Collins was no more than an apparition over the continuing months. Neither Booth nor Brennan received any messages from him. No signs were apparent of his existence. Not even the hint of a whispered rumor. It was as if the man had never existed at all; as if he'd been a figment of their imagination. Yet Booth remained on guard. He was a loyal watchdog, glued to Brennan's side anytime they were in public together. He kept his eyes and ears open at all times. He'd even gone so far as to request assistance from some of the FBI's confidential informants, as they often received wind of situations before he did. While at first some weren't keen on the idea they'd wised up when they were informed of Brennan's baby. Even seedy underground types were willing to help a pregnant woman, Booth found.

Brennan relished in her pregnancy. Without the threat of Collins looming over her head she felt free. Though this wasn't how she'd hoped the situation would come about she enjoyed learning of how to be a mother. Every symptom, no matter how unpleasant, still filled her with a form of joy. Well before she was prepared she came across her five month mark. Together she and Booth drove to the doctor for her usual exam and ultrasound. Only this time the doctor had another surprise in store for her. "Would you like to know the sex of the baby?"

She had thought hearing her child's heartbeat for the first time would have been the most wondrous sound she would ever hear within her lifetime. The simple question proved her wrong. "Yes." She turned her head eagerly to Booth. His eyes were still transfixed on the screen, watching a black and white blob wiggle and writhe. "Booth?"

"Huh?" He returned to real world from whatever plane he'd been on.

"I would like to know the sex. How do you feel about it?"

"Of the baby?" He blinked rapidly. "Yeah. Of course!"

Dr. Coraline, the obstetrician who had been overseeing Brennan's pregnancy, continued to move the electronic wand around her exposed stomach. "All signs point to a girl."

Booth gasped a breath and smiled the first true expression of happiness Brennan had seen in months. Since Collins' disappearance he'd near changed personalities. She consistently had a difficult time in getting him to let go; in convincing him their world was safe from the evil that had been pursuing them. "A girl," he whispered out loud. He walked around the side of her from where he'd been standing by her head to study the screen close up. Dr. Coraline smiled knowingly at Brennan. "I'll make a DVD and a photograph for you."

Brennan thanked her graciously. Within the hour the two were seating themselves back in Booth's SUV armed with souvenirs of their visit. "We're going to have a little girl, Booth." She told him lovingly. However, she'd no more said it before she saw the glimpse of a storm touch his features. Of course. They weren't have anything. The couple could pretend all they wanted but the child would never biologically be his. She knew that tore a hole in his heart.

"That reminds me," he backed out of their space and turned onto the main road. "We gotta talk living arrangements, Bones."

"I was under the impression we'd remain at your apartment." It had taken a solid month before her own possessions had been cleared out of her former home. What could fit in Booth's apartment had been placed accordingly. Unfortunately even the small amount of items had left them overcrowded. The rest had gone into storage where the issue from then on was sidestepped.

"There's no space for a baby at my place. We're going to need an extra room."

"I planned on the child sleeping with us. Research shows that in the first year of a baby's life its beneficial to sleep with its' parents. Needs are met much quicker that way. We are the only country that forces their young to sleep in a different room as infants."

"Okay. That's fine. But where are we going to put a crib? Or a changing table? Or other furniture? My apartment isn't gonna hold all that. And what about when she gets older? Do you really want a ten year old still sleeping with us?" He shook his head. "We need somewhere with more room."

Brennan exhaled. "I would rather not change our situation. I don't feel ready to make such a drastic change. I'm not ready for a commitment of that size."

The air between them changed. A tension bubbled from the surface and rose upwards in a thick haze. Booth said no more. He didn't so much as glance in Brennan's direction. She looked him over with troubled eyes. "Booth?"

His tone dripped with ice. "I heard you." Before either one of them could comment further his cell phone chirped. From his pocket he withdrew it. "I'm taking you back to the Jeffersonian," he informed her after glancing at the text message.

"Is it a case?"

"No. I'm needed for a meeting at the bureau."

He left her without so much as a kiss goodbye. She departed for her office feeling hollow and saddened. She was well aware she'd done something wrong, but not conscious of what. All she'd said was the truth. Investing in a home together just seemed like a leap. Daily she still argued with herself over whether she was even correct in involving him so deeply in her life.

She enclosed herself in the safety of her office. Naturally it wasn't long before she was disturbed by a concerned friend. "Sweetie?" Angela squeezed herself in the door and let it shut behind her. "Is everything okay? You had your doctor's appointment this morning, right?"

Brennan realized then how her behavior must have seemed to others. She tried for a smile. "Yes. We're having a girl." As she said it she felt another pang of guilt.

