Oh dear lord, can you guys EVER forgive me for leaving you hanging this long? So many of you wrote me the kindest emails and left the most supportive reviews and I was a big coward because I couldn't write you back and say that I was suffering from massive, massive writer's block. It truly was cowardly of me and... well, I just kept saying I'll start the chapter tomorrow, I'll write back to them tomorrow, and... honestly, I have no recourse but to offer my sincerest apologies. Tonight's Bones episode truly entertained me, even as it made my heart hurt like crazy at the end. I know people have been disappointed with the season so far, but I've been pleased and this episode really did it for me. It helped push me back into being able to write again and I've been working on this since the end of the episode, trying to write these guys out of the harsh conundrum I've left them in! Anyway, here's chapter 15, please find it in your hearts to forgive me for my severe lack of updates. The story is nearing the close and thankfully, I get to solve a lot of problems in this chapter, leaving the rest free for my favorite parts-resolution, redemption and SMUT.

Chapter 15

When Booth woke, it wasn't from pain. Cracking an accusing eye open, he winced as his pupils contracted with a sharp zing at the light. That god damn beeping noise was driving him insane.

His hazy gaze grew a little sharper, and he chanced opening his other eye. The beeping noise that was so casually driving him nuts was right next to his ear. Blasted heart monitor. Clearly his heart was still beating. Was the constant beeping necessary?

As his memory returned in a rush, Booth's breath hitched. Brennan-She had to be okay. God, she had to be.

He heard a noise on his other side and he relaxed. She was here. Everything was alright.

"Brennan," he said softly, his throat dry and his lips chapped. He turned his head, anxious for her cooling touch on his face.

When he saw who was sitting in the chair next to his bed, he stiffened, his racing heart beat distressing the god damn machine.

"Russ," Booth tried his voice, but it almost too hoarse to speak. Frustrated, he eyed the ice chips in a plastic cup near the bed. Russ saw where his gaze had landed and rolled his eyes, reaching for the glass.

"Hell no," Booth ground out as Russ held the chip near his lips.

"Tough," Russ said, dropping the chip into Booth's protesting mouth. Glaring mutinously at each other, Booth reluctantly let Russ help him sip after Russ batted away his clumsy arm.

When Booth finally felt like his throat was coated enough to speak, he grabbed Russ' sleeve with his uninjured hand. "What's happened? Where are Brennan and Jared? They're okay?"

"They're both fine."

"Then why are you here?" Booth asked, suspiciously. He tried to move his shoulder and bit back an obscenity when the dull pain turned sharp and biting.

"At Tempe's request," Russ sighed, placing a surprisingly gentle hand on Booth's uninjured shoulder. "Relax man, everyone's safe. You did a good job."

Booth cocked an eyebrow at the man, but eventually gave him slow grin. "Yeah? Bren's with Jared?"

Russ nodded. "I think she's trying to get him discharged, but they're putting up a fight. They need signatures from a guardian, but Tempe won't let them come in and bother you. I already told Tempe both Jared and she could stay at my place while we wait a few days for you to be discharged."

Booth's expression froze into one of horror, and Russ instinctively responded, tensing and eyes scanning the room. "What's wrong?" Russ growled, trying to survey for any hidden danger.

Booth's eyes slid shut as he slumped back against the pillow. "Shit."

Booth could feel Russ' gaze on him, and he finally cracked open an eye, giving him a glare. "You're law enforcement, so I suggest you leave right now."

Russ cocked his head, one eyebrow dipping down in confusion, but Booth was already trying to pull the various tubes and wires out of his body. Grabbing him with both hands, Russ restrained the bigger man.

"What the hell are you doing? And what do you mean 'you're law enforcement?'"

Giving Russ a cold stare meant to intimidate him enough to release his grip, Booth struggled against his restraining hands. "I need to get my brother and go."

"There are just some forms to sign, what's the big deal?"

Realizing the futility of struggling in his weakened condition, Booth weighed his options. None of them looked good. He was going to have to try and reason with Brennan's brother. "My father is Jared's legal guardian, Russ," Booth said. "And my mother is dead."

"Your father stabbed you with a knife. I know I'm FBI and I don't have jurisdiction here, but I'm going to call in some contacts to get him taken into custody."

