Yawning Brennan stepped from the elevator and headed towards the lab, her unborn son had been highly active all night and having been up since 6am, she was beginning to feel the energy deficit. She walked into the lab and nearly ran headlong into Hodgins as he wheeled a mop and bucket from the cleaners closet in the direction of the ookie room, the gelatinous residue of his latest experiment clinging to his hair, face and clothing! He smiled at her,

"Hey Dr B, what are you doing here? I thought after Christine's eventful arrival The FBI and Cam had decided you were banned from the lab from 36 weeks!"

Brennan smiled at the entomologist, "I'm not banned from the lab Hodgins, we merely agreed it would be logical for me to work from home, and part of that working from home includes grading my interns papers, which I have come in to collect"

Hodgins returned the anthropologists smile as he walked with her towards her office door, on her desk sat a large box full of papers waiting for grading, seeing her trying to man handle the box around her swollen abdomen Hodgins dropped the mop handle and ran into to room grabbing the box from her.
"Oh no you don't Dr B" annoyed by the perception that a pregnant woman could not lift a box she snapped.
"Hodgins! I am pregnant not infirm I do not need you to carry things for me!"
In his smoothest, most charming voice Hodgins replied.
"I know you don't Dr B but out of self preservation I'm going to" Brennan quirked a confused eyebrow.
"I don't know what that means!"
"It means, that although I, in no way doubt your ability to lift this box. If Booth walked in here and saw me letting you lift it he would shoot me!"
Nodding her head Brennan absorbed the information.
"Yes I understand your point, Booth is very protective although there is no need, you may carry my box to the car"

Stepping into the elevator cart Brennan pressed the button for the parking garage and rested against the handrail as the numbers began to flash past. As the 3 lit up the car juddered to a halt and the small space became pitch dark before the emergency light came on above their heads.
"Oh crap what's going on here," Hodgins hissed.
"There was a storm brewing when I arrived, maybe the weather has thrown the power out"
"Certainly a possibility, hopefully it won't last too long, I'm not the greatest fan of enclosed spaces"
The pair exchanged a poignant look neither wanting to go into details of the torture they had endured at the hands of the gravedigger. The moment of painful connection was thankfully broken by the crackle of the security intercom.
"Hello, security to lift car 3 is anyone in there?" Hodgins stepped over to the intercom and pressed the speaker button.
"Hey, it's Dr Hodgins from the medico-legal lab, I'm in here and Dr Brennan is with me. What happened?"
"A storm has knocked to power out looks to be city wide, we're going to get the engineers in but it could take a few hours, the phone lines are down so the cell towers are all jammed. Do you want us to tell anyone you're in there?"

"Tell Dr Saroyan and Angela in the lab and see if they can get hold of Agent Booth at the Hoover"

"Ok Doc, will do! We'll get you out of there as soon as we can" Hodgins was about to respond when he heard Brennan gasp and whimper he spun around taking in the sight before him, Brennan was doubled over hands gripping her stomach the floor at her feet was wet, Hodgins swallowed processing what this meant his hand flapped to find the intercom button, his mouth dry with panic, finally he managed to speak.

"You better make it a damn sight faster than that. Dr Brennan's waters just broke!"

...…...

Trying to stay calm Hodgins stepped towards her. Gently he took her elbows hoping to sound calmer than he felt, he made an attempt at levity

"God Dr B! What are you doing to us? I thought the lab ban was meant to stop this from happening!" He gave a smile but when Brennan looked up he was startled to see terror and tears in her eyes. Unsure what to do he embraced her making soothing cooing sounds, she spoke so softly he had to strain to hear her.
"Something's wrong Jack! I'm only 37 weeks, I shouldn't be in labour something must be wrong!"
"Hey, hey, you know as well as I do that isn't the case! It means either this little fella is impatient or the hospital screwed your dates up! Look at when Billy was born the hospital said Ang' was 38 week and the day he was born the doctor took one look at him and said he was a least 2 weeks over due, so don't panic ok"
She breathed deeply for a few breaths before looking up at him.
"You're right of course, I find that unlike with Christine I am scared because Booth isn't here, I am even more scared by the fact that if you hadn't insisted on carrying that box for me I would be in here alone"

"You're not alone Temperance, I'm in here to look after you and as soon Angela gets hold of Booth you know he'll be on his way and he'll make sure we're out of here in time to bring this baby into the world"

Brennan shook her head sadly,
"Booth will not be present for the birth of this child!"

"Wh...what do you mean? Wild horses wouldn't keep him away"

"Yes but this elevator might, after my waters broke with Christine she was born in under an hour, labours increase in speed the more children you have, they said at least a few hours to get us out. Jack you are going to have to deliver this baby!"

The room shrank and span around Jack as he processed the news, delivering Brennan's child! What if something went wrong, would Booth be angry at him for seeing Brennan in that condition - seeing parts of her that as her husband only Booth and the midwife should see! He had no choice but still the fear enveloped him.

"You trust me to deliver your son?" wincing as a contraction hit Brennan grabbed his hand and panted through the pain as it ebbed she collapsed against the wall, finally she spoke.
"Yes I do Hodgins, although logically you can say I have no other choice now, I do trust you, you have proven to me time and again what an exceptional person you are, if it hasn't been for your expertise when we were in that car I am sure I would have died! I trust you with my life and therefore I trust you to protect my child."

