Bones

"Bone of my Bone"

Summary: When past and present collide…interesting things start to happen.

Author's Note: Set in season five—so Parker is nine. Also, I'm not sure if Rebecca is married to somebody or not, but for the purpose of this story let's say she's not. Okay?

Warning: This story will contain spanking—though I don't know when...

Disclaimer: The only characters I own are Bryan and Hunter. Bones, Booth, and the Squints belong to Kathy Reichs and Hanson Hart.

Chapter Four: Back in the Lab

Booth's cell phone buzzed.

Still cradling his son with one arm, he answered it with his other. "Booth."

He listened a few moments. "All right. Thanks, guys."

Closing his phone, he put it away and then gently pride his son's head from his chest.

"We have to go now, buddy," he told him, gently. "We need to get to Dr. Bones' lab."

Parker wiped at his tear-stained face. "Why, Dad?" he asked, sniffing.

Booth felt his heart constrict.

His son had just found out his mother had been killed.

He needed time to grieve and mourn her loss.

Unfortunately, he also needed justice.

Only time would help with the first two, but he [Booth] could certainly get him the third.

"Dr. Bones and me are gonna help find out what happened to your mom and Bryan, buddy," he promised him. "They're gonna go to jail for a long, long time."

"You're really gonna catch the bad guys that hurt Mom?" Parker asked, somewhat skeptically. "How?"

"Bones is good at her job, buddy," he reminded him. "She can do it, trust me."

"Are we going to the museum where she works?" his son asked.

"Yep," Booth said, smirking, "and maybe Mr. Max will be there. I bet he could show you and Hunter some really cool science experiments. You like those."

Since Bones' father had started working at the Jeffersonian as a tour guide for kids, doing whacky and cool science experiments for them, he and Parker had really bonded.

Parker really didn't know his Pops too well and so Max had become a surrogate grandfather for him.

Getting up, picking Parker up as he went, he headed over to Bones and Hunter—who were still locked in a heartfelt embrace.

She looked him in the eyes. "What is it?"

"Mrs. Graham is at the lab waiting on us," he told her. "We need to go now."

She nodded. "Hunter, did you hear that?" she asked her son, quietly.

Lifting his head from her shoulder, the eight year old rubbed his snotty nose with his shirt sleeve.

Booth couldn't help but grin at that.

"Hear you go, pal," he said, handing him a hanky. "Your sleeve's not exactly made for that, you know."

"Thank you, Agent Booth," Hunter replied, blowing his nose. "Here you go." He started to hand it back to him.

"Uh, you go ahead and keep it, bud," Booth told him, earning a smile from Bones. "I've got plenty at home."

"We need to go to where I work," Bones told her son. "Your Nana is waiting there for us."

"Oh," Hunter said, "okay." He glanced at Booth.

"Agent Booth?" he asked, solemnly.

"Yeah, pal?" Booth asked, staring down at him.

"Are you going to catch the bad guys that hurt my dad and Parker's mom?" he asked him, seriously.

"You better believe it, bud," Booth told him, confidently. "Your mom is the best bone detective in the world."

Bones smiled at him.

He had never called her a 'bone detective' before.

Oddly enough, she liked it.

She stood up and Hunter did the same. "We should go. I'll call dad on the way."

Booth nodded and they all headed for his SUV.

Bones called Max and told him to pack her a bag, why she needed him to do that, and to meet them at the lab as soon as possible.

They arrived at the Jeffersonian in record time and all headed inside.

Cam, Hodgins, Angela, and Sweets were waiting on them.

They were all staring at Hunter, wide-eyed.

"Do all of you work with my mom?" he asked them, curiously.

They all nodded, unable to speak.

"Quick," Booth whispered to Bones. "Get a camera."

"Why?" Bones asked, frowning.

"Because, we may never see those four speechless again," Booth quirked a smile.

"This is hardly the time to be joking around," she reminded him, seriously.

"I know that, Temperance," he told her, equally serious. "But somebody's got to keep a smile—otherwise the boys are going to get depressed and despondant. Do you want that?"

She shook her head. "Of course not," she said, quietly. "Where's Cynthia?" This was asked of her team.