"You won't find him," Booth said forcefully. "He's a master at disappearing. If he doesn't want to be found, you won't fucking find him. And until he signs guardianship over to me, they're going to take my brother away and I will not allow that to happen. So you can either help me out of here, or I swear to god, I'll find some way to incapacitate you and it will be painful."

"What do you think you can do? Just grab him and waltz out of here? You'll be breaking the law." Russ' voice lowered menacingly. "And if you break the law, you'll break my sister's heart and I won't let that happen."

"She's better off without me," Booth said dully, staring out the window as he tried to figure out how he was going to find the strength to stand and escape with Jared. He didn't care if it nearly killed him, but he was getting his brother out without involving child services. He'd gotten this far in his life without them, he'd damn well finish raising his brother in peace.

"Listen, punk-ass," Russ suddenly said, pushing down hard enough on Booth's battered body to cause him to wince. "You stay, you hear me? Stay."

With that, Jared jabbed the nurse button, ensuring a watchdog over Booth as he stormed out of the room.

"God damn," Booth shouted as loud as his hoarse throat would allow him. The nurse who came rushing in took a step backwards at the cold force of his glare. He tried too late to switch on the charm; the woman had called in reinforcements.

The nurse came to his side and upped the dose of medicine dripping into his arm, despite Booth's best attempt to dodge her. As the medicine did its job, the throbbing pain in his shoulder ebbed along with his racing thoughts and he slipped into blissful, if reluctant darkness.

And then he was awake again, the confining and scratchy hospital sheets gone. He was in a room—his room—but it was light and airy. Sunlight streamed in from the windows, painting his bottle green sheets golden, like light dappling the leaves.

And then, soft, so soft, the skin rubbing his. He breathed in her scent, and when he opened his eyes again, she was on the bed in front of him.

Brennan. He whispered the name like a prayer, and she responded by pulling his face toward her, his stubble rasping across the tender skin of her cheek. His lips sought hers and they were kissing, her hands smoothing down the sun-warmed planes of his naked back. Wind from the open window ruffled his hair, and he pulled back to see her blue eyes scanning his face. Her lips were pink and swollen from his kisses, and he wondered why they were outside, on a bed of leaves the same color of his bedspread.

A moment later, after he pulled back enough to see the rosy tips of her breasts, he forgot to be surprised. She was beautiful, her hair spilling out onto the leaves and her brow furrowed with hesitant passion. All that creamy skin called to him, so he lowered his head to suckle at her, closing his eyes in pleasure at the helpless cry she let out.

"Brennan, baby," he murmured against her skin, moving from her breasts to her trim stomach. He placed a line of gentle, open mouthed kisses down to her belly button. Trembling fingers tugged at his hair, and he could hear her breath start to hitch.

The muscles in her stomach tensed with every ragged breath, and he exhaled sharply at the sight of her, naked from the waist up.

"I'm going to eat you up, Bones," he muttered under his breath, hardly able to control the lust lacing his veins. He could feel himself, hard and aching against the sheets—the leaves.

Where was he again?

No, that didn't matter. He just wanted to continue his pleasurable trip down her body. Oh God, he was almost there.

"Booth," he heard her cry out his name as his tongue dipped along the crease of her thigh. He ran his hand absently down her long legs, feeling silky smooth skin rush across the calluses on his palms. Smooth… so smooth. Her legs tensed with his tickling caresses and her voice was honeyed as she let out a long sigh and his name as a prayer.

He moved up her body, running his nose along the sun warmed skin, stopping to kiss the spray of pale freckles barely visible near her collar. He reached his hand down to pull down her pale panties, letting out a harsh groan at the sight. She pulled him down forcefully on top of her, unwilling to let him torture them any longer.

Booth was at her entrance, staring intently into her blue eyes as he gently nudged her swollen flesh.

Suddenly he was inside her, and he couldn't think anymore. Except, this was wrong.

Wrong? How could being inside the girl of his dreams be wrong?

An uneasy feeling coiled in the pit of his stomach, and he thrust harder, trying to turn his disquiet into pleasure. Booth's eyes had been squeezed shut, but he opened them in a rush at Brennan's gasp.

"Bren," he gasped, unable to stop the jerking movement of his hips. "Honey, what's wrong?"

