I decided to add one last chapter to this one, so that all three of the participants in the perverse drama that was the end scene of the 100th episode have a chance to glean some of the wisdom of Gordon Gordon. In some ways this three part story has been a kind of catharsis for myself to allow me to develop some insight into how to approach further chapters of Booth's Lie, which I have been putting off adding to for a variety of reasons. I hope you like this one. Gregg.
Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
'Ah, the final actor in this fine little drama that has developed is now making an appearance center stage,' Gordon Gordon thought to himself as he spied Lance Sweets coming into his establishment. In many ways felt sorrier for the brilliant young man that he did for Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. He felt good about his conversations with the two stubborn individuals, and he sincerely wished them success in finding the means to realize that all they need to do is let loose of the darker elements of their own personal defense mechanisms in order to be truly happy. Dr. Sweets, however, was another matter entirely.
"Dr. Sweets!" Gordon Gordon greeted the young man with a good natured smile and an offer of his hand to shake.
"Dr. Wyatt," Sweets said, a bit lacking on the enthusiasm, but he wasn't here on pleasant business. He needed help to understand what had turned so horribly wrong for his two favorite people in the whole world.
"Oh, please, dispense with the obsolete titles, my dear fellow," Gordon Gordon admonished. "I'm a chef now, and a chef I'll always be."
"I'm afraid I need more than a chef right now," Sweets said, a bit of a downcast look on his face.
"Please, please take a seat," Gordon Gordon said as he led the young man into the kitchen and to the chef's table. "Would you care for a glass of wine? And perhaps some dinner?"
"Got any Wild Turkey? Or better yet, maybe some Everclear? I could use a good alcohol induced coma about now," Sweets said, not really looking up at his friend, and someone he professionally admired.
"No, but I think a good meal, and good conversation would do you some good," Gordon Gordon replied, now pleased that the young man had come to see him. It was becoming very clear that despite his best efforts, when it came to a certain select group of people, he would always be Gordon Gordon, the friendly psychologist who had the magic touch. Not that he would describe his abilities in that fashion, but Agent Booth surely would. He brought over a bowl of a creamy soup and placed it in front of the very morose young man. "Now, why don't you begin with this appetizer bowl of lobster in a cream based soup, lightly simmered."
Sweets took a tentative spoonful, not having cared much for lobster in the past, but to his astonishment this soup was superb. The rich flavors of the cream and lobster, along with the spices were perfectly balanced and none overpowered the other. "Now this is excellent," he commented.
Gordon Gordon smiled. At least he knew that he could satisfy his friends with his meager culinary offerings. Meager seeing as his friends were hardly connoisseurs of gourmet, though Dr. Brennan was almost one. "Thank you, Lance," he replied. "Now what brings you here to my humble kitchen?" He saw, just like with Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, a definite slumping of the shoulders, and a downward look into his bowl of soup.
"I'm a failure," Sweets said in a rather pathetic tone of voice. To anyone listening it would have sounded thoroughly dejected and defeated.
"That's a rather harsh assessment, don't you think?" Gordon Gordon reproached mildly.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew what happened," Sweets told him.
"Perhaps, but I won't know for sure unless you tell me what the dilemma is," came the instant reply. He watched as Sweets pondered whether or not to disclose what he'd originally come to talk about.
"Remember when we discussed my book last year?" Sweets asked.
"Of course," Gordon Gordon replied. It had been a very good piece of work, even if he had drawn some inelegant conclusions regarding Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. The work as a whole needed a great deal of revision and some rethinking.
"I spent a lot of time since then revising and then giving a great deal of thought to what you said, and then had a new draft ready. I asked Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth to each read it and give me there honest opinion," Sweets told him.
"And what was their reaction?" Gordon Gordon asked. He knew the whole story, but now he could get the third perspective in all of this.
"They said I was wrong," Sweets said with a shocked look on his face. "I almost freaked, but then they said I was wrong about when they first worked together. I was about to sink through the floor. My whole premise was based on observing them from the perspective of their partnership beginning with the Cleo Eller case. Now I find out they worked together a year before that?"
"Did you ever ask them when they first worked together?" Gordon Gordon asked, amused by that issue.
"Uh, no," Sweets replied, a bit embarrassed by that fact.
"Then you made an assumption, and based on that assumption developed your conclusions," Gordon Gordon.
"Exactly," Sweets sighed, relieved that someone understood.
"I still don't see the problem," Gordon Gordon responded. "Surely such an error wouldn't change the basic conclusions of your work."
"I wasn't thinking terribly rationally at that time," Sweets revealed. "I asked them to tell me of their first time working together."
"And they did?" Gordon Gordon said, trying to act surprised. Sweets was in a precarious position with respect to his confidence, and knowing that the young mans patients had come to him with their troubles would only compound those confidence issues.
"Oh, yeah," Sweets replied. He spent a few minutes going over that first case, including the almost one night stand, and then the end of the partnership when they began fighting at the end of the case. "Then I blew it."
"Oh?"
"Big time!" Sweets added as he took a last bite of his soup.
"And just how did you blow it using your own colorful vernacular?" Gordon Gordon asked.
"I didn't see anything that was going to change the conclusion that they are in love, so I pressed it," Sweets revealed. "I goaded Booth by saying that if there was going to be any kind of move forward it would have to come from him seeing as he was the gambler. It had to be him."
"And?" Gordon Gordon asked.
"I don't know for sure, but from what I understand Booth took a gamble and got shot down, hard," Sweets groaned.
"Have they talked to you about this?"
