Note: Happy Thankgiving to my fellow Canadians, happy Monday to everyone else. This one is involves a spoiler for last week's Pelant episode, so be warned.
What if: it had been a real bomb?
AU? Yes
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He left the truck by the curb, lights still flashing, and started to run, dodging the the crowds of disoriented tourists, Jeffersonian staff, and curious passers-by. There were two cops at the door, and it took his badge and the serious threat of violence to get past them.
As soon as he was through the revolving door, he started running again, weapon in hand.
He passed three security guards as he raced through the halls, none of whom seemed inclined to get in his way, and finally he was skidding to a stop, pushing his way past a DC cop and walking through the door.
Bones was standing unnaturally still, obviously conscious of the green beams of light hitting her chest and abdomen. "Booth, don't come in", she said, as if that would stop him.
He holstered his weapon and took a step forward. "Hey, Bones."
"You need to go", she answered.
"Right", he scoffed.
"You once told me to hang back so that Christine wouldn't lose both her parents on the same day", she said, her voice flat and emotionless. "Now I'm telling you. The bomb squad is on its way, but there's no guarantee they'll be in time. If they're not, I need to know that Christine still has you."
Their eyes met in an unspoken conversation, like so many times before. After a moment he nodded, defeated. "I love you", he said.
"I love you, too. And tell Christine every day that I loved her."
"Love", Booth answered.
"What?"
"You love her, Bones. Love doesn't die."
"Love is an emotion, and as such it cannot survive ..."
"No", he interrupted. "Love doesn't die. I love you", he repeated, and then walked out the door.
A police officer poked his head into the room. "Dr. Brennan?"
"Yes?", she answered.
"ETA on the bomb squad is 45 minutes."
BbB
The squints were assembled outside the door to the parking garage, along with what seemed like half of the Jeffersonian staff. Angela and Hodgins huddled together on the concrete retaining wall, while Cam animatedly talked with some guy in a suit. Daisy stood a few feet away, talking the ear off of some kid in a blue lab coat, and that dinosaur woman Zach had once been so fond of was talking with Dr. Goodman, who appeared to be paying more attention to whatever he was reading on his cell phone than the living human being in front of him.
"Booth!" Angela had noticed him, so he nodded and walked over to join them. "Is it over? Is Brennan OK?" The others had noticed him now, and Cam and Daisy came over as well.
He shook his head. "She's waiting for the bomb squad. She wanted me to leave."
"And you left?" The horrified look on Daisy's face said it all.
He didn't respond, afraid of what he'd say once he started. Cam patted his arm. "You did the right thing." She shot a pointed look at Daisy. "I'm sure Dr. Brennan feels better knowing that you'll be able to take care of Christine."
"Brennan will be OK", Angela interjected.
"Yeah", Hodgins answered, a second too late. "Dr. B has been in worse fixes before, and she's always been fine."
Angela snuggled closer to him, apparently not noticing his delayed reaction.
"Right", Booth answered. "Bones will be fine."
BbB
Four hours later, the crowd had dispersed, most of Jeffersonian staff accepting that they wouldn't be getting any work done and taking advantage of an unexpected afternoon off, but the team remained, sitting on the retaining wall or sprawled on the lawn, surrounded by discarded paper cups from the coffee Sweets had brought when he joined them. Only Booth remained standing, too antsy to sit.
"Why is it taking so long?", Daisy asked.
"Because they're going to do it right", Booth snapped. "If you don't want to wait, go home. I'm sure Cam will call and tell you whether you have a job to go to tomorrow."
As Daisy made a show of pressing her lips together, miming zipping them closed, there was the low boom of an explosion from within the building.
Booth pulled open the door and, for the second time that day, started to run.
BbB
As he got closer, his way was blocked by a local cop, and Booth pulled his badge and flashed it as he raced by. The smoke in the corridor made it difficult to see, and he slowed his pace as he got closer to the source of the blast.
When he was about 200 meters away, he heard a voice he'd thought he'd never hear again say "Booth?" Relieved beyond belief, he wrapped his arms around his partner, squeezing her just a little too tight.
"Bones."
"I'm OK", she muttered into his neck. "I'm OK."
He pulled back and held her at arms length. "How? We heard the explosion."
"They used a robot to redirect the lasers. It was quite fascinating, really. And then they used some sort of containment device, but something went wrong."
"But you're OK?", he asked.
"A few bruises", she answered, "but yes, I have only superficial injuries."
"Thank God", he said, pulling her close again.
When he was able to let her go, they started to walk towards the exit. When they got to the entry where the cop was stationed, they were mobbed by the rest of the team, who embraced and exclaimed over Brennan in relief. Booth stood a little apart, one thought in his mind.
This is it. Pelant is going down.
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Thoughts?