A/N: My apologies for another dark chapter. I promise the next one I do will be a bit more fluffy.

Warning: episode of child abuse described.

Disclaimer: I have enough to do at the moment without owning Bones...


SEEING RED

"Pops?"

Hank frowned at the sound of his youngest grandson's whispered voice. "Jared? Is everything all right, son?"

"Pops –" Jared choked on a sob. "Pops, we broke a lamp."

With a frown, Hank walked over to his television set and turned off the game he was watching. "Are you hurt? Is Seeley?"

Another sob. "Daddy's coming home soon. When he gets home he's gonna be so mad…"

The fear in the child's voice squeezed Hank Booth's heart. It also troubled him. "Jared, I'm sure it was an accident. When you boys explain it –"

"No!" Jared said. 'He won't let us explain. Seeley told me to call you to come get me. He said he'd take all the blame. Please come get me – Daddy was already mad today and when he sees the lamp…" the child broke down.

No, Hank thought. His son Joe had a drinking problem, he knew that, anyone who'd met the man knew that, but this…what this sounded like…

"I'm coming right now," Hank said. "You boys just wait right there. I'm coming right over."

As he drove towards his son's house Hank tried to reconcile what he'd heard with what he knew. His daughter-in-law Mary had died six months ago. A month later, his own wife Sara passed away following a bout with pneumonia. Since then he'd not seen much of Joe or the kids. His calls to the house were unanswered, and they stopped coming to Mass.

But even when Mary was alive, there'd been bruises, cuts…times when Seeley or Jared flinched if he gave one of them a friendly pat on the back. Mary herself seemed to have a lot of little "accidents."

Had he been blind? Had he let his own grieving close his eyes to what was going on? He prayed he was wrong. He wanted to badly to be wrong.

When he pulled up to his son's house, Hank saw Joe's Ford sedan parked crookedly in the driveway. Before he fully got out of the car he heard his son's voice raised in anger.

"How dare you! You think I work and slave so you can go around destroying things?"

The bushes by the front door moved and Jared came racing towards him, his face tear-streaked, his eyes wide with terror. "Stop him, Pops, please! He's hurting Seeley really bad this time!"

The words "this time" were like a knife to the heart for Hank. He took a moment to wrap his arms around his shaking grandchild. "Shh, it's okay Jared. Go sit in my car. I'll go see what's up."

Sniffling, Jared nodded. Hank hurried to the front door and yanked it open. Now he could hear the sound of flesh striking flesh, and Seeley's whimpered apologies and pleas.

He stepped into the family room and froze.

A lamp lay on the floor, its base shattered shards on the floor. Joe Booth, his face red, had his eleven year old son's shirt gripped in his fist, and was beating the child on the head and body with the other.

Seeley's head lolled. His dark eyes cracked open, and he saw Hank frozen on the spot. "Pops?" he whispered.

With a snarl, Joe Booth grabbed the child around the throat with his free hand. "Don't you dare say anything to your grandfather! He doesn't understand how terrible you are! What an ungrateful, disgusting son –"

As if he had reached a breaking point, Joe flung Seeley into the wall next to the television. The boy's body hit the wall so hard Hank swore he felt the house shake. The boy fell to the floor, where he lay unmoving.

For a horrible moment, Hank thought he'd witnessed the death of his grandson. Then he heard a low moan come from the boy.

"Shut up!" Joe yelled, taking a step towards the child.

At that instant, Hank Booth felt a rage he'd never experienced before. Not in the Army. Not against any human being. Certainly not against his own son.

His buddies in the army had spoken of "seeing red." Hank had dismissed it as nothing more than a saying. But at that moment, red seemed to tinge his vision, as if the blood visible on his grandson was now covering Hank's eyes.

Before he fully realized what he was doing, Hank bellowed out "Joe!" as he moved toward him.

His son turned around, his brown eyes slightly unfocused. "Dad?"

Hank got his hands on Joe's flannel shirt. He turned and shoved his son towards the door. Joe stumbled, barely keeping upright. "Dad, I don't know what you're doing –"

With a growl, Hank slammed his son into the wall, hands gripping Joes' shirt again so tightly he heard it tear. Joe's eyes widened, and Hank saw fear in them. With a bolt of shame, he realized he was glad Joe was afraid.

"Get out of here," he snarled at his son.

"W-what?" Joe blinked.

Impatient, Hank slammed Joe into the wall again. "You don't deserve to be a father! Get out and you never lay a hand on these boys again. You hear me?"

"You…you can't make me leave," Joe sputtered.

"Oh yes, I can!" Hank shouted. "You get outta here – go take a walk or something. I'm taking Jared and Seeley home with me. When you come back, get your stuff and leave! I never want to see you again, do you hear me?"

Joe Booth's face grew hard. "Fine," he said, his words slurring slightly. "Take the brats. They're losers, just like you are, Dad."

Hank released his son and clasped his hands behind his back. He had to – he was afraid if he didn't he'd strike his son for what he saw.

Joe took a long look at his father. The two of them stood there, waiting to see what the other one would do. Then a low moan drifted in from the family room.

With an angry snort, Joe Booth turned on his heel and left the house.

Hank ran to his grandson. Seeley was trying to sit up. Blood from his nose and a split lip covered his face. He held a hand to his side, wincing.

Surprised he was capable of it after his violent confrontation with his son, Hank lay a gentle arm around Seeley's shoulders. "Easy Shrimp, just let me check you over."

"You're really here," Seeley whispered, looking at his grandfather with a look of awe and pain.

Hank felt a lump swell his throat. "Yes, I'm really here. I'm gonna see if you need to go to a hospital –"

"No!" Seeley burst out. "No hospital!"

"Easy, Shrimp." Yes, he was sure Joe made the kids afraid of hospitals. He took a deep breath to try to tamp down his anger. "Okay. Tell you what. Why don't you rest on the couch for a few minutes while Jared and I pack some stuff?"

"Where are we going?" Seeley asked. He groaned as Hank checked his torso. The poor kid was sore but it appeared nothing was broken. Hank sent up a silent prayer of gratitude to God for that.

"How about you guys stay with me for a while?" Hanks said, helping Seeley to his feet. The boy swayed and Hank gently supported him as they moved to the couch. "I'm kind of lonely and it would be great having the two of you around."

"Dad…." Seeley started, but Hank held up his hand to stop the boy.

"Your dad's okay with it," Hank said. "So you up for it?"

The look of relief on his grandson's face nearly brought tears to Hank's eyes. "That will be great." The child carefully lay back on the couch.

Before Hank got to the door, Seeley spoke up again. "Grandpa?"

"Yeah Shrimp?"

"Thanks. And when you get our stuff, don't let Jared tell you the Starsky and Hutch lunchbox is his. It's mine."

"All right, Shrimp," Hank smiled.

As he went outside to get Jared, Hank Booth prayed that he could be a far better father with his grandsons then he'd been with his son.