Author's Note: Next chapter. At this rate I should have this one finished by the end of next week. In the meantime, enjoy this longer chapter (at least longer for this fic). :D
I do not own Bones or any of its characters.
Thank you again to everyone who is reading/following/reviewing this.
TimeWitch93: Well I do have a great fondness for the Sweets family in general (at least as I see them). :) To answer your question, Lance first met Peter when he was eleven. So by this point they have started to make amends. I hope you end up enjoy what I've come up with.
Lives in the now: Thank you for your review and your kind words on the case wrap up. :) It's probably one of the hardest parts for me to hash out when writing these, but it's fun when it falls together and I'm happy my readers appreciate them as well...I agree that Sweets meeting up with Peter at this point might have their own...complications...
Nattylovesjordy: Thank you. I agree that for someone like Sweets, returning to twelve is not always going to be a good thing for a lot of reasons...Still it is lots of fun to have fluffy family moments between him and B&B. :) I hope you enjoy the rest of it.
Peanutmeg: Thank you for the review. As odd as this would all be, I could still see everyone's parental instincts start to kick in...even Booth's. ;) I hope you enjoy this update.
Rankor01: Yeah, even though it is crackfic, I like to play with the familial atmosphere of Bones. Amnesia is an interesting thing. Sometimes memory never comes back, other times it just takes the right trigger, and other times yet, it takes time for memory to return. I agree with you in not really caring for the old cliches of a bop on the head or just looking at a picture and wham! memory returns...Peter will continue to appear in my work here and there, although his presence here will be sort of limited...
Purplebookwormgirl: I will admit, this is one of my own favorite titles. :) It's been a lot of fun to put a "child" into the Bones universe with Sweets this way. And yes, as I consider the impending parenthood of B&B, it's not hard to imagine the both of them becoming increasingly close to each other as well as somewhat parental themselves.
Charlotte Thornton: Thank you. I was wanting to put more humor into this one, but I am still somewhat of a sucker for the heart-felt fluff...As well as they "baby duck" analogy. :D I'm glad you enjoyed the case tie up as well.
D: I agree that Sweets can not be left on his own while he works to either regain his memory or return to school to get his education again. I also agree that living with his "family" at the Jeffersonian could help a lot not only with what he faced before but also with the challenges he would face as he continued to grow up mentally inside an adult body. As to how all of this is going to work out...well there will be some difficulties before it's all over.
The Confusion in the Duckling—Chapter 10
Once they arrived at the Medico-Legal lab, Booth woke Sweets up and the three of them went inside. Booth and Brennan went to work on filling out the rest of the forms and paperwork needed to close out the case in her office while Sweets sat down on the couch and read. After about an hour or so, Sweets got up and asked if he could go for a walk.
"All right," Booth said. "But make sure to stay in the lab, all right?"
"And do not try to go onto the forensic platform," Brennan added.
"Ok," the therapist shrugged before leaving the office. Satisfied that Sweets would be sufficiently occupied and in a secure location, Booth and Brennan went back to work.
About one hour later, Cam stopped by Brennan's office with gift bag in her hands, asking for Sweets.
"He's somewhere around the lab," Booth told her. "I'd try up on the balcony. I think he likes to watch everyone working from up there."
The pathologist took Booth up on his suggestion and headed up there to find him. As she approached the top, however, she could hear the sound of someone crying and immediately became concerned. She walked over to the far side of the balcony area to find Sweets sitting on the floor, sobbing into his hands.
"Sweets," Cam said softly. The therapist jumped a little in response and turned to see her standing over him.
"Doctor Saroyan…."
"Sweets, you can call me Cam, if you'd like," she reminded him.
"Cam," Sweets sniffled. "I…I…" He stopped and wiped his face with his sleeve. Cam sat the bag she was holding down onto the floor next to the couch and held out her hand. Sweets stared at it for a moment before taking it and rising to his feet. The pathologist then guided him over to sit with her on the couch.
"Were you thinking about your parents again?" she asked. The psychologist gave the barest of nods and then proceeded to stare at the floor. Cam reached over for his hand again.
"They're the only people who ever loved me," he warbled. "And…and I loved them. They were so nice, so kind to everybody. Why did they have to…have to…?"
