Disclaimer: Fate is kind she brings to those who love the sweet fulfillment of their secret longing. I guess I'm just not wishing enough because I still don't own Bones or any of the things that go with it. I don't own the Flyers either, but at least we are on a winning streak. Today!

NOTE: The updates on this one may become sporadic the new Year brings more demand in the Magic Community for my time. So many illusions so little time to teach. Also I am moving into a supervisory role in my 9-5 so my hours will change. I will most likely try to update all of my current stories on the weel-ends (with the exception of the Red Dress ). Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Chapter 13 The Truth That Binds

There had once been a day in the car when they were in the way to interview a suspect when she had asked him what had done as a sniper. He had told her then not to ever ask until she was ready to know. That had been more years ago than she wanted to remember. Today, this early Saturday morning she was lying in her bed thinking back to that time. Remembering all the other times, all the little things he never wanted to talk about. She had decided today was the day she would tell him she was ready to learn his truth as soon as he was ready to tell her. She would not push him; she knew without him telling her these scars ran deeper than the ones visible on his skin. She hit #1 on her cell phone and he pick up on the first ring

"Booth."

As soon as she heard his sleepy tone she looked at the time on her bedside clock and was instantly sorry. "Booth, I'm sorry I didn't realize it was so early. Go back to sleep. I'll call later in the morning," she quickly hung up the phone.

Less than a minute later her cell rang "Bones, is everything ok?" He sounded worried and that was not what she had wanted. "No Booth everything is fine I just wanted to tell you something and was not cognizant of the time. Go back to sleep I will call you in the morning."

"Bones I'm awake now and I'll just stay awake worrying about what you want until you call again so out with it."

"Really Booth…"

"Bones," he interrupted!

She tried to think of something plausible she could say that would get him off the phone quickly and back to sleep but couldn't. With a sign she began "I was thinking about the time I asked you about what you did as a sniper. You asked me if I really wanted to know, because I shouldn't ask until I was ready. I'm ready. I think in order for our friendship, or whatever this is between, us to move forward we can't have any secrets. This seems like a big secret. It seems like such a big secret it might change our relationship forever, am I right?" She could hear his deep intake of breath and wondered what he would say.

"Yeah Bones it might. I'll be right over."

"Booth this can wait until a more reasonable hour."

"No Bones It can't. Start the coffee, I'll be right there."

Fifteen minutes later she heard his familiar knock and went to her door to open it. What she saw was a shock. She didn't see the confident, cocky FBI Agent she was used to, her Booth. What she saw was a pale, nervous, shaking man, one who was uncertain of his reception. She took his hand and led him to the couch, after making him sit she bought him a cup of coffee and sat facing him on the couch with her legs drawn up Indian style. She sat quietly waiting for him.

"Bones I'm not really sure where to start so I guess I'll just start at the beginning and you can ask any questions you have along the way OK?"

She nodded her head.

So he began. "Some of this you probably already know. My Father flew Jets in Vietnam and my Mother wrote jingles. Later after my Dad left the Air Force he became a barber and eventually owned his own shop. It never really did very well and we depended on Mom's money to get us through. The more we depended on her money the more he drank, the more he drank the more we needed her money. It became a vicious circle."

"Is that why you are so defensive whenever I try to offer to pay for things or bring up money?"

"Probably. Anyway, soon he began to use his fists as a way to get rid of his hostility. I was a twelve by then and thought of myself as a man so I took it upon myself to protect Jared and my Mom. There were days he hit or kicked me so hard I thought I would die. His constant harangue was if it wasn't for me he would have had a better life. Soon I began to believe him. At the end of my junior year in High School one day my Grandfather came to the house and found me unconscious in the corner of the kitchen from one of my Father's beatings, and my Mother and Brother hiding upstairs. He had my Mother grab our stuff and got us out of the house and took us to live with him. Once I was there I felt my Mom and Jared were safe and I could relax so I began to reflect on all he had said. I was useless and stupid. I was bigger and stronger than he was and still I couldn't even protect the ones I loved. That was the summer Grandfather came back into the house one night to find me with a gun intent on killing myself." He stopped and looked at her as he heard her intake of breath. He was telling her all the things that really made him a looser. She would never look at him the same way again, but she deserved to know the truth. She deserved to know why he had never pushed for a relationship. He had tried to pretend he was waiting for her heart to catch to her mind, but really it was because he was a looser and one day, today, she would find out and leave him.

