A/N: It has been brought to my attention that the movement from Booth and Temperance's talk to the next chapter was a bit jarring. Upon re-reading the last couple of chapters, I agree that it was extremely disjointed. To that end, I have included a short interlude as a bridge chapter after "The Rest of His Story" and before this chapter, "Target Acquisition." I have deleted that chapter and placed it in the proper sequence. "Target Acquisition" has had some minor changes also, which, I believe, will also make it more coherent. My thanks to Africancharm for keeping me straight. As always, I welcome any questions and / or suggestions.
The old man shuffled along in the food serving line. He wore a tattered, stained overcoat. It was missing a few buttons here and there, allowing a faded olive-drab shirt to poke through. His pants were torn, with patchwork holes at his knees. On his feet were worn loafers, one of which was held together with scuffed, dull grey, threading duct tape. His eyes had a hollowed, haunted look above his bearded cheeks. Perched upon his head sat a faded, dark blue baseball cap with red lettering.
Tommy looked at the old man, hiding the disgust he felt. Looking closer at the old man, he could see where it looked like he had soiled his pants…multiple times. Tommy looked away, back down towards the start of the serving line. A new volunteer, a woman in her 30s stood next to him, spooning out soup. She always had something nice to say to the losers going through the line. "It's her first day," he thought. "She'll get tired of it after awhile." He cursed his mother and father for making him volunteer here. He didn't hate all of these people. Some of them could be productive citizens if given the chance, he thought. But these former soldiers. What were they good for? They couldn't even do what they were trained for. Killing people. They were just a drain on society now. "Bad enough we have to provide for them with shelters and soup kitchens," Tommy thought, "I'll bet most of 'em get monthly checks from the VA and Social Security." Tommy groused, "My tax dollars at work." The irony of this last thought never registered on him though. The heir to a large trust fund didn't need to have a job. Working here was his parents' idea to teach him responsibility. He was 17 for Christ's sake. He had other things he could be doing. One of which was the woman with curly brown hair to his right.
Tommy reached out and set a piece of garlic bread on the old man's tray. "Here you go sir," he said happily.
The old man looked at him gratefully and said, haltingly, "Thank you."
Still cheerful, Tommy continued, "I haven't seen you here, before, Old Timer. Just get into town?"
The old man, nodded. "Just today."
"What brings you to DC?"
"Come to see the wall," the old man said sadly. Tommy guessed he meant the Vietnam War Memorial. "I never seen it before. Figured I'd see if I can spot any of my buddies on it."
"It's a sad thing," Tommy commiserated. He set two more pieces of bread on the old man's tray. The old man looked at him and smiled. "Where are you staying?" The old man shrugged his shoulders and looked around. "Well, if you don't get a spot here tonight, I know a lot of the old soldiers sometimes stay under the overpass down by the park." The old man looked at him questioningly. Tommy pointed in the general direction, he continued, "It's about a mile and a half that way."
The old man smiled. He nodded and said, "Thank you," and began shuffling to one of the seats.
Tommy called after him, "Hey! What's your name?"
The old man turned, "My friends call me Beau."
Tommy nodded, "I'm Tommy." He smiled. Beau smiled back and nodded, moving towards the empty chair.
Tommy watched him settle himself. The woman leaned over to him, "That was very nice of you, Tommy."
He turned to her and smilingly said, "Thanks, Jules. We've got to take care of our Veterans." She looked at him approvingly. "Mmmm," he thought, "I just may have a chance with her yet…MILF city here I come."
She smiled at him, "It's rare to see such maturity in a young man nowadays."
He shrugged. His thoughts turned to him looking down at her curly brown hair spread out over a pillow. He didn't see her catch the eye of the other new volunteer. A thin man, with dark blond hair clearing some of the tables. The man adjusted his glasses and went back to work.
Seeley angled the SUV to a spot close by the door of the warehouse. Seeley and Temperance saw Jon's vehicle already sitting off to the side. "You're sure you want to come?" he asked Temperance. "I mean, it's not like we're going to be doing anything different today."
She turned to him, "You think I'll be bored?"
"Well," he said, "I'm going to be bored. I don't see how you couldn't be as well."
"Well, if that's the way you are going to be, I could always let Jon give you the massage to work out any stiffness in your arm or shoulder," she said lightly.
"No…no," he said, "I'm glad you decided to hang around." He looked at her, still tasting, from earlier in the day, her lips upon his.
"I hope you get to play some pool today," she continued. He looked at her. "It's an interesting game. The players need to understand geometric principles as well as the forces of velocity, motion, friction…" Seeley continued looking at her, amused. She turned to him. "As well as understanding those concepts, the players have to act upon those principles with just the right amount of force in order to achieve the desired result." Seeley smiled. Temperance saw his smile and said, "What?"
"Nothing," he replied. "Now I know how to get you interested in sports." She looked at him, aghast. "I just have to break it down into its most basic parts, or skills, and then relate those to some scientific principle."
"That may be so," she agreed. "But is pool a sport?
"ESPN has been trying to tell us it is for years...that and golf," he opened his door and got out. He walked around and opened Temperance's door. Holding his hand out, he waited for her to grasp it and exit the vehicle as well. "This doesn't bother you? Me opening the door like this?" She took his hand and stepped onto the ground. Seeley shut the door and the two walked towards the door of the warehouse.
