(The Past in the Present)

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I don't own Bones.

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The coroner assigned to do the autopsy of Christopher Pelant ruled that the man had died of natural causes. His closest relative was notified of his demise and she made arrangements for her cousin to be cremated and his ashes to be sealed in a vase and buried in his mother's grave.

When he returned to work, Booth assigned two of his agents to reopen the Johannsen and Krane cases. Now that it had been proven that Pelant had been able to leave his house undetected that meant the FBI was free to consider him as a suspect.

In the meanwhile, Brennan visited her friend Ethan Sawyer. "Christopher Pelant is dead, Ethan." She stood in the doorway and watched him drop his pencil on the desk and turned to look at her.

"Who killed him?" Ethan was certain that Pelant had been murdered. The man was dangerous and it seemed that in the end someone would have to get rid of him.

"No one. He died of natural causes." Brennan moved over to Ethan's bed and sat down. "Apparently he had a heart attack."

Puzzled, Ethan stared at Brennan for a few seconds. "How old was Pelant? Early thirties. I met him once and I think that is true."

Shrugging her shoulders, Brennan shook her head. "I don't really know. I could look it up if it's important to you."

"No, I was just making the point he was fairly young for a heart attack. It's possible that he was murdered. There are several hackers that I know of that would have gladly killed him if they could get away with it." Ethan was one of them, but he'd had no opportunity to do it since he was locked up in an institution. "I suppose I could have done it, if the circumstances were right . . . they weren't but, things change."

Slightly amused, Brennan gave Ethan a trace of a smile. "There are no suspects in Pelant's death. The coroner that did the autopsy confirmed he died of natural causes."

"Oh well, I guess that's that." Ethan sighed. "I've discovered how he alluded his electronic device, but I suppose that isn't important anymore."

Intrigued, Brennan stood up. "I'd like to see your conclusions Ethan. It might help us tie Pelant to the murders he committed."

Moving his desk out of the way, Ethan pointed at the wall. "There you have it. Feel free to make a copy."

Since there was nothing on the wall that she could see, Brennan realized that her friend was moving away from reality at the moment. To appease him, she took a picture using the camera on her phone. "Thank you. I will study this when I can."

Amused, Ethan shook his head. His message could only be seen with a black light and if Brennan was humoring him then that meant she doubted his sanity. So be it. "Yes, well if you have any questions feel free to ask me."

"Thank you. I will."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Standing at her easel painting, the sounds of music bursting from the speakers of her computer caused her to move her paint brush downward ruining what she had been trying to achieve.

So, so you think you can tell, Heaven from Hell, Blue skies from pain, Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?

She raced to her computer, turned off the speaker and glared at her computer monitor waiting to see what the music lover wanted. It didn't take long.

I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.

A little confused, Angela typed, "You're sorry for what?"

I wish I could tell you, but I can't. Sometimes we do things that are terrible but for the right reason. It's still terrible and unforgivable. I hope you have a lovely life, Angela. You and that rich husband of yours can do a lot of good if you want to. I'm going to miss our little conversations. Bye

"Wait, what's going on? Are you in trouble? Can I help you?" She felt frantic. Her mysterious pen pal had been a pain in her side on more than one occasion, but he had helped more than once working on cases and she felt that his teasing was heartfelt and done affectionately even if she did find it annoying. "Tell me what's going on."

Thank you for caring. Don't worry about me. I'm just being maudlin today. I'll go visit a friend of mine, have a beer or two and I'll get through this. At least I hope I do.

She tried to contact him several times, but there were no further comments and that worried her. She didn't know what was going on, but it seemed that something had happened and it was very serious. "I wish you'd talk to me. You can even call me Pookie." No more messages appeared and sadly, Angela realized that she might never hear from her frenemy again.

Oooooooooooooooo

After knocking on the door, Pete was surprised to find Seeley Booth staring at him. "Hi, I'm looking for Max."

Stepping back, Booth motioned for the man to enter the house. "He's in the guest bedroom. Follow me." Once he was standing at the top of the stairs leading down to the Man Cave, Booth motioned for Pete to go down stairs. "He's across the room in the guest bedroom."

Once he was at the bottom of the stairs, Pete stopped to admire the sports paraphernalia resting on a book case and the two sports prints on the wall bracketing a recliner. This stuff obviously belonged to Booth and it was easy to see that he loved sports. Knocking on the door located across the room, he frowned when the door was opened by Max. "I guess it's done."

