Recipe For Disaster (Chapter 2)
[mood| 
happy]
[music| Antiques Roadshow (Nan's watching it)]
Got this back from my betas today, so first off; Thank you Angela and Annette.
I should probably mention that this was intended to be a brief chapter about Brennan having a nightmare and then moving on to the airport. Unfortunately I got a little distracted.
I'd love to know what you think.
Title: Recipe for Disaster
Auther: Purerose
Spoilers: Well, I've spoiled myself (being in the UK and reading bits of the scripts as it's aired in America), but I'm guessing this is set sort of AU after the first series.
There was something dark and heavy over her head. It smelt damp. Someone was leaning on her legs and her hands were in an awkward position behind her back. She could taste something metallic and dirty in her mouth. Some sort of rag.
She spat it out and started yelling for help. The thing that was covering her was pulled back…
“Temperance. Temperance. Wake up. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here.”
Booth was looking down at her, a worried expression on his face. Her chest felt tight and she could feel her clothes clinging to her. She pulled herself up the small bed and he sat down where her knees had been.
“You had a nightmare.” She didn’t say anything so Booth tried again. “Angela said you’d had them. You told her they’d stopped.”
“They did.” She mumbled. That was the truth, they had almost stopped. She barely slept and she had next to no nightmares. Angela didn’t hear her friend crying out in her sleep anymore, so she guessed that Brennan was telling the truth.
“You want something? A glass of water?” He asked smoothing down her bed sheets a little. He wanted to touch her and soothe her but he was scared that the contact might frighten her. Just seeing her like this scared him. She was normally so tough, so composed, if a little odd at times.
“I’m just going to take a shower.” She said at last and slipped out of bed.
When she had gone Booth checked the time; it was a little after five. There wasn’t any point in trying to get back to sleep. Brennan wouldn’t be sleeping, he’d just be worrying about her.
Without thinking he wandered into the lounge and grabbed his cell phone. He flicked through his phone book until he came to Angela’s number.
“Hello?” Came the sleepy sounding voice at the end of the line after what seemed like an age of ringing.
“Angela. It’s Booth. I -” He began, but the woman on the other end of the line cut him off.
“Booth? Why are you calling me at…” She paused for a moment, evidently checking the time. “Five! Five in the morning!”
Booth found himself actually holding the phone a little way from his ear. “It’s Brennan.”
These two words were enough to calm Angela down. “What’s wrong? Where is she?”
“I brought her to my place. She had a nightmare. A bad one I think. She was thrashing around like the cover was trying to attack her. I thought you said she’d stopped having them.” He realised as he paused for breath that his voice was a little louder and its tone rather more accusatory than it needed to be.
“She told me she had. And she wasn’t waking me up with the yelling anymore so I just guessed she was telling the truth.” Angela paused, apparently thinking. “Perhaps it’s because she’d in unfamiliar surroundings. Perhaps it just brought back memories. I don’t -” She tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a yawn.
Booth felt guilty. There was no reason to suspect Angela of keeping things from him. Temperance was her best friend, she wouldn’t say or do anything to hurt her. “Do you think I should try talking to her?”
“When she’d done in the shower she’ll get herself a… a -” Angela yawned again. “A glass of water. Then she’ll sit down, wrap herself up like she’s cold and grab a book or something. That’s when you talk to her.”
Booth wondered for a moment how Angela knew that Brennan was in the shower. This thought quickly replaced by another; how many times had she sat through this in the past two weeks?
“What do I say?”
“You’re the expert at questioning people. Be gentle, don’t push her for information. Sometimes it’s best not to say anything. She might fall asleep if you just leave her to relax a little.”
A noise down the hallway caught his attention. “I think I can hear her now. Thanks Angela. Sorry for waking you.”
He heard a sigh at the other end of the line. “You’re welcome Booth, any time.” There was a click and then he closed his phone, hiding it behind his back so she wouldn’t guess that he’d been talking about her.
Just as Angela had predicted, Temperance headed straight to the kitchen. Booth abandoned his phone on a bookcase and followed her in.
