(The Party in the Pants)

A/N: This is a reminder that this story is AU.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Things weren't going well for Booth. His mother had returned after too many years to think about and though he had been glad to finally see his mother again, her news had been not welcome. She was getting remarried and that had been fine, but then she spoke about her fiancé's kids and how she had helped raise them and his world had fallen apart. The many excuses he had made for his mother running away had been destroyed in a matter of seconds.

Marianne had run away from an abusive husband and Booth hadn't blame her for that, but she had left behind her children and that had left them vulnerable. He had thought she hadn't taken them with her because she had been abused so badly that she couldn't handle taking care of children, but he had been wrong. She couldn't handle taking care of her children. Perhaps because they were Edwin's children, he didn't know, but that was what she seemed to be saying to him and it broke his heart.

Left behind, Booth and his brother had been terrorized by a sadistic alcoholic who beat Booth without mercy. Sometime his father's rage was turned on his youngest son and Booth had tried his best to protect the boy making sure he received most of the punches instead of his younger brother. There was a five year difference between Jared and Booth and he knew that the younger child might not survive the abuse.

The worst part of his mother abandoning her children was the fact that his mother hadn't told anyone what was going on in Edwin Booth's household. She hadn't told the police, Booth's grandfather, his Aunt Ruth, his grandma Alice or their family priest. She had fled from her husband without a single thought about saving her children. Instead, she had found a man to work and live with. A man who was widowed and who had two children. She had loved and raised those children and done nothing to help save her own children. Booth found this unfathomable and perhaps unforgiveable.

Ooooooooooooooo

Much to Booth's displeasure, Adam Church from Serberus was sitting in his office when he entered the room after a very long meeting with the Director. Irritated, Booth stopped in the doorway and glared at the man. "What are you doing here?"

Standing, Adam adjusted his tie and smiled a grim smile. "I know you're working on the Pelant case and you suspect Jason Lau of murdering the serial killer. I wanted you to know that Jason was killed on the job. He was working as a bodyguard for one of the ministers in Kazakhstan and he died when someone fired a rocket into the car they were riding in. He and the minster were both murdered and their killer hasn't been found. Jason Lau will be returning home in a coffin."

His face emotionless, Booth moved around his desk and sat down. Pointing at the chair near Adam, he motioned for the man to sit down. "When is his body arriving back in the States?"

Wary, Adam stared at Booth for a moment. "Are you planning to get a warrant and have an autopsy performed?"

"I am. Do you have a problem with that?" His face betraying nothing, Booth waited for a response.

Shrugging his shoulders, Adam decided that Booth was going to do what he was going to do and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "Just keep in mind that Jason's body is in bits and badly burned."

"I have the best forensic anthropologist in the country working with me. The state of his body won't matter. I've seen Dr. Brennan identify a body that was no longer a body but was just a bag of goo."

The imagery was distasteful, but Adam kept his face neutral. "The body is being flown in and will arrive at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport on Thursday. If you need to examine his body, have the FBI there to take the body into custody, but once your people are through with Jason, I need him handed over to his sister with respect. She's mourning the loss of her brother and I don't want her placed under a lot of unnecessary stress right now. I'll let her know what's going on, so she won't have someone from a funeral home make a trip to the airport for nothing. I want to remind you that you don't have any proof that Jason killed Pelant and I won't let you besmirch his honor because you're looking for a scapegoat."

Angry, Booth tamped down his emotions and coolly stood up. "You have no idea what proof I have or don't have. This case is moving forward whether Jason Lau is dead or not. He had help dumping Pelant's body at the Lincoln Memorial and if I can't get Jason in court, I will get his accomplices."

Booth's words made Adam realize that Jason's death wasn't going to end the investigation and he knew that his boss, Tom Molner was not going to like hearing about it. "You do what you have to do, Agent Booth. I came here as a courtesy to let you know that Jason Lau is dead." Standing he stared at Booth for a moment. "I advise you to tread carefully. A serial killer is dead and the man you suspected of killing the serial killer is dead. There are powerful men who will think it is enough."

"I don't give a damn about what your powerful men think, Mr. Church." Booth shook his head. "This case isn't over until I say it is."

Shrugging his shoulders, Adam turned and left the office. He needed to let Tom know what was going on and they needed to decide if anything else needed to be done. Agent Booth was obsessed with the Pelant case and he might not let go until good men were in jail.

Once his he was alone in his office, Booth leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes. He had a feeling that Jason Lau might have been killed to stop Booth's investigation, but he knew he would probably never be able to prove that.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Booth had a long conversation with Brennan about his mother and forgiveness and afterward he isolated himself in the man cave while he thought about his situation. He hated the fact that he had yelled at his mother in anger when she'd told him about the kids she had helped raise. He tried to control his anger when he could, but sometimes it got the better of him. The fact that his mother had shown up in his office later and told him she didn't care what he thought of her and that she forgave herself made the situation confusing. She didn't ask for forgiveness for what she had put her sons through. Instead, she had talked about finding happiness and that he couldn't take that away from her. He was supposed to forgive his mother for what she had done to him and Jared even though she didn't ask for forgiveness for what she had done.

He recognized the narcissism in his mother and it was clear that she would never accept responsibility for what she had done to her sons. Yes, she had been abused and she had a right to leave her husband, but she'd found another family to take care of and waited until she was ready to marry before she tracked down her oldest son to give him her 'good' news. There was nothing said about what she could have done to save her children. Nothing was said about the months of abuse before his grandfather had saved him and Jared. Nothing about not bothering to contact her children until they were well past the need for a mother.

Because he tried to be a good Catholic, he knew he should forgive her, but he found it hard to do. His father had abused him while he was a child and his mother had thrown him away. It was a hard thing to take, but it was the reality of the situation.

Realistically, he knew she would be happy in her world with or without him. He meant so little to her.

Ooooooooooooooo

"Jared, Mom is back in town."

What? Why? Hell, I thought she was dead.

"She's getting married to some piano player."

So? Why come and tell you about it?

"I guess she wants me to come to the wedding."

I see. She runs away and leaves us with that bastard and now she shows up and she wants you to go the wedding? What a laugh. She probably didn't call me or let me know she was in town because she always considered you her favorite.

"Her favorite? Yeah, okay. That's why she left me behind to become Edwin's punching bag because I was her favorite?"

Alright, don't get your panties in a twist. She didn't call me so I didn't know she was in town or even if she was alive. I shouldn't have said that . . . are you going to her wedding?

Booth stared at the framed picture of Brennan holding Christine in her arms. That was one of his favorite pictures and he had a copy at work as well as in his man cave. "I don't think so. There's too much water under that bridge. I haven't been important to her for over thirty years. I'm not important to her now. She just came to see if I was willing to forgive what she had done. I do forgive her because that's what the Lord expects from us, but I'm not part of her family anymore. I haven't been since I was eight years old . . . I'm sorry she didn't call you or come and see you."

Don't be. My mother died when I was three years old. Grandma Marie was my mother.

"Yeah, she was." Booth sighed. His family life had been messy for a long time, but Marianne was the past and he wasn't going to let her disrupt the family had made for himself. "Okay, I just wanted you to know she was alive and well and happy. I guess that's all we're going to get from her."

I never expected anything else. Thanks for calling me Bro. Tell Tempe hi and give that baby of yours a hug for me.

"I will." The call ended, Booth stood up and searched for his wife. A chapter was closed in his life and he was fine with it.

Oooooooooooooooo

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