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Chapter 13

Booth knocked on the door to the now very familiar hospital room. Hannah's hands patted his cheeks in excitement from her position in his arms.

"Come in."

"Hey Bones, the Squintlet and I came to take you home. Well, temporary home," he explained, willing the flutter in his stomach to go away.

"Squintlet? Oh, you mean Hannah!" Bones grinned excitedly, reaching for the baby but Booth shook his head, knowing full well she would not be able to pick up or hold the baby for at least another week.

He studied her as she moved around the room, packing her laptop and the few belongings he had brought her over the past ten days. It had taken over one-hundred and twenty stitches to close all her wounds, and her concussion had caused enough concern that a neurologist had kept her in the ICU for three days. But the stitches were gone, the bruises were a soft shade of purple now, instead of the multicolor parade of previous days. Her broken rib and left arm were the only major concerns, and would possibly take some physical therapy, but back home.

There were bags under her eyes that had been gone a few days before. Max, as expected, had refused to get treated for his wound. Booth had spent every night at the hospital, at both the ICU and the recovery rooms, until Max and Russ left.

She had been doing better than expected even with the concussion, but she'd started having nightmares the night after he'd left. Not that she had admitted it to him, it had been a concerned nurse who had recommended psychological or psychiatric counsel, but Booth had persuaded the nurse not to press the issue with Brennan. He knew PTSD and, more importantly, he knew Bones – and he was sure that pushing her towards treatment before she understood what was happening to her, she would end up running.

"Angela said they filled you in over what they discovered about the Lienz chemical plant and the Drau Group?" He asked as she tied her hair up. She winced, and he imagined the painful pulling of her sore ribs and muscles were uncomfortable to say the least.

She turned to him and nodded. "Yeah, she said Jack's been working non-stop on finding out what happened to the Royal family, and that he's been turning in evidence anonymously to Interpol. The Drau Group was about to lose a lot of money."

Booth let Hannah grab his nose, kissing her little hand as she moved down his face. "They killed eighty people because they couldn't stand to lose a few million dollars?"

Brennan sighed. "Billions," she corrected him. "It wasn't just about the money; the new trade regulations would expose the company. Hodgins mentioned something about affiliation with the KGB and Serbia-Montenegro, plus the contracts with pharmaceutical companies for those trials in Africa I mentioned before. We're talking genocide here, Booth. These people didn't just kill eighty people over the past month; they've killed thousands over the past two decades. Jack also turned in evidence that Yuri Haan, the distant cousin who had been appointed to become the new Regent Prince of Liechtenstein was bought off by Drau."

"No wonder they really didn't want an orphan Princess showing up," Booth noted, smiling at Hannah.

Bones nodded. "The Parliament canceled his coronation date. They're voting on becoming a democratic republic, or annexation to Switzerland."

"Sounds like fun political stuff. Except not."

Bones smiled at him.

"By the way, I got the adoption papers filled out, but we need to talk about it first…"

"Are you going to ask me if I'm sure again, Booth?" She started walking towards him, stopping only when Hannah was within reach. "I know she's not in immediate danger anymore, but when I was in that place, I knew for sure I wanted to be her mother." Hannah jumped excitedly in his arms, wanting to be picked up by Bones.

"I know you're sure, Bones. I knew if you'd changed your mind you would've let me known earlier. You weren't the only one who's grown attached to Hannah… she has something special about her. I just wanted to tell you that I had Ulrich add me as a co-adoptive parent, and he'll process the paperwork with both our names – if that's okay with you."

He could see her confusion, the unvoiced questions and uncertainty of the whole plan. He hadn't been sure himself, but it hadn't taken long to make his decision.

"Listen, Bones, we're good partners and friends, right? While I wasn't sure when I first met you, after I saw you dealing with that foster kid, Shawn Cook, I knew you would make a great mother if you ever allowed yourself to accept the idea. I still believe that, the same way I believe every child should have a mother and father if possible. And I want to be Hannah's father," he finished, feeling incredibly self-conscious. As he'd spoken, his gaze had gone back and forth between his partner and Hannah. "Nothing has to change between us; we'll just be sharing custody."

There was still some shock in her expression, but he could also see her starting to rationalize every word he had said. "You've made up your mind on this," she stated.

He nodded.

After a minute that felt like forever, she met his eyes. "Anthropologically speaking, raising a child is often the work of an entire tribe or clan, in almost any group of primates," she added, rationalizing his actions and emotions. "It makes sense that you, as an alpha male, to decide to ensure her safety, both emotional and physical, after you formed an initial bond with her."

"So you agree?" He asked, resisting the urge to celebrate by finishing what Bones had been hinting at when her father interrupted them days earlier.

Her hand reached for Hannah's face, the back of her fingers caressing one very chubby cheek. Her eyes returned to his face and she smiled before nodding.

He smiled in return, relieved that she hadn't pulled away – figuratively or literally. The moment hung between them, before she finally gave in and turned in the direction of her packed belongings. They were both all too happy to be leaving the sterile environment of the hospital.

"Booth?"

"Yeah, Bones?" He asked and noticed she was keeping her head low and avoiding his eyes.

"You're the best father I know, and she deserves the best. Thank you."

He hoped she hadn't seen the sudden moisture buildup in his eyes.