Seeley agrees to stay with her for the night. She falls asleep quickly after a warm bath. She can hear the heat lightning as she drifts off to sleep.
She begins to dream about a similar night.
She holds onto her books tightly as she reaches the door. She pulls a key out of her pocket. Before she can try it the door swings open and a belligerent man stands before her. He rips the books out of her hand and throws them to the ground. He pulls her inside and slams the door. He locks it behind her. She tries to get away from him but he grabs her by the back of the head. He spins her around and pushes her against the door.
"Please don't do this," she begs.
"Where were you?"
"I was at the library,"
"Why didn't you come home when you said you were going to?"
"If you were so worried about me why didn't you come pick me up?"
"How did I know you were actually at the library?"
"Because that's where I told you I was,"
"I'm so sick of this shit,"
"You're sick of it?"
"Temperance don't try my patience tonight,"
"Do not do this. You're going to regret it,"
"I told you that I didn't want this, and you just didn't listen to me. I still don't want it. You're mine... all mine,"
"Please just let me go to bed. I'm tired,"
"Shut up," he screams.
"Why are you doing this?" she quivers.
"Because I own you. You're mine and you still don't listen to what I say,"
"What are you going to do about it? Beat me to a pulp again? Have another emergency room visit? Don't you think that people are starting to get suspicious?"
He grabs her by the throat. He squeezes until she can't breath. She turns bright red. He pushes her to the floor as he lets go. She struggles for air while on all fours.
"I told you that I did not want this. It's going to ruin everything. You will do what I say,"
"I get to have a choice in this,"
"Not if you want to stay with me,"
"I don't want to stay with you. Not if it's going to be like this. It's not healthy. I'm leaving," she tells him as she attempts to get up. She takes a steel-toed boot to the T-5 rib. She once again struggles for air. She regains her breath it's shaky but she pleads, "Please don't do this."
He kicks her again. This time he kicks her in the hip. She rolls to the other side. She lays still on the floor.
"I'll do whatever you want me to just stop," she begs.
"I know that you're lying," he tells her.
She was lying but she didn't think that he knew. She pushes herself up. As she stands the blood rushes to her head. Her ribs, and hip throb. She moves towards him unsteadily. She punches him in the face as hard as she can. She makes it to the door. She begins to unlock it when he grabs her and throws her back onto the floor.
"I want it out of you," he tells her.
She tries to do something, but can't. He kicks her once, twice... at least five times. In serious pain she rolls over. He kicks again this time nailing her in the back.
"Stop!" she insists.
He does only because of her shouting.
"Are you planning on killing me?" she asks.
He says nothing he just stares at her.
"Are you? If you're going to do it get it over with," she screams.
He suddenly realizes what he's done.
"Tempe I'm so sorry I didn't mean it," he insists.
He reaches down to help her up. She smacks his hand away. She gets to her feet on her own. She gets to the door and unlatches it without him doing anything. She stumbles into the hallway. She eventually makes it out of the building onto the street. As she walks past the building the cold rain starts beating on her face. The freezing rain mixes with the tears that roll down her face. When she gets to the end of the block a woman spots her. She pulls over. She pops the car in park and gets out. She makes her way over to Temperance.
"Are you ok?" she asks.
Temperance shakes her head as she cries.
"Lets get you to the hospital," she suggests after seeing the bruising on Temperance's throat.
She wakes up in a cold sweat. She looks around and realizes where she is. She listens carefully. She hears the clock on the wall, the thunder, and the rain beating on her window. She hears her own covers rustle, and someone else snoring. She groggily gets out of bed and follows the snoring to the source. She finds Seeley in the guest bedroom. He wakes up the instant she steps into the room. He turns on the light, and sits up. She sits on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. He says nothing for a while as she sobs.
"Are you ok?"
"No," she states the obvious.
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
"No," she tells him.
"Please let me in Temperance,"
She gets up and leaves the room without notice. He debates with himself about going after her, but before he can make a decision she returns. She throws a book on his bed.
