Nertoold54: I like Charlie and I think that people think he's a desk jocky. So I try to give him more credit where ever I can. We'll see what happens truth or fact ;-P
Chkgun93: Yep security was crap and Max pointed it out LOL. Hrmm I'm not sure fluffiness ensues but she will wake up. I might have gone a little darker than normal on this one. =/. There is some fluff at the end.
Luckywynner86: Who doesn't right? LOL ;-)
1956JohnDeere50: Yep, he does the Roman Catholic guilt thing so well.

Thanks for your reveiws guys

Chapter 21

"Wow, he looks pissed," Marie said.

"He's scared and frustrated," Janet said, watching Booth storm down the hallway.

Booth went to the street and caught a cab. He went to his apartment. Opening the door, he could smell the stale air. It had been at least a week since he'd been here. He strode to his room grabbed some clothes then called another cab. He went back to the hotel room and dressed in shorts and a tee shirt. He hit the sidewalk at an even pace.

"Agent James, where is Booth?" Cam's voice came across the computer.

"I don't know. We were talking he got angry and left," James said with a shrug.

"What did you say to him?" Cam asked, her voice hovering just above angry.

"I asked him if he was okay. Then I told him people kept asking because they cared. He was saying something about her not remembering him," James said sheepishly. Cam let out a gasp and her eyes went wide.

"I'll go talk to him. Keep an eye on her," Cam said as she stood up. James watched her disappear through the door

Booth felt the gravel under his feet. He counted his breaths and tried to control his pulse. He felt the sweat slide down his body in the cooling night air. He was on his fourth or fifth lap around the reflecting pool, he wasn't sure he lost count, when he heard the chatter of some children. He picked up his pace, trying to go around them.

"DAD!" Booth slowed down then stopped. Leaning over, bracing his hands on his knees, he took several deep breaths. Looking up, he saw Parker standing with a group of children. He immediately scanned the area for Rebecca.

"Parks, where is your mom?" Booth said, still breathing a little heavily.

"She is at home. The school thought a night time visit to the monuments would be a good reward for the honor roll students," he said happily.

"That's great," he smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. The chaperone walked over to where they were talking.

"Excuse me, please step away from this child or I will call the police," she said with authority.

Booth huffed out a laugh and straightened. The woman's eyes slid appreciatively over his sweat-drenched body. He wiped his hands on his shorts and extended it.

"I'm Seeley Booth. Parker's father," he told her.

"Ahh, the infamous Seeley Booth. Now I see what the ruckus in the PTA is all about," she said with a smile.

"Dad, where is Bones?" Booth's face froze and he looked down at his son. Running his hands through his hair, he looked up at the sky.

"She's in the hospital, Bub," Booth said in a quiet tone.

"Is she okay? How long will she be there? When is she coming home? She didn't get shot did she?" Parker barraged him with questions, which drew his classmates closer to him. The chaperone's mouth fell open in horror at the questions.

"Parker, why in the world would a woman be shot? Why are you calling her Bones?" She questioned the child in a disapproving tone.

Booth let out another sigh and rolled his shoulders, which were starting to tighten. He saw Cam walk by from the corner of his eye. She perched on the edge of the reflecting pool and held up a Gatorade and pie container. He nodded his head a fraction of an inch in acknowledgment.

"Dr. Bones works at the Jeffersonian with dead people so we call her "Bones." She works with my dad catching bad guys and sometimes they get shot," Parker said with a large smile as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The chaperone snapped her head up to look at Booth who just gave her a half smile.

"No, Parks, she didn't get shot but she did get hurt badly. We don't know when she will get out of the hospital," Booth said gently.

"I don't suppose, Mr. Booth-"

"Special Agent Booth," Parker corrected her in a Brennanish fashion. Booth had to choke back a laugh.

"Excuse me?" The chaperone asked in confusion at Parker's correction.

"He works for the FBI, Ms. Radowski. So he's not Mr. Booth, he's Special Agent Booth," Parker explained. Cam sighed as she watched Booth's frame give a slight shiver. Walking over, she hit his arm with the Gatorade and left after he took it.

"Hey, Dr. Saroyan," Parker called out waving to Cam. Cam returned the wave and smiled at him.

"Oh, well then, Special Agent Booth, do you think you could use your connections so the kids could see the Lincoln memorial? They have it taped off for some reason. It looks like someone painted on the statue's shoe with red paint," Ms. Radowski said with a flirty smile. Booth's eyes went flat and he shuddered as he felt his knees go weak. Cam was next to him in an instant clutching his elbow.

"No, Ms. Radowski, he is unable to help you with that," Cam said firmly.

"Who are you?" Mrs. Radowski asked in a snippy tone.

