Chapter 2

"Emma Kelly went missing August 15, 2008," Booth read from the file. "Hodgins told us that time of death was nine to eleven weeks ago. That means the bastard likely kept her alive for more than a month after taking her." He closed his eyes, and Brennan saw him trying to bring his emotions under control. "I'm going to call the district attorney's office, see if I can get all the files from all the cases that Emma worked on just before her disappearance. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"I'll go test the clothing for particulates. I might be able to figure out where she was shortly before she died," Hodgins said.

"Good. We'll need to notify her husband. Bones?"

"I'm coming." Brennan shed her lab coat and followed Booth out the door.

Emma's husband, Pete, was a slim man in his early forties with no hair and watery eyes. His face was fairly long and thin with large, slightly pointed ears that stuck out from his head. He sat across from the two partners, his long, spider-like fingers clasped tightly together in front of him. Brennan sat in a chair beside him, and Booth perched on the desk. "I take it you found Emma," Pete deduced.

"I'm afraid we did, Mr. Kelly," Booth said softly.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself. "I always figured it would end this way. Still, it doesn't make it hurt any less."

"Mr. Kelly, we just have a few questions," Brennan told him.

"I figured you would."

"Sir, did your wife have any enemies?" Booth questioned.

"None that I know of," he answered.

"What about work? I'm sure there was someone she put away who wasn't happy to be going to jail."

"She never talked about work after she came home. It was kind of an unspoken rule. So she might have had enemies there, but I never knew about them."

"Can you think of anybody, anybody at all who might have done this?"

"No. It's still so inconceivable."

"Mr. Kelly, I know it's difficult, but do you think you can walk us through exactly what happened that night?"

"It started out just like any other night. After dinner, she worked on some cases which wasn't all that unusual. She brought work home with her sometimes, especially when she had a heavy caseload. Well, she worked on those cases until about ten o'clock and then told me she was going for a run. Again, it wasn't all that unusual; a lot of times, she would go running at night to relieve the stress of the day. She kissed me goodbye, told me she would be back in about half an hour, that she was just going to go around the neighborhood. When she still wasn't back an hour later, I called the cops."

"So nothing was unusual about that night?"

"No, nothing at all."

"Mr. Kelly, I really hate to ask this, but were you and your wife having any sort of marital trouble?"

"No. I loved my wife, Agent Booth, and she loved me."

Booth asked a few more questions before telling Mr. Kelly he was free to go. When he had left the room, Booth handed Brennan the Missing Person's file. "Agents questioned everybody in her neighborhood when they first investigated the case. One person reported seeing a dark-colored SUV that looked suspicious. Unfortunately, she didn't get a make, model, or license plate number, so it didn't really lead anywhere. She said she didn't see anyone inside, but that it was dark and she couldn't really tell. No one saw what happened to Emma."

"How did he know that Emma was going to be there?"

"My guess is that he stalked her for some period of time beforehand and knew her routine. Her husband said it wasn't unusual for her to go on these nighttime runs; it was probably a simple matter to just sit and wait for her to go by before running up behind her and drugging her."

"She had a few defensive wounds," Brennan remarked. "Also, there were injuries on her wrists and ankles consistent with binding."

"How did this world become so twisted?" Booth wondered aloud. Brennan simply shook her head, unsure of how to respond.

While Booth went to pick up the kids from school, Brennan returned to the lab, meeting Hodgins as he emerged from his office. "Particulates on her clothing weren't very telling," he announced. "There were some chips of some lead-based paint, but that just tells us she was held in a building built before 1992."

"Nothing else?"

"Sorry, Dr. B., but the composition of the paint was a fairly common one for that time, and there was nothing else on the clothing." Brennan nodded before joining Mr. Nigel-Murray on the platform.

She heard the telltale chatter of the kids as Booth brought them in, and she finished up her examination before joining them in her office. Immediately, she was besieged by both Parker and Kristen who were each eager to tell her about their days. She listened as well as she could to both of them as she gathered things so they could leave. Kristen and Parker led the way out the door, both still babbling excitedly about school, and Brennan and Booth followed behind, one of Booth's hands at the small of her back and the other holding Noah's carrier.

