(The Geek in the Guck)

Warning: tissue alert!

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooo

The brisket had been huge as far as Brennan was concerned. She'd withheld suggestions and watched as her husband and brother-in-law struggled to get it onto the grill. Their final solution was to cut off a portion of it, wrap it up in aluminum foil and cook it in the oven in the house. That accomplished, they moved on and made vegetable kabobs and placed them on the top rack of the grill and closed the lid. "Okay maybe I should have asked how wide the grill was before I bought the brisket." Jared wiped his forehead with a napkin trying to wipe off the sweat that was dribbling into his eyes.

Amused, Hank chuckled as he sat on a patio chair and watched his grandsons show him the masterful way they grilled meat. "You know, I could have told you that brisket was too big before you opened the grill."

"Yeah, yeah . . . well, there's going to be enough meat for leftovers." Jared wasn't going to let his grandfather ruin his barbecue. "I'm going to have brisket sandwiches for a week. I'll be the envy of the station. I'm going to show off my sandwich and I'm going to make sure everyone knows it's brisket, cooked by my hand and I'm not sharing . . . well, Seeley is getting some, but I'm not sharing with anyone at the station." With that, Jared bowed towards his grandfather and laughed. "Wait 'til you taste it. I got this rub I found at a specialty shop and Seeley and I just put it on that big old slab of meat and that rub is going to form a crust and make it so good you'll want to slap your mama."

Rolling his eyes, Booth shook his head and sat down next to his grandfather. "How you doing Pops? Is the new medicine working? Your blood pressure is okay now?"

"Stop worrying, Seeley." Hank patted his grandson's knee. "I'm old and I'm slowing down . . . My doctor said that I'm okay for a guy my age . . . I've had an interesting life, I guess. I married the prettiest girl at my High School . . . smart, smarter than me anyway . . . beautiful and she never took any crap from anyone including me. I had two kids, Edwin and Ruth. Ruth left us early . . . damn cancer. At least she lived long enough to find love and to meet her two nephews that she loved so much." Feeling emotional, Hank stopped and cleared his throat. He always felt sad when he thought of his daughter dying of breast cancer at the age of 43. She had not been ready to die and she fought so hard to stay.

Booth understood what his grandfather was feeling and left the old man to his thoughts. As a boy, his aunt and her lover had taken him to ball games and let him visit for weeks at a time when things got too grim at home. They had spoiled him and Jared when they could. He had cried oceans of tears when his aunt had died and he wasn't ashamed that he did it.

"Anyway, Edwin and Marianne gave me two wonderful grandsons." Hank smiled at Jared who was now sitting on a chair near the grill. "You both were a handful, but I enjoyed being with you two. When your grandmother died, you two kept me busy and I didn't have time to think about how my lovely wife had left me behind . . . I'm going to meet her soon. We're going to be with each other forever the way we were meant to be. It will be one of the happiest days of my life being with her again . . . she shouldn't have left me behind . . . And you Seeley, you gave me two great-grandchildren. I thought Parker would be the only one I'd ever have, but then Christine was born and that little scamp won my heart the first minute she was in my arms . . . I got few complaints, Seeley . . . Jared . . . I wish things had been different with Edwin, but I can't change the past and you can't either. He's gone and I'll see him soon along with Ruth. I really believe that . . . You make me so proud . . . One of my boys works for the FBI and one of them works for a sheriff's office and I couldn't be prouder of both of you if I tried."

He had let his grandfather talk, but he heard a sadness behind the old man's words and that worried him. "But you're okay, right Pops?"

"Stop worrying Seeley." Annoyed, Hank shook his finger at his oldest grandson. "Life, if well lived is long enough. That was said by Lucius Seneca. He lived almost two thousand years ago. Smart guy. I read about him in high school . . . Sister Theresa was a big fan of his."

Surprised that his grandfather could remember something he had learned so long ago, Jared stared at his grandfather in wonder. "I hope I have a memory like yours when I'm your age."

