(The Killer in the Concrete)

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I really don't own Bones.

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Max was back in town and he'd tried several times to contact his daughter. Brennan first reported him to the police when he'd approached her in the cemetery while she was placing flowers on her mother's grave and the second time he'd broke into her apartment and waited for her to come home. That conversation was short because she wasn't willing to talk to him, but she knew he'd be back. Max seemed to be persistent.

After he arrived at Brennan's apartment, Booth found his girlfriend in the kitchen preparing dinner. "Hey, I thought it was my turn to cook tonight."

Her back towards Booth, Brennan placed her hands on the counter and stared at them. "Max broke in here and tried to talk to me."

Shocked that Max would risk arrest like that, Booth stepped into the living room and looked around.

When she heard him leave the room, Brennan realized that her boyfriend was assuming that Max was still in the apartment. "Booth, no . . . he's gone. I tried to call you, but he had an electronic jammer to keep me from calling the police or you."

Coming back into the room, Booth walked over to where she was standing and placed his hand on her arm. "Are you alright? What did he want?"

"I'm alright." Brennan leaned into Booth's chest and felt his arms encircle her. "I refused to talk to him. He said he has things he wishes to talk to me about, but I told him to leave . . . He's a murderer, Booth. Should I have tried to arrest him?"

Booth held her against his chest and tried to find a way to make things right for her. "No . . . maybe you should listen to what he has to say . . . I mean I know he abandoned you, but maybe he wants to tell you why or . . ."

Confused about her father's motives, Brennan pulled from Booth's embrace and crossed her arms against her breasts. "I don't really care why he abandoned me, Booth. He abandoned me when I was a child and a few weeks ago he murdered two men and abandoned me again, taking my brother with him. What he did is indefensible."

"Look Bones, I'm not trying to defend him." Booth stared at the tense way his girlfriend was staring at him and he knew he had to be very careful how he responded. "I'm on your side. I just think he has a side to the story and it would be nice to know what it is. He obviously has something he wants to say to you and he's willing to risk being arrested to say it."

Personal motives had always been a problem for Brennan. What motivated people to do certain things in a certain way seemed to elude her most of the time and she knew that Booth was very good at ferreting out motive. "What possible motive would he and my mother have had to just leave home and never come back? They left me with a brother who was only nineteen. Russ was too immature to take care of me . . . and I didn't want to talk to him or cooperate with him in any way. . . he didn't know what to do with me and he just abandoned me too . . . What motivates parents to run away from their children?"

"Well, your mother was killed by Vince McVikar . . . Max and Christine were on the run and I just think they didn't want to put you in jeopardy." Booth knew he should probably just shut up, but he wanted Brennan to see that there were many layers in Max's past and they were only seeing the top layer. "We know your parents were safety deposit robbers . . . they worked for a strong arm gang which never made sense to the FBI at the time . . . McVikar was a mechanic and when your parents bugged out on the gang, I guess McVikar decided to kill them if he ever found them."

"This is just speculation, Booth." Brennan was growing impatient. "The pieces of the puzzle can fit that way or they can be interpreted in many other ways. You're just guessing."

Trying to be as patient as he could be, Booth leaned against the fridge. He wanted to show that he was relaxed and not interested in arguing with her. "That's true. You're right. There are many possible reasons why your parents abandoned you, but you'll never know what that reason was if you don't at least listen to Max. Let him talk to you. If you don't like what you hear then at least you'll know why. Of course if I see him, you know I'm going to arrest him. He is wanted for murder and it's my duty to get him off the streets as soon as I see him. I know he's your father, but . . ."

"No, you have to arrest him if you can, I know that." And she did. She loved the fact that Booth was professional and that he wouldn't allow personal feeling to interfere in a case. Her father had murdered two men and he needed to be arrested as soon as possible. "I would expect nothing less from you. Max is a murderer and you must do your job."

Relieved that Brennan understood the situation, Booth straightened and pulled the fridge door open. Extracting two bottles of beer from the interior, he handed one to Brennan and opened the other one for himself. "Life is complicated. Your father is a bank robber and a murderer and my old man is a piece of shit. All we can do is just live our lives and try not to be like them."

Brennan snorted. "That won't be hard to do. I'm interested in capturing killers not being one." Brennan twisted the cap off of the bottle and sipped some of the cool liquid. Calmer now, Brennan smiled. "Go change clothes while I get our meal ready."

Carrying the bottle of beer with him, Booth moved out of the kitchen, across the living room and into their bedroom. After he placed the bottle down on the dresser, he removed his phone from his jacket pocket and called Caroline to let her know that Max was back in town.