She was standing in the kitchen staring at the cupboards. She felt totally overwhelmed and exhausted. Right now she felt that she might collapse if she tried to move.
“Brennan?” She didn’t turn around. “Temperance?” He tried again. He saw her body stiffen as though she was preparing to protect herself from whatever he had to say. He decided to try a different approach. “Here, I’ll get you a glass of water.”
She watched without seeing him as he selected a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. Then he carried it straight past her and set it down on the bedside table in the spare room.
Temperance remained where she was for a minute and then followed him.
Although she still felt tired and tense she was beginning to feel a little more like herself. It was as though daylight made her human, although it didn’t get rid of the memories. The dream wasn’t fading, if she closed her eyes she could still see it, smell it, taste it, but it had retreated a little. Now she could return to her pretence that everything was okay.
In the bedroom Booth was sitting on her bed, his back against the wall. He looked up and flashed her a smile.
For a moment she paused to wonder where to sit. It was a single bed, in the corner of the room, tight against the wall. Booth was sitting across the bed on top of the cover. It was only now that Brennan noticed he was topless. Normally this would have confused her, but all she wanted now was to rest and to forget.
He pulled the cover back a way indicating that she should sit beside him.
She did, grabbing her glass of water as she got in. She sat at a slight distance from him, glad for the quilt separating them.
“Okay, so what’s the plan for today?”
That caught her off guard. She was expecting some sort of inquisition or for him to get mad.
She gave him a small smile and that was all he needed to know that he had asked the right question. “We need to be at the airport to check in at six. I don’t want to get caught in traffic and we have to pick up Zack. So if we leave here at…” She wondered out loud.
He nodded and listened as she spoke. Somehow she seemed more like the regular Temperance Brennan now. After a while she stopped talking and they sat in a semi-comfortable silence. She closed her eyes and just sat there, listening to her breathing and ignoring the aching and sore patches on her body.
In fact, she was comfortable and warm. Relaxed even… more relaxed than she had recently anyway. She could drift off again, right now, with him beside her…
Temperance forced her eyes open. One bad dream was enough. She wasn’t going to have another if she could avoid it.
“Are you alright?” Booth was sitting forward now, surveying her with a concerned look. Apparently in her efforts to wake herself up she’d jerked herself forward sharper than she’d intended.
“Fine.” She replied automatically.
“Brennan, about earlier. I know you don’t want to talk about it, and that’s fine I guess… But sooner or later you’re going to have to actually let us in on what’s going on. We’re worried about.”
She was silent for such a long time that Booth didn’t think he was going to get a response from her. Then she spoke. “I was scared.”
For a moment he thought he’d imagined it. She’d been so quiet, but she turned her head to face him and he knew it wasn’t all in his mind. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t rescue you.” He’d felt so guilty through the whole affair. When she needed him most, he’d been useless.
“You couldn’t have done anything more.” She turned to face him. The frustration in his eyes was so clear that even she could see it.
“I should have tried.” Every muscle in his body seemed to be clenched.
“You were there afterwards.” She reminded him, hugging her knees as she remembered that day.
She’d tried to keep track of the days, but it was near impossible. There was one tiny window near the ceiling and that let very little light in.
It was always dark in that room.
At first she’d fought them. After that they’d used a strong chain that bit into her wrist. It was fastened to a pipe that ran along the wall. She learned early on that the way to get what she wanted from these people was to bang the pipes with the chain.
They must have been scared that someone would hear the noise.
At first is didn’t bother them much, but it wasn’t long before she could do this and get food or a trip to the bathroom.
They didn’t let her forget who was in charge though.
Some time before that day they’d stopped using the chain. They barely went down to her at all.
She began to wonder if this would be how she’d go. Starving and alone.
The chain was still there though, but she didn’t bang it. She tucked it away in a corner hoping for the right moment.
That day it came.
He was the only one in the building with her. Once she’d got past him she was free. It had been so easy.
She was barely able to clear the street when she collapsed, but it didn’t matter because she’d escaped.
