Another chapter for you all, enjoy :)

Still Bones isn't mine.

The Anthropologist in the Dream

Chapter Fourteen - The Story of James

Booth had been watching Bones sleep off and on for hours, since Angela and Hodgins had left, she hadn't spoken in her sleep again and she had seemed quite peaceful. It was late, the hospital corridor had quietened, and Brennan's room had darkened, Booth smiled towards Brennan as he watched her pull herself up into a sitting position; she was staring at him with a look that he recognised. Her eyes were focused and she had crinkled her nose, this meant that she had something important to discuss.

"Booth we need to talk," Brennan said firmly, and Booth felt his heart jump in his chest, he immediately sat a little straighter in his chair.

"What did you want to talk about Bones?" Booth asked casually.

"James." Brennan said directly, "You told me about him in your letter."

Booth felt his back stiffen, he had written that letter to Bones in the middle of a hot Afghan night, he'd walked it to the communications tent before the sun had come up and when he had woken up the next morning he'd tried to get the letter back but it had been too late, the mail had already been taken. If he'd thought about what he was writing before he had written the letter, he mightn't have ever told Bones about James, he would have just written her a simple letter, explaining that he had been asked to stay behind and that he would see her the week later. Instead he had written his emotions after a day he wanted to forget and he'd sent them to another person, a person who was now staring at him expectantly. "Bones," he began before pausing, "Are you sure you want to hear this?"

Brennan sighed, "Booth I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know."

"You've been injured Bones, you've got your own issues to deal with at the moment, you don't need mine." Booth explained.

"Booth we are partners." Brennan said firmly, she knew that it was important that Booth speak about what had happened to him, Booth had once told her about his army life and she knew that she didn't want him to deal with those same issues again. "I want to know what happened to James."

Booth looked at her, her face was determined and he knew that he wasn't going to be able to change the subject, so he took a deep breath and began his story. "James was from New York, he was 21. He was married,"

"Married at 21?" Brennan questioned, interrupting.

Booth nodded before continuing, "He married his high school sweetheart, her name was Lucy. I spoke to her once, she was a sweet kid, she was a teacher. James signed up because of his cousin, his cousin was killed in a car accident the year before and it was his dream to be in the army. James signed up in his memory."

"He wanted to do something for his cousin?" Brennan asked, she could see the reason Booth had become fond of James, they shared some characteristics, both of them were men of honour.

Booth nodded, "Lucy was furious, she didn't want James to go. She'd just found out that she was pregnant when he was posted to Afghanistan for a twelve-month deployment. James arrived a few months after I did. He was sent to my training group and he quickly fitted in and began to excel. He really was one of the best I'd seen in a long time." Brennan nodded, as Booth continued, "Military activities were increased as there had been a kidnapping of a translator's daughter, my training group were sent out into active duty. I'd protested to the General, I didn't believe that they were ready as a unit to see action. But he hadn't listened, he'd given me the usual spiel 'we don't have enough resources as it is, they will just have to band together.' They'd been gone for two days and there had been no communication from them."

"You were worried?" Brennan questioned as she noticed the faraway look on Booth's face.

Booth nodded, "I thought they must have been ambushed and that they had no chance to report back to base. I feared that they were all dead."

"But they hadn't been killed?"

"No," Booth said, "there had been heavy fire in the first hours that they had been away from base and they had hidden in a cave only minutes away from base. They'd been there for almost twenty-four hours when another of my men, Buddy, spotted the translator's daughter. She was with three men and they weren't paying her any attention. The men were fighting amongst themselves and they hadn't noticed that she'd begun to walk off from them. Buddy had caught sight of her with his binoculars and they'd formulated a plan."

"You'd taught them well Booth." Brennan told him reassuringly.