"She's in your office, Sweetie," Angela responded, still staring at the little boy beside her.

"And the, uh, remains," Cam told her, "are waiting in the recovery room with Zack." **

She nodded, placing a hand on Hunter's shoulder.

"My office is over here," she told him, and began guiding him toward her office.

Booth and Parker followed after her.

They entered her office to find Mrs. Graham sipping a cup of coffee.

She stood up as they entered.

"Your associates are very nice, Temperance," she told Bones.

"Yes, they are," Bones said, grinning. "Did you get everything you needed?"

"For myself, I did," Mrs. Graham said, "but Hunter only had a few items of clothing with him when Bryan dropped him off and most of those were dirty. I didn't have time to do laundry yet."

"That's okay," Booth said, "I can always take the boys shopping."

Bones frowned at that. "Now?" she asked him, thinking this was hardly the time or place.

"Yes, now," he whispered to her. "They'll just get bored here, dwelling on their dad and mom, and besides--we wouldn't want the stumbling upont he remains, would we?"

"I see your reasoning," Bones told him, undersanding now. "Maybe Dad would like to go along with you?"

"Go along where?" Max asked, entering the office. "Heya, Sweetheart, here's the bag you wanted. What's going on?"

He glanced down at Hunter, a big smile on his face. "Hiya, Hunter, how ya been?"

Bones and Booth blinked at her father. "You know?"

Max smirked, shrugging.

"Of course, I know," he told her. "You may not have seen me for fifteen year, Sweetheart, but that didn't mean I wasn't watching."

Bones frowned, not sure how to feel about that.

"Who are you?" Hunter asked him, curiously.

"I'm your Grandpa Max, buddy," Max told him. "I'm Tempe's dad."

"You never told me about him before," Hunter accused Bones.

"He wasn't relevant before now," Bones told him, simply.

A throat being cleared had them looking in Mrs. Graham's direction.

"Oh, excuse me," Max said, smiling charmingly. "I'm Max Keenan, Tempe's ole man." He held out his hand.

"Cynthia Graham," Mrs. Graham said, returning the hand shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Keenan."

"Oh, please, call me Max," Max told her. "Everybody does—even my daughter, sometimes."

"Then you must call me Cynthia," Mrs. Graham said, smiling back at him. "I'm Hunter's Nana—my daughter was married to Bryan before she passed away."

"Ah, I see," Max said, and then glanced at his daughter. "Now, where would I like to go?"

"Shopping," Booth told him. "With me and the boys. Hunter and his Nana are gonna be staying at my place for a little while and he didn't have that many clothes with him."

"Protective custody?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Booth told him, truthfully.

"Tempe, too?" Max asked, knowingly.

"Yes," Booth told him again.

"Got room on the floor for me?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Dad, that's not necessary," Bones insisted.

"Sweetheart," her father told her. "You might be a brilliant, independent forensic scientist and noted author, but your still my daughter and its still my job to look out for you."

Booth smiled at that.

"I reckon having another set of eyes and ears wouldn't hurt any," he told him, "but you can have the couch 'stead of the floor. I'll sleep in my recliner."

"Great, my bag's out in the car," Max said. "So, we're gonna take these two kids shopping, huh?" He glanced at Parker and Hunter, patting both on the head.

"There's not much for us to do around here," Booth said, "and your brilliant daughter needs a chance to get to work."

Max nodded. "How about it, Hunter?" he asked. "Would you like to get to know your ole grandpa better?"

"Yeah," Hunter exclaimed, excidedly.

It seemed, for the moment, his grief had been pushed to the back of his mind.

Parker seemed excited, as well.

Bones was amazed at the reciliency of children...

"Would you like to come too, Mrs. Graham?" Booth asked her, curiously.

"Actually, Seeley," Mrs. Graham said, "I think I would very much like to stay here. I've never been in a forensics lab before."

"That okay with you, Bones?" Booth asked her, curiously.

"Of course," she said, smiling. She handed him a credit card.

"What's this?" he asked her, curiously.

"For Hunter's clothes," she told him.

He handed it back to her. "I've got it covered," he insisted.

"Booth," she started to protest, but he interrupted her.