"Well, I hope you do too." Tired, Hank stood up and leaned on his cane. "It was a long trip this morning to get here. If you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap before we eat dinner."

"Sure Pops." Booth stood up, walked over to the back door and opened it to allow his grandfather access to the house. "I'll wake you up when it's time to eat." As his grandfather walked through the busy kitchen, Booth noticed the old man stop and hug Brennan and Padme then lean over and pat Christine on the top of her head. Once Hank entered the living room, Booth closed the door and walked back over to his chair and sat down. "I'm worried."

Since he had the same worries, Jared nodded his head. "He's getting so slow and he talks a lot about joining grandma in heaven . . . I'm not ready for him to leave us, Seeley. I'm not ready to be an orphan." He never thought about his mother and father anymore. He had moved them out of his mind a long time ago and whenever anyone asked him about his parents he talked about his grandparents. "He's ready to go you know."

"I know." Leaning back against his chair, Booth closed his eyes. "I loved grandma so much . . . I understand loving someone like that. I hope I go before Bones. I don't want to live without her, but I'd have to because of Christine if Bones went first." Opening his eyes, Booth grabbed his opened bottle of beer from the table next to the grill and finished the drink. "Let's find something else to talk about. This is depressing. Pops is fine."

"We could talk about how the Flyers whipped the Penguins' ass last night." Jared love hockey almost as much as his brother. "Man, it was perfect."

The game had been exciting and Booth hoped that meant the Flyers were on the way to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. "It was wasn't it?"

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Dinner was almost ready to be served. Brennan walked down the hallway and entered the guest bedroom. The room was quiet and Brennan felt that something was wrong. The room was too quiet. Approaching the bed, she noticed how still her grandfather-in-law was and placed her hand on the side of his neck. Next, she removed the blanket that covered the old man and placed two fingers around his left wrist. There was no pulse and Brennan knew that Hank had left them.

Giving herself a few moments to weep, she finally wiped her face dry with a tissue and left the room. She dreaded what she was about to do, but the task had to be done and she needed to be with her husband. He was going to need her. She knew that.

Once she was in the backyard, she stood near the door and watched as Booth filled his plate with slices of brisket. Moving over to the table, she placed her hand on his shoulder, leaned over and spoke softly in his ear. "Booth . . . Hank has died."

The color drained from his face, Booth turned his head to stare at his wife in disbelief. "What? What did you say?"

Speaking louder so that Jared could hear her, Brennan kept her gaze upon Booth. "Hank is dead, Booth. He died while he was asleep. His body is cold."

Horrified, Booth stood up, moved his chair back and strode over the to back door, Jared close on his heels. Following the men, Brennan and Padme entered the kitchen and closed the door behind them. They could hear Booth saying Hank's name loudly with Jared calling to Hank to wake up. Once they were outside the guest bedroom, they witnessed Booth place his ear over the old man's chest and listen. With tears streaming down his face, Booth stood up and placed his hand on his grandfather's arm. "Call an ambulance Bones . . . I think that's what we're supposed to do. They'll send a Sheriff's Deputy to check on what's going on." Replacing the blanket back over his grandfather, he tucked it under Hank's chin as if to keep the old man warm. Moving over to the chair in the corner he sat down, placed his hands over his face and continued to cry.

Unable to be in the room, Jared left and walked down the hallway. Moving through the house, he left it through the back door, strode out to the middle of the backyard and sat down. Tears flowing, he pulled grass with his hands tearing it from the ground while he tried to calm himself knowing it would be a while before that happened. He had loved his grandfather so much and now the only family he had left was his brother and Padme.

While Brennan stayed in the guest bedroom with Booth, Padme joined her husband in the backyard. Sitting on the ground near him, she watched him cry, her own tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Padme had seen the signs that Hank Booth was almost done with this life, but she had thought he would stay a few more months. Now he was gone and they would all mourn his passing.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.

A/N: Hank didn't really get a send off on the show. I am giving him one now.