FAMILY TRADITION

Author
Natascha Herzog

Starring
Emily Deschanel as Dr Temperance Brennan
David Boreanaz as Special Agent Seeley Booth
TJ Thyne as Dr Jack Hodgins
Michaela Conlin as Angela Montenegro
Eric Millegan as Dr Zachary Uriah Addy
Tamara Taylor as Dr Camille Soroyan
Loren Dean as Russ Brennan
Ryan O'Neal as Max Keenan
Zooey Deschanel as Anna Keenan

Short Summary
This story is mainly about Temperance Brennan's past in the foster system, what had really happened during that time and how are her friends going to react when they find out something none of them would have ever anticipated?

Copyright
This fanfiction was written for pure fun and not to gain anything from the popularity of either the tv-show or the books. I honor the work of Kathy Reichs and everyone involved in producing the TV-Show, I am a FAN! I certainly don't mean to hurt anyone with this…

Note
This story contains spoilers. It takes off from the Hodgela wedding that never was (Episode 2.21). There's no relation to the books. Again I remind everyone that English is not my mother tongue. This story is not beta read and there might be lots and lots of mistakes in it, keep'em.

Feedback
Allways appreciated :)

Everyone stared at the massive white doors which opened with an energy no one of the guests had suspected. What was up, why was the ceremony disrupted by a man from the State Department. It could only mean one thing, but no: Neither of the two was already married, no one could believe that. Jack and Angela entered the church facing their family and friends. They did not approach the alter and the bride's maid – which was no one else but Dr Temperance Brennan one of the most respected anthropologists worldwide – stared bewildered at her best friend. Her social skills were limited but even she could see that something was going all wrong. Then Jack, her colleague and her best friend's soon-to-be husband spoke up:

"Change of plans: Please go to the reception, have a great time on us."

A wave of surprise rolls over all the guests of the wedding. A wedding that obviously wasn't going to take place anymore! Everyone looked shocked, surprised and somehow disappointed. They had all dressed up, bought a gift and had looked forward to a dream wedding which they have partly already seen taking place. Jack Hodgins and Angela Montenegro. A millionaire that didn't want to be one and an artist, daughter of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, who is in the words of her lover: "totally insane".

Temperance Brennan knew Angela had wanted this. She had been looking forward to this day even though it was rushed and not really like her. Getting married wasn't like Angela at all, she loved her freedom. Yet she was a girl, all girls dreamed of the big day, didn't they?

And she – Dr Temperance Brennan – herself had looked forward to be the bride's maid. She had been thrilled actually! She, the woman with the social skills of an Chironectes Minimus, has been asked to be the maid of honor for the weeding of her most cherished co-workers and friends. And Seeley Booth was Jack's best man! What else could she have wished for? It had been like a sign to her that maybe there actually was more to wish for life, that maybe marriage wasn't such a bad idea. Her friends' wedding was like a straw of hope which she had no intention to let go of. But how was she supposed to deal with this?

"Thank you for coming!"

Angela now announced smiling just before they turned around taking each other by the hand and started to run Angela's white dress flaring in the air. And then the door closed behind them, leaving the guests behind stunned.

Temperance Brennan turned around to look at her friend and partner Seeley Booth who had been supposed to kiss her at the party afterwards. She had inwardly looked forward to it. She would never admit it to neither her best friend Angela nor to him, the man of her secret fantasies and dreams. He himself had turned to face her, a questioning confused look but also a small smile on his lips. One was clear, the couple was happy, then why should they worry?

"What do we do now?"

Temperance asked with a smile mirroring that of her partner. They turned to look at the priest simultaneously; they're grins growing even bigger. Only for a moment they shared the same thought: 'We could actually get married right now!'

Of course – as always – neither of them would have voiced this thought to the other, nor would a wedding take place this beautiful afternoon or anytime soon. They weren't even dating or planning to do so. They were friends, good friends. Nothing else! Still they cared for each other to the point where everyone mistook them for a couple. Only a few weeks ago a cop, who had met them for the first time, had asked them how long they'd been dating. They both had snapped at him, answering way too fast that they were only partners. The cop had laughed at that and definitely hadn't bought any of it as the two of them kept on bickering like an old couple.

