Thanks, friendly readers! Mendenbar, Booth called the school to arrange the pickup...does that work? ;) Yes, Christmas has the potential for miserableness, but you know where it ends-with The Goop on the Girl Christmas party! Booth's toast is pretty heartwarming. Selin74, thanks so much! RT, Angela can be very persistent, indeed. And Daisy does think things revolve around her a little too much. She needs to get a grip! Peanutmeg, Oh a Parker lover? Then this next scene's for you. :D


After Angela had dropped Parker and Lance back at the FBI, the two were on their way to Booth's office. Lance was carrying Parker's winter parka over his arm and hurrying to keep up with the boy who was trotting along at a rapid pace.

Parker slowed suddenly and looked up at Lance to ask a question. "Dr. Sweets, do you have a girlfriend?"

Lance smiled, "Yeah. Her name's Daisy." Where was this going? Lance wondered. He was really fond of Booth's boy.

"Daisy—like a flower?"

Lance nodded.

"Do you guys kiss?" Parker's expression betrayed revulsion at this prospect.

"Uhhhh…sure. Why do you ask?" Lance lifted an eyebrow.

They had reached Booth's office, but it was vacant. Parker flung himself in a chair and began mangling the bobble head. He then made it attack Booth's stapler.

"Because…" Parker trailed off wistfully. The bobble head did a nose dive and clattered—plastic upon plastic. "Does Dad kiss Bones?"

Lance laughed at Parker's use of his dad's nickname for Dr. Brennan. Kids.

"No, Parker. They're just partners." Lance though, Yeah. Just partners. He remembered back to a few Christmases ago when Booth and Brennan had kissed under the mistletoe at Caroline's request. He still wondered if there had been tongue, but they'd withheld that information from him. Should I be disturbed that I'm standing in Booth's office wondering if his tongue has been in Dr. Brennan's mouth? Probably, he decided, and shook his head. He needed to stop tinkering with his book on their partnership.

"Good, kissing is gross. But…Dr. Sweets?"

Lance nodded again at the boy.

"Dad seems sad lately," Parker said, looking quite dejected himself.

Lance squatted down by Parker to be at eye level. "Well Parker, your dad misses you when you're not here for Christmas. You're the most important thing in the world to him," Lance explained sincerely.

"I miss him, too." Parker's face fell even more. "I wish Mom wasn't making me to Canada. Dr. Sweets?"

"Yes, Parker?" Lance was beginning to feel the slightest bit weary at the barrage of questions. Besides, he had a lot of research to do to prepare for questioning Daniel Chace tomorrow.

"Where are your parents? You seem kind of lonely."

Parker's words sliced through Lance's heart. The kid clearly had a knack for reading people, just like his father. It was eerie.

At this moment, Booth strolled in looking casual and tousled Parker's hair. "Hey there, Parker!" But Booth stopped short at the serious expression on his son's face.

Lance was hoping to get off the hook. "Agent Booth," he greeted, scrambling to think of a question to ask Booth to redirect Parker.

But Parker asked again, more forcefully, "Dr. Sweets? Aren't you spending Christmas with your family?"

Lance looked helplessly at Booth. He could not think of a single appropriate thing to say. Booth looked grim and wasn't offering any suggestions. He was probably thinking about his own impending separation from Parker.

Finally Lance settled on, "I don't have any family, Parker." Just the act of stating such a severe reality made Lance ache. He wondered why he had phrased it like that. It was overly harsh. He attempted to recover. "But I'll spend Christmas with my girlfriend, Daisy. Remember? Like the flower."

Parker nodded solemnly. Lance gave him a friendly fist bump and said goodbye. He found himself wondering if he would spend Christmas with Daisy. He hadn't asked her. Wouldn't she want to spend it with her family? They actually lived fairly close in Baltimore.

As Lance was retreating into the hallway, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Booth.

"Hey, Sweets. If you don't have anywhere to go for the holidays…"

"Thanks, Agent Booth. But I…" he started to say, I'll be fine, but then he realized that his friend might have no one to spend Christmas with either with Brennan and Parker gone. He searched for the right words to say that he'd be happy to be there for Booth. He needed Booth too. But the moment passed.

