89. Hallucinate
They'd got her.
They'd caught the Gravedigger.
Heather Taffet.
And, they'd saved Booth. She'd watched from the helicopter, held tightly in his arms as the ship had exploded. Even a minute later and he'd have been dead, she would have lost him for good.
Logically she knew he was fine. She'd accompanied him home, where she now sat on his sofa, listening to the pounding of water as he showered.
He'd shakily told her what had happened, confiding that Corporal Teddy Parker had helped him navigate the ship until he was on the deck. She'd immediately questioned him, but as he'd gone on to explain what had happened she began to doubt that even a man as strong and fit as Booth could escape alone.
But there was no other logical explanation.
Booth must have gotten out alone, no one else was on that ship, especially not his son's namesake who'd died back in 2000. It was physically impossible.
Booth must have been hallucinating, that made sense. He was under so much pressure to escape, to live, that once he began to see Teddy his desperation was only multiplied as a result of Booth's need to save him like he couldn't the last time.
Several years later, she's helping him pack up his apartment. Sat on his bed, she teases him about what she finds, kisses his pouting lips when she tells him he is no way taking that to their Mighty Hut, and eventually pauses when she comes across a picture.
"Booth?"
"Hmm?"
"I saw this man, spoke to him, after you were rescued from the Gravedigger and were visiting Teddy's grave, do you know him?"
"What— Bones, that's erm— that is Corporal Teddy Parker."
They both just stare, silently returning to packing his things, the words left unspoken.