire. At the time, he hadn't taken the notion of him backing him up that way seriously, but now he was starting to wish that Sweets had never gotten such an idea into his head.
"Booth…please…."Sweets whispered. "Hurts…."
"I know, I know," Booth said, his voice softening. "I know it does, but I need to do this, ok? Just try to relax and breathe." The agent felt tears prick at his eyes, but he made sure not to let them fall.
"Hey listen, after you get taken care of, you can stay at Bones' and my place for a couple of days while you rest and get better," Booth said. "I know you haven't been over since we got it all finished. It…it looks great. Wendell, he really helped out a lot. And…and you can just hang out and watch some movies or sleep or whatever you want. Whatever you want, Sweets. Hey, and if she's up for it, I'll even ask Bones to make her amazing mac and cheese for you one night. I mean, you've got to try it, Sweets. And, and Bones, she's been saying about how she wants to see you and all…."
Booth kept babbling out promises and plans. It was all done with the unspoken hope that it would be enough to convince Sweets to hold on and not die right here on this patch of asphalt.
But also as a way to try to hold back the grief and guilt he felt at seeing Sweets bleeding, his life ebbing away.
The psychologist smiled, his eyes eerily content, before starting to cough. His eyes then began to roll back into his head.
"No!" Booth insisted. "Talk to me, Sweets. Stay awake. I need you to stay awake."
Sweets' body jerked as he moaned and gasped again. Booth made sure that the psychologist did not move away from him, but noticed that Sweets' struggles had grown substantially weaker.
"Not your fault," Sweets croaked out.
"What?" Booth asked, the sound of sirens drowning the psychologist's voice out. Sweets opened his eyes and looked straight into Booth's.
"What happened…" he said, his voice strained with pain. "Not…your fault, Booth…I….I…tell Daisy that…."
"No listen, if you have anything to tell Daisy, you're doing it yourself, you got that?" Booth said. "Are you listening to me, Sweets? You're staying right here, with us. We need you here."
Suddenly Booth felt hands pulling him away from Sweets. For a second, he tried to resist them, but he then realized that they were EMTs here to tend to the psychologist. Booth watched as they administered to him and started to wring his hands together. He found that they were sticky with blood. Sweets' blood.
Moments later, they had the therapist on a stretcher and were loading him into an ambulance. Booth had wanted to ride with them, but the EMTs told him that it wasn't going to be possible, and he had to be satisfied with being given the name of the hospital that they were going to.
"The bullet wound is serious, but doesn't look fatal," one of the EMTs assured Booth as he rushed away. "He should be ok."
Booth nodded mutely and watched the ambulance speed away a moment later. A part of him figured that he should feel some comfort at those kinds of assurances.
But right now, all of the assurances in the world wouldn't be able to fill the hole Booth felt growing inside him.
End Note: When I originally wrote this, I figured that it could stand on its own as a single snippet. But looking at it now, I think I could also write a second half to it. So I think I will leave it up to my readers: leave it as is or write another snippet finish it off? Let me know what you would like me to do in a review. If there is enough interest, I'll put up a sequel later this week...