Ok, so I think it gets better near the end, but that's just me and once again I apologize for any grammar mistakes that make things unclear.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bones : (
Chapter 4
Booth reluctantly left the bedroom. He didn't want to leave Bones behind. Not there. Not anywhere. He knew she needed space. That was her way of dealing. Bottle it up and hide it away until booth comes and finds it, but he needed the smell of her next to him. It gave him strength. Whenever he was having a bad day all he had to do was see her. Take in her smell and everything was alright. That wasn't the only thing making it hard for him to focus.
He couldn't stop thinking about parker and what he might be going through. He remembered all the things that had been done to him and his brain was showing the same things happening to Parker. Then there was everything that Bones had said about it being her fault. As soon as he interviewed their neighbors he would head to the FBI and pull files.
Anything they had. Family members of people they arrested, criminals that had gotten free, people that might have felt Temperance hadn't been nice to them, he would find anyone who had any reason to hurt her. He knew she would get mad when he asked her about her past, but he had to. It could be a crazy ex-boyfriend, someone she proved wrong, or even one of her foster parents. He needed to know. Then there was the current case they were working on.
Pushing it out of his mind he knocked on their neighbors door. He needed to focus so he could catch every detail and figure out what had happened.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Dodd"
"Hello Mr. Booth. We thought we heard a scream and we were about tocheck it out. Is everything alright?" Mrs. Dodd said with a worried look on her face.
He didn't know them well at all but he had met them several times and they had definitely seemed like nice people. They were an older couple. He guessed they were in their early sixties and he knew they had two adult children that lived out of state. He could tell Mrs. Dodd dyed her hair because the roots of her brown hair were gray. She was around average height and appeared to be in great shape for her age. Mr. Dodd was a little shorter than Booth and his hair was short and gray. Booth knew him better than the Mrs. They had spent some time talking since the man had also been in the army. He seemed like he was still active even though the man had been shot in the leg and it had caused permanent damage. Booth had great respect for the man and knew him better than the rest of their neighbors. He felt most comfortable talking to them.
"Well, actually no. My son has been...kidnapped. It happened earlier today. Around forty five minutes ago," Booth paused it had taken him half a hour to realize that his son was gone. Swallowing he continued, "I went down to the car to get some things and when I came back up I didn't even think to check on him cause I figured he was in his room like he always is. Then my wife called me and I started on dinner. She came home and that's when we found out. That was what the scream was. Do you remember hearing anything from our apartment about forty-five minutes ago?" It took all of Booth's strength and control to keep his voice steady as he said it.
"Actually saw rather than heard. I was leaving to pick up some dinner at around that time and there were two men standing outside your apartment. They were wearing repair man uniforms so I didn't think anything of it." Mr. Dodd said.
"Would you be able to describe them for me?" Hope filled Booth's voice at the words from the older man.
"I didn't get a good look, but I'd be willing to try."
"Thank you! I'll send our artist over as soon as I can." Booth energetically called out as he ran back towards his own apartment.
Temperance had been looking at the skeleton for some time. She knew it wasn't real, but she didn't understand why the kidnappers would leave it there.
When he got back to Parker's room Bones was still there. She was looking at the skeleton and spun when she heard him come in. Booth could tell that she had been crying. There was hope in her eyes and the fear and worry that had been there before was gone. When Booth saw it he smiled despite everything that had happened.
"What is it?" Booth asked.
"There are particulates We on the skeleton and on the ground. Looks like there might be some blood on the recorder too. We are going to need to take the skeleton and the recorder to the lab. Hodgins will be able to tell us about the particulates." Booth nodded.
"We are going to need Ange as well because Mr. Dodd saw men outside our apartment."
"I'll call them and tell them to come here." Bones said as she left the room."
"Wait!" Booth ran after her. "Didn't the man say not to get any help?" Booth asked. He was frantic thinking about the fact that one call might end Parker's life.
"It just said no law enforcement so we just don't tell Sweets or anyone at the bureau. " Bones said as she continued towards the phone. The hope in her voice was clear. Booth knew that Bones loved Parker, but he could sense that there was something else behind it too.
"Are you sure this guy will recognize the difference between law enforcement and the Squints? We don't want to do anything that could get him hurt." He articulated the words making sure she would listen and note his concern.
"You say that like it's something I didn't already know. Booth we have to find him. He chances of him coming back alive even if we pay the ransom and do everything they ask are low. Plus, we don't know what they want yet so how do we know we will be able to give it to them. We don't! So we need to be working on finding him on our own. To do that we need Angela and Hodgins." Temperance's voice got loader the farther she got into her declaration. "Booth there is no other way. That skeleton. I think I figured out what it means. There is marking on the right ulna and a hole through the lambodial suture. It's a copy of one of the skeletons at the Jeffersonian. That's what they want. Even if we give it to them we won't ever figure out who did it!"
As she spoke she realized how similar it was to when Booth had been kidnapped. The gravedigger had wanted evidence and she was willing to give it up because the evidence would never have led to the killer. Hodgins had had the evidence for a long time and they hadn't found anything. This was different. They had the evidence from the body. It was new evidence and could lead them to Parker and the killer. There was evidence on the fake skeleton as well. They had more to go on and she needed to find the person who did this to Parker. She needed more than to get him back. She needed to punish the person that did this to her. That took her son.
