A/N: Hey guys! I've got another Bones fic for you! Yay! Anyway, this one is actually going to be a series of short little one shots documenting what Booth loves about Bones. They'll all include some variation on the line "He loved..." Most of them won't be connected to each other. I'll let you know if I decide to make any of them into longer stories. Enjoy!

This one is set at the end of 2.11, Judas on a Pole. Spoilers through that episode. Pretty much all of the dialogue in this one belongs to Fox (I took it directly from the episode -- no copyright infringement intended).


He'd done it again. That bastard Max Keenan had up and left his daughter, shattered and broken and alone. Well, not really alone. Not this time. This time she had him, and he wasn't leaving her.

"You know, I'm just one of those people who doesn't get to be in a family," she said softly. His heart clenched and he reached out and caught her chin as she turned away.

"Listen, Bones, hey, there's more than one kind of family, okay?" Her eyes shone brightly, like she was moments away from tears and he wanted more than anything to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything would always be alright. But he knew that he could never make that promise, because he could never keep it, and he would rather kill himself than break a promise he'd made to her.

There was a rap on the window beside them and she pulled away, her eyes turning to the diner and Zack standing in the window.

"Well, Zack got the job, right?" He said, smiling to shake off the emotions he'd just been feeling.

"Come in and congratulate him."

"Nah, you know, these are your squints, not my squints." He started to walk away, back towards his car, but she latched onto his arm and tugged him towards the diner.

"Booth," she said, smiling up at him, "we are all of us your squints. Do me a favor and pat Zack on the shoulder with an open hand." She demonstrated the action.

"What? Why? Does that mean something?" She simply laughed and pulled him into the diner.

He shook his head and watched her join her friends. He loved that she could be so brash and harsh and independent, and yet there were those times, like a few moments ago, when she was nothing but a little girl, just wanting to be loved.

"Booth?" She called, watching him intently. He smiled, walked over, and patted Zack on the shoulder with an open palm.

"Congrats, man."


A/N: Please let me know what you thought! There'll be more to come very soon.