A/N: this is a reminder that this story is AU.

I really don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooo

As she parked her car, Brennan noticed her daughter exit the house slamming the door behind her. Marching over to her car, Christine slipped into the driver's side of the car, slammed the door shut and sat there for a moment.

Concerned, Brennan left her car and approached her daughter. Lightly tapping on the driver's side window, she saw her daughter's startled response and knew she had been concentrating on whatever was upsetting her.

After she rolled the window down, Christine shook her head. "Mom, just never mind. This is between Dad and me. Please don't get involved."

Not sure what to say, Brennan stood back. "If you change your mind, you know you can call me, Sweetheart."

"Thanks Mom." Christine tried to smile and failed miserably. "I have to go . . . I'll call you tomorrow when . . . I'll call you tomorrow . . . Look, don't worry, I'm fine. I just need to think about something."

After her daughter left, Brennan walked into the house and looked for her husband. Spying him through a window sitting on a lawn chair in the backyard, she left the house and strode over to where he was sitting. "Am I allowed to know what happened between you and Christine? She wouldn't tell me."

Grimly, Booth nodded his head. "Of course, you know I don't keep secrets from you, besides this isn't a secret." Taking a deep breath, he slowly released the air from his lungs then chuckled. "I wasn't going to be that Dad, but I guess I am whether I like it or not."

Sitting on the chair next to her husband, Brennan faced him and placed her hand on his knee. "What happened?"

"Danny Beck paid a visit to our daughter at the University today." Booth wasn't happy with his old friend. Not at all. "He's trying to recruit her to join the CIA . . . the CIA for God's sake. He knows she's going to apply to the FBI or at least that was the plan . . . I'd try to recruit his daughter to join the FBI to see how he likes people to meddle in his private life, but he doesn't have any kids, the bastard . . . no I wouldn't. I'm not Danny Beck."

"Christine told you about Danny." That seemed a logical conclusion.

"Yeah, then she asked me what I thought of the idea." Booth signed. "I worked with the CIA while I was in the Rangers and I don't think . . . I tried to tell her that the CIA wasn't the right choice for her, but she assumed I was just being territorial about my job and that wasn't it at all, but . . . anyway, she wouldn't listen and I let the situation get out of control . . . She's mad at me right now, so I need to let her cool off before I talk to her again . . . I'm not trying to push her into the FBI. She's the one that's been talking about joining since she was in high school. I never tried to recruit her. You know that." Shaking his head, Booth knew that he could have handled the situation better than he had.

Not sure what to say, Brennan thought about the situation for a moment before replying. "She won't stay angry for long, she never does . . . Perhaps you can find another way to approach the subject. You can be very persuasive when you've had a chance to think about strategy."

"The funny thing is, I wasn't trying to persuade her about anything. She asked for my opinion and I gave it . . . Of course, I did say she wasn't CIA material which was probably the wrong tact. She kind of went ballistic after that." Frustrated, Booth ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry you walked into a mess. She just took me by surprise and I should have handled it differently, but I can't move the clock back and do it again."

"No, time travel is an impossibility." Her thoughts now on her father, Brennan knew that if she could change anything in the past it would be to make sure her father and children had not been at the safe house when Mark Kovac was still free. That was her deepest regret besides not giving Booth a chance earlier than she had. "She will calm down and you can talk to her again."

Placing his hand over her hand, Booth smiled. "Hey, how was your day? That new intern still showing his ass."

"He is very argumentative, but I think he is finding out that he is not the smartest person at the Lab and I think he finds that very galling. He is used to being considered brilliant and he has a tendency to look down on everyone he works with. I will correct that mindset or he will leave." Brennan had dealt with very intelligent people in her life, many considered geniuses including interns filled with self importance like Oliver Wells, but Matt Green was beyond even Dr. Wells' egotistical opinions.

"Well, it's tough going from being the smartest kid in school to average at work." It never bothered Booth that the people at the Lab were smarter than he was. He used their intelligence to get his cases closed and that was all that mattered to him. If they considered him stupid then that was on them. He knew he wasn't and he didn't need to prove it to anyone.

Brennan knew that to be true. When she had started at the Lab, she had known she was a genius, but Zach proved to be smarter than her and she found it refreshing to know someone as smart as he was. "He will become a team player or he will be fired. Cam has already told me she will not put up with a prima donna. Not when he can easily be replaced. I don't think he would be that easily replaced, but she is the supervisor and she will not tolerate Mr. Green for very long."