"Now you're the one talking like I don't know! I've been working for the FBI a long time. I've been through this before. I know the chances aren't high but they're higher if we do what they want then if we do what they told us not to. We don't need to know who did it as long as we get Parker back. Do you think I cared about catching the Gravedigger when he took you and Hodgins? I wanted to catch him. I wanted to catch him and hurt him for what he did to you! That didn't matter though because all that mattered was getting you back!" Booth's voice rose in response to Temperance's outburst. "I loved you even then and I was willing to do anything to get you back. I was willing to let the killer walk!"
"You never had to give up evidence for me and Hodgins! This is different. Plus, I know you cared. I know part of you needed to find us so that you would have more evidence to find the person who took me. Part of you needed to find us because you needed us to find the killer! Hodgins needed to find the killer and so did you! Guess what I guess I'm the same! I need to find the person that took Parker. Especially since it is at least partly my fault. Booth we don't know what they are going to demand! We don't know if we can do it so we need to be working on a separate plan! If they demand something else. Something they think we have but we really don't then we need another way to get him back. I know you don't want to think about that since he's your son, but what if they aren't actually planning on giving him back? What then Booth?" Her voice was cracking with rage and desperation.
As she stared into his eyes Booth saw the anger. He saw that it was directed at him. He had pushed her into letting out her emotions and now she was aiming it all at him. He didn't care because he believed that she wasn't actually blaming him. He believed that this was all just part of who she was.
Booth had been about to launch into a counter attack, but after her her last couple sentences he settles with two words, "Our son." He said it firmly, but not loud or angry. He stared her in the eyes and watched as confusion mixed with rage. She had been expecting a fight.
"What?" Shocked and throw off that was all Temperance could muster.
"You said 'since he's your son,' but he's our son and I have thought about it. I've thought about all the things they could have done to him. I've thought about all the ways we might see him and find him. I've thought about it and I don't care as long as we get him back." It wasn't an angry speech. He didn't even emphasize it. It was the truth so as long as she looked at his eyes he didn't need to.
His eyes said it all. Temperance had never been good at reading people. At times she couldn't read Booth at all. For a long time she had missed or ignored the loving stares he would give her. This time she couldn't ignore anything in his eyes. This time she could see everything.
Temperance was frozen by the look. Booth's eyes were full of pain. She could see that he was hurt by what she had said. The fact that she had said your instead of our. She hadn't meant it. She could feel her cheeks burn as she thought about what she had done. They were supposed to be a family and she hadn't called Parker her son. She wasn't sure why she had said your. It wasn't like it was something new. She had been calling Parker her son since they got married. Then as she stared at his eyes she noticed more. He knew her better than she knew herself and the understanding in his eyes told her that he knew why she had said it. Despair over what could be happening or had happened to Parker flooded the room. She could almost feel the pain he was going through. She understood him and knew what he had pictured she didn't know what it felt like, but she could imagine. The most unnerving thing in his eyes was the guilt. It took her a while to place it. When she did she almost wished she hadn't.
He felt like it was his fault. He blamed himself. He believed that he was a bad father and that is what had caused Parker to be taken. She understood that. She felt terrible too. Temperance thought that her job had caused it. The worst part of the guilt was that Booth felt that he was the reason she had said your. He thought that he had failed at making them a family. That he had kept Parker as his and still connected Parker with Rebecca. That he believed Rebecca was more important and more of a mother to Parker than she was. That was the worst of it.
His chocolate brown eyes bore into her and when she realized what they were saying her legs got weak. Temperance looked away. She started breathing faster and she stumbled towards the couch. She collapsed on it just as the headaches started.
"Booth. I..I didn't mean it. I know you've thought about it. I have too and he's our son. Ours." Temperance's voice was weak and she couldn't look at him. Holding her head in her hands she tried to ignore the throbbing that was starting. No. Not now! The pounding intensified and she began to feel nauseous.
"I know. I know you didn't mean it. Thinking things like that is your way of distancing yourself. It's just. It hurt that's all. We will call them. We will work to figure out who did this until we have to give the evidence up. Then we will since he's our son. We will do both. We will catch them and save Parker." His voice was comforting and he walked over to the couch as he said it. He sat down next to her and put his arms around her.
She knew he meant it and she trusted him. Leaning into his arms she tried to fight back the throbbing and the nausea. His soft mumbling helped. They sat there for a while. She couldn't move or she would throw up and cry out in pain. Finally she couldn't take it and she pulled herself out of his embrace and ran to the bathroom.
The throbbing began to lessen as soon as she had thrown-up. She knew it would. It always did. It never really went away. It took hours for it to slow long enough to actually think straight. Normally this only happened in the mornings and then the medicine made it so she was able to think by the time they got to the lab. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take this or how much longer she could keep it from Booth.
Just as she thought his name Booth appeared in the doorway. "Hodgins and Angela are on their way over."
All she could do was nod in response. She didn't trust her voice. She wanted to tell him so bad that she was afraid it would slip out it she spoke at all. She needed him, but she couldn't tell him. It would just make things worse. Hurry Angela!
Something was wrong. Booth could tell there was something she wasn't telling him. It was killing him not knowing. Not knowing how to help her. The fact that it was something she wasn't willing to tell him made it worse. For now he would just try and comfort her like he always had.
Booth slid to the floor next to her and pulled her to him. He would hold her and wait for Angela and Hodgins to get here. There was nothing else he could do. Both the people he loved were being pulled from him. He was lost and alone. All he could do was hold on to Temperance in the hope that she would come back to him and tell him what was wrong.
Thoughts?
I think I'll say what Brennan's new is next chapter. Unless I feel like being mean and dragging it out. Anyway I think I will probably have Chapter 5 done by Thursday night (late probably) or Friday morning.
