In honor of my dear friend, Lance Corporal Cody Collins, Marine Corps.
Please enjoy and review.
All references to medals, the Rangers etc are from is owned by Fox.
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"Sergeant Booth, this is Major Carson, Jenson was killed last week. Details are classified, but he went out fighting. Arlington Cemetery. Unmarked grave 29B. tonight at 0800. Rangers lead the way."
Booth heard the Major hang up and rubbed his forehead, he was in the middle of driving to a crime scene, Bones sitting next to him. Memories rushed through his mind.
He and Jenson were good buddies back in the service, carousing in many a bar around the world. Many people were killed by them all over the world. They were a solid team, the best sniper team in the whole service some said. Booth was the sniper and Jenson was the spotter. Like brothers. They always had each others back. Always.
Something about spending hours, and sometimes days in complete silence and stillness bonded one to another.
Trust. Loyalty. Courage. Faith. Honor.
All key to their integral relationship, but that was on duty.
Off duty it was more of a…..
Who danced with the prettiest girl, who got the most phone numbers, who drank who under the table, stuff like that.
Even off duty, they were the best of friends.
Jenson tried to convince him to stay on with the Rangers, but deep down Jenson knew that the demons that Booth carried would only grow larger if he remained in the service.
They'd tried to keep in touch, but Jenson was always in some other part of the world and Booth's life in the FBI was constantly busy. Communicating was hard when you both lived different lives. Different lives, but the same past. There were the occasional calls, none that mentioned anything classified, just one soldier reminiscing with another, one soldier crying with another.
A man can leave the Rangers, but the memories would never leave. Jenson knew, Booth knew, and it was always comforting to know that some else knew what they knew.
Booth arrived at the crime scene, he processed the scene completely on auto-pilot, his mind elsewhere, 15 years ago to be precise, with the memories, the good and the bad.
They began to drive back to the Jeffersonian when Booth pulled over. He looked at his watch 0630, he didn't have time to drop Bones off and go change before going to the cemetery.
"Booth. What's wrong?" Brennan asked, knowing that it had something to do with the phone call.
"Do you mind if we make a stop…well two stops actually?" Booth asked, his voice almost pleading.
"No, I suppose not, Zach can handle the basic things, where are we going?" Brennan asked, furrowing her brow in confusion and concern.
"I have to go change, and then to see an old friend……I want you to come with me" He said, hoping that she'd accept
"Um…sure…should I change too?" She said examining her clothes.
"No…you look fine." He said with a wink.
He pulled in front of his apartment and they went in.
"I'll just be a few minutes, make yourself comfortable." He said as he went off to his bedroom, pulling his jacket off as he went.
Brennan looked around his apartment.
'I've never actually looked around his apartment. Typically male décor'
She walked over to the wall and saw several pictures of Booth and a few other men, laughing and having a good time.
She also looked at several awards and medals. The Purple Heart, three of them. Southwest Asia service medal…'Desert Storm…she thought'. A Kosovo campaign medal. A Prisoner of War medal….'oh Booth…'. An Army Commendation medal, a Distinguished Service Cross and a Medal of Honor. All laid neatly in glass frames.
'He is quite decorated…I had no idea' She thought to herself. Feeling a sense of pride for Booth.
'Why do I feel pride, that is illogical, I didn't win them, Booth did' Her logical anthropologist side thought.
'Yeah he did, and your proud for him and that's ok' She heard Angela's voice in her head
She turned when she heard shoes on the wood floor and what she saw took her breath away.
She'd always known Seeley Booth was a handsome man, but standing there, shoulders straight, back stiff, in his dark blue Army dress uniform, the pins on his chest shining, hat under his elbow, every bit the soldier that he once was. He was breathtaking.
"How do I look?" He asked with a charm smile
She swallowed and wet her lips.
"You look good." She said firmly.
"Are these some of the guys we'll see?" She said motioning to the pictures on the wall.
"Yeah, you'll see some of them, but that one" 'He pointed at a picture of himself and a blonde haired man smiling at the camera' "Jenson, he's the one that we're going to honor." He said firmly, his eyes resting on the picture with a fond smile.
