A/N: I was watching THE DOCTOR IN THE PHOTO ep and I realized just how much I like the actor Enrico Colantoni (Micah – the nightwatchman) from TV shows like Just Shoot Me and Veronica Mars and I thought I'd give him the "own sad story" he talked to Bren about. It's just my own creation, so enjoy.
I don't own the characters… but I sure do like playing with them!
"Is everything alright, Dr. Brennan?" Micah asked as Brennan frowned, peering closely at the bones laid out on the table in front of her.
She looked up from the remains and met the nightwatchman's eyes. "There seems to be an abnormality in the bones," she explained vaguely.
"No," he corrected. "I mean you seem a little off."
"Decomposition of body tissue while still alive seems very unlikely-"
Micah laughed. He found her naivety charming. "What brings you hear so late, Dr. Brennan?"
"Oh," she said realizing the meaning of his words. "I couldn't sleep."
"Something weighing on your mind?" he asked politely.
Brennan touched her hand to her swollen belly. "I guess so," she admitted. "I worry that I won't be a good mother. I know I don't have people skills the way that Booth does, and he seems to know how to respond to an infant and I-"
"This is your first child," he said with a small smile. "Go easy on yourself, Dr. Brennan. Agent Booth has already had practise with his son. Ergo. Ipso-facto. Colombo. Oreo."
Brennan smiled at his choice of words, it seemed to her that his belief in her was stronger than her belief in herself, and surprisingly, she felt better about it all. "That makes sense. Thanks, Micah."
"Any time," he replied.
Brennan had known this man for nine years and all she really knew was that he attended a lot of lectures, and that somehow everything he said she understood – for the most part, despite that she didn't have that with anyone else. Brennan was curious about him. He'd told her once that he had a story of his own, a sad story, if she recalled. Brennan was curious about what exactly that entailed. "What is your story, Micah?" she asked quietly.
"I thought you'd never ask. Do you have a few hours?" he smiled.
"I, um," she looked at her watch. Booth would surely be worried about her if she didn't call in, but she was immensely interested in hearing what Micah had to say. "I could spare two hours or-"
Micah laughed at her. "I was exaggerating, Dr. Brennan. I have a long story."
"I want to hear it," she assured him. Brennan took a chair from against the wall and sat down.
"Alright," he perched himself on the seat beside her and studied his hands. "I was nineteen when I met Jane. She was a nurse in a hospital where I was admitted for a head injury. I'd been attacked in an alley and robbed, three blocks from home. Jane was on rounds that night and when I met her I just knew she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It happens that quickly."
"I didn't know you were married," she told him. In fact, Brennan knew very little about people, because she never cared to ask. But she was interested in Micah's story, though she didn't know why. Maybe because he was the one she could understand when she didn't understand anyone else. They seemed to have built a bond of trust over the past nine years.
"I'm not married anymore. I pursued her, never taking no for an answer until she finally agreed to marry me. Jane and I had two children, by the time I was twenty-five. They were young ones. Our daughter, Ella, was four and our son, Mike, was six. Mike wanted to be a football player… he was really good, too. Ella was still stuck in her princess phase."
Brennan frowned. "I don't know what that means."
"Ella was a princess, she wanted to grow up and be a princess. She was only four, she believed in fairytales and happy endings."
"Believed?" Brennan asked. "As in past tense?"
Micah nodded with a tight smile spread across his face.
Brennan finally understood.
"I was working in a supermarket at the time. I was the manager and it was my day off. But one of my trainee's was having trouble working the cash register. I was called in to assist. But I had promised my wife that I'd spend the day with her and the kids. Jane had organised a camping trip… one of our favourite spots on the beach among the sand dunes. It was secluded there."
Micah took a break as he stared at his hands.
Brennan patiently waited for him to go on, though she was itching to find out what had happened to his family, and what exactly had brought him to the Jeffersonian institute, working as a nightwatchman.
Micah took a deep breath. "I told Jane that I would meet her there, and I wouldn't be long. I was there for two and half hours, teaching some trainee how to work the cash register," he shook his head at the memory. "I should have just got someone else to teach her. I was out of patience. But I was the manager and I felt it was my responsibility. I left as soon as I could taking the road that Jane and I always travelled. I got about ten k out of town when there was a mess of traffic on the highway. I got a feeling in my gut that something was wrong. I ran from the car all the way up the front where I saw Jane's car smashed against a tree… the policeman on the scene said that she swerved to miss a kid on her bicycle. What was a young child doing riding her bike on the highway without her parents?" he asked.
Brennan understood that this was a rhetorical question, and wisely chose not to answer.
"When they died, I just retreated into myself. I began to see them everywhere I went. When I went to the shops, I saw them in the car-park… I saw Jane's car… I saw my kids in the park."
"I am aware that's a normal reaction to have after a traumatic experience, though it's not the reality-"
"I know that, Dr. Brennan," he smiled softy, patient with her where others wouldn't have been. "Regardless of the mental state I was in, I hated being awake during the day. I hated that I saw them all in every face in every crowd. I hated the day time. I used to sleep all day and then be up at night. It became easier to live without them when it was dark," he explained. "Less memories, you know?"
Brennan felt compassion and empathy - an emotion that was rare for her to feel for others, given her own childhood trauma, and she actually reached out and touched his arm gently with her hand. "So, you chose to be a nightwatchman?" she guessed.
"I did," he agreed. "I listen to a lot of lectures because it stops the thoughts and gives me something to do."
Brennan nodded. She understood that. Brennan herself, kept busy with her own work for the same reason.
"Thanks for listening, Dr. Brennan," Micah stood from the seat in which he'd been occupying and turned to look at Brennan. "I must be getting back."
"You have a very interesting story, Micah, and a sad one at that," she said. "I believe in situations like this it's customary for people to say, 'I'm sorry for your loss.'?"
"It is," Micah nodded. "And thank you."
He left the room then, leaving Brennan watching after him. It was safe to say she liked and respected Micah.
Brennan looked at her watch, and realised that she needed to get back to Booth.
It was a little different for me, I think. =)) I hope you enjoyed it… reviews will make me smile. =))