#159 - Babylon - Ruined Conflicts - angelswilliam - Bones

[nondenomifan.livejournal.com]

Title: Ruined Conflicts
Fandom: Bones
Characters: Seeley Booth & Temperance Brennan
Prompt: tamingthemuse #159 Babylon
Rating: Ages 13 & up, just to be safe
Genre: General
Word Count: 895
Spoilers/Warnings: SPOILERS: MAJOR for Season 3 Finale; WARNINGS: Argument whether a war was valid. Heavy angst.
Summary: Booth already feels bad enough about things he did in the Middle East. He doesn't need anyone lecturing him about the negative effects of war.
Disclaimer: Not mine. The people who created, wrote, produced, and distributed the original characters and/or plots own everything this writing is based on. This is just me having fun. Besides, I'm broke, so you won't get nuttin' if you sue.
Feedback: Concrit and stroking are welcome. Flames will get R2-D2's CO2 spray in the face.
Author's note: The opinions on war expressed in this fanfic are not necessarily my opinions. I therefore respectfully ask that yours are kept to yourself. I suck at history, geography, and other social sciences, so I am taking writer's license with Booth's wartime service.
Distribution: If I'm a member of your archive, community, forum, group, etc., please remind me if I don't post it. Anyone else, please comment with an invite.

* * * * *

Dr. Temperance Brennan turned away from her laptop when she heard the rap against the frame of her office door.

"Booth," she said as she saw her partner, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, standing there.

"You rang?"

"Nn-nooooo, I didn't call you because you said you had a meeting this morning. I left a message on your voice mail."

Booth smiled inwardly, as always charmed by her literal interpretations. "Right. That's what I meant. You called and left me a message."

"Oh. You should have said that, then."

He cleared his throat and stepped into her office, sitting on the vinyl sofa immediately to the right against the wall. "So, you wanted something?"

"Oh. Yes." She turned her chair around fully to face him, then. "I'm going away for an indeterminate amount of time, so the Jeffersonian will be assigning you some new forensic anthropologists in my absence."

Booth just stared at her, his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Booth? Did you hear what I said?"

He blinked once, twice, then shook his head and seemed to see her with new eyes. "What? Oh! Um--Yeah! Away? How long?"

"Indeterminate," she repeated slowly. "That means I have no way of knowing at this time how long I'll be gone."

"I know what it means, Bones."

"Then why did you ask?"

"I just--" He sighed, then continued, "I thought you were the only forensic anthropologist here, now that Zack isn't available."

She nodded. "Technically, that's correct. However, we've discussed it and we feel that my brightest grad students under Dr. Saroyan's supervision, along with the assistance of the rest of the team, should suffice."

Booth shook his head and an outstretched index finger. "Waaaaaaaaaaaait a minute, wait a minute. A month ago, you couldn't choose which of these grad students you wanted to replace Zack because you found fault in each and every one of them. Now, you're telling me they 'should suffice' in your absence? So, they're not good enough for you but they're good enough for me?"

She smiled at him and gave a short, throaty laugh. "You misunderstand me, Booth. I'm not just giving you one grad student. You'll be getting all the brightest working on each case...at once: Mr. Fisher, Mr. Edison, Mr. Nigel Murray, and Mr. Bray."

With pinched features, Booth asked in a small voice, "They don't have to come out in the field with me, do they?"

She sat straight up in her chair. "Absolutely not! The only time they will be out in the field is to retrieve remains for transport to the Jeffersonian. Otherwise, they will remain here and examine any remains they receive from you or the FBI. They are not prepared for any other aspects of field work."

Booth nodded, relaxing a bit. "So...can you at least tell me where you're going, or is that indeterminate, too?"

"You're making fun of me."

"No." He sat straight up. "I'm not. Really. I'm just hoping you can give me at least that much."

"That much what?"

Booth sighed, gathering patience. "That much information, Temperance. Meaning, can you at least tell me where you're going to be if you can't tell me how long you're going to be there?"

"Ohhhh!" She said with a slow nod. "Yes. I'm going to Babylon; or, more accurately, the ruins of Babylon. What was once a monument to many significant points in anthropological history has been destroyed by war in the Middle East."

Booth immediately bristled. "Yeah, well...when you're running for your life and shooting the guy behind you so he can't shoot you first, you aren't exactly thinking about the scenery, Bones."

"An historical city isn't ruined by gunfire, Booth." She stood, then moved to sit facing him on the sofa. "It's ruined by bombing, possibly by heavy vehicle and artillery traffic such as tanks."

Booth looked away. "Again, not thinking about the scenery. Thinking about keeping the enemy from killing us."

"Well, perhaps your thoughts were misdirected."

Booth turned his head sharply to face her, eyes open wide. "You're kidding me, right? You know how many men we lost over there? How many soldiers? How many friends I lost??? You know. I told you. I lost my buddy right there in front of me when his weapon malfunctioned." He gestured wildly as he spoke. "Do you think their guys stopped to think for one minute, 'Oh, gee, maybe we shouldn't kill him because his gun isn't working.'" His eyes pinned her to the spot. "You don't have time to even notice things like that, Temperance, much less process them. All you know is it's kill or be killed. I'm not saying I'm proud of what I did over there. You know I'm not. I'm not saying it's all right or justified. I'm just telling you what happened and how it was and...that you just don't know. No one who wasn't there knows. No one knows."

His eyes were shiny with tears, reddening around the edges with the effort to keep them in.

"I'm sorry, Booth. I didn't--"

"Yeah, well...you should be."

"I didn't mean to offend you."

"Just...don't." He stood abruptly and started through the door. He stopped just outside, clutching the door frame to steady himself. "Have a nice trip."

With that, he was gone, leaving her with eyes much like his...except her tears escaped down her cheeks.

~THE END~

Comments

[akasakasan.livejournal.com]

Absolutly fantastic story! I love Bones but I've never read any fanfiction from that fandom. However this story was sensational! I can imagine this happening on the show, the characters are very in character and I can actually picture this scene playing out in my head. Very heartwrenching. I can feel Booth's pain.

Excellent use of the prompt!

[nondenomifan.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I've been struggling to get these characters' voices right, so your feedback really means a lot! I have a lot of insight into what goes on during war and after war in a soldier's head. It is NOT FUN. Neither is a lot of the physical/environmental stuff. *shivers just thinking about some of the information I've seen* Don't ask me for specifics because I can't give them. I don't think I heard anything on the job that would put me in Federal Prison if I divulged, but I'm not going to take any chances!

[yanagi-wa.livejournal.com]

Ouch! Great story but it is a bit sad.

[nondenomifan.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is, but it's meant to be that way, so thank you for feeding back and telling me so!