A/N: This idea got stuck in my head this morning at 5:00 am after I watched the final scene of Judas on a Pole. Hope you like it, I just couldn't resist.
She was heartbroken and I knew it. I could feel it. I mean, how could she not be? Her father had killed people. It didn't matter to her that he had done it to keep her safe. All she saw in her father was a murderer. She couldn't yet see that he loved her despite what his actions might have said, that her father had simply chosen the wrong path. I think Russ understood it. Or maybe was it just his way to deal with his own pain. Whatever it was, I knew that Bones will never see things the way I do.
She was heartbroken because she thought she wasn't meant to be in a family. I felt a lump form in my throat at her words. My own heart broke and I felt her pain as if it were my own. At that moment, I felt the strongest need to protect her from harm, to make her feel like she was worthy of being loved, of having a family. In an instant, I wanted all of her fears and pain to disappear. I wanted her to finally be happy.
I told her that there was more than just one kind of family. I'm not sure whether or not she believed me but, by the look in her eyes, I think she was willing to consider it. Our gaze locked. I stared into her eyes the way I always do when we have intense conversations like the one we had outside of the Diner.
At that moment, I wanted to kiss her, to kiss her pain away and to show her just how much I cared about her. But I didn't. I didn't because I knew that she wasn't ready for that yet. We're not ready for that yet. There will be a time, somewhere in the future, when we will be. That day is not today. So I stared into her eyes, into her soul, and hoped that she could read in my own eyes what I desperately wanted her to know.
She's adorable. When you take the time to get to know her, you immediately see how precious she is. When she grants you her trust, you feel special because you know she doesn't trust too easily.
When she's ready, I'll be her family. Her father told me to take care of her and I will. I won't let him down. I won't let her down. Never. When we're both ready, I'll be there to love and take care of her the way she so deserves to be loved and taken care of. The day we'll be togeher, nothing will be able to separate me from her. I'll be there to stay. But until then, all I can do is be the best friend that I can be. It's not much, but it's the only thing it can be for now.