"Let's roll, guys," he said to Max and the two boys. "The mall's awaitin'!"

"Booth!" Bones called after him, angrily. "Come back here and take this card!"

He merely waved his hand at her as they all headed for the exit.

Bones glared at his retreating back, seething.

A quiet chuckle had her looking at Mrs. Graham.

"He's most definitely something else, Temperance," she said, smiling.

"Yes," Bones said, sighing. "I know."

"You had best get to work," Mrs. Graham said. "They can only keep the boys preoccupied for so long, dear."

Bones nodded and then grabbed her blue lab coat. "Come meet my assistant, Dr. Addy," she said. "I must warn you though…"

"I'm a big girl, Temperance," Mrs. Graham assured her. "I'll be fine. Lead the way."

Bones nodded and led the way to the recovery room, where Zack and Bryan's bones waited.

Hopefully, by the time Booth and her dad returned with the boys she would have a few more answered than they did right now.

No, scratch that.

She would have a few more answers than they did now.

Of that, she was absolutely certain.

"So, what's all this about, Booth?" Max asked the FBI Agent as they headed for the closest mall.

Booth glanced in the rear view mirror, finding Hunter and Parker both seemingly staring into space out the windows.

Poor kids...

His heart broke again for his son...and Bones'.

"Two bodies were found this morning," he explained to the older man. "They turned out to be Parker's mom and Hunter's dad--they were seeing each other."

"What a coincidence," Max stated. "Your ex and Tempe's ex seeing each other. What are the odds?"

"It's not that big a city, Max," Booth told him, snorting. "It could easily happen."

"Yeah, and it did," Max said. "So, what's the deal? How'd they die?"

"That's what I'm hoping your brilliant daughter will be able to tell me once we get back with the kids," Booth told him, grinning.

"Don't forget beautiful," Max told him, grinning.

"Huh?" Booth asked, frowning.

"My brilliant and beautiful," Max told him, chuckling.

Booth smirked. "Yeah, I know," he told him. "Believe me."

"Uh huh," Max said, glancing out of the corner of his eye. "So...have you talked about it, yet."

"About what?" Booth asked him, hesitantly.

Max gave him a whithering look. "Three weeks ago, Tempe met you at that pub for drinks with your brother and his fiancee, remember?"

"Yeah..." Booth said, somewhat nervously.

"She did not come home until nine o'clock the next morning," Max told him. "It might have been awhile since I did it, Booth, but I certainly remember those types of situation real well."

Booth swallowed. "It was a one time thing," he said, "I swear."

"Why?" Max asked, frowning. "You love Tempe, I know you do."

Again, Booth glanced in the rear view mirror at the boys.

They either weren't listening, hopefully, or they were only pretending not to.

"It's complicated," Booth told him, quickly.

"Like Hell it is," Max growled at him, keeping his voice pitched low. "Its the simplest thing in the world."

"She doesn't want to be more than work partners," Booth insisted, stubbornly. "She said so."

Max snorted. "I love my daughter, Booth," he told him, "but you know what she says and what she really feels are two different things."

"I know," Booth said, "but..."

"No, no buts," Max said. "If you've got the balls to sleep with her you've got 'em to tell her you love her and want to marry you."

"Whoa, wait a minute," Booth said, taking a turn just a little too sharply. "What?!"

"C'mon, you and Tempe are bit past the 'dating stage', don't you think?" Max told him. "Just take a leap of faith and pop the question."

"And when she says no, what then?" Booth asked, angrily.

Max stared him straight in the eye. "Don't take no for an answer, son," he told him, firmly. "She loves you, too."

Booth thought about that, not sure what to say.

"Uh, Dad?" Parker said. "We just missed the mall."

Booth sighed.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said, doing a hasty U-turn.

Max smirked.

Bulls-eye.

Hook-line-n-sinker.

Got'em.

TBC...

** For the purpose of this story, Gormogon never happened—so Zack is still Brennan's assistant. (I don't much care for any of the 'interns'—I kinda liked Wendell until they hooked him up with Angela.)

*** Oh, and how did you like my little plot twist? There's going to a few more along with the way. *smirks* Please, review.