A/N: Sorry I didn't get a chapter up for any of the stories over the weekend but hopefully this sort of longer one will make up for it.

Cam was giving Brennan all the leeway she needed with Hadley coming into her life. She took the next day off, hoping to help the girl with anything that could possibly come up. Brennan knew she wasn't good at the emotional aspect of the things Hadley would soon be facing but she damn sure wanted to try. Brennan woke up the next morning and waited until Hadley was up to make her breakfast, so she wouldn't make something Hadley wouldn't eat. She knew she was going to have to start stocking up on the foods normal teenage girls eat, not just foods for adult vegetarians.

It shouldn't have surprised Brennan that Hadley slept so late. It was almost noon when she finally did wake up.

"Hello, Hadley," Brennan greeted when she emerged out of her room.

"Good morning," Hadley mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she adjusted to the light.

"I'm assuming since the last time you enjoyed a meal was dinner and you slept right through breakfast that you would probably like something to eat, is that a correct guess?"

Hadley just nodded and followed Brennan slowly into the kitchen.

"I apologize for my lack of meal choices but you're welcome to eat anything you can find."

"You just want me to pick…whatever?" Hadley clarified. Brennan shrugged.

"Would you like me to make you something instead? Booth says I'm an excellent cook. I don't mind. Would you like eggs or maybe some pancakes? I can also make French toast if those first two options don't appeal to you."

"French toast does sound good," Hadley admitted. Brennan smiled at her and silently went to work. She watched her guardian move gracefully around the kitchen. Just as Brennan served Hadley her first plate of French toast, slathered in butter and drowned in syrup as requested, Booth walked in.

"Mmm, Bones, that smells good. I get the next plate right? Hi, Hadley."

"Booth, what are you doing here?" she asked as he took a seat at her kitchen table across from Hadley.

"Well I was gonna come over and take two certain people out to lunch but it looks like someone just rolled out of bed," he joked with Hadley, noting her messy, wavy hair.

She shrugged and yawned and took another bite of her toast.

Brennan set a plate identical to Hadley's in front of Booth and he sent her a big grin in thanks as he dug in.

She made a few extra slices for herself and sat down with the two of them. To break the silence, she asked, "What time do you pick up Parker?"

"Five. I gotta talk to Rebecca though. Parker wants to stay with me. He says his mom and Brent are getting married. I'm sure there's more to the story, but he called me crying last night, Bones. Eleven year old kids just don't start crying without a really good reason."

"I would like to remind you to stay calm, Booth. You know your temper has a tendency to flare up around Rebecca and I'd hate to see Parker suffer because of it."

He nodded and continued to eat.

"He thinks she's replacing you," Hadley supplied.

The two adults looked at her with curiosity.

"What do you mean?" Booth wanted to know.

She shrugged and looked down at her food. "I'm just guessing, but if his mom is getting married and he's gonna have to start spending time with some other guy that she wants him to see as a father figure, all he's going to think is that his mom is trying to replace you. Sorry, but I'm sure that's how Parker thinks of it."

"That makes sense, Booth," Brennan said, "Parker would be spending a lot more time with Brent than he would be with you."

"I don't know how to fix this without royally pissing off Rebecca. I don't know how to fix it at all." Booth slammed his fork down on the plate in frustration.

Brennan's phone rang. It was Cam and Daisy.

"Doctor Brennan, we need your help identifying the murder weapon," Cam said.

"That's why Miss Wick is there."

"She is unable to classify it. We all are. This is where your expertise comes in. I know I told you to take a few days off with Hadley but…we really need you." She looked at Booth.

"Hadley and I can hang out. If you're not done by the time I gotta go get Parker, we can go pick him up and I'll take the two of them to dinner," he told her.

"Is that alright with you, Hadley?" Brennan asked.

She nodded and Brennan told her boss she'd be there soon.

"What's the problem?"

"We can't find the murder weapon!" Daisy whined.

"I am well aware of that, Miss Wick."

"It's a blunt object of some sort. Which could be anything in the world!" the intern kept complaining.

Brennan ignored Daisy's hysterics and looked over the wound.

"Have you narrowed down the possible list of murder weapons?"

"No…" Daisy answered.

