A/N: This takes place after the Season Five finale. I have changed the reasons for Brennan and Daisy going to the Maluku Islands to fit the story and Booth won't feature until later on but bare with me he will come in eventually and it will all be worth it.
I'm in my final year at uni so I'll be very busy but I've set an update schedule for myself that I will post a new chapter every Monday.
I re-uploaded this as I was having some problems with the story not showing up in the archives. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and review the previously posted story.
For once a Damsel: Chapter One
It's funny how the same sound can provoke radically diverse reactions between different people. How the ringing of a church bell can bring back memories of elation to a couple remembering their wedding day or devastation to a town in which every chime represents a community member who lost their lives in the war.
To some the steady drip, drip, drip of water would be considered tranquil and soothing but for Temperance Brennan it evoked a terror deep inside unlike she had ever felt before.
Four Days Earlier
The air was hot and humid and the jungle trees were still as no breeze blew to give reprieve to the group of archaeologists, anthropologist and the handful of grad students who had been lucky enough to get chosen to partake in the dig. In all the group totalled to fifteen, including the two local guides and one armed policeman assigned to watch over the dig. Security was relaxed as the sectarian conflict that had caused the mass grave they were there to investigate was long over and threat of attack was all but non-existent.
It was times like these, when the sun was beating down from high in the sky that Temperance Brennan cursed her pale skin. They had been in the Maluku Islands for only four days but already her grad student, the vivacious Daisy Wick had developed a nice bronze tan while she had the makings of a nasty sunburn or her back where her shirt had ridden up and exposed a patch of skin above the waist of her pants as she spent hours kneeling down in the grave. The team working on the dig had come from all across the globe, including Germany, England, Japan, Italy and Australia and the work site was rarely quiet as they chatted amongst themselves as they worked. While she found the mix of cultures fascinating, Brennan tended to keep to herself, preferring to concentrate on doing her job than what Australians called summer footwear.
"Thongs," Daisy had told her giggling on their second night as they lay on their cots in the canvas tent they shared, "Isn't that just hilarious. I'll have to remember to tell Lance that when we get back."
Daisy had then proceeded to cry after she remembered that Sweets had said he didn't know if he could wait for her to get back and Brennan had found herself awkwardly trying to comfort the girl without a clue what the right thing to do or say was. Usually she relied on her partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth or her best friend Angela to tell her what was socially appropriate in these situations but Booth was in Afghanistan on a special assignment for the army and Angela was off travelling with her husband Dr. Hodgins so she was on her own.
Being alone was something she was used to. It provided her with protection because if she let no one in then there was no way they could turn around and hurt her. She had learnt after her parents and brother abandoned her when she was fifteen that you had to look after yourself and if that meant keeping everyone at an arm's length then that was how she would do it. Angela had successfully worked her way through the walls she put up around herself and Booth had been chipping some fairly sizeable chunks out but still she kept a bit to herself.
It was why when lunch was called that she stayed down in the pit. She found if she immersed herself completely in identifying the victims of this horrific massacre then she would forget that Booth, who had ploughed large enough holes in her protective walls to actually make her care, was risking his life in the war torn Middle East and that one of the last memories they had had before parting ways was her practically stomping all over his heart. Metaphorically of course, for had she actually done so there was no way Booth would've made it to Afghanistan in the first place as he would have been very much dead.
Booth was a man who relied on his feelings to guide him through life while she only trusted facts, things she could measure, taste, smell and hear. The facts couldn't lie and she situated herself safely within logic to prevent any unnecessary hurt. Booth had told her that he had to move on and she had rationally accepted this notion. Booth needed someone who could give him what he desires and she couldn't do that, so she'd had to let him go.
"Dr. Brennan all the good sandwiches will be gone if you stay down there much longer," one of the guides Charlie called down to her, his gap toothed smile beaming from his weathered face.
