REPOST!
TitleThe Atheist and the Christian
GenreRomance
RatingK+
Parings
Seeley Booth always prayed for her. Every night.
She didn't know it.
Seeley Booth had prayed for her in Jack Hodgins' teeny tiny car on the way to save her not so very long ago from Jamie Kenton.
He had done just that.
Seeley Booth had prayed that he and the team would find her and Hodgins in time when the both of them had been taken by the notorious Grave Digger, buried in her car. He had actually just prayed to find her, but no harm, no foul in his game, right?
Either way, he had saved her again.
And he prayed for her every other time in between. Even when she probably didn't need it. But he still prayed for her. His partner, Doctor Temperance Brennan. He prayed for her life and her very existence. When she was in danger and when she wasn't.
She didn't know it.
It was a calm Sunday night and Booth was alone in the church not so very far from the Jeffersonian Memorial, sitting in the middle row. He was thinking about Brennan. Praying for her like always. But tonight, he was praying that she was making all the right moves and choices with Tim Sullivan. That she was doing everything right. Everything he hadn't with his past relationships. He hoped she wouldn't fall hard like he had. He really did.
His head went up when he heard the door behind him open and heels hit the wooden floor. He looked behind him and smiled almost boyishly when he saw Brennan standing there. He waved.
Brennan made her way over to where he was sitting and slid into the bench next to him.
It was then that Booth noticed she looked like she had been and was crying. Her usually soft complexion was tear-stained and her eyes were positively red. His heart immediately went to her. "Bones, are you--"
"I'm fine," she looked down at her hands.
Booth didn't buy it. He knew her all too well. "Bones..." he made her look at him, a thought then coming to mind. The whole reason he'd been there praying for her. "Bones, did Sully hurt you and don't you dare lie to me."
Brennan shook her head. "No, Booth. I just..." She took a deep breath. "I don't know what to do. I think I love him, but at the same time..." she paused. "I don't know."
Booth stared ahead and dropped his gaze. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But you're happy, Bones," he looked at her. "Happier than I've seen you in a long time. Sully's like a breath of fresh air for you. Why do you want to give all that up?"
"I don't. I'm just lost. I don't know where we're going." She dried her eyes. "Why were you here?"
Booth looked at her. "I was praying. It's one of my things I do every Sunday night. I liked it best because it's just me." He smiled and pointed upwards. "Me and, uh, you know."
Brennan smiled and shook her head.
"Benefit of the doubt," Booth grinned.
"I don't know what that means."
Silence fell between the two before Booth sighed and said seriously, "You know, Bones, you shouldn't be lost. Sully really cares for you. Don't lose the good thing you have going here."
Brennan nodded and Booth laughed suddenly then. She looked sideways at him. "You just give a heartfelt speech, then laugh? Your methods are strange, Seeley Booth."
"No, no that's not it. I, uh, just.." He looked at her. "Do you remember the last time we were both in a church together talking?"
Brennan nodded. "Yeah, it was after you saved Hodgins and I."
"Correction, Bones. Angela saved Hodgins," he gave her a boysih grin. "I saved you."
"Either way," Brennan stared ahead of her for a moment. "You told me you'd been praying for me after that case."
"Praying that I would find you."
"And you did."
Booth gave her a look. "Still think prayer doesn't work and that it's a waste of time?"
"I never said that."
"No, but you did say that you didn't believe in prayer and faith," Booth pointed out.
Brennan thought about that and decided to chew on it later. "What were you praying about this time?"
A pause followed between them again and Booth smiled, looking back at her. "You."
"What for?"
"That you make all the right choices. That you don't fall hard on your face with nobody to pick you back up." He took a moment of silence to let that sink in, then sighed. "That your relationships go how you always imagined them to be and hoped. To not--to not end up like me."
Brennan tossed her hair over her shoulder. "You mean Sully?"
"I didn't say that."
"That's what you meant." She gave him a solid look. Not daggers, but not soft. "Booth, I can manage my relationships. Sully--"
"I didn't meant to pry, Bones. I just thought I'd..." He sighed. "I pray for you every night, Bones. Whether you like it or not is your business, but what I believe and what you believe are two totally different beliefs." He tossed his hands up and sighed again. "What you do in life is your business. I just go along for the ride. And praying for you is what I do daily and nightly. It's my way of protecting you still even after we leave the Jeffersonian." He found the will to smile and toyed with his fingers. "It's my way of still being connected to you."
Brennan could swear she flushed. But she couldn't comment. Everything he had said made perfect sense. She couldn't beat it, couldn't argue over it. She swallowed hard and managed out the only thing that was in her mind at that moment. "Thank you."
Booth looked back at her, almost surprised. "What?"
"Just...thank you. I've never had someone care that much."
"Not even Sully?" Booth replied a little smartly, some ice to his tone,
Brennan shook her head, ignoring the tone altogether. "I don't know."
Booth nodded, getting up. "Fair enough, Temperance, fair enough."
"Does it work?" Brennan asked, turning to him as he started to walk away.
Booth shrugged with his hands in his pockets. "Depends on what you want the scientific definition to be."
"I don't want a scientific definition. I don't even want facts. I just want an answer."
Booth smiled and looked down for a breif moment. "Yeah," he looked back up at her with a nod, "it's worked everytime." He turned his back and walked to the doors, Brennan's eyes following. He stopped at the doors, hands on the handles and smiled again. Not turning around, he told her, "So far."
Seeley Booth prayed for Temperance Brennan every night. Every day.
Now she knew.
Sure, they were different as different would come. She was a scientist...an Atheist at heart. He was a FBI agent...a Christian at heart. Two veyer different views on life, two very different lifestyles. It amazed the both of them how well they would often times mesh together. But the one thing both agreed on was that what Booth did for her worked. Every time.
So far.
JayJay