Title: A step in the right direction.
Series: Anniversary 3/?
Author: Chymom
Spoilers: Any episode of Bones may be talked about in this story.
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 1,241 words
Characters and parings: Booth, Parker, Bones, Sweets, Cam, Jack, and Angela.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you know. Anything else though is mine.
Summary: All journeys start with a step in the right direction. Will this be that step for Parker and Bones?
Beta: XOC 13
Author's Note: Any and all honest feedback is welcome. THIS IS A FOLLOW UP
TO FAMILY.
Anniversary
End of chapter two: Time to heal
A month later neither Brennan nor Parker had set foot in the lab. Sweets had asked that Dr. Brennan stay out of the lab until she got an all clear from her other doctor. She of course fought with him but when Booth and her family agreed with him that was the end. She stayed at home and worked on her book. Sometimes she would talk to Angela or Jack during the day about something. Other times Booth would bring over a case file or paperwork. Since she was hurt he had been working with Cam until she was better.
Parker had been to stay with them a few weekends in the month. Tomorrow was the day that both Parker and Bones were going to the lab for the first time with Sweets as a healing time. Booth's view of Sweets had changed over the last few weeks. He still thought of him as a pest at times but he was helping his family out. How could Booth not respect him for that?
"It's time." Booth heard as Cam and the team came out into the center of the lab.
Chapter three: A step in the right direction.
Both Parker and Bones did well for their first visit back to the lab in a month. Parker clung to Bones for most of the trip as she held back her own tears and fears as they made their way around the lab. Sweets thought it would be a good idea for them both to do this with their family for the first time.
For the next few weeks he had planed more trips to get them back to where they belonged with their family. They did things together but it was different now. Dr. Brennan wasn't running the lab with Cam's standing on the side lines. No, Cam was doing it all and that surprisingly made Cam upset.
"Dr. Brennan, it's good to see you." Cam said when Sweets had to take a call.
"Thank you, Dr. Saroyan. However, you saw me last night. Are you going to say it's good to see me everyday you see me?" Dr. Brennan was stating facts again and to them this was a good sign.
"You are right. I just meant that it is good to see you in the lab again."
Cam walked over and hugged the adult and child when neither Parker nor Brennan would let go of the other. The rest of the team came over to talk to them and within a half hour Sweets could see that it was time to go.
"Dr. Brennan, Parker, you both did great today. This was a good start. We will come back later." Sweets followed them out the main doors watching their reaction to exiting the lab. They had honestly done better than he thought they would to re visit the place that had hurt them both in more ways than one. In fact, it had been hard on himself to reenter the lab a few days after the attack.
After their time with Sweets and their friends Parker and Brennan went home and did Parker's homework. He had gone back to school a week after the field trip but was still trying to get his head around the work he missed. Brennan was helping him as much as she could. This was their time to unwind. They both relaxed and started to work. Parker on his homework and Brennan on her next book. The time off had helped her meet her dead line but that was after the first week. That first week she hadn't known what to do.
For that first week, her story wasn't working for her. Her dreams were nightmares and her free time was spent trying to make everyone think that she was alright when she wasn't. She was scared as irrational as that would have seemed to her before, she was scared. The men had hurt her; they had not only hurt her but made her see herself in a different way. The outcome of the horrible night was that her family had grown closer but at what cost?
Looking in the mirror she didn't see the strong woman she normally did. No, now she sees the scraps and marks these men left behind. The swollen flesh around her eyes and checks had gone down and her arms and legs were healing. But the feeling that these men had left her with was of loss. Loss of what they took from her and Parker that they can never get back. No matter what they do from that day on it will not change. Brennan knew the best thing would be to deal with the aftermath and move on.
She got up each morning cleaned up and set to work on what she could do instead of what she couldn't change. The feared that she had turned into a drive to get things done. She and Parker along with talking to Sweets had talked to Booth about some of the events of that night. He hadn't judged them or interpreted them; he had let them talk, sitting there holding them in his arms as they went through the details again and again.
Things were worse at night. Parker's dreams were coming less and less but when he was with his dad Brennan, Brennan would find herself with a child in her arms most mornings. Sometimes it was Booth or Parker calling her and asking her over and even a few nights it was Brennan calling them and asking them over. It was always the same outcome: Parker wrapped safely in her arms by morning.
Booth had his share of times with Sweets. After the field trip most of the agents had sessions with Sweets. Charlie had seen the young doctor more since that time than he had in the years that they both worked for the FBI. The events of that night were slowly fading away for all of the people who had to witness it. Not one of them would forget what happened but they were learning to live with it.
Booth came home well to Bones apartment, which was their home for the weekend,a few hours later. He had called ahead and asked if he should bring food or not. Noticing the time, Brennan told him that Pizza sounded really good to her. She smiled as she watched the younger Booth's face smile at her choice of food.
Booth walked in with his hands full of pizza and pie. It wasn't just any pie but right now he wanted to keep what kind it was a surprise to the two people that meant the most to him.
"Dad, you're home!" Parker yelled as he returned to the living room from putting his homework away.
"Hey, little man. Have you been good for Bones?" Booth was holding his son in his arms, looking around the room for Bones. He spotted her laptop open on the table.
"Mommy, said to tell you she would be right out." Parker sometimes would call Brennan mom and neither one of the adults was sure if he knew he was saying it or not. Most of the time she was Bones but sometimes the mom slipped out first. When it did, it brought a smile to his father's face.
"Okay, kiddo, let's get things set up to eat. How about if Bones will let us have dinner and a show?" Booth knew that his partner and love of his life was standing in the doorway. He could tell you the moment she entered a room but this time she had shuffled her foot on the floor to let him know she was there.
"Can we? Can we please?" Apparently the Bones radar wasn't only with big Booth but with little Booth as well because Parker turned at that moment to beg her to let them.
"Your homework is done and put away?" The question was more rhetorical but Parker shook his head yes.
"Your hands are clean and ready to eat?" Again his small head nodded yes.
"I guess one time wouldn't hurt then. What are we going to watch?" Booth and Bones both knew that it wouldn't be a one time thing.
A/N: The family is coming to terms with what happened. Or are they? What is/has happened to the two guys in jail? Thanks for reading this small chapter please drop me a line to let me know what you think.
