Burning the Midnight Oil by traciepwns
Summary: What happened between the time Sully left Brennan in the interrogation room and the next morning at the marina?
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Booth/Sully Brennan/Booth, Brennan/Sully
Spoilers: Missing
scene fic for "The Boneless Bride in the River"
Notes: So, it was pointed out to me that the last fic I wrote was also a missing scene fic from The Boneless Bride in the River too. Guess I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I had. Anywho, if you like this one you might want to check out "Sixty Hours" as well. It takes place after Booth and Brennan left the Marina. Feedback is always appreciated. :)
In his office, Booth sat behind the desk,
rhythmically tapping his pencil on it, and staring at a pile of
paperwork.. He had hoped that by staying late at work, he'd be able to
make some kind of noticeable dent, but no such luck. The conversation he
had with Brennan earlier at the graveyard kept replaying itself in his
head. She was really going to leave. For an entire year. He had wanted
to tell her to stay, but what right did he have? After being
relentlessly teased by Booth for her poor choice of men, she finally had
a good one. So who was he stand in her way? They both knew there was
something more between them, something that went beyond the realm of
partnership or friendship. But, Booth had drawn that line months ago,
deciding that living in denial was a lot easier than longing for
something that they both agreed they could never have. Deep in thought,
he was unaware that someone was standing in the threshold of his
office.
"Hey, Booth. Burning the midnight oil?" Sully asked, wandering into the
office and sitting in the chair in front of Booth's desk.
"Yeah, something like that," he said, lightly laughing. "I was just
trying to finish up some paperwork."
"You? Doing paperwork at 8 o'clock on a Friday night? No hot date?"
Sully commented, while shrugging off his jacket.
"Well, it's gotta get done somehow because it sure isn't going to take
care of itself." The two men laughed then fell into a short period of
silence. They had been friends for years, but ever since Sully started
dating Brennan things had been a bit awkward between them at times,
especially when Sully would come to Booth for advice. As hard as he
tried to be objective, Booth sometimes faltered and was caught off
guard. Those were the times Sully would catch him and call him on it.
Thankfully, now wasn't one of those times. "Hey, aren't you guys leaving
tomorrow? Shouldn't you be packing or doing whatever you do to get that
boat of yours running?"
Sully adjusted his position in the chair and looked up at Booth. "She
said no."
"Wait, what?" Booth stammered as he propped himself forward in his
chair. "What do you mean, 'she said no?'"
"Brennan," Sully stated. "She's not coming with me."
For just a split second, Booth was elated by the news that Bones had
decided to stay in DC, but as soon as he looked at Sully's face he
realized how upset his friend was. He knew that Sully cared about her.
Putting himself in Sully's shoes, he knew exactly how he would have felt
if she had left.
"Sully, man. I'm sorry. I know how excited you were for this. I told her
that she should go..." he trailed off.
"I know. She told me. She said work is what's keeping her here, but I
have a feeling it's something more - or rather, someone else." He eyed
Booth.
"Look, I told you," Booth said as he stood up and started to pace
slowly. "There is nothing going on between me and Bones. We're
partners..."
"Methinks thou dost protest too much."
"What?"
"Don't you ever feel like a broken record?" Sully asked. "Repeating the
same mantra, every time someone asks about you two? What I'm wondering,
though, is who you are trying to convince? Us or yourself? Whether you
want to admit it or not, Booth, there's something between the two of
you. Granted, I think you guys have a long way to go before you're ready
to accept that, but it's there."
"Sul, you just don't get it."
"What is there to get?"
"Bones and I, we can't ever be involved...romantically. We've agreed
that there's way too much at stake. She deserves to be with a good guy
and to be happy and for once, she's found that in you. You know that
when she gets scared, she pushes people away. Why are you letting her do
it?"
"I'm not. I tried, Booth, but we have different goals right now. I'm a
strong believer in letting people make their own decisions. I've had way
too many people in the past try to control my life and question my
choices. I wouldn't put my life on hold for them so how can I expect
Brennan to put hers on hold for me?"
