Surfacing (Double Drabble #47)

[only_more_love]

Title:  Surfacing  (Double Drabble #47)
Written for: drabble123
Prompt: #16. Rose.
Prompt Table:  Romance
Rating: PG
Word Count: 200
Spoilers:   For The Boneless Bride in the River
Disclaimer: Bones and its characters belong to FOX, not me. This story is purely meant to entertain. No copyright infringement is intended.

Click here for fic index.
Click here to read the other drabbles in this series.

Timeline: This takes place during The Boneless Bride in the River, after Brennan tells Sully she can't go with him, and he leaves the lab.

William Chang and Li Ling Fan's skeletons lie side by side. Angela's artistic rendering of the couple keeps watch nearby. Looking at them, Brennan can't keep the tears from her eyes. Bile rises in her throat, and for a fraction of a second she questions her decision. She treasures her solitude and independence, but she is so tired of being alone. What if she's sacrificing her own happiness by making this irrational decision?

Booth and Angela told her she should go. Rationality dictates that she go; she wants to go. But she told Sully the truth: she can't join him on his travels.

This decision defies logic in a way that makes her stomach churn. When Sully asked what was holding her here, she couldn't answer--because she doesn't know the answer. This--the not knowing--terrifies her.

Unlike Angela, she doesn't believe hearts can speak. And yet something--maybe the gut or intuition Booth references--tells her she needs to stay. Something binds her to this place, this life, as securely as the handcuffs Booth carries have bound the wrists of countless suspects.

Though she can't name it, she feels it slowly rising to the surface. Foolishly, she hopes time will solve the mystery.

---

A/N: I wrote this one because I've always thought Emily Deschanel's acting in this scene is just fantastic. Brennan's told Sully she can't go with him, and now it's just her alone with the skeletons. She looks at them and at the picture Angela drew and you can just see the conflict on her face and in her eyes. Brennan's made the decision to stay in DC based on something outside rationality and logic, and she's tormented by it. But she still can't leave. :)

The drabble123 challenge consists of 20 prompts. I have one more prompt to go and then I'll be done. I can't quite explain why, but I've felt compelled to finish this challenge quickly. I plan to keep writing ficlets in addition to longer stories, but I haven't settled on a schedule yet.  If anyone has prompts they'd like to send me, whether they're words, lyrics, pictures, a Bones scene, or whatever, please feel free to do so. You can comment somewhere in my LJ or shoot me an email.

Comments

[jadeakira.livejournal.com]

Surfacing? Sarah McLachlan? :) Brilliant album. I think a lot of the songs on that album would be great prompts for fics.

[jadeakira.livejournal.com]

Farscape icon? Now how did that worm it's way into a Bones post?

There, that's better. :D

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

Sarah is made of awesomeness. :)

I think a lot of the songs on that album would be great prompts for fics.

Totally agree.

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

I love how you've captured how torn she is and how it almost physically hurts that she doesn't understand her decision.

[fangirlgonewild.livejournal.com]

Well, I like that you keep poking at this episode. I really love Angela's 'wedding photo' for the corpses.

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) There's a lot going on in this ep.

Creating that wedding photo was a very Angela thing to do.

[justice79.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is a great scene for you to write for. I'm with you it was so telling. Emily really brought depth to the scene.

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is a great scene for you to write for.

Thanks! Glad you thought so. :)

Emily really brought depth to the scene.

She really did.

[buffyangellvr23.livejournal.com]

wow nice...I agree with your AN too.

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Emily was amazing in this scene. :)

[nonores.livejournal.com]

It's strange that you're writing stuff about this ep because I just rewatched it the other day.

You really capture Brennan's confusion over her decision.

ED was great in this ep - not just in the big scenes but in the little stuff, too. The way she got on the boat without Sully's help, the way she stepped back from Sully when he asked for a hug (and how she cathces herself doing it), the exhumation scene, the quick look towards Booth when Sully was saying goodbye. And this one - which if you aren't paying attention - is just a throwaway scene.
Although my fave is how fast she got over Sully when Booth was there! ;-)

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

It's strange that you're writing stuff about this ep because I just rewatched it the other day.