Hodgins swallowed hard, touched by the heartfelt words and suddenly the panic abandoned him, he knew he could do this.

"Ok, well erm let's try and get you a bit more comfortable" he shrugged of his lab coat. "Do you want to stand, kneel or sit?" He cringed, still slightly embarrassed "do you need help taking anything off?"
Brennan unclipped the elasticated belt of her maternity slacks and shook her head "no but please help me kneel down"

Helping Brennan settle on all fours he covered her with the lab coat before kneeling in front of her.

"What time did the contractions start?"

"It's hard to pinpoint I have been getting them throughout my 3rd trimester, I didn't notice they had increased in volume so much but in retrospect I realise that I had 3 on the drive over here. So they are at 5-7 minute intervals."

Hodgins nodded doing a few calculations in his head remembering how quickly Angela had progressed in each of her labours. Trying to distract Brennan from the situation and relax her he said,

"You can officially that you have won the I don't want to give birth in a hospital debate 2-0 now though" they both laughed at the irony of the situation, after Christine's birth Brennan had agreed to a hospital delivery, but again she was bringing her child into the world in a strange and unusual location.

After twenty minutes and 5 increasingly rapid and intense contractions Brennan asked Jack to help her shift to a sitting position, as they moved the intercom crackled again, Angela's shrill tones filled the car.
"Jack, Bren, Sweetie, what's going on in there? Is everything ok?" Jack looked at Brennan, who nodded that it was ok for him to leave her side he pressed the intercom.
"Angie Baby, were ok, but this baby is gonna' be here any minute, have you got hold of Booth?"
"He's on his way, I wasn't allowed in here until I spoke to Booth he scared the crap out of the guard and threatened to arrest him! The engineers are working at full speed you'll be out really soon I promise. They're going to lower the lift down to the lobby. cam and me are going to wait there with the paramedics and Booth when he gets here. Cam even ran to the store down the block and got some diapers she had to pay the bloke 50 bucks just to let her in! He'd shut early because of the power outage!"

"Jack, Jack, I need you it's time" Brennan was sobbing with pain.
"Gotta go Ange!"
Jack knelt in front of Brennan awkwardly placing his hand to cradle the baby's fully crowned skull, but still doing his best to avoid looking directly at what he was doing. Brennan clawed at the sleek metal wall as she began to push, tears streamed down her face as she tried not to scream in the enclosed space, some deep engrained scientific logic telling her that it would hurt her head more than help the pain. After four pushes she rested for just a few seconds to breathe.
"The heads out, two maybe three pushes and he's here" Jack tugged at his shirt one handed suddenly realising he needed something wrap the baby in when he arrived. Within seconds Brennan tensed and this time as she pushed she screamed, a raw feral scream which echoed through the elevator car and down the shaft to the lobby and this was the sound Booth heard as he ran into the elevator lobby of the Jeffersonian. He looked to Cam and Angela who stood looking terrified by the cold doors that trapped his lover, he sprinted across the space into the security booth, pushing the security guard aside he hit buttons until he found the intercom.
"BONES! BONES! Are you ok! Please God be ok!" After what felt like an eternity he heard the babies tiny cries and Hodgins voice spoke.
"Booth, buddy, you're a Daddy!" He breathed a sigh of relief before speaking again "Are they ok? Are they both ok?" Brennan's tired voice filtered through, "we're fine Booth, Hodgins did an exceptional job" he was about to respond when the security guard spoke feebly "erm... Sir the engineers are starting to lower the elevator now it should be in the lobby in 2 minutes" Hodgins chuckled to himself.
"Booth unless you want my wife to get hold of your son before you do I suggest you get yourself by them doors pronto."

And with a clack of cogs the elevator slowly began to descend.

...

An hour and a half later Brennan sat in her hospital bed feeding her son whilst waiting for the nurse to come and discharge them, she was eager to get back home to Christine and Max, worrying subconsciously that the extended wait could affect sibling bonding. Booth flitted around the two snapping pictures with his camera phone, when there was a gentle knock at the door and a large bunch of blue balloons entered followed by Jack, Angela, Cam and Sweets who carried a giant fluffy teddy bear. Congratulations and hugs were shared everyone cooing
over the new born. Pointing to the balloon tree Angela smiled and said "we have another one of those in green and yellow in the car for Christine so there won't be any tantrums... They're still her favourite colours right?" Brennan nodded mesmerised by the tiny bundle in her arms, she looked up at her friends locking eyes with Hodgins.
"Jack would you like to hold him" he moved forward and after the compulsory hand sanitizer proffered by Booth lifted up the small child.
"He's beautiful guys, have you chosen a name yet?" Brennan nodded a small happy tear in her eye, squeezing Booths hand, he glanced at her and took the silent instruction to tell them
"Everyone meet our son Jack Henry Uriah Booth"
Hodgins eyes snapped up locking with Brennan's, ten thousand words passing silently between them, finally Brennan chose just three
"Thank you Jack"

-x- fini -x-