I'm so sorry stuff it took me so long to update! I've been really busy over this break. Plus, I've been having some writers block. But I'll try to be better!

As always, thank you to my amazing beta meredithgrey23. :)

Disclaimers in chapter 1

Max Keenan was glaring out the window of his car. The person in front of him probably thought he was going to kill someone by the look on his face. And honestly, the thought had crossed his mind several times in the past few minutes; probably several hundred times in the past two hours. Why did there have to be so much traffic on Friday nights? He had just dropped off Tempe and Katy from a nice dinner. Well, nice might be not be the most accurate word. He and his daughter had been having a silent argument over what was going to happen after he took two of his favorite girls to their new home for the night; all the meanwhile, his granddaughter was talking about how awesome it was to finally have a daddy. Max had kept very quiet for the sake of Katy.

He had to admit, when Tempe first told him about her pregnancy, he had initially guessed Booth was the father. But then after she said that the father didn't want to be involved, he had assumed he was wrong because he knew how protective Booth was of Parker and Max refused to believe that the agent would be willing to hurt his and Tempe's child. But he had, and Tempe, too. He might not have been as furious if it had been another guy, but this was the man Max had trusted to take care of Tempe and he had knocked her up and then done something stupid that hurt Max's daughter. And the last two people to even threaten to harm Max's family had their guts spilled and bodies lit on fire.

Max had asked Tempe where Booth lived now and, either out of loyalty to her ex-partner or honesty, she had denied knowing. However, Max had been in and out of DC for the past eleven years and had made some friends who pulled some strings to quickly get him the address. Max was surprised to see that he recognized it, just not as Booth's apartment.

Eventually, traffic allowed Max to pull up to the familiar apartment complex and with a slight smile Max took his usual parking spot. And as he exited the car, he saw a blonde woman and girl leave the building. He instantly recognized the mother from several pictures Tempe had shown him years ago. This was the woman Booth had brought home from Afghanistan. The reason he had broken Tempe's heart the first time. And she had a daughter roughly the same age as Katy. Brooke, right? That meant that Booth probably didn't have any kids with him, because if Max's memory was correct Parker spent every other weekend with him. Plus, Parker would be old enough to drive by now, so chances were he'd be out roaming the streets of Washington. Tempe only told him not to hit Booth if he had a kid with him.

Max pulled out his key to the front door of the building; the one Tempe had given him for when he came to visit. Technically, he was still visiting that apartment. Once at the correct door, Max tried to insert the key again, only this time it failed, barely going into the lock. He should have known that the FBI agent would have changed the locks sometime in the past seven years, but it was at least worth a shot. So Max did what any normal man would do. He knocked. He instantly heard movement come from within the apartment, and prepared himself to attack. After all, it had just a little over seven years since he actually hit anybody, but there was never anyone more deserving in Max's mind, than the man on the other side of that door. His world began to take on a red tint as he stood there waiting to see Booth.

Max didn't even think when the door opened; all he did was give his most powerful right hook to the jaw and was immediately rewarded with a scream of pain.

"You rat bastard!" Max spat, his vision almost completely overcome by red.

"What the hell, psycho?" his victim yelled back.

At the same time, another voice came from the other room. "Parker, you okay?"

Max's vision cleared a little at the third voice. The first thing he noticed was that it was not a brunette man rubbing his face, but a blonde teenager. Damn, maybe he should have looked before he punched.

"What the hell is your problem?" Parker asked, completely ignoring his dad's question. He looked at Max as if he was a stranger, and Max assumed that he didn't remember him. That or he had aged more than he'd like to admit in the past seven years.

"I thought you were someone else," Max grunted.

"What? You thought I was someone who stole your cane or something?"

"Parker!" Booth said from behind his son. He couldn't see who Parker was talking to, but he knew better than to talk to anyone like that.

Parker turned around, apparently knowing what his dad was reprimanding him for. "Hey, I don't have to be polite to someone who punched me when I didn't do a damn thing to him!"

Booth's anger suddenly turned to the man his son was unintentionally blocking. He had hurt Parker and if the man didn't have a damn good reason, Booth might have him arrested for assaulting a minor.

"I told you, I thought you were someone else," Max responded and Booth recognized it immediately.

"Then next time, get the right address!" Parker told him. "I can pretty much guarantee that whoever pissed you off didn't live here!"

Booth sighed, "He's got the right address. Give us a minute, Bub."

"Dad? You know this nut?"

"Hey, I'm not that crazy," Max argued.

"No, just a conman and killer."

Parker immediately took a step away from Max. "Come on, Booth, now you're just scaring him. Plus, those bastards deserved it and you know it."

"Dad?"

"Parker, go to your room."

"I'm not leaving you alone with a murderer!"

"He won't kill me," Booth answered calmly, though his eyes never left Max.

"You want me to call Sweets to send back up over here?"

"No. But if you could look up Bones and Katy's number in that school phonebook, that'd be great."

"What?" Parker asked completely lost, while Max simply stated, "That's not necessary."

"You just punched my son, because you thought he was me… But Bones doesn't want you here, does she?"

"Not really."

"Dad, who is this and how does he know Bones?"

"You remember Max, right?" Parker's eyes widened at recognition.

"I think I understand why you hit me so hard," Parker told Max as he rubbed his face again.

"Sorry about that, kid. I thought your dad was the only one home."

"I kinda wish he was now," Parker mumbled.

"Hey, buddy, why don't you go pick up the pizza so Max and I can talk."

Parker's eyes jumped from Booth to Max several times. "Are you still going to be breathing when I come back?"