"That's Dr. Saroyan. She runs the lab where Bones works," Parker said proudly.

"I am also a friend of Booth's and he needs to get back to the hospital. Parker, tell your mom I will call her later tonight," Cam said over her shoulder. She guided Booth to the edge of the reflecting pool and gently pushed him down. Parker ran over and wrapped his arms around Booth's neck. Booth hugged Parker and kissed the top of his head.

"Go back to your field trip, Bub. I'll see you later okay," Booth said quietly. Parker nodded at the serious look in his dad's eye. He turned and went back to his class occasionally glancing over his shoulder.

"Booth, drink, eat, then you can go back to running," Cam said firmly.

"I'm not very hungry, Cam," Booth grumbled.

"Okay, drink then. I'll take the pie to the hospital when you go back to the hotel to shower," Cam said just as firmly.

Booth nodded, slugged down some Gatorade then stood and began to run again. Cam watched as he ran another seven laps around the pool. She sighed at his obvious frustration and stamina. When she saw him leave the Mall with a wave, she stood up, shouldered her purse and headed to the hospital. James looked up when she walked in with pie and two Gatorades in hand.

"Are those for me?" James asked with a laugh.

"No. they're for Booth. He should be here in a few minutes. He'll be tired so just leave off talking to him. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll pass out," Cam said.

"Nice thing to say about a guy, Camille," Booth said striding through the door. He picked up the open bottle of Gatorade and sat down.

"Go to sleep, Seeley. Real sleep, not that sniper sleep I've seen you do. James will keep an eye on her. I am going to call Rebecca as soon as I get out of here," Cam said. Booth nodded but slumped down in the chair, his eyes searching over Brennan's face. Cam turned toward the door and looked at Booth with a frown.

"Yeah, Yeah, Cam I'll sleep, I promise," Booth muttered. Nodding her head, Cam left the hospital and pulled out her phone to call Rebecca before Parker could get home. Booth sat on the edge of Brennan's bed and stared down at her with sad eyes.

For once, James chose to keep his mouth shut. This seemed to him, to be a personal moment so he stared at the ceiling. Booth tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, kissed her forehead gently then stood up. He walked over to the bed on the other side of the room, sat down, pulled off his shoes, and stretched out.

James watched as Booth slipped into a light sleep. Shaking his head he went back to watching the TV and the hallway from the corner of his eye. He stood up when he saw an older man approaching the doorway.

"Come in, Max," Booth said from the bed. James jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Damn it, Booth, go to sleep," James grumbled at him. Max walked in and sat down in the chair Booth had vacated. A nurse walked in and stopped abruptly in the door.

"There can only be one visitor at a time and only family can be in here," she stated.

"He's her father," Booth said, pointing at Max without opening his eyes.

"He's her security, a federal agent," Booth said, pointing at James.

"And I'm not going anywhere. So she really only has one visitor," Booth told her.

"I hate it when he does that crap," James grumbled and Max snickered at James. The nurse's back straightened and she frowned.

"I'll be speaking to the head nurse about this. Security may be escorting all of you out," she said staunchly.

"Tell Janet I said hi," Booth said with a smirk. The nurse took Brennan's vitals, wrote them down on the clipboard then turned and strode from the room still frowning.

"Agent Richard James, meet Bones' father, Max Keenan. Max, meet Agent Richard James. He's not as good as me, but he's better than most," Booth said eyes still closed.

"Son, go to sleep, you look like shit," Max told him with a smile.

"Thanks, Max," Booth grumbled.

Booth drifted off to sleep to the low sounds of Max talking to Brennan and the rhythmic sound of her heart monitor. Janet walked in to find Booth deeply asleep on the bed and James talking to Max. James glanced up at the nurse in the doorway.

"Someone is already going to speak to the head nurse about this room," he said abruptly.

"I am the head nurse and I've already told her the rules don't apply to this room necessarily. It's good to see he's getting some sleep," she said softly.

Max glanced up and smiled at her. She nodded and went back to her station. Booth slept through the night and James sat watching Brennan as she lay in complete stillness. Hacker reminded him of a spiteful toddler, if I can't have it, no one can.

Washington General Hospital
3:00AM

Booth awoke around 3Am and sat up in the bed. Sliding into his shoes, he moved over to the chair James was sitting in.

"Go home, James, get some sleep. You have interviews tomorrow," Booth rumbled sleepily.

"You've only been asleep for a few hours," James argued.

"Yeah and I'll get a few more later, after you do your interviews. Take Wendell with you. He may see something you won't," Booth said firmly. James stood up with a sigh and quietly slipped from the room. Booth kept glancing over his shoulder toward the hallway nervously.

