AN: Okay so the last chapter was a bit over the top, but it is my opinion that the two of them can be a bit childish when fighting, and maybe I took that a little far, but I found the thought of Booth turning Brennan over his knee to be too funny to pass up. I hope this chapter answers some questions, and any questions they bring up will be answered soon. If that makes any sense. Oh well, on with the story.

"Well I think we're heading home for the evening. Dad, the lasagna was great," Russ commented as he ushered his family to the front door. Max came over to hug Amy and the two girls.

"Glad you enjoyed it. Now be careful on the way home guys." He clapped Russ on the shoulder as the family left the house. Brennan waved at them distractedly as she looked out the window at the SUV across the street.

"You don't think he's going to stay in that car all night do you?" She watched as Booth ran his fingers through his hair while he talked on his cell phone.

"I hope not. It's going to be cold tonight," Max commented as he glanced over her shoulder. Gavin came from the bathroom and grabbed his coat.

"I should probably get going as well. Temperance, are you sure you're going to be okay?" Temperance looked over at Gavin and gave a quick nod of her head.

"I'll be fine. Here, let me walk you out." She grabbed her coat and headed out the open door. Gavin followed closely behind her, shutting the door behind him.

"Are you sure you want to stay here with him in town? I'm worried he could hurt you." Temperance looked at Gavin and shook her head a bit.

"Booth won't do anything like that. There are just some issues that we have to discuss, that's all." She watched as Gavin patted down his pockets.

"Damn, I think I left my keys inside. I'll only be a minute." He headed back to the house to find his keys, as Brennan waited on the curb for him. As a breeze blew over her, she could hear a portion of Booth's conversation floating her way.

"Bub, I'm sorry I won't be there this year for Christmas…I know, but do you remember Dr. Brennan? Well I have to protect her and her family from some bad people, and I don't know how long that's going to take. As soon as the bad people are in jail, then I'll be home." Brennan looked at Booth as he raked his hand through his hair again. It hadn't occurred to her that he could have been here on assignment for the FBI. She'd just assumed that he'd tracked her down. Of course that's why he would come. It certainly wasn't because he cared. No, he cared, she knew that. His words from earlier had her curious though. What had he meant when he said it was never Annie? Slowly she made her way to the car. She had to say something to Booth. "Are you having fun at Meemaw and Peepaw's house? No, I don't really…" Booth looked out his window, surprised to see Brennan standing there. "Hold on, I'll see if she wants to say hello."

"Parker wants to talk to me?" Booth nodded and watched as she held out her hand for the phone. He handed her the phone as Gavin came back out of the house. "Hello Parker, how are you?" Gavin stood back, giving her some space to talk. It seemed odd to him that both she and Booth were here, leaving their son behind. "And did Meemaw like the snowman? Did you take any pictures? I'd love to see it." Okay, so they left him with his grandparents, Gavin thought as he overheard her talking. So it wasn't as if they'd left the kid with a nanny. He assumed that's who Rebecca was. "Well just remember that mommy and daddy love you very much. Merry Christmas to you too, sweetheart." With that the little boy was off the phone.

"Thanks for that, Bones," Booth murmured taking the phone back from her.

"You're welcome," she replied just as quietly. Their hands brushed as she let go of the phone and their eyes met. For one long moment, the pair just looked at each other before Booth opened his mouth to say something. He closed it and withdrew his hand as Gavin approached the car.

"Come on Temperance," Gavin said as he touched her arm. Brennan looked once more at Booth before walking away, Gavin's hand on the small of her back. Booth sighed and leaned his head back and looked at the roof of the car for a moment. Why did everything always have to be complicated when it came to Temperance Brennan? At that moment, a hand holding a mug of hot chocolate shoved through the open window, startling Booth back to reality.

"I thought you might like something to drink." Max held the mug until Booth recovered from his surprise. He took the mug, and motioned to the passenger seat of his car. Max made his way around the car and got in, neither man saying anything as Booth took a sip of the hot chocolate. "How's married life treating you?"

"Life is…interesting, not exactly what I was expecting."

"Well you know what they say. These things take time."

"So I've heard." Booth took another drink of the hot chocolate. "What do you know about the Costello crime family?"

"The Costello's? Is that why you're here?" Max looked over at Booth, who kept looking forward. "Huh. I never thought I would hear from them again."

"Why would they want to put a hit out on you?"

"Honestly I thought their beef with me was long over. Years ago, when I was still on the run, they agreed to misdirect the gang if I would help them with a job. It's something I won't tell Temperance about. Ever since she was two, I've tried to stay straight, but after McVicar found Ruthie and I, I've slipped a bit. The gang found out where Temperance was and there was no one we could rely on to help her."

"So her grandfather was someone that the Costello's provided as opposed to a blood relative." Booth shook his head and turned to look at Max. "Why would you trust them with your daughter?"

"If there is one thing I know about the Costello's it's that they're honorable. They keep their contracts. I did a couple jobs for them in exchange for Tempe's safety."

"Sounds like they're not as honorable as you thought." Booth didn't know whether or not to be furious at Max or not. He knew the ex-con well enough to know he could read people about as well as he could, and if he had thought his family was in danger, he wouldn't have engaged them.

"I have a hard time believing they'd be after me for a breach of contract."

"What jobs did you do for them?"

"It should be in the file that you have on the case. Charlie had all of the information. I won't be prosecuted for the jobs in exchange for my testimony."

"Will you be testifying against the Costello's for anything?"

"Not that I'm aware, although I suppose they could consider it a breach of contract if they were concerned about that."

"I'm not even going to go into how twisted I think your judgment was on the whole protection thing. When I was informed that a hit had been put out on you, it surprised me. I have some history dealing with the Costello family from a law enforcement end, and was concerned that they would go after Temperance because they would know how close we were. I took precautions against her being hurt, but it seems to not have worked."

"What precautions exactly?"

"Can I trust you to not reveal what I'm about to tell you to your daughter?"

"How important exactly is this information?"

"It's of the life or death variety of information."

"Okay then, what precautions have you taken?" Booth looked at Max for a long moment trying to debate whether or not to tell him the information, but he needed someone to understand what he had done. It was obvious that Brennan was never going to let him explain himself so this was the best he could do.

"I wanted to explain to Bones what was going on, but I didn't want to risk her life. It seems like I haven't been terribly successful at that."

"Agent Booth, how is that important? You said your actions were of the life or death variety."

"They are. What I've done was to ensure that Bones wouldn't be a target."

"What did you do?"

"I'm not really married..."