(Season 12)

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A/N: Fanfiction has been broken for over a week. If you are interested, I updated 'Confluence' on Saturday, posted a new story last Sunday, 'Mardi Gras' and updated 'Strangers in an Airport' on Monday.

I don't own Bones.

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When he was a young boy, he and his father used to go swimming a lot, but that was before he moved to England with his mother. It had been at least four years since he had seen his father without a shirt on, so he wasn't prepared for what happened next. His father was in the garage working on his Mustang and Parker was trying to help him. The teenager was interested in how to fix old cars and Booth was showing him how to work on his classic car. Since the room was so hot, his father had sent him inside the house to get them both a cold Coke. When he returned he found his father leaning over the engine shirtless. Booth had placed his damp shirt on the counter behind him and when his son returned he stepped back from the car and held his hand out to take one of the bottles of Coke.

When his father stood facing him, the boy's mouth fell open and he dropped the plastic bottles on the garage floor. "I . . . I . . ." Unable to control his emotions the teenager fled the garage, trying to escape what he had just seen.

Realizing his mistake, Booth pulled his damp t-shirt back on, picked up the drinks from the floor and went in search of his oldest child. As he entered the house, Brennan stepped out of the kitchen and confronted her husband. "Booth, what's going on. Parker ran through here and he was very upset. When I tried to stop him, he shook his head and left out of the front door."

Placing the bottles of Coke on the kitchen island, Booth patted his stomach. "I made a mistake. I took my shirt off because it was sweaty and I was hot. Parker saw my stomach and chest . . . I just didn't think."

Her hand on his wrist, Brennan shook her head. "He knows you were injured and he knows you almost died with Jared two years ago."

"Yeah, knowing is one thing, seeing is another." Disgusted, he shook his head. "He's just a boy and he wasn't prepared to see the scars on my chest and stomach."

She worried that her husband thought the scars made him ugly. "Those scars don't change who you are. You are still attractive to me, Booth. Very attractive."

"I believe you, Bones and thanks, but Parker . . . well, the scar on my stomach is pretty big and the scars on my chest are noticeable. I need to talk to him."

Releasing his wrist, Brennan nodded his head. "Would you like me to help look for him?"

"No." He appreciated her wanting to help, but he felt that he needed to talk to Parker on his own. "Let me handle it." He kissed her and walked towards the front door. "I think I'm going to buy an industrial fan for the garage. It's too damn hot in there in the summer. "

After he was gone, Brennan sat down at the island and placed her chin on the palm of her hand. Their lives were so complicated and both she and Booth had been in harm's way numerous times over the years. Booth had many scars on his body from both his military days and as an FBI agent. He even had a scar on his hip that his abusive father had caused. She knew that her husband no longer took his shirt off in public even when swimming and he never let their children see him without a shirt because he was self-conscious of how he looked. It was hard to explain to curious strangers let alone children what the scars meant and Booth was a private man who didn't want to talk about them. She just hoped that Booth could calm Parker down. The boy had just had a shock and she worried that it might change how he felt towards his father.

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Parker wasn't in the front yard, so Booth walked around to the backyard to see if the boy was there. Not finding him, he walked down the driveway to the sidewalk and looked both ways. Not seeing anyone, he turned right and walked down the sidewalk hoping that Parker was ahead somewhere. Soon, as he approached the bus stop, he saw his son sitting on the bench, leaning over and his arms crossed on top of his knees.

Cautiously, Booth moved towards the bus stop and stopped five feet from where his son was sitting. "Parker."

"I knew you were hurt . . . Mom told me you almost died." Parker was feeling foolish for how he was acting. "I guess I didn't really think about what that meant . . . I saw those scars and . . . I'm sorry, Dad. I just didn't think." He sat up and stared at his father with tears in his eyes. "I'm being stupid."

He felt sorry for his son. "May I sit down?' When the boy moved over and nodded his head, Booth sat down careful to keep some space between them. "Would you like me to tell you about them. Maybe it will help, I don't know . . . or not, it's up to you."

Turning a little he faced his father. "I don't want to upset you talking about them, Dad. I'm not a kid. I know that stuff like that is traumatic. It has to be."

