Blown Away

A/N: This is my first Bones story. I got the idea and started it forever ago and only just finished it last night. This was started before Season 6 and most likely before the second half of Season 5. So all that disastrous stuff (the leaving and the 100th ep and Hannah) all never happened (and regardless of when it was started I'm pretending all that never happened for the story anyway). This story takes place before any of that when things were still working right. Enjoy and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bones. No borrowed characters were harmed in the making of this story.

Boom! A large cloud of dust encircled the pair that just crashed onto the ground as the explosion caused ruble to cover them and their surroundings.

This had all began with, big surprise, a case. While they had almost everything on the suspect, they didn't have the actual murder weapon. They knew what it was but unfortunately they didn't have the actual weapon itself. This made Caroline not want to prosecute until they had it. Unfortunately the suspect wouldn't crack and had a very good lawyer. He was able to move up the trial. It was tomorrow. If they didn't have the murder weapon by then the defense could create reasonable doubt and he might get away with it.

Naturally, they were racing to find out where he stashed the weapon. Eventually, Hodgins was able to identify particulates on the suspect's shoes. This led them to a series of warehouses owned by the suspect. Booth and Brennan headed over to try and find it. They decided to start with one building in particular because it was old and set to be demolished the day after they put the suspect into custody. They had the construction crew assure them that the building was safe before heading over to check it out.

While searching the ground floor they discovered a part of the ground where the earth looked recently disturbed. Booth went and got the shovel they always kept in the SUV: after being partnered with Brennan he knew to be prepared for just about anything she might need. He then began digging. It didn't take long before they found a beaten up metal box. Brennan reached in and carefully removed it from the hole. However they started to hear a beeping noise.

Booth immediately grabbed Brennan and tried to get as much ground between themselves and the hole as possible. A few seconds later the explosion went off. Booth had been able to cover Brennan for the most part as debris rained down on them. Chunks of plaster and roof fell all around them. It all seemed to happen in an instant.

Finally, everything stopped falling, baring the occasional piece or two. Brennan coughed from the dust and rubber her eyes. Booth pushed himself up and shook off some of the ceiling.

"You okay, Bones?" Booth asked, tense and worried.

Her eyes were still a bit red from the dust, but she managed a smile, "I'm fine, Booth. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just great," he responded with a hint of sarcasm. He continued crouching over her, both trying to catch their breath and recover from the shock.

"I can see why closing your eyes might be helpful now," Brennan acknowledged, recalling the other time he had tackled her because he thought there was a bomb. He was still very tense above her and she thought joking might help him to relax.

It worked and he smiled down at her. She looked around, squinting as it was rather dark and the dust was still everywhere, including in her eyes. Then she spotted it. She turned to grab the box, which had ended up a foot or so away. He followed her line of sight and saw what she was reaching for. She was closer to it, and he didn't want to move, so he let her get it, deciding to stay where he was. Then, all of a sudden, she cried out in pain.

"What's wrong?" he asked, confused and worried about her.

"My ankle," she stated through gritted teeth. He got off of her and she sat up. Both looked towards her feet. Her right foot and ankle were under a bunch of ruble.

"I must not have noticed because of adrenalin and when I reached for the box…" her voice was tight with barely concealed pain. He moved over and began carefully moving debris. He wasn't perfect, though, so she hissed once.

"Sorry," he quickly said. She couldn't help but smile, flattered by his obvious concern for her.

"It's fine, this isn't your fault. In fact, if you hadn't noticed the bomb I probably would be even more hurt," she pointed out.

He offered a weak smile in response; thinking of her more hurt was not something he wanted to dwell on. After clearing everything off of her foot, Brennan sat up to examine it. It was red under the dust as well as slightly swollen. She removed her shoe and poked it a few times. "I don't think it's broken. Most likely either a bad sprain or slight fracture."