That was them, they had lots of moments like these and they knew – deep down – that they were made for each other, that what they feel for the other was more than just friendship. But they cherish what they have, they cherish the friendship, the work relationship, they're happy with that and neither of them was willing to risk that, not yet anyway.

The priest to whom the attraction between the two was as obvious as to everyone else in the room smiled at them knowingly causing both of them to glance away, observing the room full of guests who slowly was emptying itself. What was the point in staying when there would be no wedding?

After about twenty minutes family and friends of the bride and groom have left for the reception. Only a small group was trailing behind, still standing next to the altar, in shock. Namely it consisted of the maid of honor, Dr Temperance Brennan, the best man, Special Agent Seeley Booth, and their colleagues Dr Zachary Uriah Addy and Dr Camille Soroyan. They had built a circle, staring at each other in silence. Being the closest friends to the couple they were all surprised about the turn out of this wedding.

"I can't believe they fled their own wedding!"

Cam said, shaking her head in denial. As every other woman she loved weddings and she had looked forward to this one. Especially being one of the bride's maids! She had been well surprised when Angela had asked her to be one, she didn't knew the beautiful artist for that long and she was her boss, still they had been developing a friendship for which she was grateful because when she had started working at the Jeffersonian Institute she had felt like an intruder. Now, almost a year later, she felt like part of the group, part of the family, even though she was their superior.

"There certainly is a rational reason for their behavior, there has to be!"

Zach murmured his nose scrunched up while he tried to find said logic reason. If he could just make out what it was, he had to, he needed an answer, there was no way Zach could not have an answer to anything. Cam laid a hand on his shoulder:

"Zacharony, there are some things that don't do logic!"

She smiled sympathetic and winked knowingly:

"Especially love!"

Love was a topic Zach couldn't understand and that was what he voiced next. It was a sentence that was not heard many times out of the mouth of the young doctor. All three of them smiled not judging but knowing. They were all sure that with time and experience Dr Zachary Uriah Addy would also start to understand love. But at the time being he felt as if everyone was laughing at him and with a hmpf he turned around and followed the guests to join the reception, which everyone would be attending except the bride and the groom. Cam followed him, shooting one last glance at Seeley Booth, her former lover and the anthropologist who she had grown fond of, even though they were competing all the time.

That left Booth and Brennan in the Church and they both didn't dare to look at the other. They stood there in an awkward silence and Temperance thoughts wandered back to the time when she had first been in a church with her partner who was a good catholic and cherished the thought of God. It had been right after he had rescued her from a sure death in a buried car. Why did she need a God to believe in when she had her own hero?

Booth held out his arm and asked in a low voice:

"May I?"

His words gently broke her free from the thoughts she had running through her head. She glanced up into his chocolate brown eyes. Again he had this small but charming smile on his lips. Temperance knew that when he looked at her with this smile she would never be able to deny him anything. And right now she was too thankful for having him here, for what he had done, what he had told her earlier about her father, that she did not have any intention to refuse his offer. Smiling and holding his gaze she took his arm and walked down the aisle with him, unfortunately away from the altar toward the exit.

But maybe he would once win her heart the way Jack had won over Angela's. Maybe he already has. Maybe, sometime in the future, she would have her own chance to run away from a wedding that wasn't.

Everyone was already there enjoying the meal and the music when Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth arrived at the reception. It was as if nothing had happened, as if the Jack and Angela hadn't fled their own wedding, the only proof was their absence.

Temperance had left Booth's side as soon as they had arrived at the reception and joined her former grad student who was standing next to a sexy redhead. She figured he might need some help and was right. When she walked up closer she could hear words like decomposed, rotted flesh, fingerprints. The look of the girl showed her disgust and he was totally oblivious.

"Zack don't bore the girl to death, tell her she looks gorgeous in that dress, that the color of it shows off her beautiful eyes!"

