(Just before season 10)

Tissue alert. ( I think. )

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

The situation was heartbreaking and that was all she had to say about it. Hank Booth had died quietly in his sleep and they would never see his smiling face again. She had seen him six days before his death and Brennan felt a little guilty that she hadn't seen him more often, but she was so caught up in trying to get Booth out of prison that she had little time for family obligations any more.

During that last visit, Brennan had worried about the frailness she was seeing in her husband's grandfather. He was looking worn down and weak.

"I understand Temperance." Hank hadn't felt it necessary for her to apologize. What she was doing was so much more important that visiting him. "You're busy and what you are doing will help Seeley."

Hank was tired of life and he just wanted peace. His beloved grandson was in prison and it looked like he'd never see him again, at least not in this life. "You have work to do. You need to get my boy out of prison. The longer he's in there the more danger he's in. You don't need to worry about me. Jared has been visiting me about once a week. I have my friends. I'm good. You just keep looking for a way to get Seeley out or prison. That's the biggest favor you could do for me."

She had appreciated his sentiment, but she did try to see him as often as possible. Now he was gone and she had to arrange a funeral for him. Her emotions were brittle and she knew that she would have to carry the burden for her husband. Hank deserved a dignified funeral and she and her daughter would be there to make sure that Hank's send-off was not done in silent isolation.

Brennan had tried to get permission to visit her husband after Hank died, but she had been denied that request. The Warden had claimed that Booth had made some kind of trouble and was in isolation for the moment, but Brennan thought that was a lie. His lawyer had been allowed access to his client and though David Barron was a great lawyer, he wasn't family and Booth had to hear that his beloved grandfather had died from the lips of an acquaintance. David told her that Booth had taken it stoically which frightened her. She worried about Booth's mental health. She wasn't allowed to see him to give him comfort and she was afraid he was too isolated from his family.

David was trying to use some of his pull to get her in to see her husband, but it was taking time. Too much time. In the meantime, she planned the funeral, made sure a loving dignified obituary was printed in the paper and that Hank would be buried next to his beloved wife. She just hoped it was enough.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

When she and Christine arrived at the funeral home, it was an hour before the funeral was scheduled to start. Brennan had wanted the body of Hank to be honored and she wanted Christine to get used to being in the room with the casket before the service started. The child understood that her grandfather was dead and she had been weeping for days. Brennan worried that her daughter was going to make herself sick from grief, but the child needed the emotional release and Brennan knew that. Christine's father being kept away from her wasn't helping the situation at all.

Sitting in the front row, her child on her lap, Brennan stared at the coffin and hoped that the cherry wood casket was pretty enough. She knew that it didn't really matter in the long run since the box would be buried in the ground and no one would ever see it again. That was beside the point. She wanted her grandfather-in-law's body to be surrounded by beauty and she had taken a picture so she could show it to Booth when she saw him next. She knew that it would be important to her husband, so she had paid more for the coffin than common sense dictated. The cost meant little to her, it was the comfort to her husband and child that mattered to her.

Brennan didn't expect anyone else to come to the funeral besides her brother-in-law, so she was surprised when her father sat down next to her. "Hey Baby."

"Dad." She was grateful that he had come, but it was unexpected. "Thank you for coming. I think Hank, if he was alive, would appreciate it."

Max placed his arm around her shoulders. "I liked the guy. He was honest." Max heard a noise behind them and glanced back to see the back row of the room being filled with the interns from the Lab. Pleased to see them he smiled at them and turned his head to face the coffin. "You really did a nice job with that coffin, Tempe. It's beautiful. Booth would love it if he was here . . . Did you take a picture?"

"I did." Brennan had also taken a picture of Hank's body in the coffin. The funeral director had given her an odd look, but she hadn't cared. It wasn't any of his business anyway. "I'll show them to Booth as soon as I can or as soon as he's ready."

His granddaughter's tears had not gone unnoticed. "Hey munchkin."

The child sniffed, rubbed her wet tissue under her nose and rubbed her eyes. "My Pops is gone."

"I know Sweetheart." To give his daughter a break, Max lifted the child from her lap and settled Christine on his lap. "It was time for him to go, but he loved you very much and he would have stayed if he could."

Christine sighed and leaned against her grandfather. "Are you going to leave too?"

A slight chill down his back, Max ignored it and kissed her. "Not right now. Not for a while."

"Good." Christine stared at her mother and sighed once more. "I want my Daddy."

Max rubbed her back and knew he was a poor substitute for what his granddaughter needed. "Hey before you know it, your Daddy is going to be home and boy is he going to be surprised when he sees your front tooth grew back. It's a real beauty. How much did the tooth-fairy leave you?"

"A dollar because it was my in . . . incisor." The child still had the dollar and was saving it to give to her father when he came home as a present.

"Wow, that's impressive." And it was. He remembered when he was a child and that his parents never gave him anything when he lost his teeth. The bastards. "The tooth fairy always gave your Mom a quarter."

While her father and daughter talked, Brennan looked back and noticed that Hodgins, Angela, Cam and Caroline were sitting behind her. "Oh . . . I wasn't expecting you to come. You didn't know Hank."

Caroline shrugged her shoulders. "He's family Cher'. You have to go to the funeral when it's family."

Hodgins nodded his head and placed his hand on Brennan's shoulder. "We have to represent Booth, Dr. B. He can't be here, so we have to be here instead. Like Caroline said, Hank was family and so are you."

"How are you doing Sweety." Angela worried that Brennan was looking tired, her friend was under too much pressure and Hank's passing wasn't helping the situation.

Brennan appreciated that her friends were there. She was feeling just a little less alone. "I'm fine. Thank you for coming."

