Chapter 2.

Booth was very annoyed, he hasn't seen Jared in two years now, ever since Booth refused to give him money for the last time, and all of a sudden, he invited him to have a drink. First of all, he didn't want to drink with his brother, Jared was now heavily into it and it brought a lot of unpleasant memories for Booth, with years, Jared was becoming more and more like their father, both in erratic behavior and in appearance. But he was still his baby brother and Jared practically begged to meet him. Booth hated to leave Bones on her own with the kids, but thankfully Hank was already four months old, so Booth could spare a couple of hours.

He ordered his favorite scotch and a few minutes later saw his brother entering the pub. Booth wanted to smash something, Jared looked horrible, he had black bags under his eyes, it was clear he hasn't shaved in awhile and he looked like he could use a shower. A part of him felt guilty that he wasn't able to protect Jared, to help him, but if his relapse taught him anything, it was that unless a person wants to, there is so much that can be done. Jared never wanted to fight his addiction, not really, not when he got arrested, not when he lost his career, not when Padme kicked him out again and again.

'Hey, Seeley,' Jared tried for a smile and ordered a drink, ignoring the disapproving grimace on Booth's face. 'Long time, no see.'

'Yeah, no kidding. You look terrible, Jared.'

'Gee, thanks. You on the other hand is all polished. I take it you and Tempe are still rolling? It must be nice to have a rich wife.'

'Did you call me here to start a fight or something?'

'Come on, Seeley, I was just being friendly. How've you been?'

'I am doing fine, Jared, retired from the FBI.'

'Retired? Wow, never expected you to go down that road. Why did you? I thought you and Tempe loved working together.'

'We do, but we needed a fresh start and decided to focus on our family for now,' Booth really didn't want to tell Jared about his gambling relapse and everything that followed.

'I see, well, Christine must be what, two now? I guess the two of you can finally have time for yourself,' shrugged Jared.

'Christine is four and no, we don't. Bones and I had another baby four months ago, a boy.'

'Wow!' grimaced Jared. 'Time flies. And a new baby? So, I am three times uncle now?'

'You are, too bad you haven't met Hank or Christine for that matter.'

'Hey, I wanted to! Your wife…'

'Don't drag Bones into this, it's not her fault we haven't seen you sober in years, of course she wouldn't let you nowhere near the kids.'

'I see she still has you all wrapped around her finger,' smiled Jared bitterly. 'Can't say I blame you, even though she is the reason why you turned your back on your own brother.'

'I didn't turn my back on you, Jared. You are a forty-year old man, you should have learned how to earn money by now,' Booth was now really regretting his decision to come here. He wanted to go home, take a bath and then read a book to Christine and kiss Hank good-night and maybe, if Bones was in the mood, to have some lazy sex with his wife.

'Easy for you to say, you are all cleaned up, married with three kids in a tow. Me? I am a mess! Padme kicked me out again, we could never afford a kid and now…' Jared smashed his hand on the table and Booth noticed that something was off. Not the usual Jared-mess kind, but something else.

'What happened, Jared? Why did you invite me here? You know I won't give you any money and it's not like we keep in touch. You wouldn't call unless you could help it.'

Jared looked at him heavily and Booth saw a reflection of his father on his brother's once handsome face. He shivered a little, he almost felt like a kid who got a glance of a monster from his past, he blinked quickly to shake it off.

'I got into trouble, Seeley,' confessed Jared quietly.

'I gathered that.'

'No, I got into some serious trouble, the one I won't be able to get out from unless you help me. I saved your life from the Gravedigger, you owe me.'

It was the truth, even though Bones disagreed on the matter, she thought that Booth owed nothing to Jared given how he was bailing him out of trouble for years. But Booth could never shake this feeling off, Jared sacrificed a lot to help Bones save Booth from Taffet's clutches and he didn't forget it. It was one of the reasons why Booth was paying Jared's bills until Bones put the end to it.

'What happened?'

Three hours later Booth was still in shock from what he heard from brother. He was so pissed, he wanted to shoot something, he always knew that Jared was the pain in the ass but this…This was beyond anything Booth ever expected and he couldn't even say "no" to him, as much as he was mad, he also knew that Jared will get killed if Booth won't intervene. He looked at Bones who was already asleep and thought if he should tell her the truth, he knew she would help him, no matter what, but he also needed to think about the children. Jared was his responsibility, his burden, not Bones', he already put her through so much. And the kids…If Booth dies, he needed to make sure that their mother stays with them. If everything goes well, he will come clean, hopefully Bones will understand his decision.