"Hurts, Booth. It hurts."

Jerking back in horror, Booth saw that her face was no longer screwed up in pleasure. She looked panicked, and he could see fear in her gaze.

"Booth, you're hurting me," she cried, trying to push him away.

No. No! Booth tried to pull away, to pull out of her, but his body refused to listen. His hips pistoned in and out, shamefully taking his own pleasure. He watched tears streak down her face and he could feel his own face heated with anger and helplessness.

Dear God, please no. Please, he couldn't bear this. He could stand anything but this. He jerked his shoulders back, trying to pull himself away from her, but even as he tried to move away, he found himself frozen. She bit into his shoulder and the pain was excruciating.

He could feel the stitches tear and blood soak his skin.

"Bones. Bones!"

His eyes wrenched open and his wild gaze took in the hospital room. Scalding tears were drying on his cheeks, and where the hell was Bones?

Letting out a shuddering breath, Booth took in the placid, generic room, trying to calm his galloping heart. He felt achy and sweaty, guilt ripping through his chest in a blinding rush of pain.

Be my first and make love to me. I know Jared's here, so not now, but… soon, Booth.

Christ. He didn't think he could do this. Making love with Brennan. He was too big, too rough, and she was everything good and sweet and smart. And Jared.

Booth's drug hazed mind froze at the thought, as a hazy conversation with Russ Brennan began to return to his conscious. The dark knot of stress in his stomach tightened at the memory.

He didn't need to worry about making love with Brennan if he couldn't find a way to keep Jared in his custody.

Booth craned his neck, startled at the blood staining his bare chest. He had torn his stitches in his thrashing, he thought idly. He dropped his head back on the pillow, feeling as if it weighed a thousand pounds.

The door opened then, and he barely had time to blink before a small, dark blur was at his side, clutching his bicep with two little hands.

"Seeley! Seeley! I was so scared you were hurt bad when they didn't let me come see you," Jared said, unconsciously digging his blunt nails into Booth's skin as he ran worried eyes over his big brother's tired face.

"You're bleeding, Seel," Jared said, gently trying to wipe away the trickle of dark blood that had started slipping down his chest. It smeared into a stream of bright red, and Jared's eyes widened in horror.

"Bud, Bud, it's fine," Booth tried to laugh, but he felt sick as he looked at his brother's bruised face. He lifted a heavy hand on Jared's chin to gently tilt his face to the side. "Look at that shiner you've got there. I'm more worried about you."

Jared scoffed. "I'm fine. Bones is fine. That stupid, scary boy is in jail, Bones told me."

At the mention of Duranceau, Booth felt his face darken with anger, even as he tried to mask his outright hatred.

"He didn't hurt us, okay Seel? We hurt him a whole lot more. Brennan already gave me the talk about it."

Jared looked less than pleased at this.

For the first time since he'd woken up in a panic, Booth felt the corner of his mouth tug up in a reluctant smile. "The talk?"

"Yes. The talk. About how that boy was cruel and mean spirited. And how he was real jealous of you, Seeley, because you're big and strong, and on account of how much Bones likes you."

Booth could feel his eyebrows near his hairline as his brother continued to recite the pearls of wisdom he'd gleaned from his conversation with Brennan.

"She said that some people have some inbalances of hypi… hippo…hypo…. hyposomething in their brains which makes them act in ways that good people like you and me can't understand."

Touched that his squinty, beautiful girl could try and find some sort of explanation for the evil that had touched Jared's life, Booth nevertheless reached out a hand and pulled Jared closer to him.

"Look Bud, you know Bones is right. Heaven only knows how many bajillion brain cells she's got bouncing around up in that pretty head of hers, but listen to me, okay? There are just some people who do evil, cruel things, and it's up to good people like you, people with strong hearts and a lot of courage to stand up to them. You did that, Jare. You really did," Booth swallowed hard. "You have to remember to keep praying that you can always be a strong man, and you need to pray for the people who are weaker than you, okay? Even the people who do these evil things."

Jared took in his words and nodded, and then changed the subject, his face growing more pale at his next sentence. "Dad, Dad was the one who did this to you?"

Booth closed his eyes at the hurt he saw in his brother's face. "It was an accident, Jared. He really didn't mean to hurt me like this."

