He's never going to tell her why he was late to that funeral. She doesn't need to know, not really, and he knows she'd protest. Tell him he was being macho, or an alpha male, and that she could take care of herself. He doesn't fault her for that, because she can, most of the time, but this is where he can step in, and that's what he does. That's why he believes he was put on this planet, end of the day, to protect people, and he's not going to lie and say she's not on the list of people he'd do anything for, even if it confuses him a little sometimes that she is. He separates people into categories: colleagues, people like him, from the army or FBI usually, enemies, civilians, and people are his; Parker, Bones, his family. Maybe even the Squints to an extent because they're Hers. He protects his at all costs. He's not sure she'd understand that.