(After Season 12)
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I really don't own Bones.
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His goldfish had died and Hank wanted to give him a proper burial. The thought of flushing Randy down the toilet or throwing him in the trash made him feel sick and he would not let Randy go that way. Taking a large spoon and his fish wrapped in a clean washcloth out to the backyard, the boy moved over to the fence at the back of the yard and decided that the spot near the rosebush would be a nice place for Randy to rest.
Kneeling on the ground, Hank started to dig. He wanted the hole to be deep enough so that the neighbor's cat, Muffin couldn't dig up Randy. Working with his spoon, he soon realized that it would take him forever to get the hole deep enough, so he picked up Randy and walked over to the garage where he found a gardening spade. Back in the yard next to the rosebush, he placed Randy down and continued to dig the hole. After a few minutes of shoveling, he spotted what looked like a bone and stopped. Curious, he used his fingers to scoop dirt away from the area and found what looked like a small hand. Shocked and intrigued, he sat back on his heels and tried to decide what to do next.
First, he needed to bury Randy, so he found a spot further along the fence near a lilac bush, dug a hole, kissed the washcloth holding his fish and buried him. That done, Hank said a prayer for Randy and hoped he would be happy in heaven with the other goldfish. Next he went into the house, logged on his PC and started to research how a dig was done. He didn't want to make any mistakes and disappoint his mother. Once he was sure he knew what he was supposed to do, he found some twine in the garage along with a one inch wide paint brush and a paint stirrer and walked back out to the backyard. Kneeling once more next to the first hole he had dug, Hank used the paint brush to move dirt away from the bones.
The bones appeared to make a hand which was small and had five fingers. Intrigued he used his spoon to carefully remove more dirt and then used his paint brush to expose an arm bone. During the afternoon, he widened the hole and carefully uncovered the body that had been buried in the backyard. It was hot and sweaty work and once in a while he took a short break and retrieved some bottled water from the refrigerator in the garage.
Brennan hadn't seen her son all afternoon. She had thought he was going to go play basketball with his friend Matthew, but his basketball was sitting on Hank's bed. Moving into the bedroom, she noticed that the aquarium was empty and she felt a chill. Randy was old for a goldfish and she had known he would die soon, but she had hoped he would live at least through the summer. Worried about her child, Brennan searched the house then stepped out of the back entrance to see if she could find him. Spotting him kneeling next to the back fence, she crossed the yard. "Hank?"
Turning, the boy wiped the back of his wrist against his sweaty forehead. "Mom, Randy died." He pointed his spoon towards his goldfish's grave and sniffed. "I buried him. I used the washcloth in the bathroom to bury him in. Was that okay?" A few tears leaked from his eyelashes and down his dirty face leaving a light track on his cheeks.
"Of course, it was Hank." Brennan stopped next to her son and looked into the hole he was kneeling next to. "What's this?" She knew her son was trying to control his emotions and she let him spend a few seconds wiping his face dry with the edge of his t-shirt. He was growing up so fast it made her sad that her baby boy wasn't a baby anymore.
"I was going to bury Randy here, but I found a body." Hank placed the spade down and picked up the paint brush. "I couldn't bury Randy here so I buried him next to the lilac bush . . . I've been real careful, Mom. I'm doing the dig right. I've been using my paint brush to brush the dirt from the bones. I almost have him uncovered. I think the tail is all that's left to uncover."
Kneeling next to her son, Brennan peered in the hole and studied the bones. "Have you determined what it is yet?"
"Well, at first I thought it was a cat, but I know that cats don't have hands, they have paws which meant it wasn't a dog either. I think it's a raccoon."
Slowly nodding her head, Brennan was pleased with her son's perspicacity. "I believe you are correct, Hank. Very good." Leaning back against her heels, Brennan smiled at the child. "I must say you've handled this quite professionally." Her son was twelve years old and she saw some of her in him. He was smart, inquisitive and loved to learn new things. She also saw Booth in their son. His kindness, his stubbornness and his loyalty to his family and friends. "What do plan to do now that you've finished your dig?"
"Well, I don't know." Hank stared at the bones for a few seconds and thought about his options. "Maybe I can take some pictures to show my work and then I can rebury him. I don't want to throw him away, Mom. He doesn't deserve that just like Randy didn't. Someone buried him and I think I should do that too."
"Very well." Brennan thought it was the best thing that they could do for the raccoon skeleton. "Go get the camera, we'll take pictures and I'll help you rebury him."
Rushing into the house, Hank raced past his father who had just entered the house. "Hey Hank." Before he could say anything else, the boy disappeared in his room only to emerge a few seconds later. "Where's the fire?"
"Mom and I are doing a project." Running past his father, Hank headed towards the back door, opened it, stepped outside and slammed the door shut.
Curious, Booth entered the living room, place his shopping bag on the coffee table and followed his son to the backyard. Once he was standing on the patio, he found his wife and son kneeling on the ground next to the fence. "What now?" Moving across the yard, he witnessed his son take pictures of something in a hole while Brennan pointed at something. After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally finished his walk and stood over Hank getting a quick glance at what was in the hole. "Really? A skeleton?"
Amused, Brennan looked up at her husband and smiled. "Randy died and when Hank tried to bury him, he found the hole already had a body in it."
Quickly turning over what Brennan had said in his mind Booth placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "I'm sorry your fish died, Hank."
"Thanks Dad. He was a good goldfish." He didn't cry, but he hated talking about Randy since it made him sad. "I buried him under the lilac bush . . . I found the skeleton of a raccoon."
"I see." Shaking his head, Booth decided that he'd seen enough. "I'm going to be in the garage working on my Mustang."
As he walked away, Brennan called out to her husband. "You don't want to help us rebury the raccoon?"
"No, I'm good. I'll leave it to the expert."
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