Booth woke up to warmth surrounding him. He relished in the feeling as he slowly opened his eyes. It wasn't until his gaze focused that he realized Bones had tangled herself around him at some point during the night.
It was much different than how he had woken up after their first night together. He was incredibly excited when he opened his eyes after their passionate romp only to find the sheets cold and empty. He searched the bedside table for a note, checked the bathroom and kitchen, but instead found an empty apartment. He spent the rest of the day in bed with a hangover and a resolve to become a better man. That night with Brennan meant something to him, but he had feared when he woke up alone that it didn't happen or it meant nothing to her.
Now he laid there, gently stroking her back as she was wrapped around his torso, her head against his chest. Her auburn hair splayed against his cotton t-shirt. He looked over and saw Ruth begin to stir, her little arms stretching over her head. He wanted to shush her back to sleep so he could have a couple more peaceful minutes with her mother, but he knew it was for naught when she made eye contact with him and a large grin spread across her face.
As gently and quietly as possible, he separated himself from Brennan and walked over to Ruth. She reached out for him and he sent up a prayer that this could be an everyday occurrence. To wake up with Brennan in his arms and his daughter awaiting his loving embrace.
-BB-
It was about 30 minutes before Brennan woke up. The sound of Ruth and Booth in the kitchen, clanging at pots and pans stirred her awake as she tried to recall her surroundings. Slowly remembering that there was an incident the night before, she slunk out of Booth's bed and slid on a pair of jeans. Throwing her hair into a messy bun she walked out into Booth's living room. She was met with Booth's bare torso and their daughter's happy morning ramblings.
"Mama!" She exclaimed as she ran toward Brennan, who crouched to pick up the little girl, who was holding pieces of a muffin and had crumbs all over her face.
"I tried to keep her as clean as possible." Booth said sheepishly, a blush splotching his cheeks, which only caused Brennan to feel a little weak in the knees.
"That's okay. She's going to get messy." Brennan replied, to which Ruth shook her head.
"I not messy." She interjected and Booth laughed.
"You most certainly are, little missy." He bopped her on the nose and looked at Brennan. "Uhm, heading out already?" He asked as he pointed toward her outfit and she shook her head.
"Oh, I just didn't want to bother you, I didn't know your plans." She responded and he chuckled.
"Nonsense. Plus, I want you to stay for the weekend, at least."
"Booth, they arrested the guy." She sighed and he looked at her, his eyes pleading.
"Bones, he almost broke into your home. You were alone, even with the cameras, we don't know what this guy is capable of or how long they'll hold him. Just humor me."
"Baba, muffin gone." Ruth said before Brennan could reply and Booth laughed, grabbing the little girl out of her mother's grasp.
"I think Ruth has made her decision." He winked and then leaned in, whispering in Brennan's ear. "Just give it a thought." He then turned back toward the kitchen with Ruth on his hip and Brennan couldn't help the arousal that traveled southbound.
-BB-
The partners made their way to work with a bouncing toddler in the backseat.
"Ruth, calm down." Brennan scolded, while Booth chuckled. Her legs swung as she looked out the window and watched the cars fly by. "Are you excited for daycare?"
"We go park." Ruth responded with a smile and Brennan grinned.
"Yea, it's a beautiful day. Just no eating the dirt. I don't want Ms. Peggy calling me about that." She told their daughter, who only giggled and continued to look out the window. Booth couldn't help but enjoy the domestic bliss they were living in. "Oh and Caroline emailed me, they are going to hold a bail hearing on the guy who tried to break in at 2 pm today, so I'll go to the courthouse." Booth nodded.
"I'll go too since I was a witness from the cameras." He responded and continued to watch the roads. They pulled in front of the Jeffersonian and he jumped out of the car and unbuckled Ruth from her carseat. She squirmed in his arms before he had the chance to kiss her cheek.
"Jeez, I couldn't even say goodbye." He pouted and Brennan chuckled.