Quickly motioning Pete into the room, Max closed the door behind him. "You did what was right. The man jeopardized our troops in a war zone. He killed two people that we know of and used their bodies in a gross manner to make some hideous point. He was going to kill again and you know it. He felt that he was above the law. Booth and Tempe had him dead to rights about the two murders, but they couldn't prove he was bypassing the ankle monitor . . . Pete, he was watching Tempe, you know he was. My daughter's life was in danger. Hell, the guy was so demented he might have killed Christine and Booth too. What was to stop him?"

Pete knew that what Max was telling him was the truth, but he still felt horrible for what he had done. He had never killed anyone in his life and he couldn't undo what he had done. Still, given the choice he would do it again. "Yeah, I know. I'm just feeling sorry for myself. No one should kill someone and not feel it. Even you Max."

His history was no secret and Max knew exactly what Pete was talking about. "I killed Kirby and Delaney to protect my kids. They were killers just like Pelant was. The law can only do so much, but sometimes it isn't enough. I killed them and I don't regret what I did. If that makes me a terrible person then so be it . . . Pete, you should have let me do it."

"I couldn't let you." Pete leaned against the door and stared at his friend. "There are cameras at the library. If you'd shown up in any of the videos, they would have known that Pelant didn't die of natural causes. If you ever go on trial for murder again, no matter how flimsy the evidence . . . you'll fry and you know it . . . I volunteered to take out Pelant, no one made me. I'll live with it and that's that."

Feeling sorry for his friend, Max grabbed his keys from the dresser. "Booth is home today because he's got a headache. That's why I'm down here and Jared is in his room. Let's go for a beer or two. I'm paying."

With no better offer in sight, Pete opened the door. "Sure, let's go."

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Lying on his bed, Booth heard the front door open and close. A cool damp rag on his forehead, he was grateful that Christine was in daycare that day. He didn't get headaches too often, but he had awakened that morning with a pounding head and feeling nauseous. Brennan had offered to stay with him, but he urged her to go to work. He wanted to be alone to deal with the headache and he knew he was a poor patient.

Thirsty, he left his bedroom and entered the kitchen to get a drink of water.

"Hey, big brother." Jared was making a peanut butter sandwich. "Want a sandwich? I'll make you one."

"No thanks." Retrieving a bottle from the fridge, Booth drank half the contents. "When is the therapist coming?"

"He called a little while ago and said he's not coming today. He feels sick." His sandwich ready, Jared closed the peanut butter jar and closed the bread bag. "Since you're not feeling well, I'll get Max to take me to an AA meeting tonight."

That sounded like a good idea to Booth. "Alright . . . I'm proud of you, Jared. You're really working hard to beat this thing. I . . . I'm glad you're taking it seriously."

Surprised, Jared smiled at Booth. "Thanks. I got a wake-up call when I had that accident and I'm answering it. I don't want to be Dad, Seeley. I don't want alcohol to be the most important thing in my life. He never loved us. He may have loved Mom once, but by the time we came along he only loved booze. I'm not going to be that guy . . . Padme called. She wanted to know how I was and I told her about the AA meetings . . . She cried, Seeley. She cried and I realized that I've been putting her through the wringer for a long time . . . I have to turn my life around and if I do, I think Padme will take me back . . . I love her and I . . . and I want her to take me back. I think she might, but I can't let my guard down."

Booth sat down and placed the bottle on the table. "Dad was messed up, Jared. He had PTSD and back then, when he came back from Vietnam no one cared. The VA didn't really care. They didn't recognize PTSD existed back then. Things are different now. We know what it is and it's not a sign of weakness to ask for help. I think that you and I have had PTSD for a very long time. Being beat by Dad almost every day, living in his house of horrors had to have affected us . . . I've had my moments over the years. I gambled. I gambled a lot. It was one of the reasons that Rebecca wouldn't marry me. That didn't stop me . . . I got my wake-up call when I met Bones. Well, not the first time, but the second time when I needed her help on a case. I realized that I was going to have to improve my life if I was going to get her to work with me full time. She's the best in her field and she only likes to work with the best. I gave up gambling because of her. It's been a struggle and sometimes I'm tempted, but I think about what I have and what I could lose and I beat back that temptation . . . You need to find that something that will keep you focused. If it's Padme then show her what she needs to see and get back with her. You need to find a talisman to help you get through the temptations in the future. Bones is my talisman. Do you understand?"

"I get it, Seeley." Jared picked up his sandwich. "I don't know if Padme me is my talisman or not, but I do love her and I want her back in my life."

Taking the sandwich from Jared's hand, Booth tore off a piece and gave the rest of the sandwich back to his brother. "I'm going to go lie down. My head is killing me."

After Booth left the room, Jared looked at his torn sandwich and chuckled. "I knew he'd do this. Hell, I'm surprised he didn't take the whole thing."

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