Seeley Booth has never been one for complaining, whining, or self-pity. It's not in his blood (and if it had been, once upon a time, it's been beaten out of him. Literally. But he doesn't complain, whine, or pity himself). It's probably why he made an excellent soldier. Why was he being disciplined? Did he understand why he was a miserable, pathetic excuse for a human being?
Yessir.
He also doesn't subscribe to notions of 'fair' and 'unfair.' Well, that's not entirely accurate—there are situations in life that reek of injustice, but he's made it his duty to fix those, and he does a good job. And if it comes his way…well, he takes responsibility. Because that's just what he does.
Also, he knows that everything goes according to the Big Guy's plans, and that's just another reason why he doesn't subscribe to notions of why me and life's cruel. There's a plan in everything, and everything is His plan.
He's a little beat up at the moment, but hey. Had he not stumbled on that rock, had he put on the other shoes (the ones with the better traction), who knows? He would have been closer to the trailer. The explosion would have been on top of him, instead of in front of him. He'd be sitting in the hospital—or worse, the morgue—burnt to a crisp. A bum shoulder and twisted ankle seem like an excellent trade off, all things considered.
So professionally, he's pretty happy with the way things turned out.
Bones is outside now, and he's alone in the diner, in a manner of speaking. He glances out the window…
…and is utterly transfixed by her. She's smiling, and open, and her eyes are positively twinkling as she talks to her father. Max hands her some conch shell, and he can almost hear her rolling her eyes. But she gamely puts it to her ear, and the look on her face—
It's not fair.
Just…not fair.
She'd said I can't change. He'd looked at her, pleading, and she had said I don't know how.
So he'd adapted, he put on his best game face, and he'd taken it in stride. Booth-style, owing nothing to nobody, crying on nobody's shoulder.
And he had no one to blame but himself. Because obviously she had changed, changed into this person who listened to sea shells.
It's not fair that he'd found someone just when she was finally ready. He wants to mope about being between a rock and a hard place. He thinks it might be productive to go home and sleep for about three weeks.
All in all…he supposes he's changed too.