Running

He sat in the apartment all day and waited. Once he had tried calling her cell phone, but the second he dialed he heard a familiar ring coming from the bedroom. He wondered if she had left it on purpose. This was her place she would have to come back sometime. He just had to be here when she did. For the remainder of the day he busied himself the best he could, doing things he didn't normally do. He did laundry, he lifted weights, he scrubbed the bathroom, and he tried to watch a ballgame. The day drug on forever and still there was no sign of her.

He paced the living room to the point where he feared that her hardwood floors would need refinishing. All the memories had flooded back at once. Things all seemed to fit mercifully into place, all things but Brennan...no Bones…no Brennan. Crap. She was like two different women, and yet not. For in each he saw glimpses of the other. Brennan was loving and protecting and kept secrets. Bones was brutally honest, and dedicated, and strong. Yet he had always seen Bones as loving in her own way. She would do anything to protect the ones she loved. And secrets….God love the secrets!

When she got in the SUV she just drove, trying to get as far away as she could, as fast as she could. It wasn't until she had reached the Maryland state line that she realized technically she was probably driving a stolen vehicle. This was his car. Funny how their lives had intertwined, her apartment, his car. They rarely went to his place, except to pack his everyday things. They never drove her car, unless she was going to work late. Even then he usually made some excuse to pick her up. So here she was a fugitive because in a panic she jumped into the wrong car. Instinct was a bitch.

Once again she was running away, and she didn't even have a destination. But that was the point wasn't it? Leaving, not going somewhere. There was nowhere she wanted to be. For a brief moment she thought about just turning around and heading back. Fleeing she hadn't grabbed any of her things, all she had was what she was wearing, her coat and her purse, she hadn't even grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand. What else did she need? Whatever she needed she could buy. So she kept driving, barely seeing the road in front of her through the tears.

Panic began to set in as night fell. She still hadn't come home, nor made any attempt to contact him. It seemed silly to worry everyone else, she was just blowing off steam, but he knew he had to start making calls. Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Max, Russ, Sweets. No one had seen her or heard from her. They all told him the same thing. This was typical. When Brennan panicked she ran. He was torn, did he try to go after her or wait patiently. Not knowing even remotely where to look he figured there was only one option.

At three o'clock in the morning he still sat wide awake, staring at the ceiling of their bedroom, her bedroom. A nagging feeling was at the pit of his stomach. Was she waiting for him to leave so she could reclaim her home alone? His apartment was still there on the other side of town, sitting nearly empty except for a few pieces of furniture and unwanted things. He hadn't slept there since the surgery. If she could run than so could he. Newly determined he got out of bed and started shoving his clothes in a blue duffel.

The sound of his cell phone surprised him. It was not even five o'clock in the morning. His heart racing he reached over and without even looking at the caller ID answered it. The voice on the other end wasn't the one he prayed for. "Booth, we need to leave right away, there has been an accident." Angela's words knocked the wind right out of him. He was out the door before he even hung up the phone.

They took a flight to Boston at 7 a.m. They didn't know why she had driven there, or where she was headed. They only knew that they had to get there as fast as possible. What had she been thinking? Was she alright? His head raced, the fear was agony. He looked over at Angela and knew she was going through the same thing. Only she didn't really know the reason they were here. That it was his fault. He had pushed her into running away. If anything happened to her he would never forgive himself.

Automatic doors slid open as the pair raced into the emergency room. It had been 5 hours since they had gotten the phone call, and still had been given very little information. They weren't even sure if she was alive. Booth pale with fear practically accosted the intake nurse for information. She was in curtain seven. Silently he pushed through the hospital ward and shoved open the curtain. She was laying in the bed, her right arm in a navy blue sling, a butterfly bandage across her left temple. Otherwise she seemed perfectly intact.

Worry turned into relief that quickly made its way to anger. "Temperance! How dare you run off like that. You could have gotten yourself or someone else killed! Do you know how worried we have been!" Angela shrunk back in horror at his tone. This was not going to be the tender moment she had anticipated. Something ugly had reared its head today.

Brennan's response was to stare blankly at him. Something about the cool icy blue of her eyes always made these looks unparalleled in intensity. "Not that it is any of your concern Booth. But I am sorry to have upset Angela." Her voice was as cool as his had been heated.

His face fell as the anger turned to disbelief, for the first time he realized her intent. They were over. She would allow no discussion, no do-over, no remorse. The walls that had been missing these past months had returned. Bones was back, and not even the Bones he knew so well. Bones his partner and friend had left along with Brennan. This was the Bones he first met five years ago. Cold, distant, solid and determined; he wasn't a part of this woman's life. How had she erected walls so quickly? It made him wonder if their partnership meant anything to her. He was lost, and there was only one thing he could do.

He left.