(The Patriot in Purgatory)

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This cold case turned out to be an emotional timebomb for everyone involved. Brennan had her interns working on identifying sets of remains in Bones Storage and one set of remains turned into a major mystery.

It turned out that the remains were of a soldier who had served in Kuwait during Desert Storm. While Tim Murphy was there, he and three friends were in a fuel munitions dump that got hit by enemy fire. He survived but three of his friends died in the explosion. His ex-wife felt he had come back with survivor's guilt. Sweets agreed that she was probably right. Tim was restless, unable to work, unable to sleep under a roof and suffered from PTSD.

Though he tried, Tim couldn't separate himself from what had happened to him in Kuwait. He made it his mission to get his friends Silver Stars for dying for their country. He was determined that Walken, Moore and Park be recognized for their sacrifice. He had pestered, screamed at anyone in a uniform and made a nuisance of himself every day at the Pentagon trying to get someone to listen to him. He was there on September 11, 2001.

On that fateful day, he was standing about 500 feet from the Pentagon when one of the attacking planes flew past him, low to the ground, sheering lamp posts as it was aimed at the Pentagon. Debris from one of the lamp posts hit Murphy, fracturing one of his ribs. In pain, he watched in horror as the plane crashed into the building. After the impact, Tim hurried over to the breached wall in the building and entered into a hellish situation. With sheer strength and adrenaline, he lifted pieces of concrete beams away from victims who needed help. His determination to save who he could cost his body great damage. Lifting over 400 pounds of weight by himself, had caused his broken rib to snap and it punctured one of his lungs.

Studying Tim's remains, Brennan also found that he had acute transverse fractures of his patellas, a compression fracture of one of the vertebrae in his back and he had dislocated his arms lifting such extreme weight. It took him ten days to bleed out from the punctured lung. He died alone and in horrible pain in an abandoned warehouse. Homeless and forgotten.

Because Arastoo refused to give up on a set of remains in Bones Storage, because he chose to overlook the fact that Tim had been homeless, a hero's story could be told.

Tim Murphy died a hero and because of Brennan, her interns, Cam, Hodgins and Angela, because of Booth and his friend Lt. Colonel Ben Fordham, Murphy was identified, his brave deeds were discovered and he was laid to rest in a military funeral. His son and his former wife attended as well as the three people he had rescued from the Pentagon on that horrifying day. Everyone involved in identifying Murphy were there to honor a brave man who had saved three people who had thought they would die in a smoked filled hell. They felt honored to be there.

Oooooooooooooooo

He stood in the kitchen, his arms around Brennan while she cried and spoke of being in New York City after 911. She had done what she could. Helping to dig through the rubble for the remains of the dead trapped in the fallen towers. At the time, she had felt detached and hadn't felt anything about the situation. She had done her job to help families get some closure, but she hadn't felt emotionally involved. "All these years, I never let myself feel it." She sobbed and held her arms around her mate, her partner.

Booth had been in the reserves by the time the attacks had happened on September 11, 2001. He had served in the Army as a U.S. Ranger and he had left the service shortly after his son Parker was born. He was a federal agent working for the FBI when he heard about the attack and was stunned that such a thing could happen on U.S. soil. He had felt shaken and resolved to be the best Agent he could be. He wanted to continue to protect his country and he could do that working for the FBI. "Bones, we all deal with things in our own way."

"I could avoid it all before I met you." She sniffed and stepped back a little, looking down. "I had no one in my life . . . and now I think of those people, the ones that died in the towers and I think of you." She looked into his dark warm eyes. "Anyone of them could have been you."

He pulled her closer to his body and held her while she continued to weep. "Alright, I know. It's alright." In 2001 one, he didn't know who Brennan was, his life as a civilian was just beginning and he had no idea what the future would bring to him. And she hadn't known who he was and what the future would unfold for her. "You did what you had to do and you did it to help. That's you, Bones. You didn't know anyone in the towers, but you had to help . . . I'm proud of you."

They stood in the kitchen for quite a while. Her tears soon dried up and she felt a certain peace wash over her. "It's been a long time since I've thought about New York and the attack . . . it's such a horrible tragedy . . . something that affected millions of people . . . you can't really forget it, but I tried to . . . Tim Murphy's family thought that he had died a long time ago. They didn't know he was a hero, that he had saved the lives of people that needed it."

"They know now, Bones." Sighing, Booth felt sad but at the same time, he felt proud of his team. They helped him solve cases that gave closure to many families. In the past, Brennan and the squints had helped him stop a terrorism plot, they had opened cold cases and found justice for the forgotten, like Tim Murphy and countless others. They made a difference he made a difference. "Because of you, they know."

Ooooooooooooooooo

It was late and Booth was sitting at the dining room table, a half empty bottle of beer on the table next to his elbow. He had gone to bed, but his mind wouldn't shut off and let him sleep. He didn't want to disturb Brennan's sleep, so he had left their bed as quietly as he could.

Staring through the open doorway into the living room, Booth could see the picture of his grandfather and grandmother on the fireplace mantel. He thought about the things his grandparents had gone through when they were younger and he knew they had found a way to fight for the things that were important to them.

"Booth?" Brennan entered the dining room and frowned at her mate. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure." He held out his hand and waited for her to move closer and grasp his hand. "I think every generation has their 911 . . . How you respond to it shows how much character you have . . . Pearl Harbor . . . The sinking of the Maine . . . I don't know, Bones . . . I guess I'm just thinking of Tim Murphy . . . He died alone . . . I thought I was going to die when I was a prisoner of war, it's a terrible feeling. I was young and what did I know about life? . . . Dying without friends or family knowing what happened to you." He stopped talking and kissed Brennan's hand. "Don't mind me, I'm just in one of my moods. I'm alright."

Filled with concern, Brennan moved a chair closer to Booth and sat down. "You gave Tim Murphy back his dignity. He was recognized by the Army as a hero and he was given a military funeral. It's true he died alone, but in the end, his family found out where he was and what happened to him. It's what we do. We give victims a face, a history, we give them justice when we can. In this case, we gave the people who he saved at the Pentagon the ability to say goodbye to him and his friends that died in Kuwait are going to get their Silver Stars. His son knows his father didn't die as a broken man, but as a man who could be admired and someone to be proud of . . . Tim Murphy accomplished a lot. He may not have lived to see those accomplishments come to fruition but he was the catalyst."

As a rule, Brennan didn't talk about heroes that much, but Booth knew that she admired them if they were authentic. She had seen the worst that society could accomplish and she'd seen the best as well. She may not believe in an afterlife, but she did believe in justice and that was her strength.

"Yeah, he was." Glancing at the clock on the wall, Booth sighed. "It's really late. We need to get some sleep unless we plan to call in sick."

Tired, Brennan stood up. "You're right . . . Booth, don't be sad for Tim Murphy. He . . . His family found him after being missing for thirteen years and he's been given a proper burial. His bones are no longer in a box in storage at the Jefferson. He's been given back to his family and I think, if there really were an afterlife and there isn't, I think Tim would be pleased to know that he accomplished what he set out to do."

"Yeah, I think so too."

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