(Season 10)

A/N: Rated T for language

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

It had been a long day and Booth needed to finish his paperwork before he left the office. He planned to leave work early the next day to take his daughter trick or treating but working late was the price he had to pay to do that.

Not sure what had caught his attention, Booth looked up and felt a cold hand touch his spine. "What?"

Though he hadn't meant to show himself to his friend, Sweets knew he must have subconsciously wanted to do that and now the deed was done. "Don't panic."

"I'm not panicking." And he wasn't. Booth had seen many strange things in his life and he prided himself on how calm he remained under the most bizarre situations. "You're not real."

"No, I'm not." Studying the agent before him he saw the black smudges under the man's eyes and he knew Booth was tired.

Not sure what was going on, Booth shook his head. "There's no such thing as ghosts." He wasn't sure if he actually believed in ghosts or not. He'd seen Teddy on the ship when the Gravedigger had tried to kill him, but Brennan had told him he had been experiencing the after affects from being drugged, so it left him uncertain.

"No, you're right, there is no such thing as ghosts." Sweets sat down on the chair near the door and waited for Booth's reaction.

"Stop that!" He was getting angry. "There is no such thing as ghosts . . . Fuck, you're dead. I know you're dead. I saw you die."

He could see his friend was becoming agitated and he wasn't sure how to calm the man down. "Yes, I agree."

"Fuck, stop that!" Booth stood up, placed his hands on his desk and leaned on them. "Don't you dare you sit there and tell me I'm right when I can see you. This is just like you . . . Fuck!"

"You're saying that word a lot . . . I know you're upset and I didn't mean for that to happen . . . Please sit down and . . . well, sit down and don't be angry with me. I'm here for a reason." Sweets sighed. What a mess. I knew this was going to be messy.

Trying to control his anger, Booth sat down, folded his hands on the desk and stared at the apparition sitting on the chair near the door. "Okay, I'm not angry . . . what do you want from me?"

Finally, Sweets could get down to business. "I've been torn about moving on . . . Yes, I know I should, but I want to see my baby be born before I leave, so I've stuck around . . . well, a few days ago I was over at your house visiting with Christine and . . . I'm not sure how to say this and have you believe me . . . I don't want to upset you either . . . Um, well, I ran into your grandfather at your house. He had some unfinished business but he didn't know how to finish it. He told me what he wanted to do and I told him I could do it for him. He thanked me and told me he had to move on since he wanted to see Marie. He and his wife have been separated for a lot of years and he missed her . . . a lot. Anyway, I was going to try to leave you some clues, but I screwed up and I let you see me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let that happen."

None of this seemed real to Booth. When he'd seen Teddy, he had been drugged and the boy had probably been a figment of his imagination plus he had that damn brain tumor at the time and that whole thing had been fucked up, but now Sweets was in his office. A very dead Sweets and he was talking about his dead grandfather. "My God, my brain tumor is back."

"Wait, don't go there." Sweet saw the fear on the older man's face and he needed to stop that line of thinking. "You're not sick . . . I'm sorry I let you see me . . . Um, your grandfather had a safety deposit box at the Philadelphia Federal Credit Union on Arch Street. He had some important papers in there and he meant to tell you about them, but he thought he had plenty of time. He was wrong and well, you're the executor of his estate and you need to know about it . . . He figured you'd have found out when the rent came due on the box, but then the bank may have just dumped the stuff from the box into the trash when he didn't pay the rental fee. Your grandfather didn't think very highly of banks or credit unions."

"No shit." Booth knew about Pop's hatred of banks, but the old man had known they were better than burying your money in the backyard.

Gratified that Booth was listening to him, Sweets continued. "Anyway, he wants you to have the stuff in the box and he wants you to know that he loves you and Jared and he tried to raise you right. He's proud of you and that's it. My mission is done."

It was lot of news to take in. "You saw Pops?"

"Yes, I said I did . . . he told me he wanted to stay until you got out of prison, but he was old and tired and he missed Marie and his children. He told me that no parent wants to outlive their kids and he outlived his daughter and his son. It was a horrible thing to accept. Anyway, he tried to stay for you, but then he didn't know when you would get out of prison and he was so tired . . . once he was dead, he realized that he hadn't told you about the box and he's been upset about that. He's been trying to tell you about it, but you couldn't see him . . . Now that you know about it, it should be alright."

A tear escaped Booth's lashes. Running his hand across his eyes, Booth was grateful that he had been raised by a fine man like his grandfather. "Yeah, I understand . . . Do you know what's in the safety deposit box?"

