(The Finger in the Nest)

I really don't own Bones.

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It wasn't like Booth got to see his son every day, so when he got the chance to take the boy to the park near their apartment and play with him, Booth jumped at the chance. Brennan had a few things to do at the Lab that Saturday morning, so Booth thought he and Parker could play some touch football after breakfast. The boy was learning the rudiments of football and Booth thought his son was a natural athlete. After a few tosses of the ball and some gentle tackles, Parker's attention had been captured by a nest in a tree. Since Booth was always looking for new things to show his son, he thought it might be a good opportunity to show him a bird's egg in the wild. Unfortunately the nest didn't hold an egg. It held a severed finger and Booth was certain his boy had been scarred for life.

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While Parker watched some cartoons in the living room, Booth spoke quietly to his girlfriend in the kitchen. "Bones, what am I going to do? When Rebecca finds out that Parker found a finger in a bird's nest I'll be lucky if she ever lets me see him again."

Pouring iced tea into glasses for everyone, Brennan tried to understand why her lover was so upset. "I don't see how an accidental discovery of human remains can be held against you. It's not like you placed the finger in the nest for Parker to find."

"You'd think so wouldn't you, but you wait and see. Rebecca is going to blame me." Booth took one of the filled glasses and sipped some of the tea. "I think I need a beer." Placing the glass back down on the counter, he opened the refrigerator and extracted a bottle of beer from the bottom shelf. Once the bottle was open, he took a long swallow and then faced Brennan. "Maybe he won't tell her. That would be good."

Trying to be understanding and yet not really comprehending why Booth was so upset, Brennan picked up two filled glasses from the counter. "It was just a finger, Booth. He didn't seem to be upset when you came home and he ate all of his snack. I think you're worrying about nothing."

Booth followed Brennan into the living room and watched her hand Parker one of the glasses of tea. The boy didn't seem to be upset, but Booth couldn't take anything for granted. His son was just a little boy and bloody body parts weren't something normal people wanted to see. Brennan loved to study human remains, but that was her job and he had to see them because he was her partner. His son on the other hand should never see something like that in his lifetime. I am in so much trouble it's not even real.

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While they worked on the case kicked off by Parker finding the finger, Booth continued to worry about his son. The morning after the boy had found the bloody digit, Rebecca told him that Parker had had a nightmare and Booth was certain that Parker's dream involved the finger. The day after that he got another call from his ex and she told him that Parker had had another nightmare, he didn't want to eat and he didn't want to go to school. So far he hadn't told her about the finger and apparently neither had Parker, but he knew might be forced to do it if Parker's problems continued to escalate.

Booth had seen a lot of victims of violent crime during his career and Parker's behavior seemed to be a red flag that couldn't be ignored. Worried that his son had PTSD from holding the finger, Booth decided he needed to find help for the boy. Since Sweets was such a good listener and he was still pretty young, Booth figured that Sweets would be able to talk to Parker and find out what was going on. Ultimately, he hoped Sweets could fix his son and Rebecca wouldn't find out about the finger. After all, what she doesn't know can't hurt her, right?

At Booth's insistence, Sweets talked to Parker and he had found out that the finger wasn't the real problem after all. Armed with new information, the psychologist talked to Booth to let him know that his six year old son was being harassed at school by a girl named Stephanie Clyde who was bigger than he was. Apparently she liked to pick him up and carry him around. Once Booth was certain that the boy wasn't upset about the finger, he knew he'd have to talk to him to make sure he was handling the situation at school correctly. He didn't want Parker to dread going to school because someone was bullying him.

Unfortunately while Booth was trying to deal with his son's issues, he found himself with another problem on his hand. Once their case was over Brennan had a crises and he had to deal with that as well. The dog, Ripley that had been used to kill their victim and he was put to sleep. It was the law and Brennan hadn't realized that was going to happen. She had wanted to adopt the dog and take him home and it almost broke her heart when Booth told her that the dog was dead. "But it wasn't his fault, Booth. He did what his owner told him to do. How is that fair?"

"It's not fair Bones." Brennan looked so sad, Booth wanted to hold her and comfort her, but they were in his office and they had to maintain a professional working relationship when they were in public. If they had been home, he would have held in his arms and tried to help her mourn. "Ripley killed a man and the law states that when that happens the dog has to be destroyed . . . put to sleep. He was considered to be a menace and very dangerous."