"It was all James, Bones. All the kid." Booth said, his voice wavering, remembering what the other men had told him after the fire fight was over. "He decided that they needed to get her attention and then move her quickly to safety. She was closer to base than what they were, so they organised themselves and began their assault. Buddy radioed in to base and I was in the comms tent when he did. They hadn't been able to communicate from the cave and they were too inexperienced to go out of the cave alone. But when they'd seen the girl, they all knew that they had to do something. Buddy managed to get the girls' attention and one of the others Stav, got her away. He'd gotten her back to base as the fighting broke out; James had gone in first to protect the others, he'd killed two of the men instantly but only wounded the third, and this third man had managed another shot before Buddy had stepped in and shot him too. James was shot by the third man, it was a through and through. Pierced just under the liver and came out the other side." Booth said with a hint of finality in his voice, his eyes filling with unshed tears.

Brennan winced, she known that this was coming but that didn't make it easier to hear, with that kind of wound James wouldn't have lasted long. She reached for Booth's hand cautiously and then slowly closed her fingers around his. He didn't look at her, he simply stared out into the room, and she watched as he took a deep breath and continued.

"The insurgents were no longer a threat," Booth explained, "Buddy managed to carry James over his shoulder and they made it back to base," Booth added with a shiver, the memory of himself supporting a dying Teddy still fresh in his mind, despite the many years that had passed.

Brennan nodded, gently squeezing Booth's hand, "He was alive still wasn't he?" she questioned gently, almost sensing what Booth was going to tell her.

Booth nodded, his eyes closing, remembering the look of pain that had been stricken across James' face, "We tried to save him,"

"You mean you tried to save him," Brennan interrupted.

"Yes Bones," Booth replied, his eyes opening and staring into Brennan's, "I tried to save him, but I failed."

Brennan shook her head, "A bullet passing through the liver is almost always fatal Booth, there would have been nothing you could've done," she added reassuringly, as her eyes connected with his, she could see the pain behind them, and the guilt.

"He died in my arms Bones," Booth said quietly, his voice wavering and his lips trembling as he spoke.

"Booth," Brennan said quietly, trying to reassure him that she was there for him.

"He told me to tell Lucy he was sorry and that he loved her, he was sorry he'd never see his child, he was sorry he'd just made Lucy's worst fear come true. Her fear that their son would have no father, that he'd have no memories of the man that was half of him." Booth explained, remembering the sound of James' strained voice, the way he'd made Booth promise that he'd tell her. It was then, listening to James that Booth decided that he no longer belonged in the army, that this was a part of his life that he had already suffered through; he'd already held a soldier in the last moments of his life, he'd made promises before, he'd never should have gone back.

"You promised him didn't you Booth?" Brennan questioned, knowing that Booth would have done so.

Booth nodded again, "How could I not? He was dying in my arms, it was my fault."

"How is any of this your fault Booth?" Brennan questioned, "You didn't shoot him, it wasn't your bullet that pierced his liver."

"I should've trained them all better Bones," Booth explained, finally telling her the thoughts that had been on his mind since, "I should've fought harder to stop the brass from sending them out alone, I should have warned them that you always protect your team, that you never let one of them go out alone, that you go out together."

Brennan sighed, she knew that Booth would have trained his soldiers excellently, "Booth?" she questioned, "What was the first thing you taught all of them?"

Booth looked at Brennan quizzically, "The first lesson was teamwork," he replied from memory, remembering the speech he had prepared to teach his soldiers.

"Teamwork," Brennan repeated, "Working with the members of your team to achieve successful outcomes, right?" Booth nodded by way of agreement, "So then you did teach them to work together?"

"I guess I did," Booth replied.

"None of what happened to James is your fault Booth," Brennan said firmly, "None of it."

"But," Booth began.

"No Booth," Brennan told him, "There is no evidence to suggest that you are responsible in any way, those are the facts."

Booth stared at Brennan, her face was serious and she was studying him with the same intensity that she studied the bones that found themselves on her table in the lab. He took another deep breath and tried to collect himself, "He still died in my arms Bones,"

"You aren't a doctor Booth," Brennan explained, "You have no real medical training, you were in the desert, you aren't responsible. You held him as he died, you were there," Brennan added firmly, "just being there doesn't make your responsible."