"I don't know," Cam said sadly, squeezing his hand. "I am so sorry, Sweets. But listen to me: as much as I am sure that your parents were wonderful people who loved you…I can assure you that they are not the only people who love you."
The psychologist shook his head silently, his eyes still fixed on the floor. Cam sighed a blinked back a couple tears of her own before speaking again.
"Can I show you something?" she asked. Sweets shrugged and the pathologist pulled the necklace she was wearing off of her neck and held it out toward him. On the end of the chain was a locket which she opened, revealing a picture inside.
"That's me and my daughter Michelle," she said.
"She looks nice," Sweets nodded.
"She's wonderful," Cam said. "She's my adopted daughter."
"Adopted," Sweets said, finally looking up. "Like me?"
"Yes," Cam smiled. "Her mother died a long time ago. When she was a little girl."
"What about her father?" the therapist asked.
"He raised his daughter alone," she said somberly. "And I fell in love with him. With Michelle too, but back then she was still a very young girl. She became like a daughter to me."
"Did you stay with him?"
"No," the pathologist said. "I couldn't, and there were a lot of reasons for that. But Michelle, it broke my heart to leave her. Then one day, years later, her father died, and Michelle needed someone to take care of her."
"So you adopted her?"
"Yes," Cam replied. "We have a life together and are very happy, but…I know she still misses her parents sometimes. It doesn't mean that we don't love each other; it just means that she still loves her parents and probably always will."
The pathologist put her necklace back on and then took Sweets' other hand in hers.
"I know that you miss your parents, but you should know that you have a family here too," she said. "I promise you that we won't leave you."
Sweets nodded and Cam picked up the bag off the floor.
"This is for you," she said, handing it over to him. "Miss Wick…Daisy gave this to one of the lab techs before leaving with the message that she hopes that you get better soon and she would like to see you again some time."
Sweets blushed and opened up the bag, gaping at what he found. He then slowly pulled out a caramel-colored plush teddy bear. He let the bag drop to the floor and studied the bear in his hands.
"It looks just like Mr. B," he murmured, his cheeks growing redder.
"Mr. B?"
"I uh, I," Sweets stammered. "When I was a kid, my parents got me this toy bear and um…."
"I get it," Cam smiled. Despite his blushing, Sweets held the bear close for a moment before pulling it back and staring into the bear's face again.
"I can remember when Mom and Dad got me Mr. B," he said. "Dad said that it was so that I didn't have to be alone when I was sleeping. I…I didn't forget that."
Cam's expression fell when she saw how Sweets' shoulders were beginning to shake again.
"But I've been looking at all of my pictures of me and Mom and Dad," he sniffled. "And there are so many of them where I don't remember anything about them. In fact, the last thing I remember from when I was...from before was snapping at Mom and Dad for something stupid not long before I went to bed…friends coming over or something, I can't remember what. Before I went to sleep they came to my room and said good night to me and said that they love me. But, I could tell that I hurt their feelings. I was going to tell them how sorry I was the next morning and try to make it up to them."
Sweets looked up at her, and Cam felt her own eyes sting when she saw fresh tears streaming down his face.
"I don't know if I said I was sorry," he cried. "I don't know if I made them feel any better. What if I didn't? What if I was a bad kid who caused them nothing but trouble?"
"I'm sure you weren't," she said softly. "I'm sure that your parents knew that you loved them."
"But I can't remember," he said. "I can't remember anything we did or said after that day. All those years, all those times we might have spent together…What if I don't ever get them back?"
Sweets hung his head back down and held the bear close to him again.
"I just want to see them again," he sobbed. "So I could tell them sorry, and that I love them and that I miss them. But I can't"
Cam found herself at a loss while watching him weep and tried to take one his hands into hers again. As she reached for him, Sweets leaned forward and hugged her instead. Cam was surprised by the move, her eyes widening slightly, but then carefully put her arms around him.
"I'm sorry, Sweets," she whispered as she held him. They stayed that way for a few minutes until the sound of footfalls on the stairwell beside them caught their attention. The two of them let go of each other to watch Booth and Brennan walk up onto the balcony.
"Come on, Sweets," Booth said quietly. "Bones and I are going to get you something to eat, and then it's back to my place so you can get some rest."
