A/N: Sorry for the delay once again! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it!

Chapter Ten

"Booth, can you stop forcing small talk on us so we can continue?" she said sharply. "I need to get to the lab."

"Bodies won't be there until Monday." He replied amiably. He knew she wasn't angry at him, just the situation.

"I still have work to do." She retorted.

"Well…I thought maybe we could do something tonight with Parker. I could go get food and bring it back here and watch a movie." He said.

She wasn't sure if she was ready to deal with Parker on top of everything else today.

"Okay." She said gamely. She was rewarded with a bright smile that somewhat alleviated the turmoil of emotions swirling within her.

"So…" she said, turning her attention to Russ. "Then what?"

Russ sighed. Whatever anyone might say about his sister, she was focused.

"We drove for a while." Russ said. "We ended up in Kentucky and we stayed there for a couple of weeks. Dad seemed to know his way around. And that was pretty much our life until Uncle Pete showed up."

"Wait, Pete Norris is Uncle Pete?" she asked. "Uncle Pete who used to give me lollipops?"

"Yeah." Russ replied.

She turned to Booth. "That would explain why we couldn't find family for him. He's our family."

"So what happened?" she asked.

"They argued." Russ replied. "Pete said he knew about the Marvin Beckett evidence and was mad at Dad for handing it over."

"So Pete Norris was in the gang?" Booth asked.

"No." Russ replied. "Uncle Pete was in the FBI."

"That's not possible." Booth said.

"That's what Dad said. But he wouldn't talk anymore about it." Russ said.

"I am going to have to search the FBI archives." Booth noted.

"That won't be hard." She replied. "We can just search for Keenan."

"Are you positive that Uncle Pete is really your uncle?" Booth asked. "He could be a family friend that you used to call uncle."

"I don't know." Russ admitted. "We always called him Uncle Pete."

"Did they just argue about the evidence or was there more?" Booth persisted.

"Pete called Dad soft. Said he wasn't thinking straight, too focused on you." Russ said. "Dad responded by saying that he was going to protect the both of us no matter what. And that the evidence should have gone to you. They yelled back and forth, repeating the same things over and over and then they were fine. They stopped yelling and grabbed a beer and sat at the kitchen table.

Pete said that it was no wonder we were on the run, the FBI was probably pissed at us. And then Dad got this strange look in his eye, but he just drank his beer and smiled. The next day he told me he was going out for a beer with Pete. He came back late and I never saw Pete again."

"Why didn't you stay in Kentucky?" Booth asked.

"I don't know." Russ replied. "The next day Dad said we were leaving and we started heading to Virginia."

"I don't understand." She asked. "Why would he do that? I understand getting away from the body but…"

"Pete betrayed him." Booth said simply. "Somehow Pete is the link between Delaney and the other crooked FBI agent and your father."

"So my father broke his fingers, shot him in the kneecaps and then shot him in the chest." She said coldly. "He must have known something."

"More than something." Booth stated. "And he couldn't tell us because we were in the FBI building. I need to go to the archives and try to find Pete Norris."

"Can you take me to the lab?" she asked.

He nodded. "Russ you will have to stay here. The less you are in plain sight, the better."

"Fine." Russ said.

"Hey be glad that unlike your sister, I have a tv." He said, getting up from the kitchen table. He hopped in the shower and got ready for work, leaving them in the kitchen alone once more.

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Booth glanced at his watch and sighed. It had been a frustrating day and he was exhausted. His search had revealed nothing. He could find no trace of a Pete Norris, Pete Keenan or any other Keenan in the FBI database. This was big, he knew that. He recalled the look in Max's eyes when he they talked about Pete Norris and the others. It was a look that said 'You don't know what you are getting into.'

Shutting down his computer, he stood up and headed out of the office. He hoped that Parker would lighten the tension between Russ and Temperance. When she had come to him last night asking whether he thought she had abandoned her family, he almost went into Parker's room and beat the living daylights out of Russ. Today had not been much better. They were both hurting and it seemed the only solution was to hurt each other. He wanted to shake some sense into them and explain that whatever else was going on, they were still brother and sister.

But he had vowed to stay out of it for now.

He pulled up in front of Parker's daycare and got out of his car.