She couldn't help the indrawn breath when she saw the hurt on his face. This man had gone through so much and still he was strong. She could see something in his eyes, something that looked like hopelessness to her. She needed to let him know it was ok with her if he either stopped here or when on. It was her turn to be here for him. It was a liberating feeling. "Booth, it's ok. You don't have to finish this." She reached out and squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

"No Bones I need to get it all out, and it's almost done. My Grandfather made me promise not to do anything like that again and I did. I finished my senior year and had the type of High School I had wanted for all of them. I was Captain of the Football Team, Hockey Team, Basketball Team and Track in the Spring, Homecoming King, girls everything. Since I would not have the money, grades or scholarships for College I decided to go into the Army. They would pay my way. Once in I found a home. The discipline was great, the physical demand put me in the best physical shape I had ever been in and I was offered a prize position with the 75th Ranger Regiment, the Army's Special Forces. I was in seventh heaven.

"My first test after basic was Airborne training. Airborne School was a unique experience. It taught techniques involved in parachuting from airplanes and landing safely. The final test included a non-assisted jump. Next came RIP, The Ranger Indoctrination Program. It was important that I learned the operational procedures, equipment, and the standards of the Regiment prior to any assignment. Afterward I was assigned to Ft. Benning Georgia while I awaited assignment. Then the assignments came. You know I bet you thought snipers were just one single man going after a target. They aren't, in actuality they are two men, a mechanic, the guy who pulls the trigger and a spotter who does everything else. At first I was the mechanic, not very hard all you do is point and shoot. All you see is a small circle nothing else, you concentrate on the circle and when your spotter tells you your clear you pull the trigger. Surprisingly the spotter has to be the better shot. My kill ratio was the best at 100%, soon I was a spotter. The spotters job is a nightmare Bones." As he had begun his recollection of his Military training he had looked only at his feet. Now he looked up at her with haunted eyes.

She got up from the couch and moved to sit down on the floor in front of him. She placed her hands on his forearm in an attempt to infuse him with the strength to go on.

"The spotter sees everything. He has to. He has to locate the target, look for civilians look for anything that might jeopardize their safety. He is responsible for the entire mission. There were a lot of missions. Most of them are still classified, so what and how much I can tell you about I'm not sure of. They were all over the world. Most of South America, Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, Iraq, Iran, Russia, and finally Kosovo. Remember the one I told you about at the grave site? The one where I had to watch the little boy see his Father die before his eyes? That was it, I was a broken man, I couldn't take it anymore. All in all I killed 50 men as a sniper just because my Government told me to and that doesn't count the men who died while I was supposed to be protecting them like Teddy. My excuse was all the lives I saved because those men died. They may have died, I may have saved lives but in the end it all came down to the fact my government had trained me to become a killer. That's what I am Bones a killer, a murder, that's why I gambled, that's why I try to atone for my past by catching criminals now. I'm really not any better than the murders we catch; I just was a sanctioned killer so I don't get jail time I just get purgatory here on earth."

Now she understood fully what he had meant. His story was sad and had brought tears to her eyes, and she needed to find a way to settle this between them. She had caused this by pushing too hard, now she needed to clean up her own mess. Where did she start? She sat on the floor and continued to look at the man who sat crying, broken in front of her. Maybe words were not what were needed here. She returned to the couch and pulled his unresisting body down with her as she lay back. She pulled him into a tight hug as she gathered him to her and moved them so they were both laying fully stretched out with her holding him as close to her body as possible. It was her this time making the small circles of comfort on his back her say the nonsensical words "hush baby, it's ok, I've got you, your ok baby, shhh baby," over and over again. Finally as she could feel his muscles relax he looked up at her. She saw something she had never seen in his eyes before, but she hoped it was something she would see a lot of in the future.

"Temperance I love you."

"I love you too Seeley, now go to sleep baby you need the rest." She smiled as he relaxed into her again and began to softly snore. It had been a hard night for him, and some of it had been hard for her. He had opened the door and more of his past would come out little by little she was sure. As she ran the thoughts through her head again she was amazed to remember how easy the words of comfort had come, but then again what was there to be amazed about really. He had been teaching them to her for more than six years now.

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Some night think this is a little OOC for them bust as usual it's my story my rules. I do hope you like it.

By the way the Sniper info is from Top Sniper I Competition (Military Chanel) and the info on becoming a Ranger is from the internet.

Hope you liked this little divergence, if so please leave a note to say you've been here.

Nyre

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