AN: My oh my, I'll bet you're all bursting at the seams to see who it was that was in Booth's office, aren't you? Well guess what, you'll find out below. Hey, hey, don't go all rushing off and ignoring the rest of this. I hope you like the chapter, and enjoy the read. Let me know what you think at the end of all this, k?"

In Booth's office sat his father and his son, laughing at some joke unknown to the special agent. His heart seized slightly as Parker looked up at his grandfather with such obvious adoration. It was a sight he'd been longing to see for so long, and thought he'd never get the chance to witness. Parker turned from his grandfather and his face lit up when he saw his father outside the office.

"Daddy," he squealed and leapt from his grandfather's lap, racing to hug his father. He stopped short of colliding with him and hugged him gently. Booth grimaced as he kneeled down to his son's level to give him a proper greeting. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Grandpa and I went to the Jeffersonian and I got to show him the dinosaurs and the mummies, and they have a cool new bug show that Dr. Jack helps to teach."

"Really? Wow, it sounds like you've had some day kiddo." Booth stood carefully as his father, Richard joined them.

"Hello son, it's good to see you."

"What are you doing here dad?" Booth ruffled his son's curls and pulled the little boy into his side as he faced his father.

"Parker insisted we come get you for lunch. Would you like to join us?"

"Please daddy? We could go to the diner like we used to with Bones. Please?" Booth looked down at the puppy dog expression on his son's face and knew he was going to give in instantly.

"Okay, sure. Let me grab my jacket."

"Grandpa, wait 'til you have some of the pie. Daddy says it's the best pie in the whole world." Booth smiled and shook his head at his son's enthusiasm. At least after the mess of the last few months, he still had one good thing in life. The day wouldn't be a total bust with that little guy around.

"The best pie ever? I don't know. Your grandma makes some pretty good apple pie." Richard took Parker's hand in his and waited for Booth to join them once more before they headed toward the elevator. At the slow pace they were walking, Booth frowned.

"Dad, we can walk faster." Richard looked over at his son's obvious limp and frowned.

"You know, a can would probably make it easier for you to move."

"No, I don't need a cane, I'm fine. I can get around just fine on my own." The tone in Booth's voice made it obvious the subject was closed. His father looked at him and frowned, shaking his head slightly.

"Boy, I've been in your position before and it's not fun. I know you're not okay." Booth looked down at his son who seemed to be blissfully unaware of the current subject as he watched the numbers change on the elevator as it neared their floor.

"I'm not going to talk about this right now dad. We'll discuss it after Parker's home this evening, okay?"

"Fine, it can wait, but just you remember boy, we will talk about this among other things." With that, the elevator door pinged open and Parker dragged the two men inside with him before hitting the button for the lobby. He bounced on the balls of his feet, excited to be spending the day with his grandfather and his father. To him, nothing could put a damper on the day. Booth only wished he could feel the same way, knowing that a long overdue chat was in order.

XxXxX

The sun was setting over the Mall as Seeley Booth and his father made their way to the Vietnam Memorial. Richard held a piece of paper in his hand along with a charcoal pencil for any names he might come across of fallen comrades. Neither man spoke as they walked along the obsidian colored memorial, the fiery reds and oranges in the sky reflecting off the polished stone surface.

"Son, what's going on with you? You've got your mother and I worried, and despite anyone's advice, you're struggling to walk when you could make it so much easier on yourself by using a cane."

"No, I can't do it dad. I have to do this without help."

"Why?" Richard looked at his son, waiting for the answer everyone in the family was wondering. Booth jammed his fists in his pockets and stared off into the distance, not really seeing anything.

"Because it's the only thing I feel in control of at the moment."

"What is it with you and being in control? I've never understood that son. You always have to control everything, and I'm willing to bet that's the reason we hardly talk."

"Just leave it alone dad. I don't want to talk about it."

"No damn it, we're having this discussion. Now what the hell is the matter with you? Okay so you got hurt. Big deal, it happens. You've still got a son who loves you, a devoted wife, and you're still working. That sounds like a pretty good life to me."

"You have no idea what you're talking about dad. You have no idea at all what is really going on."

"So tell me! Le me understand what's going on in that thick head of yours."

"You want to know how screwed up your son is? Fine. Let me pull out the list. You said I have to be in control all the time, well guess what? There's nothing I'm in control of at the moment, so excuse me if I don't use a cane to walk. I don't want to be dependent on anyone or anything."

"Seeley…"

"No. You spent eighteen years telling me what to do with my life, and another eighteen disapproving of me, so please let me just get this out before you say anything." Richard raised his eyebrows in surprise, but said nothing as he watched his son begin to pace. "Except for Parker, everything is going to hell in my life right now. I've been on a secret assignment for a couple of years now, and in the course of the investigation have had to fake a wedding."

"Fake a wedding? You mean…"

"Annie and I aren't really married. We went through the ceremony for part of an undercover assignment."

"You were married in a church by a priest! You're married in the eyes of the Lord."

"Dad, please. This is exactly why I didn't invite you or mom."

"Well I hope it was worth it to you to go against your beliefs."

"Going against my… that's right, because I do that a lot don't I? I have a son out of wedlock, I've killed people albeit in the line of duty, I've had a gambling problem…forget the fact that I go to church every week and try to live my life now as best I can."

"Don't you speak to me like that. What ever happened to respecting your elders?"

