(The Proof in the Pudding)

Thank you for your continued interest in my story. It's sad that Bones is no longer on Fox, but it was a great show and there are still those of us interested in the fandom.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

He sat in the break room, his head resting on his hands. It had been a long night and it was looking more than likely that the skeleton that the 'men in black' had delivered might be the remains of President John F. Kennedy. If it was him, then his world would be forever altered and not in a good way.

Brennan and her team had proved that whoever the victim was had been shot twice in the head from two different angles. The official story said that the President had been shot once by Lee Harvey Oswald. Two shooters, two murderers. Had the president been murdered by one assassin or by two men, snipers like himself?

He had always relied on the fact that he could do his job because he trusted the government. He trusted them when they told him he had to kill someone because they were evil men who were killing innocent people, but what if his government was capable of lying about the important things. If President Kennedy had been killed by two shooters and the government chose to cover that up, then where did that leave him? Did they ask him to kill 50 men while he was in the army under false pretenses? Did they tell him what he needed to hear instead of the truth? If they had lied to him and he had killed those men because of those lies, did that make him a murderer? Was he a patriot or an assassin? Was his soul forever stained? Would God forgive him if what he had done had been done under false pretenses?

She found him and his body language spoke loudly to her. He was sad, upset, worried and she understood why. Cam had explained to her the ramifications of what a government coverup of the murder of the president would mean to Booth. Her mate's world could be falling apart and if it did, was it possible she could lose him? "Booth, I think I can prove whether or not the victim is President Kennedy. I need your help. I need time to do a test on one of the bones and I can't do it if Mr. White takes the remains away. Will you help me?"

Desperate for answers, Booth stood up and assured her he could. "I need to know Bones. I need to know if that man on the platform is the President. If it is . . . if he is . . . I'll help you."

"Thank you." Brennan was worried about him. He was a very religious man and very patriotic. He loved God and he loved his country. If Booth found out that the government might have used him in the past, then he might not be able to live with that. He might fade away from her. "I just need time and I will be able to give you your answer."

"Okay." Booth moved over to the railing and peered down at the strangers spaced out in the area below. "Time for me to get to work. You need answers and so do I."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Booth didn't understand the test used on the bones, but Brennan had assured him that she had proved that the victim was not President Kennedy. She had laid two bones on the surface of a vat of pudding. One sank and the other did not. "The heavy bone is healthy. The one still floating is riddled with osteomyelitis. President Kennedy never had osteomyelitis."

Relieved, Booth had pulled her into his arms and held her against his body. "Thank you . . . you kept looking for me. You knew I had to know and . . . thank you."

She knew that he was now assured that his skills as a Ranger had not been misused. He had not been misused by his government. "You are a good man, Booth. Never doubt that."

"Because of you, Bones." Booth kissed her. "You help me be the man I want to be."

Brennan had never felt such love and kindness from anyone until she had met Booth. He had helped her through rough days and he had helped her connect to her father and brother. "You help me too, Booth. We help each other."

Oooooooooooooo

Mr. White had made it clear that he and his men didn't want to show up in any reports. It was important they weren't mentioned in either Lab or FBI reports. He and his men had been given an assignment. It hadn't really gone as planned, but dealing with scientists and a world class sniper had proven to be harder than he or his bosses had counted on. Everyone they had dealt with at the Lab had gone out of their way to be uncooperative and independent. "No reports will be written about what happened tonight because nothing happened. I hope I'm being clear."

He was being very clear and those sitting at the table agreed. Whoever the victim had been would always be a secret, but perhaps not to some. Like Brennan and Cam, Hodgins had a lot of theories about what had happened, but he kept them to himself. He was sure that they had been used as a trial run for something the government had been considering and Mr. White had not liked the result. If he didn't like it then it was certain his bosses wouldn't either. The scientist had a lot of connections in government and in business and he knew that it would be wiser for everyone to just pretend that nothing had happened. It was safer that was for sure.

Oooooooooooooooo

It had been a long day and night. After they had eaten breakfast at the diner, Booth and Brennan had driven home, crashed on their bed and slept for most of the day. After sleeping soundly for seven hours, Booth had risen quietly from his bed and left the room. Moving into the kitchen, he started a pot of coffee, gathered some ingredients together and started a vegetable soup in a crock pot. Nibbling on some apple butter slathered toast, he made sure the soup was simmering when he left the room and made his way down to the man cave. After he turned on the television, he lowered the volume so there was no chance Brennan would hear it upstairs. He wanted her to sleep for as long as possible.

Using the remote, he moved through the channels until he found a golf match playing on the Golf Channel and settled against the corner of the couch. He never slept long hours no matter how tired he was and he knew if he planned to sleep later that evening, he had to be awake now.

As he watched someone miss a two foot putt, he started to think about his role as a sniper in the Army and in the FBI. He was good at what he did. The fact was, there were probably only three men in the country who were close to being as good as he was. Being a sniper was difficult even though he was the best because with it came a great deal of responsibility. Throughout his career he had found that after every kill was complete he would agonize over what he had done. He did his job, but the killing weighed on him. The previous evening, his whole career had been called into question and he hadn't liked it. What he did was important, but he knew that tomorrow, he would make it known to Deputy Director Bishop, that he could no longer be used as a sniper. He would do his job and he would use his gun if and when it was needed, but he could no longer be a sniper. There were too many bodies on his cosmic sheet and he knew that he would have to answer to God for them some day. He just hoped that all the good he had done as an FBI Agent would negate the deaths he had caused.

"Booth." Her voice was soft as if she wasn't sure if she should disturb him or not. "Are you alright?"

Moving so that he faced her, Booth smiled at her. "Yeah, you know I can't sleep a lot. I hope I didn't wake you. I tried to be quiet."

"No, the smell of the soup you have cooking in the kitchen woke me up. It smells delicious." She moved further into the room and stood near the couch. "The skeleton we examined today has you worried, but you shouldn't be. I proved that he wasn't the President. We don't know who he was, but he wasn't President Kennedy."

He reached up and took he hand in his hand. "I know . . . I'm going to talk to Bishop tomorrow. I can't be a sniper anymore. I can shoot when I need to. I'll make sure to keep up my skills, but I can't be a sniper. I just can't do it anymore."

"I know." She had watched him during the night and she had known that he was having a crisis. Cam had helped her understand what was going on and she had been horrified when she realized that Booth was questioning his past. "It's understandable. You've done so much for your country and I think it's enough."

Glad that she understood, he smiled. "Thanks and thank you for what you did last night. You were forced to do a job and you did it. I know you didn't like it, but you were professional all the way. I'm very proud of you."

"You are?" She hadn't really considered what she had done as anything special, but maybe it was. "Being kidnapped by officials of your own government is quite disconcerting, but we all agreed that it would do no harm doing the requested tests . . . Of course, Dr. Hodgins didn't want to comply, but he realized that all he could do was protest then do his job . . . I was glad when you found a way to get into the Lab. I think I felt that we were safer with you there."

Proud that Brennan felt that way, Booth pulled her down onto his lap. "You weren't really in any danger and I knew that you could take care of yourself, but I didn't like the idea of Mr. White keeping me away from the Lab. The squints belong to me . . . that includes you, by the way." He expected her to protest, but she didn't. "It's my duty to take care of them and you when I can."

"It works both ways, Booth. You belong to me too and it is my duty to take care of you when you need it." She was in a relationship that meant a lot to her and she knew it meant a lot to Booth. "We have a great partnership."

"We do, Bones. We really do."

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

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