"Oh, did he win an award?" She asked curiously
"Yeah, the best award any soldier could ask for, come on, I don't want to be late"
With that they stepped out, as soon as they were outside Booth placed his hat firmly on his head.
Brennan looked back at him and smiled.
"Come on soldier boy"
He laughed and got into the car and drove to the cemetery, when they arrived it was dark, some lights were lit, but the cemetery itself, was silent…..serene.
They walked to the top of a hill and stopped in front of a white cross, on it was carved '29B'. Booth looked up through the fog and saw several other men climbing the hill, their silhouettes puncturing the fog.
Booth stood up straight and saluted to the man that came forward.
"Major"
"At ease Sergeant, your not in the service anymore, you don't have to salute me" The weathered old major chuckled
"It's just habit sir" Booth said with a grin.
Several other men came around Booth, Brennan just stood aside and observed.
Some clapped Booth on the back heartily, several even gave him 'guy hugs'. Laughing, the 'I haven't seen you since…..' were exchanged back and forth. Booth being goaded for becoming a 'suit' good naturedly of course.
'This is his family, well…. part of his family' Brennan mused as she observed the side of Booth that she's never seen before, the Ranger side.
Suddenly the raucous noise stopped and 4 men stood in line, leading to the grave, 2 on each side, a procession began the Major and Booth were at the head of it.
The 4 men began folding an American flag, very carefully, and the end of the folding, the Major placed 3 bullets, 4 Purple Hearts, a Medal of Honor, and a Distinguished Service Cross, all pinned to a tan beret, into the last fold of the flag, he took the flag and knelt in front of the grave.
All of the men took off their hats.
"Lieutenant Jenson it was an honor serving beside you, these medals are a legacy, attesting to your valor. Your fellow brothers and I, are very proud to be called a Ranger alongside you. May you rest in eternal peace and honor, for that is the reward of all honorable soldiers." The Major said, his face stoic, he stood up and turned sharply he folded the last piece of the flag and presented it to Booth.
"I, Sergeant Seeley Booth of the United States Army 75th Ranger Regiment 3rd Battalion do hereby accept this flag in honor of Lieutenant John Jenson, and I will honor the sacrifice he has made by telling my children the stories of his valor, friendship, honor, and loyalty." Booth said firmly as he took the flag from the Major, tucking it under his arm.
"RANGERS!" The Major yelled
"YES SIR" The men replied
"LEAD THE WAY!" The Major yelled back.
All of the men yelled in unison "HMP"
They put their hats back on and saluted the tombstone, and then marched in two lines out of the cemetery, leaving Booth and Brennan behind.
She smiled at him gently, and walked over to him, placing her hand on his, which was clenching the flag.
He looked at her with eyes full of pride and grief.
"That ceremony seemed a little….unconventional?" She asked questioningly.
"Jenson and I were special black ops soldiers; no one knew that we ever existed. When I got out I got my identity back, but since Jenson fell in combat, he remains unknown, non-existent, but once a Ranger, always a Ranger, those that were here were the ones closest to him, we wanted to give him some sort of ceremony. So we did" Booth said with a smile as he walked over to the white cross. He placed his hand gently on it, as if he was placing a hand on an old friends shoulder.
"Sleep well my friend, and we'll continue the fight for justice" He said firmly, he walked away, and on instinct he grabbed onto Brennan's hand, feeling her squeeze back made him relax and smile down at her.
"Thanks for coming with me, I couldn't have done it without you" He said gently as they walked to the car.
"Why? I didn't really do anything" She said
"You let me show you a side of myself that no one has ever seen before, Rebecca rejected it, and I didn't feel close enough to anyone else to show it. So thanks." He said as he placed the flag gently in the back seat of the car, and helped her into the car, he was about to shut the door when Brennan stopped him.
"I accept you and I accept the sacrifices you've had to make for this side of you" She said firmly
At that moment a great burden was lifted off of Seeley Booth's shoulders. Someone who could accept all of him, it was a nice feeling, to be open, to be free.
He leaned in and whispered 'thanks' right before his lips met hers in a gentle kiss that was the preview of the many to come.
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This piece of writing is not meant to be political, it is not meant to take sides on any matter, it was simply written to show and express honor to the men who have given their lives to my country.
Thank you for reading, but please review with kindness, and not hatred, or opinions on the current war.