Quick A/N: I'm new to the whole posting a story thing, so if it's wrong don't shoot me. Posting formats are my kryptonite. I also don't own Bones so don't sue. I was going to make this a crossover but couldn't decide between Royal Pains, White Collar, or Psych and since it's my first time out of the gate I decided to go with none of the above. It's my first time writing fanfiction, getting inside a characters head that isn't from my own imagination is crazier than I thought it would be. Here goes. This takes place right after Hannah, but Bones never said what she did in "The Doctor in the Photo"

Still don't own Bones.

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"You can't be serious." Temperance Brennan said with a slight shake to her head, "Gormogon was a flesh eating person if you recall, but that doesn't make him one of the dead." She arched her back slightly as the FBI issued vehicle made its way down the road, "If you are dead, you stay dead."

Seeley Booth rolled his eyes, glancing at his partner before turning his eyes to the pavement before him, "Bones, I'm not saying that zombies are real, I'm just saying that…Parker went to a friend's house and watched a movie about them, had nightmares all week." He shook his head, annoyed that some careless parent let young boys watch something that would terrify them.

Temperance reached down between the seat and the door, and grabbed the lever to adjust the position of her chair. "Well." The back of the seat went back some, and she let out a contented sigh, "Well, you need to set him down and tell him that it is preposterous to think that there is such a thing as zombies." She shook her head, "And vampires, werewolves, wizards, psychics, Santa Claus…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, while I agree on the first couple, Santa Claus is staying in the mix of the still plausible." Booth said with another glance at his partner, who looked much more at ease with the chair adjusted to her liking. Hannah had changed the setting while riding with him on one of their last dates before the break up. It just proved how much Bones and he had grown apart that it had taken her almost a month to make it 'Bone's seat' again. "I'm just…look, Bones, as someone Parker looks up to and respects, I was just wondering if you could tell him that you, you know, think zombies aren't real and all. But, leave out the part about Santa Claus."

Temperance looked out the window for a few minutes gathering her thoughts. On one hand it seemed odd that Booth would select her for the task. While she understood that children took news like this better from someone other than their parents, as parents might lie to make them feel better, she didn't understand why Booth chose her out of anyone else on their team. But on the other hand, she was glad to be asked for something like this, it felt like old times, doing something to help each other out; and if she were to admit it, she really missed seeing the young Booth around, she hadn't seen him since before her trip to Maluku. "Of course, I will talk to him, and even though I don't think it is a good idea to lie to children about things, I promise not to mention that an obese man can't ride all over the world in a sleigh carried by animals that can't actually fly." She scoffed, "And how does he know what all children want anyway? Why should he get to decide who is on the alleged naughty list?"

Booth bit back a grin, "its all part of the fun." He gave a slight shrug, "Thanks for this, I'll call you sometime this week since we are staying in this week." Since it was summer break Parker was staying with him for a few weeks, unfortunately they had had plans to go on vacation, but the plans had to be cancelled when the place they had planned to go –a place that had cabins for rent, modern camping- had call to inform him that it would have to close due to repairs. "Is there a day that would work better for you?"

Brennan bit her lip and shook her head, "Actually, I'm not going to be in town this weekend."

Booth slanted his eye line towards his best friend once more, "Oh? Is there a book signing somewhere?" He asked casually, after all it was the first he was hearing that she wasn't going to be in town. "What if there is a case?"

The car was silent for a few minutes; Brennan rolled her shoulders and opened her mouth to respond when a shrill ring went off between them. Booth reached down, blindly grabbing his phone, "Booth. Yeah, hold on," He handed the phone to Bones, and she put it on speakerphone, "Brennan."

Angela Montenegro's voice boomed out of the little electrical device relaying the teams' latest findings, making the suspect they had in the holding cell 100% guilty. The conversation put on hold, as they talked about what they would say to the suspect to make him confess, not that it really mattered when they had proof that it was him.

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Temperance looked around her office trying to make sure that she had everything she needed, now that their current case was over, she was going to take off a few more days than originally planned. She felt a little guilty not letting Booth in on her plans, he was her partner after all, but their relationship had been so strained, they just weren't as close as they once were. That, and, Brennan was self-conscious about letting everyone know where she was going. Angela didn't know either, but, then, Angela had been a little short with Brennan lately.

