The following fic is a continuation of the Saints in the Shadows saga. Fifth in the series, it is recommended that you read at least the first before this one, but it's not completely necessary. In order.

1. Saint In the Shadows

2. Spaces In Between

3. Shades of Grace

4. Shadows in the Sun

5. Saints, Sinners, and Saviors

The current chapter takes place approximately 3 and a half years since Shadows in the Sun. That would make Antonia 7 1/2, Parker 14 , and Gracie 3 1/2 ... when Saints, Sinners, and Saviors ended. All italics are considered 'past', and non italics are present. I will attempt to date things where I can.

December 20th-

The colored blocks looked new as the tiny, nimble fingers gripped them with a tender touch, moving them around the table, and into the different bins. Red, green, yellow, orange, and blue, each in their own box, each with their own color. The tiny girl hummed a nearly silent tune as she focused on her masterpiece, and then carefully dismantled it, placing the blocks into their matching bins. She shifted on her small chair, ignoring the person behind her. She knew he had been standing there for a while, but instead kept her attention on the colored blocks.

She grew frustrated, but didn't know why, and puffed out a heavy sigh.

"Grace?" The man's voice behind her was inquisitive, non-threatening. "Grace?"

"No." She whispered. She turned, and looked up at him. "You are not my daddy."

"That's not what everyone else keeps telling me." Booth said, walking around the table, he pulled at one of the tiny chairs. "May I sit down with you?"

Grace shrugged, but kept her attention on the blocks. She picked up the box of red blocks and poured them out onto the table. Booth felt his scars pulling as he attempted to sit in the tiny chair, and it pinched his nerves and made him flinch. "Why do you keep telling me that I am not your daddy?"

"You look like him." Grace said, watching him closely. "You sound like him, you smell like him… but… You are not him." She said softly. "You don't hug like my daddy. You are not him…" She said, scowling at her blocks.

Booth's brow furrowed. She wasn't making his confusion any easier, and why should she? She was just a frightened almost four year old trying to make sense of what she thought she knew. And Booth was trying to make sense of what he should already know.

Two sides of the same coin.

"Grace." Booth said, waiting for the little girl to look at him, she continued to stack her blocks up. Her blue eyes were staring intently at them, focusing on them completely. "Grace?" Booth said, his voice was nearly begging, and still she refused to look at him. "Please, Grace?" He said again.

"I just want my daddy, back." She said, sending her fist flying into the pile of red blocks, they scattered as she jumped from her chair. She stormed across the room to her tiny bookcase and she swung around, book in hand. "You don't even know how to read Fluffy Bunny!" She exclaimed, throwing the book across the room, slamming it into the wall. The worn pages tore from the delicate binding and littered the floor.

Booth rested his head in his hands for a moment, trying to control the strong emotions that were invading his soul. She knew that he wasn't himself; she believed that he was an imposter. He just wished that there was some way that he could grasp onto the person he was before, not for himself but for the little girl with the broken heart.

He carefully lifted himself from the chair and walked toward the torn book. Carefully, he picked the pages up, sliding them carefully between the cardboard covers. He slipped the book into the bookcase and ran his finger down the binding for a moment. With a resigned sigh, he turned and left the little girl's bedroom.

November 22nd-

Temperance hurried down the hallway toward her daughter's hospital room. She tried to erase her husband's words from her mind, but they echoed louder with each step.

He doesn't remember.

It wasn't just what he said, but the look in his eyes. There was a terror in his eyes that she hadn't seen in years.

Fear mixed with shame and deep sorrow. It was difficult for her to breathe as she reached her daughter's hospital room. She pushed the door open and tried to catch her breath, but everything seemed to be twisting her in circles. She felt faint and sick, and knew that if she didn't find someplace to sit down, she'd probably end up on the floor again.

"Tempe, are you okay?" Max asked, seeing the stunned and petrified look on his daughter's face. "Are you okay?"

"No." She said honestly. "No, I'm not okay."

"Mommy!" Grace exclaimed, sitting up in her bed. She tried to scramble toward the edge, but Temperance caught her before she made the jump. She scooped her daughter up and rested her in her lap, hugging her against her. "Mommy, you're squeezing me." She whispered.

Temperance loosened her grip and continued hugging her daughter. She kissed her head and simply rocked her on the bed. She still couldn't get Booth's words from her mind, and the harder she closed her eyes, the clearer she could see his terror filled expression. "I love you, baby girl." She whispered.

"Did you find daddy?" She whispered.

"Mmhm… He's just sleeping. He's very tired." Temperance said, looking to her father. Max's eyebrow lifted and Temperance's expression was filled with pain.

"Tempe?" Max whispered.

"He's okay." She said, still rocking her daughter.

"Did you talk to him?" Max asked.

"He's sleeping." Temperance replied, making it very clear that she wouldn't be discussing it any longer. She rocked Grace in her arms and waited several moments to calm her nerves. "I need to call Angela." Temperance whispered. "I need Antonia and Parker."

"I don't think Angela has said anything about Booth to them." Max replied.

Temperance's only answer was a nod.

"I need to talk to Jared." She said, looking up at the door, and then down to her daughter. "I need to find Ace… I have to… I…" She stammered as panic seemed to steer her a bit out of control.

"Mommy, you're shivering." Grace whispered. "Are you cold?"

Temperance tried to control her trembling, buried her face in her daughter's hair and simply rocked her. "Tempe, you have to lie down." Max whispered. "You need rest."

"No." She shook her head, her eyes still wide open, and she just continued rocking. "I can't lie down…I have my family to take care of." She said. "Gracie, Mommy has to go run an errand, okay?"

"No…" She whimpered.

"I promise I'll be right back… I promise… and maybe Nee and Parker can come and visit us, since we are staying here at the hospital tonight. What do you think about that?" She whispered.

"Okay." Grace said softly. "Can JV come too?"

"I'll ask. And I'll get us a change of clothes… and some socks…"

"And Squeaker." Grace said, a smile on her face.

"We'll make sure they bring Squeaker…"

"And Fluffy Bunny, Mommy." She said, the happiness returning to her face. "Tell them to bring Fluffy Bunny too, so that when daddy wakes up from his nap, he can read it to me before bed."

Her voice was so soft and innocent, and her smile was so pure, that Temperance didn't have the strength to tell her daughter the truth about her daddy. "I'll have them bring your book, baby." Temperance whispered, kissing her little girl on the head. She carefully placed her under the covers on the bed, and kissed her cheek. "Mommy will be right back." She said, carefully standing up, she walked toward the door. Max grabbed her hand on her way over, and she stopped to look into his eyes.

"I know that look, Temperance." Max whispered.

"We'll talk afterwards." She said, pulling her hand away from her father. "I have my family to take care of." She said, as she turned and walked from the room, letting the door close solidly behind her.