A/N: And to think I back-burnered this idea figuring that no one would be interested in angst. You all are amazing. Thanks for all the support!
I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly this one fell together. We'll see a bunch of familiar faces in this chapter and the next. Will Booth and Brennan's friends be able to help them get through the next 18 hours and the aftermath of their daughter's kidnapping?
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own it. No copyright infringement intended. Blah blah blah.
Chapter Two: Life Lines
We've all had that moment. The moment where we are consumed by fear and panic. The moment where we realize that something - someone - we love hangs in the balance. For Temperance Brennan this is that moment. The thought of her daughter - the innocent 4-year-old with bouncing auburn curls and her daddy's smile - trapped alone and terrified in the darkness brings the memories flooding back. Memories of her foster parents locking her in the trunk of the car for breaking a dish. Memories of being buried alive.
At the sound of the dial tone her world collapses. For a moment, she wonders if her heart has stopped beating. She feels feverish and her hands begin to shake. Suddenly, she's back underground in the car with Hodgins. Dirt all around them. No way out. Only this time it isn't her. Not only is she painfully aware of the fact, but she wishes like hell that it was her and not her baby. Her sweet little girl.
Her heart pounds. Her airways constrict painfully. Her fingers clench as she tries to fight the shadows back. "Katie," she murmurs softly before everything fades to black.
Six and a half years ago...
She wakes up in a cold sweat and sits upright in bed screaming and clawing at the covers. "No!" she screams out in the darkness of their bedroom.
Years of military training have made him a light sleeper and he quickly frees her from the prison of sheets that bind her. He replaces their bonds with strong arms that draw her to the comfort of his body. "It's okay," he whispers against her hair as the terror subsides. "Breathe. I've got you. I'm not going anywhere."
"I just want it to be over," she sobs against his naked chest.
"It is, Baby," he comforts, "You aren't in the car anymore. You got out."
She pushes against him as her flight reflex kicks in. "But it isn't over," she tells him. "It won't be over until the Gravedigger is caught."
"We'll catch him," he assures her.
"You don't know that," her tone is biting now. "You don't know what it's like, Booth."
He closes his eyes and holds her, desperately willing his strength into her body as she quivers in fear. He'll protect her. He has to. Failure is not an option.
Gordon Wyatt exits the kitchen at the sound of breaking glass. He sees Booth pulling on his jacket. "Booth? Is everything alright?"
"I gotta go," he says as he steps around the broken bottle and pool of amber liquor on the floor at his feet. "Get one of the guys to clean this up would ya?"
"What's going on?" he asks, cocking his head to the side as he flips a towel over his broad shoulder. He eyes Booth warily. It's obvious to the former psychologist that the younger man is shaken. Looking up he notes the emergency broadcast symbol on the television screen.
Booth grabs his keys. "Bones...Katie..."
Gordon places his large hands on Booth's shoulders. Looking into his eyes he tries to make sense of what's going on. "Yes?"
"There was phone call," he admits slowly as he draws a ragged breath. "I've got to get home and check on Katie and the nanny. The Gravedigger..."
Gordon takes the keys from Booth. "You're in no condition to drive. Let me make sure they can handle the truck." He disappears for a moment and, when he returns, they head to the SUV.
Booth begins making phone calls. Brennan. Voicemail; her phone likely in another part of the studio. The house. No answer, just the machine where he leaves a frantic message. Gina's cell phone. Voicemail.
Just as he flips it shut, it begins to ring. He quickly answers it. "Booth."
"Tell me this is a joke, Booth." Sam Cullen's voice comes from the other end of the line.
"I don't know, Sam," he tells the older man. He rolls his neck. "I'm trying to figure it out."
"What can we do?"
Cullen and his wife had become an extra set of grandparents to Katie. As he had often told Brennan, there was more than one kind of family and couple was doing everything they could to give her what neither of them really had growing up. "Start calling in any favors we have left..."
Five years ago...
When the pair get to Cullen's office Booth knocks on the door. "This'll only take a minute, sir."