Booth sighed, Bones had her own way of convincing him to believe certain information, it was the way she explained things, the way she was so certain of the facts that managed to convince him that she was usually right. It was her tone of voice at the same time, the way she spoke told him that she was so certain of her information, so certain of the fact that none of what happened to James was his fault in any way and for a moment Booth began to see her point of view.

Brennan turned her head to the side, Booth hadn't responded to her last reassurance and she was worried that meant that she had pushed him too far, worried that he wouldn't tell her anything else about his time in Afghanistan. "Have you spoken to Lucy?" Brennan questioned, wondering if this slight deviation from subject would elicit a response from Booth.

"I spoke to her once," Booth answered, "James was running late to their pre-arranged phone call so I spoke to her then,"

"But you've not told her what James told you," Booth shook his head, "Are you going to tell her?" Brennan questioned.

"I owe James that much Bones," Booth replied, "I just need time to work out what to say,"

"You tell her the facts Booth," Brennan explained, "Just as you told me."

"I tell her the facts," Booth repeated, he sighed, once before he'd told the facts to a woman who'd lost her partner in a war, at a cemetery with Bones watching him, he'd told Claire, a complete stranger that Teddy Parker had been in love with her. He wondered what was so different now, why he couldn't just find Lucy and tell her as he had told Claire, perhaps the difference was that last time he had a brain tumour that he was unaware of, he'd been told that information whilst undergoing a delusion, this time there'd been no delusion. James had told Booth to tell Lucy, he'd made him promise and Booth had to keep his promise.

Brennan continued to watch as Booth's eyes glazed over, she could see that he was processing the information that she had given him, "Do you want me to come with you?" she questioned, offering her support, after all together they'd told at least eighty people that someone they knew had died.

"Yes," Booth replied quickly, "But you can't come until you can walk, you have to let yourself get better first," he added firmly.

"Booth I am going home tomorrow," Brennan responded, "I will be right as precipitation soon enough,"

Booth smiled, "I think you mean right as rain Bones, right as rain," he corrected her with a laugh, it felt wrong to laugh after the conversation they'd just had, but he couldn't help it.

"Right as rain then," Brennan repeated, matching Booth's wide smile, it was good to see him smile after what he'd just told her, "Thank you Booth," she added as she gave his hand one final squeeze before letting his fingers fall away from hers.

"What are you thanking me for?" Booth questioned, slightly puzzled, she never usually thanked him for correcting her incorrect idioms.

"Thank you for telling me about James," Brennan answered, as she forced a yawn to escape her lips, preventing the wince of pain she felt show on her face as she settled back into the hospital bed. She was determined that she was going home tomorrow, and if Booth saw that her ankle was still giving her pain, he'd do everything in his power to prevent her from being discharged, she closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath, thinking of calming thoughts to prevent her pain from flashing across her face for Booth to see.

"Thank you for listening," Booth replied, as he watched her settle back into the bed, her eyes flickering closed. It was then that he realised that he'd not mentioned anything about what he'd thought their conversation was going to be about, he'd wanted to discuss what she'd said upon waking for the first time, but instead they'd talked about him and now as he concentrated on Brennan once more, he realised she'd fallen asleep on him once again and he honestly didn't have the heart to wake her. He sighed and sat back in the hospital chair, Bones had made sense, she was a woman who knew how to present a case, how to convince him of the facts, maybe, just maybe she was right, James dying wasn't his fault and maybe one day, he'd believe her.

So there we have the story of James, sorry if you thought that this big conversation was going to be about what Brennan said, but that's a conversation for later, writer's prerogative and all. I hope you liked the chapter though, the next one will be up sooner than the last.

Also if you liked the dream land that I wrote earlier, then there is another three-part fluffy story uploaded called The Anthropologist and the Agent in the Wedding.