After a brief meal at the Diner that was mostly spent in silence, Booth dropped Brennan off at the lab and then drove Sweets back to his apartment. The therapist changed his clothes and settled in on the couch. He sat with a blanket wrapped around him and stared at the walls, still saying next to nothing. Wanting to break this silence, Booth sat down onto the couch beside him.
"I called your cousin today," he said. Sweets looked over at him, his brows knitted together in confusion.
"You called Elizabeth?" he asked.
"No, no ah your other cousin, Peter," Booth said. "You gave me his card once."
"Peter?" the psychologist asked. "Why him? I mean, he is family and we are pretty friendly with each other these days, but it's not like we're close or anything. Maybe you should have called Aunt Kate."
"I don't know about that," Booth said, reaching for a piece of paper he had laid on the coffee table. "But while you may not remember everything about your cousin, you seem to be pretty important to him. He sent me this picture in an email and told me to tell you that as soon as he can, he will come to visit you. In the meantime, he wants you to talk to him as soon as possible."
Sweets took the paper from Booth's hand and unfolded it. The paper turned out to be a print-out of a photograph of him and Peter from about three years ago. The two of them were smiling as they posed with each them having an arm slung around each others shoulders. The psychologist's hands started to tremble as he looked at the picture.
"Sweets?"
"He looks just like Dad," Sweets whispered, tears leaking into his voice again. He then looked up at the agent again.
"You said that he's coming here to see me?" he asked.
"Yeah, he was worried about you when I told him what was going on," Booth nodded. "But he knows that you're ok and that we're taking care of you. Maybe visiting with him will help you remember things."
"I guess, maybe," Sweets shrugged as he put the paper down onto the coffee table. He started to fidget with his fingers in his lap.
"Agent Booth?"
"What is it, Sweets?"
"If…if I don't get my memory back where am I going to go?" the therapist asked. "I'm too old to be put into the foster system or an orphanage or anything like that." Sweets shuddered violently and looked up at Booth again.
"You're not going to put me away, are you?" he nearly whispered. "Cause I can only remember being a kid? I mean that's not normal, right? To be twenty-five and think that you're only twelve?"
"No. Listen to me, Sweets we're not going to do any of that," Booth said his voice firm. "I promise."
"Then, what am I going to do?" Sweets sniffled. Booth felt his insides twist at the fear that was plainly visible in the therapist's eyes. He reached over and clasped Sweets' shoulder tightly.
"Listen, Bones and I…we were talking about that earlier while we were working on our paperwork," Booth said. "We also got to talking to Angela and Hodgins and….Well we decided…Sweets, how would you like to live with one of us?"
"You mean, live with you or Brennan?" Sweets asked, his eyes widening in awe.
"Sure," the agent smiled at him. "You could stay with one of us, and we can help you get back into school. Even at twelve, I'm sure you could test out of a lot of stuff, and you could probably get back into college in no time. By the time you're done with school, you probably won't be that much over thirty." The agent patted Sweets' back a couple times.
"But you need to know that we're not just going to let you crash with us and then dump you out at school," he continued. "We're going to be kind of like your guardians, and that means you need to listen to us and not leave us out of the loop, understand? We're going to be keeping tabs on you and will expect you to come to us if you have any problems or issues. No shutting us out. We will all be here for you when you need us: me, Bones, Angela, Hodgins and Cam. But you are also going to have to do your part if you're going to be a part of our team…our family. Do you understand?"
Sweets sat there silently, his eyes locked onto Booth's. The agent almost gulped a little when it looked like the therapist was lapsing into one of his so-called "creepy stares", a move Sweets always did when he was trying to get inside the head of whomever he was talking to.
'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all,' Booth thought. 'He might think we're trying to "replace" his parents or something…I mean he's technically an adult. There's no reason why he would have to do anything we tell him…And he might not want us sticking our noses into his life.'
Booth was shocked, however, when Sweets suddenly decided to lunge over and hug him. Unsure and not entirely comfortable with the gesture, Booth tentatively patted Sweets' back again.
"Ok, ok," he said.
"Thank you," Sweets whispered as he sniffed hard. "Booth…I…."
