Thank you for reading my story. Let me know what you think of it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

After visiting with Caroline for awhile, Max left the Jefferson Memorial and drove back out of town. Careful to drive a couple of miles under the speed limit, Max used his turn signals when he made lane changes and made sure to abide by all of the laws for driving in the state of Virginia and then West Virginia. The last thing he needed was for some State Trooper or Sheriffs Deputy to pull him over for any reason.

Arriving in Keyser, West Virginia, Max got a room under the name of Auguste Dupin and slept until 9 a.m. To kill some time and to make sure that he still wasn't being tailed, Max spent a few hours at the library reading the "Purloined Letter". If he was being followed, Max couldn't find the tail. After waiting until noon, Max picked up some pizza and drove out to where he and Brennan were staying. After driving around on various roads, Max still couldn't see a tail and finally drove over to the cabin. Arriving at the cabin, Max took his now cold pizza from the car and walked into the cabin. Putting the pizza boxes onto the kitchen table, Max walked to Brennan's bedroom and knocked on the door.

Opening the door, Max said, "Hey, Honey I'm back. I've got pizza in the kitchen."

Nodding, Brennan stood up from the chair next to the bed and walked into the living room with Christine in her arms. Looking intently at Max, Brennan asked, "Can we go back home yet?"

Smiling, Max said, "Yeah. Pelant made the biggest mistake of his life and now it looks like you may be off the hook."

Frowning, Brennan walked into the kitchen area and sat down on the chair next to the kitchen table. "Is Booth really alright? He wasn't hurt was he?"

Shaking his head, Max sat down on the chair across the table from her and said, "Nah, he's fine. Pelant broke into your house and spiked all of the condiments in the fridge with something. When Booth made his sandwich for dinner whatever Pelant used knocked Booth out. Pelant then locked a bomb vest on Booth and then woke him up and told him to steal the evidence the Jeffersonian had compiled against him. He didn't count on the fact that Booth really doesn't play well with others. Booth called Cullen who called in the bomb squad. They got him out of the vest before Pelant could set off the bomb. You know Pelant is pretty stupid. I thought everyone knew that you can't threaten Booth. He's more likely to tell you to kiss his ass than anything. I thought Pelant was supposed to be a genius."

Smiling, Brennan said, "Just because you're a genius doesn't mean you can understand human nature. I have a hard time understanding how people behave and why they do what they do and I'm a genius. The only one I really understand in my life is Booth and that's because he tells me what he thinks about things. Most people are not that forthcoming."

Reaching out and patting Brennan's arm, Max said, "Well, Pelant made a mistake anyways. The FBI has the vest and the drug used on Booth. Caroline says that they found some hair on the vest that didn't belong to Booth or the bomb squad. They're running DNA tests now. The FBI is highly motivated to find whoever locked Booth into the vest. Because he's a convicted felon, they have Pelant's DNA on record; so, if it's a match then he'll be wanted for the attempted murder of a Federal Agent. If you want to piss off the FBI then go after one of their guys. It makes them very mad."

Lifting the lid on one of the pizza boxes, Brennan looked at the pizza and then at her father. "When should we leave? I want to go home."

Picking up a slice of the vegetarian pizza, Max said, "I guess we can leave tonight around midnight. We can get you and Christine home is a few hours. I think we should go to bed late this afternoon and get plenty of sleep. We want to be alert when we drive back. We don't want to make any mistakes and have the State Police stop us."

Picking up a slice of pizza, Brennan held it up looking at it very closely. "I'll be very happy to be home. I'm getting quite sick of pizza and Chinese takeout."

Laughing Max said, "When you were seven years old, you and Russ did something that made your Mom mad and she cancelled pizza night. I remember you telling me that someday you'd eat pizza whenever you wanted it and you planned to eat it all of the time."

Shaking her head, Brennan said, "Ignorance is bliss."

Ooooooooooooooooo

At midnight, Max loaded their few pieces of luggage into the trunk of their car and put their small cooler of water, formula and snacks onto the back seat. Brennan, carrying Christine, left the cabin and put Christine into the car seat that Max kept in the back seat. Once Christine was securely in her seat, Brennan got into the passenger side of the car. Looking at her father, Brennan said, "Let's go home, Dad. I need to be with Booth. Christine needs to be with her father."

Smiling, Max reached over and patted the left knee of his daughter. "We did what we had to do Honey. Booth understands that. It'll be alright."

Sighing, Brennan said, "I just hope he won't be too angry with me when he sees me."

Shaking his head, Max said, "He loves you Honey. You know that. I'm telling you it'll be alright. You'll see."

Looking back at Christine, Brennan said, "I took Booth's baby away from him. I abandoned him. Too many people have rejected him and abandoned him, Dad. How much more do you think he can take of that in his life before it affects him permanently?"

Frowning, Max said, "Booth loves you Baby. He loves you more than anyone else in this world. Yes, he loves his children; but, I swear I don't think the man would want to live if he had to live without you. He knows you didn't abandon him. He's smart and he knows that this was just temporary."

Turning back to face her father, Brennan said, "I don't want to live without Booth, Dad. I never could have done this permanently. I only did this to keep Pelant from killing me; but, I could never let Pelant keep me away from Booth forever. What would be the point? If I had to live without Booth then there would be no point in anything we've done."

Rubbing his hands against the steering wheel, Max said, "The point would be to stay alive for your daughter, Honey. She needs both of you. We did this to protect you until the FBI decided that Pelant was the one they needed to go after. Well they're doing that now. We can go home. You didn't abandon Booth. You just left him for a little while. You'll see. It'll be alright."

Closing her eyes, Brennan said, "Let's go home Dad."

Oooooooooooooooooo

Well Brennan is going back home.