"She's worth it, man."
"I know she is. That's why I'm letting her go. She needs to figure out
exactly what's going on in that over-analytical brain of hers. And, when
I get back, if we're meant to be we'll find our way back to each other.
But, if things turn out differently I can accept that too." He paused.
"I need you to do a favor for me."
"What kind of a favor, Sully? Because last time..."
"No," he laughed. "Nothing like that at all. I just need you to be there
for her tomorrow when I leave. You and I both know that she's going to
pretend to be fine with it, but I know this is hard on her. I saw it in
her eyes right before I left the interrogation room."
"Yeah, and this probably won't bode well for her abandonment issues,"
Booth stated, as he finally stopped pacing and returned to his chair.
"Hey, I asked her to go..." Sully started, defensively.
"I know, Sul. I wasn't judging." Booth leaned back and propped his legs
up on the desk. "I just know it's hard for her. She's afraid to open up
to people because she believes that it's inevitable that they'll wind up
leaving. And with her father and brother taking off again only a few
months ago, those emotions are still raw. Even though she had a choice
this time, the results are still the same. Someone she cares about is
leaving her behind."
"What am I supposed to do, Booth? After Dennis was killed, I swore to
myself that I was going to take every opportunity I could and that when
I felt like I wasn't happy with my career, I would get out or at least
take a break. If I don't do this now, I'm going to become one of those
jaded agents who doesn't give a shit about his job and becomes a pawn
for 'the man.' I don't want to become that guy. Someone can only take so
much death and mutilation before they need a break from it all, you know
what I mean? I just don't understand how she can deal with it
constantly, day in and day out, and not have it effect her."
"It does, more than she lets on. But she also knows that her job is
important. Bones gives a voice to the dead and gives their families a
sense of closure in knowing what happened—which was something she didn't
have for most of her life. It makes her feel like she has a purpose in
the world."
"Yeah, I can see that." Sully said. "I guess that's what they mean when
they say opposites attract. She gets joy out of being in a lab,
identifying bones, while I prefer sipping a nice cold beer on a warm,
sunny beach."
"If only you knew her when I first met her, Sul. She's come a long way,
and you've definitely had something to do with that. Hell, she actually
leaves work before 8pm now. That's says a lot."
"Hey, it wasn't all my doing. I'm sure you and Angela did a pretty good
job corrupting her way before I came along," Sully laughed and then
turned serious again. "This wasn't an easy decision for me either,
Booth. I thought about staying. Really, I did. But I didn't want it to
ever turn into one of those situations where I wind up resenting my
decision and, in turn, wind up resenting her. I love her and I'm going
to miss her like crazy, Booth, but I can't stay." He paused, glancing at
his friend. "And, oh my god, in bed she's just…"
Booth immediately sat up straight and put his hands up in the air,
halting Sully mid sentence. "Okay, we don't really need to go there, do
we?"
"Sorry, I forgot. You don't like discussing sex."
"I never—" Booth started, getting flustered. "Why do you people think
I have issues talking about sex? Bones says the same thing. I don't have
issues, I just don't feel comfortable talking about it with her."
"Or to me about sex with her," Sully said triumphantly. Booth scrunched
up his face in reaction to Sully's comment as he watched Sully walk over
to the bookshelf in the far corner of the office. "I'm telling you,
Booth. For someone who claims that he doesn't have the hots for his
partner, you sure have a funny way of showing it."
------------------------------
After what seemed like hours, Brennan decided that she wasn't going to
get anything accomplished by hiding out in the interrogation room all
night. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she gathered her things and
headed down the hallway. As she passed Booth's office, out of the corner
of her eye she saw that his light was still on so She decided to see if,
by chance, he was still around. She stopped and paused in his doorway.
"Hey, Bones." Booth said, sitting upright as he noticed her standing
there. "What are you doing here so late?"
"I should be asking you the same thing," she countered as she walked
into the office.
