Disclaimer: I do not own bones
Monday morning came all too soon for Ryan. He was enjoying the time he had to himself to roam the city and visit all the popular tourist attractions. Oh well, duty calls.
As soon as he walked through the doors of the Jeffersonian Institute, a hectic Cam grabbed him by the arm and began giving him his assignments. She handed him a blue lab coat with R. Benin printed on the front and an access card. "Anytime you are on the platform, you must be wearing your lab jacket. In order to get onto the platform you must swipe your access card. If you don't, the security alarm will go off and I will not be very happy." She glanced up from the documents she was carrying to make sure the new intern was listening. Seeing that he was, she continued, "It is also required that every person who works in junction with the FBI must meet with a psychiatrist once a week for evaluation. Seeing as you are working for us, that will include you too. You are scheduled to meet with Dr. Sweets in 10 minutes."
Ryan began to protest, but decided it was best if he just kept his mouth shut. Cam continued on, "you are Dr. Addy's intern, but seeing as I'm in charge around here you will also have to answer to me. If I catch you conducting or participating in any unauthorized experiments, your ass is mine. I encourage you not to listen to anything Hodgins says for the first few weeks; he is always getting interns to blow the lab up. Do you have any questions?"
Ryan felt overwhelmed. Not even two minutes into his new job and he was already getting lectures about not blowing things up? "I think I got it all," was all he could say.
Cam smiled and began to walk away, "Sweets will be waiting for you in my office." She hurried off, but stopped and turned around quickly, "Welcome to the Jeffersonian. I hope you'll find this work enjoyable and rewarding." With that, she disappeared somewhere in the giant lab.
Ryan stood for a few moments, wondering what he got himself into. Finally, he made his way to Dr. Saroyan's office, where Dr. Sweets was waiting for him.
"Mr. Benin, come in," Sweets told Ryan as he walked through the door, and shut it behind him. "Have a seat."
Ryan took a seat and stared at the psychiatrist, waiting for him to say something. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Ryan said, "so, what is the purpose of this?"
"well, Ryan," Sweets responded, "Is it ok if I call you Ryan?"
"Sure, that's my name," Ryan responded, feeling a little awkward at where this conversation was going.
"well, Ryan, " Sweets started again, "Everyone who works in partnership with the FBI must meet with me once a week so I can evaluate there performance.
What performance?" Ryan stated, "I haven't done anything yet!"
"Well the first visit is for me to get some background information on you."
Ryan was beginning to get annoyed, "So let me get this strait. You want to dig into my personal life, and learn information about me that is really none of your business?"
"I feel a sense of insecurity, Mr. Benin," Sweets said, used to this kind of behavior, "can I ask why you don't want to share aspects of your life with me."
Ryan let out a deep sigh, "I just don't put a lot of weight in psychology," he said, "I prefer sciences that will give you the cold hard facts."
Sweets chuckled, if he had a quarter for every time he heard that one! "Ryan, can we just get on with the questions? The sooner we get going the sooner we will be done." Ryan nodded and Sweets took that as a yes. " So, where did you grow up?"
Ryan, despite the fact that he thought this was a complete waste of time, answered the question. "I grew up in a small town in Wyoming- Johnsonville. It's just my mom and me," he stated, before the shrink could get to that question.
"So you have no father figure in your life?"
"I wouldn't say that," Ryan responded, "my mom is pretty close to a man named Dalton. He has been around since before I was born. Any time I needed a man to man talk, he'd be there for me. I guess he was the closest thing to a father for me."
"Is your mother intimate with this man?"
Ryan was shocked by the question, "Whoa, isn't that getting a little personal?"
"Everything you say to me is strictly confidential," Sweets responded, thinking that made the question better.
"I don't know," Ryan said answering the question. "I assume yes, but I don't go around asking my mother who she is sleeping with." Ryan stopped, but added quietly, "and besides, she could never love anyone but my father."
"Do you know your father?"
"No," Ryan responded, looking a little sad, "I know that my mother could never love anyone else because she told me herself once when I asked her why she never got married that she would never be able to even consider marrying anyone but my father; and I guess that didn't turn out well, because I have never even met my father."
Sweets realized that this line of questioning was over, so he tried a new angle, "tell me about Dalton."
Dr. Dalton Ryder," Ryan said smiling, "he was the first person my mom met when she come to Johnsonville. Before long, she was working for him. He is the only medical doctor for miles, and he is also the coroner. My mom helps him solve murders."
Sweets nodded. All the facts were lining in his head, exactly the way he had suspected. "What about you," he asked, trying to take the questioning off of his family and put it back to him, "Do you have a- er, romantic interest?"
Ryan widened his eyes, "I'm not gay!" he exclaimed. "And yes, I have a girlfriend, Elaina. We have been together since our sophomore year, but we've known each other our whole lives."
"And you're still together?"
Ryan nodded, "She goes to LSU, poli sci. She wants to be a lawyer. We decided to give the long distance thing a try, seeing as we truly do love each other."
"You're both kids! What can you possibly know about love?"
Ryan looked at Sweets, and seriously stated, "I know that when you constantly think about someone- that is love. I know that when you would do anything to keep her safe; give your own life for her- that is love. I realize that technically, love is just a bunch of chemicals reacting in your brain, but hey, that is love. I know that my mom has not had true love in the past 20 years because she gave up her one shot at happiness, but you know what? I'm not even going to get into that line of thought! I just know that I know when I love somebody, and there is only two people in this world I do- love that is. One being my mom, and the other being Elaina. So I appreciate it if you don't question my ability to love!"
Dr. Sweets stared at Ryan. There was no doubt in his mind that this kid was well spoken, and knew where he was coming from. Suddenly, his alarm rang, making him jump. "well Ryan," he stated, "it seems as if our time for this week is up. We will continue next week, same time, same place.
Ryan just rolled his eyes and sighed. He walked out the door and walked past Cam waiting to reclaim her office. "So," she asked Ryan, "how did it go?"
"Stupid psychology," he muttered under his breath, making cam break into a smile.
I realized that sooner or later I was going to have to reveal some of Ryan's past. I figure what better way to do it than with weekly psychology hours with sweets. We will learn a lot about Ryan's past through this, and it will set up the stage for some future story lines. I will apologize now for the fact that I probably won't be able to update tomorrow. My school has the band Christmas concert tomorrow, as well as I have an anatomy test to study for, and unfortunately I am not as gifted as the squint squad when it comes to the study of the human body. So review, and if I get enough reviews I will TRY to upload tomorrow. (Subplot ideas still needed)