(The Verdict in the Story)

I don't own Bones.

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He didn't understand why his daughter was helping him and he wanted to know why. So far, the trial looked pretty straightforward to him. The evidence was overwhelmingly against him and Max didn't see how his lawyer could sow doubt in the jury about what Ms. Julian and Booth's team had presented to them so far. To save his son, he had killed Deputy Director Kirby and he would do it again if he had to, but that meant he had killed a federal employee and Max knew that the Attorney General wanted his head. Carolyn Julian was the best prosecutor the DOJ had and she was doing her best to convict him. Max's lawyer David Barron was a damn good lawyer, but the deck was stacked against him and he knew it.

Max appreciated his daughter's offer to help him evade justice, but he was puzzled why she was doing it. He knew she didn't trust him and he was sure she didn't like him. He hoped she loved him, but he wasn't sure that she did so he was confused. "Honey, I appreciate what you want to do for me, but why? Why are you willing to put your reputation . . . your freedom on the line for me? You don't even like me."

Staring at her father, Brennan finally shrugged her shoulders. "You helped me save Booth's life when he was kidnapped by Melvin Gallagher. Booth means a lot to me. He's my best friend and I didn't want to lose him . . . You risked your freedom helping me find him, so in this instant I am willing to help you with your trial."

He had hoped to hear her say she was willing to help him because she loved him, but she gave him a different reason. A surprising reason. He had helped save Booth's life and she was willing to risk her freedom as payback. "And if I hadn't helped you save Booth? Would you be offering to risk it all for me now?"

Brennan was honest and blunt. "I don't know. You haven't been my father since I was fifteen years old. You abandoned me when I needed you and because of that action, I almost died in Foster Care. That is hard to forgive or forget . . . I know you killed Kirby because he was a threat to Russ and probably to me. You wanted to send a message to Kirby's people to leave us alone. I can understand why you did what you did, but you did murder a man . . . I am doing this to pay you back for saving Booth. He is my best friend and I would do anything for him including paying back the debt he owes you."

"I see." Clearly, his daughter loved her partner. She wasn't willing to use those words, but he was capable of reading between the lines. "If you don't want to do this, then don't. You don't owe me anything. Booth doesn't owe me anything. There is no debt . . . I wanted to help you find Booth. He's your friend and I knew you wanted him back safe and sound, so that's why I helped you . . . If I'm found guilty for killing Kirby, I'll be fine. I made my peace a long time ago with this world and if this trial goes against me and they give me the death penalty . . . well, I'm prepared. They won't execute me right away, so we'll still have time to get to know each other. That is why I came back, to be with you, to get to know you again, to be your father."

"Max . . . Dad, I have offered an alternative defense to your attorney and Mr. Barron has agreed to use it. There is a debt between you and me and Booth. I will pay that back . . . I don't want that debt to exist between you and my partner and myself . . . I . . . I don't want there to be a debt between us."

His confusion was growing. Even though he had told her there was no debt between them, she still insisted there was. "Honey . . . Tempe, what I did was out of love for you. You wanted your friend back and I wanted to help you get him back. I helped you because I love you . . . I love you, Tempe. There is no debt."

She didn't know how to respond to that. Brennan wasn't sure if she loved her father or not. He was a killer. He abandoned her when she was a child and that created horrible consequences for her. She knew that he expected her to love him because of their blood ties, but he had shown her that blood ties meant nothing when she was fifteen. Her family was the family she had made for herself as an adult not the one she was born with. Angela, Booth, Zach and Hodgins, they were her family now. She didn't trust her father or her brother not to abandon her in the future and if Max was executed, then that would just be another form of abandonment. Max had led a life for many years outside the law and he was responsible for all that had gone wrong in their family.

Booth had told her in the past that he would never abandon her and she believed him. She trusted him. Her partner was a man of honor. She didn't trust her father. She probably never would. "Mr. Barron will present an alternative theory when it is time to refute the prosecutor's case. If it works you will be a free man and you will be able to come and go as you please. If it fails . . . if it fails you will probably die. We will have to see just how good of a lawyer Mr. Barron is."

A cold chill running down his back, Max swallowed. "Yeah, let's hope he's as good as Booth thinks he is . . . Honey, thank you for doing this for me. If this goes right for me, I'll prove to you that you can trust me . . . and Honey, if they decide to try you for Kirby's death, then I'll confess to the murder. I won't let them hang that around your neck."

"They won't be able to try you again." Brennan knew that was the brilliant part of her plan. Her father would be safe from future prosecution if he was found not guilty. "Of course, they could try you for Delany's death. There is no statute of limitations for murder and Booth says you're the prime suspect for that murder too."

Clearing his throat, Max knew that she was right. "I'll cross that bridge if I have to."

"Yes, you will and it will be without me. This is the only trial I will help you with." Brennan shook her head and left the room. She had wanted him to understand that she would only help him once. Any other crimes he had committed in the past would be his responsibility not hers. Any crimes he committed in the future would also be his responsibility.

After he was alone, Max closed his eyes and leaned back against his chair. "It is a wise father that knows his own child."

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Let me know what you think of my story. I appreciate it.

"It is a wise father that knows his own child." The Merchant of Venice, act 2 scene 2.