Booth had walked away, as Parker had called for him. Damn, thought Lance. Damn! I missed it. Why am I always missing the chance to tell Booth that I care? Once in his office, Lance shoved a bunch of scratch papers off his desk into the trash can in an angry swoop. It felt good to do something physical. All these people he loved in his life—he had a funny way of showing them he cared. If he wasn't careful he was going to lose them. As Parker had so astutely extracted, Lance had no family other than his friends at the Jeffersonian. And he wasn't always as secure in them as he wished.


It was the next day around 5pm. Booth and Lance were sitting with Daniel Chace in the interrogation room, Brennan listening in. She hadn't even asked to participate. She still seemed withdrawn.

Daniel had very fine features, as Lance remembered. He was 16, had an eyebrow ring, and was very skinny, adorned in a black t-shirt and black skinny jeans. With a wig on, it would have been impossible to identify his gender. He seemed to be wearing concealer on his cheeks and forehead.

The boy was rocking himself gently by his elbows.

Booth began. "Daniel, did you know Matt Schriber very well?"

Daniel said, "Um no…not very well." He was visibly shaking.

Lance was very concerned at his behavior. "Daniel, you're safe here. You don't have to be frightened. You're not in trouble."

Daniel looked away.

Lance tried, "I saw you outside of the metro the other day. Were you looking for me?"

Daniel didn't speak. He had tears in his eyes. This boy was traumatized. Booth looked at Lance for an explanation of the strange behavior.

Lance made his voice very soothing, very calm. "Daniel, have you ever interacted with Mr. Baras?"

Daniel cringed at the name, and Lance nodded to himself. Mr. Baras was hurting these children, he conjectured. The question was, in what way. Psychological, physical, sexual? Lance was glad Mr. Baras wasn't nearby, because he had the sudden urge to pin him to a wall. Or maybe let Booth do that.

"Yeah, I had him for Latin last year…" Daniel's voice trailed off to a whisper. He had a soft voice to begin with.

"Would you say you had a pleasant relationship with him?" Booth asked, catching on.

Daniel closed his mouth and looked away. "I'm, I'm not…" he was speechless.

Booth looked like he was about to speak again when Lance subtly gestured for him to remain silent.

"Daniel, I know this must be hard to discuss. But being intimidated or bullied by teachers is far more common than you may think. There's nothing to be ashamed of. It's not your fault. Did Mr. Baras say something or do something to hurt you?"

Daniel still wouldn't respond.

"Did he ever touch you?" Lance asked suddenly. Booth jumped. Daniel also jumped and looked down fiercely. "Ok, I'm going to take that as a yes, that happened. Look, Daniel, it's not your fault. We're going to get you some help. But first, we'd really like to know the truth about Matt."

Daniel locked Lance with his eyes. He refused to look at Booth. Daniel's voice was trembling as he said, "He hurt Matt. Matt told me about it. Mr. Baras, he didn't like guys like me and Matt."

Gay boys? Lance thought and sighed.

"Daniel, I know that it seems like the world is coming down around you, but I promise you, we can get you help and things can get better. I promise." Lance wanted to squeeze his hand, but he made the call that this kid did not want to be touched. He handed him a tissue instead and stood up.

"We'll be right back," he finished reassuringly.

Lance walked out the door; Booth followed his lead. They went into the observation room to rejoin Brennan.

"I'm going to need to take this from here," Lance said earnestly. "I'll arrange for him to be counseled. No more questions today, ok?"

Booth replied, "Sweets, sexual molestation. This could well be motive for murder. Maybe Matt threatened to tell, and Mr. Baras killed him."

"Agreed. It's a possibility. But right now, I need to focus on the boy in that room. My first guess is he was raped and so was Matt. That kind of reaction implies assault to me, not just molestation."

"Raped?" Booth gasped.

Brennan jumped in immediately, "It's estimated that perhaps one in every 8 or 9 rapes is of a male. Perhaps more, because they are less often reported than female rapes."

Booth was shocked.

Lance said, "Well, I'm also thinking our victim, Matt, was potentially gay. He may have been struggling under a tremendous burden. Asperger's, his sexual identity, and a potential rape. I wouldn't take suicide off the table." Lance sighed heavily. He was trying to stop his mind from whirring and sucking him back into the darkness of his own past.

"Wow, this case really sucks," Lance said aloud, just to say something. He shook his head.

Brennan nodded contemplatively. "I would like to have a drink."

Booth nodded. "Founding Fathers in an hour? Sweets?"

Lance was touched that Booth was including him. "Deal," he replied.