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Chapter 7
Booth finished packing – having arrived pretty empty handed, he was now leaving with a full duffel bag, packed with a couple changes of clothes for him and for Hannah as well as a lot of formula and other baby items. The plan was simple but tricky; so far, they had no reason to believe the bad guys knew Bones had taken custody of Hannah. Just in case someone had any suspicions, Bones would finish the two last stops on her book tour sans Hannah, before rendezvousing with Booth and Hannah in Lugano. If, at that point, their plan went without a hitch, then they were likely safe. A fabricated story about how she fell in love with a Swiss orphan would be fed to anyone who was interested in the life and career of Dr. Temperance Brennan.
"Are you sure about this guy?" she asked him as he continued to pack.
Booth nodded. "This guy is good. He saved my hide more than once during Bosnia and then Kosovo, okay? When you are special ops, if you think you might be made, you can't just call up your superiors. Ulrich is the best at making people disappear," he promised, then added: "He gives them new permanent or temporary identities. I called him, and he can draft some adoption papers that even your squints would think were legit. We'll go back home, and for all intents and purposes, she'll be Hannah Brennan."
Bones scoffed. "Great, she'll get to take part in the big lie that is the Brennan family." Her disdain was followed by a shrug. "Seems fitting."
He smiled at her, because he knew she was partly joking. Also, as much as she might hate psychology, he knew she had to be coming to terms with her parents' past or she wouldn't be joking.
"I'll take Hannah down, get started on the process, and make contact with Ulrich. You'll meet us in five days. Everything will be alright," he comforted, refusing the urge to caress the worry line off her face. Being out of their element was making it harder for him to ignore the evil, needy voice in the back of his brain.
She nodded but he could see she was still tense.
"Are you all packed?" He asked.
"Yeah, thanks for watching her while I did it. Are you sure you will be ok by yourself with her all weekend?"
He cocked his head at her. "I'll be fine, Bones. She's six months old, right now, not crawling, not teething. So far she hasn't been cranky or crampy, and I think her middle-of-the-night feedings are a temporary reaction to stress. Other than that, she sleeps for hours at a time. This is the easy part, okay? I've done this before; I can handle a couple of days on my own." Hannah gurgled her approval from the couch, and Booth grinned at her. "See? She agrees."
Bones pouted, but the disapproval and petulance in her eyes melted when Hannah's arm reached out, motioning her desire to be picked up.
Booth stopped packing to watch their interaction. He felt something in his chest tighten when his partner smiled widely at the child; he recognized the bond already forming and he acknowledged what he'd known since he arrived at the hotel suite – this child was now a part of Brennan, which meant he would do anything necessary to keep both of them safe.