What He Offered

Chapter 18: Catastrophe Night

Bones closed her eyes, and drew in a deep breath. She had no need of foreshadowing to dread what would come next; she had lived it, after all. She was tempted, once again, to skip ahead, but she dismissed that as cowardly. Still, there was more than one way to read, she knew, and this time, she would skim rapidly over what was sure to be a distressing section. She opened her eyes, and returned to the display.

A Tale of Twin Booths, cont'd

The next morning, Tim was still of two minds; he would not commit to further waiting but neither was he resolved on making his move. For the first time in forever, it was Vic doing the pleading. "It should be a joint decision, Tim. If you crash and burn, you could take down me with you."

"Or, we'll both of us be flying high, Vic. It's a crap shoot."

"Yeah, that's what I don't like about it! The risk is too great. Look, Tim, I'm not feeling it. The timing's just not right. Don't do this."

"I'll think about it."

That was the only concession Vic could extract from his brother, and it did little to allay his anxiety, particularly as they would be seeing Jay and Brennan at the Hoover later that day to review with Miss Julian evidence for a case that would soon be going to trial. Vic vowed to watch Tim with an eagle eye, and head off any attempt to act on Sweets' advice.

During the meeting, Tim's behavior threw up no red flags; he seemed his usual calm, urbane, courteous self, and seeing this, Vic began to relax. His twin was a team player, he wouldn't go rogue and jeopardize everything they'd worked and sacrificed to gain, however inadequate it might be. Vic felt so justified in this impression that, when the session broke up, he suggested they all go out to their favorite Thai eatery, and grab a bite.

The sisters consulted with each other briefly, and nodded in concert: sure, why not? Vic and Brennan shrugged into their outerwear, Tim helped Jay into her trench coat before slipping on his own, and a short elevator ride later, they were stepping out of the Hoover building and into the cool, rain-washed evening. As was their habit, Vic and Brennan led the way, stepping lightly down to the plaza, with Jay and Tim following close behind.

At the bottom of the stairs, Tim slowed to a stop, and stood, hands deep in his trouser pockets, waiting for Jay to notice. She turned back to him, a question in her eye. Tim gathered his courage, and, after a deep breath, took the plunge. "I'm a gambler, Jay." When she did no more than stare at him in confusion, he closed the distance between them. "This thing we have between us? I believe in giving it a shot."

From the plaza a few yards below, Brennan looked over her shoulder to share something with her sister, and saw Jay and Tim further behind than she expected, engaged in earnest conversation. Even as she watched, Jay's body tensed, and Tim moved in toward her. "Oh, no! No!" she gasped, and spinning on her heel, hurriedly retraced her steps.

"What?" Vic turned after Brennan, and was just in time to see his mild-mannered twin grab Jay by the upper arms, pull her into him, and kiss her with all the pent-up passion built up over the long years. He felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, and, swallowing down rapidly rising bile, raced after Brennan.

Jay had already freed herself from Tim's embrace, and, shaking her head 'no,' was stepping back, away from him as they approached. Vic caught his brother's plaintive question: "But, why? Why?"

Tears were streaming down Jay's cheeks, her beautiful face contorting in anguish. "I don't have your open heart!" she wailed. And then, Brennan was there, wrapping her arms around her sister, tucking her head into her shoulder, holding her as she wept.

Tim was still pleading with Jay as Vic came up to him. "Just give us chance. That's all I'm asking."

Vic knew that, later, he would be livid with his brother, but for the moment, all he could do was feel his twin's pain. "Let it go, Tim. She's not listening."

But Tim would not be silenced. The dam of his reticence had broken, and he was going to reveal it all, his dearest hopes, his powerful longing, his absolute certainty, dating back to that very first smile, that she was the one for him, the only one. "I knew," he said. "I knew."

In Brennan's arms, Jay's whole body shook with sobs. Brennan stroked her hair in a vain attempt to soothe her. "I thought you understood, Tim. She's been trying very hard to change, to grow stronger, but she's just not there yet."

Tim's shoulders slumped, and he turned partly away, tears brimming in his eyes. "You're right, you're right."

"Tim, please." Brennan tilted her head and looked at him beseechingly. "Don't look so sad."