Later that night, Brennan, Booth, Kristen, and Parker all crowded into the kitchen as Booth attempted to show them all how to make his famous spaghetti sauce. Parker and Kristen hung onto every word he spoke, but Brennan was watching his interaction with the kids more than she was listening to his instructions, finding his natural parenting abilities fascinating. It was easy for him to explain how to make the sauce in a way that the kids understood and to make them laugh with silly comments during his lessons. She wished it would be that easy with her.

The doorbell rang, and Brennan squeezed out of the kitchen to answer it, for Booth already had his hands full with dinner and the kids. "It's probably Mrs. Mitchell forgetting her keys again," Booth remarked, referring to their elderly neighbor who was a frequent dinnertime visitor due to her penchant for misplacing her keys. Brennan did not respond; instead, she opened the door to find someone who was definitely not their neighbor.

"Hi, Tempe," Sully greeted, a wide smile crossing his face. "Uh, these are for you." He held out a bouquet of roses which she accepted automatically. "I didn't know if you'd have plans or not, but I thought I'd drop by and see if you still wanted that dinner."

"Actually, Sully, I'm not sure about that."

"Something smells good," he remarked, stepping closer to her. She automatically stepped out of the doorway, letting him pass into the apartment.

"Spaghetti," Brennan answered automatically.

"Look, Tempe, I know my coming back was a complete surprise," he told her. "But I really want to give us another shot. I think we were great together, and I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I think you might be it for me."

Brennan was silent for a moment, unsure of exactly how to respond, but Booth's voice cut through the silence before she could speak. "You need to tell her to get a spare key for us, Bones, because I'm really sick of knifing her door. . . oh, Sully." He trailed off as he emerged from the kitchen, wiping his hands on his t-shirt.

"Booth?" Sully's jaw dropped as he looked from Booth to Brennan and back again. Brennan saw Booth stand straighter, his eyes boring into Sully.

A few seconds later, Parker walked out of the kitchen, interrupting one of the most ridiculous displays of alpha male posturing that Brennan had seen in awhile. "Dad, the sauce is bubbling. Is it 'sposed to do that?" he questioned.

"Come on, Bub, we'll go look at it," Booth told his son, casting one final glance at Sully before disappearing back into the kitchen. Sully cleared his throat.

"So you and Booth, how long have you two been. . . uh. . ."

"Dating? In a sexual relationship?" Brennan supplied. "Almost five months."

"Wow. So you two are serious then?"

"I love him." Sully stared at her for a moment, amazed at how easily the three words slid from her mouth. This was certainly a different woman than the one he had left more than two years before. That Temperance Brennan would never have used those words; he had told her he loved her at one point in their relationship, and she had told him that love did not exist and proceeded to explain the scientific reason for his feelings. Needless to say, he had never repeated that particular phrase again, and he had certainly never heard her utter the words. "You didn't think you could just walk back in here and we could start up where we left off, did you?" Brennan questioned. "You left, Sully. You sailed off to the Caribbean."

"I offered to let you come with me," he reminded me.

"You knew I couldn't do that. I couldn't leave my work behind."

"No, you couldn't leave Booth behind," he corrected.

"I've moved on, Sully. What we had was good while it lasted, but that was a long time ago." He noticed how she ignored his comment but chose not to remark on this. "Would you like to stay for dinner? Booth always cooks too much anyway."

Sully thought about the request for a minute. Though part of him wanted to hit the nearest bar and let alcohol nurse his pride back to health, he knew his presence at dinner would annoy Booth, and he was feeling somewhat vindictive toward his former coworker. "Sure. That sounds good," he agreed.

"What sounds good?" Booth questioned, emerging from the kitchen again, this time with both kids in tow carrying silverware and plates.

"Sully's staying for dinner," Brennan informed him.