"No," Sweets slumped his shoulders. "They've been evasive, or abrupt when I bring it up, or anything related. Now Booth is dating a scientist, and from what I understand Dr. Brennan has been to lunch once or twice with Andrew Hacker. Neither, from their body language, is happy about the other's dating activities. The worst part is, I want to help them, and make amends for the damage I did, but unless it has to do with profiling, or other work related issues, they won't let me. I feel like a failure."
There it was. The admission that Gordon Gordon was waiting for. The young man had said it at the beginning of their conversation, but he'd needed to say it after explaining all that had happened. It now had some depth to it, and a bit of a tangible quality to work with.
"You're hardly a failure, Dr. Sweets," Gordon Gordon assured him.
"I failed the two people who really depend on me," Sweets said, not really thinking about how that sounded. Booth and Brennan hadn't depended on anyone other than each other since almost the moment they'd first began to be partners.
"No you didn't," Gordon Gordon told him. "You made a mistake based on a serious miscalculation, but when it comes to the failure, it is they themselves who failed each other."
"But don't you see? I was the catalyst. If it wasn't for me, these new events wouldn't be happening and they would still be making some forward progress. Now they're more distant than they've been in years," Sweets pressed.
"Dr. Sweets...Lance, we all have some dark side to our own personalities, and how we use our defense mechanisms," Gordon Gordon said after a moment. "For Dr. Brennan it is her deadly use of logic to explain illogical concepts, such as emotions, and love in particular. For Agent Booth, it is his pride, which will not allow him to step back and continue his waiting for Dr. Brennan to come to her senses."
"Then what's mine? Hubris?" Sweets asked.
"Nothing so dramatic, and it is unavoidable in you," Gordon Gordon replied.
"Unavoidable?" Sweets asked.
"Your youth and inexperience with life," Gordon Gordon explained. He raised a hand to continue. "Life hasn't always been easy for you, Lance, and it gave you some serious life lessons, but the real lessons in life, and the needed value in helping others is having lived in the real world. You are brilliant, and accomplished, but you are also suffering from the one malady that only time will cure ans what we have all suffered from at some point: youth. It makes you a bit impetuous, and eager to reach a goal. That is telling in this episode, but it isn't a failure. Agent Booth didn't have to take your advice, and Dr. Brennan didn't have to react so passionately by hiding behind a false shield of logic. They understand that, and while they may take some time before allowing you to deal with their interpersonal issues, they will at some point."
"I'm considering not publishing my book," Sweets revealed.
Gordon Gordon smiled. "That, Young Man, is a very good decision. May I ask why?"
"It just seems like every time I get in over my head with Booth and Brennan is when it relates to my book," Sweets replied. I guess maybe if I end the idea of the book, then perhaps it will set a better tone for when they trust me again."
"I believe it will set a good tone, but they already trust you," Gordon Gordon told him. "They still work with you, and to some extent let you interact with them. They are, unfortunately for you, very strong willed, and very independent people. For them to ask for help is something that will only happen when they are in serious need, which they don't recognize yet. Give it time, Lance. I think that they may just surprise you."
"What's your opinion?" Sweets asked. "Are they in love"
Gordon Gordon chuckled. "That is the question, is it not?" he asked rhetorically. "Yes, they are. Very much so, in fact. That's why they are having the difficulties that that are."
Sweets didn't understand that, though it sounded familiar somehow. "Huh?"
"Both are afraid of hurting the other, Lance," Gordon Gordon said. "Almost to the point of emotional paralysis, regardless of whether they would ever admit to such emotional turmoil. It also makes them very dependent on the other, which in turn makes even casual relationships with other people very difficult."
"So what should we do?" Sweets asked, in some ways showing his youth by trying to solve a problem that needed its own time to sort things through.
"The only thing we can do," Gordon Gordon replied. "Have a bit of faith, and hope."
"That's it?" Sweets asked.
"It's the driving premise of our profession, or rather your profession, Dr. Sweets," Gordon Gordon told him. "Give it a few years and you will discover that truism for yourself, and also become more comfortable with Dr. Brennan's characterization of psychology as a soft science. My faith, and hope, is based on the desire to see them be honest with each other at some point. When that happens, I think we will be pleased with the results."
"And until then?" Sweets asked, not really liking this, but knowing that the older man was undoubtedly correct.
"Be the kind of friend that they can come to when they are ready," Gordon Gordon advised. "And for Heaven's sake, stop thinking of yourself as a failure! You're young, and you made some mistakes. Learn from them, and move on to the next case."
"Did you ever make some serious mistakes early on?" Sweets asked.
"Oh my yes!" Gordon Gordon laughed. "Let me bring you the main course, and I'll fill you in on some of my own dark secrets from my former professional life. I think you'll see that, despite your current malaise, you're hardly alone in making some awful blunders."
Sweets smiled for probably the first time that day. "I'd like that," he replied as Gordon Gordon stood up to get the main course. "Thanks Dr. Wyatt."
Gordon Gordon smiled back. "Anytime for my friends, Dr. Sweets," he told the young man who now showed some real promise of coming away from this experience a much better psychologist, and a better person. Gordon Gordon may have retired from his former profession, but he was beginning to realize that despite that, there were some people he would always want to help. The three people who had come seeking him out recently were decidedly on that very short list.
A/N: This was the last chapter to this. I hope that this one on Sweets visiting Gordon Gordon was a good addition. It's a different dark side as it is something that Sweets can't do anything about except live and learn: his youth. Thank you for the great reviews and support for this story. Gregg.