"Paperwork," he stated, pointing to the piles of folders still sitting
on his desk. "And, last time I checked, this was FBI Headquarters. I
thought you left hours ago."
"Looks like that's going well, huh?" she joked, pointing at the
paperwork and sitting across from him. "And no, I didn't. Sully and I…"
Brennan trailed off.
"I know, Bones. He was here a few minutes ago. The guy seemed crushed."
"Do you think I made the wrong decision?"
"Nah. No decision would have been wrong, Bones. I'm sure you over
analyzed the crap out of every possible outcome. Besides, who am I to
argue with logic?"
"When don't you?" She retorted.
"Only when I know I'm right."
Brennan smiled at him. She missed this. She missed the banter. Ever
since the conversation they had shortly after Epps died, she had noticed
a slight change in Booth. She might not be able to read people, but she
had gotten pretty good at reading Booth over the years. And ever since
that day, it seemed like he had been trying to keep her at arms length.
He wasn't cold or distant, just different. Even though she couldn't put
her finger on exactly what was different about him. She knew that he
supported her relationship with Sully, but whenever the three of them
were in the room together he seemed to get uncomfortable. He and Sully
had been friends for a long time so she never quite understood why he
reacted the way he did.
Booth got up and sat down next to her in the chair, putting his hand on
her shoulder. "Hey, Bones. You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Booth. Just got lost in thought."
"Feel like stopping at the diner for some food?"
"Yeah, I'd like that. But, one condition, I'm driving." She got up,
grabbed his keys off the desk and headed towards the door before he
could protest but she stopped dead in her tracks when she nearly ran
straight into Sully. The two of them stared at each other for a few
minutes before anyone said anything.
"Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt." He paused, looking back and forth
between Booth and Brennan. "I just left my keys on the bookshelf." He
walking past them and grabbed the object in question off the shelf.
"No problem, Sul. We were just heading out for some food." Booth shifted
uncomfortably, moving his hands to his pockets. He knew there was a lot
his friend and Brennan needed to say to each other before Sully left in
the morning. That wouldn't happen if she left with Booth now. "Ya know
what? Why don't you two go on ahead without me." Booth turned away from
the two of them, walked to his desk, and sat down.
"But Booth..." Brennan began to protest.
"I, um, just realized that there's a report that uh, I really need to
finish up tonight. Totally slipped my mind earlier, go figure. The new
Deputy Director will have my head if I don't get it to him first thing
in the morning." Sorting through the files, he pulled one out "See?" He
said, pointing to the folder. "Needs to get done."
"Are you sure, Booth? Really, I didn't mean to interrupt," Sully said.
"Definitely. If I finish up here soon, maybe I'll catch up with you
guys."
Brennan looked at Booth as Sully put his arm around her back and started
to lead her out of the office. She knew his excuse was just that, an
excuse, but she knew his intentions were good. When they were about
halfway down the hallway, Sully paused and turned to her. "Could you
wait for me downstairs? I need a minute with Booth."
"Okay..." she said as she looked at him questioningly. "Why don't I just
meet you there?"
"Sure." He watched her as she turned to walk away. "Oh, and Tempe?" she
turned back around and looked at him. "Thanks." He watched as she smiled
and walked down the hallway. A few seconds later he found himself
outside Booth's office and watched briefly as the agent appeared to be
lost in thought. Knocking lightly on the doorframe, he entered the
office again as Booth looked up at him.
"Hey, forget your keys again? I thought you'd be halfway to the diner by
now," Booth joked.
"Look, Booth, thanks. I know what you just did there and I really
appreciate it."
"Me, what did I do?" He feigned innocence. "No problem, Sul. You guys
need to talk."
"I owe ya one."
"And I'll be sure to collect when you get back." Booth smiled. "Now, get
out of here. It's your last night and you have a incredible woman
waiting for you. Go and have fun."
"Tomorrow morning, you'll be there, right?"
"Most definitely."
And with that, Sully turned and walked away as Booth began packing up
his stuff to head home.
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