A/N - I seem to have developed a bit of a crush on Booth's past. So here it is, the lastest in my Bones fanfiction. Once again, I am not going to promise anything will happen between Booth and Bones, but then again I have yet to write the final chapter, so anything could change, but no promises! Again, none of the characters belong to me aside from the most obvious, all credit for those go to the fabulous Hart Hanson. So enjoy and as always, let me know what you think...

Hunter

Chapter One – In Between Days

Everything about her held an air of familiarity. The way her hair fell down to her shoulders, the way she walked and smiled. She was much more fashion conscious then she was back then, the thick make up replaced with just the smallest amount, her nails shone with a manicured shine, her designer handbag huge compared to her small size. And yet even with all that familiarity, she still felt like a complete stranger to him. Had been for over a decade now. He was watching a stranger that resembled an old friend, an old love he once knew. He kept watching with curiosity as she spoke with his boss, her movements stiff and unhappy. She was upset about something, that much he could see. But why was she here at all? He took a deep breath and made his way towards the talking pair, his hands in his pockets, feeling more like a shamed child then an FBI agent. His voice caught in his throat as he inhaled the same perfume that she had worn all that time ago.

"Hello Victoria."

Victoria Patricia Redman had been his first love. The one female who meant something to him all through high school and then college. He thought he was the luckiest man alive when she had first smiled at him, felt like he was flying when they had shared their first kiss. He was so in love with her, that when her parents mentioned the long history of enrolled men in their family, he had enrolled in the army. Had even studied law for a little while at her request. He would have done anything for her, done anything just to see that sweet smile on her face. Which was why when she had broken off their engagement, leaving him for an artist, he had fallen into pit pf despair. He spent his days and nights drinking and throwing himself into meaningless one-night stands, his head filled with everything that they had shared, his heart breaking over and over again. He eventually pulled himself out of it, had healed and had moved on with his life. And here she was, standing in front of him, almost as if nothing at all had happened. Cool blue eyes focused on him, her mouth coming into a smile.

"Hello Seeley. Can we go somewhere to talk?"

He nodded before leading her out of the office and to a coffee shop just around the corner, watching as she ordered herself a hazelnut latte, her movements and words self-assured and confident. He ordered a flat white and settled himself across from her on one of the lime green sofa's that decorated one part of the café.

"So, what brings you here to Washington Victoria?"

"You"

He felt the frown make its way across his face.

"Me?"

Victoria pushed some wayward hair off of her face, her large ring catching the small glint of light in the café.

"Paul left me."

"Oh sorry to hear that."

Victoria gave him a half smile.

"It was a long time coming, believe me. He is not the same man I fell in love with."

Booth shifted a little in his seat.

"I still don't quite understand what this has to do with me."

"He left because he said you were still in my life and in my heart."

"I haven't seen in you in thirteen years. Does he know that?"

"Yes. I think he was just pissed because he found out Hunter wasn't his."

The frown came again.

"Who's Hunter?"

"My daughter."

Victoria shifted in her handbag, moving things around before extracting a slightly bent and faded picture. It was a beautiful little girl sitting in a tree, a wide grin on her face as she waved at the camera.

"She's pretty."

Victoria smiled again as she stroked the picture with great affection.

"She's a right little madam. She's about to hit puberty, so she hates everyone and everything. She drives me crazy."

Booth smiled at her, sharing a smile that came from being a parent. Parker drove him crazy too but it was more for his unnatural curiosity then anything else. The 'why' stage that everyone had assured him would pass, had lasted almost two years now.

"I heard you had a son."

"Yeah Parker. He's almost five."

"Starting school huh?"

Booth shook is head.

"He started a year ago. He's a really smart kid."

Victoria nodded as she put the picture back into her bag and sipped on the coffee that had been delivered while they had been speaking.

"So why have you come here Victoria? It can't have been to recount good old times."

Victoria licked off some of the foam that had settled on her top lip before putting her cup down and staring Booth in the eye.

"I'm dying Seeley."

Booth just about dropped his coffee, catching himself before he did so.

"Dying?"