"Daddy!" Parker said, spotting him from across the playground. He immediately began to smile. No matter what the situation, Parker always made him feel better. Just the mere act of being with him was enough.

"Hey Bub!" he replied, scooping him up into a hug. "Guess what?"

"What?" Parker said, as Booth got him settled into his car seat.

"We are going to pick up some food from Sid and then we are going to the apartment to watch a movie. Sound good?" he asked.

"Yeah Daddy can we watch Monsters Inc?" Parker said.

"You got it." He replied, getting into the car and heading off in the direction of Sid's. "And Bones is going to be there too. Is that okay?"

"Yeah!" Parker said, swinging his legs back and forth. "And the squints?"

"No. Not the squints this time." He replied. "But Bone's brother Russ is going to be there."

"Okay." Parker said, content with the fact that at least Bones was going to be there.

They ran into Wong Foo's and got the food and then headed home. Opening the door to the apartment, he found Russ sitting on the couch watching a basketball game.

"Hey." Booth said. "Where's Bones?"

"Umm…I think she went to use your computer." Russ replied. "She didn't really talk to me when she got here."

Booth nodded. "Russ this is my son, Parker. Parker this is Russ."

"Hi Russ." Parker said from behind Booth's legs. "Do you like dinosaurs?"

"I do." Russ replied. "When I was your age I liked them a lot."

"Dr. Bones said the dinosaurs lived a long, long, long time ago. And she is the smartest person in the whole world." Parker said emphatically.

"She is." Russ agreed.

Content that Parker was okay with Russ, he moved down the hall to his office where she was typing furiously.

"Hey." He said softly. "Dinner's here."

She stopped typing and swivelled around in the chair to look at him. She had dark circles under her eyes and she looked exhausted. She nodded and then turned back to save her document.

He moved closer to her and knelt down in front of her. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yes." She said, although they both knew she was clearly lying.

"Okay then." He replied, leaning forward and pressing his lips softly against hers. They parted and as he went to brush his lips against hers again, her stomach growled. They both chuckled.

"Dinner?" he asked, rising to his feet and holding out his hand.

"I hope Sid brought me something good." She replied, grasping his hand and letting him lead her out into the living room.

"Doesn't he always?" he asked.

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They were surrounded by pillows and blankets, the movie long forgotten as they proceeded to create a very large fort in the living room. As Booth suspected, Parker's presence diminished the tension between Temperance and Russ, and while were not best friends by any means, they had stopped throwing glares at each other.

It turned out Russ was pretty good at making forts and Parker and him seemed to be getting along. Soon they had erected a massive fort, complete with several 'rooms' and a roof made out of practically every sheet in his closet. And now they were lying in the fort, Parker showing Russ some of his 'treasures', which were various rocks and marbles that he had amassed in the last few months.

She leaned against the pillows and fought the urge to close her eyes. Booth was beside her, watching Russ and Parker interact with interest. She glanced down at the picture next to her, that Parker had drawn for her after dinner. It was a picture of all of them, Russ included in what looked like to be a park.

As she stared at the picture, the dual thoughts of her in a family with Booth and Russ still being a part of her family, shook her to the core. She stood up quickly, knocking her head on one of the sofa cushions in the fort.

"Umm…Parker I have to go." She sputtered, making her way outside of the tent.

She could feel Booth's gaze burning into her but she refused to look at him.

"Why Dr. Bones?" Parker said plaintively. He had a sad, pleading look on his face and she felt the tears well in her eyes.

She couldn't do this. She couldn't sit here for another moment and pretend to play family, like nothing was wrong, like her whole world wasn't being monumentally screwed up. She was sitting in a fort with her brother, the one who had abandoned her and now blamed her for their father's death.

And Booth. She couldn't look at Booth, fearful that he would see in her eyes what she knew in her heart. She couldn't give this to him, this life, this concept of family. He would only get hurt by her and she wouldn't allow that to happen.

"I'm sorry Parker." She said. "I just have to go."

She grabbed her purse and keys and headed for the door.

"Wait, Temperance." Booth said, struggling to get out of the fort.

She didn't look back, just shook her head and opened the door. Before he could say another word, she slammed the door and headed out to the street, madly wiping away the hot tears that were falling down her cheeks.