(The Suit on the Set)

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I don't own Bones.

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Making a movie had been more exciting than she had thought it would be. Allowed to solve a murder while her movie was being made had just added to the experience. To see her words being spoken by actors had always been a dream of hers and now that had been accomplished. Booth had told her that she could check that off of her bucket list, but since she didn't have a list then she would forgo that particular ritual.

Glad to be back home, she had appreciated the care that Angela and Hodgins had given Christine. Her daughter was happy to see her and Booth and they were both happy to see her. This had been the first time that they had been separated from their child and they had worried about her the whole time they had been gone. They had known Christine was being well taken care of, but they still worried.

Angela had met then at the door with their baby in her arms. "Hey look Christine, Mommy and Daddy are home."

The child had squealed upon realizing that her parents were standing in front of her and reached for her mother.

"She missed you the first few days, but Michael Vincent played with her and that helped." Angela smiled as Brennan rained kisses on her child and Booth held the baby's hand between his long fingers. "Hey, do you want to stay for dinner? Today is the anniversary of Vincent Nigel Murray's death and we're having fish and chips in his honor."

Her face suddenly pale, Brennan stared at her friend and struggled to say something.

Aware that Brennan was upset and appeared to be on the verge of tears, Booth placed his arm around his girlfriend. "Thanks Angela, but we'd like to go home. It's been a long trip and we're tired. We'll get together tomorrow."

Disgusted that she had upset her best friend, Angela placed her hand on Brennan's arm. "Honey, I'm sorry. I . . ."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Angela." As quickly as she could, Brennan stepped away from Booth's arm, left the house and walked rapidly over to her mate's SUV.

"I'm sorry." Angela touched Booth. "I shouldn't have mentioned him."

Booth patted her hand and shook his head. "He was her favorite intern . . . it was tough to watch him die. Especially when the bullet was meant for me."

"Don't say that Booth." Angela gripped his arm. "Don't say things like that."

"Why not? It's the truth." Turning, he strode down the sidewalk and met Brennan standing next to his SUV. "Hey are you alright?"

"I . . . I didn't remember the significance of this day . . . I . . . I didn't remember." Much to her annoyance, she didn't remember anniversaries like the average person did. She knew she wasn't very sentimental and that placed her at odds with her friends and family. "I'm sorry."

Booth pulled her into his arms, careful not to squash his daughter against Brennan. "Don't be sorry Bones . . . You remember my birthday and Pop's and Christine's . . . well, she isn't a year old yet, but you'll remember it when it comes. I don't expect you to remember the anniversary of everything that happens in your life or my life." He pulled a little away and kissed her and then the cheek of his whimpering daughter. "Look let's go home. You're tired and I think Christine would like to go home too."

Wiping a tear from her cheek, Brennan nodded her head and turned to strap their daughter into the safety seat in the passenger seat. "I'm not unfeeling, Booth. I feel things."

"Of course you do." Booth knew that Brennan had a hard time expressing herself sometimes. It wasn't that she was cold he knew that she felt things deeply. Hurrying around the SUV to the driver's side of the truck, he entered his truck and waited for Brennan to do the same. Once she was safely inside, he turned in his seat to look at her. "Hey, I know that Vincent was your favorite squint because you saw a little of yourself in him. He was a genius and he loved his job. I also know that you don't want to get too attached to anymore of your interns because of Zach and Vincent, but don't cut yourself off too much. Those squints admire you and want to learn from you. They've studied hard to get the honor to work with you and that's not a small thing."

"Yes, I know. I only take the best of my students as my interns." She loved teaching and mentoring, but she never wanted to get so close to her interns that she would mourn them if something happened to them. It was painful. Watching Vincent die had been heart crushing and to see that happen again would truly be terrible. "I will do my best to train them, but I can't . . . I can't get too close to them."

He understood. "You know, as a Ranger I saw a few of my brothers die. They were young and full of life and to see them die . . . it's hard, but it's part of life. It was part of my life. I was prepared to die and I knew that my brothers were too . . . Of course I didn't want to die and neither did my brothers, but we were prepared because we knew that what we did was dangerous . . . Those squints that work with you. They want to be forensic anthropologists. They want to use their skills and some of them are going to end up going to dangerous parts of the world to do their work . . . They know that their jobs are going to put them at risk and they're prepared to do that. Vincent may not have been in the field when he died, but we were working on a very dangerous case at the time. We were after a dangerous sniper and all of our lives were in danger. I'm sure Vincent knew that . . . He didn't want to go in the end because he had so much he wanted to do. He wanted to live, but the life he had led had been interesting and he had been doing something he loved."

Grateful for his words, Brennan knew that her mate knew what it was like to see a comrade die. He knew it wasn't an incidental thing. "Yes, he loved forensic anthropology and he was eager to help me with my presentation at the conference. You saw how happy he was when our t-rex arrived. He was very enthusiastic . . . I miss him." She felt a tear slide down her face.

"Yeah, I know you do." Booth wasn't sure what else he could say that would make a difference. Leaning over he kissed her. "Let's go home. We'll have a drink in his honor. I know I owe him a debt of honor . . . His death helped us cross that final line. Life is short and I think we were forced to admit that when he died in front of us . . . I know we were going to cross that line sooner or later, but his death pushed us and . . . well, I didn't really know him that well, but he was a good guy. Hodgins and Angela liked him well enough to name their baby after him. He was a good intern and you liked him. He affected a lot of lives, Bones. He didn't walk through this world unnoticed. That's isn't a small thing . . . Do you understand?"

"Yes, I think so." Brennan felt better. What Booth was saying made sense. "Let's go home, Booth. It's been an emotional day today . . . an emotional week. We need to go home."

Glad that she appeared to be calmer, less sad, Booth turned in this seat and started his truck. "You got it Bones."

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