Charlie and their other guide Tessa had grown up in the area and knew it like the back of their hands. While their English was near perfect, many on the Island only spoke Indonesian and Tessa and Charlie were on hand to translate when necessary. Tessa was Charlie's eldest daughter and he proudly told them stories of how she was the first in their family to ever graduate from high school. While she had been pleasant enough to the other workers at the dig she hadn't really given them the time of day, but Charlie had seemed to take a liking to her and she found herself warming to the gap toothed guide and his daughter.
"I'm okay, thanks Charlie," she said looking up at him, "I want to keep working, these lacrimal bones aren't going to identify themselves."
Charlie rewarded her with a resounding laugh and she smiled back at him. Of the twelve person team she and Daisy were the only forensic anthropologists making their jobs larger than anyone else's. They were there to identify the remains the archaeologists uncovered, giving names to the people who had been brutally killed during the Maluku sectarian conflict.
In the four short days they had been there, six skeletons had already been discovered in the earth with the promise of literally hundreds more. She and Daisy more than had their work cut out for them and she was eager to not let the bodies literally pile up around her. If Booth or Angela had been there they would have pestered her about the importance of not skipping meals but without their presence she found herself easily slipping back into old habits.
Without the equipment afforded to her at the Jeffersonian, Brennan was recording all of her findings in a black spiral notepad. Every skeleton got four pages and at the bottom a name, should the limited resources at their disposal (mainly the island's missing persons list) grant them that luxury. Daisy was on hand with a Polaroid camera whose photos were then stuck alongside their corresponding page. Their system worked quite nicely, although Brennan found herself missing the luxury of her computer back in DC. She found the method of writing everything by hand tedious and her hand often cramped painfully by the end of the day. Still, she reasoned with herself, it was all worth it as they were giving those innocent people who got caught in the crossfire back their identities and that was what truly mattered.
The sun had long since set by the time Brennan finally ascended the ladder and out of the dig site. Daisy trailed diligently behind her, chatting animatedly about a game of cards that was planned for that night.
"You know how to play poker right? Because I'm terrible and I really don't want to lose and I figured with you on my team that couldn't happen what with your photographic memory and all," Daisy said enthusiastically.
"Near photographic," Brennan corrected her, "And I won't be playing. I'm going to go through the missing persons file again to see if there's something we've missed on the fifth skeleton."
"Aww come on Dr. Brennan," Daisy all but whined, "It'll be fun and the others have commented that you haven't joined in on anything."
"I'm not here to make friends," Brennan said stiffly, "I'm here to do my job."
"Right," Daisy backpedalled, not wanting to offend her mentor, "Do you need any help?"
"No," she shook her head finally, remembering how excited Daisy had seemed earlier, "I'll be fine Miss Wick, you go have fun."
"Are you sure? Because I'd love to help if you needed me and you know how they always say two eyes are better than one and I don't want you to be all alone."
"It's fine," Brennan cut off the younger woman's characteristic rambling, "I'll join you in the mess tent for dinner and then you can go and play your game and I'll retire to our tent."
"Okay," Daisy said seemingly happy that Brennan would at least be joining everybody for dinner, "Remind me to tell you about the time Jackson from Australia ate an entire seven pound of steak in one sitting."
Brennan screwed up her nose. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be reminding Daisy to tell her that story. True, she had managed to get a pretty good feel for everybody from the stories Daisy told her each night as they prepared for bed but she still didn't want to get weighed down by personal relationships when a more important task was at hand.
Tessa cooked for them every day and had so far never disappointed and the glorious smells that emanated from the gazebo like structure deemed the mess tent were no exception. Brennan's stomach grumbled noisily as they approached and she flushed remembering she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. Booth would kill her if he knew. She had a sudden pang for one of the bagel's Booth always left on her desk if he knew she was likely to work through lunch.