Victoria nodded as she stirred her coffee.

"Cancer. Lung cancer to be more specific. All those cigarettes we smoked finally caught up with me. It's stage three, meaning there is nothing more they can do for me, aside from help keep the pain away. I have six, maybe seven months."

Booth felt surprisingly sad for Victoria. He had stopped hating her a long time ago but he thought that if he ever saw her again, he would have nothing left to feel for her. But here he was, feeling sad for her, the pity almost overwhelming him.

"I'm sorry Victoria. How long have you known?"

"Two years. I was in remission for a little while but I guess it wasn't meant to be. I wanted to say sorry for hurting you Seeley. No one deserves what I did to you. I know I hurt you."

Booth shrugged.

"I lived. It seems almost trivial now."

Victoria shook her head.

"I am truly and deeply sorry Seeley."

"It's ok Victoria. It's been years and I'm fine."

Victoria smiled tightly at him.

"Things are so different now. The most important things in my life are Hunter and our dog Bobby."

Booth swallowed heavily before continuing.

"What happens to them when..you know.."

"When I die?"

Booth nodded.

"It's ok to say it Seeley, I accepted it a long time ago. This is the reason that I am here. There is something that I needed to tell you, something I should have told you a long time ago."

"And that would be?"

"Hunter is your daughter."

This time Booth was stunned into silence, not quite able to grasp what Victoria had said. He had another child. He had a daughter. He had a thirteen-year-old daughter. He was still struggling with the news when the next sentence slipped out of his mouth.

"Are you sure?"

Victoria nodded.

"Yes. I was pregnant when we separated, I just never realised. I thought I was pregnant to Paul. Then the doubt began to eat at me, she looked so much like you that I decided to take a paternity test for her and Paul. It was negative. You are the only other guy I was involved with Seeley. She's yours."

Victoria fished around in her handbag again before removing a kitchen zip lock bag; a small pink hairbrush nestled inside. She handed it over to him.

"I thought you might want to get it tested for yourself. I don't blame you but I know that she is your daughter."

Booth gently palmed the bag; his eyes fixing on the dark hair nestled in the bristles.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because I didn't think it mattered. Hunter had a father and that was all I cared about. Then Paul found out she wasn't his and that was that. He left her high and dry and she was so hurt Seeley. She thought that he had stopped loving her and in a way she's right. Like I said before, Paul was not the man I was once in love with. He's too proud and too arrogant."

"So this is why you came here? To tell me I have a daughter? To just drop a bomb the size of the Titanic on my head and expect me to thank you?"

Victoria held up her hand, trying to calm the quickly angering Booth.

"I don't expect anything from you Seeley. Hunter needs someone to look after her when I'm gone. Someone to make sure she doesn't fall off the rails and loose her dreams. Someone to make sure she keeps the innocence that she is likely to loose with my death. She needs you Seeley."

Booth shook his head.

"You should have told me sooner Victoria! You have no right to come here and lay a guilt trip on me, making me feel bad if I say no to staying with her. You can't do this to someone Victoria, it's not right."

Victoria's voice was low as she slid a card to him across the table.

"I have to pick up Hunter from school. Call me when you've had time to think about what you want to do. Hunter needs to know."

Booth watched as she gathered her belongings and left the café. How could he be expected to make a decision like this? A little girl's life was sitting in his hands and he didn't know what to do with it.

"Hey Angela, do you think you could do me a favour?"

Angela spun on her seat, a wide grin on her face.

"For my favourite FBI agent? Sure. What's up?"

Booth rolled his eyes at her.

"You so don't want to know. I need you to push a paternity test through for me."

He laid the hairbrush as well as his toothbrush on her desk, watching as the smile was replaced with a frown.

"I think you've gone the wrong person for this favour Booth."

He crouched beside her chair, putting on his best charm smile.

"I heard you slept with Dave, the DNA guy."

Angela threw up her hands, a loud sigh escaping her.

"Is no one going to let me forget that? I had drunk too much! It's hardly me fault! He hit on me!"

"I thought maybe you could use your Angela charm to get this put through for me."

