Not Yet K+

A/N: Self-indulgent post-ep for The Hero in the Hold. Finished the episode literally five minutes after the episode. Not beta’d, probably worse off for it.
*~*~*~*~*

Corporal Edward Parker, resident ghost in the mind of one Seeley Booth, had asked him if he had anyone he should have told he loved. He had thought knew what the dead man; just a kid, really, had meant. He also knew that the likelihood of getting out of that old ship was close to zero. It was rigged, and ready to blow rather soon. He doubted he would get out of this one alive. A pity, really. ‘Cause of death: boat’ would look pathetic on his death certificate.

And when he saw Brennan, his Bones, in the helicopter; his miraculous escape, he knew what Corporal Parker had meant. Smart kid, for a ghost, he thought. Then again, Corporal Parker would know better than anyone else that you had to tell them, before something snatched you away far too early. Claire never got to hear it, and she was probably worse off for it.

But when he embraced Brennan in the helicopter, as they flew away from the boat, he faltered. He made his excuses—whether to himself, or to Corporal Parker, he didn’t know. All he could think of was ‘not yet’. Soon, he promised himself. But not just yet.

Part 2:

They say that sometimes, you see your dead relatives or friends just after they have died. Or maybe that was that episode from that TV show, The X-Files, that Angela had been making her watch. But Brennan still couldn’t reason it out—and she could reason anything, to the point where Booth was say it was dead and buried. The irony in the phrase did not escape her.

The man who Booth had claimed to see had died long ago. He had died before Brennan had met Booth, before any of them had even thought about the Jeffersonian. At the age of twenty, barely an adult, and yet fighting in a war. Brennan refused to let anything surprise her anymore. Not after seeing bones that had belonged to a three year old in a mass grave in Guatemala.

But all the things that Booth had done pointed towards there being two men on that boat. He had escaped, and she was grateful for that. But the facts did not add up in her mind. Brennan usually hated that, but this time, it didn’t bother her. He was with her now.

The boat was gone now. Sunk, now a home for fish. Fish who wouldn’t be feeding on Booth’s body. She couldn’t examine the evidence, or discover how Booth had made his way out. And Booth seemed to believe there was some higher power that had helped him escape. She had just looked at him skeptically, and he had smiled in return.

Brennan had settled for being thankful, quenching her curiosity with morbid ‘what ifs’. She was glad that he could still smile at her, and laugh, and believe in ghosts, zombies, gods, and whatever illogical thing he wanted. As long as he was around to do it and drive her crazy, she wasn’t sure if she cared.

Shayna, I really liked this. My favorite part ...

But when he embraced Brennan in the helicopter, as they flew away from the boat, he faltered. He made his excuses—whether to himself, or to Corporal Parker, he didn’t know. All he could think of was ‘not yet’. Soon, he promised himself. But not just yet.

That rings so, so true.

I looooooooove it! heheh Especially that last line!