Chapter Nineteen: If the Price is right

Gus pulled into the Jeffersonian carpark alongside Hannah's car and turned the ignition off. The two hadn't said a word since they had left Miles at the prison and the weight of how they were feeling was palpable.

For the first time in a long time, Hannah had felt a quiet peace in regards to Miles. A peace that Booth, damn him, had been right about. Gus rubbed his eyes with his hands and leaned back in his seat, the dark blanket of night beginning to settle around them.

"That was..."
"Nuts."
"Intense."
"That's one word for it." Hannah murmured as she undid her seatbelt so that she could face her brother properly. "I honestly didn't think you had it in you, Gus. I thought it was going to be me that exploded at him." Gus snorted.

"That was a bit of a shock. You always were prone to explosive verbal outbursts." Hannah laughed and the tension loosened as Gus smiled. "How are you feeling?" Hannah shrugged and she looked past Gus, staring at the rising crescent moon. There wasn't much to feel really. She felt numb but then at the same time, she felt sort of relieved at the fact that she had gone to see Miles. Relieved that she had seen him and had said what she had wanted to say. 

"I'm okay. I'll be better later, I guess. Bit of a surprise when he apologized."
"Surprised is a nice word for it." Gus shook his head. "When he said that, I couldn't stop myself from saying all of that, y'know? It was like verbal diarrhea." Hannah snorted in return and rested her head against the head rest and sighed.

"I wish it was easier to be able to accept his apology. I wish that it wasn't so hard." Hannah murmured. "All that talk in church about forgiveness and forgiving our enemies and it's just so damn hard." Gus made a noise. "What?"

"Just.. You talking about church now. I can't believe that the grands made you go."

"I can. And I'm grateful. Maybe not right now because I really want to go back and punch our father in the face but in the long run, it's been great. You should come on Sunday." Gus shook his head and Hannah sighed.

Looking down at her watch, Hannah decided it was time to go home. Grabbing her stuff, she turned to Gus and kissed him on the cheek, something she thought she would never do to her brother again.

"Just think about it, bro. Seriously. But go have fun with Brennan. Don't want to keep her waiting. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to identify, nor find your body if you make her mad." Gus snorted and watched Hannah get out the car. He shivered as the cold air blew into the car and as she closed his door and climbed into her own car, Gus couldn't help but feel grateful for the unlikely reunion between the two of them.

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"You and Augustus went to see Miles? How did that go?" Heather asked Hannah through the hands-free in her car. Hannah was driving the short drive home and had decided to call Heather to update her on the goings on of her day. She had kept her in the loop since she had decided on going to see Miles and Heather very much wanted to know how her son-in-law had handled seeing his children.

"He apologised for what he had done. And then Gus had a bit of verbal diarrhoea and I managed to remain calm."
"Kudos to you, sweetheart. So what did you say to his apology?"
"Basically that sorry doesn't undo everything he did and that we don't need him because Gus and I have each other and we have you and grandpa. It was very, very exhausting."
"I'm proud of you, Hannah. I actually expected it to be you to blow up." Hannah chuckled as she turned into her parking lot.

"Me too. Listen, I just pulled up home but I'll give you a call later, when I'm not feeling so tired."
"Good idea. Love you, Hannah."
"Love you to Gran. Give grandpa a hug from me."
"Will do sweetheart." Hannah hung up and sighed as she pulled into a free parking space. Hopping out of her car, she grabbed her bag and locked the door. Moving her keys as she moved towards the door, she didn't hear a car door opening and then being slammed closed. She did however hear the sound of someone running, heavy footfalls on the ground as they came towards her. Without thinking, Hannah grabbed her gun from its holster at her hip and turned, taking the safety off as she spun around, ready to shoot whoever it was that was running after her. Now that she was out of the car, she was feeling more drained than she had previously and was not in the mood for any misfits that wanted to mess with her.