If Cam was upset with Matt Green, then Booth knew the young man was in deep trouble at the Lab. He just hoped the intern wised up for his own sake.

Oooooooooooooooo

Christine knew that she had let her temper get out of control and she was ashamed that she hadn't handled the situation better than she had. She had wanted her father's opinion, but the minute he'd said he didn't think she was CIA material that was the minute she'd lost her temper. "Dumb, that was dumb." Since classes were over for the week, she decided to spend the weekend at home. She hoped she could have another conversation with her father and fix the mess she had made, well they both had made. Damn that Booth temper.

She found her father in the garage working on his Mustang. Moving closer to the car, she cleared her throat and waited for him to step away from the car.

He hadn't expected to see his daughter so soon and Booth knew it was time to have an honest conversation with her. "Christine, I need to tell you a story. It isn't a long story, but I hope you'll listen to it."

Not sure what he wanted to say, Christine nodded her head. "Go ahead. I'm home for the weekend so we have time."

"Good . . . good." Grabbing a clean rag from the bench behind him, he wiped his hands clean. "Um, well as you know, I was a sniper in the Rangers. I was damned good at my job. I was probably the best there was . . . anyway, um, I was assigned to do a job in Serbia. The CIA knew about this general who was murdering whole villages because of their religion. He was responsible for the murder of men, women and children . . . hundreds were killed because he ordered it to happen and our government wanted it to stop . . . They . . . the CIA sometimes used me to take care of problems like that because I was so good at my job . . . anyway I was flown in by helicopter and I had to make my way to the village where General Raddick lived. The man was responsible for the erasure of 232 people that I know of all for racial and religious purity . . . I found him at his home. He was having a birthday party for his son . . . It was the only safe way to kill him and get out alive and I took the chance. I shot him . . . I shot him in front of his family . . . his little son."

Booth's voice became soft and Christine had to strain to hear him.

"There was blood all over the boy, blood everywhere. People screaming. Children screaming and I knew . . . I knew I couldn't do that anymore. The price was too high . . . at least for me, so I left the Rangers as soon as my enlistment was up and I joined the FBI. I had my bachelor's degree by then . . . anyway . . . look, I'm not telling you that you can't join the CIA. You're an adult and that's up to you, but you have to be prepared to do some things . . . some things that may be more than you're willing to do. Just . . . just do some research before you make a decision that will change your life. Don't just take my word for anything. Ask questions. Danny is an honest guy and he'll answer your questions truthfully . . . Um, that's all I have to say about this. Except, I'm sorry I didn't do a better job explaining what I meant the other day. I just . . . I didn't think through what I wanted to say and you caught me by surprise since you've been talking about joining the FBI since you were in high school. Anyway, thank you for listening to me."

Feeling embarrassed for doubting her father's motives, Christine placed her hand on his arm. "Dad . . . I think we both made mistakes the other day. Yes, I did take you by surprise and I'm sorry I didn't really let you explain . . . anyway, I'm going to do more research and call Danny back and ask a lot of questions . . . I won't make a decision about the CIA until I have all the facts . . . Are you okay with that?"

"Of course, Honey. Like I said, you're an adult and you have to live your own life. If you think the CIA is what you want then you have my backing. Really." Booth was relieved he'd got through this conversation with the calmness it needed. Sometimes, he let his tempter get the better of him and that wasn't good for him or anyone else. "Hey, Mom made some peanut butter cookies. How about we take some and watch a movie or something. You and me. We can have some bonding time."

"That sounds good, Dad." Smiling, she left the garage and entered the kitchen. Spying her mother eating a cookie, she laughed. "Dad told me about your cookies." Making sure her father wasn't in the room yet, she smiled. "Dad and I talked it over, it's all good now."

Relieved, Brennan swallowed her bite of cookie. "Good. I'm glad." She really hated it when her family got into arguments. "Would you like a cookie?"

"You bet." Christine took a cookie from the cookie jar. "You make the best peanut butter cookies Mom . . . And Mom, thanks for letting me and Dad handle our issue."

"You're welcome." Her husband now in the kitchen, Brennan handed him a cookie. "Better get one before Christine and I eat them all."

Oooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Reviews are the only way I can tell if anyone is still interested in my stories.