(The Prisoner in the Pipe)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Jared wanted a drink. He wanted to drink beer or Scotch or anything else he could get his hands on, but he knew he couldn't. He'd been restless most of the evening. At around two in the morning, he had arisen from bed and shuffled into the living room using his crutches. It was a slow and painful walk, but he needed to exercise anyway. Once he was in the living room, he had moved over to his brother's liquor cabinet, poured himself a glass of Scotch, placed the full glass on the coffee table and sat down on a chair near the couch. He spent the next thirty minutes staring at the glass wondering when he had allowed himself to become so dependent upon anything. His father had been a drunk, a hateful, belligerent, abusive drunk.

"What are you doing?" Booth had awoken from a sound sleep and out of habit, got out of bed to check on the doors and windows to make sure everything was locked. It was a nervous habit he'd had most of his adult life. Entering the living room, he had seen his brother sitting near the couch, staring at something on the coffee table. When he moved further into the room, he saw it was a glass filled with what he assumed was liquor.

Not really surprised to see his brother at such a late hour, Jared sighed. "I'm trying to figure out when I turned into Dad."

His brother sounded so sad and it hurt Booth to think his brother was fighting a battle that he might not be able to conquer. "You're not Dad, Jared. That sorry son-of-a-bitch beat the shit out of his family. He didn't care about anyone but himself. He was a bully and he loved the power it gave him over us."

"Yeah . . . I don't want to drink, Seeley. I don't want to be Dad." Silently, Jared leaned over and picked up the glass and held it out to his brother. "I didn't drink any of it. I wanted to, but I didn't . . . I'm trying Seeley."

"I know you are." Booth took the glass and placed it on the coffee table near him and sat down on the couch. "We have to go to court tomorrow morning. I don't know what's going to happen. The lawyer I hired is good and he might be able to get you a reduced sentence, but it's going to come with a price. You know that."

Worried, Jared nodded his head. "Yeah. I really screwed up this time . . . Thanks for going with me. I appreciate what you've done for me so far."

Shrugging his shoulders, Booth yawned. "Sorry . . . You're my brother, of course I'm going to go with you. Once we get this squared away, we can make plans, but what happens next will depend upon the judge."

"Yeah." Jared pushed himself up and once that was done, he grabbed his crutches and shuffled back towards his room. "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. William Shakespeare."

Once he was alone, Booth stared at the glass of Scotch for a few moments, carried it into the kitchen and poured it in the sink. Going back into the living room, he passed the liquor cabinet and knew that his brother had to fight his battle alone. He would support him, but Jared was the instrument of his own fate.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The court case didn't turn out like Booth had anticipated and for that he was grateful. The judge had ruled that Jared would lose his driver's license for a year and be on probation for two years. No jail time which Jared had considered miraculous, but his lawyer didn't. With Jared in a long cast and needing special care, no prison wanted to deal with him unless they had to. The fact that he was living with his brother, was in AA meetings and that he was getting therapy for his injuries helped his case. The judge was also stern and let Jared know that one more DUI and he would serve time in jail and it wouldn't matter if he was in a body cast or not. He was being given a chance to straighten up his life and he'd better take it.

Relieved that his brother wouldn't be spending any time in prison, Booth had driven Jared home, helped him into the house, told Max what had happened and left for work. Once he arrived, he found a pile of folders on his desk and cursed the person who had put them there. He loved his job but hated the paper work that went with it.

Working diligently, he didn't realize he had company until he heard someone clearing their throat near the doorway. Looking up, he spied Sweets standing just inside his office. "What do you want?"

Cautiously, the younger man moved into the room and sat down in front of Booth's desk. "How did it go with your brother?"

"The judge gave him two years of probation, a suspended driver's license for a year and he has to provide proof that he's attending AA meetings to his probation officer once a month. No jail time."

"That's wonderful." Sweets had feared that Booth's brother was going to go to prison. "I hope Jared understands that he's dodged a bullet. The judge could have sent him to prison."

Grunting, Booth leaned back against his chair. "Oh believe me, he knows. So far, he's doing pretty good. He hasn't drunk any alcohol since his accident. He's been tempted, but so far he's beat it . . . I think my father's death and the accident was the wake up call Jared needed. He keeps telling me he doesn't want to be like Dad . . . I'm hoping he makes it."

"Good, that's good." Sweets crossed his legs and placed his hands on his lap. "How is Dr. Brennan doing? I hope having Jared in the house is not causing her too much pressure. She is recovering from giving birth."