"She's very excited about daycare. Hey, Ruth?" Their daughter turned around, her big blue eyes looked up at them and Booth's heart melted. "Can you say goodbye to your dad?" She ran back to him and threw herself at his legs. He crouched down and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"I love you, baby girl." He whispered and she smiled at him before turning around and running back toward the building.
"I'll see you at 2, I gotta go before she runs somewhere she shouldn't." Brennan mumbled and gave a small wave before turning and walking after Ruth.
-BB-
The bond hearing came quickly, but Brennan didn't realize just how nervous she was until she was standing outside the courthouse. Booth pulled up and parked his car. He saw Brennan wringing her hands as she sat on a bench outside the courthouse.
"Hey, Bones." He called out as she looked up from her daze. She tried her best to muster up a grin and a wave.
"I spoke with Caroline before she walked in, she told me that you should speak with her about some evidence that they found, uhm I guess it doesn't have to do with me being a writer." Brennan went into her explanation and Booth's brow furrowed.
"I wonder why Caroline didn't call me, well come on." He placed a hand on Brennan's lower back and tried to give her an encouraging smile. "I'm sure everything's fine, Bones."
"What if it's because of my work with the FBI?" She asked and he felt his heart stall. They would stop their partnership, he knew that was the best solution, if that was the case, but he hated the idea of someone trying to come in between his family.
"Let's talk to Caroline first before we make any assumptions, Bones." He murmured and they walked into a little room meant for the federal prosecutor. Caroline sat with her files and a cup of coffee.
"Good afternoon, cher. I'm glad your lady scientist got to you. This is an interesting one. You two are going to want to sit." Brennan gave a worried glance at Booth before sitting, but Booth remained standing behind Brennan's chair in a protective stance.
"What's this about, Caroline?" He was beginning to get agitated. "Isn't this some stalker type because Bones is a writer?"
"Not quite. I talked to his attorney, who let me just tell you, is not good at his job. Gave me this folder." She then slid a manila folder toward the duo. "He's a hired guy, supposedly works for someone that you're connected to from back in the day, or someone you put away, and he found out you got a family." Brennan had taken out a pair of latex gloves and began sifting through the images. Booth's jaw clenched and his blood ran cold.
Brennan was in the photos, but it was mainly of Ruth. Her smiling face front and center. Her bright eyes and shining gaze. Pictures of them at the park, in the grocery store, walking in and out of the Hoover building, the Jeffersonian, both of their apartment complexes. Brennan looked up at Booth, who was clenching his fists.
"He was sent to scare them?" Booth asked, hoping that he wasn't being naive. Caroline shook her head.
"Cher, he was sent to send a message to you."
"Did he say who sent him?" Booth felt his throat go dry as Brennan continued to sift through the photos. There were more of Brennan, pictures from outside her apartment. She was in sweats, watching a baby monitor, sipping a glass of wine. She was being stalked like prey. She was a target too.
"He wants to cut a deal. Part of his deal is withholding that information until he knows that you are willing to cooperate." Caroline replied and Booth blanched.
"We aren't promising he can walk. What if he's lying? Getting us to agree to no time for a name and then he flees?" Booth exclaimed and Brennan placed a gentle hand on Booth's closed fist. He felt their connection, but it didn't help his uneasiness.
"Booth, we might have to play into his game." Brennan responded. "If he knows something, we need to protect Ruth." She continued. Booth finally looked away from Caroline to stare directly into Brennan's eyes.
"I can protect Ruth. I can protect both of you." He promised, but Brennan's gaze didn't soften. Her walls were up. She was protecting herself and her daughter. He knew he shouldn't be hurt, he had invited this pain into their lives, someone was targeting them, she had just found out. But he was scared he was losing them. "Temperance, I will protect you." He rarely used her name, so using it now only solidified his promise to her.