She brushed passed him, saying the words just so loud he could make them out without the girl noticing anything. She almost smiled at how suddenly he stopped talking about his work but still didn't follow her orders. She was sure that right now he was trying to find the logic in what she had suggested.

She joined Cam on the other side of the room who was obviously also observing Zach talking to the beautiful girl and had seen Brennan giving him some advice:

"You know Brennan, he's not your grad student anymore!"

She smiled amused and so did Temperance:

"I know and I certainly am no expert in this field so my advice sure won't help him much."

Cam chuckled and glanced over to the Special Agent who had accompanied Temperance to the reception. She sure wasn't an expert but still she had this man head over heels in love with her. Jealousy again tugs at her heart but only a little. She hadn't let herself get involved with Seeley Booth the way he would have been able to hurt her. Not again, it had once ended in tears and she hadn't intended on letting it go that far again. Still there was no way she could deny that the handsome man wasn't to die for and the anthropologist in front of her didn't even seem to notice how smitten he was. Yeah, she sure wasn't an expert!

Temperance followed Cam's gaze and when she realized that her boss was glancing over at Booth she felt a pang of jealousy. She had felt it when she had first seen her at that crime scene almost a year ago. The obvious flirting between the two, then the relationship, it shouldn't have bothered her. What should have bothered her more was that Dr Camille Soroyan was thrown in over her head and was her new boss. Sure she didn't like it at all but it was something she got used to, she even was starting to respect and like her. But the constant flirting, the small kisses, the glances they shared, it was pure hell. She saw him starring back at her, again one of those moments, all she wanted to do was kick her ass, harm her, it was instinct and she knew how to behave but it still hurt. Why did he have to want her? What did she have that I don't?

Booth's eyes followed Temperance when she walked over to Zach and then joined Cam. She had left without a good bye, she just walked off and he couldn't deny that he was disappointed. He would have loved to spend the afternoon with her, doing something else than find murderers, dancing maybe or just enjoying each other's company, talk. There was a lot they had to talk about.

She had kept him awake the past few nights. His Bones! He worried about her all the time. With her stubbornness she always made herself get into trouble, something he so badly wanted to protect her from even though he knew that she hated it. She was so proud of being able to protect herself, proud of being strong. Still, sometimes he caught a glint of thankfulness and gratitude in her eyes. Sometimes the wall she had built around her started to crumble and he was always there to catch her whenever it happened.

But now his work and her needs were colliding and he had to arrest her father, he had to put him behind bars. He had a nagging feeling that she wasn't very happy how it all had turned out and feared that this would change their relationship, that she might push him back again. It had been hard enough to get this close to her. She hadn't let herself be rescued by him easily at least not emotionally. It had taken years!

Now that her father had willingly let himself be arrested just to be close to his daughter and Booth had no clue how this will affect their relationship. She had been thankful as he told her the reason why her father had let himself being arrested. She had hugged him in front of everyone which had taken him by surprise. It had been a little embarrassing but it was his Bones so he didn't really mind.

Now she had her father back and he had the unpleasant feeling that she didn't need him anymore. She hadn't talked to him that often since Max Keenan was back in town and he had hated her father for that. Inwardly he had hoped that with his investigations he would pressure him into leaving her again. He wanted her to smile but even more so he wanted to be the reason for those little twitches of the corner of her mouth.

Max Keenan had other plans. He obviously wanted to spend time with his daughter, he wanted to make up for the time they had lost, he wanted to get to know her and he even let himself be arrested to do that and just by having done that he had made her smile as broad as that little girl on the photograph he once detected on her desk, the one where she was about eight or nine years old and encircled by her mother. He had never seen her smile like that until this afternoon and even though he was happy for her it had also stung a little. Was he going to lose her to her family?

He only realized that he had been starring when he caught Cam smiling at him. Naturally he smiled back. It was obvious that she knew how he felt for the woman next to her. He guessed that she had already suspected something back when they had been dating. He had felt bad but she had never mentioned anything. Slowly he approached the two women. Cam smiled and winked at him before she left without saying a word so he could talk to her in private.