"Whoa, put the gun down, Price." Hannah frowned and lowered the gun slightly as the voice came into the light.

"Booth? What the hell are you doing here?" Hannah clicked the safety on and lowered the gun and placed it back in its holster. Putting her hands on her hips, Hannah raised an eyebrow as Booth moved so that he stood under the opposing light to her, only just blocking her from entering the building. She shivered and puffed out a breath as she waited for a response. Booth scanned her face, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

"I had to come see you. Sweets said that you were going to go and see your dad and I thought-"

"Dammit Sweets. What, so Sweets decided that it was a good idea for you to come check on me? Yah, nah." Hannah went to move around him so that she could open the door, scanning her card and pulling it open.

"I wanted to see you and I decided to come see you. This was my idea to come here so don't kill Sweets." Hannah paused and turned to look at Booth, his face open and sincere and she felt a familiar pang in her gut. A pang that was all to familiar to her.

"And why, Booth? After what you did? You broke my heart and I have to see you every day at work and you thought hey, let's go see how Hannah is and the bugger off again, only to snap at her more tomorrow? What a great idea Booth! Because Hannah really needs to be comforted by a piece of shoestring." Hannah pursed her lips and Booth gritted his teeth.

"You don't understand- Hannah Elizabeth Price don't you dare walk away from me!" Hannah had turned away to walk inside and was in the process of closing the door when Booth called after her. Hannah scowled and pushed the door open. "Don't be a walking cliché. I know how much you hate those."
"You don't know anything, Seeley Booth. Honestly." Hannah went to close the door but Booth put his foot in the door, stopping her. She looked up and met his brown eyes, his warm, comforting brown eyes. She looked away and bit her lip.

"You don't understand, Hannah, that I didn't want to break up with you, okay? I didn't want that. It broke me to have to do that but sometimes, things have to be done to protect the people that we love." Hannah looked up again. Booth placed a hand on the edge of the door and pulled it open. Hannah didn't stop him, she just looked at him with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

"You broke up with me, Booth, because I wouldn't have sex with you. After you had clearly stated that you didn't care about that. What more is there to explain?"
"Can we please just talk? I'll explain everything."
"I thought you were just here to see if I was okay?" She asked suspiciously.

"I was but you changed the subject." Hannah hesitated but nodded and moved. Allowing Booth to enter out of the cold. She led the way to her apartment, taking the stairs two at a time, both in a sense to create space between them but to also to get information.

Behind her, Booth followed, staring at the back of her head the entire time. If he could just tell her the truth... At this point, he didn't care about his job. The past three weeks had been hellish and he had wants nothing but for things to return to normal. He wanted his Hannah back. He wanted to be able to walk into his office and have her sitting there in a rather uncomfortable looking position, drinking his coffee she had originally brought him but because she had finished hers, she had started drinking his. He wanted to be able to hug her, kiss her, tell her how much he loved her...

Only, there was the elephant in the room that he needed to get around. Thanks to Daisy and Hacker. Hannah was going to blast Daisy for this. That thought made Booth smile slightly.

Once in the apartment, the two were greeted by a disgruntled looking Aslan who stared between the two of them, unsure of who to demand food from. Hannah gave him a pat as she sorted out his food in silence as Booth stroked the cat, waiting.

She appeared at the breakfast bar a moment later and looked at Booth expectantly.

"Are you alright?" Booth asked. Hannah shrugged as she took her gun and its holster off its belt and put it in its usual place, followed by her badge.

"I'll be better once you explain yourself. What do you mean by you didn't want to break up with me?"

"I didn't. I had to. For the sake of our jobs." And the Booth launched into the whole explanation. He told her about Daisy finding out and telling Hacker, about Hacker calling Sweets and Booth to his office, about him saying that if it didn't end, one of the would lose their jobs. Hannah stood quietly the entire time, watching Booth explaining how he had to come up with a lie that would seem to ridiculous but would work into causing a break up. Inside, Hannah felt her stomach boil. As much as she loved her job, she really wanted to punch Hacker and his rules so hard into the next century that her fists curled into balls. Booth broke off when he saw that happen and he closed his mouth, thinking she was going to punch him.

