only_more_love | Surfacing (Double Drabble #47)

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.

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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.