"I believe we need to work with his demands to make sure that he gives us the name of who he's working for." Brennan responded, tearing her eyes back to the photos. Their daughter's face scattered amongst the stainless steel table.
"Fine. We will do this his way. But I want to go with you, Caroline." Booth responded. "Bones stays here." He added and Brennan for once nodded. She knew he needed to face this person and inserting herself in this could only add to the emotional turmoil he was experiencing. She gathered the photos and handed them back to Caroline, who stood up from the table.
"If it's okay with you two, I am going to go back to the Jeffersonian. I'm guessing I will not be needed for any testimony." Brennan stated, staring at her hands in her lap.
"I don't see why you would need to sit alone in a room, while Booth tries to murder a man in handcuffs." Caroline spoke to Brennan and looked over at Booth. Brennan shot Booth a look, warning him not to do anything that would get him in trouble before collecting her things to leave.
"Call me afterwards." Brennan's voice was calm, but her eyes showed a different set of worry. Booth could only nod, as if giving an affirmative to his capitan. Caroline collected the folder and led Booth from the room.
Booth saw the man from the videos come into view. He was handcuffed with his eyes looking down at the table. When his attorney greeted Caroline and Booth, he finally looked up, there was a bit of fear in his gaze. The man was gaunt, but from the videos, Booth knew he was tall.
"Ms. Julian, thank you for meeting with us and discussing a deal." His attorney began and Booth clenched his jaw. "I see Agent Booth decided to join you."
"I feel it's only necessary that I be here since this man is stalking my family allegedly for another person." Booth muttered. The attorney only nodded.
"I was just taking orders, man." The guy spoke up and his attorney quickly shushed him. Booth could tell from looking at him that he was being sincere. He also didn't recognize him from his past as a Ranger or in the FBI. Booth gave a quick nod and looked at Caroline.
"Okay, let's make a deal. We will only go after the attempted break-in and trespass, we will not bring in any of the stalking or if Mr. Monroe tells us of any attempts on Dr. Brennan's or Ms. Brennan's life." Caroline began her spiel and Booth felt his blood run cold once more. He understood that they would have to give up charges to get this guy to talk, but the idea that he could admit to attempting to murdering his daughter would amount to nothing made Booth want to lose his mind.
"We are okay with that." Mr. Monroe's attorney replied.
"In exchange, we are requesting all information Mr. Monroe has on the people or entities that hired him for this work and what exactly he was hired to do." Caroline continued. Mr. Monroe's attorney looked at his client as if asking for permission before nodding his approval. Monroe looked at the table, then at the attorneys, before finally looking at Booth.
"So I've been in and out of prison since I was a teen. I do the odd job here and there, but for the most part it's just cash, under the table stuff. Last time I'm locked up, I get approached by a guy around the time I'm set to get released. He tells me that you had set him up to get caught, some real piece of shit you know? Planted evidence, paid off witnesses, the whole nine." Monroe exhaled and Booth gave him a skeptical look.
He immediately began noting various information he would need to corroborate, where this guy was imprisoned, whether he had anyone locked away at the same time, whether they were in the same cellblock. It was common for inmates to believe that they were wrongfully convicted, especially narcissists, they believed that they were too smart to get caught, so when they did, it was always by means of the feds paying off the system.
"Do you know the name of this guy?" Booth asked and Monroe shook his head.
"I don't know the guy's legal name. He went by Viking." Booth went through his mental rolodex, but came up with nothing.
"What did he look like?"
"Uhm, long blonde hair, beard, like a viking?" The guy chuckled and then stopped when Booth's glare became deadly.
"What made you take him up on the offer?"
"He offered half a million dollars. I knew that it was fucked up that he wanted me to go after a little girl, but I, man, you don't understand what that money would mean for me."
"She's not even two years old." Booth growled and he watched the color leave the man's face.
