The Joy in the Bundle (Ch. 2)
Title: The Joy in the Bundle
Author: youngerdrgrey
Pairing: Brennan/Booth
Summary: Snapshots into the lives of Brennan, Booth, Parker, and the baby as the years go on.
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights for the characters and the world go to their owners (like FOX). I, in no way, believe - or would lead others to believe - that I own Bones. I am merely a fan trying to survive the hiatus.
Author's Note: I didn’t mention this before, but these will not be going in chronological order. They hop around to different times throughout their lives. This one takes us back into the time of the pregnancy. If you have any ideas for something, do share them with me in your review.
Prompt: #198 - Booth finally giving Brennan a gun to protect herself while pregnant.
THE JOY IN THE BUNDLE - CH.2
"The Fear in the Steel"
She knew something was going through Booth’s mind. The car sat in park for thirty seconds before he even seemed to consider unbuckling his seat belt. Usually, the moment the wheels got close to the location of a suspect Booth was out the door, the picture of calm and respect.
He wavered with his hands still on the wheel. His fingers held on loosely so obviously he wasn’t tense. His gaze stayed forward and didn’t wander towards her or the baby. He must have been thinking about them. She unbuckled her own seat belt. The sound seemed to awaken him.
“Okay, Bones, bad guy in there,” Booth said. His voice took on that nervous quality it got when he wasn’t sure of the outcome. She wondered why he would be unsure after all of the evidence pointed towards this man.
“He’s more than just bad, Booth. He killed Sona by regularly poisoning her on top of years of physical abuse and he eventually just got frustrated enough to suffocate her. He’s a monster,” Brennan assured.
Booth sighed. “That’s the problem.”
“No, that’s good. Many of the neighbors are willing to testify to his horrible nature and I’m sure that the jury will lock him away. We only need to go in there and bring him to jail,” Brennan said.
Booth didn’t respond verbally. He unbuckled his seat belt and reached into the back to pull out a small black bag that Brennan had not even noticed before. It looked little different from a camera bag until he opened it and pulled out a gun. Silently, he handed it to her. She hesitated. He sighed again.
“You always wanted a gun,” he said.
“To shoot people,” she added. Her addition was meant to make him smile by reminding him of that first conversation over five years prior. It didn’t work.
“Yeah,” he breathed, “to shoot people. Now I want you to be able to, if you have to, to protect the baby.”
Then she understood. He wasn’t worried that they had the wrong guy or that the guy would get away with it. Booth was worried that the bastard would try something to hurt her and the baby. Again, she tried to reassure him. He didn’t have to do this.
“Booth-“
He cut her off. “You’ve wanted one for years. Just take it. Please, take the gun, Bones.”
She glanced down to the hand still barely outstretched towards her. That time she sighed.
Nothing was going to happen to her. She knew that. Even if the guy tried something, Booth would protect her. He always had and she believed that he always would. She believed in him the way he believed in his invisible friend. She trusted him. She loved him. She didn’t need a gun. But, if it helped him breathe a little easier, she could take it.
She grabbed the gun. Not knowing what else to do with it in that moment, she held the cool steel over her growing baby bump. A thought clicked in her mind. She had to think about the baby too. She could remember when they had Andy and Booth had not even let her leave the car when he thought it could be dangerous.
“Why are you letting me go in?” she asked him. She didn’t revise her phrasing to something about stopping her because she knew if Booth said not to go inside that she would stay right there.
Booth seemed to think that over. He answered, “I want you right by my side, always by my side. You hear me?”
In that there was a warning. She heard it, acknowledged it, filed it away for later. She also heard his fear. More than anything, his doubt was on his mind. Was he making the right decision? Should he have left her? Should she stay?
She took his hand in the one without the gun and brought that to her stomach as well. As if sensing his presence, their baby girl kicked. And again. Booth smiled softly. He met Brennan’s gaze and nodded. She wasn’t sure what question he was affirming, but it seemed to be the last barrier between them and the house.
He pulled away and set his shoulders. He pushed open the car door and stepped out, the picture of calm and respect. She followed behind him, gun against her side, prepared for anything.
Honestly, that guy didn’t know what hit him.
Thank you for reading. I would love to hear your thoughts on this snapshot, but also any ideas you might have/prompts. I would like to be able to post a new one of these every day until the show returns. As you can probably tell, I will need many snapshots. If you have even a random word that you can leave with your review as a prompt that would be helpful.