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Ooooooooooooooooooooo

During his junior year in high school, Booth made a startling discovery about himself that made him worry about who he really was deep inside.

He'd been living with his grandfather for three years and he hadn't seen his father in all of that time. After his Pops had rescued him and his little brother, life had improved dramatically. Sometimes he felt like the first thirteen years of his life had been a nightmare and that with the wave of a magic wand he'd been transported to another land and another life. Life was really good for Seeley Joseph Booth and his life seemed to be on track. Nothing was in his way and he felt like king of the world sometimes.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Booth and a few of his team mates were standing on the landing on the main stair case in their high school, watching the girls come and go as he and his buddies laughed about their win the previous Friday and how they were the class heroes on that day.

Harlan Kinney, had just passed Booth when Tommy Major placed his foot out and tripped the lanky geek. Indignant at the laughter being rained down on him by the group of athletes crowding the landing, Harlan drew himself up, looked Tommy up and down and sniffed. "You're all a bunch of Philistines."

Outraged, Booth stepped forward and bumped his broad chest against Harlan's thin one. "Look, I'm not a Philistine, I'm Catholic."

Amused, Harlan couldn't prevent what happened next. He laughed.

Now Tommy Major did know what a Philistine was and he was more than outraged that someone like Harlan Kinney thought it was alright to insult him like that in public. Furious, he picked up Harlan and dangled the boy over the stairwell. Afraid of heights, Harlan began to cry and beg. "Please let me down . . . don't drop me . . . please, I'm sorry . . . Please oh please . . ."

Most of the kids that passed them by on the staircase seemed to find the situation funny and Booth had thought it was too until he noticed the look on Sarah Rogers' face as she stood on the steps below them and that look was one he'd never forget. The senior was disgusted with all of them and she was obviously debating with herself whether or not to intervene and perhaps be punished by the boys for it.

With Harlan's cries getting louder, Booth placed his hand on his friend's arm. "Tommy, let him go. Put him down before you drop him."

His laughter fading, Tommy pulled Harlan back to safety and let him go. While Harlan raced down the stairs to get away from Tommy and his friends, Sarah slowly shook her head and marched up the stairs away from her cruel classmates.

Tommy turned towards Booth and poked his friend in his chest. "You're getting soft Seeley. Harlan insulted you, he insulted all of us. He got what he deserved."

Embarrassed, Booth shook his head and spoke softly. "No one deserves to be scared out of their mind, Tommy. The guy thinks he's better than us, so what? He swallowed a thesaurus when he was a kid. It's not worth getting in trouble over."

His hand gripping Booth's shoulder very hard, Tommy glared at his younger friend. "I care. No one insults me and get to walk away from it."

Mrs. Chu, the music teacher down the hall, came striding up the staircase and stopped beside Tommy. "Mr. Major, I need you to come with me please. You other boys need to go to your next class . . . now."

Worried about Tommy, the boys protested as their leader followed the teacher down the staircase. After their group broke up, Booth moved up the stairs and down the hall to his Algebra Class. Stepping into the classroom, he was aware that several sets of eyes were pasted on him and probably not because of last Friday night's game. As he sat on his chair, he knew that what had happened in the hallway was wrong. His classmates considered him a bully and that didn't set well with him.

What Tommy had done to Harlan was no better than what his father had done to him for the first thirteen years of his life and to just stand there and laugh had been wrong and humiliating. He wanted to be better than his father, he wanted to be a man people could count on and that man was not there when he let Tommy hold Harlan over the stairwell and laughed with the other boys.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Booth and Brennan were in Philadelphia for the weekend. Brennan had purchased box seats at the game for Booth as a birthday present and they had decided to make a weekend of it. Their children were staying with Hodgins and Angela for the weekend and that meant that they were free to stay out as late as they wanted to.

After the game, Booth was on a high because his team had won. Still excited, he wanted to go dancing and Brennan had agreed that it might be a nice way to end their evening.

While they danced slowly on the dance floor, Booth held Brennan in his arms and drank in the smell of her perfume and way she held him tightly as they moved. The last few years had been a calmer period in their lives and they were both grateful for the change.

His eyes closed, Booth felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes to find Harlan Kinney standing beside him. Even though it had been a lot of years, Harlan still looked like Harlan. He was better dressed, his hair was cut much shorter and it was peppered with gray, but there was no doubt in his mind that Booth was staring at his former classmate.

"It is you, isn't it Seeley?" Harlan frowned at Booth and clasped his hands in front of his waist.

As he released his hold upon Brennan, Booth grimly nodded at Harlan. "Yeah, it's me . . . You're Harlan Kinney aren't you?"

Pleased that Booth remembered him, Harlan grinned. "Hey it sure is. I didn't think you'd remember me since we didn't exactly hang out with the same crowd . . . football and basketball star and me a nerd and all."

Uncomfortable with his past with Harlan, Booth cleared his throat. "No . . . I remember you . . . um, look Harlan . . . about that time when Tommy Major held you over the stairwell . . . "

Before Booth could finish his apology, Harlan reached over and gripped Booth's lower arm. "Thank you . . . I've wanted to thank you for a long time, but . . . At first, I didn't really know it was you that saved my life and made Tommy let me go, but Sarah told me it was you and at the time I wasn't sure how to thank you and then I graduated . . . I was a senior when that happened if you'll remember . . . anyway I've almost written you a couple of times . . . I saw your name in the papers . . . FBI wow and still saving people . . . anyway listen to me gush like a teenage girl." Harlan laughed and released Booth's arm. "Anyway, you saved me from Tommy and I want you to know that I will never forget that. Thanks man."

Shocked at the turn of events, Booth held his hand out and shook Harlan's hand. "I'm sorry my friends and I weren't nicer to you Harlan."

"Kids got their cliques, Seeley." Harlan shook his head. "You were an athlete and I wasn't. I know the kids thought I was weird, but that was me . . . my poor mother trying to raise a son by herself and making sure I was okay . . . My Dad died my sophomore year and well . . . I lived in books and . . ." Amused at himself, Harlan shook his head. "I turned out okay." Pointing off to the left, Harlan beamed with pride. "That's my wife, you remember Sarah Rogers don't you . . . we worked at the same company for four years and we finally dated. We have three girls and a boy . . . anyway, thank you . . . Sarah wanted me to tell you thank you too and . . . and I'll leave you alone now. I just wanted to . . . Thanks."

Booth watched Harlan walk away trying to figure out what had happened.

Proud of Booth, Brennan placed her arms around him and encouraged him to continue dancing. "So that story you told me about your most embarrassing moment didn't quite happen the way you said it did."

His gaze now back on his wife, Booth slowly shook his head. "I told you exactly how it happened . . . I . . . I was like my Dad when I laughed at Harlan. He was so scared and I laughed . . . it made me sick for weeks thinking about it."

Brennan knew he was upset and confused and she was certain that he'd suppressed the best part of the story because of his fears. Leading him by the hand, they moved back to their table and sat down. "You were never like your father, Booth. You're the complete opposite. Even as a boy, you wanted to protect the helpless and you protected Harlan. He remembered it even if you didn't."

Grateful for her kindness, Booth placed his hand over her hand. "I think that was a turning point in my life. I was determined to never be like my father . . . I had to be better than that."

"And you are." Brennan leaned over and kissed him. "You are Booth."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

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