So I'm going to develop some of the one shots I wrote for the Alphabet. This is chapter three. Drama and suspense are going to be the main themes for the next few chapters so I'd like to point this out as I don't wish to offend nor to upset anyone. Of course this is only fiction, but if you feel this genre is not your piece of cake, please don't read on. If you don't mind entering this new territory with me enjoy the reading.

I hope you like it. Will be posting the 4th chapter soon. Enjoy the reading. Still AU.

A/N: I do not own any of these characters.

SHATTERED

Brennan reached out and grabbed her cell phone. Who could possibly wake her up at... damn! Three in the morning. She had gone to bed so late, sleep just refusing to sweep in and take her in its arms.

"Brennan" she groaned dropping her head back on the pillow.

All she got was a long pause. She opened her eyes.

"Hello?" she asked. No answer again.

"This is not funny you know? - she snapped rather annoyed - "Who the hell are you?"

All she got this time was a series of indistinguishable sounds, as if somebody was holding back, trying not to crack up and sob.

"Seeley? Is that you?" She inquired almost scared to even think he was in some kind of trouble. His name had suddenly popped into her mind together with a terrible foreboding feeling.

"Yes..." he sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Temperance... I..." but he couldn't speak and he started to sob violently.

"Seeley, please. Listen to me." she pleaded in the attempt of making him focus on her voice and pull himself together. "Take a deep breath then let the air out slowly." She paused.

She heard him breathe and sigh. She wasn't pushing him, She gave him all the time he needed.

"I just... can't... not over the phone..." he cried.

"Okay. Where are you? I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I'm not in D.C."

"You're not? She said startled "Where are you then?"

"In Quebec."

"What are you doing in Quebec?" she realized how stupid her question was the moment it had left her mouth. He was an FBI agent, for God's sake. He was probably working on a case.

"Temperance... please... I can't explain this on the phone. I need you..." he let out in distress.

"Alright then, tell me exactly where you are. I'll be on the first plane."

She wrote down his address and jumped out of bed. "I'm coming Seeley." she stated moving to her bathroom.

"Thank you Temperance." he said.

While packing her bag she couldn't stop thinking about the strange call she had just had from him. Something was definitely very wrong. That was not the Seeley Booth she recalled nor the man she had met a few days earlier at the Founding Fathers.

What could have gone so bad in such a short period of time? He looked fine, more than that actually, she thought as the cab took her to Dulles Airport in the middle of the night. He was absolutely gorgeous and his more mature body structure combined with a perfect physical shape had brought back memories of how beautiful his body had felt in her arms.

She told herself that would not do. She could not punish herself like that, torture herself with images from a long gone past. She was a scientist now, an extraordinary one. And no feelings could take control over her rational, brilliant mind.

She leaned back on her business seat, put the sleeping mask on her eyes and told herself she'd better get some proper rest or she would be of no use. She closed her eyes and in a few minutes she dozed off.

The airplane was already approaching Montreal when Brennan looked out of the window. Everything was covered with snow. She had traveled all around the world, that was not going to be a problem.

She stopped at the coffee bar of the airport and had breakfast before going to the car rental. Then she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and accessed one of the speed dials.

"Ange? Hi. Yeah, I know. Sorry for waking you up so early. Listen. I won't make it to work today. Actually I'm taking a few days off. I'll talk to you later. Thanks Angela. Bye."

Brennan set the navigator, fastened her seat belt and headed for the highway. It was going to be a long drive, she'd sort everything out, she thought. She would try and rationalize the turmoil she'd been experiencing over the past week. Their paths had crossed and for a mutual understanding had parted after a moment of pure bliss. Both aware that the one moment they had been given would always live in them, suspended in time. Driven by the strength of her self-will she had managed to compartmentalize as she used to say, letting her mind rule her heart. And no one, she swore to herself, would ever be allowed to open the door of her heart again. And in fact none of her lovers had ever had.

As she drove through the immaculate Canadian landscape she thought that under different circumstances the beauty of nature would have soothed her. But right now she felt restless, unable to focus on anything but him, her heart pounding wildly in her chest she could feel it in her ears.

I am driving myself crazy – she said to herself – I need to concentrate on something else.

She started to recite each of the two hundred and six bones which make up the human body but when she came to the ulnae and the phalanges the image of his strong yet gentle hands caressing her to ecstasy and his arms softly circling her sent a sudden shiver through her spine. She pulled over and broke down, tears flowing helplessly along her cheeks.

Finally liberated from the mounting tension she had accumulated she felt light and ready to drive on, through the fifty more miles that separated them.

It was nearly one o'clock when she knocked on his door.

"Hi Temperance."

They looked at each other stiffening at what they saw. Their eyes red and swollen, dark circles underneath, worry written all over their faces.

"Seeley" she whispered entering his embrace.

The moment he closed his arms around her she felt as flames had enveloped her, the frantic beating of his heart matching hers. Unwilling to let him go she raised her head to look at him with querying eyes.

"What's happened to you?" she asked.

"Oh Temperance…" - he sighed holding her so close he feared to crash her – "I… it's not… me…"

"Tell me please. I have to know." She begged.

"It's… my son... Temperance. He's missing." He said burying his sobs on her shoulder.

And she froze in his arms.