"Our main suspect is a construction worker. What's something that a man like Martinez would have with him all of the time?"

"Tools. Hand tools, smaller power tools," Cam supplied.

"We need to figure out what he always takes to the job site and go from there. Let's get to work," Brennan commanded.

They researched common tools and eventually began to start making some progress.

"To cause this much damage," Brennan said, running her gloved fingers over the wound, "the weapon had to be either very heavy or swung at him at a very high velocity."

"What about a power drill?" Angela suggested, walking onto the platform.

"Power drills can be heavy. I remember this one time, when-ˮ Daisy began.

"Now's not the time for that, Miss Wick," Cam reminded her, "Can you put the scenario into the Angelator?"

The artist nodded. "If you give me some of the variables, I can have for you soon."

When it finally came time to watch Angela's recreation on the Angelator, all the Squints gathered around to see. It was a gruesome act, sound effects and all. The deed was messy and the murderer was bound to still have traces on their clothes, should they still have the evidence.

But there were some inaccuracies. The way the scenario played out on screen wouldn't have yielded the same wound pattern and when Brennan pointed it out, the Squints immediately became flustered. They wanted to solve the case, but they were having a hard time. Brennan, especially, wanted this to be an open and shut case for Hadley.

They suggested other tools, but none even came close.

"Go back to the drill," Brennan instructed, "In your first scenario, you had the victim being struck with the sharpest part of the drill."

"Yeah, the drill bit," Angela said.

"What if he wasn't struck with the drill bit? What if the murderer used the drill bit as a grip and hit Kerr with the other end."

"That end is usually the heaviest," Daisy said, "With some momentum, a lot of damage could've been done."

"But," Hodgins pointed out, "there's not a lot to hold on with a drill bit. He'd have to hold on real tight and the groves on the bit can be really sharp. If you find the murder weapon, chances are, the guy who did it probably left some skin on the bit itself."

While they talked, Angela reconfigured the scenario into her computer and watched the new version. When it was over, the new picture of the wound matched the real wound and they all knew they had found their murder weapon. Now all that was left was to find the real thing.

Booth took Hadley with him to pick up Parker. He knew he was going to have to explain to Rebecca about a fifteen year old girl tagging along behind him, but that was the least of his worries at that point. He knocked at the door to his ex's apartment and waited for her to answer. And of course, Captain Fantastic was there to greet him.

"Hi. Come on in. Parker's been anxious for you to get here," Brent told him.

"I'll bet," Booth muttered as he and Hadley followed Brent inside, "Where's Rebecca?"

"She's talking to Parker and helping him pack for the weekend."

"Talking to him about what?"

"Not sure."

Booth just nodded. He knew Brent knew the answer to his question but he wasn't going to push his luck. "I, uh, hear a congrats are in order," he offered lamely to keep the conversation from getting awkward.

"Oh, thanks. Yeah, Becca and I really excited."

"And Parker?"

"I'm not sure."

Booth decided it was time to let the conversation die and attempt to hear what was going on in the back room with his son. He could hear his ex and Parker mumbling and a few whines but nothing that suggested he needed to intervene.

Rebecca emerged minutes later.

"Hi, Seeley. Who's this?"

"I'm Hadley. I'm Bones' foster kid," she added, to save her friend the explanation. Booth gave her a small thankful grin and turned back to Parker's mom.

"Where's Parker?"

"Doctor Brennan is a foster mother?"

"Yeah, where's Parker?"

"In his room."

"Well is he ready to go?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't think he's going to go with you this weekend, Seeley."

Booth couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You wanna tell me why you're gonna keep my kid from me?"

"The three of us need to spend some family time together and this weekend this perfect."

"What about me? Don't I get some family time with Parker? No offence, Rebecca, but this guy," he waved toward Brent, "isn't even Parker's family."

"He will be."

Booth's plan of staying calm at Rebecca for Parker's sake went out the window. "No. I don't think so."

"What? Are you going to tell me who I can and can't marry?"

"I don't give a damn who you marry, but you're not going to keep me from my son. I'm not afraid of you any more, Rebecca. Did he tell you he wants to live with me?"

Her face paled. "Yes."

"Well, I want him to live with me."

