This one's the big one. Hold on tight.

And all you folk who have bets on who the man is...this is the one you're after.

Disclaimer: On Halloween, there were so many skeletons out on the street...I asked them all if I could own their bones and not even that could happen...I have no hope with the TV show.

Enjoy.

..:::..

"What have we got so far?"

Hodgins looked at the evidence lying before him, shaking his head. Cam watched him expectantly, "A whole bunch of little things that add up to nothing."

"Tell me. We need to play Booth in this one."

He ran his hands down his face; a sign of frustration, "OK," he sighed, "We have a Morrisey suit."

"Morrisey?"

"Some designer who released his clothing into Wal-Mart at discount prices."

"OK, cheap designer suit. What else?"

"Cheap designer shoes too, with traces of phosphogypsum and desulphogypsum in the shoe print."

"Gypsum? Plasterboard?"

Hodgins nodded, "Exactly."

"OK, anything else?"

Angela came striding out of her office, "I know who."

Cam's eyes widened at the news, discarding anything that Hodgins had to offer to the conversation, "Who?"

Opening up a file on the computer screen for the others to see, Angela began speaking very quickly.

"Well, Hodgins put the idea in my head that none of Booth's targets would still be alive, and it got me thinking, if you were a family member of someone who go shot by a sniper, you'd be pretty pissed,"

"Angela, hard facts, now." Cam prompted, knowing that the artist could ramble when she was nervous. And knowing her best friend was in danger definitely induced nerves.

She shook her head, "Right, I apologise." The file she had been trying to locate popped up on the screen, "Javor Radick. His father, a man who had led over two hundred people to their deaths, was killed by Booth ten years ago, on this boy's birthday." She scrolled down as she spoke, "According to the report, Javor went into foster care in Serbia and was released only a few weeks ago when he turned 18. America was his first destination in mind when he got out."

Both Cam and Hodgins shook their heads, "And now he wants to avenge his father's death."

"But why take Parker and Bren?" Angela questioned. She was sure of her analysis of the situation, but it still confused her why her best friend and that little boy needed to be dragged into it, "Why not just Booth?"

Hodgins suddenly nodded, putting the pieces together in his mind, "This all started with a sniper shot to the one person he loved, and now he tried and failed to end it in the same fashion."

Cam cottoned on to the lined of thought and added, "And when it all went wrong,"

"He over compensated," Angela finished.

The three sighed, all aware that they were running out of time. Revenge on this one would have been a long time coming for Javor and due to his already unstable plans, there was no telling how long Booth, Brennan and Parker had to live.

"So we have the 'who' and the 'what he was wearing'. We still need everything else."

..:::..

She couldn't tell how long it had been. Parker had been whimpering for a long time now and that was the only sound. The poor child was so frightened and she couldn't even offer him the comfort of a hug. Angela had once told her that a simple touch could convey comfort and she couldn't even do that.

"Parker?" She heard him sniff.

"Yes."

"I need you to do something for me. We're going to play a game."

"I'm so tired, Bones."

It broke her heart to hear her nickname said in such a tired tone, "I know, Parker, but we're going to try something to get ourselves out of here."

She heard him shift, perhaps trying to look her way, "I thought my daddy was coming."

"Your father is coming. He always comes to the rescue," She thought it best to make Booth sound like some sort of superhero, but even as she said it, she realised what she was saying was the truth. Booth always did come to the rescue and she hoped more than anything that he was on his way right now, "We just have to do something to help him."

"OK."

She sighed, glad that Parker had agreed. She didn't want to put any further stress on the child than necessary.

"OK. I need you to sit up where you are and speak to me, I'm going to find you and sit with my back to you." She heard some shuffling and assumed that he was doing what he was told.

"I'm really dizzy. Will I have to stay up for long?"

Another wave of emotion hit her. The man who had done this to them was going to pay. He could hurt her as much as he wanted, but Parker... She just felt very protective of Parker.

"No Sweetheart, not long." She shuffled in the sound of his voice, finding him easily in the small room, "I'm going to try undoing the rope, so I need you to sit still for me, OK?"

As she reached behind her for the bindings on Parker's wrists she felt him reach for her, the boys hand wrapped around hers and squeezed it tightly, "I'll try my hardest for you, Bones."

She closed her eyes beneath the hood and blinked back tears as she squeezed Parker's hand back.

The rope was tied in a hurry, but it was tied tight and Brennan had some issues getting enough of a grasp on it to pull it free. Eventually she felt something loosen and was able to pull some of the cord away from the knot. From that point it was easy to pull the rest away and Parker was soon free. She heard him scramble around to the front of her and felt as he lifted the bag from her head.

She took a breath of fresh air and smiled at the boy, "Thank you, Parker."

He smiled weakly back at her, a shadow of his former bright self, "Do you want me to undo your ropes too?"

"Yes please."

Parker made quick work of the ropes, explaining to Brennan that Booth had taught him all about knots one weekend.

"Parker, you've done such a great job. What's say we try to find a way out of here now?"

Parker nodded and Brennan could see some of his spark returning, maybe if she could get him out now, everything would be OK. He hadn't seen or heard too much, this would all just be a distant memory in no time to an eight year old.

As they started to move towards the door, they heard clicks indicating that the door was being unlocked. Brennan pulled Parker to her chest and moved back a little bit, planning on attacking their assailant when he walked in.

However, as the door opened she was not granted the sight of their captor, but a man bound to a seat. It was clear by the way the bag over his head was placed that the man was knocked out or... She didn't consider the alternative.

Paralysed in the realisation of who that man was, Brennan tucked Parker's head down and covered his eyes. She stared at the scene before her as the young man dragged the unconscious man into the room. She stared from the striped socks to the Cocky belt buckle to the bright tie and knew, without a shadow of a doubt that her partner lay beneath that hood.

Javor Radick walked to the front of Booth and pulled the hood from his head, waking a battered man from his unconscious state.

The partners stared in horror at each other, neither knowing what to do. The pain in the other's eyes almost too much to bear. A sob broke loose from Parker and Brennan looked down to see that he had turned his head and could see his father.

Javor looked at the three of them in disgust, "We're going to play a game."

..:::..

Don't hate me yet...I promise it's going to be OK. Until then reviews are much welcome.

Em

xx