"What you're looking for is in there," she tells him as she points at the Chemistry text book laying on the bed.
He says nothing. He begins thumbing through the pages. The first thing he encounters is a marriage certificate. He looks up at her. She nods, and he unfolds the paper and begins to read it to himself. He places it back in the book.
"Are you sure that you're ready to do this,"
She thinks quietly for a while. She shakes her head. He nods, and shuts the book. He hands the book back to her. She returns it to the book case and then shuffles back to the guest room. He sits there waiting on her.
"Do you want to stay in here with me?" he asks graciously.
"Is that ok?" she wonders.
He nods and peels back the covers. She crawls in bed next to him. He turns off the light and joins her under the covers. He rolls over to face her. She buries her face in his chest. He gently drapes his arm over her.
The following morning they go to work as usual. She finishes with all of the adult victims and is left only with the infant. She stands over the infant quietly. Cam comes in and stands next to her.
"Well?"
"This baby is premature,"
"How long do you think it was alive?"
"I can't be sure, but I'd say not very long. I would estimate the baby to have been anywhere from thirty to thirty two weeks,"
"Babies can survive out of the womb at that point can't they?"
"With the help of technology. I doubt this baby would live very long without help,"
"Should I have hospital records checked?"
"You can, but you would here about a premature baby being abducted from a hospital,"
"True. What are you thinking?"
"That I really hate my job,"
"About the baby," Cam clairifies.
"Oh. Well I would say that the baby was born at home. Have you gotten the toxicology report done yet?"
"Yes,"
"Positive for methamphetamine?"
"No. The baby didn't test positive for any drugs,"
"Everyone in the house tested positive except for the woman you found under the stove,"
"She hadn't given birth,"
"What if she had?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if something went wrong and someone performed an emergency c-section on her,"
"Why would they do that?"
"I don't know, but it's an explanation,"
"What's the alternative?"
"The mother of this baby is out there somewhere,"
"Maybe the mother of this baby was young. It would explain the prematurity of the baby,"
"When the baby was born she freaked out, and left. Was the baby dead before the fire?"
"I'm not sure,"
"But it's possible?"
"Anything is possible,"
"Did you find anything around the baby?"
"A few cotton fibers,"
"Consistent with being wrapped in something?"
"No, more like transfer,"
"There was no one else in that basement. It doesn't make sense,"
"Why would they leave the baby down there to die?"
"Maybe it was already dead,"
"She," Temperance corrects.
"Maybe she was already dead,"
"Could be," Temperance answers trying to keep her composure.
"Are you ok Dr. Brennan?"
"Yeah," she lies.
"Are you sure?"
"I just... I don't like dealing with infants,"
"They kids are always the hardest,"
"Yeah," she nods in agreement.
"If you find anything else let me know,"
"Oh can you run the baby's DNA against the other people found in the fire?"
"Yeah," Cam agrees.
The second that Cam leaves Temperance's knees nearly buckle. She chokes back tears as Angela comes up to her.
"You ok?"
Temperance swallows hard and then answers, "Yeah,"
"Bren don't lie,"
"I just hate this case,"
"Because of the baby?"
"Because of everything,"
"What do you mean?"
"Something just isn't right. We found the baby in the basement alone. It wasn't wrapped in anything, and I don't know if it was dead before or after the fire,"
"How big would this baby have been alive?"
"Somewhere between two and three pounds,"
"Why didn't they just take it to the hospital?"
"I don't know,"
"What was the cause of death on the baby?"
"There is no clear cause of death. There aren't any organs, just charred bone,"
"What if the fire was a set up?"
"The meth lab exploded,"
"Are we sure? I mean they found the chemicals to make it but how do we know the explosion wasn't caused by something else?"
"Can you run a scenario for me?"
"Sure what?"
"Using the size of the base, and the point of origin figure out if there is a possibility that something else caused the explosion,"
"Ok," she agrees.