"I don't think so, Seeley. You're never home," was her reason.

"That's because he doesn't live with me! If he did, I'd leave the bureau at quitting time every day. And even if I had a case, I have plenty of friends who would be willing to look after Parker who love him and Parker loves them. And I wouldn't keep him from you like you do to me. You know that."

She stayed quiet at his comment and Booth noticed Parker pulling all sorts of bags from his room down the hall. From the looks of it, he was moving out, bringing his clothes, his hockey gear and prized possessions with him.

"Hadley, could you help Parker with his bags?" Booth asked loud enough for Rebecca to hear, and she didn't put up a fight. Hadley walked over to Parker, who looked at the stranger with confusion, but he could tell his dad trusted her, so he handed her a bag and the two walked to the door in silence.

They stood there, waiting for some instruction of what to do. Booth tossed Hadley his car keys. "Go load up the bags. I'll be down in a minute."

The kids left, leaving the adults alone.

"What, are you her babysitter or something?" Rebecca asked, her defensive side coming into play.

"Her father was killed and Bones and I are working the case. Bones is at work. She doesn't want Hadley at the lab while we're solving her father's murder."

Rebecca blushed at her harshness and said, "That's a really nice thing Doctor Brennan is doing for that girl."

Booth just nodded.

"Brent, can you excuse us? I need to talk to Seeley."

Brent left the room and walked into the kitchen. Booth knew he only went one room over so he could eavesdrop but he didn't care. He felt like he was about to win. For the first time since he became a father, he actually felt like it.

"You're not taking him away from me, Seeley."

"I'd never do that to you, Rebecca. But he's confused. Hadley told me something this morning and I think she's right." Booth repeated what Hadley had said while they were eating French toast and Rebecca looked sad.

"I'm not trying to replace you in his life. It's just a new step in mine."

Booth rolled his eyes. "Did you even think about asking him how he felt? It affects him too. It scared the shit out of me the other night when he called me crying. I thought one of you was hurt. He's not a little boy anymore, Becca. He's becoming a man and things are confusing for him. He's starting to notice girls and he doesn't want his mom cramping his style," Booth said trying to make things a bit lighter.

Rebecca smiled at him and he knew he was getting somewhere.

"Just let him spend some time with me," Booth begged.

After what seemed like forever, Rebecca finally nodded. "I'll let him stay a week or two with you. Weekends…he's here though. And if he starts slacking off in school or anything like that, this little experiment is over."

Booth's face lit up with a thousand watt smile and he gave Rebecca a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Becca. I gotta go, the kids are in the car." And he dashed out the door.

"So, what's your name?"

"I'm Hadley."

"Oh. I'm Parker."

"I know. Booth talks about you all the time."

"How do you know my dad?"

"My…uh, well, Bones. I know Bones."

"You know Bones? I love Bones! She's so awesome!"

"Yeah, she seems pretty cool."

"How do you know Bones?"

"She's my…Bones is my foster mom."

Parker didn't know how to respond to something like that. The two were sitting in Booth's car, waiting for him to come out of Rebecca's apartment.

"Do you think my dad is going to convince my mom to let me with him?" Parker asked, changing the subject.

Hadley shrugged. "Maybe. He really wants you to live with him."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome. I hope Mom let's me stay with Dad. I don't like Brent. He's not like Dad at all."

Hadley was sitting where her guardian normally sat and turned to look at Parker in the back. "Do you want Brent to be like Booth?"

"No! I just want my dad. That's it."

They stayed quiet and they finally saw Booth jog out to the car.

"Hi, Dad!"

"Hey, Bub. Guess what?"

"I get to live with you?"

"You get to stay with me for a couple of weeks!"

"That's it?" Parker sounded disappointed, "I don't want to go back to Mom's. Ever."

"Hey, don't say that. You're going to see her next weekend. But you get to spend the whole week with me. But when these two weeks are over, if you still want to stay with me, we're going to talk to Mom again, okay? The three of us are going to sit down and talk things over, okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Parker relented.

"Bub, buck up! We're gonna have so much fun these next two weeks. Let's not dwell on it, okay?"

"Okay, Dad," Parker told him, his smile bigger than Booth had seen in ages.