(The Prince in the Plastic)

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I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

The trip to Dallas had been surreal. Brodsky had been well respected by his peers until he had taken a turn down a bad road and had become a gun for hire. Most of them understood his need to get rid of evil, but not the way he had done it. Not only had he killed evil men he had killed a young woman to use her apartment and a brother in arms for his rifle and access pass. Those deaths were hard to forgive.

Besides Booth, the only one to turn up at Brodsky's funeral was William Preston. Bill had worked with Jacob Brodsky on the Dallas Swat team and they had served together in Afghanistan. Although Jake had broken his ties with the men he had served with, Bill felt he needed to come to the man's funeral, to honor the man he once considered a comrade.

"Wow, why are you here?" Bill had left his car and as he had approached Jacob's gravesite, he had spotted Booth standing near the coffin. Moving over to where the FBI Agent was standing, Bill glanced around and saw that there would be no one else attending the funeral.

"He asked me to come." Booth had never liked Bill, but that was for personal reasons. He knew that Bill was someone you could depend upon to do his duty and clearly that included honoring a fellow Ranger who had fallen. "He didn't want his burial to be unwitnessed."

Shifting his feet, Bill clasped his hands together and stared at the coffin. "I could see he was going off the rails after his last tour. He was a religious man, but he seemed to get more serious about it . . . talking about the evil of the world and how someone needed to stop it . . . I thought it was just talk . . . I should have taken what he was saying seriously. He needed help."

In the past, Booth had seen some of his friends crumble under pressure. PTSD was a hard thing to accept and there were those who had considered a diagnoses like that to be a sign of weakness. Some had sought help and others had tried to help themselves. A few had killed themselves and Booth had understood why they had chosen that path. He could never take that road, but it wasn't hard to understand why some of his buddies had given up and wanted peace. "He killed people for money, Bill. He appointed himself judge, jury and executioner. He killed Matt Leishenger for his rifle and his access card to the Port in Wilmington. He killed a good man that had got in his way and that is not forgivable."

Puzzled, Bill frowned as he watched a priest approach the gravesite. "Just why are you here? Yeah, Jacob asked you to come, but he was a murderer, a paid assassin and you hated that. Why come to his funeral?"

"Because he was my friend once and he was a brother . . . I couldn't let him be buried alone. I wanted to make sure someone noticed his passing . . . I was working a case not too long ago and someone quoted T.S. Eliot to me . . . I will show you fear in a handful of dust . . . We fear that no one will notice our absence . . . that we'll disappear without a trace and I believe that's true. Jacob wanted someone to notice his passing, so I came . . . why are you here? You didn't like Jake."

As the priest opened his bible, Bill shrugged his shoulders. "I came for the same reason you did. What he did was bad, but he used to be a man I admired. I could count on him to have my back when there was trouble. He just . . . he just lost his way."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Tired from his trip, Booth dropped his bag on the bed in the bedroom and walked out to the living room. Opening his good bottle of Scotch, he poured a generous glass full and sat down on the couch. Brennan was at the Lab, much to his annoyance, but he decided to leave her alone. She was due to have her baby anytime and she still wouldn't give up working. He admired her work ethic, but she was taking it too far as far he was concerned.

Leaning back against the couch, he took a swallow of his drink and closed his eyes. The room was quite except for the faint ticking coming from the clock over the mantle. Their house was located on a quiet street and there was little traffic during the day. The trip back from Dallas had been uneventful and he appreciated that. Traveling by plane was torturous at best and traveling Coach just made it worse. He should have taken Brennan's offer and flown first class, but he didn't want to waste the money. They had a baby coming and he knew that babies were expensive. He was looking forward to being a father again and he felt blessed to be having that baby with Brennan.

The front door opened and closed. Booth heard it and turned to face the front door. "Hey, I thought you were going to take it easy."

Placing her purse down on the coffee table, Brennan sat down next to her mate and sighed. "I was only doing paper work. It won't be long before I have the baby and I will be out of work for at least six weeks. I dread to see what my desk will look like when I come back."

Amused, Booth patted her knee. "It'll be a mountain of paper, but you'll get through it . . . Anything important happen while I was gone?"

"Not that I know of." Brennan leaned against Booth. "How was your trip?"

"Eh, it wasn't too bad. The lady that sat next to me read the whole trip, so I read too." Booth hated chattering seat mates and had appreciated the lady sitting next to him ignoring him. "Only two people showed up at Jake's funeral, me and Bill Preston. I really thought some of the men he served with might show up, but I guess not . . . Jake knew what was going to happen, that's why he asked me to go to the funeral . . . He's buried next to his sister and parents . . . He was a great soldier, someone I really looked up to. We were friends way back, but something got twisted inside of him . . . It's hard to understand what went wrong . . . I hope he rests in peace now."

Brennan wasn't a religious person, but she could understand Booth's sentiment. "He can't hurt anyone else . . . Are you hungry? I can make something."

"No, I'll order some pizza." He was tired and he knew that Brennan was too. "Is Jared still planning to come over this weekend?" Booth had invited his brother over for a barbecue the week before Brodsky had died and he had asked Jared to hold off until he came back. His plan was to talk to him about his drinking problem and he wasn't looking forward to that at all.

"As far as I know, he is." Brennan had shopped for Booth and bought brisket and corn on the cob. She had also bought various vegetables that she knew grilled well. "I haven't replenished the beer supply in the refrigerator. I don't want to tempt Jared when he comes over."

