She'll Be Okay
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She'd always been a little uneasy when it came to the topic of Booth's past. Anthropologically, she knew that it should spark her curiosity, but then why did she feel that terrible ache when he told her,
"I've been tortured worse."
To know that he'd suffered through a pain greater than that which had been inflicted on him earlier that day made her chest tighten. And how ridiculous, she couldn't help but think. Because over the years she'd worked so hard to keep her emotions in check and bottled up with a tight seal, and all he had to do was say a few words to make her unravel. In all her earlier years of being alone (with the exception of Angela, of course), she hadn't lost her calm demeanor once, but ever since she'd taken up Booth as her partner, she'd seemed to have softened up far too much for her liking.
Admittedly, it was her fault. She'd asked to go out into the field and in doing so, she'd let herself get closer to Booth. She'd proved that much earlier that day, when she'd hit that bounty hunter…
It was becoming rather frustrating. Her carefully constructed emotionless bubble was on the verge of being burst and—though she'd never admit it—she was feeling rather helpless to stop it. Since she'd become Booth's partner, she'd found herself slipping out of her comfort zone far too many times. Since the first time, she'd begun to wonder if this partner thing was such a good idea after all…
She sighed and they spoke of her father. Booth's words comforted and worried her at the same time. Her thoughts got away from her as she wondered if her father was okay and considered the events of the day; from finding out that Booth was MIA and confronting the bounty hunter, to finding her partner being tortured and letting her father escape.
She shook her head, as if to rid herself of the memories, and said quietly, "There's this old song…it's called 'Keep on Tryin'…"
Booth looked up curiously. "Yeah," he said, "by Poco."
"You know it?" she asked in surprise. He grinned at her, tone starting out in a hum and dragging out into the words of the very same song that her father had sung to her a couple of days ago. Though she fought it, her mouth curved into a grin not unlike Booth's as she found herself singing along. Much to her horror, she felt tears pricking at her eyes, but continued to sing none-the-less.
It was funny, how easily he could make her smile—and simply by singing (rather off-key, she might add).
But then…
Maybe it wasn't so bad; being Seeley Booth's partner.
Later that night, when he drove her to her apartment and walked her to her door (she'd insisted it wasn't necessary, because, "I can take care of myself, you know." but he ended up taking her anyway, because…well… "Come on, are you really going to say no to this face?"), he turned to her and asked if she was okay. She'd been acting a little weird all night and—though he'd never admit it—he was a bit worried…
She gave him a funny look, one he didn't recognize, and then nodded slowly. "Yeah…" she said, "I think I'm going to be okay."
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A/N: I know I really should be working on the other million story's I've got goin' on, but I was watchin' a Bones re-run last night (The Killer in the Concrete) and I was all; dhflsahjkddshlsffff MUST WRITE. So I did, and this is what happened.