Parker and Booth were on day 3 of their 7 day summer camping trip in Shenandoah and Booth was concerned. His son wasn't saying much. The first day, he'd put it down to jet lag - Parker had only flown in the day before they left, the second day they had done a long 16 mile hike so after dinner they had pretty much crawled into their bags and slept, but this third day had been a relatively easy 6 mile hike to a fishing hole with little elevation change so fatigue should not be a factor. During the hike, the teen had seemed engaged, pointing out scenery and plants, so Booth THOUGHT his son was enjoying himself, but he wasn't entirely convinced.

Over 'smores Booth ran out of small talk about the Phillies, "Parker, is there something wrong? "

"Nah, I'm fine."

"You sure? You've been kinda quiet. You know, this is your vacation too, so if you're not having a good time we can cut out early.

"Dad, relax, the trip is good."

"Okay, " Booth was unconvinced, "if you're sure. You know, if something's bothering you, we've got plenty of time to talk."

"Thanks, but I'm fine."

Booth doubted it, but he was reluctant to use his interrogation skills on his son. He'd save that for really important stuff, not just teenage moodiness. Also, there were no electronic distractions here, it was a couple of hours before either of them would be ready for sleeping, and Parker wasn't too into the book he'd brought. Boredom would get the better of the kid soon. He pulled out his knife and started whittling.

Twenty minutes later Parker cracked, "Dad, when you were my age, did you have any clue that you'd become an FBI agent?"

Booth chuckled, "Um, no."

"What did you think you were going to do?"

He thought about it, "I dunno. Guess a mechanic or carpenter, maybe going into the army. I kinda didn't have a plan Parker."

"You weren't thinking about university at ALL?" Parker had it drilled into him since pre-school that he was going to college, and while he knew now that his dad's childhood was definitely a different world, it still shocked him at times.

Booth got the connection, "Ah, stressing out about which A-levels to take?"

Parker sighed, "Yeah. Seems like everybody had an opinion on them. " He paused, thinking, "why haven't you weighed in on them yet?"

"Well, I figured out talking to your mom and Bones that you are probably getting all sorts of advice," Booth said chuckling, " there are a LOT of people in your life that are way more qualified in academics than I am, and you've got a pretty good head on your shoulders when it comes to school, so, I thought I'd stay out of it unless you asked me." Booth shrugged, "I'm happy to listen though. "

Parker smiled, relieved, part of the reason he hadn't been talking about it was he really didn't want one more voice in his head, he already had too many. "Thanks Dad. " He sat in silence for a minute, his curiosity peaked, "You seriously weren't thinking about college when you were sixteen? Why not?"

Crap, Booth thought, how did this turn around to a discussion about HIS academic career? "Well, I wasn't a particularly good student in elementary school, we moved a lot, and it seemed like they were always trying to teach me something that I'd already learned or expected me to know something I'd never been taught. And then, sometimes, what was going on at home, left me, um, distracted. " He left it at that, not going to volunteer that the distractions were usually he was hungry because his dad had been too drunk to go to the grocery store or there was no money left to buy food after a bender. Or it was painful to sit still. "After we moved in with Pops and Grandma, I started doing better. " He caught Parker's unasked question, "I didn't stand a chance against the combination of Sister Mary Margaret and Grandma."

At the thought of his dad being tag teamed by a nun and a little old lady Parker had to snort, "What did they do?"

Booth grinned, "Hours with flashcards, a summer reading list and a lot of lectures aimed at convincing me that I wasn't dumb."

Parker was stunned, he knew his dad was pretty self-deprecating about his intelligence, which was understandable given the people he worked with, but he had never really thought that his father had believed it. "Really? You thought you were dumb?"

"Yeah, well, you have understand that my dad wasn't really big on self-esteem, " Booth thought darkly, that was an understatement, often times his dad would scream how much better his life would be if hadn't been stuck with blubbering idiots, and that was when he was in a good mood. He shook his head slightly to clear it, "and mom leaving didn't exactly boost it. Throw in the less than stellar report cards, it was pretty easy to believe."

Parker felt his gut clench, even though he knew the basics of his dad's past, he had a hard time reconciling the matter of fact way some totally awful things were occasionally revealed. Of course, having your mom leave you with an abusive alcoholic wouldn't make a kid feel secure, "So, you and the dynamic duo did all that work, and you ended up with a basketball scholarship, how come you still didn't have a plan?"

Booth rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort, "When Grandma died my freshman year, I kind of lost some of my momentum academically, and I didn't make varsity until my junior year, I hadn't played organized sports before Dad left, just pick up stuff, and it took a while for me to learn the game and get my growth spurt, so colleges didn't show an interest until pretty late. I was as shocked as anyone when I got the offer. "

"So you headed off to college without a clue as to what you wanted to major in?"

"Yeah. Since I hadn't really thought about a career I knocked off most of my general education classes hoping that something would click and enlighten me as to what I should be when I grew up. " Booth shrugged, "Then I blew out my shoulder in practice and lost the scholarship sophomore year. Since I still didn't have a clue I decided to go into the army rather than pay tuition while I figured it out. "

"Okay, but how'd you get from the army to the FBI?"

"Well, when I was in the hospital recovering after I was rescued, the shrink made us think about what we'd do if we couldn't go back to our units. " Booth gave a bitter laugh, "you know, part of the military recruitment spiel is you'll learn vocational skills. I couldn't figure out where in civilian life they could use a potentially gimpy sniper. So, I took one of those aptitude tests. Out of all the options they suggested, law enforcement was the one that interested me the most, so I started looking at the criminal justice requirements figuring that if I couldn't physically become a cop, it would be an entry to law school or something else in the field."