Booth's eyes flashed, and Sully felt a momentary victory. "Okay," he said shortly, still somewhat tense. "We have plenty of food. Kristen, you want to go grab another plate and set of silverware?" Kristen quickly set the plates she was carrying on the table and traipsed back into the kitchen to receive the desired items.

"Is she a friend of Parker's?" Sully asked, staring at the girl's retreating back.

"She's our foster daughter," Booth corrected, stressing the word our. Sully seemed slightly taken-aback at this revelation, but before he could inquire further, Kristen had returned with the plate and silverware.

"Who's that?" she queried with her usual bluntness, pointing to Sully.

"He's an old friend of ours," Brennan informed her.

"He's your old boyfriend, isn't he?" Kristen guessed, staring at Brennan. Damn. The kid was too perceptive for her own good sometimes.

"You know what, the past is in the past," Booth declared firmly. "Now come on Munchkin, chop, chop. Help Parks finish setting the table or it'll be next year before we can eat dinner." He shooed her over to the table as he spoke.

"Dad, you're exaggeratin'," she told him with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't exaggerate," Booth said, smirking. A loud wail sounded throughout the apartment, and Brennan moved toward his room. "I've got him," Booth assured her, moving past her. "You just entertain our guest." There was something about the way he said "guest" that made Brennan raise her eyebrows, but he was already past her and moving toward the bedroom that all three kids shared.

"And that was. . . ?" Sully inquired.

"Kristen's brother, our foster son. Noah," Brennan answered.

"Three kids in this apartment? You must be pretty cramped."

"We are," Brennan agreed. "But we're working on fixing up a house."

"Oh? I never really saw you as the settling down, house type."

"I never really have been. But it seems to be the most logical course of action, and Booth really likes it. And it's actually a very nice house or will be once we've fixed it up." They fell into silence which was broken by Booth as he emerged from the bedroom, holding Noah above his head as he blew raspberries on the infant's stomach. He passed Noah to Brennan when he walked by her. "I'm going to get dinner on the table," he told her. "He's been changed, now he just needs to be fed." Brennan nodded, following him into the kitchen to heat up a bottle. Sully started to follow, too, but his way was barred by Parker and Kristen. Kristen crossed her arms over her chest as they both regarded him carefully.

"I don't like you much," Kristen finally declared.

"You don't even know me."

"You hurt Mom," she said matter-of-factly.

"Tempe? I didn't hurt her. We just had a disagreement."

"Uh huh." Kristen looked as if she did not believe a word he was saying. Looking at them standing there, Sully suddenly felt that he was staring at two mini versions of Booth. Before they could continue to conversation, however, Booth himself appeared behind them carrying a large bowl of salad.

"Come on, you two, go sit down. Dinner'll be out in just a minute." Obediently, the two made their way to the table though Sully noticed that their eyes did not leave him for the entire trip. The night was certainly not turning out to be what he had expected.

Parker said a prayer before eating. Sully kept his eyes open throughout it, never having been a particularly religious man. He noticed that though Brennan did not fold her hands, she did lower her head slightly in acknowledgement of the blessing. It was a strange sight to see; Sully knew that she was not religious at all. He supposed it was Booth's influence; she was trying to respect his faith. Kristen and Parker dominated most of the dinnertime conversation though Brennan and Booth did break out into an argument about halfway through the meal, showing Sully that not everything had changed.

Brennan invited Sully to stay after dinner, and after hearing Booth's grunt of frustration, he simply could not refuse. They all helped clear the table, even the kids, but Brennan stopped Booth before he could start to wash dishes. Leaning over, she whispered something in his ear before pressing her lips tightly against his. Booth turned to her, responding instantly to the kiss, and a wave of jealousy washed over Sully as he remembered that it used to be him on the receiving end of those lips. He immediately recognized, however, that there was something different about the way she kissed Booth. At times, it almost seemed like she was relinquishing control, letting him take over. Sully knew that during their relationship, she had always needed control, and the way she had kissed him reflected this. But with Booth, though she did take control sometimes, he also noticed that there were times when she gave herself to him, letting him take over the reins because she trusted him.