"Booth, sit here. Obviously sitting there is making your nervous," Max said, standing. Booth and Max switched seats and Booth settled, in his eyes flicking to the hallway every now and then.

"What's got you so nervous?"

"Hacker's unhinged and that makes him dangerous. Cullen didn't hear him ranting," Booth said slowly.

"Is he coming after Tempe?" Max asked in a flat tone.

"If he does, he has to come through me first," Booth said calmly.

Max nodded and fell silent again. From the corner of his eye, Booth saw people in the pass lab pass by on the computer screen. He saw a very tan Daisy pop on the screen then audibly gasp. Booth turned his head towards her and glared daring her to say anything.

She stood up and walked away silently, for once not acting like a chirpy teenager. Booth sat in the silence of the night holding Brennan's hand and waiting. He didn't notice as Max silently stood up and left the room. Booth struggled with the thought that the medication would wear off in a few hours and then began the wait to see if she would wake up.

"Bones, I know you are in there, I know you can hear me. Please, baby, you have to come back to me," Booth whispered in a broken tone. He watched her face closely, he saw her eyes move under her lids and he gave a sigh of relief. He didn't notice the hours passing and suddenly Max was there next to him.

"Booth, go get something to eat and a shower," Max prodded. Booth sighed and shook his head.

"I have interviews to listen to," Booth muttered and took the seat in front of the computer Max had vacated earlier that night. He sat down and saw a program flash; clicking on the program he plugged in the earpiece.

"Can you hear me, James?" Booth asked testing the earpiece and mic.

"Yeah, Booth. Wendell is wearing one as well," James said. Booth nodded not thinking about the fact that they couldn't see him.

"Yeah, okay," Booth muttered. He closed his eyes as he saw James walk to the door. James knocked on the door and it was opened by an older woman.

Thompson Residence
9:00AM

"Mrs. Thompson?" James asked with a smile.

"Yes, I am. Who are you?" She asked eyeing him suspiciously from head to foot. He flipped out his ID.

"I'm Agent James from the FBI and this is Wendell Bray my partner," James said with a gentle smile.

"Always use their titles. He's a doctor," Booth told him.

"I'm Dr. Bray from the Jeffersonian actually," Wendell corrected James with a glare.

"What can I do for you?" She asked through the screen door.

"May we come in? We have something to discuss with you regarding Marc," James said. She opened the door and gestured them inside. Striding into the living room, Mrs. Thompson offered them a seat.

"I knew he'd get into trouble hanging out with those girls," she said in a huffy tone.

"Mrs. Thompson Marc is not in trouble. He's been killed," James said gently.

"Excuse me?" She said in a horrified tone her eyes filling with tears.

"I'm sorry about this but we have a few questions for you," James said. Her back stiffened and she looked up at James with angry eyes.

"She's about to accuse someone. Let her do it," Booth advised.

"It has something to do with those girls, doesn't it?" She said in an indignant tone.

"Which girls would those be, Mrs. Thompson?" James asked.

"Oh, those dancer girls he would hang around with. They let him put his hands on them in places no young man should touch until they're married," she said in a huff.

"Do you know their names?" James asked, flipping open his notebook to write the information down.

"No, I never bothered to learn them. They were helping him to defy me," she almost snarled.

"What was he doing in defiance? I'm sorry to ask, but it may be relevant to our investigation," James prodded gently.

"He wanted to...to...dance. They helped him get into that school," she said with a sniff.

"What school would that be, ma'am?" Wendell asked with an interested look on his face.

"Washington School of Dance," she said in an angry tone.

"Do you know what the girls looked like?" Wendell asked her in a soothing tone, trying to calm her down.

"No, Wendell. Don't soothe her. The more upset she is the more she'll say inadvertently," Booth said in their ears. She stood up suddenly and stalked down the hall. She opened a door in the hallway, and they heard her moving something around. She returned carrying a picture frame and thrust it at James.

"Those two right there," she snarled.

"May we keep this photo ma'am?" James asked her quietly.

"Yeah, but I want it returned," she said in a huffy tone.

"I will make sure it gets back to you personally," James promised. He held the picture up so Booth could look at it.

"The one on the left is Olena Artma," Booth advised him.

"When can I have my son?" Mrs. Thompson demanded in an angry tone.

"When the investigation is through, we will notify you. I'm so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Thompson," James said, standing. Wendell stood and they made their way back to James' car.

A/N Okay so there's only so much you can do with a coma patient. The case will be coming back into focus for a bit but fear not. So what's up for tomorrow you ask, let's see. More interviews, bluetooth 101, broken fingers, pie, coaching, MRI's, dreaming, wood, Wendell's the chick.

Please Review! I really really appreciate them