Disclaimer: I do not own Bones

"Russ, get down here right now!" Christine Brennan yelled from the bottom of the stairs up to her nineteen year old son's room. She sighed when she realized that she was not getting any answer. "Russ, I swear that if I have to make your father come up and get you, I'll-"

She was cut off by a glare from her fifteen year old daughter who was sitting on the couch with her nose in a textbook, "mom, can you please not yell, I am trying to study for biology."

Christine rolled her eyes, "Temperance, honey," she said, "you just got off school for Christmas break, you don't need to spend all your time studying."

"Just because school is out for two weeks doesn't mean I can stop studying," Temperance answered, "and Russ probably has his door shut and is talking on the phone with one of his girlfriends."

"One of them?" Christine questioned, confused. She shook her head and held her hand up to her daughter signaling her not to say anything else, "never mind," she muttered, "I don't think I want to know."

"Are you coming sweetheart?" Matthew Brennan asked his wife as he walked into the house. He noticed his daughter on the couch studying and smiled, "you know Tempe, science can wait for a little bit. You can go out, be wild. It's Christmas break, let yourself loose."

"Dad," Temperance scolded her father, "you should know better than anyone that science does not wait for people to 'let themselves loose."

Max nodded, "you're right honey, I'm sorry." He turned to his wife, "are you ready yet?"

Christine sighed, "I am trying to get your son down here for a minute so I can let him know where we are going."

"Russ!" Matt bellowed from the steps, "get down here right now!"

In no time at all they heard a bedroom door creek open and the sound of footsteps echoing down the upstairs hall. "What?" Russ groaned as he emerged from the stairs.

"Your father and I are going out to do some last minute Christmas shopping," Christine said, "we need to know what you guys want."

"You made me hang up with Liz just for that?" Russ questioned.

Matt rolled his eyes and took his wife's hand in his and lead her to the car. Temperance noticed her parents leaving, so she put her book down and followed them outside, "I would like the newest edition of the science encyclopedias. That would be a great present." She said as her parents were getting into the car.

Russ followed them outside and teased his sister, "you are such a dork, you know that?"

Temperance stuck her tongue out at him and Matt laughed, "Russ, what would you like?"

"A job," Russ answered sarcastically, "I don't care, something cool."

Christine rolled her eyes at Russ' words and Matt started up the car, "take care of your sister," Matt told his son.

"I'm fifteen dad, I'm not a baby," Temperance scolded.

"I'll make sure she eats all her vegetables, takes her bath, and tuck her in before bed," Russ answered in a mocking voice.

Matt laughed as he began to drive away, and Christine leaned out the window and waved to her children, "bye!" she called to them.

###

A few hours later, after a full day of Christmas shopping, the Brennan's were ready to head home. "You think Russ has Tempe tucked into bed yet?" Matt asked his wife jokingly.

Christine laughed, "it wouldn't surprise me," she admitted.

Matt laughed and opened the door of the car for his wife to get in when he saw something that made him freeze. Ruth, confused as to what her husband was looking at, turned around to where Matt's eyes were focused on.

A shady looking man stood in their line of vision with a malicious grin on his face. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Max and Ruth Keenan," the man said.

"McVicor," Max said as he pushed his wife into the car, "don't you even think about coming near my family," he warned, "I will not hesitate to kill you."

"What is stopping me?" McVicor asked.

Matt shook his head and sprinted towards his car, without even thinking, he went to the tail of the car and scraped off the bumper sticker that proudly displayed Tempe's school on it. He was not about to allow this man to even come close to knowing where his children were. He hopped in the car and began driving away. To his dismay, McVicor hopped into his car and was right on their tail.

"We can't go home," Christine said quietly.

Matt looked over at her in surprise, "what do you suppose we do, just leave them to fend for themselves?" Matt asked, shocked that his wife would even suggest such a thing.

"Russ will care for Tempe," Christine said, "besides, if we go home now McVicor will not hesitate to kill our children. I will not put their lives in danger," she said.

Matt nodded, "where do you want us to go?" he asked.

Ruth shrugged, "just drive until we lose him, however long that takes."

Matt nodded and drove right past the street that their house was on and out of town. As they reached the edge of the small suburb of Chicago that they lived in, Matt turned to his wife, "we can't go back, can we?" he asked, his voice choking up with tears.

Christine shook her head no, "it's too dangerous, we can't put Russ and Tempe's lives in danger."

"but what if us leaving them also puts their lives in danger?" Matt questioned.

"No one knows them as Russ and Temperance Brennan," to them they are Kyle and Joy Keenan… we are Max and Ruth. In fact, we should probably resume those identities so they don't pick up on our children's hidden identities," Ruth said.

Max nodded and continued driving away from their life. A few hours down the road, Max noticed that they were running out of gas. Unfortunately for them, McVicor was still hot on their trail. Max found the first place he could to pull over, an abandoned motel and pulled in the drive.

"Stay in here," Max demanded as he got out to confront McVicor.

"Tired of running are we?" McVicor asked, "you should have known that you wouldn't have been able to lose me."

"Shut up McVicor," Max said.

McVicor punched Max in the face and once he was down, put his hands to his throat, strangling him. He grabbed a small hammer out of his pocket and raised it to smash it into Max's forehead. Right before he could do so, Ruth jumped out of the car and grabbed McVicor's hands, keeping him from hurting her husband. Immediately, McVicor turned and swung the hammer at Ruth. She pulled away at the last second, but the hammer still hit her in the head. She put her hands to her head and fell to the ground, and Max grabbed a tire iron from the car and hit McVicor in the head with it.

Once he saw that McVicor was unconscious, he went over to Ruth and helped her up, "are you okay," he asked.

She nodded, "we have to get out of here," she said.

Max nodded and together they began to walk down the road, searching for a car to take them away from here.

###

Later that night, Max checked into a hotel about a hundred miles away from the fight with McVicor had occurred. He and Ruth began to settle for the night.

"What now?" Ruth asked her husband, not sure what to do next.

"We can't go back," Max admitted sadly, "as far as we know, we could have killed a man back there, we need to get new identities, start over again."

"and our children?" Ruth asked.

Max sighed, "we can always go back and get them later if-"

Ruth shook her head, "no, that is too dangerous, too risky. They don't even know about our past. Their lives will be better without us."

Max huffed, "are you sure of that?"

Ruth nodded, "they are safer where they are at; without us."

Max was about to argue when he noticed a not on the side table that took his breath away.

Max and Ruth Keenan,

I am aware that you are having a difficult time deciding what

Would be best for your family right now. Allow me to help.

If you choose so, turn on the television and you will be able to

See the life your children will live without you. If you do accept this offer,

You will have to watch until it stops. I hope this may help you in making your decision.

Max showed the note to Ruth who shook her head and laughed, "do they actually think we are stupid? We need to leave, somebody is on our trail." She began packing up her things, but she soon noticed her husband just standing there, looking at the note. "Do you actually think this is serious?" she asked incredulously.

Max shrugged," it's worth a shot, don't you think?"

Ruth just laughed.

"We can always leave if it's not real, but if it is- this will make our decision easier, don't you think. If we know that they turned out alright. I won't turn the tv on unless you agree."

Ruth rolled her eyes thinking how incredibly stupid men were and nodded her approval.

Taking a deep breath, Max pressed the power button and waited for his children's future to flash before their eyes.

New story. I don't think this has ever been done in the way I'm doing it, so I decided to do it! I hope it will catch enough interest. Be sure to review if you want me to continue. All I can say is that if continued I am in for a LONG journey…