Serendipity! ;)

I'm happy you thought I captured Brennan's confusion; that's precisely what I set out to do.

the quick look towards Booth when Sully was saying goodbye

That moment was so telling. I don't think she even realized she did it. :)

Although my fave is how fast she got over Sully when Booth was there! ;-)

LOL Well, the heart sometimes knows what the brain doesn't yet comprehend.

[hoosabrat.livejournal.com]

And yet something--maybe the gut or intuition Booth references--tells her she needs to stay. Something binds her to this place, this life, as securely as the handcuffs Booth carries have bound the wrists of countless suspects.

I love the subtle way you work Booth in here -- she's not even conscious of it, but it's the things Booth has brought into her life that are keeping her here.

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

I love the subtle way you work Booth in here -- she's not even conscious of it, but it's the things Booth has brought into her life that are keeping her here.

Thank you for noticing that. And I agree with you. :)

[odakota-rose.livejournal.com]

*g* You keep using awesome music for titles! My media player is getting a serious workout tonight ;)

I really like this, and how confused Brennan was by her decision. It didn't make perfect sense to her, and yet I love how even when she's trying to figure it out, she still references Booth. *ponders* She needs to listen to her subconscious a bit more, hehe.

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

You keep using awesome music for titles!

Sarah is the bomb, yo. :P

Booth was under her skin at that point; she just couldn't admit it yet.

Thanks for reading!

[sarabones.livejournal.com]

Love the description you made.. just love it :D

And Emily makes us feel for real what she's good at.. There are plenty of scenes where she acts.. marvelously!

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Sara!

Emily is a wonderful actress; I hope she has a long and varied career.

[makd.livejournal.com]

Love this. I love the way you've encapsulated Brennan's quandry, and the way she always seems to find an answer: in the bones. But this time, no answer for her there. Neat one.

I'll be sorry to see this series end. I've enjoyed the double-drabble, and I've particularly enjoyed how you've enlightened and encouraged us to learn more about B/B through them. ::loves::

Maybe prompts, maybe not: I loved watching how Brennan responded to Cam in The Intern in the Incinerator. Cam had just confessed that she'd had dinner with Booth the previous night, but was embarrassed to share the reason. Brennan, OTOH, seemed okay with that..except not. She became competitive, and was not happy that Booth used Cam's password later...even though Booth admitted that he knew her password, too. "Will you betray me?" seemed, to me, to mean so much more.....

Finally, her response to his calling her Babe - in The Killer in the Concrete - I thought was also interesting, but glossed over in the episode.

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

You silver-tongued devil, you. *smooches you* Thank you a hundred times over.

Thanks, too, for the prompts.

[gah-warrior.livejournal.com]

This is beautifully written. Especially love the last line and how this is Brennan's meditation on her relationship with Sully, but Booth's impact on her decision is clear - if unspoken.

As for prompts, I haven't made my way through all your fic yet, so it's possible you've already done this, but I would love to see you write something involving Booth and Brennan's first impressions of each other.

[lerdo.livejournal.com]

Her decision to stay is tied up in her relationship with Booth--and the things he has helped her to see are important to her--like her relationships/friendships with her team. They are her people, and he is one of them. She may not have realized it at that moment, or maybe she just couldn't admit it, but it was clear. When Sully asked her what was keeping her there, she turned her head to look at Booth in the interrogation room. :)

Thanks for the prompt. There's a bit about Booth's first impressions of Brennan in Sticks and Stones (http://lerdo.livejournal.com/48883.html). And there's some about both their impressions in Always On Your Side, but that's a longer story.

[amilyn.livejournal.com]

Nice job with the conflict between wanting to go, wanting to stay, wanting not to be alone any longer, wanting to have her independence.

And I agree re: ED. She's just fantastic.