Disclaimer - Bones and all it's lovely characters belong to someone else.
The warehouse was an inferno. The flames were shooting up in the night sky and the oily clouds of roiling smoke were obscuring the stars. The fire danced eerily in reflections on the glass front of the car dealership across the road, mixed in with the flashing lights of scores of police cars. Emergency vehicles were parked in a rough semi-circle some distance from the front of the building as fire-fighters directed powerful hoses at the base of the fire trying to bring it under control.
A SWAT team commander wiped sooty sweat from his forehead as he made his report, his voice didn't carry above the crackling, roaring flames and insistent whoosh of high pressure jets of water, but the shake of his head and his grim demeanour made it clear that he was not happy.
Special Agent Seeley Booth was slumped on the lower step of an ambulance, his head bowed and his left arm cradled against his chest. He was dressed for fieldwork: dark, practical gear and a Kevlar vest; rather than a smart suit. His close fitting top was charred across the shoulder and down his left arm. The fabric of his top was tough, designed to be fire resistant, but in a few places it had burnt through revealing raw, seared skin.
He looked up slowly as a familiar voice called his name. The heat of the inferno and the exertion of dragging himself from the building had caused the sweat to cut rivulets in the grime caking his face. Under the sooty layer he was pale and drawn although there was a livid, red welt high on his left cheek. His pain and exhaustion were obvious from the tiny lines around his eyes and the hollow cheeks, but his lips still twitched into a hint of a smile as he breathed out, "Bones."
Dr Temperance Brennan's breath hitched in her throat as she took in her partner's injuries and his exhausted pain-filled gaze. She reached towards him involuntarily, her hand hovering just above his right shoulder, afraid to touch and cause more pain.
He stared at her hand and looked up at her, his brown eyes clouded and dazed.
She shivered as she recalled him lying still and burnt in her kitchen. She closed her eyes and then blinked them open. The kitchen was banished but the hollow feeling in her stomach and the dull thudding ache in her chest had not gone away.
She bit her lip and slowly shook her head, "Booth." She paused and swallowed, " Are you..?." She trailed off, eyes closed, as she felt tears prick the back of her eyes.
He took a shuddering breath and his mouth quirked into a ghost of a smile, "I'm still in the land of the living Bones... I guess."
She managed to squeeze out a tiny smile of her own and allowed her fingers to brush his shoulder lightly for a moment, needing the reassurance of physical contact.
"Has a doctor checked you out yet?" She asked realising that his wounds hadn't been treated.
He shook his head, "They've got their hands full. I can wait."
He waved away her protest, "More ambulances are on the way."
"You at least need a painkiller now, Booth." She said softly.
They locked gazes, neither looking away.
"Did they get them?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
She shook her head and pulled her coat tighter around her.
He leant back until his head was resting against the door of the ambulance, feeling defeat wash through him as he watched most of their evidence being consumed by the conflagration. Six months work. Eight bodies that the squints had extracted every clue from. Now, all they had to show for it was four dead agents, many more injured and a fire that was threatening to consume half a city block. His head rolled to the side and he saw Cullen's face settling into a grim frown as he listened to the SWAT team commander's report.
He turned back to face Bones and saw that her blue eyes were filled with concern. Looking into those depths, he imagined what might have happened if she had been inside with him. His chest constricted and he started forward, jarring his arm and sending waves of pain coursing through his body. His vision swam as the world around him seemed to tilt and distort.
He could feel himself toppling forwards and then Bones was kneeling beside him, bracing him with one arm around his waist and the other pushing gently against his right shoulder. He could hear her calling his name softly, desperately; then everything went black.
TBC