(The Party in the Pants)
A/N: Remember, this story is very AU.
I don't own Bones.
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Her fear for Booth grew as the day started to end. At first he had seemed in a state of shock and then he had cried in her arms, but afterward he seemed to shut down completely and he hadn't moved since the crying had ended.
While keeping a careful watch over Booth, Brennan called Angela and asked her to pick up Christine from Daycare and keep her for the evening. She had given her friend a short explanation about what was going on and Angela had assured her that she would keep Christine for as long as it was necessary.
Once that call was complete, Brennan sat down next to her mate and talked to him. "The victim might be your mother Booth, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. Cam is running a DNA test on our victim right now. Don't you think it would be better if we had proof first instead of assuming it's your mother?"
Since Booth refused to answer her and continued to stare at the ground below his feet, Brennan knew that it was going to be hard to get him to listen to her. "Remember when I found my mother's remains in Bones Storage? It was a terrible moment when I realized that the bones that I had been handling belonged to my mother . . . you were so sweet to me, Booth. I never told you how glad I was that you were there for me at that time. You helped me find my mother's killer and eventually that led to the discovery that my father was still alive. It was all such a shock, but you helped me get through it."
He heard her words and he knew that he was worrying her, but how could he live with the grief he felt? "I saw him take her out to the car and drive away and I didn't do anything. I could have called Pops or the police or my Aunt Ruth, but I didn't call anyone. I let him take my mother away and he killed her . . . I let him kill her."
"We don't know if the victim at the Lab is your mother, Booth. We don't know anything right now." Outraged that Booth had let that kind of thought enter his mind, Brennan stood up and then knelt in front of her lover and partner. "How old were you Booth? You were ten years old . . . ten years old when your mother disappeared."
"I was old enough to pick up a phone." The guilt that Booth felt made him feel numb. He wanted to feel something, but all he felt was numb. "I could have called Pops or the police, but I didn't do anything. I trusted . . . I trusted him. How could I do that?"
Grasping his wrists, Brennan shook her head. "Your father told you that he was taking your mother to the hospital and you believed him. Why wouldn't you believe him? Booth you believed him because it was the logical thing to do. Your mother was hurt and Edwin Booth said he was going to take Marianne to the hospital. It was natural to believe him and you did nothing wrong . . . Did Marianne cry out for you to stop your father when he was taking her to the car? Did it appear that she was afraid to go with him?"
He wanted to believe her, but he just couldn't bring himself to believe what she was saying. "She was in a lot of pain . . . I should have called the police."
"And what Booth? For all you know your father took your mother to the hospital and she did run away when she got the chance. You are assuming the bones at the Lab belong to your mother. They may not be. The DNA tests will tell us if it is her or not. You're doing a lot of assuming and what have you told me about assuming anything? Didn't you fuss at me two weeks ago when I assumed you had spilled the bottle of syrup in the kitchen and left it for me to clean up? What did you say? If you assume something it makes an ass out of you and me. That's what you said."
She was making sense or at least she thought she was, but he knew something that she didn't. His mind now on the toy soldier found with their victim, Booth cleared his throat and finally looked Brennan in the eyes. "The toy soldier, if you look at the bottom of the soldier's feet, he's . . . there is a circle of plastic that he's standing on . . . if you look at it you'll see some scratches . . . SB . . . I scratched SB onto my soldier because Jared kept stealing my toys and playing with them. When he did . . . when he did I'd show him my initials and take the toy away . . . he didn't care, he always stole my toys . . . anyway SB is on the bottom of the soldier. It's my toy and the victim is my mother. I don't need a DNA test to tell me what I already know. My mother is dead and my father killed her."
Brennan was shocked and she wasn't sure what to say, but she knew she had to say something. "Perhaps she died of some injury she sustained while falling down the stairs and Edwin panicked. Perhaps he didn't kill her, but he did drive across the state and buried her in the forest, because he thought he was the cause of her death. You told me in the past that your mother fell down the stairs and she was hurt badly. Do you know if he pushed her or she fell? If he didn't push her and she just fell then he didn't kill her."
Snorting, Booth shook his head. "I may not have seen her push my mother down the stairs, but I heard him. He was shouting and I heard him tell her to go downstairs and look for me and he slapped her pretty hard. That's when I heard the scream and her falling down the stairs. I left the closet I was hiding in in the kitchen and he was downstairs bending over her . . . talking to her. He wasn't angry anymore. He was scared. I may have only been ten, but I could see he was scared and so was I . . . Could you tell if she died from the fall or if he killed her? Will you be able to give me an answer? I mean yeah, she could have died from the fall and he panicked . . . Do you really believe that? Can you prove how she died?"
"Yes, of course, Booth. You know I can." Brennan was the best in the world when it came to forensic anthropology and she knew she would find out how their victim had died. "I'm the best in my field, you know that. I will find out what happened to our victim and I will verify who she is. If you give me the time I need, I will be able to give you firm, honest answers to your questions."
Slowly, Booth nodded his head and realized that he did need to give Brennan time. She was good, but it was a long process and he trusted her to find out what had happened to his mother. Standing, he took her hands in his hands and pulled Brennan to her feet. "It's getting dark, let's go inside."
As she followed Booth into the house, Brennan knew that she would have to have to find out what had happened to the victim as soon as possible. If she really was Booth's mother then he would be devastated, but he needed answers. When she could give them to him, she hoped that he would accept the answers and move on like she had. She just hoped he could handle the pressure. He was strong, but everyone had limits. Everyone.
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