"Yeah."

Parker nodded and hesitantly grabbed his keys and wallet from the table and left. As he left, Max stepped into the apartment. The two men stood there watching every twitch the other made. Finally, Max made the first comment.

"You know why I'm here." His voice was too calm for the situation. He was controlling himself as much as possible.

"Yeah, I kinda picked up on it when you hit my son."

"I wouldn't have come if I'd known he was here. Actually, Tempe told me I wasn't allowed to come and talk to you if you had any of your three kids with you."

"What did she tell you?" Booth asked suspiciously.

"That the man who knocked her up didn't want to be a father and abandoned her. Or do you mean that you have another little girl with that reporter? Katy mentioned you had another daughter, and that she went to school with her. And the fact they are in the same grade makes me wonder how quickly after Tempe left you moved on, or if she was even gone before you starting-"

"Max, if you ever doubt that I love your daughter, then talk to Hannah or Rebecca. I was a mess after Bones left. You have to understand that I never, never, wanted her or Katy to get hurt. I never wanted them to leave either."

"Then please explain how you have another daughter around the same age as Katy."

"Not that it's any of your business, but-"

"You are the father of my granddaughter! And your actions affect her and Tempe, which means it affects me. So, it is my business!"

"Fine, it's your business. But biologically, I have one daughter and one son. And I have, more or less, adopted another daughter."

Max froze at his words. "Brooke isn't yours?"

"Oh she's my daughter, just not biologically."

"So, when did you agree to be her father?"

"About two months after Bones disappeared. And it wasn't exactly planned. Hannah started asking me to help her out, I think to get me out of my head. You have to understand, I was in a bad place. Anyway, from there I somehow became her dad."

"Well, why did her mom ask you?"

"She didn't know about me and Bones when she originally asked. I told her no then. But after Bones disappeared, I told her I would help. But I swear to God, Max, I loved your daughter when she left. I've loved her since she disappeared. And I am still in love. I know I've screwed up, but I have every intention of fixing my mistake. And if part of that involves you beating me up, then take your best shot. But honestly I'm not sure if you have any right, because part of this is your fault."

"My fault?" Max laughed in shock.

"Yeah, your fault. You left Bones when she was a kid. So she doesn't trust anyone completely to stay with her. I was placed under orders- granted, ones I shouldn't have followed- not to talk to her, because I had to investigate your old crime group. She never came to ask me why I was ignoring her, because she assumed I was going to leave her. And the entire time Bones was gone, I looked for her so I could apologize and let her know I still cared about her. I never would let her wonder for fifteen years if I was dead or alive. So, as much I've messed up in the past seven years, you've hurt her too."

Max stood there stunned for a second. Booth was yelling at him for something he did twenty-four years ago? "Tempe and I have come to terms with what happened back then. And it's none of your business."

"You are the grandfather of my daughter," Booth answered, purposefully quoting Max from earlier. "And Brennan still holds that burden with her, and it affects every personal decision she makes. Including the one to leave DC with our daughter. That affected me, my son, and my friends."

"You know why Ruth and I left; it was to protect her and Russ. What you did was put your career first, and she got hurt because of that."

Booth opened his mouth to argue, but was interrupted by his phone vibrating. He exchanged glares with Max before flipping open his phone.

"Booth," he answered sharply.

"Booth, it's me." Brennan's voice vibrated in his ear a moment before he reminded himself that this was now reality.

"Hey, Bones."

Max tensed a little, not knowing whether to believe the younger man. "You're bluffing."

Booth shook his head and gave a slightly sadistic smile, as she continued. "I know it's short notice, but I was thinking about taking Katy to the park tomorrow and was wondering if you and Parker would like to join us."

"Yeah, we'll definitely be there. Which park and what time?"

"I was thinking Hillside Park, but if that's too far away from where you live now then-"

"Hillside works. I haven't there since Parker was like twelve. Do you want to meet around one?"

"That sounds like an appropriate time. By the merry-go-round?" Booth let out a sigh of relief. They were actually going to meet and spend time together. She wasn't going to run away again. At least, not yet.

"Perfect."

"Then we'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then, Bones."

"Oh, and Booth, if at all possible, have Parker or Brooke answer the door or be with you when you do. I'll explain tomorrow."

Booth's eyes flashed to Max, understanding Brennan's vague warning. "I'll be sure to do that."

And then the phone went dead.

Max waited a moment before saying, "You didn't tell her I was here."

Booth shrugged. "You didn't want her to know. Though she did warn me to have one of my kids with me when I open the door."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"Because it only would have made her mad at you. And I've already been through that when you first came back. Plus, if I was in your place, I wouldn't have tried to punch me; I'd have had my gun pointed at my head."

Max gave a small laugh. "But you won't let me use a gun to take care of my baby girl without hauling my ass to jail."

"Hey, you killed the deputy director of the FBI. It was my job."

"I was talking about with that woman who buried her alive," Max answered coolly.

"And have you go to jail for years? Do you realize how much that would have devastated Bones?"

"Not as much as thinking you were going to leave her." Max watched as Booth tensed up. And though Max knew that the man was a major screw up, he also knew Booth did love his daughter. So, he extended an olive branch. "But maybe it wasn't completely your fault." Booth questioningly looked at Max before the ex-con added, "Just most of it."

Booth nodded. "I'll accept that."

"Good. Now, I'll get out of here so you can enjoy the evening with your son."

"Thanks."

Max opened the door, and was half way out before adding, "By the way, tell Parker I'm sorry about punching him. And maybe to put a little ice on it."

And with that he was gone.