They were finishing up dinner that night when Seeley cleared his throat.
"I have something to tell you all." He announced and all eyes at the table flew to his face. "I've been doing a lot of thinking and after my shoulder injury, I've lost my scholarship and things are just so tight-"
"How much does a male prostitute really make, anyway?" Jared bit into a cooked carrot and grinned wickedly.
"Jared Henry Booth." Their grandmother, Martha, scolded harshly and sent him a look that sent chills down his spine.
"What's a male prostitute?" Kelly asked with wide eyes, looking at Seeley.
"It's Jared being a jerk." Seeley answered plainly and shot his brother an annoyed look. Jared simply shrugged. "What I'm saying is, if I want to complete college, I have to find other ways to do it." He swallowed deeply. "I'm joining the Army."
"What?" Jared sat up, all traces of humor gone from his face.
"I'm leaving next weekend." Seeley nodded.
"Forever?" Kelly started breathing shallowly, panic written across her face.
"He's not going to be gone forever, Munchkin." Hank reassured her by patting her hand softly. "But he's going to be leaving the house."
"That's stupid, Seeley!" Jared shouted, a sudden rage overwhelming his small body. "You could go back to college! You could do anything with your life! The Army is just stupid!"
"Jared," Hank barked from across the table. "The military is a time-honored Booth family tradition. I served and your father served. Seeley's decision is commendable. He will be very successful there."
"Successful being a drone?" Jared's eyes flashed between his grandfather and his brother. "Yeah, okay, I see that."
"Jared," Martha threw her napkin onto the table and stood up. "To your room, now." She came around the table and pulled him up by his shoulder and forcefully led him out of the kitchen.
"What does the Army do, Seeley?" Kelly asked quietly after a moment.
"It defends the Unites States, Munchkin." He supplied, trying to put it in terms that the 7 year-old would understand.
"Then why is Jared mad about it?" She looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.
The first thought that passed through Seeley's head was "Because people die in the Army." But he couldn't tell Kelly that. His best response was to shrug his shoulders and return to the meatloaf on his plate.
*
Seeley was stretched out across his bed, blinking in the darkness. He heard the steady, shallow breathing of his brother across the room. It was probably passed midnight, Jared would have to get up for school tomorrow while Seeley would be able to sleep in until Pops would come in, pull the sheets off his bed and demand that he get up and help with some unending list of chores.
"Seeley?" A voice cut through the darkness. Seeley turned his head towards the sound and saw his brother sitting up in bed.
"Yeah?"
"Are you scared?" It was a difficult question for the young teenager to ask.
"Yeah." He said after a minute. He knew he owed it to his brother to be honest.
"Good, because I was beginning to think you didn't get scared."
"I get scared. A lot." He sighed. "I'm scared for you and Kelly, too."
"You don't need to be. I can take care of us."
"I'm sure you can."
"But you don't believe I can?" Jared said belligerently
"No, I do." He didn't want to be fighting.
"I'm glad you're going." Jared said directly "I mean, I don't hope you die or anything, but I'm glad you're going."
"Thanks, Jared." Seeley tried to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
"I mean it, Seeley." Jared said softly "I really do. I'm glad because I know it's something you'd be good at."
"Being a drone?" The sarcasm just leaked out and he saw Jared cringe.
"I'm sorry I said that."
"No you're not and it's okay." He sighed. "Things are going to change for you now and I think that it might be a good thing."
"I don't need you to tell me what's going to be good for me." Jared flopped back down onto his pillow and crossed his arms.
"No, I guess you don't and you won't have to worry about that after this weekend, right?"
"We're going to be fine without you." Jared said sharply, almost as if he needed to convince himself of that fact.
"I know."
"You just worry about yourself, Seeley." He grumbled. "Don't get yourself blown up or shot or anything because I don't want to be picking up the pieces of a broken Kelly."
"I'll keep that in mind." Booth said evenly.
The room was silent for a few minutes, each boy lost in his own thoughts. Seeley was thinking about how he knew Jared didn't mean to sound as harsh as he had come off. He knew Jared was just scared. And he was right. Jared was scared. He was thinking about how different life would be, how he was now the man of the family. At 12, he was suddenly responsible for a lot more than just himself and he didn't like that thought at all.
"This is really going to change a lot of things, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'm not you, Seeley."
"No one asked you to be."
"Good." He nodded. "Because they couldn't pay me to be you."
"Well, they couldn't pay me to be you, either, so I think we're pretty damn even." Seeley knew it was a lie. He would gladly step into Jared's irresponsible shoes if he had that choice, but he didn't. The weight of his recent decisions were weighing heavily on his shoulders. He believed what he was doing was the right thing. Pops had been right when he said it was a Booth family tradition, but it was more than that. The Army would give him a place to belong outside of the four walls of his grandparent's house.
"Seeley?"
"Yeah?"
"Good luck." Jared said remotely. "Is that what you say when someone goes off to Boot Camp?"
"I don't know." He couldn't help but fight back a grin.
"Okay, well, I said it anyway." Jared rolled over on his side, indicating the conversation was over for the night.