Done for "Bite Sized Bits of Fic" on livejournal, for tigriswolf.

Prompt was: "Bones, Jared Booth. He'd kill for Seeley." Ended up being a bit of a character study, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I've been wanting to write Bones fic for ages anyway, and I hope ya'll enjoy it.

Reviews are much appreciated!

This fic has not been beta-ed due to its short length.

Jared Booth has fucked up a lot in his life.

Ever since he was a kid Seeley'd been pulling him out of trouble, with teachers and girls and boys that tried to take him on.

When he got older it was the alcohol - well, there were a lot of other things, but the alcohol was responsible for most of them - and he was in a near constant state of being kicked out or pulled over because he never could resist a fight, not now that he was older and he could hit back.

He's got a lotta vices, and some of 'em he shares with his old man. Mostly it's the drink, though he's since kicked the habit, the wanting of it is never gone. It's there in his ear, whispering in the most seductive voice he's ever heard, telling him how it would make things just a little bit easier. From feeling like a failure to stupid arguments with Padme to stressing about money to the times he runs into assholes on the street -have a drink and it'll all be just a little bit better, come on now, what's the harm?

He hasn't succumbed to the voice yet, but he's tempted for a second every goddamn day.

And there's other things too. The anger that'd gotten him on so many teacher's shit lists, that made so many cops pin him to their cars, bubbles beneath his skin like a volcano about to blow. He wonders sometimes, if his old man heard a whispering voice like that, saying it would be just a bit easier if he could just get his kids to shut up and behave, if his wife would just have dinner ready when he asked, because he'd worked all fuckin' day and he'd served his country and he deserved respect -

But Jared never lets his anger out like that, and if he ever does, if he ever hurt Padme or the kids they might have someday like that, then he'd jump off the nearest bridge, because he's seen what that does to a family and he will never, ever, let that happen to his family again.

Jared Booth has fucked up a lot in his life. He knows that if it weren't for him, Seeley'd probably be richer and higher up in the FBI, or somewhere else with a dream job. But Seeley had been protecting him for as long as Jared could remember, and he knew it wasn't something that was likely to change.

That had been Seeley's first instinct when they were kids. Get between dad and mom. Get between dad and Jared. Take the pain, make their old man so pissed at him he'd give Seeley everything he got and forget about his wife and other son. Then he got old enough to start hitting back, and could keep dad off their backs with his size (he blew up like the goddamn Hulk in high school between hockey and weight lifting) or a few quick hits of his own, but that was it. Just protection. Keeping him backed off, taking the bruises and cracked ribs when that wasn't enough. That was just like Seeley - to take someone's pain and his own and shoulder it and come out stronger on the other side.

Jared was different.

There were days that he honestly thought his dad might kill them all, especially after his mom took her trip down the stairs. Then she was gone, and it was just him and Seel, and Jared thought for sure that one of these days his dad would hit his limit and kill one of them.

And that - that was something else he had in common with his old man. Because Seeley was all about protection, about taking the pain and backing them off, and that's part of what makes him a hero, and Jared...

He'd kill for Seeley. And he's not sure what that makes him.