But the fucking bastard did mean to steal our mother's ring. Hard as he might try, he was having a hard time aligning his preaching about forgiveness with his hatred toward his father and Duranceau.

Jared's eyes clouded and then he gave his brother a comforting pat on his uninjured shoulder. "Bones' brother, you know, Russ?" When Booth nodded, Jared continued, sadness painted onto his elfin features. "A few hours ago he started making a bunch of phone calls, you know, having some policemen come over to our place to lock it up and look for clues and stuff. Like in Scooby Doo, right?"

"Right, Bud," Booth said, his mind starting to whirr again with all of his responsibilities. Christ. They'd need a new place. He wasn't going to keep Jared in that den of tragic memories one second longer.

"But listen, Seeley," Jared's voice cracked, and he started crying, the pain and stress finally wearing him down. Booth immediately sat up, ignoring the pain and reaching out to envelope his brother in a hug.

"Shh… Jared. No tears, we're going to be just fine, you and me."

"No, Seeley," Jared spoke between gasps, his sobs subsiding a little as he tried to get his important message out. "Dad's in jail, okay? That's what I was trying to tell you. Russ was telling Bones that Dad called the police and turned himself in."

What?

"What?" Booth asked, pulling back to arms length, shock blanking his features.

"Yeah. Jail. You think it was just the hypowhatever Bones was talking about? That made him a bad person?"

Still reeling, Booth tried to focus on his brother.

The papers. He could force his father to sign the papers to let him take over raising Jared.

"Uh…"

"But I should pray for him, right? Like you said. Pray for the people who are weaker. That the bad people might turn good."

When he heard his brother regurgitating the science from Bones and the religion from himself, Booth's mind cleared enough to wholly focus on Jared. The kid was a miracle, still normal and sound after a life that had been way too brutal for someone his age.

Jesus, what would he do without Jared?

If he'd have only had to look out for himself, Booth knew he would have been gone the minute his father had walked out and he could practically see how his life might have been—drinking too young, working too much, probably gambling his money away as quickly as he made it.

The kid had saved him from himself.

He could force his father to sign the papers.

Letting out a gusty sigh, Booth leaned back, the knot that had been pulling tighter and tighter in his stomach relenting slightly.

"Booth."

The name came from the open doorway, and his breath caught in his throat.

Bones was standing there, looking tired and worn, but still so beautiful it made his heart hurt. He'd forgotten. How had he forgotten how beautiful she was?

"Booth," she repeated, looking a little lost in the doorway.

Jared scrambled out from under Booth's arm and ran to the door, pulling her toward the hospital bed. Booth held out his hand wordlessly, unable to keep his gaze from skimming her face, desperate to know how deeply Duranceau had hurt her.

Brennan reached out her hand to tentatively touch his fingers and the minute the pads of their fingertips brushed, Booth let out a soft groan and pulled her to him, wrapping his good arm tightly around her shoulder.

Conscious of Jared's curiously examining the room beside them, Booth turned his face into her neck, whispering so softly Brennan could hardly hear him herself. She was alarmed to find tears sliding down her cheeks and splashing onto his neck, but it only made him pull her closer to him.

"Bones, this mess. I was so worried—Christ, when I walked in there and saw that blood…" his sentences were harsh and fragmented as the worry and fear caught up with him.

"Everyone's safe, Booth. Just let me take care of you for once."

"Not possible, Bones. I'm a very bad patient." His words made her laugh a little into his chest, and it made his ribcage contract as his worries melted under her shimmering presence.

"Clearly you're a bad patient: you've torn your stitches. I'm going to have to call the nurse back." At Booth's groan of dismay, Brennan shook her head and leaned in close. "Safe, Booth. We're safe. Now rest, okay? You need it."

If she said it to him enough, he might start believing it.

As Booth closed his eyes in fatigue, he breathed in her scent and tried to focus on her gentle words to him.

Safe. They were all safe.

It was that thought that sent him back to sleep, no nightmares disturbing his rest.

I know, I know. Bones wasn't in this until the very end. I was having a devil of a time trying to get her into the room, but Russ and Jared kept getting in the way. Never fear, friends. Bones and Booth will be back in action in chapter 16. I really disliked having Booth in the hospital. He's hard to write when he can't pace around and be proactive.