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I don't own Bones, not even a smidgen.

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Reluctantly answering the phone, Booth advised the caller, "If you're calling me again to give me a shit load of grief then don't bother, Angela. You told me two days ago that you haven't found Pelant and you don't know where to look, so unless you've figured out a new way to track the guy down, I'm not in the mood for anymore of your lectures."

Yeah, well the only reason why I'm calling you is because I may have found Pelant.

His heart starting to beat faster, Booth choked out, "What? Where?"

The RCMP ran a picture in some of the newspapers in the Province of Quebec of a man found buried in a shallow grave between Montreal and Granby. It appears he'd died about five days before his body was found by some hikers. They haven't been able to identify him and they're asking for help from the public. The photo matches my photos of Pelant. You might want to check into it and see if it really is Pelant.

The call ending abruptly, Booth ended his call and placed the phone gently on the desk before him. Staring at it, his fury started to grow, "Max!"

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Striding into the house, Booth searched for his partner's father. Finding him upstairs resting in Parker's bedroom, Booth charged in and slammed the door shut behind him, "What the fuck did you do?"

Waking, Max stared in bewilderment at the angry Agent, "You're going to have to give me a hint, Booth."

His anger barely under control, Booth stepped closer and stopped two feet from the bed. His hands clenching into fists, he snarled, "A body has been found in Canada and it looks like it might be Pelant. You tell me how that's possible, Max. Tell me what you did."

"Oh, it's about time." Moving his legs so he was now sitting on the edge of the bed, the older man rubbed his eyes, "It's been four weeks. I was beginning to wonder if the RCMP was going to ask for help or not. My next move was to . . ."

Stepping forward, Booth grabbed Max's shirt front and hauled him to a standing position, "What game are you playing, Max? Do you want us to go to jail? What the fuck did you do?"

The rage in Booth making Max pause to consider how to answer him without the younger man hurting him, Max placed his hands on Booth's hands, "I can't explain if you choke me."

Pushing Max away from him, he witnessed the older man fall back on the bed. Moving back a few paces, Booth crossed his arms, "If I . . . if you've set me up, I swear to God . . . "

"Whoa!" Shaking his head, Max protested, "Set you up? Are you crazy? I'm the one who'd fry. Don't be an idiot. I needed to fix what I did so you and Tempe could get married. I knew you'd be too afraid to ask her because you wouldn't be able to explain why it was safe to get married. I knew you were going to be caught in a dilemma the minute I did what I did. I just let you bury our package for your peace of mind. I never intended to let it stay there. I called a guy I know and trust and I had him take care of things for me. Your name was never mentioned. I figured if it blew up in my face it would be my face. You're safe. I did it and I took care of it. Me, Booth. You aren't involved."

Shaking his head, Booth reminded him, "I am involved,"

A smile appearing, Max shook his head, "No, you're not. I did it and I took care of it. If worse comes to worse you're connected by marriage to someone who is a murderer but that's all. You can ask Tempe to marry you now."

Rubbing his forehead, Booth asked, "What happens when they give the body to that forensic anthropologist in Montreal that Bones talks about. She says Dr. Thibault is almost as good as she is. We've seen Bones and her team find a murderer with as little as a chipped tooth or a damned piece of hair. What happens when they trace him to whoever buried him and they point the finger at you?"

Shrugging his shoulder, Max asserted, "No one will point a finger at me and if he does, I don't care. I'll be the one that goes down. Tempe and Christine need you. No way will you ever be attached to this mess." Seeing that the rage in Booth was barely under control, Max decided to give him more information, "The guy that took care of this is dying. He has a brain tumor of some kind. He's got maybe a year or two of life and then he's going to die. He and I made a deal. I will take care of his family when he dies. I have a trust fund set up for his wife and his daughter. When he dies they can start using it. I'm a family friend and they know I'm a generous fella. The trust is already funded and his wife and daughter will be told about it on the day he dies. . . . Yeah, it's possible that they may track my man down but he's prepared to take the fall for the whole thing. He's got nothing to lose and everything to gain. His daughter's college education is going to be paid for by me and believe me, it's going to be expensive. She wants to be a neurosurgeon."

Trying to contain his anger and his worry, Booth complained, "You should have left him where he was, damn it. You . . ." Throwing his hands in the air, Booth turned, opened the door and stalked from the room."

Watching the agent leave the room, Max muttered, "Well at least he didn't kill me, so that went better than I thought it would."