The director looks at them with a faint smile. "Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan," he says.
"That's actually why we're here, sir. I figured I'd save you the trouble." Booth lays his gun and badge on the desk.
The older man heaves a sigh. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," he says. "Your partnership is one of the best things that has happened to this division in years."
"Sir," Booth begins.
Cullen raises a hand. "It's not that I'm unwilling to accept your resignation, Booth. My superiors have all but demanded it." His smile is sad. "It was wrong for you to keep your relationship from us, but at the same time you have done a lot of good and a lot of criminals have been brought to justice thanks to the two of you. Splitting you up would be protocol, but you don't get to where I am without learning to bend the rules when you need to." He chuckles, "Which is why I told them they could take mine, too."
That's when Booth notices that all the pictures, diplomas and commendations have been pulled down off of the walls. All the personal items rest in cartons around the room's edges. "How could I not fight for you after what you did for Amy?"
A tear slides over Brennan's cheek as Booth outstretches his hand for a shake. "Thank you, sir."
The touch is firm. "No, Booth, thank you. It's been a pleasure."
Booth laughs. "So, retirement, huh? I figured you'd be working until you were 90."
"My wife's been trying to get me to retire ever since we lost Amy. We want to travel." The director lets out a chuckle of his own. "My only regret is how eager Andrew is to replace me. He's already been in here with a damned tape measurer."
"Hacker has always been a real piece of work..." Booth replies shaking his head.
Locking the gun and badge in the desk drawer he turns back to Booth. "So what about you? What's next?"
"Haven't really decided that yet..." Booth starts as he looks over at Brennan.
She entwines her fingers with his. Blue eyes meet brown and hold on tight. "All that matters is that we have each other."
Brennan comes to and finds herself propped against the arm of the chaise lounge in the dressing room where they did her make-up. The nervous talk-show host paces in the corner and security guards flank the doorway.
"Dr. Brennan, I want you to know that the network had no part in this," she says quickly. "We are doing everything we can to cooperate and..."
Brennan ignores the woman's ramblings as she attempts to locate her ringing cell phone. "Booth?"
"Dr. B., Angela and I heard the interview. How much money can you get your hands on? I've got a meeting with my account in an hour to start pulling together however much you need to get Katie back."
A sigh of relief escapes her at the sound of a friendly voice. "Most of what I have is tied up in the restaurant and the house. I can pull together at least three, maybe as much as five, easily."
"We'll get her back," he attempts to reassure her.
"I know," she says weakly as she clings onto the one thing she can. Hope.
Booth hurries into the brownstone with Gordon hot on his heels. He goes to the kitchen first. "Gina?" he calls out to the nanny. No response.
He checks the basement level where the playroom is located. Nothing. Not a sign of either of them.
Taking the stairs two at a time, he climbs to the second floor and bursts into Katie's room. Dolls litter the flower shaped carpet and a Clifford book lays open on the bed next to her magic wand. He hurries back downstairs.
"No signs of foul play," he says transitioning into cop mode. He looks at his watch. "The park," he says. "They always go to the park Monday."
Special Agent Payton Perotta paces the edge of the crime scene as she waits for Dr. Camille Saroyan to arrive. She feels bad calling her in under false pretenses, but an order is an order. She looks at her watch wondering what's taking so long.
Cam walks toward the barrier in her usual confident stride. Perotta realizes that the news has yet to reach her. Once the coroner slips under the tape they approach the body.
"Shouldn't the D.C. Police be handling this one?" Cam asks, snapping on gloves as she bends down to the edge of the bushes in front of her. "I mean..."
"Dr. Saroyan, I think you should..."
Cam pushes back the branches and looks at the young woman's face. What she sees causes her to pause. She forces herself to take a deep breath. "Oh boy," she says suddenly realizing the real reason she's been called away from her desk. She looks up from her squatting position at the agent next to her. "This is definitely Booth and Brennan's nanny." Her next breath catches in her throat and her brow furrows. "Oh, God. Where's Katie?"
