The next morning the family was celebrating a delayed Christmas. Parker was in much better spirits - a good night's sleep and at his dad and Bones' insistence a lot of water had vanquished the last of the hangover symptoms. The family had opened gifts and enjoyed breakfast while watching the snow fall outside. Then there was quiet time as they all enjoyed their presents - Bones in her new books, Parker showing Christine how to use her new camera. All of them occasionally joining Booth and Hank in playing with the toddlers new Legos. After lunch the snow had stopped, so there was shoveling to do and snow angels to be made and snowballs that needed to be thrown. Following that the family had thawed out with hot cocoa and tea, Booth soaked in the tub while Bones and Parker fixed dinner. After dinner a rousing game of Go Fish was played, then the younger kids were tucked into bed. A day where nothing truly memorable had happened and yet Booth knew that the next time life threw him a curve ball he'd be recalling this day to help restore his inner peace.

Bones had returned to reading and was doing her best to ignore the fact that her husband and son had deemed another round of ice cream necessary. Booth was definitely going to have to work on his nutritional habits after the new year she thought. While Booth was dishing up the dessert, Parker was staring at the gift Angela had given his dad that was sitting on the bar. He studied the small figurine - a man in much less damaged outfit as the painting hanging in the man cave - a woman, smaller man, young girl and even younger boy in similar garb. He picked it up to look more carefully at the detail and saw that on the bottom Angela had written "Remember."

Booth saw his son studying the gift. He did really like it, and had already mentally figured out where on his desk it would be in his office. Unlike the comic book cover where it would have been obvious to all FBI agents that the hero was supposed to be him, this was close enough to looking like the cartoon crime fighting superhero family that it would not garner much scrutiny. HE would know what it meant, Aubrey too, but it wouldn't trigger any discussions with others. "Pretty cool huh? Angela told me she'd been playing around with the 3D printer, but I didn't realize she was doing that."

"Yeah, but, what does she mean 'Remember'?"

Booth inwardly sighed. He should have known that Parker would catch that. He saw Bones looking at him in interest and nodding encouragingly. After the fiasco of the case last month when he'd struggled to keep his equilibrium they'd discussed about ways to deal with the inevitable next time. He'd had a long talk with Gordon Gordon who had managed to calm his fears and offer suggestions about how to minimize the impact his PTSD had on the kids. He was more confident on what he should say and do, he just hadn't planned on the need to implement this soon. "Um. Do you remember last month when you called in the middle of the night? The hard case?"

"Yeah." And then Parker flushed, embarrassed, "Geez Dad! You didn't tell Angela about the Batman and Robin thing did you?"

"No! " The denial was heated, but part of him was happy that Parker's biggest concern was being caught in a superhero fantasy.

"Then how'd she know?"

Booth shrugged, "It's Angela. She can be down right spooky at times when it comes to reading minds."

"Booth she doesn't read minds! " Brennan was shaking her head in exasperation, she turned to her son, "For reasons that I don't fully understand, Angela has always had somewhat misguided ideas about your dad. First he was a knight in standard issue FBI body armor..." Parker snickered as it was Booth's turn to be embarrassed. Brennan continued on as if she hadn't heard, "Now as evidenced by both the comic book" at Booth's huff she corrected, "excuse me GRAPHIC NOVEL painting and this, she's decided he's a super hero." She turned back to Parker, "Angela is well aware of my affinity for Wonder Woman, so this gift is a somewhat logical combination of Angela's active imagination and her personal knowledge as my best friend."

Parker saw his dad shaking his head about to argue and decided that if he wanted an answer to his question he needed to distract now. "The case last month?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, as you kinda figured out, it was a bad one. I was having trouble sleeping, wasn't eating, that sort of thing. Angela and everyone else was worried about me. After you called and reminded me about watching you sleep, I went in and watched Hank and Christine. Something clicked, I was finally able to let it go. Angela and Hodgins and the kids came over for Sunday dinner the next day, she noticed that I was doing better and asked what happened. I told her that I'd been reminded that my family had my back. So, this is her way of telling me to not take so damn long to figure it out next time."

"Oh." Parker thought about it, "next time?"

"Parker, the symptoms that your father experiences are consistent with PTSD, which has no cure. It is likely that at some point he will have another episode."

Parker looked at his father for confirmation and got a slight nod. "Because of your job?"

Booth gave a wry grin. "Some of it, but reality is, even if I was an accountant or insurance salesman, there would probably be some triggers that would cause symptoms. Maybe not as often, or as intense, but it would still be there." Booth caught the concern on his eldest face, "Look Parker, it's not fun, but, you don't need to worry about this. I'm okay. "

Parker looked unconvinced.

"I am." Booth insisted, and Brennan nodded in agreement.

"I believe you." Parker's voice lacked conviction.

"But?"

"Well, you said I helped right?"

"Yeah, you did bud." He could see that Parker didn't seem to be relieved by that statement. "What's wrong?" Booth felt his anxiety rising. According to Gordon Gordon, talking about this stuff was supposed to make it easier for his kids.

Parker hesitated, "What if next time, I don't say the right thing?"

Booth exhaled, trying to find the words. Brennan came over and placed her hand on his back, offering silent support. "Parker. It doesn't work that way. You don't cause the problems, you can't fix them. Only I can. All you, or Bones, " he paused and smiled up at his wife, "or anybody else that I love can do is just be there for me and be patient while I work through it. As much as I wish you could just say some magic words, you can't. Okay? You just have to be you."