* * *
Okay, so quite angsty, but it gets a little lighter in the next Chapter when Zack appears. Boy is he fun to write.
happy]
[music| Antiques Roadshow (Nan's watching it)]
Got this back from my betas today, so first off; Thank you Angela and Annette.
I should probably mention that this was intended to be a brief chapter about Brennan having a nightmare and then moving on to the airport. Unfortunately I got a little distracted.
I'd love to know what you think.
Title: Recipe for Disaster
Auther: Purerose
Spoilers: Well, I've spoiled myself (being in the UK and reading bits of the scripts as it's aired in America), but I'm guessing this is set sort of AU after the first series.
There was something dark and heavy over her head. It smelt damp. Someone was leaning on her legs and her hands were in an awkward position behind her back. She could taste something metallic and dirty in her mouth. Some sort of rag.
She spat it out and started yelling for help. The thing that was covering her was pulled back…
“Temperance. Temperance. Wake up. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here.”
Booth was looking down at her, a worried expression on his face. Her chest felt tight and she could feel her clothes clinging to her. She pulled herself up the small bed and he sat down where her knees had been.
“You had a nightmare.” She didn’t say anything so Booth tried again. “Angela said you’d had them. You told her they’d stopped.”
“They did.” She mumbled. That was the truth, they had almost stopped. She barely slept and she had next to no nightmares. Angela didn’t hear her friend crying out in her sleep anymore, so she guessed that Brennan was telling the truth.
“You want something? A glass of water?” He asked smoothing down her bed sheets a little. He wanted to touch her and soothe her but he was scared that the contact might frighten her. Just seeing her like this scared him. She was normally so tough, so composed, if a little odd at times.
“I’m just going to take a shower.” She said at last and slipped out of bed.
When she had gone Booth checked the time; it was a little after five. There wasn’t any point in trying to get back to sleep. Brennan wouldn’t be sleeping, he’d just be worrying about her.
Without thinking he wandered into the lounge and grabbed his cell phone. He flicked through his phone book until he came to Angela’s number.
“Hello?” Came the sleepy sounding voice at the end of the line after what seemed like an age of ringing.
“Angela. It’s Booth. I -” He began, but the woman on the other end of the line cut him off.
“Booth? Why are you calling me at…” She paused for a moment, evidently checking the time. “Five! Five in the morning!”
Booth found himself actually holding the phone a little way from his ear. “It’s Brennan.”
These two words were enough to calm Angela down. “What’s wrong? Where is she?”
“I brought her to my place. She had a nightmare. A bad one I think. She was thrashing around like the cover was trying to attack her. I thought you said she’d stopped having them.” He realised as he paused for breath that his voice was a little louder and its tone rather more accusatory than it needed to be.
“She told me she had. And she wasn’t waking me up with the yelling anymore so I just guessed she was telling the truth.” Angela paused, apparently thinking. “Perhaps it’s because she’d in unfamiliar surroundings. Perhaps it just brought back memories. I don’t -” She tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a yawn.
Booth felt guilty. There was no reason to suspect Angela of keeping things from him. Temperance was her best friend, she wouldn’t say or do anything to hurt her. “Do you think I should try talking to her?”
“When she’d done in the shower she’ll get herself a… a -” Angela yawned again. “A glass of water. Then she’ll sit down, wrap herself up like she’s cold and grab a book or something. That’s when you talk to her.”
Booth wondered for a moment how Angela knew that Brennan was in the shower. This thought quickly replaced by another; how many times had she sat through this in the past two weeks?
“What do I say?”
“You’re the expert at questioning people. Be gentle, don’t push her for information. Sometimes it’s best not to say anything. She might fall asleep if you just leave her to relax a little.”
A noise down the hallway caught his attention. “I think I can hear her now. Thanks Angela. Sorry for waking you.”
He heard a sigh at the other end of the line. “You’re welcome Booth, any time.” There was a click and then he closed his phone, hiding it behind his back so she wouldn’t guess that he’d been talking about her.
Just as Angela had predicted, Temperance headed straight to the kitchen. Booth abandoned his phone on a bookcase and followed her in.