"That's good, kinda. So, how are we gonna get out of here? There's stuff all over the place and it's pretty dark and you can't walk." Booth listed, trying to figure out a plan.

"Well, first things first: we need to get the box," She lay back down and reached for the box, this time, conscious of her ankle. She was able to grab it before Booth could object to her moving while hurt. She sat back up and flipped open the clasp before lifting the lid. Inside was the murder weapon.

"Arrogant bastard" Booth muttered, causing Brennan to shoot him a questioning look. Booth explained, "He figured he hid it well enough that no one would find it, especially since the building was suppose to be demolished and if someone did find it that little surprise was suppose to kill them and destroy the evidence. He didn't even bother to lock the box and even gave us enough time to jump clear. He never figured on us catching him and the demolition not happening."

Brennan nodded, "Good point. He didn't count on us."

"Right, and now we got him," they smiled triumphantly at each other.

Then Brennan frowned a bit, "Well, not quite yet. We need to get this back to the lab in order to run the correct tests in enough time for the trial."

"Right, so how do we do this?" It was rhetorical, though she missed that and answered anyway.

"It's only a sprain, I can still walk," Brennan asserted, never one to admit weakness or needing help of any kind.

"Bones…" Booth protested.

"Really, Booth. I'm fine." He stood up reluctantly before offering a hand down to her. She clasped his right hand in her left and pulled herself up, leaning heavily on his arm, before she tried to put weight on her injured ankle.

As soon as she let go and tried to stand on both legs, she drew her breath in sharply and almost fell. Booth's hands grabbed her arms and help her up.

"Thanks," she said quietly, "maybe I can't walk on it yet."

He smirked lightly at her reluctance to admit she was wrong, or weak, for that matter, "Maybe. I'll just have to carry you out, I suppose."

"What? No," she immediately objected. "I am not a cripple and refuse to be treated as such. I'll just lean on you and get out that way."

Booth shook his head. "Not with all this crap everywhere. It'll be hard to get around normally, let alone with an injured foot. And you're tired from the case on top of that."

"No, it won't and I am not," she reiterated and couldn't help adding, "And it's my ankle, not my foot."

"It'll take too long. Didn't you just say we needed to get this back to the lab A.S.A.P.?" Booth argued. He saw her hesitate and that was all the permission he needed.

He did have a point, she supposed, but she still didn't like the idea of—her thoughts were interrupted by him putting one arm behind her back, the other under her knees and lifting her up. She let out a small squeak of protest. "Booth!"

"Come on, Bones, this makes the most logical sense. It'll get us out the fastest." Paying careful attention to her ankle, he got her in the most comfortable position to carry. One of her arms instinctively went around his neck while the other was on the box, which she had in her lap.

"Now, let's get out of here before we find out if he has any more surprises for us." Booth began making his way out. He was suddenly quite glad he kept himself in such good shape. While Bones wasn't very heavy–she was quite thin, after all–she was still a full grown adult along with being tall for a woman, so it wasn't exactly easy. Though, he was sure the excess adrenaline from the explosion was helping him, he decided to make sure he kept his workout routine up.

"It's highly improbable that anything else will happen," Brennan commented automatically. While she would never tell him, she didn't really mind being carried that much, mainly since it was Booth that was doing the carrying. He was correct that it was the most logical thing, though something in the back of her mind told her that wasn't really why she was okay with it. She did dislike showing vulnerability, but it didn't seem to be affecting her that much at the moment.

She closed her eyes; despite her statements otherwise, this case had been wearing her out as Booth had correctly surmised. How was he always able to know the difference between what she said and what she really felt?

With her eyes closed she was more aware of her other senses. She could hear a few pieces of ceiling falling in the distance and the sound of Booth's footsteps. She focused on trying to keep her ankle from moving too much. Booth's hand was holding her knee in a way that helped steady her lower leg and therefore her ankle as well. Since it only took a bit of her concentration to keep it relatively steady the rest of brain was free to focus on other things.

