Ouch. Okay so after some bad reviews ahah which are fine... (I love opinions but I have more plans for this story so stay with me here. It is rated T for a reason with future chapters)
This is the chapter I've been dying to give away. So here we go.
The Real Pain in the Heart – Part Three
You
swear you recall nothing at all
That could make you come back
down
You made up your mind to leave it all behind
Now you're
forced to fight it out
You fall away from your past
But
it's following you
Booth sat in the dinner, at their normal table. The coffee beside him stood untouched.
He tried not to think about the fact that everything about this was wrong, but he couldn't. She should be here with him, sitting across from her. She should be telling him for the hundredth time that she doesn't like her fruit baked. They should be laughing at their own private joke, or just talking. He should be holding her hand, watching as her eyes twinkle. He should be taking her home, kissing her passionately while leading her upstairs to his apartment, pressing her up against the wall, too impatient to get them inside first.
He should be making love to her, the way he told her about. He should be telling her he loves her, even if... even if she won't say it back.
Instead they were in this mess, and he didn't know what to do.
Booth swiped at a few stray tears that had managed to make their way down his face.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to be able to get through anything together.
She was supposed to be his and he hers. She was his Bones after all.
Temperance Brennan was rumored to be cold and unfeeling, who didn't open herself up to anyone. Love wasn't real in her world and neither was someone who would stick around and be there for her.
Booth was supposed to be the exception to the rule, the only man she had ever let past her walls. He was the one who would prove that he would stick around no matter what.
Booth thought that she loved him, really loved him, and then this. He couldn't think how someone could cheat on someone they loved.
It didn't make sense. The Bones he knew would be faithful to him, and would stand by his side through anything.
The door to the diner opened again and Booth instinctively turned expecting to see his partner walking in, her eyes searching for his own.
Once again it was just hope and Booth turned back around to stare at his coffee.
"Lady Troubles?"
Booth looked at the man next to him who had spoken. The man had graying hair and good features. He looked about fifty, but still in shape. He smiled sadly at Booth.
"Yeah" Booth said painfully as he felt his chest tighten.
"You mind if I sit? I've been having some troubles of my own, and I recognized the same with you."
"No, not at all"
The man took Brennan's place across from Booth and thanked the waitress for the coffee.
"You know" the man started, sipping his coffee "I've known a lot of woman over the years, but for some reason there's this one I can't get out of my mind"
Booth sighed softly "yeah I know what you mean"
"So tell me, what'd she do to have ya here wallowing in memories?"
Booth felt weird talking to a complete stranger about his problems, but then again, maybe it's just what he needed to clear his head.
"She took off one night without telling anyone where she was going, I was worried sick about her you know. I kept thinking that if something had happened to her, I'd never forgive myself. Tonight I found out she slept with someone else, a co-worker of mine."
Booth took a sip of his coffee for the first time that night, barely noticing it was cold now.
"I didn't even see it coming. We were fine a few days ago, and then next thing I know I'm here and I don't know what to do"
They were both quiet for a few minutes with Booth lost in thought.
Finally the man stood up and left a few bills on the table.
"Sometimes a simple visit from the past is enough to change the present"
Booth watched the man leave, wondering what that meant.
He sighed and shook his head, it had been a long night.
You
left something undone, it's now your rerun
It's the one you can't
erase
You should have made it right, so you wouldn't have to
fight
To put a smile back on your face
You fall away from
your past
But it's following you
You fall away
Brennan had woken Angela up and helped her set up the guest bed.
Now Brennan was sitting on her couch, just thinking, afraid of what sleep would bring.
It was only then that everything started to sink in, bringing back memories that had been locked away for years.
Tonight Temperance would make herself remember everything, and she let her mind go back to that place for the first time in ten years.
Temperance was 17 and in her last year of having foster parents, and so far it was going worse than every previous year.
Her temporary guardians, the Mason family, didn't seem too enthusiastic when she brought home her college acceptance letter. They had her clean the house while they talked it over in the living room.
Her foster parents Ron and Terry had two younger children, a five year old boy and a ten month old daughter. Her step father, Ron, had a drinking problem and would come home and beat on either Brennan or the little boy.
It was that day when she brought home her first college letter, that she happened to drop a dish while washing it. The next thing she knew Ron grabbed her and was shoving her into the trunk of his car. She fought back as much as she could but it was no use, he was too strong.
She could still remember the feeling of being trapped in that small space, the feeling of not being able to breathe, it being so dark she couldn't even see her own hand, and the fear that she would be stuck there forever. She still had nightmares of it.
Temperance was stuck there until her foster father finally opened the trunk some ten hours later. She was dehydrated and dizzy from lack of oxygen but she was finally out.
That was only the beginning.
Soon after that Ron Mason would start to beat on her more harshly whenever he was drunk and she did anything he didn't like.
Knowing what would set him off and what wouldn't was a challenge all in itself because it was different every night.
Fearing that these attacks would grow to be something else, Brennan began planning her escape. Her plan would be to run far enough away where her foster father couldn't find her. Then she would tell the police everything and they would protect her. In the fall she would go to college, and then she would be on her own again.
It might have worked too, if Ron hadn't found a bus ticket one night when he was drunk. He brought her into the basement and beat her until she couldn't see straight anymore. The pain was unbearable, and she thought she would be killed for sure.
When it seemed like she couldn't take anymore, he stripped her down and forced himself on her. By then she barely had any sense of what was happening until she blacked out completely.
