(Star Gazer in the Puddle)

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I don't own Bones.

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Caroline Julian managed to get a federal judge to grant a court order for the DNA of Arthur McGregor from Coos Bay, Oregon, Max's alias for the last few years. She wanted it just in case they could find some DNA evidence to link him to Max and much to Booth's surprise that evidence came up the next day. Charlie Burns tracked down some blood evidence being held by the State Police in Illinois. Apparently Max had been involved in a failed robbery attempt of a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Carbondale, Illinois in 1978. A clerk bopped him on the head with a baseball bat causing Max to bleed. Max had left the bloodied napkins behind that he'd used to staunch the blood. The FBI prioritized the DNA tests and they came back a match. Arthur McGregor was Max Keenan, wanted for the murder of Deputy Director Kirby.

It took him a few hours, but Booth tracked down Max and presented him with a warrant for his arrest. "You're under arrest for the murder of Deputy Director Kirby."

Max considered giving up at that point, but he knew he didn't have it in him to do that. He decided to resist arrest even though there was a forty year difference between him and the younger man trying to arrest him.

Determined to bring Max in, Booth decided this might be the chance to punish Max for hurting Brennan. Booth didn't consider himself a vindictive man, but Brennan had almost died in Foster Care because of Max's foolish life choices and if he could get in a lick or two, well, life could be good sometimes. Also Booth abhorred the way Max thought it was okay to just leave Brennan behind any time he felt like it. The man didn't seem to realize how much pain he'd caused his daughter over the years.

After trading a few blows, Max knelt on the ground and surrendered. Booth hadn't really hurt Max, but the two solid punches were blows for his girl and Booth felt that she got a little payback for Max's mistreatment of her. Of course, Max being the man he was, used his fist and hit Booth in the groin causing Booth to suffer great pain.

Amused with the entire situation, Max quietly waited for Booth to recover from the blow and then allowed himself to be arrested and taken back to the Hoover. He had appreciated the fight Booth had given him. It made him feel young to trade punches with a man like Booth and he knew that the Agent hadn't held back. His daughter had chosen well and Max decided that he liked Booth even more than he did before now.

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Booth found himself in an awkward positon that night. Once he arrived at Brennan's apartment he let her know that he'd arrested her father for murder. Brennan had accepted it in a quiet way and Booth reminded her that he was there for her if she needed to talk or for him to just hold her.

While he was soaking in the tub, Brennan entered the bathroom to remove the dirty clothes from the clothes hamper to start a load of laundry and as usual paused to admire her boyfriend's physique. As her gaze moved over his still body, she was shocked to see a deep bruise above his penis. "Booth what happened to you?"

Opening his eyes, Booth continued to lean against the back of the tub and soak in the hot water. "Your father happened to me. He resisted arrest and when he finally gave up and my guard was down he hit me in the groin. Your father plays dirty, Bones."

Angry that her father would hurt Booth like that, Brennan clutched the dirty clothes in her arms and seethed. "I just don't understand him. How am I supposed to understand a man who gives himself up in an agreeable manner to you one day and then resists arrest the next? To hit you there Booth, he could have seriously hurt you."

"No shit." Booth wasn't really in a forgiving mood at the moment. "Well, he's in jail, so there's some satisfaction in that situation anyway."

Abruptly turning on her heels. Brennan left the room and made her way to the laundry room where she started a load of laundry. While she fumed about her father, Booth gave up on soaking in the tub. Once he'd emptied the water from the tub, he dried off and changed into sweat pants, an old t-shirt and tracked down Brennan. He found her sitting in the laundry room staring at the washing machine.

"Bones, you want to talk?" Booth wasn't sure what to say to Brennan about her father, but he knew that she was still torn about how she was supposed to act about the situation. "It's okay to love your father, Bones. No one says you have to hate him just because of the shit he's done in his life. I know he loves you."

Her feelings mixed, Brennan found it impossible to separate her love for her father from the hatred she felt for being abandoned at the age of fifteen. "He and my mother abandoned me. They just drove away the day before Christmas and I never saw my mother again . . . He came back, but he murdered a man, Booth. He murdered two men and had another killed. He's not a nice man."

"No he isn't, but he loves you." Booth hated not being able to fix this problem for her. He wanted to help Brennan so badly, but there wasn't any magic words he could use to help her to do that. She was the one that had to decide if she wanted Max in her life or not. "He's risked his life to come back, Bones. He came back knowing that he was going to be tried for Kirby's death. That takes a lot of love."