Parker was shaking his head in disbelief, "You picked your career from aptitude test results?"

"Yeah, why do you find that so hard to believe?"

"Because they had us take them too."

"So, what did yours come back with?"

"Like 57 different things - journalism, law, architecture, computers, science, psychology, " Parker sighed, "pretty much everything but a musician."

Booth laughed, "I'm afraid you inherited my talents there. Sorry bud."

"It's okay Dad. At least that's one option off the list," he said so glumly that Booth had to hide a smile. It would not go over well if his son thought he wasn't sympathetic to his dilemma.

And Booth was sympathetic, at least sort of. But, he couldn't really wrap his head around the idea that being interested and good at too many things was a terrible problem to have. "You know, Parker, you don't have to have it figured out now. Most of the folks I know didn't end up where they thought they would."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Cam was going to be cop, Hodgins rebelled against his family business but still thought he just wanted to study bugs and slime, he didn't anticipate the forensics side of things. Angela never thought she'd be drawing faces from skulls instead of live people. They all started out doing one thing and ended up finding something they liked better. Even Bones didn't plan on writing novels. You're allowed to not have firm plans. " Catching his son's incredulous expression, he added, "no matter what Grandpa Stinson says."

Parker lowered his voice and did a pretty good impression of Rebecca's dad, "You need to focus on your future, set goals and not be distracted."

Booth grinned, "You nailed him. " But, part of him was pissed too, because he knew what a hard ass Rebecca's dad could be. "And if I thought you were thinking about spending the next 10 years partying, yeah, I'd be saying the same thing, but, you've got a good work ethic and once you make a decision you follow through, so when you figure out what you want to do, you'll do it. And you know what else? One of things that I've always thought was pretty cool about you is that you were the 'and' kid.

"The AND kid? Sorry dad, I'm gonna have to do a Bones, I don't know what that means."

Booth chuckled. "When you were in kindergarten you wanted to be an FBI agent. Once you started meeting the squints you were going to be an anthropologist AND an entomologist AND build robots AND program computers AND be a dinosaur expert AND do face painting AND whatever other cool thing you had discovered that day. It never occurred to you to choose just one. "

Parker was still confused, "Isn't that pretty common with little kids? Didn't you do it?"

"I don't remember," Booth said softly which was a lie, he did remember a year or so after his mom left, being asked to write an essay about what he wanted to be when he grew up. He made something up, because at that point he just focused on getting through each day, the idea of dealing with his dad for the years it would take to get through high school was too depressing to contemplate. Booth willed the memory away, he didn't want to divert his son's attention and get pulled into a discussion about his childhood.

Parker was pretty sure that his dad wasn't telling him the whole truth, but the last couple of years had taught him there were usually pretty damn good reasons to avoid about certain topics. Besides, he was enjoying the idea that he had one person that wasn't demanding a life plan from him. Even if he was still freaking out about not having a life plan.

"The other thing is Parker, nothing is set in stone. I mean look at Wendell - the cancer threw him for a loop and then he decided to change course. And you know, Bones and I left our jobs for a while and then decided to go back again. "

"You ever think about leaving again Dad? I mean you guys have had a pretty intense year, and I know Bones is taking a break until the Jeffersonian is re-built. "

"Sometimes," Booth admitted, "and I'll probably have to make some choices soon, as Aubrey frequently reminds me the Bureau doesn't issue walkers."

"And you let him get away with it?" Parker grinned.

"Occasionally. Other times he loses a sandwich when he makes an age crack. " Booth gave a wicked grin, "I try and keep him guessing."

Parker laughed, knowing that hit the junior agent where it hurt, "Harsh Dad!" He thought for a moment, "So, any ideas of what you're going to do?"

Booth shrugged. "When the time comes, something will pop up. "

"Um, no offense Dad, but you just contradicted about 10 guidance counselors advice. You know, planning for success and all that."

"Maybe, but, what's the saying, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans? I don't know Parker, but, in my experience, things have a way of working out, if you're able to adapt to what's thrown at you. " At Parker's raised eyebrows, he continued, "the way I figure it, I don't blow out the shoulder, I keep the scholarship and end up in a completely different life - maybe it's better than the one I got now, but I doubt it. At that point I wasn't thinking about much beyond basketball and I probably wasn't going to make the pros-I wasn't talented enough to compensate for my lack of size. So I'd leave with a degree in something easy and probably not something I was really interested in. When I joined the army, I didn't have an exit plan. Without the hospital stay, I wouldn't have finished college. With no degree to fall back on, maybe I stay in the army, and there aren't too many Rangers that get out unscathed either physically or mentally. Which, comparatively, I managed to do. I mean don't get me wrong, the process kinds of sucked, but can't argue with the results. And I really hope that YOU get an easier go of it, but, for now, study what interests you and forget about trying to have your life all mapped out. "

Parker still looked unconvinced. Trying to improve his son's mood, Booth offered, only half joking, "Tell you what, if two years down the road you still have worries we can go through career counseling together, the timing should be right for me too. " At his son's wry grin, he added, "In the meantime, we just keep talking whenever you need to okay?"

Parker raised his water bottle in a toast, "Sounds like a plan Dad."