She was suddenly very aware of how warm his hands and chest were. She could feel his strong arms holding her up and felt his equally strong chest that she was pressed against. She breathed in and his unique scent, something that was utterly male and utterly Booth, assaulted her senses. She was suddenly seized with the irrational thought that staying here forever, in his arms, might not be such a bad thing. She had never felt so content before. As soon as she was fully aware of what exactly she was thinking she opened her eyes and shoved such thoughts to the back of her mind.

Booth continued to pick his way carefully through the warehouse. The slow pace aggravated him but he knew that if he went faster and fell he would be even more pissed off. His arms and back were beginning to ache a bit from holding her up. Then a loud bang echoed as a large piece of rubble feel behind them. Both turned their heads to look before glancing at each other. Booth picked up the pace, partly due to that and partly because the farther they got away from the initial explosion, the less damage had been done and therefore the less crap everywhere. That large piece must have sent a fresh surge of adrenalin through him, because Brennan was no longer felt quite so heavy.

They had left the door to the warehouse open and Booth made his way towards it quickly. He got them outside and both were momentarily blinded by the sunlight.

After the spots cleared from his vision, Booth went over to the car. Once there, though, he realized they had a slight problem. "The keys. They're in my pocket."

"Oh. I'll get them, which pocket?" Brennan supplied. In the brighter light she could see that this wasn't as easy as he was making it out to be. His face was a bit red from the exertion and his arms were stiff. He also appeared a bit pale under the flush from carrying her.

"They're in my right front pocket. I don't know if you can…" he trailed off as her arm let go of his neck and reached down to his pocket. She fished out his keys and used the remote to unlock the doors. She then used her other arm, the one that had previously been on the box, to grab the car door handle. They opened the back door and he carefully lowered her to the seat, making sure he didn't jostle her ankle in the process.

"You should lay down," Booth instructed, "you're suppose to keep a sprained ankle elevated, right?"

"Yeah," she agreed, "You elevate it to reduce swelling by increasing venous return of blood to the systemic circulation. This will not only result in less edema, but also aid in waste product removal from the area."

"Yeah, right..." He closed the door and opened the driver's side door. "You okay back there Bones?"

"I'm fine, Booth" Brennan reiterated from directly behind him.

Booth turned on the car, made sure not to lean back and opted not to fasten his seat belt, "Jeffersonian, here we come."

They arrived at the building about fifteen minutes later. Booth pulled into her lab's specific parking lot and into a handicap space to save time. After getting out, he began to pull Brennan out, once again mindful of her ankle. As he went to pick her up, she protested, "I can probably walk on my own now."

"Your ankle miraculously healed in the fifteen minute drive over here?" Booth asked teasingly. She grumbled and crossed her arms but grudgingly let him pick her up again. He walked quickly to the building and through a side entrance to try and avoid people making a big deal.

However, when they walked through the doors to the lab itself, Hodgins immediately noticed them; Angela and Cam were in their respective offices so they couldn't see them right away.

"Whoa! What happened to you guys?" he asked as he took in their appearances. Both were covered in dust and their clothes were coated in dirt. Brennan's hair was messed up and her shoe was off, showing her obviously sprained ankle. Booth was stiff and tense and a bit on the pale side. And then there was the fact that Booth was carrying her. As Hodgins walked towards them, he called for Angela and Cam.

"The suspect left a little surprise for us," Booth informed him.

"Here," Brennan handed him the box, "It's the murder weapon. You should start running tests on it."

With the box safely handed off, Booth began making his way to her office, his arms and back starting to really hurt.

Angela came out of her office ahead of them and looked for Hodgins, wondering why he called for her, "Hodgins? What's up-" that's when she saw them, "Brennan! Booth!" She ran over to them. "Are you okay? What the heck happened to you guys? Oh, Sweetie, your ankle…"

"I'm fine, Angela, it's just a sprain." Brennan tried to reassure her friend as she hovered around Brennan's ankle.

