Time stops for no man
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Seeley Booth, Angela Montenegro, Jack Hodgins or Temperance Brennan, nor the tv show Bones. The only thing I own is the plot.
A/N: Hey! Well here's the second of my three one shots it's based around the episode 'Aliens in a Spaceship'. Hope you like it!
Warning: Spoilers for Season 2 Episode 9 'Aliens in a Spaceship'.
Knowing that he needs to get out …just go, he pulls open the car door. Not caring where he goes. He just needs to leave there, with its memories of things gone by, of things lost. Sometimes, he wonders what he ever saw there. All there is..... is death… and memories of her.
He wonders. Why is the universe still turning without her? How can people keep on going about their lives when he has lost one of the most important people in his life? People lose people every day, but they never really appreciate it until it's them.
He stops the car and gets out, taking in his surroundings. A wry smile makes its way onto his face as he realises that without knowing it, he has arrived at the one place that he can always get comfort from.
She was one of the best people that he had ever known. She had a brilliant rational mind and could solve things that no one else could, including himself. She was confident in her own abilities; to the point that some people said she was arrogant. But she wasn't arrogant…she really was that good.
She was one of the most important people in his life. There was only one other person that meant more to him than her and that was his son. They had rarely met but when they had, they had gotten on. He had been elated that the two people who meant the most to him had gotten on, though tentatively at first.
Discarding his shoes, socks and jacket on the front seat, he walks out further away from the parked car.
She had loved coming here. The first time he had taken her here was after the case with her mother. He had wanted to take her somewhere to make her feel better and he knew straight away that here would cheer her up. Ever since, she had loved coming here and when ever something got too much for her, here was where she could be found.
His feet sink into the wet sand as he walks down the sunset bathed beach, with only his shadow for company.
They were always there for each other, through the hard times and the easy ones. And knowing that she's gone he feels broken…like a part of him died with her. The whole thing had caught them all by surprise but he should have known…he was her partner! He should have known that something was going to happen and now she was gone - but still they were the ones left hurting, because there was nothing they could do to help…just like she said.
And now he wonders, what is he meant to do without her? Who else is going to help him fight the evils of mankind, side by side, together, a team? They all miss her, a friend, a sister, a mentor. Why did she have to leave them? They need her.
She's better off not having to suffer, which is a good thing but still they miss her.
An ironic smile tugs at the corner of his face as he hears the sound of padding footsteps coming down to join him on the beach, before someone settles down beside him. He doesn't ask how she knows he was here; she always seems to just know.
A head leans against his shoulder and he automatically knows who it is. After all she's going through the same pain as he is, probably more. She lost a lover and a best friend.
He places an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him in a lopsided hug.
"I miss her you know."
"So do I. So do I."
They sit together in comfortable silence, both going over memories of previous happier times. Times when they would laugh together eat at the diner together; solve cases together, just as a team. The whole six of them. A team. The Squint Squad.
But still he can't help but blame himself. Maybe if he had gotten there quicker, or if they had figured out the clues quicker they would have been able to save her.
"Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could do."
She's always able to read his mind. He wonders sometimes how she does it. But not today. Today, he's just grateful that she knows what to say, because his mind is too full of her to think about anything else.
"You don't know that. Maybe if I was faster, maybe if we had gotten there earlier, maybe if we had figured the clues out earlier, they would still be here."
"It wouldn't have made any difference sweetie. They were killed when the explosion went off, it wouldn't have mattered how much earlier we had gotten there. There was nothing we could do…nothing you could do."
She's right. He knows that, but it doesn't numb the pain now that she's gone. That he never got to tell her how he felt. He never told her his feelings and now he has to live with that for the rest of his life. He guesses in the end he was just too much of a coward to tell her the truth for fear that she wouldn't have felt the same. Stupid idea, now he thinks about it.
"I loved her."
A hand wraps around his, conveying support to someone who is too far gone with the heart throbbing ache of regret from lost chances, but still the gesture helps dull the pain, even though it's only temporary.
"I know you did sweetie. And so did she."
Silent tears are running down his face now, falling into the sand that they sit on. Small circular drops of pain, that leave an imprint on the flawless sand that runs between their toes. Her own tears are darkening the shirt that he's wearing as she clings to him like a dying woman, grief overcoming the two of them.
The sun has fallen behind the horizon now, blanketing them in welcoming darkness. Another day has passed. It's strange to them. It seems like the world should stop moving now that she's gone, but it doesn't. It moves on. Second after second … minute after minute …hour after hour … day after day …year after year.
The world moves on but still the pain lasts for them. Even though time passes by, it doesn't lesson the anguish that they feel. But the world doesn't stop for one man's pain. Nor does it stop for the death of a friend.
Time keeps on changing and the world keeps on turning, just like they do. They go to work, have fun, and even date every now and then. But the pain is never forgotten. Always there underneath the surface waiting to pounce up and deliver another blow.
They have moved on but they will never forget.
A/N: I'm sorry! Don't send a mob after me! So what do you think? Reviews appreciated