Dr. Camille Saroran knocked on the door frame of the office before walking in, "Dr. Brennan, are you sure you want me to call you if a case comes up? You're taking some time off, and you're allowed to…relax."

Brennan shook her head, "No, that's alright. I won't be here to give my full attention to the case, as I have other things planned, but I can take a few minutes here and there to help out if there is need for me. While my interns are highly intelligent they don't have the proper certifications needed to be taken seriously. If something were to go to court it could be thrown out. Plus they are still learning they are always missing things. We catch murderers. I would rather be bothered now for a few minutes of my time, than know a murderer got off because I wasn't available to help." She shrugged. Pulling a few files off her desk, "These are the 'limbo' cases that I want worked on while I'm gone; I've assigned interns to each one, and will look over them when I return. Do you require anything else of me?"

Cam shook her head, amazed that Dr. Brennan always seemed to be one step ahead, "No." She took the files, "This is fine, I'm sure they will be happy to know that just because you are gone doesn't mean they have the week off." She shrugged, "I hope that you have a good time Dr. Brennan."

Temperance looked at the doctor before her and nodded, "I am hoping to as well, it's been a while since I have been down to visit my…friends. Thank you for allowing me to have a few more days off then I had originally asked for. I just thought that I would get out now and have a few days more time to spend taking in the sights."

Camille nodded, "It's no problem, you hardly ever take time off, and the work that you do speaks for itself. You are here all time, and to be honest I know I will sleep better not worrying that you are spending the night in the lab staring at bones." She said speaking of all the times the team has taken turns making sure Brennan is alright in the labs 'babysitting' her on particularly hard cases. She held a hand up when Brennan started to protest, "I know that you can take care of yourself. But, it's what friends do, look out for one another. Have you told Booth that you are leaving yet?"

Temperance nodded, "I told him this morning before Angela called." She hadn't really thought to before that. After all, he was taking a two weeks off to spend with Parker.

There were the sounds of footsteps headed in their direction, accompanied by whistling, before Booth strolled into the room, Parker hurrying in afterwards. "HI Bones, Camille." He grinned.

"Seeley." Cam responded before turning to the younger of the Booth boys, "Hey there, Parker, been a while since I've seen you around."

Parker gave a small smile, "I know. Dad's been super busy and hasn't had time to bring me around lately. But I'm here now." He said before turning to Bones, "Hey Dr. Bones! I'm so glad to see you!"

Brennan found herself returning his smile, "Hello Parker. I'm glad to see you as well. You've certainly grown some." She replied, only half noticing Cam use the files to wave and make her way out of the office. "How have you been?"

Parker grinned, "I've been just great. While you were…um…at the Mal…lu…place I went to England with Mom and Brent. It was awesome!." He smiled, before the corners of his mouth dropped, "But dad said you had something you wanted to talk to me about. Something about zombies?" He said with a bit of unease.

Brennan looked at Booth before turning her attention to Parker, motioning for him to take a seat on the couch. Brennan sat down next to him, "I did. Bo-Your father informed me that you watched a movie about zombies?" She waited until he confirmed with a nod. "Well." She paused, thinking of how to word this. "Well, I've seen a few movie previews out there about zombies, and they look pretty frightening to me. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that they weren't real." She paused, she didn't like lying, but she didn't want to let Parker know that Booth ratted him out for being scared. So she didn't see a preview, but she'd seen advertisements, it's hard to miss them staring at you out of practically every magazine. "I know, because I work with…the deceased…It's just Hollywood's way of making money. But they aren't real, otherwise your dad would have to give me a gun just so I could do my job safely here at the lab." She paused and chanced a glance at Booth who shook his head at her, 'Not going to happen." He mouthed with a smirk.

Parker's smile returned, though a little dimmer than before, "Really? I mean…they aren't scary to me, but they aren't real?" He waited until Brennan nodded her head, his smile brightened, "Good, I'm glad that you'll be safe here because…Zombies aren't real."