They broke apart, and Booth approached him. "You play basketball, right?" he asked. Sully nodded. "Good. Hey, Parks, Kristen, you wanna play some basketball with me and Sully? I've heard he's pretty good." Immediately, both kids were beside them, and Booth laughed. "Whattya say, Sully? You up for it?"

"You're on."

Sully retrieved his gym bag from his car and changed into sweats and a t-shirt before following them to a court near the apartment building. "So, you want Parker or Kristen?" Booth questioned once they reached the court.

"I'll do fine on my own," Sully assured him, not sure exactly how to play with a young child on his team. "Why don't you just take them both?"

"You sure? That's not exactly fair."

"It'll be fine," Sully assured him.

"Okay. You take ball first." Booth passed him the ball, and he brought it to his chest, protecting it as he watched Booth carefully. With his eyes still focused on Booth, Sully faked to the right before crossing over and dribbling to the left. But Booth was quick; his weight shifted with Sully's, and he stayed with him as Sully started toward the basket. Sully tried every trick he could think of: behind the back, between the legs, crossovers, but Booth was always right there with him. Sully tried to take him to the basket; unfortunately, Booth was bigger than he was, and it was no problem for the agent to crowd him out from the basket. Sully tried to shoot, but he was off-balance, and the shot ended up hitting the rim and bouncing off into Kristen's waiting hands. She eagerly dribbled it back behind the three-point line before passing it to Parker who passed it to his father.

It quickly became apparent that though Sully was good at basketball, Booth was better. He stepped to the right, and Sully went with him, but Booth simply crossed the ball over to his other hand and blazed by the smaller man, heading straight for the basket. Instead of going for the easy lay-up, he bounce passed the ball to Parker who stood under the basket. The boy threw the ball up, but the ball sailed under the net. Booth rebounded easily, this time letting Kristen take the shot. Sully was close enough that he could have blocked Kristen's shot, but he could not bring himself to do that to a kid. He regretted his decision, however, when the ball hit the backboard and dropped neatly into the net.

Booth let the kids take most of the shots in the game. The only time he shot, he would try for a fancy shot, including a backwards left-handed lay-up and a three-point shot from 25 feet, both of which somehow fell. By the time they took a break for water, Sully was trailing pretty far behind. Booth downed almost the full bottle of water that he had brought out before setting it down again and turning to see that Brennan had joined them, bringing Noah with her. Booth's eyes met hers, and he smiled. Time to show her who the alpha male was.

He turned back to Sully who had finished his own water. The kids still seemed pretty tired and engrossed in a discussion with Brennan, so he doubted they would mind taking a break for a few minutes. "Hey, Sully, how about some one-on-one?" Booth challenged, his eyes alight.

Sully considered the offer for a minute. He knew what Booth was doing; he, too, had noticed that Brennan was now outside with them. But despite his knowledge of what Booth was doing, he simply could not turn down a challenge. "Okay," he agreed.

"Excellent." Booth's grin grew wider. "We'll play 'til eleven, win by two. Call your own fouls. You can have the ball first." He passed the ball to Sully who caught it against his chest.

"Are you sure? You don't want to shoot for it?"

"Positive. Just take it." Booth was not going to give him any excuses. He didn't want to win only to have Sully claim that he cheated or gained an advantage in some way.

Sully checked the ball to begin the game. He managed to score two baskets before an errant shot hit the rim. Booth easily caught the rebound and took the ball to the top. As soon as he checked the ball, Sully dropped, ready to move wherever Booth did. But Booth had other plans. As soon as the ball was in his hands, he raised it and released it in a smooth arc, sending it neatly into the basket. Sully did not even have a chance to react. Booth smirked.