In situations where everyone talked at once Brennan often found herself getting overwhelmed. She was a genius but for some reason her superior intellect didn't lend itself to social situations and in the cacophony of noise that was occurring in the mess tent she once again began to miss her partner terribly. Without her ever having to say anything Booth always seemed to sense when she was uncomfortable and would position himself next to her and speak only to her, suddenly narrowing her world so it was only the two of them and she would instantly be at ease again. Unlike Daisy who seemed to have the ability to flit from conversation to conversation like she was flicking a switch Brennan concentrated on eating her dinner as quickly as she could so she could escape to the safety of their tent where she could relax in solitude. She looked up from her pasta when Charlie squeezed his body in between her and Daisy giving her a wide grin.
"Tessa did good didn't she," he said taking a large forkful of pasta.
"She certainly seems to be quite skilled in the kitchen," Brennan said.
"She gets it from her mother," he said sadly, "My Aini passed away when Tessa was sixteen and she was a huge help in raising her younger brothers and sisters."
"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, "That must have been hard."
"We had each other," Charlie said smiling, "That helped. But enough sadness for tonight, you know there has been talk around the camp that you are a superhero."
"That's not accurate," she shook her head, "I'm a scientist."
"Breanne from England tells me you help solve murders," Charlie said, "That sounds pretty super to me."
"That doesn't make me a hero. Actually the word hero is rooted in Greek mythology literally meaning protector or defender, of which I'm neither. My partner Special Agent Seeley Booth he's more the protector or defender, not by choice of my own of course, he won't let me have a gun which makes it difficult to defend," she said.
"Why won't he let you have a gun?" Charlie asked.
"I'm not sure as he knows I'm a good shot. It may stem from when I accidently shot him but I maintain that was only a flesh wound and didn't incapacitate him enough to stop him from carrying me over the snakes released by the criminal we were chasing," Brennan told him.
"Perhaps your partner likes to be the one protecting you," Charlie chuckled.
"I don't know what that means," Brennan said tilting her head.
"By not giving you a gun then you must rely on him to protect you," Charlie said, "Nothing makes a man feel better than looking after his lady. Nothing made me happier than looking after my Aini."
"I'm not his lady," Brennan said sadly, then shook her head to shake the thoughts that had started to filter into her head, "We're work partners. I perceive Booth's reluctance to give me a weapon as a way to exert his alpha male tendencies."
"I have never met this Booth but I know something about love," Charlie said tapping his nose, "Not just any man would carry his lady over many snakes with a gun shot wound."
"It was just a flesh wound," she said quietly, "He was perfectly fine."
"Trust Charlie on this," Charlie said, "This Booth you speak of, he sounds like a fine man. You should hold onto him."
Brennan was horrified at the tears that suddenly pricked her eyes. Charlie's words while innocent had touched something deep inside of her. He couldn't have possibly known that she had literally just let Booth go but he had touched on something she had been internally torturing herself over ever since they had parted ways at the airport. Rationally she understood why she had turned him down and let him go but there was a niggle at the back of her brain that left her doubting herself, something which made her feel more out of control than she had ever felt.
"I-I'm sorry excuse me," she said hurriedly pushing her chair back, appalled at how her voice trembled.
She head both Charlie and Daisy call out her name as she rushed away from the mess tent and across the site to where her own tent was situated. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at her emotional reaction to Charlie's inadvertent advice. He had given her no warning and she had not had time to throw up her protective walls, giving his innocent words the chance to penetrate and hit the insecurities she tried so hard to mask.
The relief the sanctuary her tent provided hit her full force as she stepped through the canvas flap and dropped down onto her cot. Here in the solitude of the four canvas walls she could concentrate on the job. Of the feeling of the missing persons folder she roughly pulled off the small wooden table that sat between their two cots and begun to flip through quickly to take her mind off the embarrassing display she had put on.
Alone inside the tent she could convince herself that by letting him go she hadn't made the biggest mistake of her life.
A/N: Drop me a line and let me know what you think. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.