Thank you so much for all of the wonderful reviews (in both fandoms). It's nice to know that someone is reading the story!

Just a reminder that while FaithInBones and I collaborate on the story, before publishing, each of us reads through the story again and may tweak it a little from the others version. Nothing relating to story line, just some editing points. Whether you read in the NCIS fandom or the Bones fandom, the basics will be the same. If you are a writer and have not collaborated with another fan fic writer, I would encourage you to give it a try. It's great fun - and helps to sharpen each others skill set. (If you're interested in how we do it, PM either of us and we'd be happy to share our experience).

Neither of us own Bones or NCIS, sad but true.


ooooo

Arriving at the address they'd been given, Booth pulled the SUV into the driveway behind a green Ford Fiesta. Exiting the vehicle,he looked over the house and yard. It was hard to miss that the front lawn needed mowing and the bushes needed to be trimmed. Gibbs, standing next to the passenger's side door, waited for Booth to come around to his side of the truck.

Motioning toward the house with his head, Gibbs suggested, "You take the lead."

Surprised, Booth nodded and walked toward the front of the house. Knocking,he stepped back and glanced around the neighborhood. Hearing the door open, Booth returned his gaze to the entrance.

A boy of about eight stood in the shadows of the doorway, "We don't want any."

Smiling, Booth held up his badge and responded, "Hi, I was wondering if we could talk to Tricia Van Pelt or Mary Van Pelt."

Suspicious, the boy asked, "Are you really a policeman?"

Nodding his head, Booth stepped closer to allow the young boy to see more details of his badge.

Nodding his head, the lad pointed at Gibbs and stared at Booth, "Is he a policeman, too?"

Smiling, Gibbs held up his badge for the young man's inspection.

Nodding his head, the boy cautiously offered, "My Mom is here; but, my grandma is at work."

Placing his badge back on his belt, Booth responded "May we speak to your mother?"

Stepping back, the child waited for Booth and Gibbs to enter the house. "My name is Ryan what's yours?"

Concerned about the black eye on Ryan's face, Booth replied, "My name is Seeley and this is my friend Jethro . . . . Ryan how did you hurt your eye?"

Placing his hand under his right eye, Ryan looked down at the floor and started toanswer, "My uncle . . . "

Mary Van Pelt walked into the room and interrupted her son, "Ryan, your lunch is in the kitchen."

Scrunching his shoulders, Ryan stared at his mother and then at Booth and Gibbs. "Mom, these guys are policeman. They wanted to . . ."

Interrupting her son again, Mary pointed to the kitchen, "Lunch, Ryan."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ryan turned toward the other room then looked back and waved at the two Agents, "Nice to meet you."

Booth and Gibbs watched the young man limp away from them. Turning to Mary, Booth held up his badge again, "Mary Van Pelt?"

Nodding her head, Mary replied, "Yeah, what can I do for the FBI?"

Holding up his badge, Gibbs asked, "What happened to Ryan?"

Suddenly showing fear, Mary crossed her arms across her chest and asked, "Why are the FBI and NCIS bothering me? What's going on?"

Booth, noticing the bruised wrists on the young woman, glanced at the kitchen doorway and asked, "Would you mind answering Agent Gibbs question? What happened to Ryan and while you're at it, what happened to you?"

Dropping her arms to her side and tugged the sleeves down over her wrists, she glanced at the floor and then back at Booth, "Ryan ran into a door."

Staring at Mary, Booth pointed to her wrists, "And you?"

Staring defiantly at Booth, she replied, "If you must know, my boyfriend and I got carried away the other day."

Shaking his head, Gibbs asked, "Is your Mother home?"

Shaking her head at the question, she replied, "Mom's at work. She works at the NEX at Naval Station Norfolk. She'll be home at five. I work there from 3 pm until closing."

Curious, Booth asked, "Who watches Ryan while you and your mother are at work."

Irritation showing in her voice, the young woman replied curtly, "When school is in, his teachers do. When school is out for the summer and after school a friend watches him until Mom comes home. Look, I want to know what you want. If you won't tell me then I'm going to ask you to leave."

Schooling his face into a blank mask, Booth responded, "Your brother Perry was found dead on Tuesday."

Placing her hands over her mouth, Mary stared wide eyed at Booth and then Gibbs, "I didn't do . . . uh . . . Perry is dead? . . . Where did you find him? . . . Was he killed in a car wreck? He's always driving too fast."

Making a mental note of the slip, Booth replied, "His body was found by the dumpster behind the NEX. The NEX where you and your mother work."

Clinching her hands into fists, Mary held them against her mouth, "I need to call my mother. We've been worried about him for days."

Watching her closely, Gibbs asked, "Why did she wait to report him missing? He'd been dead for a week when his body was found."

Removing her hands from her mouth, Mary moved them to her side, "We thought he was staying with some friends. He gets tired of Mom and me sometimes and stays with friends. He was gone longer than usual this time and Mom called his friends and found out no one knew where he was so she called the police to report him missing. We didn't know he was missing before that. We would have called sooner if we'd known he was missing."

Pausing, Mary crossed her arms again, "Why are the FBI and NCIS interested in Perry? I mean he was killed in a car wreck right?"

Shaking his head, Booth replied, "No, it would appear that he was murdered."

Taking a step back, the woman hugged her arms around her body, "Murdered? Your sure it's Perry? Murdered?"

Nodding his head, Booth replied, "Yes, we're sorry for your loss."

ooooo

Walking back to the truck, Booth replied, "Care to take a trip to Naval Station Norfolk?"

Nodding his head, Gibbs opened the passenger door and entered the truck, "Yeah, I think we'd better."

Entering the truck, Booth looked back at the house and at the young woman watching from the doorway, "Someone has been beating the hell out of that woman and her son."

Glancing at the woman following their exit from the driveway, Gibbs responded, "Yeah, I got that."

Backing the truck into the street, Booth regarded the house and the young mother standing stock still in the doorway. "I don't like it."

Giving Booth a sideways glance, Gibbs replied, "Yeah, neither do I. Maybe Tricia Van Pelt will give us more information about what's going on."

Snorting, Booth replied, "Unless she's the cause of the abuse."

Shaking his head, Gibbs responded, "Ryan started to say something about this uncle."

Casting a brief look at his cousin, Booth moved his eyes back at the road, "Yeah, I caught that too. Maybe the uncle has been using them as punching bags or maybe he tried to protect them from their mother. I'll reserve judgment until we talk to her."

Staring straight ahead, Gibbs frowned, "God I hate domestic abuse cases."

Booth nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Me, too."


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