"No, I didn't ask." Sweets knew it was time for him to go. "Hey, I don't blame you for what happened to me, okay? I was doing my job and we both know it should have been pretty safe. Durant was a murderer and he didn't care who he hurt so his man killed me, but I killed him and we're even. Anyway, it wasn't your fault and one more thing. You and Dr. Brennan gave me a family, a family I hadn't had since my parents died and I want to thank you for caring about me. I know you considered me a pain in the ass, but who doesn't have relatives like that?" Sweets laughed. Standing, he saluted his friend and disappeared.

Rubbing his eyes, Booth shook his head. "Fucking brain tumor."

Ooooooooooooo

Worried about his brain and the possibility that he was sick again, Booth made an appointment to see his neurologist. Because he didn't want to worry Brennan, he didn't let her know about his visit with Sweets or his appointment with the neurologist. The fact was, he didn't tell anyone because he didn't want anyone to know. If the news was bad, they'd know soon enough and they'd all have to deal with it. Once he was given a clean bill of health, he knew that it was possible that Sweets had been real or as real as someone who's dead can be.

Certain that this day was going to be an emotional one, he didn't tell Brennan what his plans were. Taking the day off, he drove up to Philadelphia and found the Philadelphia Credit Union and parked in a nearby parking garage. Prepared, he entered the bank, showed one of the tellers behind the counter paper work showing him to be the executor of Hank Booth's will, he asked to see the safety deposit box being kept there.

Once he was in a room with the box, he sat down on the chair next to the table and placed his hand on the box. "Pops, I'm doing what you asked or what you asked Sweets to tell me to do."

Holding his breath, Booth opened the box and found several folders inside and two small boxes. The boxes contained a Purple Heart that had been awarded to Hank and the other box held a Bronze Star. "I wish I had known about these, I'd have had Bones bury them with you, Pops."

Each folder had a personal note clipped to it from Booth's grandfather. Picking up the top folder he read the note before opening it.

Seeley, if you're reading this I'm dead. I should have brought you here to go over the contents of this box, but it just seemed like a final thing to do and it was complicated. Your Grandma and me never could figure out how to tell you about this stuff and not upset you. Anyway, inside this folder is a copy of the adoption papers for you and Jared. Me and Marie formally adopted you a year after you came to live with us. It was a bit unusual since we didn't know where your mother was and we had to get a lawyer involved to get this done. Your father signed away his parental rights, but we couldn't get Marianne's signature because we didn't know where she was and we needed to protect you and your brother. Of course, if your mother had known your father was out of the picture, she might have taken you back into her life. Anyway, we'll never know. I didn't ask her when we met again because truthfully, I don't want to know. Anyway, I was glad to see her. She appears to have found someone that treats her right, so at least that turned out okay.

Don't be angry with your grandmother and me about the adoptions. Someone had to have legal custody of you and Jared and it couldn't be your father. We did the best we could. You and your brother were legally our sons, but that didn't mean we were taking you from your mother just your father. We did this to make sure we could legally raise you and to keep you out of foster homes. It was also to make sure you were our heirs. We didn't have much, but we didn't want Edwin to inherit anything.

Just remember, both me and Marie loved you and wanted the best for you. We did this to protect you and your brother.

Flipping the folder open he found the documents that made him and his brother the children of Hank and Marie Booth. "Pops, why do you think this would have made us angry with you? You were our father and grandma was our mother. I told you that more that once and it wasn't just me saying that. I meant it."

Sad that his grandfather had worried over something like this, Booth shook his head. "Hell, if I'd known you were officially my father, I'd have bragged about it. You were the father I needed and wanted . . . You and Grandma saved me, you saved my life and I will never forget that. Never."

One of the folders contained some savings bonds and a savings account book for Parker. Apparently, Hank had been putting $25 a month in the account since the month Parker had been born. Booth would make sure Parker got the money. It was a nice surprise and he knew his son would appreciate it.

"Thanks, Pops."

Another folder contained birth certificates that belonged to Hank and Marie and their parents as well as their marriage licenses and the death certificates for Marie, Hank and Marie's parents and Hank's children, Ruth and Edwin. Booth looked over the documents and felt a sense of pride that except for Edwin he was related to some very fine people.

The final folder contained saving's bonds that his aunt Ruth had bought while she was still alive. He had assumed that Fran would inherit everything that belonged to his aunt, but these savings bonds were in Ruth's name and her nephew's names. The note on the outside of the folder said that Ruth had wanted to give them to her nephews on their 35th birthday. Those birthdays had come and gone, but Booth assumed his grandfather had forgot about them.

"Thank you, Aunt Ruth. I miss you and I know Jared does too. You were so cool."

Finished with the box, Booth closed it and stood up.

"I love you Seeley."

Startled, Booth looked around, but didn't see anyone. Not sure if he had actually heard anything, he decided it would be rude not to say anything. "I love you too."

He didn't know who had said that, but did it really matter? Love given freely is always welcome.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Happy Halloween