Chapter Eleven: Augustus Miles Price

"Brother? He's your brother?" Booth repeated,  looking between the two. Brennan was stood by Hannah and was nodding as Booth said that, noting the varying similarities between the siblings.
Both had blue/grey eyes and a hardness to them that only Sweets could really deduct as he made his own conclusions from the booth. Their facial features were similar as well,  Hannah's only a little more delicate than her brothers.

Augustus Price stared at Hannah from his seat. He hadn't changed much since the last time she had seen him, which had been 10 years ago. He was a little older now, a little more grey and a little more wrinkled but that was it. He still had a hard look to him that had come from a childhood that shouldn't have happened to them. He was only 30 and he looked like he was nearing 40.

To Gus though, Hannah had changed a lot. She wasn't the 15 year old he had left with their grandparents.
Her hair was cut to her shoulders but was still the same curly blonde he had always been able to spot in a crowd. And she was tall.
What hadn't changed was that she had the same, angry glare that he had seen 10 years ago and the small rose tattoo that stood out on her wrist, something that made Gus chew his lip as he watched his little sister simmer in her anger.

"Hannah-"
"I need to talk to my brother."
"No." Booth said firmly, an edge creeping into his voice. Brennan recognised it as one that suggested that he knew leaving Gus with her may end in more than just an interrogation.

"But-"
"You and Sweets are going to go and talk and when we," He motioned to him, Gus and Brennan. "Are done here and done with this case, we are talking." He looked Hannah in the eyes, resisting the urge to look away. He had never seen her so tense or so angry in the time he had known her.

With a sharp nod and an angry glare at Gus, she wrenched the door open and left. Booth looked at the glass window and nodded, listening to Sweets talk in his ear.

"So. Your Hannah's brother." Brennan commented as she waited for Booth. Gus nodded and put his head in his hands.

"I called her so many times and she never answered." He muttered, adding a ton of muffled curses to himself. Brennan raised an eyebrow at that. That was another difference between the two. Hannah didn't swear as freely.

"Right. Mr Price, let's get this done with." Booth sat down heavily, a new icy edge to his voice. Gus looked up at him and nodded, looking more glum than he had when finding Reid was dead.

***********

Two hours later, Sweets and Hannah were sat in a heavy silence. The pure weight of Hannah's load of verbal diarrhoea had Sweets contemplating whether he was in the right line of work.

Hannah had never emptied so much off her chest to anyone. Ever. She didn't feel empty either. In fact, she felt like the elephant on her chest had given birth and now she was sitting with the fact that the brother who had abandoned her was sitting just a few floors down from where she was now.

"It explains a lot about you now." Sweets said after a while, interrupting Hannah's thoughts. She looked at Sweets with a tired gaze.

"What does?"
"As a child, you found yourself protecting those who couldn't protect themselves, such as your sister and brother," Hannah flinched noticeably at the mention of her siblings, " and as an adult, you find that you need to do so as well. When you were arrested - yes, I know about that, don't seem so shocked - it was protect what almost seemed like a memory to you." Hannah's gaze turned hard.

"I didn't come here to be told about how all.. THAT stuff has helped me to be the person I am now, I'm here because Booth told me I had to talk to you. And now I think, I might go home." She stood up and Sweets watched her.

"Why do you people always walk out on me when we clearly have unresolved issues? Just the other day, you sat here and we talked about Taffet and the Grave Digger and your PTSD but now you do the thing that everyone  else does."
"And what is that?" Sweets shot her a withering glare.

"Sit down, Hannah."
"No." And with that,  Hannah pulled the door and left, not looking back.

**************

She drove around for what felt like an an eternity. She didn't want to go home because home was where she knew Booth would go to see her and make her talk.
She couldn't go to Brennan's apartment because Brennan would be on Booths side and call him.
Sweets was out of the question.

Hannah heard her phone begin to ring on the seat beside her and she grabbed it, pressed answer and held it to her ear.

"Hello?"
"You actually picked up, I'm honoured." At the sound of Gus's voice, Hannah ended the call and dumped it back on the seat as she turned down another street, certain of where she would go. Her phone began to ring again but this time, she ignored it. Turning up a driveway as the phone stopped then started again, she pulled up to the gate. She rolled down her window and pressed the button on the intercom and waited.

"Hello?"
"Yo, let me in." There was a buzz and the gate slid open.

*************

Booth pocketed his phone and stared at a spot on his ceiling.
Hannah had left Sweets office and wasn't answering any calls. She wasn't at the Jeffersonian, she wasn't at home, she wasn't at her favourite bar/restaurant/cafe place, not at the library or with Angela. Booth had even called Aubrey who had confirmed that she hadn't called him or boarded a plan suddenly and made a mad dash to Texas. Heather and Richard had been next, both saying that Hannah hadn't called, but both of them were mildly alarmed to hear that Gus had made a come back.

