A/N: I am back! Sorry for the delay but I have had a major's writer block for this chapter. I knew exactly what I wanted to happen but, somehow, the words wouldn't come back. Now, the writer's block is over. Here is the penultimate chapter. I won't leave you hanging (you'll understand what I mean after you read this chapter).

We were all standing outside the gates of Craggy Correctional Center in Asheville. None of us spoke as we waited impatiently for Seeley Booth to be released from prison. Christine had informed me he was to be released at 8 am that morning.

I could tell everyone was nervous. I had felt the palpable tension as I walked in the Booth children's hotel room earlier that morning. Parker had opened the door, his hands shaking slightly. Christine had been fixing her hair and, from the dark circles under her eyes, I could assume she hadn't slept well. Only Jackson seemed to remain calm, going through the channels on the hotel's television.

They had insisted we leave the hotel an hour early, to make sure we would make it in time to the correctional facility. I still wasn't sure why they wanted me to be there.

"See it as a reward," Christine had told me when I had raised the question. "You get to see the happy ending."

I knew she meant well. She probably wanted to thank me for my work by letting me attend the reunion. Nevertheless, as I watched them pace back and forth in front of the gate, I felt out of place. I felt like an intruder in a very personal situation. I shouldn't have been here. Yet, I stayed. Though few, there will still some unanswered questions. I really thought Seeley could provide the answer to them.

Unable to keep watching their pacing, I went to stand beside Jackson. He hadn't said one word since we had left the hotel room and even now, when Parker and Christine's agitation was obvious, he remained stoic. His neutral expression was starting to annoy me. The way I couldn't pinpoint how he was feeling or figure out what he was thinking was bothering me. Throughout my career, I had developed my ability to read people. My former colleagues had often joked that I spoke "body as a second language". However, on this clear-blue-sky morning, I couldn't.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him.

He shrugged in reply.

"It must be weird for you to be here. You probably don't remember your adoptive father much."

He said nothing. I didn't give up.

"If you want, I can drive you back to the hotel. I feel out of place here too."

My offer fell into deaf ears. I was about to ask another question when Christine's voice interrupted.

"He's coming!" she squealed.

He was looking up at the sky as he slowly walked towards the gate. A guard was accompanying him. I saw him turn to the guard, probably telling him something about the weather. He was wearing civilian clothing, mostly likely donated by some sort of charity. Though not his style (or what I'm assuming was not his style), he looked better in them than in his orange jumpsuit.

I looked over at Christine. Tears poured from her eyes as she clung to her older brother's hand.

"DAD!" she yelled in her father's direction.

Seeley stopped abruptly on the path. Christine let go of her brother's hand and ran towards the gate.

"Dad! We're here!"

Even from far away, I could tell Seeley was smiling. There seemed to be a new bounce in his step as he walked down the path towards us. Christine stepped back as the gates opened in front of her. Parker grabbed her arm just in time to prevent her from running off towards her father.

"We're not allowed in," he reminded her.

Christine sighed in frustration but remained on our side of the gate.

Eventually, he stood in front of us.

"What are you doing here?" he asked his children.

"We came to get you," Parker replied.

"No one should be alone when they walk out of prison," Christine added.

Seeley Booth smiled at his children before turning to Christine.

"You look just like your mother," he choked.

Christine threw herself in her father's arms. Tears formed in my eyes as I watched them. I swallowed painfully and hoped the tears would stay where they were. I glanced quickly at Jackson. He still hadn't moved.

Seeley hugged both of his children. He seemed startled as he spotted me but his surprise was short lived as his eyes fell on the young man beside me.

"Jackson?" he asked.

The boy nodded. Seeley let out a loud laugh as he stepped towards his youngest son. Jackson didn't budge. He simply mumbled "hey" and barely moved when his first adoptive father hugged him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," Seeley said as he pulled away.

Jackson simply shrugged.

Seeley's expression changed. I could tell he was disappointed by his youngest son's attitude. He turned to me.

"Thank you for making this happen," he said as we shook hands.

"No problem," I replied.