She heard his words and she wanted to believe them, but Brennan was uncertain about her father's motives. For an intelligent man, Max wasn't acting very logically and that just didn't make any sense to her. "He could have stayed in Oregon. He didn't have to come back. I didn't want him to come back . . . why did he do that?"

"I told you, Bones. He did it for love." Booth knew that he'd do a lot of things for Brennan he'd never do for anyone else because he loved her. He knew he'd kill for her if he had to and maybe Max felt the same way. "Love is complicated. Max loves you and Russ. I guess he's been keeping an eye on you two for the last few years. At least that's how he knew about Kirby and that you and Russ were in danger. Max has done a lot of bad things in his life, but he did one thing great. He helped create you . . . Don't let this thing with Max get you down, Bones. You have time to work out if you want to have Max in your life or not. It's going to be months before he goes to trial. Capital murder cases aren't rushed no matter who the victim of the murderer is. You can visit him in jail and get to know him better. Don't let this eat you up. There is no right or wrong in this situation. If you want Max to be your father then that's good. If not, well that's okay too. I'll back you up no matter what decision you make. Just remember you're not alone, you have me. I'm your family too."

She greatly appreciated his words and they did seem to soother her hurts. Standing up, she moved over to where Booth was waiting and hugged him. "Thank you . . . Angela and Hodgins are getting married in two days. I'm the maid of honor and you're the best man. Our lives are very strange Booth."

Chuckling, Booth held her in his arms and agreed with her. "We definitely don't have normal lives. Our case is over, Max is in jail and we're going to a wedding. You have to admit we're interesting people Bones."

"Very interesting people." Brennan released Booth and sighed. "It's too bad Max bruised you, Booth. I guess we'll have to forgo sex tonight. I will speak to him about this when I see him. That was definitely dirty billiards."

"Dirty Pool." Booth took Brennan's hand in his hand and kissed the top of it. "Come on. Let's go get a glass of wine and watch some television. We deserve a quiet night at home after the shit week we've had."

Brennan turned the overhead light off in the laundry room and let the washing machine continue to run. Following Booth into the kitchen, she watched him pour two glasses of wine and appreciated the fact that he was there for her and that she wasn't alone. She had been alone for so long and it was nice to have someone in her life that she could count on. Someone that loved her.

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The wedding hadn't gone as planned and Brennan found the whole thing quite strange. Accrording to the State Department, Angela was already married and she couldn't marry Hodgins. She knew her friend was a free spirit, but how do you forget that you have a husband?

To add to the surrealness of the occasion, Zach had handed Brennan a letter to read right after Hodgins and Angela had fled from their wedding and it had not been good news. If someone had asked her, shocked would probably be the emotion she would have chosen to admit to if they had asked her how she felt when she found out that Zach was going to be serving in Iraq for the next year as so. The Secretary of State had requested that he contract with the United States Army in the capacity of a forensic anthropologist and Zach had been honored. Not sure what to make of it all, Brennan had thought about Zach's future and she worried that he wouldn't fit in with the military personel he woud be serving wtih.

Brennan had tried her best to talk him out of going, but he hadn't relented. Zach was a patriot and he wanted to serve his country. He had never dreamed that he would be offered the opportunity and now that that chance had arrived, he was eager to do his duty regardless of his mentor's fears.

Of course Zach did have some reservations about being shot or hurt and he had tried to talk to Booth about it, but the Agent felt that that kind of conversation was just too personal. He was impressed that Zach wanted to serve, but like Brennan, Booth had his doubts that the man was the kind of material the Army was looking for. "Zach it's up to you. If you want to serve then do it. It won't be easy, in fact it's probably going to be the hardest thing you've ever done." Zach had appreciated Booth's candor and decided to accept the offer anyway.

Much to her disappointment, Brennan had tried to persuade Booth into talking Zach out of the idea, but Booth had been adamantly against it. "Zach is a grown man, Bones. It's his life and it's his decision. If he wants to serve his country then he has a right to do it."

A few days after the wedding fiasco, Zach gave his farewell to the staff at the Jeffersonian. Grimly, he had shook hands with anyone that wanted to shake his hand and after a weak smile and an enthusiastic hug with Brennan, Zach had left the Lab leaving behind several very worried friends.

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