"I have the utmost respect for you dad, but that doesn't mean I have to listen to everything you tell me. We get in these fights every time I visit which is why I don't come up anymore."

"Well someone needs to remind you of the path."

"What path? The path of righteousness? Give it a rest dad. Here I am trying to tell you what's going on and you have to give me the lecture again. Why do I even bother trying?" Booth turned away from his father and limped over to the memorial stone, touching it gently while trying to calm down. Fighting with his father again wasn't going to solve anything. Richard took a deep breath and shook his head. Seeley was right of course. They did this every time he came around and now was definitely not the place for it.

"You know I only say it because I worry about you Seeley."

"Yeah, I know." Booth ran his hand over the cool stone, the somberness of the memorial pulling him back to his surroundings. There was just something about this place… "Right about now, Annie is being arrested for conspiracy to commit murder."

"What?" Richard looked at his son in complete shock. How could that young woman commit any type of crime? She was a kindergarten teacher for goodness sake.

"Annie was assigned to work with me on this case. A crime family was out to get me after I helped to convict two of their family members for murder a few years back. My partner, Temperance was also a target, but I managed to take care of that, and had another agent brought in to help with the assignment.

"She was to 'set up' a hit on me after we were married and when the act was attempted, then we'd have the source arrested. Unfortunately we weren't aware that she had actual ties to the crime family, and the hit was real."

"Are you saying that the car accident was a set up?"

"No, that was real. My partner and a… friend of hers were hit in a drive by attempt. I think they thought I was there with her. Her friend, Gavin has a similar build, and from what I can tell, they didn't get a look at his face."

"What does this have to do with Annie?"

"Her fiancé is a member of that family, and we were unaware of that fact when the assignment started. Now, because of that, she's being arrested, and I can't be with the woman I really love because she's dead."

"Your partner?"

"Yes dad. I was in love with Bones, and now she's gone. I can't…she meant everything to me. She's the one who kept me grounded, kept me sane in the face of everything I do. I'm not a vengeful man, but there's a huge part of me right now that hopes Annie and her fiancé are put to death, and I really hate that part of me right now." Richard watched his son as Booth began to pace again, a look of complete and utter defeat on his face. His son was dealing with so much and trying to do it on his own.

"You know, a while back, I thought I was going to lose your mother."

"Why the hell would you lose mom? I know your marriage is solid."

"It has nothing to do with another person. She was diagnosed with cancer when you and Jared were boys."

"What? I never…"

"We never told anyone. Your mother didn't want anyone to know. That summer you spent at your grandpa's in Ohio was because of your mother's chemotherapy. She was so sick, and I thought I was going to lose her, but we were determined to handle it together and not let anyone else worry."

"But sharing the burden, especially one like that…"

"And yours is any different? Son, if you try to handle all of this on your own, you're going to snap and it won't be anyone's fault but your own."

"I did share with someone dad, and it got them killed. I can't let that happen to anyone else."

XxXxX

Booth sat at his desk going over some paperwork related to the trial that Randall and Annie were facing. He flipped through the file, his eyes resting on Brennan's hospital record when the door to his office burst open.

"Do you want to tell me why one of my witnesses is Salvatore Costello? I spend my time trying to put men like him in jail and now he's on the side of good? Did hell freeze over, 'cause Cherie, that's the only thing I can think of to explain that one."

"He's testifying against his nephews because he spent a couple of years raising Bones when she was younger."

"Spent a couple of…now I know you're lying."

"Max Keenan went to the Costellos when he was on the run from McVicar and in an agreement with them; Salvatore pretended to be Bones' grandfather so someone could keep an eye on her."

"Why do I feel like your doctor should have her own soap opera?" Caroline sat down across from Booth and looked at him seriously. That was one of the few expressions he hated to see cross her face, because it never bade well for him. "You did hear that charges against your wife that wasn't are being dropped?"

"What? What the hell for?" Booth was thunderstruck.

"She was assigned originally to infiltrate the Costello family and get in cozy with them in order to uncover who was behind a series of unexplained crimes. Your team at the Jeffersonian provided that information for us."

"I know she was working with the family, that's why Bones is dead now."

"Cherie, sometimes you are thicker than a brick wall. She infiltrated the family and got in cozy with your boy Randall, feeding them little bits of information while giving full reports of their activities to Deputy Director Harris."

"She was reporting directly to Cullen's boss? If she was in so deep, then why the hell was I given this assignment?"

"That's something you'll have to discuss with them on your own. In the meantime, I'll see you in court tomorrow. And Booth, try to get some sleep tonight. You're beginning to get off your game." Booth waved Caroline out and turned back to his paperwork. He needed to get all of this sorted before he could leave, and if that took him all night, then so be it.

XxXxX

Morning came too bright and chipper in Booth's opinion. He made his way into the courthouse, yawning widely. Maybe he really shouldn't have stayed up all night looking over all of those papers. There just seemed to be something fishy going on. After waking up from her mini coma, Temperance had been assigned a private physician. Something about that really bothered him, especially because she was never re-admitted to the hospital. Why on earth would she be treated at home like that? Then again, wealthy people could afford some pretty impressive medical care. He did know how much she hated hospitals, so maybe that was her precaution to not have to go back. He shrugged, and then yawned again. The thought process was making his head hurt, and right now he just wanted to see what it was Caroline needed from him.

Booth swung open the door to the witness chamber and stopped cold in his tracks at the sight before him. What the….

"Bones?"