"Just as long as you don't overdo it…If you've got an armload of packages, it would be foolish to try to open my car door."
"Got it." Seeley said. Upon reaching the door, Temperance punched her security code into the keypad. Once they heard the 'Click' of the door unlocking, Seeley opened the door.
The two walked through into a darkened room. Once the door closed behind them, their eyes adjusted to the dim light. "I thought Jon was here," Temperance said.
"So did I," Seeley said. He looked around through the intermittent patches of light coming from the fluorescents circling the walls at various intervals. "Wait here," he said.
"Yeah, right," Temperance said as she moved towards the showers / sauna / whirlpool area. Seeley looked heavenward and stifled a growl. He moved over to the pool table and picked up a cue. Temperance edged toward the shower door where she could see light crawling from underneath the door. Seeley moved his hand to her waist.
Temperance reached out for the door handle when the door flew open away from her into the other room. Temperance and Seeley jumped. Temperance more so than Seeley as he pushed her out of the way, ready to take on whatever was coming out of the room. Seeley raised the cue to smash the creature to bits. Jon yelped as he jumped back out of the way of the two figures, his hands dropping the towel he had been using to dry his hair. Once he saw who it was, he relaxed, "Jeezus…you guys!" he breathed, standing there in his pants and bare feet. "What are you two doing skulking around here in the dark?"
"Us?" Seeley exhaled. "What about you?" Jon looked at the two in disbelief and then looked back into the shower room and pointed at the light burning brightly.
Temperance started, "We thought…"
"What?" Jon asked. "That some horrible monster had eaten me alive?" Jon looked at Seeley, still holding the pool cue. "What were you going to do with that…beat the creature senseless?
Seeley looked at the cue and then looked towards Temperance. He relaxed and started to smile. Their heartbeats returning to normal, the three of them started to laugh.
Jon pulled his attaché case down from one of the shelves. Setting it on the table, he inserted the key and unlocked it. He looked at Seeley and Temperance. "I figured today we can see where you are, shooting-wise." Temperance saw Booth's smile. She couldn't help but join in. "Afterwards, we'll have you lift some and then get you stretched out." Jon continued, "How's that sound?"
"Sounds great to me," Seeley agreed.
"Music to my ears," Temperance said. Jon and Seeley looked at her. "What?" she said. "I like to see him make progress. This is a step forward, right?"
"Exactly right," Jon said. Then, to Seeley, "Go ahead and get changed into your workout gear. You should have some clean stuff in the dryer." Seeley started to go into the other room when Temperance stopped him.
"Wait a second, Seeley," she said. Jon was pleasantly surprised at her use of his first name. She moved over to Jon and hugged him tightly. She whispered in his ear, "Thank you, Bo Peep. Thank you for bringing him home to me." She released him and saw the astonished expression on his face. Confused she said, "Seeley and I just wanted to say Thank you. For everything you've done."
Somewhat embarrassed, Jon looked at the floor and then looked back at the two. "Well, we've still got a lot of work to do." He looked at Seeley. "Go ahead and get dressed." Seeley gave Jon a look of gratitude, turned and closed the door. Jon looked at the floor again. "He told you about Bo Peep?"
"And Goosey Goosey Gander, and Star Light, Star Bright…" Temperance said smiling. Her smile faded as she reached out and touched his forearm. "I'm sorry for the loss of your wife and daughters." She could see Jon was deciding something. She waited.
He had decided, "I think you should know this," he started walking towards the other end of the warehouse, into the darkness. He motioned Temperance to follow him. After a moment he started, "You're aware that I've known Seel a long time," Temperance nodded. Jon saw the nod and smiled. "Yeah…I know you know….You know that he's had a couple of important relationships in his life? Relationships with women?"
"He didn't go into details, but yes, he told me."
"Did he tell you that you're the only one he's ever told about Bo Peep and Goosey?" Stunned, Temperance stopped. "Oh…he's told some of them, in very general terms what he did in the Army. Very little about why he joined other than to pay for college. Virtually nothing about what happened to him when he got out…or even why he got out." Jon paused to let the importance of what he said sink in. "He's had a broken soul for so very long. He trusts you. More than he's trusted anybody in a long, long time. You've earned his respect and admiration by how you've faced down death together. I think since he's known you, his soul has been rejuvenated. He's trusting you with more than just his heart." Jon paused to make sure she understood, "Is that something you want? Is it something you're prepared for?"
Words Temperance never thought she would say came from her lips, "I don't know if I'm prepared for it, but it's something I want…with all my heart."
"What are you two whispering about now?" Seeley's voice boomed through the warehouse. "You two are like a couple of old women."
"We're just trying to figure out what to get you for your birthday," Jon yelled.
"Don't we have some shooting to do?" Seeley countered.
Temperance turned and followed Jon towards the shooting range. Jon turned and tossed her a pair of noise suppressors. Halfway to her hands, Temperance's thoughts clicked on what just occurred. The noise suppressors clattered on the floor. Bending down to retrieve them, she thought, "He didn't scoff at how far away his birthday was." She was startled to realize she did not know when, exactly, was his birthday. "It must not be far away," she reasoned, "Or he would have had the same response he had for the Christmas excuse."
"It must be pretty close," she thought. "I'm going to have to have another talk with Jon." And then she smiled. She knew exactly what she would give him.