Spoiler: "The Boneless Bride in the River"
A/N: Booth's reaction in this scene from "Boneless Bride" really spoke volumes, in my opinion. He'd been grappling with Brennan's relationship with Sully all along, so when faced with the possibility of losing her, he was completely torn apart. I love the fact that he was speechless... Not something we normally see in our favorite G-man! :)
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Nice Guys Finish Last
"He's leaving for the Caribbean."
My stomach fluttered and a sudden sense of elation washed over me. Finally! Finally I was being rewarded for being a good friend, a good partner. It was about damn time for the nice guy to finish first! When I caught sight of the sadness in her eyes though, I felt bad.
"Really?" She nodded numbly. "Look, I'm – I'm sorry, Bones. I – I know that the two of you were kinda hittin' it off…" I glanced at her again and noticed that she looked sort of shell-shocked. As much as I wanted her to feel better, I couldn't help being thrilled that Sully would soon be gone forever.
"He wants me to go with him."
My stomach dropped. I felt like I'd been socked in the gut. I was at a loss for words. "Oh." I couldn't meet her eyes. "Oh… Yeah…" I felt like she'd just ripped my heart out of my chest.
"He – he says I should take a year off, a sabbatical. He says it'll be fun."
That rat bastard! If Sully had been standing in front of me at that moment, I would have punched him in the face. And I'm not sure I would have stopped at one. I could feel the fury building in my stomach.
"Yeah, it would be." They were the only words I could manage.
"But you just said he'd be shipwrecked with a volleyball."
"Well, he's got you. He doesn't need the volleyball." I could hear the bitterness in my own voice, but could do nothing to hide it.
She stared at me in surprise. "You think I should go?"
I paused, forcing myself to look at her. Did she want me to ask her to stay? I wanted to, with every fiber of my being, but at what cost? "Yeah… Yeah." I'd never really lied to her before. It's just not something we did – deceive each other. "Yeah. I mean, you know it's, uh, one year out of your life…" Even as I spoke the words, I felt devastated. She valued my opinion, more than anyone else's, and I knew she would listen to me. "I mean, a person's gotta live wide. And this is kinda narrow…"
Was I actually talking her into going with him? I wrestled with my conscience, my selfishness, but I couldn't live with myself if I stood in her way. Her happiness meant more than my own. It would probably kill me, but I had to let her go.