The game simply went downhill from there for Sully. Booth was quick, and he seemed to expend virtually no effort in blowing past Sully. He made an easy lay-up before starting to take more difficult shots. It seemed there was not a shot Booth was afraid to take, and more often than not, his crazy shots fell. Sully managed to get the ball back once more and score another lay-up, but Booth was at eleven in no time. He did a victory lay-up, slapping an open palm against the backboard, an action which elicited loud cheers from Parker and Kristen. Retrieving the ball, he approached Sully and held out a hand. "Good game," he said.

"Yeah, good game," Sully agreed. Booth smiled at him before walking over to where Brennan sat with the kids.

"So, what did you think?" he asked, trying to appear casual.

"You really are an alpha male."

"And you love me for it," he countered.

"You're really good."

Leaning closer so the kids wouldn't hear, he whispered, "Does that turn you on?"

"What do you think?" Still smirking, he pressed his lips to hers.

When he pulled back, he turned to Parker and Kristen. "Let's go and show Sully how you really play basketball," he said, smiling.

An hour later, Brennan and Sully sat together on the couch, Sully with a beer and Brennan with a glass of water. Booth had disappeared into the back room to put the kids to bed, leaving the two alone. "Can I ask you a question, Tempe?" Sully inquired after a few minutes of silence.

"Sure."

"If Booth asked you right now to sail around the Caribbean with him for a year, would you go?"

Brennan stared at him in confusion. "What? You mean like you did?"

"Yes, like I did."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Idle curiosity."

"Well, the question is irrelevant. Booth would never want to sail around the Caribbean for a year. He's very committed to his job and the kids."

"Consider it a hypothetical situation. Maybe Booth gets bored with his job and pretend the kids aren't around."

"It would never happen. Even if for some reason, Booth decided to sail around the Caribbean for a year, which he wouldn't, he would never force me to make a decision between him and my work. That's just not him."

"I said it was hypothetical, Tempe."

"She's right, you know," Booth remarked from behind them. They turned to see him leaning in the doorway which led from the bedroom into the living room. Pushing himself up, he started into the room. "I would never force her to make that decision."

"Oh, for Christ's sakes! Could you just pretend for a moment that Booth is a selfish bastard who decides that for some unknown reason, he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life staring at dead bodies. That he, I don't know, wants to expand his horizons, live a little. And so he asks you to come with him to sail around the Caribbean. Like I said, it's hypothetical." His voice dripped sarcasm.

"She doesn't like hypothetical situations," Booth said at the same time as Brennan remarked, "I don't like hypothetical situations."

"Could you just answer the question?" Sully asked, now frustrated.

"Bones, you don't-"

"Yes, okay!" Brennan shouted, heedless of the kids in the next room. And with that, she jumped up from the couch and ran from the room.

"Goddammit, Sully, that's why things would never have worked out between you two," Booth growled. "You just keep pushing and pushing."

"Sometimes, people need a little push."

"A little push maybe. But you're shoving. You shoved when you two were together, and you're doing it now. And God help me, if you screw something up between us, I will personally make sure you never get a chance to shove again." He rose to his seat, and Sully followed suit. Booth stopped him with a firm hand on the other man's chest. Fire danced in Booth's eyes as he tried to control his temper. "Not this time, Sully. You had your chance. Leave."

Sully wondered if he had a death wish because he could not stop the next words which came from his mouth. "But Tempe-"

"I will take care of her. Just like I've been doing for four years." Booth stepped closer, crowding Sully. He had at least four inches and a good thirty pounds on the other man, and Sully took a step backwards automatically.

"Well, I should get going then," Sully declared as if leaving had been his idea all along. Booth nodded, watching as he made his way quickly to the door.

"Sully?" he called just before the other man disappeared. Sully turned to face him. "Don't come back here again," Booth warned.

He found Brennan in their bedroom, just where he had expected her to be. She was sitting on the bed, her laptop open in front of her, ostensibly writing. "I don't want to talk about it," she told him when she heard him come in.

"Okay. Then we won't talk about it." He climbed into bed next to her, reaching for a novel that he had been reading.