"Why is it so surprising? It's all about 9 degrees of separation or something..."
"Yes, dear but this is Augustus. Gus has.... made himself somewhat an enemy out of Hannah." Heather had said gently. "He didn't leave on good terms with her and she still blames him, and herself, for a lot that has happened. When you find her, look after her."

Booth sighed and took off his tie, chucking it onto the adjacent armchair. Grabbing a remote, he flicked the TV on and the buzz of a football game failed to grab at his attention.

Never had he ever seen Hannah get so mad. If looks could kill, Gus wouldn't lasted five seconds.

 Booth flicked the TV off, huffing angrily as the TV became more of an annoyance than a distraction. Reaching for his phone, he tried Hannah's number again, only for it to go straight to voice-mail. He then tried Cam, who answered after the third ring.

"I still haven't a clue of where she is, Booth." Booth could hear the tapping on a keyboard as Cam worked. The case was on going, Brennan and Cam choosing to work late into the night with one of Brennan's unique interns. Booth swore he heard Fisher in the background and Cam groaned.

"I know. I was just hoping...."
"I know. We all love Hannah, Seely. But maybe you just need to give her some space."
"Space? I don't even know where the hell she is." Cam gave a light laugh.

"Hannah is like a golden retriever puppy. She'll come back, because she'll probably want a hug and food." Booth made a noise that sounded like he was swearing but through his nose. "It's true!"
"I know. I'm just worried."
"We all are."
"But it's just that-"
"Just what, Booth?" Cam waited for Booth to continue. For all the time she had known Booth, she had learned to read him. She knew how he felt about Hannah, even if he hadn't admitted it to himself. She and Sweets had actually talked about the endless cycle of sexual tension that neither of the FBI agents seemed to want to admit. Except Hannah had admitted it but Booth... he was more stubborn.

"You really care for her, don't you?" Cam lowered her voice. Fisher had walked in to her office to drop the brain off. He gave Cam a wary look before walking out, sighing to himself.

"Yeah, Cam. I really do." Booth stared at the spot on the ceiling again, closing his eyes as he let the words settle in.

"Ha! So you admit it, then?" Cam slapped her hand on her desk, a broad smile on her face. On the other side of the phone, Booth jumped at the sudden rise in her voice.

"Jeez, no need to yell, Cam!"
"Oh, sorry. But you admit it!" Booth said nothing. "This is good. Now all you have to do is tell Hannah." Booth made an odd noise again.

At the time the phone call was happening, Hannah slapped down her two cards on top of her friends and declared,

"UNO!"

Hodgins stared down at his two remains cards and shook his head.

"How the hell you manage to do that, honestly surprises me. This is supposed to be a game of chance, not skill." Hannah grinned as she sipped from her water glass.

"I'm just an expert, my friend. At Quantico, in down time, my friends and I would play UNO just because it didn't mean using your brain," Hannah then frowned. "Besides, you've been letting me win." Hodgins frowned as well and made a noise.

"Pffft no I haven't."
"Yes you have, Jack. I can see your cards in the reflection of the glass." She pointed to the window behind him and Hodgins narrowed his eyes and put his cards down.

"Thats cheating."
"Says the cheater." Hodgins sat back and smiled, holding back his laughter.

Hannah had turned up at his place three hours ago, looking like she had been hit by an emotional train of pain. He hadn't questioned her. Hannah had been grateful for that.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Hodgins asked, watching as Hannah looked at her watch and groaned at the time.

"I should probably go see Booth. He... Wants an explanation." She sat forward and rubbed her eyes, sighing heavily through her nose.
Even when she was upset, Hodgins could see how Booth was attracted to Hannah. She was beautiful, even to him.  But she was no Angela in his mind.

"You know, anything short of murder or homicide, I'm sure Booth will understand." 

"What about wayward siblings and unsettling parents?" Hannah glanced up at Hodgins who thought for a moment and then stood up, moving around to where Hannah was and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling her lean into the hug as she felt the anxiety begin to bubble up in her.

"With Booth, the only way to ever know is to actually talk to him." Hannah nodded and took a deep breath. "Do you know where he lives?" 

"Funnily enough I don't. I'll ask Brennan though. She'll definitely know." She stood up and Hodgins looked up at her, a smile playing on his face.

"Go get 'em, tiger."

"Don't ever say that again." She groaned as she grabbed her keys and phone. She had left her gun in the glove box of her car, not feeling the need to bring it with her. Hodgins shook his head as she walked out, leaving him sitting on the couch.

Authors Note

I know this is late and that this is a crappy chapter but I have felt so uninspired to write that I just couldn't.

But I promise the next chapter will be better. And that there will be more updates over the next few days. I'm going to be at my grandparents place and watching Bones so expect an update dump that'll make us all happy.

Love you guys!

》Bree《