Cam had heard Hodgins' initial shout but was finishing up some paper work. However, once she heard Angela as well, though not as clearly because they were farther off now, she decided she had better go see what was the matter.

She saw them all making their way towards Brennan's office and hurried overt join them. "What's going on?" She called. Once she got closer the answer became apparent as she took in their disheveled appearance.

"What were you guys doing?" Cam asked.

Booth scowled slightly, "We got the murder weapon."

"Oh, really? You found it?" Cam asked, surprised, momentarily distracted by the case.

"Yes," Brennan answered, "Hodgins should be starting the tests now," she continued with a pointed look at him, "I just need to wrap up my ankle, it's not a big deal."

"Fine, fine," Hodgins held up his hands in surrender and went to go run the tests.

They finally reached Brennan's office. Angela went in first and then Booth turned sideways in order to fit through the doorway. When he turned his back faced Cam and she gasped. "Seeley!"

Booth ignored her, walking to the couch to lay Brennan down. Cam followed and was looking at Booth with a mixture of concern, admiration, surprise and a bit of anger. "I'll go get bandages." She rushed off before he even got to the couch.

Angela stared after her for a second, what's with Cam all of a sudden? She looked closer at Booth. Hm, now that I think about it, he seems paler than normal. After he passed her on his way to the couch she saw what Cam had seen.

She involuntarily gasped as well. His coat and shirt were all torn up at the back. There were a number of cuts and the area of white shirt that was showing was stained red. It looked like it hurt, a lot. "Booth! You need to put her down. Now!"

How can he still be carrying her? Angela thought shocked.

Brennan was beginning to get very worried. What are Cam and Angela referring to? "Booth…"

He gritted his teeth, "I'm fine, Angela." However, once he set Brennan down onto the couch, he sat down heavily on the ottoman which coincidentally didn't have a back.

"There's a first aid kit in my desk – it should have sufficient bandages for my ankle," Brennan informed Angela, purposely making sure she didn't let her growing concern for Booth show. Her ankle was propped up on a pillow with her torso being closer to Booth and further from the door.

Angela nodded and went to grab those. As she handed them to Brennan, she shot Booth a concerned glance, "Just what did you two get into this time?" she huffed, hands on her hips as she gave them a stern look.

"We went to investigate the warehouses owned by the suspect. In one of them we found recently disturbed dirt and dug up the box with the murder weapon in it," Brennan explained as she wrapped her ankle securely.

"But then we heard beeping and realized we had triggered a detonator. So we tried to get as far away as possible before it went off," Booth continued.

"The explosion is what caused me to hurt my ankle when some debris fell on it," Brennan finished.

Angela looked shocked and shook her head, "Only you two could get into this kind of a mess." Brennan opened her mouth to protest–that in fact, many other people could statistically have had this happen to them as well–but she was interrupted by Cam striding back into the room.

Her arms were full of bandages and a tube of antiseptic cream. She walked over to where they were and placed the supplies on the coffee table. "Turn around, Seeley, and take off your jacket and shirt." He seemed to want to protest but she quickly cut him off, "You know you need to get those bandaged; besides the clothes are ruined anyway." When he still seemed hesitant, her gaze hardened, "Either here and now or the hospital."

He sighed, giving up – he hated the hospital and Cam knew it. He wasn't quite sure why he was resisting so much anyway. With a quick glance at Bones, he remembered: although she was trying hard to hide it, he could tell she was concerned. He just didn't want her to worry. He moved to take off his jacket, wincing as his shoulders protested. When he placed it next to him on the floor he saw Brennan's gaze dart to it and take in the dark stain and its torn state.

His shirt really hurt to remove – he ended up needing to unbutton it instead of pulling it over his head. This time, Brennan's eyes widened as she analyzed the red and white tattered shirt. Her eyes focus onto him as he turned around, briefly taking in his well-defined chest before she focused on his back. She couldn't help but recoil slightly and barely stopped herself from gasping. She tried to process the wounds.

