Chapter 8

BbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBb

FBI Forensics Lab

Fortunately, Booth had some friends at the lab, most of which didn't know he had been suspended anyway. He was currently standing a few feet away while Brennan inspected the vehicle. At the moment, her muffled voice was emanating from inside the car. "No blood, nothing out of place, nothing that shouldn't be here. I don't think they were ever in this car that night. Were any prints recovered?"

"No, just Serena's and her parents'."

Brennan poked her head out of the car, holding up a cotton swab and smiling triumphantly. "Well, whoever drove it was careful enough to wear gloves, but they're not a big investor in tissues."

Booth raised his eyebrows as Brennan got out of the car, waiting for her to explain.

She held out the swab for him to see. "They sneezed all over the dashboard."

"Yuck - Bones..." he said, pushing the hand with the swab away from himself.

She slipped the swab into a test tube and capped it. "I'll take this back to the lab and we can test it for DNA."

Booth's cell phone rang and he answered, walking a few feet away. "Booth." He looked back at Brennan, who was watching expectantly. "Yeah. I'll be there soon," he said, and hung up. "That was one of my contacts at the Alibi. Apparently Marcus is the guy I've been looking for, and he just showed up down there."

Brennan frowned, noticing he hadn't said 'we'll' be there soon. "Well, how come I can't go with you?"

Booth shook his head. "Its not safe. I've already been warned about showing up there with Marcus around - I don't want to put you in danger too."

"Booth, I'm perfectly capable - "

"And," Booth interrupted, smiling at the now common argument, "I'm gonna need you to pick up Parker for me."

"What - why? I thought Angela was watching him."

Booth chuckled; Brennan looked almost petrified at the thought of babysitting Parker. "Angela's been watching him all day. Besides, she said she had a date tonight. I should be back in an hour, okay?"

Brennan nodded. She knew she could be good with kids, but that didn't stop the fears that she knew had everything to do with psychology and nothing to do with logic, from sneaking up on her.

BbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBb

Medico-Legal Lab

Jeffersonian

Brennan walked through the sliding-glass doors of the lab, which was currently in a state of chaos. The squints plus a few lab technicians were running around frantically. Brennan spotted Angela nearby and went over to her. "What's going on?"

Angela spun around, looking anxious. "Hey - Bren," she said, looking over Brennan's shoulder for something. "Is um, is Booth here?"

Brennan narrowed her eyes. "No. Why?"

Angela let out a relieved sigh. "Good, you can help us then."

"Angela, what happened?"

Angela laughed nervously. "Well, Zach was showing Parker his beetles and pointing out their names. Parker wanted to play with the one named Skip, and then he kinda tipped the jar over - so now there are beetles everywhere and we can't find Parker, and - "

"What! You lost Parker? I'm supposed to be picking him up! I'm calling Booth," she said frantically, moving toward her office.

Hodgins' head popped up from beneath an autopsy table, where he was collecting beetles. "No, don't do that! Booth will kill us - literally!"

"Guys," Angela said, raising her arms, "calm down. He's around here somewhere. I'm sure he's just hiding."

Brennan ignored them and continued on to her office. She was about to pick up the phone when she heard a sneeze come from the vicinity of the empty couch. Relieved, she walked over and knelt down, looking underneath. "Parker - do you want to come out from under there?" He shook his head. "Why not?"

"I let all the beetles out and now everyone's going to be mad at me."

Brennan tried to smile in what she hoped was a reassuring way. "No they're not. Besides, your dad asked me to pick you up and watch you for awhile, so I really need you to come out from under there. Please?" She tried not to let too much anxiety creep into her voice, but this was Booth's son, and she didn't want to mess up.

Parker considered. "Can we do something fun?"

"Um, yeah," Brennan said, though she couldn't think of one thing she had in her apartment that a 6-year-old would consider fun. She just hoped she could find something.

"Okay." Parker slid out from under the couch.

Brennan stood and Parker grabbed her hand as they walked out of the office.

"Oh good, you found him!" Angela ran over happily.

Brennan nodded. "I'm going to take him to my place now. I'll see you tomorrow Ange." She started walking away, but then turned back, reaching into her bag. "Oh, can you have Hodgins and Zach run this sample? I need the DNA as soon as possible." Angela nodded and took the test tube. "Thanks," she said, leading Parker out to her car.

"Okay, good luck sweetie." Angela only hoped that the kid wouldn't be bored out of his mind.

BbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBb

The Alibi

Booth walked past the bar, spotting Marcus, Sidney's missing friend from the day before. He walked right up to him, sparing only a quick glance at the table and the card game that was going on.

"Marcus, hi." Booth greeted him cheerfully, before going closer and lowering hi voice. "I was hoping I could speak to you privately. It's about Sidney."

Marcus looked at him suspiciously before replying. "No, I don't think so."

"Come on, I'll buy you a drink," Booth offered, nonchalantly moving his jacket aside to reveal his badge. He hoped that despite what the bartender had said, it could still inspire some cooperation. Marcus frowned and followed Booth to the bar.

BbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBb

Brennan's Apartment

No sooner had Brennan begun to worry about what she owned that could be considered 'fun', Parker decided he was hungry. "What would you like?" she asked, hoping she had whatever it was.

"Peanut butter and jelly."

Brennan groaned inwardly. She had peanut butter but no jelly; she had always hated the combination, much to her young classmates' horror and dismay. "I'm sorry, I don't have jelly." She walked over to the cabinets, looking for anything he might like. She hardly ever ate at home anymore. Suddenly, she remembered something she had that was perfect. "Parker, do you like Marshmallow Fluff?"

Parker's face lit up. "Yeah! Mom never lets me get it though."

Brennan smiled. "Consider it a treat." She had always kept a jar of Fluff around as long as she could remember. If she was feeling sad or lonely, she'd make a peanut butter and fluff sandwich with hot-cocoa.

Ten minutes later Brennan and Parker were sitting on the couch eating Fluffernutter sandwiches and sipping hot chocolate. Parker was quickly becoming covered in peanut butter and marshmallow. He dipped his finger in some marshmallow that had squirted out the side of the sandwich and licked it off, watching Brennan as she ripped small bites off with her fingers, becoming almost as sticky as Parker.

"How come you don't have a TV?" he asked, taking a sip of cocoa.

Brennan had just finished her sandwich and had to drink some cocoa before replying. "It...broke awhile ago. I'm sorry I don't really have anything for kids around here..."

"Do you have books?"

"Yeah, just a minute." Brennan was surprised that he actually liked books. Weren't six year-olds supposed to hate reading and watch cartoons all day? She got up and headed to her bedroom closet. She kept a box of her old childrens' books at the bottom. She brought the whole box out for Parker to pick from. She hadn't looked at them in years, but now she was glad to be seeing them again.

Parker looked through them, finally settling on an old edition of The Magic Ring, one of Brennan's favorites. She had made her parents read it to her almost non-stop for quite awhile. Parker handed it to her and climbed onto the couch next to her. She opened the book and Parker leaned his head against her arm so he could see the pictures. Brennan was taken aback at first, but quickly grew comfortable with it as she began reading.

"Once, a poor servant girl and the family she worked for were traveling through a great, dark forest..."

BbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBbBb

The Alibi

Booth and Marcus sat at the bar, drinks so far untouched.

Booth looked at Marcus closely. "You know where Sidney is don't you?"

Marcus pulled the peanut dish over. "If I did I certainly wouldn't tell you," he said, absently rolling a peanut between his fingers.

"Why not?"

"You're FBI - I don't trust the FBI." Marcus sat back in his chair, eating the peanut.

"But you've seen me here before, you know I'm his friend."

Marcus chuckled darkly. "I think we both know Sidney's choice in friends has never been good."

Booth sighed. "Fine, if you won't tell me where he is now, at least tell me why he left the army."

Marcus smirked. "I think you know exactly why he left." He stood up, putting on his coat. "I'm done with this conversation. Don't come back in here again." He turned and started walking toward the door.

Booth got up, about to go after him, but then remembered he hadn't paid for the drinks. He ran back and slapped a handful of cash on the counter, missing Marcus signaling to the group at the table in the corner. He ran out the front door, finding Marcus in the alley beside the Alibi.

"Look, I don't care what you think about me. I'm not looking to arrest Sidney, I just need to know where he is. Now, if you aren't willing to cooperate I'd be more than happy to arrest you for that illegal betting you've got going on."

Marcus didn't respond, he simply turned and walked away, as the group from the table in the corner left the Alibi.

Booth sighed, frustrated. This was going nowhere, and he couldn't arrest Marcus because he didn't really have any proof that he had been involved in illegal betting - he was just hoping it would get some reaction out of him. He began walking back to his car, but stopped as the five guys from the Alibi stepped in front of him, blocking his exit from the alley. The one who stood slightly in front of the rest nodded at Booth.

"So, you're one of the guys that's working for Furlong?"

Booth shook his head. "No, I don't even know who that is."

The man continued, ignoring him. "You know, I hate all politicians pretty much - but I hate corrupt politicians even more; and the people who work for them, well..."

"Look, I don't have time for this," Booth tried to push past them.

"I don't think so." The man pushed Booth, and he stumbled a bit. He recovered quickly and punched the man in the jaw. That set off the others and they joined in. After that, it was hard for Booth to hold them off. He got in a couple of good punches, trying to put distance between himself and them. Unfortunately, one he hadn't seen before came from behind and grabbed Booth's arms while another took his gun from its holster.

Booth used the man who was holding him to swing off the ground, kicking the man in front of him hard in the stomach. The man stumbled while the other loosened his grip on Booth's arms; but only momentarily. A second later and Booth would have twisted away. However, the man who had taken his gun chose that moment to hit him over the head with it. He fell to the ground, already feeling the blood dripping down his face. He heard the men yelling to each other and the sound of a car speeding off before he passed out.

Comments? Questions? Ideas?

A/N: Parker cuteness dedicated to 24 Nutcase for suggesting that Brennan babysit Parker, and that Parker could 'wreak havoc' at the lab. : )