"It's true, you know," she remarked after a few minutes. He set his book aside and turned to find that she was looking at him, tears shimmering in her eyes. "If you asked me to sail with you around the Caribbean for a year, I'd go."

"And that scares you?" He still had not touched her; they simply sat there, a couple feet from one another, staring at each other. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and chewed on it for a moment before nodding.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Booth. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I don't like relying on other people, having my happiness depend on them."

"You're not the only one who's scared, Temperance. God, I love you so much it hurts sometimes. I can't imagine my life without you." His eyes met hers, and she knew that he did not speak idly. He spoke the truth, and the intensity of his words and the emotions behind them made them both pause.

"Will it always feel like this?"

"I can't say for sure because I've never felt like this before. But I have a feeling that it will. The feelings I have certainly aren't going to go away anytime soon."

"Is it worth it?"

"What do you think, Bones?"

"I don't know. I mean, what if something were to happen to you? I don't know if I could continue without you. Is the possibility of such a devastating loss worth it?"

"Bones, I'm not going anywhere for a long time."

"You can't know that, Booth. And I don't know how well I can deal with losing you. When I thought you had died. . ." Here, she broke off, and Booth felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He had not wanted her to believe he was dead; he had included her on his list of people to tell for that reason. And then Sweets had to go and mess everything up. . .

"Look, Bones, the thought of losing you terrifies me, too. But this, right here," he reached out and took her hand, touching her for the first time since entering the room, "this I wouldn't trade for anything."

She smiled at him and pulled their joined hands against her chest, resting them just above her heart. "Booth? It's definitely worth it." His smile echoed hers as he tugged her closer, bringing their lips together in a soft kiss. Their love-making that night was different than it ever had been before. It was slow and sensual and filled with the new depth of emotion that they had discovered that night. Afterwards, they lay together, Brennan cocooned in Booth's arms. They did not speak , both still thinking about the implications of their words.

Booth dropped Brennan off at the lab the next morning so he could return to the Hoover for a meeting. After dropping Noah off at daycare, Brennan made her way to the lab, grabbing her lab coat from the rack just inside the door as she entered. "Dr. Brennan!" Hodgins called to her from his computer. Shrugging her lab coat over her shoulders, she joined him on the platform.

"What is it, Hodgins?" she questioned, peering over his shoulder.

"There was a locket found on the body," Hodgins told her, holding up a clear plastic evidence bag which contained a tarnished silver heart-shaped object on a chain. "I cleaned it up and found an engraving on the left-hand side." He clicked a few buttons on the computer and brought up a magnified picture of the locket.

"S.Y. and K.L.," Brennan read. "Neither of those are our victim's initials."

"I know," Hodgins told her. "The locket might have belonged to our killer."

"That's speculation."

"Well, there was also a picture on the other side, but it was pretty degraded. I couldn't even tell that it was of a person. I gave it to Angela. She's going to see if she can clean it up at all, maybe figure out who the locket belonged to."

"Ask and ye shall receive," Angela announced, emerging from her office. "And I say it again, you're not going to like this one."

"Why?"

"I managed to restore most of the picture," Angela stated, handing Brennan a colored photo that showed a man and a woman, both in their late twenties. They were both smiling at the camera, and he was standing behind her, his arms around her middle. She was pretty with a wide, engaging smile and blue eyes that almost seemed to sparkle. Her skin was smooth and unblemished, her face long and narrow, and her cheekbones high. He, too, was handsome—well-dressed, strong, angular features, and stunning green eyes.

"This isn't Emma Kelly or her husband," Brennan observed.

"They sure don't look like murderers either," Hodgins added.

"They're not. I ran the faces through my facial recognition software. Hers came up with a hit." Angela passed them a second sheet of paper. "Kaitlin Yeats, maiden name Kaitlin London. She was an aerospace engineer at NASA until she was reported missing by her husband Sean Yeats on January 8, 2008. The FBI never found a body."

"We need to call Booth," Brennan announced. Angela and Hodgins both nodded as she pulled out her phone.