"It's ok, Sweets," Booth said, a trace of a smile on his face. "I get it." He then finally relented and gave Sweets a brief hug back before gently encouraging the therapist to let go.
"All right," Booth said. "First things first: you need to get some sleep. Then tomorrow I'm going to help you get in contact with your cousin. Then we will see what's next after that."
"Ok," Sweets nodded his eyes finally starting to light up again.
That night, Sweets stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He kept turning the events of the past couple of days around in his mind over and over again.
He thought about how scared he had been when he had first woken up and had entered this world where he was twenty-five and he worked beside all of these people who had taken care of him for the past two days. Not since he had been in the foster system had he felt so much apprehension and anxiety. Even though all of his instincts told him that these were good people who would be kind to him, it had been hard at first to trust them.
Sweets looked around in the dark and could see the faint outline of a stack of objects sitting nearby: the book Brennan had given him, the bear Daisy had sent him and the bag of "memory prompts" Brennan had gathered for him. Their presence created a warm glow inside of him.
'They're my friends,' he thought. 'The people who gave all this to me. I have friends now. No, more than friends. Just friends don't take care of you like this. Like they've taken care of me.'
'I have another family.'
Sweets smiled when he thought about that. Before he was adopted, he had been convinced that no one would ever want him in their family. Now he had had two by the time he was an adult. Despite the happiness he felt at this revelation, Sweets also felt a sharp pain hit his heart. He thought yet again about David and Carolyn and found himself filled with guilt.
'Mom and Dad loved me and cared for me when no one else wanted me. They are my parents. No one else could ever be them.'
'I have to see them. I have to tell them I'm sorry. I have to tell them…I have to tell them that I love them.'
Sweets got up from the couch and crept over to a nearby closet. After rooting around quietly for a few minutes, he found and old drawstring book bag. He then loaded it up with the bear, the book, the photo album and a couple other things Brennan had taken from his apartment. His hands trembling, he then grabbed the wallet that Booth said was his and took all the cash out of it. He then did the same with Booth's wallet.
Sweets dressed in the dark hastily and put on his shoes. A twinge pulling at his heart, he walked back over to the coffee table and picked up a piece of paper and a pencil and started to write.
Tears leapt to his eyes as he scrawled out a couple of words onto the paper. He knew that what he was doing was probably the wrong thing to do, but he also knew that he couldn't stop himself.
'They're going to be mad at me for this,' he thought as his vision started to blur from unshed tears. 'They probably won't want me after tonight. They'll leave me alone because that's what I'll deserve. Who knows what will happen to me then. Maybe they really will put me away or...No, I won't let them do that. I'll run before they can do that.'
Sweets finished with his note and let the pencil fall from his fingers onto the table top. His body shook as he let loose some more silent tears at the thought that he was going to lose the only family he had left now.
After a few minutes, however, his wiped his face off as best he could and stood up. He grabbed his bag and took one last lingering look at the apartment before creeping out the door and into the night.
A few hours later, daylight stretched in through the curtains of Booth's bedroom, and the agent started to stir. His body anticipating the alarm clock, Booth cracked his eyes open and hit the alarm button before it had a chance to awaken him. He then lingered in bed for almost three more minutes before finally sitting up and working the kinks out of his neck and shoulders.
The agent started to walk toward the bathroom, but paused to check the foot of his bed. Upon finding no one there, Booth nodded and went to use the bathroom. After he was done, he pulled his robe around himself and walked toward the front room.
"Ok Sweets," Booth said, clapping his hands together. "Up and at 'em."
Booth was shocked, however, to find the couch empty. He walked around the apartment, but found no sign of the psychologist. He then noticed that some of Sweets' stuff was missing, but that his wallet was still laying next to his own and Sweets' duffel bag was still there on the floor with most of his clothes in it.
"Sweets?" he called out. "Sweets, where are you?" He wasn't surprised when he didn't get an answer. By now, he was certain that Sweets was gone and that he was alone.
Suddenly he glanced over at the coffee table and found the piece of paper Sweets had left behind. He snatched it up and scanned it for a few seconds before dashing back to the bedroom and grabbing his cell phone.
"Bones it's me. Sweets is gone…No, I don't know where he is….No, I don't think it's like the last time when he ran. It's more serious this time...No Bones, I…I don't know where he's going."