"Hannah?"

"So it was a ruse? A ridiculous lie that hurt more than anything ever?" Booth nodded. "I'm going to punch Hacker. And Daisy. And anyone who tries to meddle in my life and relationships ever again. I swear on Merlins pants that I'll do that." Booth snorted and Hannah raised an eyebrow.

"It's just.. Merlin's pants?"

"Well I can't use the Lords name in vain, can I?" The tension broke between them and they both started laughing.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you outright. I didn't know what else to do. I know how much this job means to you." Hannah gave him a thin lipped smile and she reached over to gently wrap her hand around his, both leaning over the breakfast bar now. Booth stared down at her long fingers as she held his hand.

"You mean much more to me than my job, Seeley Booth. I honestly thought you knew that." Booth unraveled his hand from the fist it had been in and entwined his fingers with hers. Hannah's heart hammered in her chest. "But if you ever lie to me again like that, I swear on my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you." The weight of her forgivenes weighed on Booth like a weighted blanket. He met her gaze and smiled.

"I love you, Hannah Price. And I'm sorry that I hurt you so badly and I'm sorry that it's too late for us because of this mess but it's better late then never." Hannah felt her cheeks tinge pink and she couldn't help but smile.

"I love you too." She said quietly and Booth gave a light love. "Sucks that it's too late for us. Maybe if I accidentally shoot Daisy, I lose my job?" Hannah wondered out loud. Booths eyes widened.

"Nope. No. Hannah don't you dare." Hannah chuckled and pulled her hand from his to run a hand through her hair. She was exhausted and Booth could see that as she looked at the time. "I should go. I'll see you tomorrow." He stood and went for the door. Hannah watched him go, somewhat feel lighter than she had earlier. Watching Booth leave was hard though. She knew they could never have what they had ever again.

As the door closed, Hannah's phone rang in her pocket.  Pulling it out and seeing that it was Sweets, she answered it.

"I'm going to kill Daisy."
"Cool, is Booth still there?"
"No, he just left. Why?" Sweets made a sound that reminded Hannah of a trumpet.

"Go to him. Stop him. Tell him how much you love him. Smoosh your faces together."
"Sweets-"
"I've got Hacker covered. I used psychology against him- you can tell Brennan that psychology IS EFFECTIVE-  But you need to go and get your Booth!" He hung up and Hannah stood there in mild confusion. Her legs seemed to be more up to date than her brain was because the next thing she knew, Hannah was out her front door and racing for the stairs, desperate to stop Booth before he left.

Booths phone rang just as he was unlocking his car.

"Sweets?"
"Hannah loves you."
"I know."
"You can be together, Booth."
"Sweets, you know that's not possible."
"I've got Hacker under control. Just don't let her go so easily, okay?  And maybe help me hide Daisy for a while. Hannah has some serious murderous tendencies that I need to fix." He hung up and, as though perfectly timed, Booth heard the door being shoved open and turned to see a blur of blonde hair race towards him.

Hannah flung her arms around his neck and she pressed her lips to hers, her brain blanking out the past three weeks of pure hell and emotional turmoil.
Booth pulled her closer and the two stood in the parking lot as the snow began to fall around them.

"Stay."
"Always."

Authors Note

BOOM. WHAT THE HECK. I GOT THAT FINISHED IN LESS TIME THAN IT TOOK ME TO WRITE THE LAST CHAPTER.
GUYS I'M SO PROUD.

AND THERE'S ONLY ONE CHAPTER AND AN EPILOGUE LEFT.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK?!

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Okay, now that I've sort of calmed down, I better get crack-a-lackin on the next chapter.

Love and kisses to all your beautiful, unseen faces xxx

》 Bree 《