"Okay, but I don't see how that helps dad."

"Trust me, it does. It always has. " Booth said softly. Brennan patted his hand and then headed down the hallway. Parker studied his ice cream, trying to understand. He knew his dad wasn't lying to him but he still didn't quite believe it.

Bones returned with a battered manila envelope which she handed to Booth. "I believe this evidence might help."

Booth smiled, she was right. He opened the envelope and pulled out a small stack of photos. He handed the top one to his son.

Parker studied the old photo, it wasn't one he'd seen before. A baby, wrapped in a blue blanket, staring up at the man holding him, with the dazed unfocused expression of a newborn. The man's face wasn't visible - the picture had been taken from slightly behind and to the side of him. But he was obviously army - cammo pants, brown hair in a military cut. On closer inspection Parker could make out a kanji character on the inside of the wrist holding the baby's head. "How old was I in this?" he asked.

"About 2 hours. This was the first time I held you." Booth smiled at the memory.

Parker frowned at the condition of the photo - the corners were missing, a yellowed piece of tape was holding the photo together, there were fold marks and a couple water stains. "Why is it so beat up?"

"Ten days later I was on a flight to Afghanistan. For the next year, whenever I was on base, that photo was in my BDUs. When I was sent off for a mission, it stayed behind." Booth gave a brief shake of his head, "At least most times."

"When didn't it?" Parker asked softly

"We had a last minute call out. Just had enough time to grab our gear and go, I forgot to leave this behind. It was supposed to be just a routine patrol, but, there was bad intel. We got pinned down by the Taliban. Took 3 days for reinforcements to arrive to get us out." Parker looked up from the photo, the words triggering the memory of a story Wendell had told at the FBI last year - fifteen guys went in, three survived. Based on his dad's expression, Parker didn't need verbal confirmation that it was the same mission. He waited, partly because he didn't know what to say, and partly because he wasn't sure if his dad was finished. "They were low on ammo and figured that they had the tactical advantage and worst case scenario they could starve us out. So, there was downtime between sieges. When it was quiet I'd pull the picture out. Say a prayer, hope that this wasn't the only time I'd get to hold you. " He was now speaking so quietly Parker had to strain to hear him, "it would keep me calm, focused."

He handed the next photo to Parker. Another one he hadn't seen before. It was the two of them, he was older, but obviously still in diapers. He was sprawled face down on his fathers chest under a protective arm, both of them sacked out on what he recognized as Pops old sofa. A Christmas tree in the background.

"Our first Christmas together?" This photo also showed some wear and tear, but not quite as bad as the first one.

"Yep., about 3 weeks after the bad patrol. This one got me through the rest of my tour, till I got out and went to New York. " Booth gave a half smile, "Luckily it was an easier time." Parker was sure that easier still had some pretty brutal moments, so he didn't press for details.

Parker glanced at the next photo. This one he knew - he had a copy in his room, and to his chagrin he knew it was in his dad's office at the Hoover. There was also a copy in the house - it was a black and white taken when he was about seven by a photography student wandering the park. His dad was showing him the mechanics of throwing a spiral. It would be a few more years before his hand was big enough to actually be able to throw a good one. He also recognized the next one in his dad's hand - a picture of the "squint squad" and Ms. Julian all dressed up. Brennan smiled, "That was for the the party the Egyptian government threw at the Jeffersonian for Anok." Both pictures had a hole in the top center, like they'd been hung up on a bulletin board with a thumb tack. Parker asked, "Where were these hung up?"

"Afghanistan - the seven months that I went over to train troops. It hung in my room."

That left his dad holding two photos. Both of which had obviously been handled a lot, and one of the edges was tattered, like it had been shoved in a not quite big enough book. The first had Bones holding Christine on her lap. The second was taken at the wedding. Parker remember it well. They were both wearing their tuxes, he was standing on a bench, trying to straighten out his dad's bow tie. He was dead serious, trying to live up to his status as best man. His dad was grinning from ear to ear. Parker hadn't seen this picture before, which was a little bit of surprise given the happy time it represented. He thought a bit, and then asked quietly, "Prison?"

Booth nodded. It then made sense that the photos weren't displayed. Even though it had been three years that trauma was still too fresh. For all of them. He had been old enough at the time to be angry that anyone would believe the charges and scared for his dad - he knew that law enforcement didn't fare particularly well in jail. They'd never talked about it - Parker didn't want to know if the reality was worse than his imagination. He remembered the first video talk when his dad had been released - the cuts and bruises that were brushed off as nothing major, the wincing that wasn't quite disguised, the shadows under the eyes made more prominent by the overall pallor in complexion. And he knew that any discussion would be painful for his dad since the release from jail was followed so quickly by Dr. Sweets' death.

Brennan handed him Booth's FBI badge, "Look behind the credential."

Parker pulled out the credential to reveal the photo his dad took last spring break. Bones, and the three Booth kids laughing in the sprinklers. He smiled at the memory. He then reached over and picked up the baby photo again.

Booth remarked softly, "You've been helping me out since the day you were born. Now do you believe me?"

Parker gave a short laugh. "I guess so." He looked at the photo one more time. "Any chance I get a copy of this one?"

Brennan smiled, "I think Angela can probably do some restoration of it."

"Just a copy is okay, she doesn't need to pretty it up."

At that, Booth reached over and gave Parker a one armed hug and dropped a kiss on the top of his head. "Yeah, we can make that happen."

A/N: Angela's painting is described in Chapter 2 of Agent in the X-rays.