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Taking another risk, Max found his daughter at the Royal Diner. He had followed her about town for the last few days and he knew that she bought coffee from the Diner as well as lunch and the occasional breakfast. Often times she was with that partner of hers and Max had waited until Booth wasn't around. While he was following her, he had made a surprising discovery. His daughter and Booth were living together. They never seemed to show signs of affection towards each other in public, so after a few days of checking into things, he realized that their relationship was a secret. He wasn't sure why, but he was sure he didn't like it.

Not really surprised to see her father, Brennan placed her coffee cup down on the counter and turned her seat so she could face him. "Booth is gone. No one can find him."

"What does the FBI say?" Max didn't know what was going on, but his daughter was very upset and she obviously was asking him for his help. "Maybe he went undercover."

Brennan shook her head, leaned closer to her father and lowered her voice. "No Dad, he's gone. Kidnapped perhaps. He was working on a case and drove to Baltimore by himself. He was trying to track down Hugh Kennedy. He's a paid assassin who worked for Melvin Gallagher . . ."

"Tempe I know who Kennedy is and I know about Gallagher." This whole thing was very bad as far as Max was concerned. "Booth should have taken back up with him."

"I'm normally his backup, but I was in the Lab working on some evidence and he didn't want to wait for me to finish." Brennan was trying to remain calm, but she knew she was barely under control. "I'm worried. If everything was alright he would have called me by now. The FBI admits he's missing, but that is all they will tell me. I'm not a relative . . . Dad I need to find him."

The fear in her voice was obvious and he knew he had no choice but to try and find Booth for her. He hoped that if he was successful, she would finally let him talk to her about private things that needed to be said. "I'll help. We'll get him back, Tempe. I promise."

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True to his word, Max helped Brennan find Booth. It was a close call, but with the help of Hodgins, Angela, Cam and Zach they had located the FBI Agent before he'd been killed by Gallagher's man Lightner. Clark Lightner was trying to extract information from Booth and the FBI Agent had known that if he'd talked they would have killed him immediately. He'd taken all of the abuse they have given him and stoically waited for Brennan and the squints to find him.

Once Booth was released from the hospital, Brennan took him home to his apartment. "Booth you have burns on your right leg, contusions on your torso, legs and face. You also have two cracked ribs. You must take tomorrow off and recuperate."

Settled on the bed in his bedroom, Booth tried to assure her. "Come on Bones. I've had a lot worse done to me. Those guys were amateurs. I knew I could hold out until you found me."

With nervous energy, Brennan began to pace the room. "Dad helped me, Booth. You saw him with me. He helped me find you . . . I needed help. The FBI wouldn't tell me anything about your disappearance and what they were doing to find you. They told me I'm not a relative so they couldn't give me any information about the search for you." Moving over to the bed, she sat down on the edge of the mattress. "Booth we need to announce that we are in a relationship. I don't want to be kept in the dark about you in the future. We're a monogamous couple and I have a right to know if something has happened to you."

"You're right." Booth moved to pick up her hand and sucked in his breath. His cracked ribs were giving him trouble every time he moved, but he needed to reassure her that she was right. "I'll make an appointment with the Assistant Deputy Director and let him know. If they break up our partnership then so be it. I won't let them treat you like that again. Okay? You can tell Cam as soon as I let the FBI know."

"Do you think they'll break up our partnership?" Brennan swallowed. "I . . . I don't want to lose you as a partner, Booth."

He knew she was afraid he might leave her if their working relationship was destroyed, but there was no way in hell that was going to happen. "Listen to me, Bones . . . I love you. If they're so shortsighted that they do break up our partnership, well that's their problem. I am not leaving you. We are not breaking up our relationship. I told you before I will not walk away from you and I mean it. Sure I love working with you, but I love living with you a lot more. You're my world and I will not abandon you. Understand? We're a couple and we're going to stay a couple. Okay?"

Relieved to hear his words of assurance, Brennan smiled. It was a sad smile, but a smile none the less. "I love you Booth."

"I know you do, Bones." Booth pulled her hand up and kissed the tips of her fingers. "If I didn't have some cracked ribs, I'd be showing you right now just how much I love you. We're going to be fine no matter what happens. Okay?"

"Okay." Brennan moved her hand from his grasp, leaned forward and kissed him. "You will not go into dangerous situations without backup ever again. I told you, you are too impatient and you are. First you shoot a mechanical clown and now you've been kidnapped. No more, Booth. You will learn patience."

Amused, Booth nodded his head solemnly, careful not to let her see just how amused he was. "Yes Ma'am. I'll work on that as soon as possible."

"See that you do." Brennan was serious and she meant what she said. "You are not allowed to die."

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