Booth ran through the trees that surrounded the town of Clio, trying to catch up to the attacker. He paused for a moment to listen for footsteps muffled in the snow. Once he heard them, he took off again. Something about this attack was bothering Booth. Obviously the hit man didn't operate with a gun or Max could have been taken down a while ago. And the current attack…why did Max only have a head wound? Sure Max was a tough old bird, but a professional hit man could have taken him down. There was definitely something wrong with the situation.

Ahead, he heard the footsteps cease and a shot gun was fired in his direction. What the hell? Booth dove behind a tree and waited. He heard the man walking slowly toward him, cocking the shotgun. Damn it, where did he get the gun? Again the footsteps stopped. Booth held his breath for a moment before stepping out with his gun drawn.

"FBI, drop your weapon." The stippled shadows made identifying the man impossible.

"Screw you," came the call back. Booth stayed as much in the shadows as he could.

"Drop your weapon or I'll shoot." He saw the shot gun raise up, aiming in his direction. Without hesitation, he fired hitting the man in the shoulder. The man dropped the shotgun and took off, holding his wound. Booth took chase, but lost him in the dark. "Damn it." Booth pulled out his cell phone and prayed for service as he dialed for some back up.

XxXxX

"Hold still dad," Temperance said as she held gauze to his head wound.

"That stings."

"It's peroxide; it's supposed to sting. Now what happened?" She pulled away the gauze to look at the gash there.

"I should probably wait for Booth to get back before I say anything."

"No, you can just repeat the story. What is going on here? Booth said you were a target. What did he mean?" Brennan looked at her father with a steely set to her jaw. Max sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to avoid the conversation.

"I know your opinion of me is mixed, and there's plenty in my past that I don't want you to know, and I was hoping that this would be part of it."

"What do you mean dad?" Brennan looked at him warily and sat down across from him.

"Your mom and I were clean for years, neither of us even thinking of committing a crime. We stayed clean from crime and stayed off the radar of the gang. Then McVicar found us and we had to get away fast. I wanted to take you and Russ with us…"

"Yeah, mom said that on the video she left for me."

"Well when we learned that you were in the foster care system, I knew that others would find out too. I met up with the Costello crime family and made an arrangement to keep you safe."

"What arrangement?" A feeling of dread filled her as she waited for her father to go on.

"I do a few jobs for the Costellos, they keep you safe, keep you off the radar."

"Does that mean grandpa…"

"He wasn't your grandfather. I never wanted to have to tell you this. I'm sorry honey." Max looked at her, his heart tugging at the hurt expression on her face.

"Is that…how did…why are you a target then?"

"Booth is trying to figure that out."

"I've got to go." Temperance said as she stood. She grabbed her coat and rushed out of the house.

"Temperance, please…" He got up to follow her, but sat back down as a wave of dizziness washed over him.

XxXxX

"My goodness Seeley, is Max okay," asked Annie from across the line. Booth sat down on the front porch, ignorant of the cold he'd been in for hours.

"He's got a pretty nasty gash on his head and a bit of a headache, but otherwise he's fine. Something doesn't make sense about this whole situation. Why not just take Max out with the shotgun?" Booth ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back on the railing.

"I think there's more to it than we thought. I got the wedding video back today and I saw something I didn't notice that day."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"My mother was commenting that she thought you were in love with Temperance, and I think she was overheard."

"Overheard by who?"

"The wedding coordinator, Loretta Peterson, maiden name Costello."

"Damn it. She must have seen Bones leave with Max."

"That's not the worst of it. Antonio and Vincenzo Costello have left for an unknown location and I have a feeling they're heading your way. It looks like they're taking a personal interest in this case."

"Okay, I'll contact the Flint office and have an APB put out on them to have them followed if seen. Anything else?"

"All of the players are in place. Sorenson spread word around that we were having marital difficulties. I've been approached about helping them take you out."

"You made it look like you were searching for a hit man?"

"Like we've arranged."

"Good. Keep me updated on that."

"Be careful Seeley."

"You too Annie. Be a good girl and let Randall take care of you and that baby."

"Will do." He hung up the phone and ran a hand over his face. If Max wasn't taken down, then that could only mean one thing…the Costellos still wanted him alive. Booth got slowly to his feet, wincing at the cold that had set in. He turned as someone approached the house.

"You should be more careful or arthritis will set in early."

"Bones, what are you doing out so late?"

"I needed to think about a few things. Were you able to catch him?"

"No, it was too dark, but I'll be able to find him in the morning."

"You sound confident of that."

"Well his shoulder will be the dead giveaway." Booth limped into the house with Brennan right behind him. As he flopped onto the couch with a look of relief, he was surprised when Temperance dropped down in front of him and took off his shoes and socks. "What are you doing?"

"If you don't warm up your feet, you'll never get to sleep tonight." She stood and headed for the bathroom.

"I wasn't planning on sleeping," he called to her from his spot. She came back with a small tub filled with hot water.

"Here, put your feet in this." She placed the tub at his feet and watched as he placed them in the hot water. "Staying up all night isn't rational and it's not healthy. Whoever attacked Max isn't going to come back tonight."

"It's not the hit man I'm worried about. Why exactly are you referring to your father as Max?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"How do I reconcile that every time I think my father has come clean about his past something else comes up?"

"How does anyone reconcile their past? You just have to accept that it comes with the territory." Booth leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The heated water was doing wonders for his body. He could feel the ache seeping from his bones. Brennan sat down next to Booth and put her head in her hands.

"Did he kill anyone for the Costellos?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Booth please. I need to know if he's killed anyone else." Booth opened his eyes to look at her again. She was drawn in by the quiet intensity she saw there.

"The only thing you need to know is that your father has done what he could to protect you." They stared at each other for a long time until Brennan jumped up off the couch and began to pace the room.

"My entire life has been a lie, Booth. I was born a different person; my grandfather wasn't who I thought he was. Did he even die? I never got to see his remains. I received a call at college that he passed away and went home for the funeral. I just…why is my past crumbling around me?" Booth stood and pulled her to him when she reached the couch again.

"Hey, it's okay Bones. Your life isn't crumbling. Everything that's happened has made you who you are." Brennan pulled away from him and shook her head.

"Who am I really?"

"You're Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for the Jeffersonian and a best selling author. More important to me though…you're my Bones."

"No, I'm not. I don't belong to anyone, least of all you." Brennan moved away from Booth and crossed her arms in front of her body. "You have this whole life that you want…a wife, kids, and the suburban dream. That's not what I want and never will be what I want, so how can you say I'm yours when I never will be?"

'Temperance, listen to me. You think you know my wants, but you don't. Yes, I asked Rebecca to marry me because I realized that whether or not we were pregnant I wanted to be with her. Maybe if I hadn't asked we'd still be together, but now? I don't need to be married to be fulfilled. I mean look at my life now. It's all a hoax. I would rather live happily out of wedlock than miserable in it. I don't need any more kids. With the job I have it's probably best I just have Parker."

"Don't lie Booth."

"You want the truth? I love you Temperance and it scares the hell out of me that your family has been thrown in the middle of my undercover work. If anything happens to you…I couldn't handle that."

"So then where do we go from here?"

"I don't know, but I need you there with me."