Ice Cream Comfort
Dr. Temperance Brennan wandered aimlessly through DC. She was never one to lack purpose in her life, so the idea of wandering aimlessly was new to her. She, however, had tried to do some work this Saturday morning, knowing that being at home with her thoughts would be useless. But when she got to the Medico-Legal lab, she looked around to find the area completely deserted. She rationalized that of course Angela would never work on a Saturday unless there was a case. And she knew that since Angela and Jack Hodgins were engaged, the likelihood of Hodgins working on a Saturday was slim. Cam rarely worked on Saturdays either. But Zack would always be there and he wasn't this Saturday.
Intellectually Brennan wasn't planning on seeing him; she knew that he was in a psychiatric institute since he was Gormogon's apprentice, but Zack was always a constant fixture in the lab when no one else was there. Brennan was unable to work, instead she knew she had to leave the lab, but with no fixed destination in mind, she wandered aimlessly through the city. Her feet unconsciously followed a path that was somewhat familiar to her, and soon she found herself in a park. She sat on a bench, staring up into the clouds.
She wondered why she was having such a hard time dealing with Zack's betrayal. She was usually so good at compartmentalizing and she had never been so affected by anything. Even when Booth had arrested her father, she didn't get this upset. Even though Brennan considered psychology a soft science and generally ignored it in everyday life, she wondered if she could find a psychological answer to why she was upset. She knew that Dr. Sweets would love to talk to her and analyze her , but she didn't want to talk to him at the moment. She decided maybe she should try to be Dr. Sweets.
She was lost in this train of thought when she heard footsteps approaching her. She glanced up, finally focusing on something. She saw Booth in front of her, dressed in his weekend attire of jeans and a tight t-shirt. He was holding Parker's hand and that was when she knew why she recognized the park. She had come here with Booth once when he came to pick up Parker.
"Hey Bones!" Parker exclaimed as he walked towards her. Brennan tried to smile at him, but felt like she was failing miserably.
"Hi Parker," she said, then glanced at her partner. "Booth." He noticed her lack of a smile and sat next to her.
"Hey Bones," he said, putting an arm around the back of the bench casually. He stared at her, and Parker seemed to know that something was wrong. He glanced between Booth and Brennan, until finally climbing into his father's lap and looking at Brennan curiously.
"Bones, what's wrong?" he asked. Brennan bit her lip; she was bad with people. How was she supposed to explain that Zack, one of the few members of what she considered her family, had completely betrayed her by killing people and feeding them to a cannibalistic man? He was only six; she couldn't tell him how cruel the world could be. She glanced helplessly at Booth and nodded when he mouthed the name "Zack."
"Buddy, one of Bones' friends had to go far away and she doesn't know when he'll come back," Booth explained. Parker looked up at him curiously.
"A friend to her like Brent is to Mommy?" Parker asked. Brennan looked incredulously at Booth. Was Parker asking if she had a sexual relationship with Zack?
"No, Bud, a friend like me. Like if I had to go away, that kind of thing."
"Oh, like when she thought you were dead?" Brennan bit her lip to keep from smiling. Parker was hitting all sorts of things that Booth didn't necessarily want to talk about and Brennan was slightly amused by it.
"Yes, Parker, kind of like that," Brennan agreed.
"I knew Daddy wasn't dead," Parker told her. "Why didn't you?" Brennan bit her lip and glanced up at Booth.
"It was just a mistake—she was supposed to be told," Booth sighed. Parker looked at Brennan again.
"What friend went away?" Parker asked curiously.
"Dr. Addy. I think you've met him once or twice."
"He's the one that is really weird," Parker said. "Right, Daddy?" Brennan glared at Booth angrily and Booth shrugged uneasily. "But you were friends. He seemed nice. He made that really cool robot Dad gave me for Christmas. It was a lot of fun." Brennan smiled down at Parker. He leaned up to whisper something to Booth and Booth nodded and gave Parker a twenty-dollar bill. Parker scampered off, with Booth's protective gaze following him.
"So, Bones, how have you been? Really?" Booth asked, his gaze shifting quickly over to Brennan. She shrugged, leaning closer to Booth. "Why are you here, Bones?" Brennan looked at him.
"I don't know. I just walked here. I wasn't going anywhere. I went to the lab, but I couldn't work. God, Booth, I don't know why. I just got there and it was too quiet and I couldn't do it. I had to leave, and then I just walked here. Why can't I compartmentalize like usual?" Brennan didn't even look at Booth but rather focused on the sky.
"Well, Bones, I would say there are several reasons," Booth said after a pause. "You've been getting more emotional. After this year, with your father and brother, you've started opening up. You've become more open to emotional relationships. Zack was a constant in your life, in the lab.
"You remember when he went to Iraq? The lab wasn't the same. I know you wouldn't come out to the crime scenes with me because you wanted me to talk him out of it, but still. The dynamic of the lab was off. He was part of the make-up. You were friends. It's going to be hard, Bones. You know what? You should talk to Sweets."
"Sweets? Seriously? You want me to talk to Sweets? You don't like Sweets," Brennan said.
"I don't dislike him… He's good, knows his stuff. I don't like him because he thought about splitting us up. He might help." Brennan smiled briefly up at him before noticing Parker running back, holding two chocolate ice cream cones.
"Here you go, Bones. There's nothing that ice cream can't fix!" Parker said, thrusting one of the cones at her. Brennan smiled at him, accepting the cone.
"What is it about the Booth men and trying to feed me sugar so often?" Brennan asked before taking a bite of the ice cream cone. Booth laughed a bit and took a bite of Parker's ice cream.
"Are you feeling better, Bones?" Parker asked as they were eating ice cream.
"You know what, Parker? I am," she said, leaning contentedly against Booth.
A/N: This is my first fanfic in several years, and my first Bones ever. I hope you enjoyed it and I ask for reviews—please let me know how I did. Thanks!