Seeley turned back to his children and pulled them both to him once again. As I watched them, I smiled. I was curious as to what had happened to his job at the FBI, I was curious as to how the police had managed to find out Anthony Ruffalo was, in fact, Seeley Booth. I wanted to know who had done the cover-up back in Washington. I knew the man standing in front of me held the key to these answers. But, watching them, I decided the questions didn't matter. What mattered was that they were finally reunited, that Seeley would finally be able to say his final goodbyes to his wife, and that all of them could get on with their lives.

"What are your plans for the future?" I asked him.

Seeley turned towards me.

"I don't know. I have to go live in the halfway house for a while and find a job. After that, who knows?"

"You're coming to live with me," Christine replied. "I am not going to let you live in a halfway house!"

Seeley chuckled.

"Honey, I have to."

"What kind of job would you like?" I asked.

"I don't know. Private investigation is starting to look real good right now."

I smiled at him. Beside me, Jackson scoffed loudly. We all turned to him.

"What?" Parked asked, surprised by his brother's attitude.

"You really think he could become a private investigator?" Jackson jeered.

"Why couldn't he be?" Christine asked. "He was a FBI agent before."

Jackson rolled his eyes and sneered.

"No one will want to hire him. He's an ex-con."

Christine looked in disbelief at her brother.

"Jackson! That's horrible! Dad can be anything he wants to be now. He's free!"

"It's the truth, Christine. Aren't you the one who's always saying we should look at facts?"

Christine remained silent.

"And stop calling him Dad. He might be your dad but he's not mine."

He turned to Seeley.

"I'm sorry, but you're not. Maybe you were once, but you're not now. You lost that right when you were sent to prison. I have two new parents now and I'm happy with them. Neither of them are criminals and they've never abandoned their family."

I could feel the tension growing with each word and I knew this conversation was quickly heading in a dangerous direction. I wasn't sure what to do or say. This was evidently a family matter and I didn't want to be involved.

"If he's not your dad, then why did you tag along with us?" Parker asked.

His eyes showed the anger he was feeling towards his younger brother.

"You didn't have to. You could have stayed in Asheville. No one forced you to come to Washington with Christine or to come here today."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me!" Parked spat back.

"Okay, fine! Do you know how it feels to be adopted, not once, but twice? Always wondering where you come from and why you needed to live with different people all the time? Spending every day wondering what happened to your real parents because your second adopted parents don't know? Or even wondering why your first adoptive parents abandoned you in a forest? Because, yes, I remember! I remember being there with Christine. I remember being scared, terrified of the sounds in the forest at night. I still don't like the dark!"

Silence had fallen over us. I fought the urge to get back into my car and drive away. Curiosity at his side of the story made me stay. It was the first time Jackson spoke with so much expression.

"My parents told me what happened when I was older. Oh, and Christine, did you know that your parents did know too? They knew our father was in jail for killing that man who is not my father!"

I stood shell-shocked. What had he just said?

"You knew?" Parker asked.

He seemed to be as surprised as I was.

"Yes, I knew!

He paused. My head was spinning. If Jackson had known all along, why hadn't he told anyone? It would have saved everyone a lot of time and resources. The answer to my question came really soon.

"Well, I sort of knew. My parents told me my father had been caught doing something illegal and that now he was in jail. They never told me why though. I stuck around because I wanted to know exactly what he had done. I know now. He's a murderer."

I looked over at Parker whose face had turned dangerously red. I saw Seeley reach for his son. Parker simply jerked his arm away.

"Well, now that you know, I guess you are free to leave," Parked replied.

"Parker!" Christine gasped.

Seeley simply pulled his daughter towards him.

"That's a good idea!" Jackson answered. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine!"

Before we could add anything, he sprinted off towards the street.

We all stood together, unsure what else to say. To say Jackson's outburst had shocked us would have been an understatement. What had been supposed to be a happy reunion had soon turned dramatic and not in a good way.

"Are you okay?" I asked Seeley after a few minutes of silence.

The man nodded.

"Hey, if that's how he feels, there's nothing we can do about that," he replied.

His daughter looked appalled by his answer.

"Don't worry," Seeley said before kissing her on the top of her head. "If it's meant to be, he'll come back to us."

I admired his strength and his faith. If this had happened to me, I'm not sure how well I would have handled the situation.