"Why are you nodding?" Dr. Brennan asked me. She and Agent Booth had just shared what I believed to be a profound moment – so simple a thing, and yet, it led me to finally understand what Dr. Wyatt meant.
"Nothing, just…Wyatt made an observation about you two, and I think I just saw what he saw."
"Are you coming?" Agent Booth said abruptly. He was, of course, keeping me from continuing down that path of thought…avoiding any further examinations on my part, no doubt.
"Booth means that we'd like it if you joined us," Dr. Brennan said, attempting to take the sting out of Agent Booth's words.
I smiled. "Thanks."
Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth resumed their bantering during the drive over to Agent Booth's. For once, instead of hanging on to their every word, I sat back and mulled over what was said in my office, just a while earlier. Although Dr. Brennan's uncharacteristic willingness to share was, considerably, a milestone in my observations of them, it was what wasn't said that was most intriguing.
Firstly, after Dr. Brennan shared her traumatic childhood incident, she turned to Agent Booth and said, "Your turn." He once again reiterated the fact that he had only come to pick me up for dinner. Yet, when she tilted her head and just…looked at him, he caved in, and shared a childhood trauma of his own. But, not only did he share it, he only looked at Dr. Brennan while speaking. He flashed a glare at me when he declared that that was all he was going to say on the subject, but until that point, it was Dr. Brennan he told his story to, not me. It was for my benefit and for my ears, but Dr. Brennan, his partner and friend, was the one he told; however, while this reinforced my belief that something far deeper does, or at the very least could, run between them, it was not the cause of my epiphany.
Ever since they agreed to let me study them…no, to be honest, ever since I had met them, I had been observing them under the assumption that they were complete opposites. And they are complete opposites – in everything that doesn't matter. Agent Booth is male, Catholic, and protective, and tries to hide his intelligence from the world (and while he's not intelligent in the manner that Dr. Brennan is, he is quite intelligent). Dr. Brennan is female, atheist, rejects protection, and has little modesty in regards to her intelligence or achievements (admittedly, for good reason, but nonetheless…).
But these things, I now realize, do not a partnership make. Yes, compatibility is needed for a successful partnership, and a portion of that compatibility comes from common interests. But none of this matters because despite all of that, they are exactly the same.
After his death glare and silent threat not to pursue details on his almost-suicidal past, Agent Booth looked back to Dr. Brennan and asked if she was okay. In response she'd said, "Yes. …Here," and carefully pushed his handkerchief back in his suit pocket; for brief seconds, her hand rested there, and when it fell away, his hand went up to touch where hers had been.
What they share is a comfort, a natural trust that lay deep within them. They had shared…maybe…two other moments like this during my year with them; I can't believe I never realized what was right before my eyes.
Their connection is, in the most basic sense, one of goodness. They have one goal they set out to accomplish together, with every murder, every skeleton, every case: to find the truth behind the death of a human being, apprehend the person's killer, and return the victim to their family. From this goal grew a partnership, and then a friendship.
That one connection makes them the same in the only way that matters.
"Sweets? Hello? Are you with us?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Sorry, just spaced out for a minute there. What were you guys saying?" Agent Booth met my gaze in the rearview mirror with confusion, and maybe concern. It passed quickly, and I found myself drawn in to their argument.
The truth of the thing is…Agent Booth was wrong. A long time back, when I was first getting to know them, he'd said to me, "Sweets, I can only hope that one day you will know what a real partnership is." But I know what a real partnership is. I see it all the time.
In them.
I recently re-watched Mayhem on a Cross and had to write this. I know I have a story uncomplete; I'll try to update it tomorrow. ;) I have about a million fanfiction ideas floating around in my brain, mingling with my original ideas and driving me absolutely insane. (As if it weren't blatantly obvious already.) So take pity on me, please? :) -wolfbones.