After she got over the blood, her medical knowledge took over and she was able to rationally assess that the wounds were mostly superficial, not particularly damaging. While only one cut was a bit concerning in terms of depth, she knew that scrapes and such hurt and stung – a lot. Suddenly, the image of him crouching over her filled her mind. Her eyes must have been too blurry from dust to see clearly. Of course debris must have hit him, she didn't know how she couldn't have realized it. Why did he always insist upon protecting her?

Cam and Angela sucked in a breath, taking in the damage even for a second time. Just then Angela's phone beeped. She quickly checked it, "Oh, sorry. My system test just finished and I have to check it. Hope you both feel better. I'll come back as soon as I can." With one last glance at Booth she left the room.

Cam rested her hands on her hips and shook her head in dismay at Booth. "Why you always need to push yourself…"

Booth rolled his eyes, "I knew they weren't serious. It's not that big of a deal."

Cam scowled. Brennan was conflicted: while she knew logically that he was in fact correct, part of her wanted to protest that he shouldn't have insisted upon carrying her in such a condition. Cam opened her mouth to retort when a tech assistant knocked on the room, "Dr. Saroyan?"

Cam turned around and Booth twisted around as well, though not before the tech caught a quick glimpse of his back. His eyes widened before redirecting his gaze to Cam, "You're needed in the lab."

"Is it urgent? I'm kinda busy," she gestured towards Booth.

"Well, yes, I think so," the poor assistant was as conflicted as was Cam.

"I'll bandage Booth," Brennan spoke up, and the other three turned to look at her.

"What about your ankle?" Cam asked, frowning slightly as she thought it over.

"I didn't sprain my hands. I am perfectly capable of bandaging my partner," her eyes sparked with defiance, daring Cam to tell her she couldn't do this.

"I suppose," Cam clearly wasn't happy, but seemed to get that Brennan wanted to do it. She gave a brisk nod, in business mode. "Very well." She turned to the guy in the doorway. "Now," she made to leave, "you said it was urgent?"

The sound of her heels clicking against the floor faded away as she left. Silence filled the room. While Brennan and Booth normally were comfortable in the occasional silences that enveloped them, this one was filled with an uncomfortable tension. Brennan maneuvered off the couch and onto the coffee table, keeping her ankle on the couch and facing Booth on the ottoman.

Booth thought to tell her that she needed to rest her ankle and that he could just wait for Cam or Angela to come back, but she gave him a swift, hard look as if sensing his thoughts. The look in her eyes convinced him that it would be better to remain silent. She was upset and the more he thought about it, the more he supposed she was justified: he knew he would be angry with her if she had tried to hide an injury from him, even if it was for his own good.

Brennan reached behind her on the table and grabbed a towel. She began wiping away the blood with a practiced hand, on auto pilot as she continued to process how she felt. Booth knew there would be no talking to her until she had made up her mind, and even then there would be very little he would be able to say to sway her.

Brennan methodically cleaned the wounds, part of her accessing them and part trying to figure out her feelings. She was hurt that he had hid his injury from her, hurt he hadn't trusted her enough to tell her. Part of her argued that it most likely wasn't a matter of trust. She also acknowledged that him carrying her was the best, fastest way to get them away from there. She knew that if she had known she most likely would have tried to walk on her own, which she regretted to admit, would have greatly slowed their progress.

She supposed he was right in his decision but she still felt like she should have been included and better informed. He should have told me. She was also mad at herself. How had she missed it? How could she not have known that her partner, that Booth, was hurt?

She stopped with the towel; most of the extra blood had been cleaned. While that improved the look of the wounds and she could clearly tell none were extremely deep, they were still nasty scratches. She reached for the antiseptic cream and put some on her right hand. "This will probably sting a bit," she heard herself warn him. He nodded. She brought her hand to the cuts and gently began rubbing it in, cleaning the scrapes. His breath hissed out slightly when the cream came in contact with his back.