She was standing in the kitchen staring at the cupboards. She felt totally overwhelmed and exhausted. Right now she felt that she might collapse if she tried to move.
“Brennan?” She didn’t turn around. “Temperance?” He tried again. He saw her body stiffen as though she was preparing to protect herself from whatever he had to say. He decided to try a different approach. “Here, I’ll get you a glass of water.”
She watched without seeing him as he selected a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. Then he carried it straight past her and set it down on the bedside table in the spare room.
Temperance remained where she was for a minute and then followed him.
Although she still felt tired and tense she was beginning to feel a little more like herself. It was as though daylight made her human, although it didn’t get rid of the memories. The dream wasn’t fading, if she closed her eyes she could still see it, smell it, taste it, but it had retreated a little. Now she could return to her pretence that everything was okay.
In the bedroom Booth was sitting on her bed, his back against the wall. He looked up and flashed her a smile.
For a moment she paused to wonder where to sit. It was a single bed, in the corner of the room, tight against the wall. Booth was sitting across the bed on top of the cover. It was only now that Brennan noticed he was topless. Normally this would have confused her, but all she wanted now was to rest and to forget.
He pulled the cover back a way indicating that she should sit beside him.
She did, grabbing her glass of water as she got in. She sat at a slight distance from him, glad for the quilt separating them.
“Okay, so what’s the plan for today?”
That caught her off guard. She was expecting some sort of inquisition or for him to get mad.
She gave him a small smile and that was all he needed to know that he had asked the right question. “We need to be at the airport to check in at six. I don’t want to get caught in traffic and we have to pick up Zack. So if we leave here at…” She wondered out loud.
He nodded and listened as she spoke. Somehow she seemed more like the regular Temperance Brennan now. After a while she stopped talking and they sat in a semi-comfortable silence. She closed her eyes and just sat there, listening to her breathing and ignoring the aching and sore patches on her body.
In fact, she was comfortable and warm. Relaxed even… more relaxed than she had recently anyway. She could drift off again, right now, with him beside her…
Temperance forced her eyes open. One bad dream was enough. She wasn’t going to have another if she could avoid it.
“Are you alright?” Booth was sitting forward now, surveying her with a concerned look. Apparently in her efforts to wake herself up she’d jerked herself forward sharper than she’d intended.
“Fine.” She replied automatically.
“Brennan, about earlier. I know you don’t want to talk about it, and that’s fine I guess… But sooner or later you’re going to have to actually let us in on what’s going on. We’re worried about.”
She was silent for such a long time that Booth didn’t think he was going to get a response from her. Then she spoke. “I was scared.”
For a moment he thought he’d imagined it. She’d been so quiet, but she turned her head to face him and he knew it wasn’t all in his mind. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t rescue you.” He’d felt so guilty through the whole affair. When she needed him most, he’d been useless.
“You couldn’t have done anything more.” She turned to face him. The frustration in his eyes was so clear that even she could see it.
“I should have tried.” Every muscle in his body seemed to be clenched.
“You were there afterwards.” She reminded him, hugging her knees as she remembered that day.
She’d tried to keep track of the days, but it was near impossible. There was one tiny window near the ceiling and that let very little light in.
It was always dark in that room.
At first she’d fought them. After that they’d used a strong chain that bit into her wrist. It was fastened to a pipe that ran along the wall. She learned early on that the way to get what she wanted from these people was to bang the pipes with the chain.
They must have been scared that someone would hear the noise.
At first is didn’t bother them much, but it wasn’t long before she could do this and get food or a trip to the bathroom.
They didn’t let her forget who was in charge though.
Some time before that day they’d stopped using the chain. They barely went down to her at all.
She began to wonder if this would be how she’d go. Starving and alone.
The chain was still there though, but she didn’t bang it. She tucked it away in a corner hoping for the right moment.
That day it came.
He was the only one in the building with her. Once she’d got past him she was free. It had been so easy.
She was barely able to clear the street when she collapsed, but it didn’t matter because she’d escaped.
* * *
Okay, so quite angsty, but it gets a little lighter in the next Chapter when Zack appears. Boy is he fun to write.