Brennan has spoken some callous, unfeeling words in her time, but for Vic, that last line was unforgivable. Tim stood there before her, completely crushed, his bare heart smashed to pulp, and she wanted him to suck it up, and put a good face on it? "You have so much compassion for that sniveling little sister of yours, and none at all for Tim?" he said. "When it's all her fault? When she's been playing him unmercifully for years?" He heard his voice rising, growing harder and louder, but he did not care. Tim tried to calm him, but he was well past the point of self-restraint. "What did you call her once? 'Joyless and Ruthless.' Yes, and yes! Right as usual, Brennan! When has she ever brought more than a momentary happiness into his life? And, as for cruel, as for remorseless, when did she ever give a damn about causing Tim suffering, as long as she could build herself up at his expense?"

Brennan's chest had been heaving and falling, her nostrils flaring, her eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you done? Have you got it all off your chest now, you stupid ass?"

Vic was still so enraged on his brother's behalf, he wasn't listening. "What, suddenly you don't like the truth, Brennan? I thought truth was the ultimate good in your universe."

"You think Jay's the one at fault here, Vic? She's the one to blame?" Brennan's voice had gone icy, the words clipped and sharp. "Look in the mirror sometime, moron. Be a real man for a change."

Vic could not have been more stunned if she had clobbered him with a sledge hammer. "Me?" he roared. "What the hell do I have to with any of this?"

"It's not your fault, I suppose, that silly, impressionable women fall in love with you? It has nothing to do with your relentless flirting, your charm initiatives, your endless jokey gallantry? You just have to twinkle those chocolate brown eyes at any female that comes within range, don't you, Vic? It's a compulsion with you: no woman is allowed to be immune. Well, here's a news flash for you, Vic: sometimes those women you're having just a little harmless fun with think you're serious."

Brennan had the satisfaction of seeing Vic's jaw drop in shock and consternation, but one look at Tim's ashen face chased that bitter pleasure away. "Oh, no! No!" she breathed. The tears he had managed to hold back overflowed, not in a torrent as Jay's had, but singly, sliding down his face before being quietly brushed away. "Tim, I…" But Tim turned his face up to the sky in a desperate effort to collect himself, and she left her apology unsaid.

Vic moved to his twin's side, raised an arm as if to wrap it round Tim's shoulder, but then let it drop. "Tim, you know I would never…"

"Later, Vic." He spoke flatly, without anger, without any emotion at all. "That's the least of it just now."

"Tim's right." Brennan had found a clean handkerchief in her pocket, and had given it to Jay, who was moping her face. She maneuvered her sister gently behind her, and stepped up to the Booths. "We all bear some responsibility for this fiasco, myself included. All it would have taken was a word of warning from me to Tim, and this could all have been avoided, but that's not important at the moment. What we need to decide is what this all means to us, professionally. After the things we've said to each other tonight, the things we've done, can we still be partners?"

Vic, always the point man, for once deferred to Tim. Head bowed, lips pressed into a tight, white line, Tim studied the puddle at his feet as if the answer lay hidden under its surface. Eventually, he lifted his chin, and looked a question at his brother. Vic gave the faintest nod, and, with that, Tim turned back to Brennan. "Yes. All right. We're in — professionally. But, for the record, speaking purely for myself, I… I'm going to move on. I'm done waiting. I'm going to find someone who wants what I can offer, who will love me, for myself, for the next thirty, forty, fifty years."

Brennan acknowledged this with a short nod. "I understand, Tim. And, thank you." She slipped her arm around her sister's waist, and drew her close. "I'm so sorry, Jay. I wish I had kept this from happening. But, you heard Tim. You know he can't be your best friend anymore?"

"I know," Jay whispered unsteadily.

"All right, then." Holding her sister tight to her side, Brennan started forward, and after a moment, Vic and Tim followed after. When Tim, with his longer stride, caught up to them, Brennan threaded her free arm through his, and, as a way of expressing her grief at having wounded him unintentionally, laid her head on his shoulder. After a moment, Tim's head came to rest against hers, and she knew herself to be forgiven.

On Tim's other side, Vic raised a commiserating hand to his brother's shoulder, and was nearly sick with relief when his twin did not shrug it off. They walked on together into the fallen dark, their bodies linked by touch, their emotional ties broken.

There would be no Thai food that night.