Booth placed his hand on the teenager's shoulder. "It was traumatic when each injury happened, but they aren't traumatic now . . . I usually keep a shirt on when I'm around anyone but Bones. She doesn't care about them, but I know I make other people uncomfortable when they see them . . . I'm sorry, I was hot and I didn't think. I should have kept my shirt on."

Not sure what to do, the boy finally shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong . . . If you want to talk about them, it's okay, but you don't have to."

He wanted the boy to see that the scars were part of who he was, but they didn't control who he was, most of the time. Giving it careful thought, he decided not to mention the scar his father had given him. Somethings should just remain unsaid. "I was in the army and I received a few scars then." He wasn't prepared to talk about the torture he received as a prisoner of war. "They weren't enough to keep me out . . . When I joined the FBI I found out it can be a dangerous job too or at least the way I do it." He meant that to be a joke, but his son just sat there staring at him.

"Um, yeah . . . I was shot in the right side of my chest when someone tried to shoot Bones. I got in the way . . . it's complicated, but Bones' job is dangerous too." Booth wasn't sure how much information he should give. How much was too much? "Bones killed the shooter. She's pretty awesome and I can count on her to have my back."

"Yeah, she is." Parker wondered if his step-mother had any scars not that he would ask her.

Booth skipped over his being kidnapped and almost being blown up on a ship. His son didn't need to know about that. "You know about Glen Durant and how he was a traitor and how he set me up to be killed. Your mother told you about it and I talked to you about it . . . I was shot a few times, once in the chest and once in my abdomen . . . When I got out of prison, Bones and the squints helped me find out who was behind the attack against me and we took the bastard down along with the scum working for him."

Parker had been so proud when he had read in the newspapers about how his father and step-mother were heroes and they had destroyed Durant's plan to run the country. He had been old enough to understand what was going on and he had never been prouder of his father. "I read about Durant in The Times. Mom and I read everything we could about it and then of course we called you and Bones. We were so proud of you guys, Dad. You were a hero, you are a hero."

Proud that his boy saw him as a hero, Booth smiled. "Aubrey helped too and of course Sweets tried, but he died . . . it was a pretty rough time in my life, but I got through it." He needed to talk about his stomach scar. "I talked to you about Jared after he died. I was shot and I almost died, but I didn't. Bones found me and got me to the hospital in time . . . I was shot in the stomach and I couldn't stop the bleeding. I found some silver nitrate in the basement where I was staying and I poured some on the wound. It hurt like hell, but it stopped the bleeding . . . It's why my scar is so big. The surgeon had to remove the silver nitrate from around my wound and then he had to find the bullet . . . It made a messy scar, but it wasn't the surgeon's fault. He saved my life."

Even though he had known about most of it, it was the first time he had heard of the silver nitrate and it made Parker want to gag. He knew what that was from taking chemistry in school. His father must have been in agony when he used the silver nitrate. His mouth filled with saliva, he leaned over and spit it out on the ground. He was nauseous and he didn't want to embarrass himself by throwing up. While he tried to control his stomach, his father rubbed small circles on his back.

Once Parker seemed to be better, Booth removed his hand and placed it on his knee. "Don't think about it Parker. I don't . . . that silver nitrate saved me. If I hadn't found it and used it, I would have bled to death before Bones found me . . . You have to do what you have to do to survive sometimes . . . Are you okay?"

The teenager nodded his head. "Yeah, I just know what silver nitrate is . . . I'm okay . . . thank you for telling me and Dad, I don't think your scars make you ugly or anything. I really don't. I just wasn't prepared to see them that's all . . . I'm sorry for acting like a kid."

"No, don't apologize." Booth placed his arm around the teenager's shoulders. "It was a shock. I understand . . . Want to go back to the house and get that Coke?"

"Yeah." Parker stood up. "Maybe we can work on the car again this afternoon."

Proud that his son was handling the situation as well as he was, Booth stood up. "I think we need to go to the store and buy a big fan for the garage. It's pretty hot in there."

"That sounds great Dad." As they walked back to the house, Parker was grateful that his Dad was alive and well and walking beside him. "I don't think I want to be an FBI Agent."

Amused, Booth nodded his head. "That's fine. You have to live your own life. Just pick a job that makes you happy, that satisfies you."

"Are you happy, Dad?" Parker thought about all the pain his father had been through in his life.

"I sure am, Parker." And he was. He wouldn't have minded not being shot, but it was all part of his life and he accepted it.

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