Chapter four – Steven's revenge

"Brennan," she spoke into the phone.

"I've got news for you, I've run the DNA on the blood we found in the car; it belongs to a man called Steven Mitchell, as does the fingerprint found on the windshield. I asked the FBI to check up on him; he's in the register for assault, two years ago."

Brennan pressed the phone closer to her ear, listening carefully as she tried to grasp what Cam was saying. Why did this whole thing sound so familiar?

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, it hit her. Two years ago... Mitchell... she didn't want it to be true, but it was...

"Oh my god, do you know what this means?"

"That little brother finally got his revenge,"Cam stated.

"I don't think Booth can handle any more bad news. He's gonna..." Brennan cut herself off, sighing.

"I know what you mean, he's gonna think it's his fault."

"Yes..." Brennan could see the whole picture before her. She could still remember that day two years ago. Craig Mitchell had murdered a woman in cold blood. It was Brennan and Booth who had made sure he was paying for his crime. Younger brother Steven had sworn to take revenge, none of them had taken his words seriously and as the years passed by, Steven and his brother was forgotten. Until now...

He had gotten what he wanted. He had once said he would make sure Booth would pay for putting his brother away; that he would make him suffer as much as much as Craig was. Only this was far worse...

Brennan never jumped to conclusions, but in this moment she was certain, there was just no one else with motive and means to do something that horrible, Steven had taken Parker, locked him into the car and set in on fire. He had done the worst thing he could possibly do.

How was she going to tell Booth? If it was possible, he would feel even worse.

"Dr Brennan are you still there?"

Brennan was brought back to reality as she heard Cam's voice. "Yes I was just thinking," the moment she said it she saw Booth coming out of the bathroom.

"Bones?"

"Was that Booth? Did you spend the night with Booth?" Cam asked and Brennan was sure she could hear a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Yes," Brennan answered honestly. It wasn't until she'd said it she realized how it had sounded. "I didn't think he should be alone, I slept on the sofa, just in case he'd need me," she added, feeling the need clarify her previous sentence.

"Okay I believe you. See you soon Dr Brennan." Brennan wasn't sure she had actually believed her, but right now she didn't have time to think about that.

"Actually..." she began. "I was thinking of staying with Booth today," she had lowered her voice, hoping Booth wouldn't hear her. She was sure he would protest. She was also sure that deep down, he appreciated her company, and just thinking of seeing those bones back at the Jeffersonian again made her cringe. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. Not today.

"Okay, I understand," Cam simply said, and with that she hung up.

"Did you sleep well?" Brennan asked, watching Booth as he made it up to the sofa. She moved her pillow to give him some space.

"No I couldn't sleep... I uh... I couldn't stop thinking about..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

Brennan nodded, knowing what he was implying. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"I have some bad news, it was Cam on the phone... she has identified the..." she paused, thinking about how to say it. "The person who set the car on fire." she finished, watching Booth carefully. "It was Steven Mitchell, Craig Mitchell's younger brother..."

Booth looked totally confused for a while. But it didn't take long until he realized what it meant.

"Oh god," Booth was shocked. He remembered that case, and he remembered the threat, but neither him nor Brennan had taken it seriously. If he'd only known... What if he could have done anything to prevent this from happening? What if Parker's death was his fault?

No he couldn't think like that. He just couldn't, it would kill him...

XxxxX

Three days had passed since that awful day, and Booth was slowly starting to come out of the shock and face the truth. He had wanted to deny it, but he couldn't hide from the truth anymore. It wouldn't make it better; it would never bring his son back. There was nothing he could do, no matter how badly he'd want to.

The phone call with Rebecca hadn't made him feel any better either. He had dreaded making that phone call, but he'd known he'd have to talk to her. But he hadn't been able to call her directly after the horrible news about Parker. He'd known he would never have been able to tell her the truth; he hadn't even been able to bring himself to talk at all...

She hadn't said it straight out, but he was sure that on some level she was blaming him for what'd happened. She had been away on a business trip to Seattle and Parker had been Booth's responsibility. He had been at work for a couple of hours when he had learnt about the remains in the burnt car. He had gone there to check it out, thinking that Parker was safe in school. He realized now, he must have been taken right after Booth had dropped him off. And he hadn't even had a reason to worry either. They had made plans that Parker would go home with his friend Tyler later that day. But somewhere along the way there must have been a misunderstanding. Or else, why hadn't Tyler's mother called Booth and asked where Parker was? Why hadn't the teacher missed him? Had she simply assumed he had stayed at home?

Booth had tried to tell Rebecca all of this, but he wasn't sure she had even heard a word of what he had been saying. Or... tried to say. Both of them had been crying, never even trying to hide the fact that they were. Rebecca was devastated, and he knew exactly how she felt.

Booth was snapped out of his thoughts as a loud sound of a car blowing its horn. It was in the last minute he managed to get his SUV back into the right lane. His heart was pounding in his chest so hard he was sure it was going to explode. He tried to breathe, tried to pull himself together. The FBI building was in sight and Booth thanked god he had made it there without getting someone killed. Brennan had told him he shouldn't drive, but he hadn't listened to her, he realized now that maybe he should have.

Just as he had sat down behind his desk, Cullen knocked on the door. Booth looked up, giving him a tired look.

"You shouldn't be here Agent Booth," was the first thing the boss said. "I know what happened to your son."

Booth looked down at his hands, closing his eyes briefly, praying for the strength to make it through this day.

"I'm sorry," Cullen's voice was surprisingly soft. "Why are you here?"

Booth looked up. "I know who did this, and I won't rest until I'll find that son of a bitch and..." he was cut off.

"You are not going to do anything; you are not allowed to work this case, Agent Booth."

"I have to, you can't take this case away from me... it's... it's all I have left."

"I understand how you feel, but I can't let you do this, go home, and stay there. Take a vacation, just don't, and I'm telling you, don't come back here until this case is solved. It's for your own good Agent Booth." Cullen left before Booth had a chance to talk. He left the door opened and Booth got out of his chair, slammed the door shut with a force that made the whole room tremble. The sound made him stop and think, but the anger came back just as quick. With a scream, Booth slammed his fist into the door, not caring about the pain as the wood made his skin bleed.

XxxxX

TBC