"Bones," Booth started, thinking she had had enough time to think. Her hand faltered slightly before continuing her mechanical actions.

Sure enough, she didn't waste any time, "Why didn't you tell me what happened?"

He sighed, "Because…we needed to get out of there as soon as possible and if I had told you, you would have protested against me carrying you out."

She silently nodded, "You still should have told me. How would you have felt in my place?"

He winced, knowing she would say something like. He really did feel guilty. She finished with the antiseptic cream and he felt the loss of her warm, small hand on his back greatly. "I know."

Brennan reached for the bandages and began wrapping them firmly around his torso. As soon as she finished, he turned around to face her. His eager face was suddenly right in front of her own. She glanced away, not meeting his eyes. He reached his hand out and guided her gaze to his own, one finger under her chin. "I'm really sorry, Bones. I promise I won't hide something like this from you again, no matter how stubborn I know it will cause you to be," he smiled at her.

She could help but give a small smile in return. "I accept your apology."

His smile widened in response, "Thanks."

She continued to look him in the eye. With that all straightened out, she allowed some of her other feelings to surface. She was deeply touched that he had been so concerned about her and that he had insisting on carrying her out. That must have taken a great amount of effort and will power. Once again, Booth had managed to surprise her.

His proximity almost matched what it had been when he was carrying her. His scent once again invaded her senses, and this time his intense gaze was fixed on her as well. It was a powerful combination, and she felt herself drift toward irrational thoughts once more. "Thank you." she heard herself say and she meant it. She never really knew just what she had done to deserve someone so dedicated, someone who did so much for her. She hoped he got that she wasn't just referencing this particular event, but the many events that flickered through her mind, all the times he had been there for her, saved her.

His eyes softened as he took in her heartfelt words. He understood that she was thanking him for more than just this one time. People who called her emotionless had clearly never seen her eyes so close, so full of emotions he wasn't even sure she was aware of. "You're welcome," he answered quietly. When had they gotten so close? Barely an inch seemed to separate them now.

Normally with her he was a cautious kind of guy but with the way she was looking at him, coupled with her extremely close proximity caused him to forget to be cautious. He crossed the minimal distance between them, catching her soft lips with his own.

She was caught off guard, but instinctively responded, her body clearly ahead of her brain. His hand moved from her chin, across the bottom of her jaw, to bury itself in her hair. Her own hands moved from her lap to rest gently on his bandaged chest. Soon the gentle pressure gave way to more insistent pressure. His grip on her head tightened slightly and he moved closer, still aware her ankle was on the couch. With a quick movement he maneuvered her into his lap. Meanwhile her hands had climbed up so that one was on the back of his neck and the other gripping his hair.

At the sudden move to his lap, she let out a small squeak of surprise. He took advantage of this and slipped his tongue into her mouth. They immediately began a fight for dominance, both stubborn and desiring to be in control of the kiss. Besides, they loved their competitions too much for one of them to simply give way to the other.

Soon, however, oxygen became a necessity and Brennan managed to rip her lips away from his. His forehead fell on her as they took long breathes. Booth slowly opened his eyes to find her sparkling ones looking directly into his own. He searched for any hint of reproach or any indication she was upset with him. When he couldn't find any, he gave her a wide smile.

She supposed that the intensity of his gaze should scare her, and on some level she knew it did and probably would later, but right now, Brennan couldn't help but smile in return: something about Booth always made her happy, and once again the thought that she wanted him to make her happy–forever–sprang back to mind. But this time, instead of shoving it back to the recesses of her mind, she merely marveled at the man in front of her, blown away.

A/N: There you go. I hope you liked it. If you did like it please tell me - I have some other story ideas for Bones and if you say you like this one I'd be more inclined to finish and post those. Please review - they're my favorite thing every. Thanks for Reading!