"A girl! You must be so excited!" Brennan's crestfallen expression didn't sneak past her. "But something else is wrong. Is she okay?"

"No. Everything's fine with the baby. It's Booth."

Without an invitation Angela sat down in front of her desk. "The baby's not Booth's, is it?"

Brennan was gob smacked. She could only stare at her. "How did you…"

"Well, it just seemed to happen awful fast. You'd barely broken up with Collins before you were pregnant. And Booth just hasn't seemed like himself ever since you two gave the announcement. He just… he doesn't seem as happy as you'd expect a new father to be."

Excuses could have been continued to be made. But truthfully Brennan was rather tired of lying. "I must tell you something, but I require it to stay between us."

Angela's eyes enlarged. "What is it?"

Brennan exhaled to attempt to muster some courage. "Collins was abusive. We had two altercations in which he struck me hard enough to leave bruises. I took up residence in Booth's apartment in trying to escape him. I should have left him sooner. I should have gone to Booth directly during the first instance. Instead I left the night I discovered I was pregnant. It was Booth's idea to tell everyone it's his. We don't want word somehow getting back to Collins." As if they could find him. "I also prefer others not knowing of the situation I've gotten myself into."

"Where's Collins now?"

Tears came to her eyes. "Booth's injury a few months ago was not due to a cooking accident. In trying to move some things from my apartment Collins stabbed him in the side."

"He tried to kill him?" Angela gasped.

"Booth says no, that the blade in which he was carrying was long enough to… to…" She could barely fathom the thought. "To take his life. But the wound he caused instead wasn't all that deep, though no less painful. Booth believed Collins was trying to scare him. Only we know Booth doesn't intimidate that easily. We reported it to the FBI and a team went after him. Apparently we waited too long to make the report because Collins has disappeared. We have not heard from him in months."

Angela was astounded by the entire confession. "So… Booth's stepping up to take care of the baby? Wow. That's… I can't find words to say how amazing that is."

"He's a good man." She nodded with a sad smile. "He'll do anything to protect the two of us. Today we got into a discussion over finding a larger apartment for us to live in. I turned him down."

"What? Why?"

"I'm not ready to make such a radical change. It's a large commitment."

Across her chest Angela folded her arms. She fell backwards slightly into her chair. "So, he's willing to take full responsibility for your child. From what I can see based on what you've told me, he's making himself miserable with worry in trying to keep you safe. And you're afraid of committing to get another place to live? I'm sorry sweetie, but you're in the wrong."

Brennan glanced down to her hands which she'd folded in her lap. "When you draw attention to it that way…"

"Where would you put a baby? His apartment isn't that big. You don't even have a lease anymore on your old place. You're already living together. What's the big deal?"

It seemed too simple. Logic won over emotions. "I struggle every day with the decision I've made over allowing him to care for us, to take responsibility. I often wonder if I shouldn't break away onto my own again. As you said he's worried all the time. I love him," she admitted to her for the first time. "I don't like seeing him wrestling with such internal pain."

"Sweetie, if you left him it'd only be worse."

"I know." She whispered. "Perhaps I'll think again about the two of us moving. Maybe we need to get away for the weekend once again." Ever since they'd left Pops' cabin she'd been dying to get back to it. "Without distractions we can properly speak our minds."

"That's an idea." Angela stood. "Thank you for telling me all this. I wish you'd told me sooner."

"I just don't want to be seen as a victim."

Angela agreed. "No. If anything you're a survivor. But beyond that you are the strongest woman I know." With those parting words she returned to the lab. Brennan was left alone with her thoughts on Booth. There were just too many mixed emotions for her to successfully sort out. There was no use in dwelling what presently couldn't be changed. To distract herself she logged onto the computer. For hours she immersed herself in office work she'd been putting off. Nothing broke her concentration until her cell phone beeped a merrily little tune informing her she had a text message. Figuring it was Booth, she allowed it to wait. Likely he was only informing her of his return to the Jeffersonian to pick her up.

However when the tone rang two more times she decided it was important enough to answer. She lifted it from her purse. The messages on the screen were not from Booth, but from a sender who had blocked their identifying information. Her fingers scrolled through the messages.

Having my baby, huh?

I've been watching you, Temperance. Can't wait to see our child in four months.

By then I will have taken care of our little problem. xoxo

Fear blocked her senses. She slumped in her chair. Collins was watching her. He'd been watching her. Somehow he'd escaped all the man hunts that had been performed for him. "Other little problem?" She whispered out loud. What was he alluding to?

Then it hit her. Booth hadn't been called to the bureau for a meeting at all. Either he'd gotten a message from Collins or someone at work had caught wind of him. The "little problem" Collins was referring to was Booth.

It wasn't her life that was in immediate danger. It was his.