Author's note:
Dear readers,
This isn't exactly something of the fluffy type, but it's one of those incessant plot bunnies that simply will not let go of you. This is after season 5 of Bones, when Booth and Brennan separate at the end of the season.
I would love to hear your thoughts. It's likely to remain a oneshot, but if you have ideas for this one, let me know.
The heat of the desert was oppressive as he struggled for just one more breath. He hadn't thought it would end like this. Of course, this was always a possibility, but after the life he had lived, he never would have dreamed he would die like this. His entire life, he'd fought. At first to protect his mother and his brother, later in the army. And the last few years of his life had been spent protecting his son, Parker. And her. Bones.
In a way, his fight with her had been the hardest. He knew her. He understood her and that made it almost impossible to fight her on even ground. Because he knew. He knew he couldn't simply come out and say it. He knew he couldn't simply take her in his arms and whisper those words into her ear.
"I love you. I know you're scared, Bones. I'm scared too. But I know that you've never allowed fear to rule your life, so don't let it start now. Let me in. We are almost there. We are almost at our destination. Our forever."
But he hadn't. He had rushed and trampled and tripped over his own damn feet. She'd fled from him and in a desperate attempt to protect his heart, he'd run in the opposite direction. Only he hadn't fully realized that running back into war - exchanging one conflict for another - could and would lead him here. To his death.
He took another shallow, gurgling breath and as his eyesight slowly became unfocused and the shouts of his men no longer reached his ears, he realized that for the first time, he'd lost the fight that mattered most.
He had spent enough time with his Bones and their squints to know that this was one injury he wouldn't recover from. No. That ship had sailed. If he were to have any hopes of recovery at all, he should have been on his way to the hospital already. A field medic was simply not going to cut it.
As his fingers slowly turned numb, as his body gradually started losing heat, as his head sank deeper and deeper into the sand, Booth's eyes fell closed and an image of his smiling partner was conjured from deep within.
Sorry, he told her, I'm so sorry for picking the wrong damn fight.
Dear readers, thank you for making it all the way here. I know it was a sad, short one, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.