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Finding Booth in the kitchen drinking a beer, Max sat down across the table from him, "You can ask Tempe to marry you now. She needs you, Booth. The only time she's been happy has been when you two are together. She needs you and I know you need her. You two love each other and I would do anything and I mean anything to make sure your lives are happy. I did what I did for you and her. Don't you see that?"

His eyes boring into the conman, Booth placed his beer bottle on the table, "I do love her and I don't want to hurt her. I never wanted to hurt her. It almost killed me to turn her down. I should have had more faith in her. I was afraid that she'd give me away if I told her and Pelant would go on a killing campaign. Her concern for innocent lives was all it took for her get it right. I hurt her and I . . . "Closing his eyes, Booth sighed, "I don't know why she loves me, but I thank God she does."

Placing his hand on Booth's hand, Max smiled, "She trusts you. That's why she loves you, Booth. She trusts you. Trust is a huge concern of hers. Hell, she still doesn't trust me. I don't think she ever will again. But you . . . You she trusts and she loves you and I want to give her what she needs. She needs you and this is how I'm doing it. You don't have anything to worry about. Confirm that Pelant has been found. Do it publicly and then ask her to marry you. She needs that Booth. She needs to know that her trust wasn't wasted. I need to know that you'll be there for my baby. I'm getting old. I need to know that she'll never be alone again."

Opening his eyes, Booth stared at Max's hand on his. After his hand was Withdrawn, Booth assured him, "She'll never be alone if I have anything to say about it. I love her. . . . It's pretty ironic you know. Pelant wiped his identity from all of the databases he could find and now the only way to identify him is by pictures. We can't do it by DNA or fingerprints just a picture. If we wanted to, we could not say anything and no one would ever know he was dead. Angela identified him from drawing done by a forensic artist. All I have to do is say it's not him and that would be end of it. They'd bury him in a pauper grave and we'd be safe."

Shaking his head, Max commented, "But you can't do that if you want to propose to Tempe."

Nodding his head, Booth sighed, "Yeah. You better hope your guy did a good job. If he didn't then your faith is about to be tested in him and mine in yours."

Leaning forward on the table, Max smiled, "You're out of the equation, Booth. Completely out of the equation. No matter how this goes down, you are not going to involved in anyway. My man thinks I did this. I'm the only one who knows you were there. He stripped the body, washed it and well some other things to make sure the only DNA that would be on the body would be his. He's making sure his wife and daughter are taken care of. You are safe. Completely safe."

Sipping his beer, Booth took a long swallow. His beer finished, Booth placed the empty bottle on the table, "Thanks, Max."

"You're welcome." Standing, Max informed him, "I'm going upstairs to check on Christine. Go back to work. Do your job and then ask my baby to marry you you dumb cop. Do it as soon as you can."

Watching him leave the room, Booth took his phone out of his pocket, "Angela, I contacted the RCMP and I'm pretty sure you're right, it's Pelant. Thanks for letting me know. Dr. Thibault is going to contact Bones later this morning for a consultation. You might warn her about it."

Alright, what happens after everyone agrees that it's Pelant? What are you going to do about the mess you made?

"That's a good question, Angela." Ending the call, Booth placed the phone of the table and stared at it. "That's a very good question."

Oooooooooooooooo

Entering the Lab, Booth walked down the hallway towards the platform. Spying Brennan on the platform, he smiled as he made his way over to the stairs leading up to where she was standing. Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Booth looked up and called out, "Bones, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Looking away from the skeleton laid out on the steel table, she replied, "Yes of course." Removing her latex gloves, she threw them in the biohazard bin and walked over to the top of the steps. Moving down the staircase slowly, Brennan remarked, "Dr. Thibault concurs with me that the body found near Granby is Christopher Pelant."

Nodding his head, Booth grinned, "Yeah, I talked to Dr. Thibault forty minutes ago." His left hand behind his back, Booth moved it around so that Brennan could see the small bouquet of daisies he had in his hand. Looking around to make sure that he had an adequate audience, Booth spied Angela standing in her office doorway and smirked at her.

Turning back to face Brennan, he carefully knelt on one knee, "Bones, I'm going to be as plain as I can be, will you marry me?"

A smile appearing, her eyes twinkling, Brennan nodded her head, "Of course, Booth. You only had to ask."

Relieved, the agent stood up and handed the flowers to his fiancé, "Thank you, Bones." Stepping closer he pulled her into his embrace, crushing the flowers between them.

The small audience clapping, grinned when the couple kissed. Angela watching the couple kiss very passionately, found tears escaping down her cheeks. Letting them fall, she smiled at the sight of her best friend kissing the man she loved above all others. "I'm happy for you Bren. That's all I've ever wanted you to be . . . happy."

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