Squeezing her knee, Booth grimly stared at the fireplace. "That's fine . . . I don't think this barbecue is going to be very friendly, but I need to try to get through to him . . . He's losing jobs as fast as he gets them. Padme kicked him out of their apartment again . . . He needs help, but I'm not sure he wants it."

She heard the sadness in her mate's voice and she knew that he was worried about his brother. Clasping his hand, she tried to assure him. "I will be here, if you need my support . . . He reacted poorly the last time you talked to him about his drinking. I hope he listens to you this time. His addiction appears to be getting stronger."

"Yeah . . . well, we'll worry about it Saturday. In the meantime, let me order a veggie pizza for you and a meat lovers for me and after we eat we can go to bed. It's been a long day."

"Aright." Brennan stood up. "I'm going to make a salad to eat with our pizza."

He watched her walk slowly into the kitchen and felt a certain amount of pride. Brennan was tough and worked hard, but she was kind and considerate and she knew that he was worried about his brother. She claimed that she wasn't empathic, but Booth knew that she was wrong. He thought she cared too much and tried to protect herself from heartaches. He blamed her parents for Brennan's lack of faith in herself. He would never forgive them for what they had done to their fifteen year old daughter and vowed he would always be available to his kids. He would never abandon them like Max and Ruth had done to Brennan and her brother.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The barbecue hadn't gone exactly the way Booth had planned it. He had meant the occasion to be just Brennan, himself, Jared and Padme, but at the last minute, Max had shown up and Booth had invited the man to stay for lunch.

When Jared had arrived, he had arrived alone and Booth could see his brother was in a foul mood. "Hey, I'm glad you could make it."

His hands in his pants pockets, Jared entered the house, strode into the living room and spied Brennan through the kitchen doorway, her father sitting at the kitchen table assembling some vegetable kabobs. "Padme didn't want to come . . . I'm not living with her right now . . . she's got some things she needs to work through."

Careful how he responded, Booth closed the door behind his brother and followed him into the living room. "Max is here. I forgot he was coming over to watch the game with me this weekend . . . he's nervous about Bones and it's his way of checking on her without actually saying that's what he's doing."

"I get it. No problem." Jared entered the kitchen and walked over to where Brennan was standing near the stove. "Hey, Tempe . . . Looking good."

Amused, Brennan smiled. "I'm sure I look like a very pregnant woman but thank you."

"Hey, you look beautiful to me." Booth walked over to the fridge and removed a bottle of Coke. Opening it, he turned to look at his brother. "Hey, want a Coke, some water, we have tea?"

"I'll take a beer." Jared walked over to the fridge and looked inside. "Three beers, you have to be kidding me?" Grabbing a bottle, he opened it. "You need to make a run to the store."

Booth sipped some of his Coke and screwed the cap back on. "Nope, Bones can't drink beer right now and I don't like to drink it in front of her . . . I have the brisket on. It'll be ready in about an hour . . . want to go look at it?" Booth opened the glass sliding door leading out to the patio and moved over to where the grill was. His brother followed him out onto the patio closing the door behind him.

"Is that the new grill?" Jared was envious of his brother. "Must be nice to be able to buy a big grill like that."

Not wanting a fight, Booth lifted the lid and inspected his brisket. It had a nice crust building up and it smelled delicious enough to make his stomach growl. "Pops went to see Dad . . . He said he's sick . . . his liver might be giving out." Hank had called Booth the previous day trying to encourage him to go and see Edwin, but Booth had refused. "His drinking is finally catching up with him."

His eyes cold, Jared tipped the bottle back over his lips and he drank the entire contents of the bottle. "I don't give a shit about Dad, Seeley and you know it, wait . . . is that why you invited me over here? You want to yell at me about drinking . . . it's none of your business what I do, big brother, so butt out."

Slowly lowering grill, Booth tried to contain his flash of anger. He needed to talk to Jared not get into a verbal war. Turning to face his brother, Booth placed his hands on his hips. "I know what addiction is like Jared. I'm a gambler. I love gambling and I'm an addict. Going to Gamblers Anonymous was the best thing I ever did. They helped get me straightened out and because I haven't gambled in a long time, I have a family, a house, a great job . . . you could have those things too if you'd just try to give up drinking . . . Padme might take you back."

Slinging the empty bottle down with force, they both watched as the bottle shattered on the patio floor. Filled with rage, Jared gestured with his hands as he shouted at his brother. "My life is my life, Seeley. What I do with it is my business. Just because you and Dad are losers doesn't make me one. I don't need your lectures and I don't need you." Furious, Jared stormed back into the house, hurried through the kitchen into the living room and then out the front door slamming it behind him.

Sad that he had failed once more to make his brother see reason, Booth sat down on a lawn chair and stared at the oak tree near the back fence.

They had heard the shouting and they both knew that Booth had failed once more to get his brother to listen to him. After Jared stormed out of the house, Brennan moved over to the glass door, peered out at her mate and sighed. "He tried, but an addict has to want to quit. Booth wanted to quit because he wanted to work with me. His father is dying because he couldn't quit drinking and Jared looks like a lost cause too . . . I feel sad for Booth."

Max walked over to the doorway and looked at his daughter's boyfriend. "It takes strength Honey and it looks like Jared doesn't have the strength that Booth has."

Opening the door, Brennan stepped out onto the patio, moved over to where Booth was sitting and sat down on the chair next to him. She didn't say anything. She knew that her partner needed support, but she felt that it needed to be silent support. He was grieving and she needed to allow him to do that.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

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