"She's alright." Booth glanced at the bullpen and saw two of his agents arguing about something. He decided to leave them alone unless they got too loud. "Her father is staying with us and helping with Christine and Jared. We have someone coming in to help clean the house. Bones and I need to come up with a schedule of some kind. We don't want a permanent housekeeper, but we also don't want to get rid of the help until Jared is out of the house. Max isn't a young man and it would be nice if there was someone else in the house in case of an emergency. Christine is in Day Care, so she's okay . . . Bones had a tough time dropping off our baby to leave with strangers, but she's handling it. I knew she would."

Slowly nodding his head, Sweets could see that Booth and Brennan were handling their situation the best way they could. "Well, I just wanted to make sure Jared was okay." Sweets stood up. "If you need to talk to me about anything let me know and if you'd like me to talk to Jared, I can do that too."

"Thanks, Sweets." Booth leaned back towards his desk and flipped open a folder. The argument in the bullpen was over and everyone seemed to be at their desks working. "I'll see if Jared is interested in talking to you."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Brennan had just come back from Day Care to check on her baby and she was feeling a little odd. She hated to just drop off her baby, but what choice did she have? She had a job and she needed to be at the Lab to do her work. As she walked down the hallway, she noticed Hodgins leaving his office. "Dr. Hodgins . . . Have you got the results back on the test you ran this morning?"

"Yeah, Dr. B." Standing just outside his office, he waited for Brennan to come closer. "The victim is Rob Lazebnik. He escaped from the federal penitentiary at Jamestown four weeks ago."

"It would have been wiser, if he had stayed in prison." Brennan removed her phone from her lab coat and showed him Christine's latest picture. "I took this one a little while ago."

Holding the phone, Hodgins smiled at the sweet picture. "She is so cute, Dr. B. She's going to be a heart breaker when she gets older."

"I hope not." Brennan knew what the phrase meant and she detested it. "I hope she will be a kind and generous person, but also strong and independent."

"Yeah." Amused, Hodgins handed the phone back. "How did it go in court for Jared?"

Once the photo album was closed, Brennan placed her phone in her Lab coat. "He won't get jail time. He has lost his driver's license for one year and he is on probation. Booth was surprised his brother didn't get jail time, but we are relieved he didn't."

"That's good. Jail would have been pretty tough being in a cast like he is." Hodgins glanced down the hallway and lowered his voice. "Have you talked to Angela today?"

"No, I haven't. Is there something wrong?" Brennan began to worry. Was Angela sick? She hadn't seen her all morning.

Placing his hands in his Lab coat pockets, Hodgins shook his head. "No, in fact everything is going great . . . I just wondered if you had talked Angela today."

"Should I talk to Angela?" Brennan wasn't good at picking up social cues, but Hodgins was clearly trying to tell her something without actually saying whatever it was.

"Um, yeah, maybe you should." He couldn't help it, but Hodgins couldn't stop grinning. "You really should talk to her like right now."

Since he was smiling, Brennan assumed that there wasn't anything to be concerned about, but still, she was wary of this conversation. Turning abruptly on her heels, she walked back down the hallway to her friend's office. Once she was there, she entered the office and spied Angela rubbing her hand in small circles around her stomach. "Are you pregnant?"

Startled, Angela took a step back then turned to face her friend. "What? No. I mean what makes you think that?"

"Hodgins insisted that I talk to you. He's very happy and can't stop smiling and you're in your office rubbing your stomach. It would seem that the clues lead to only one possibility." Brennan watched her friend closely to see how she would react and react she did.

"We're supposed to be keeping this a secret until my second trimester, but yes I am." Angela rushed across the room and hugged her friend. "Oh Honey, I'm so excited. We just had it confirmed yesterday afternoon." Stepping back, Angela peered around her friend's shoulder and made sure the hallway was empty. "Please don't tell anyone. We want to wait to tell everyone like you did."

Happy for her friends, Brennan smiled and patted Angela's arm. "I won't tell anyone, but you really need to tell Hodgins to quit grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Everyone will know before the day is done if he doesn't."

Rolling her eyes, Angela shook her head. "He's been so happy since we found out, but yes, I will talk to him."

"Congratulations, Angela. I am happy for you and Hodgins."

"Thank you, Honey . . . This seems like a dream, but a happy dream, a very happy dream."

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