"I know she's just a baby. I thought I would be able to go back to Viking, show him that she was just a kid, maybe show him pictures of the lady, get him to ya know, change targets." This made Booth's head spin. Monroe was going to negotiate who to kill. Ruth or Brennan.
"What was the plan yesterday?" Booth gritted his teeth.
"Well Viking needed me to get closer to both targets, he thought that maybe I could get some information out of them. Scare them into leaving the area and that way it would upset you, break you." He muttered. This guy was trying to get Brennan to flee with Ruth, which he knew she would have, and then he would be without his family.
"How long has Viking known about my daughter?" Booth asked.
"As long as she's been around." Monroe shrugged. This made Booth's entire body freeze. A guy he had put away knew about Ruth before he even knew about her. How? He thought to himself as he tried to steel his expression, but found himself losing control. He wanted to beat this man.
"Is Viking still in prison?"
"He just got out." Monroe responded. "I wasn't able to get through to him before I got to uhm … I forgot the lady's name, but her apartment."
"Did Viking know where she lived?"
"Oh yea, said she was some hot shot author, read her books, showed me her picture, hot shot is right." Monroe wiggled his brows and Booth smacked the tabletop, causing the suspect to jump. "Sorry, man, I just, I make jokes when I'm nervous. Some mechanism or whatever."
"That's the mother of my child." He muttered in response and Monroe nodded. "So Viking gave you all of the information?"
"Yea, told me that a couple other guys failed before, said that they either chickened out when they realized it was a little girl or they got caught. Lady is hyper vigilant." He muttered more to himself and Booth felt his chest puff up in pride, but then he realized that the previous stalkers and attempted break-ins weren't crazed fans, they were all because of him.
"Well we will know where to find you for further questioning, the moment you start not cooperating with us, the deal is off and I hit you with every charge in the book. A jury won't like you attempting to hurt a toddler and her mother." Booth seethed and Monroe's eyes grew large.
"He can't do that, can he?" The criminal asked his attorney, but the attorney nodded.
"They can if you stop cooperating. That's part of the deal. They can continue to ask questions as they deem fit. They might ask you to even be a witness against Viking, when that time comes." The attorney shrugged and Monroe shook his head.
"No, no, man, that guy will kill me!" He exclaimed.
"Do you know what they'll do to you in prison when you get convicted of attempted murder of a child? Prisoners don't take kindly to those types of crimes, it's one of their strongest codes of conduct." Booth then stood up and left the room. He needed his daughter, he needed Brennan, he couldn't fucking breathe.
As he drove to the Jeffersonian he replayed the conversation. Questions filtered through his head. Who was Viking? How did he know about Ruth? How did he know since the beginning? How long had he been watching? He knew that Viking had to be a hardened criminal, one that took no mercy, probably from Booth's earlier days in mob or gang related crimes. He had worked to infiltrate. He had even gone undercover in the months while Brennan was pregnant. Could it have been one of those arrests? He wondered as he parked his car. He made his way into the lab, swiping his access card and making his way to Brennan's office. He saw his daughter's curly blonde hair bouncing toward him.
"Baba!" She bellowed, her eyes shining and her voice full of life. He felt his knees buckling. He couldn't lose her. He couldn't lose either of them. Kneeling to her level, he hugged her tight. "Baba, color!" She held up a paper, but Booth just buried his face in her tiny shoulder. He felt his body shudder with a small sob. He almost lost them, even before he knew she existed, he almost lost her. He felt the tears fall down his cheeks and before he could hide them from her, he felt those tiny little hands. "Baba sad?" Ruth's little voice filled with concern, her eyes looked at him with wonder.
"I just needed a hug from my favorite little girl." He whispered, his voice hoarse. Brennan stood in the doorway of her office. She watched the interaction of a father and daughter and knew that this would be a whole new adventure for the trio. She could see that Booth was squaring up for a fight, but little did he know, she was already preparing. No one would hurt her little girl. Even if that meant having to leave him behind.