While Brennan and Angela talked, Jared and his wife, Padme appeared. They moved to the front of the room near the casket and Jared wiped tears from his eyes as he stared at his grandfather's body. "Bye Pops." He crossed himself and with Padme's arm around his waist, he walked over to the other side of Max and they both sat down. Jared didn't really like his sister-in-law, but he appreciated the fact that Brennan was paying for the funeral. He knew he couldn't afford it and the coffin was beautiful. He also knew that his Pops was going to be buried next to Grams and that was a relief. He was certain that if Hank's remains were mishandled or buried somewhere else his brother would blame him.

Soon more mourners arrived and though Brennan didn't recognize them, she assumed from their ages, they were probably friends of Hank. She had thought she and Christine would be the only mourners and now she knew that she had made a bad assumption. Hank was going to get the funeral he deserved and for that she was grateful.

Oooooooooooooooooo

After the funeral and before Hank's body was loaded into the hearse to be driven to the cemetery, Brennan made sure to thank everyone that had come to the funeral. She had been so surprised to see her interns there and she had tried to convey her appreciation. She would send each of them a thank you card and she would remember to tell Booth that they had attended. She knew that her husband would be just as surprised as she had been.

The one dark stain that day was the fact that no one representing the FBI came to the funeral. She had found it galling that no one from the Hoover had bothered to come, but at that point she was glad that they hadn't. If they chose to believe that Booth was a murderer then it would be her duty to correct that misjustice and she would do it with relish and perhaps a little malice.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The graveside service had been simple and the weather had cooperated. The day was bright and sunny with few clouds in the sky. While Brennan, Christine and Max stood near the grave site, Caroline, Hodgins, Angela, Jared and Padme remained close by responding to the priest as it was required.

While the service was being conducted, Brennan had noticed movement in the corner of her eye and turned to see Sam and Julia Cullen crossing the cemetery and joining the service. She was surprised to see them, but acknowledged their presence with a smile.

Once the service was complete, Max took Christine to his car and waited there for Brennan. He didn't want to rush her.

Approaching Sam and Julia, Brennan smiled at the couple. "Thank you for coming. Since no one representing the FBI bothered to come to the funeral I didn't expect anyone from the FBI to officially come to the grave site service. They are so determined to send my husband to the electric chair without a trial."

Sam blushed and Julia huffed out a reply. "They're idiots. We don't know what's going on, but Sam is sure that something is rotten in Denmark. We don't for a minute believe Booth murdered anyone . . . not one minute."

Not sure what something rotten in Denmark had to do with anything, Brennan decided it must be a colloquialism of some kind and chose to ignore it. "He didn't. He was set up. The men that attacked my husband in our home weren't FBI agents. My colleagues and I are currently trying to prove that fact."

"Do you know what's going on?" Sam had tried to use some of his influence to get information from the Hoover, but no one was willing to talk to the retired Deputy Director. "This whole thing seems bizarre and unbelievable."

Brennan was afraid to reveal too much. If what was happening was as bad as she thought it was, she didn't want to endanger the older couple. "I'm working on it. I can't really tell you what is going on. It might imperil your lives. My first goal is to get Booth out of prison and then we will work on finding out what is really going on and why . . . for now, it is what it is, a dangerous situation that you need to keep away from."

Julia sighed. "The least they could have done was let Booth come to his grandfather's funeral."

Sam shook his head. "It's a poor way to treat a decorated war veteran and an FBI Agent who has done so much good. I can't help but feel that . . . " Sam shook his head. Nothing made sense right now and he wished he was still working at the FBI. He was on the outside now and he had no influence at all. "I wish I could help Booth, but because I can't I decided to come to the service and show my support that way."

Hodgins felt that someone should warn Sam and Juila Cullen that they might be involving themselves in a dangerous situation. After he patted Angela's arm, he moved closer to the trio and spoke in a low tone of voice. "We really can't explain what is going on, just don't be surprised if they start watching you. You two need to be careful. Maybe it would be a good idea to buy an alarm system for your house or a dog or both."

"They?" Hodgins cautious advice sent a shiver down Julia's spine.

Certain the Cullens needed to take him seriously, Hodgins pointed towards two men standing under an oak tree in the distance. "We're always being watched . . . that should tell you all you need to know for now."

Sam glanced at the men in dark suits and smiled rather grimly. "I see your point. I think Julia and I might go visit my sister in Montreal for a while. Give someone a headache trying to figure out what we're doing. I think you're right. Now that we're here we're probably going to be placed on someone's list. Might was well make it interesting and expensive for them to watch us."

Julia reached out and clasped Brennan's hand. "We're on your side Temperance. We're on Booth's side too. We trust that he is a good and honest man and that you will explain what this is all about when it's done . . . I hope it is done soon. Very soon."

"Me too," Brennan glanced at the men standing under the tree near the parking lot and sighed. "Thank you for coming. If they question you please answer them truthfully. Try not to make yourselves look suspicious."

Amused, Sam laughed. "I'll tell them everything I know and that's nothing. I might give them a piece of my mind too, but they're just flunkies, so it will be wasted." He leaned over and kissed Brennan's cheek. "You be careful young lady and Julia and I will pray for you and Booth."

"Thank you." As Brennan watched them walk away, she felt that Sam and Julia's visit to Hank's grave site was a good sign that not everyone believed that Booth was a murderer. "We have work to do Hodgins. I will meet you back at the Lab."

"You bet, Dr. B." Hodgins motioned for his wife and Caroline to join him in his walk back to his car. Jared shrugged his shoulders and with his wife, returned to his car. Something was going on, but he didn't want to get involved. One Booth in prison was enough.

As she stood near Hank's gravesite, Brennan wiped a tear from her cheek and rested her hand on the flower covered casket. "I will save him, Hank. I promise you that. I will save your grandson."

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