Angela narrowed her eyes at him before sighing loudly again.

"What is it you need exactly?"

"I need a paternity test done on these things. Do you think you could do that for me?"

"Of course. You want it kept quite right?"

"That would be appreciated. When do you think I can have the results?"

"Tomorrow morning. Can I ask what it's about?"

"I'll tell you when I know. Thanks Ange."

"Not a problem. I'll collect on that favour."

Booth laid a quick kiss on the top pf her head, giving her another warm smile.

"I know you will. Seeya later Angela."

He gave her a small wave before leaving the lab, his desire to be at home, to be alone with his thoughts making him almost break into a run.

The pizza Booth had ordered had gone cold a long time ago, the grease seeping into the fibres of the cardboard box, congealing at the base. He didn't even know why he had ordered it, he had absolutely no appetite. He had located the box that had been housed under his bed ever since he had moved in, the one that was filled with all the memories he and Victoria had shared, tipping them onto the living room table, where he now sat, beer in hand, going back to some of his happiest times. When his doorbell rung, he managed to pull himself out of his daydream, opening the door with more force then he had intended.

"Hey Booth."

Temperance stood, a six pack of beer in one had and a large block of chocolate in the other, a smile on her face.

"Hey Bones, come in."

She moved into the house, making herself comfortable on the sofa before breaking the foil seal on the block of chocolate, snapping it apart andthrowing a chunk to Booth.

"Angela said you seemed stressed when you talk to her today."

Booth settled himself beside her, watching as her sharp eyes took in the pictures littering the small table.

"I got some rather disturbing news today."

"Dare I ask?"

Booth sighed as he munched on the sweet, nutty chocolate. He picked upthe picture of himself and Victoria at their engagement party.

"I was engaged to her."

Temperance took the picture out of his hand, studying it carefully. She's pretty. You guys look so happy. What happened?"

"She left me for Paul Currin. Artist and sailor."

Temperance frowned as she swallowed her bite of chocolate, chasing it with a mouthful of beer.

"Ouch. That sucks."

"Tell me about it. It took me years to get over her and even then it was hard to think about her."

Temperance nodded as she broke off another piece of chocolate.

"I know what you mean, believe me."

Booth smiled at her, glad he wasn't the only one made to feel like a fool by someone he hadloved.

"Well, guess what?"

"What?"

"She says that I have a thirteen-year-old daughter, called Hunter."

Temperance stayed silent, just handed him another chunk of chocolate and a fresh beer, munching on her own thoughtfully.

"That's a hell of a thing to drop on someone. Let alone that she let thirteen years pass before she did anything about it. Did she say why she waited so long?"

Booth nodded as he sipped his beer.

"Apparently she was happy that Hunter had a father, no matter who it was. Only Paul found out she wasn't his and he hightailed it out of there. And she also says she's dying of stage three lung cancer. She only has a matter of months to live."

"Does she expect you to look after Hunter?"

"Yes. She laid on a huge guilt trip and everything. She seemed desperate."

"She is. She's dying and her daughter will have no one once she's one. You can kind of understand it all."

Booth nodded.

"I know. And I guess I will have to step up to the father plate again if she's mine. The last thing I want is for her to end up in foster care. She needs to be with family."

Temperance smiled.

"So that's why you talked to Angela. You needed her Dave connection didn't you?"

Booth smiled back.

"Guilty as charged. She was pissed when I mentioned it."

Temperance shrugged as she kicked off her shoes and curled up on the sofa.

"That's what she gets for sleeping with a co-worker at a work function. That is one drunken romp no one is going to ever let her forget."

Booth gave a small chuckle before popping open another two beers, handing one to Temperance, who handed him another bit of chocolate.

"I guess I'll see by morning if I'm a father again."

Temperance sipped her beer thoughtfully.

"You won't be sleeping tonight will you?"

"Highly unlikely."

"Want some company?"

Booth gave her a smile.

"That would be nice. Know how to play poker?"

"Of course."

Booth stood and got the poker kit he had been given a few years ago from the dining room cupboard, grateful for some sort of distraction.

"You want to be dealer Bones?"