Booth was amazed how quickly Parker accepted Bones confirmation on zombies. His son seemed to place all his respect and trust in his partner, and his partner wasn't bad either. When he first met her, she wouldn't have ever thought to make it seem like she was worried about Parker knowing that zombies weren't real. She would have said something like 'I know you were scared after watching a movie, but zombies aren't real…blah, blah, scientific fact, blah.' But she had worded her sentences in a way that saved his son's pride, and for that he was grateful.

Parker looked around the office more at ease before turning his attention back to his favorite scientist, "You leaving work early Dr. Bones?" he asked after noticing her belongings all ready.

Temperance followed his eye line to her bags and nodded, "I'm taking the rest of the day off to go home and pack, I have a plane to catch in the morning."

"Where you going?" He asked his voice full of childlike curiosity. Booth knew that he should tell his son it was rude to ask for information like that unless dealing with a suspect, but he wanted to know that answer too.

Brennan tilted her head and smiled, "I'm going to Maine, I'm going to meet up with some friends and take in the sites that Acadia National Park and a few other tourist attractions that Maine has to offer."

Parker got a wistful look in his eyes, "Sound neat. Dad and I were going to go stay in a cabin, down in Virginia, but now we can't" he shrugged, "So we are going to camp out at home and watch old movies. Pig out on popcorn." His smile returned.

Brennan looked at both Booths, "Hey Parker, did you see that new poster I received? I'm thinking of putting it up in my office, but I don't really have the room. Do you think you'd like to take it home and put it up? It's right over there if you want to look at it." It was a promotional poster of her new book, for a future signing, but it took Parker's attention away from the two adults. She turned her eyes onto Booth, keeping half her attention on Parker, "I know it's short notice, but you could always come with me."

Booth looked at Parker, noticing he was interested in the poster shaking his head, "I don't know. You said you were going to meet up with friends, and I don't want to get in the way of that. It wouldn't feel like tagging along on your vacation, Parker and I will be fine. Like he said, movies and popcorn. How can you go wrong with that?"

"You could end up in the hospital with clogged arteries, and terrible eye strain." She said drily, "As for my friends, there will be children his age that he can play with. It's …I haven't really seen them as much as I should have in the past years, but they are like family to me. And you, Booth, you are part of my family too. So much more so, and if I minded or thought they would mind, I wouldn't have asked."

Parker was grinning when he returned to the two adult's side, "I can really have it? Will you sign it for me Dr. Bones?"

"Hey Parker," Booth said drawing the boys attention away from his scientist idol, "Bones asked us to accompany her on her trip. How would you feel if we didn't do the movie thing this weekend thing this week and do it sometime next week? It would be healthier." He rolled his eyes at Bones, letting her know that new didn't over look her reply about his plans.

Parker's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning, and he jumped up and down, "Can we, please? I promise I'll be very good and I'll do whatever you say, and please?" he asked his father.

Booth glanced at Bones, "You're sure you don't mind us tagging along with you?" when she shook her head he nodded to his son, "That means we have to go home and pack for a trip, and I'll have to call your mother and let her know." He turned to Brennan as his son fist pumped in excitement, "What time is the plane leaving? Do I need anything extra?"

"I'll have to add two more tickets, if they can be on the plane I'm slated to take in the morning then we will have to be at the airport by 7am. Since we aren't leaving the States, you won't need a passport, so just bring what you think you'll need." She shrugged pulling out her smart phone.

Booth put his hand on his son's shoulder and rewarded her with a smile, "Thanks Bones, are you sure you want to handle the tickets? I can do it, since we're last minute,"

Temperance shook her head, looking up from her phone, "It would make more sense for me to do it. The original ticket is in my name, and if we want to be all together than I should be the one to make the arrangements. Plus, I'm ready to go besides a few odds and ends that I still need to pack. You have only a few hours to get packed for two, logically, It makes since for me to do it."

"Logically." He agreed with a smile, it was almost like old times, "Then just let me know what it sets you back, and I'll pay you." He said, applying a little pressure to his son's shoulder to get his attention, "I guess Parker and I will go pack, and we'll be at your place 6:15am tomorrow morning. Thanks again Bones."

Bones nodded watching them leave, biting her lip from saying she didn't know what he meant by setting her back. Setting her back where?

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I know it's short, but how am I doing?