Close to tears, Brennan sat on the chair in front of Booth's desk and felt sad for the injustice done to the dog. "What are they going to do with Ripley's body?"

"I don't know." His girlfriend was very compassionate when it came to children and animals and Booth wanted to help her to get through this. "Do you have something in mind?"

She thought about it momentarily and nodded her head. "I'd like to bury Ripley. I don't want his body to be treated like waste. His death deserves some dignity since he wasn't allowed to have any during his short life."

"Alright." Booth leaned forward on his desk and gave her a sad smile. "I'll arrange to pick up the body this evening and we can drive out to the country and bury him. I have to talk to Parker after school today, but once that's done, I'll go get the body and pick you up from the Lab . . . okay?"

"Yes, that's satisfactory . . . what's wrong with Parker?" Brennan had thought the boy was fine when he had found the finger and this was the first time that Booth had intimated that Parker was having a real problem.

He hadn't thought to talk to Brennan about Parker, but he could see that was a mistake. "Sorry, I should have told you. Parker is having trouble with a classmate. A girl is picking him up and carrying him around and it's embarrassing him. I need to talk to him about how to take care of the problem that's all."

"I see." Brennan stood up and picked up her purse from Booth's desk. "If you need my help all you have to do is ask me."

"Thanks Bones." Booth saw the slump in Brennan's shoulders and he knew that she was still sad over the dog's fate. "I appreciate it. I'll see you around five and we'll go take care of Ripley."

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Once Parker was in his truck, Booth drove to the Dairy Queen down the road and pulled into the parking lot. "I thought we could get an ice cream cone."

Eager, the boy grinned at his father. "Thank you."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Booth needed to talk to his son and he thought ice cream afterward would help smooth the situation. "Look, Dr. Sweets told me about Stephanie . . . sometimes situations like that just require you to walk away. It's not running away, Parker. It's just being prudent. You don't have to let Stephanie pick you up and carry you around. If you just walk away that should take care of the problem . . . okay?"

"I guess." The boy thought about it and rubbed the back of his head. "Dad, what if she does it to one of my friends?"

Careful to make sure that Parker understood what he could and couldn't do, Booth grimly shook his head. "Each situation is different, but a good rule to go by is it's okay to walk away from situations when someone is trying to bully you, but it's okay to stand up for a friend. Of course, you don't want to get into fights if you can help it . . . if Stephanie starts bothering one of your friends, just tell him to walk away too. okay?"

"Okay." Parker was certain that there were too many rules, but he would try not to start fights because his father didn't think it was right and he should know since he was a war hero and an FBI Agent. "Can I hit someone if they hit me first?"

"Yes, you can protect yourself, Parker." Booth felt sad that his six year old son was already having to deal with bullies. "If someone is bullying you, you should tell your teacher or your Mom or me, but don't let someone just beat on you. Protect yourself and I'll back you up one hundred percent."

"Thanks Dad."

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Booth found a nice shady spot on the side of the road and pulled his truck over. Once Brennan had found a spot under a large oak tree that she liked, he dug a hole for Ripley, carried the blanket covered dog over to the hole from his SUV and carefully placed him in the hole while Brennan held the shovel for him. "This a pretty spot Bones. I think Ripley would have liked it."

After Booth covered the body of the dog with soil, he turned towards his girlfriend and encouraged her to say something about the deceased dog.

Not really sure why Booth thought it was necessary since Ripley was dead and he couldn't hear her, Brennan gathered her thoughts. "Ripley was a good dog. He didn't want to fight, but his owner wanted him to and because he did he was killed. He didn't want to attack a human, but he did it to please his master . . . It wasn't his fault that his master was cruel and selfish . . . Ripley was a good dog."

Her tears tore at him and Booth dropped the shovel, moved closer to Brennan and held her against his body. "He was a good dog, Bones. You did a nice thing here, burying him in a pretty spot . . . this was a good thing to do."

Tears streaming down her face, Brennan held her arms around her boyfriend and let her grief run its course. She had never owned a dog, but she felt that Ripley would have been a great pet to own. He had such kind brown eyes and he was very loyal. She hoped someday that people would understand how cruel dog fighting really was and that the inhumane sport should end. Dogs were such loyal creatures and they deserved love and respect in return.

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