"Bones?"

Temperance had been looking out of a window. She thought that he was coming over to talk to Cam and she didn't really need to watch them flirting. She was surprised to find herself alone with him when she turned around after he had addressed her.

"Where's Cam?"

she asked confused and looked in every possible place for her but she seemed to have vanished completely. She saw a smile on the face of the red haired girl who was still talking to Zach. That made her smile, he seemed to have trusted her instinct and more so her advice seemed to have had an effect on the girl.

"I just gave Zach an advice how to impress that girl and look it works!"

she smiled proudly and gestured to her former grad student and the girl standing opposite of him. Booth smiled, he had never doubted that his partner had it in her. She wasn't as much of a social retard as everyone – especially she herself – said. She was pretty clever and with her excellent observing skills and her natural understanding of being a woman she had everything one used to be socially active. The only thing she was lacking was self-consciousness and a TV. Oh, and the experience of having a child, he added thinking of how she always made motherhood sound like something that women were driven into because of hormones. She might be right about the hormones but still it was so much more than that. He smiled thinking of Parker and how he had changed his life. He was sure that she will once have to rethink her logic. He didn't want to believe that she really would never have a child of her own, he didn't want to because she would miss out on so many things.

"Uhm because of your father, I am really sorry, I mean that I had to arrest him!"

he stammered, this time really focusing on apologizing. He had already once handcuffed him in front of her and he had seen the shock in her eyes. He knew it had hurt her and he had felt bad for doing so, but it was his job and Max Keenan was a murderer. Even if he had motives he could relate to.

Temperance smiled, now focusing on him and what he said, smiling, bringing her drink to her lips and sipping a little of the red wine in it.

"I knew that you will have to sooner or later. I hoped it would be later but well, at least he didn't run out on me again!"

she said the last part almost dreamily and after a little pause:

"You know, a few days ago I would not have believed you that he let himself be arrested just to be close to me, it sounds kind of, I don't know, fatherly and I was so angry at him for killing people, for burning them, for leaving me, I wouldn't have wanted it but he had given me this tape a few days ago…"

Unconsciously she played with the ring that had belonged to her mother, which she was supposed to pass to her eldest daughter. That thought hit her with a force that she got incredibly white, as if she had seen a ghost. In the shock of the moment she let go of her wine glass and it shattered once it connected with the stone tiles of the floor.

Booth grabbed her arm to steady her because she looked as if she was going to pass out. He looked around as if there had been something that she might have seen, that had caused the shocked expression on her face.

"Bones, Bones, everything alright?"

he asked worried. In exact the same moment she had collected herself again and starred down at the mess she had caused.

"Yeah, it's nothing, sorry for the mess!"

she mumbled and was looking a little embarrassed at the waiter who was already collecting the glass shreds from the floor. Even though Booth didn't buy it they changed the subject and Temperance tried hard not to notice the ring on her finger and what it meant for her. It's family tradition!

From that point on Temperance Brennan grew distant with all her friends and colleagues. She changed, she wasn't like herself anymore. Work didn't seem as important to her as it has always been. She started to take days off and didn't even call in to ask if there was anything she was needed for. Not only Booth started to worry for his partner, everyone noticed the change in her behavior and everyone was completely thrown because she was nothing like herself anymore.

When Angela – who had just returned from her so called honeymoon with Jack – heard about the situation she tried to talk to her. But even she couldn't get answers from the forensic anthropologist. They didn't know how to help their colleague and friend and the worry for her started to worse the mood at the Jeffersonian Institute, even Cam had tried to talk to her, thinking she might have upset her.

Temperance herself was the only one who was completely oblivious to what was going on around her. She was so wrapped up in her own world she didn't even realize it when people asked her directly how she was, that they really were worried about her. She always answered that everything was okay and that they should quit bothering her with such questions. She grew pretty aggressive when asked twice or more and after a few weeks everyone stopped asking except Angela Montenegro and Seeley Booth. The two of them were her best and closest friends and they wouldn't give up on her. Not ever!

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Hope you like it :)