She woke up hours later and felt all the pain from the various injuries she had. She was freezing even with the blanket someone had thrown over her to cover her up. She was still naked and hurt all over from being raped. Suddenly it all became too much and she vomited, the feeling making her feel worse.
That night Brennan tried to run away. She didn't make it far before Ron caught up with her and threw her into the back of the car. She was locked in a cellar for months before she was let out, barely having been fed for that time.
Once she escaped she tried to run again.
This time she made it.
She ran all the way to the police station and told them what had happened. They comforted her and went immediately to bring the bastard in.
It never even went to trial though as there was no evidence left. The three months she spent in that basement had healed all of her bruises. There was no evidence of a rape.
She was even returned back to her foster parents after a psychologist managed to convince everyone that she was mentally unstable, and that the disappearance of her parents had made her delusional.
From then on, Ron was more careful about how hard he hit her and where so that a bruise didn't show up.
Brennan thought for sure that they would believe her, or at least move her away but she was still stuck here, after all that.
It was a few months after that when Ron got her the job at the club as a waitress. It was his idea of getting her out of the house to help support the family.
She worked every shift she could get though, if only to get away from him. She became friends with another waitress there, Mandy.
Mandy was only a few years older than Temperance and would sneak them both drinks every now and then.
Mandy always talked about being a model and seeing the world. Temperance wondered how she would do it if she was always getting drunk and high on the weekdays.
"Oh come on. It's not that bad. Everyone here does it and they have their important jobs."
Tempe had soon though, convinced Mandy to quit all that. The two became best friends and were always there for each other when the rest of the world had walked out.
The Roxy was one of the most dangerous clubs in the area, complete with pole dancing strippers and a whole lot of violence. And it was constantly flowing with drugs. The people there ranged from gang members to people in high positions who could get away with some of the shady things that went on there like drug deals and gang fights.
Temperance could never understand why someone would want to throw themselves up on stage and expose themselves like that. Sure she would wear the revealing outfit and let the men grab at her and such, but to put herself up there and do the things they would... She made sure to stick to her waitressing job.
She was fairly good at it too and had even made it to the VIP section of the club on the balcony reserved for the high paying regulars. The trick was to let them have their way and never put up too much of a fight, something Temperance had learnt fast.
It was a month after working there that Temperance finally met the owner, Steven McCoy.
McCoy was a tall middle aged man, with silver hair, and a tough build. He was known to always have a black poker chip he twirled through his fingers. The cops were constantly questioning him about the drug use in the club and whether or not he was supplying it which of course he denied. There was also talk that he had his hit men go out and force his clients to pay up or receive a bullet to the face.
Mandy had bragged about sleeping with the owner once or twice but it wasn't surprising. Most of the waitresses Brennan talked to, had slept with him.
Steven called her and Mandy into his office one night after closing. Her hands shook as she went to turn the knob of his door; after everything she had heard about him she was more than nervous about being in the room with this man.
"Mandy, Temperance, please come in. I've been waiting for this meeting."
Although she had never met him, the man made her feel safe in his presence. It was a quality that she hadn't felt in someone in a long time. She was immediately drawn to him, and trusted him.
"Now Temperance I know you don't know why you're here. Mandy has been telling me some of the issues you have at home and I'm truly sorry. It must be extremely hard to be in the position you are in. I cannot imagine the pain that your foster father has put you through."
"Thank you" She said, and she meant it. "But I'm still not sure why I'm here"
Steven walked around from his side of the desk to stand in front of Brennan.
"I'm going to offer you a way out, because I feel that you don't need to be treated the way that you are. I like you Temperance, your one of my best workers. I don't just let my best workers go home and get beat to a pulp and then raped to boot"
The words coming from him seemed almost too good to believe by Brennan.
"How would you help me?" she stuttered still surprised.
Steven looked down at her and spoke softly. "I'm going to make sure that that man never hurts you again. He won't ever be able to touch you from now on."
Steven pulled out a large black journal. He seemed to scribble something in it before snapping it shut and locking it in one of the draws of his desk.
By now Temperance had tears coming down her face at rapid speeds. Stephen was there though, brushing the tears off her face.
"How?"
"I'm going to send out a private investigator to go out and find whatever he can about Mason. We're going to build a case against him and make him face justice for what he's done."
She looked at Mandy who nodded her head reassuringly.
"Okay"
Stephen nodded and turned his back to her.
"Mandy leave us. We have some personal matters to attend to "
As soon as the door shut Brennan knew there was no going back. She had made her decision and would now have to stick by it. She was going to finally get justice.
McCoy stood up from his desk and walked over to where she was sitting. He knelt down and placed a hand on her knee.
"I've been keeping an eye on you ya know. It's not often that I'm so captivated by someone like I am by you. I'll take good care of you Temperance; I take good care of all my girls"
She nodded, trusting him, trusting his words.
"Let me make it better, let me help you forget" Steven's arms wrapped around her, his voice was soft. Temperance was captivated by him, never she thought would she deny him anything he asked of her.
He helped her up and led her over to his couch in the room. He laid her down softly and gently, taking his time. He kissed her passionately, his body now covering hers.
It was a more than a kiss though; it was an agreement, a silent agreement.
"I take good care of all my girls" Steven said once more
There was definitely no turning back now.
Something
I've done that I can't outrun
Maybe you should wait maybe you
should run
But there's something you've said that can't be
undone
And you fall away from your past
But It's following
you
You fall away
It's following you
"Fall Away" – The Fray
"Oh Booth, what have I done?"
Now if only Booth had read that... oh well he'll have to find out the hard way.
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