Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter. Thanks to the extra time I had over Spring Break, I managed to make it a little bit longer this time. Hopefully everyone enjoys it.

Important Side Note: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and/or adding this story to their alerts/favorites list. I know I've said that before and all, but it's what keeps me going. So thanks bunches and bunches (:

Disclaimer: I don't actually own Bones, sadly enough.

B&B

Brennan was dozing in her office chair, head lolling to the side, her lips slightly parted in a way that had Booth staring. He felt inclined to be angry with her for succumbing to something as mundane as sleep when his son and longtime friend were missing, but he just couldn't seem to bring himself to blame her. She hadn't slept for over thirty six hours, after all, and neither had he for that matter. But despite his mental and physical exhaustion, sleep was giving him a wide berth what with all of the adrenaline coursing through his veins, urging him to chase down and simply kill the person who had spitefully snatched his pride and joy right out of his hands.

Hannah was still locked in a drug-induced sleep on Brennan's sofa and Booth somehow found himself standing over her, looking down into her beautiful, restful face that was free of worry or strain as she dreamt. Now that he thought about it, Hannah hardly had enough time to abduct Parker; he had only been gone a maximum of five minutes before she had started shouting. But ever since the idea of Hannah's guilt had entered his head, his realization that he didn't even really know her had refused to stop flickering in the back of his mind. His acknowledgement of it now brought it to the forefront of his mind and made him feel distinctly uncomfortable and undeniably guilty. What kind of person suspected their girlfriend of murder and kidnapping? Certainly not someone who knows their girlfriend enough to love them.

Sighing hugely, Booth stormed furiously back and forth across the room, battling the dizziness of the emotions surging over and around him like powerful gusts of wind in a thunder storm. If only there was something he could do, an action he could take, anything to save his little boy who was probably incapacitated by fear by that point. Not even bothering to fight back the helpless tears that were making hot, wet trails down his cheeks, he continued pacing, thinking, waiting.

Dr. Temperance Brennan was dreaming. In the back of her mind, she was aware that she was sleeping and her conscience was tugging at her, trying to remind her of a very good reason why she should be awake, but she was so caught up in her pleasant dream that she couldn't bring herself to be bothered by it.

"What are you doing?" asked Booth as he meandered into Brennan's office, hands in pockets

"Throwing out my book." She answered nonchalantly, tossing pages into the trash can as she spoke.

"It's still on your hard drive, right?"

"Nope, not anymore, it's not."

"You erased it?" Booth's eyes bugged out and he lunged forward to grab the papers from his partner's hands. "Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa." He waved his hands energetically in front of her much like a referee would to call a timeout. "Whoa, whoa, stop."

"But I don't wanna be a writer anymore." She pursed her lips and tried to pull the pages out of Booth's firm grasp.

"Oh, why? Because of what that publisher said? He was an idiot, did you see his glasses?" He bent over, one hand clutching at Brennan's desk for balance, the other groping into the trash can to save Brennan's trashed work.

"I don't wanna be a sexy scientist," persisted Brennan, looking rather put out by the idea.

"Well, that's like me saying I don't wanna be a sexy FBI Agent," said Booth, his lips twitching in amusement. "We can't change who we are." He stared at her as she stood frozen, an expression of disgruntlement pulling her lips into a pout. "Oh, God, this is just…ahh." He bent down and continued to retrieve all of Brennan's papers, slapping them into a pile on top of her desk while she collapsed into her chair. "It's not good for the back." Brennan ignored him, crossing her arms and blowing a huffing breath out between her lips as her head tipped back against her chair. "Suspenseful and chilling." Brennan looked up with undisguised surprise. "Temperance Brennan leads the pack. Anthropology has never been more exciting."

"You memorized my reviews?"

"Angela can scan these and get them back on your computer," he responded, holding the thick stack of parchment in his hands.

"You know my reviews, Booth, but…do you read my books?" She gazed at him in interest. For some reason, it was inordinately important to her to know the answer to her question.

"Every single word," he replied with a crooked grin that plastered a smile right on Brennan's face in response.

"You never said anything."

"Well, I figure, you know, I'm all over your real world. Why would you want me in your fantasy world too?" said Booth affectionately.

Brennan privately felt that she would like to have him in pretty much her whole world; he was her partner, after all. She liked to share everything with him. When he held the sheafs of paper out to her and jiggled them enticingly, she finally gave in and snatched them out of his hands. "I can appreciate that."

"You see how this works, huh?" grinned Booth. "It's give and take. We're partners, huh?"

"Except you won't let me fix your back," Brennan fired back at him immediately.

"Oh, come on, my back is fine. It's just—"

"Oh, really?" Brennan jumped to her feet and held her documents threateningly over the waste basket.

"Oh, uh, uh." He threw his hands up beseechingly in surrender. "Okay, how do I know that you're not gonna like paralyze me or make it worse?"

"I also help you by explaining a lot of things to you," replied Brennan, dropping her papers onto her desk and walking around Booth to stand behind him.

"Yeah, well, you know, I explain…" He turned his head sideways, trying to see what she was doing behind him, but he couldn't tell. "…things to you just as much as you explain to me…"

"Well, my things are more important." She finagled her arms under his armpits and wrapped her hands behind his neck.

"Well, that's debatable." She maneuvered her hands so that a nasty pop rent the air, eliciting a pain-filled groan from Booth. "Ahh. Ow. Ow."

"Ah, necessary pain," explained Brennan, who seemed quite entertained by her role as the doctor.

"Ah, yeah, necessary…ah…" She leaned both of their bodies forward and around in a circular motion. "The way you really help me is by letting me be a guy."

"I help you be a guy?" She let go of Booth, but maintained her position at the back of him.

"Yeah, you know, it's a guy's thing to fix things to make them right. When I fix things I feel like I am one with the universe. Bleh!" Booth nearly yelped when his partner nudged her fists into the small of his back, fixing his spine. "Ah, ha! Whoa. God. That is amazing! How'd you do that?"

"See, we help each other. Quid pro quo."

"I know what that means, quid pro quo," Booth was quick to inform her in a proud voice.

"Sure you do," she said with an enigmatic smile.

"I know a lot of things," he insisted.

"Well," she disagreed, "you didn't know what mycophobia meant."

"Well you didn't know that you could just take coffee grounds. It's garbage, you know, you don't need a warrant for that," argued Booth, gesticulating wildly with his hands.

"I sort of knew that, I just was making sure that that was how it went," Brennan said defensively.

"Sure, Bones. Whatever you say."

Brennan elbowed him in the side and laughed at the outraged "hey!" he threw at her as he rubbed at where she had hit him. Chuckling contentedly, she walked out of the Jeffersonian arm-in-arm with her partner, feeling exceptionally glad that she was Dr. Temperance Brennan.

Before she knew what was happening, the dream changed.

She was sitting at the Royal Diner with Booth, Hannah, and Parker. Everyone was partaking in a conversation, but Brennan couldn't focus on anybody's words. All she could see was Parker's smiling face, shining with excitement as he told Hannah about his dad's partner, his adorably tousled curls, his warm, brown eyes. She tried to reach out and touch his cheek, but her hands wouldn't move. She stifled a frustrated cry, struggling against her invisible bonds, determined to get to her favorite little boy…

"Bones."

"Ahh!" She sat bolt upright in her chair, eyes wide and searching as she scanned her surroundings in alarm. "What? What?"

"Sorry," said Booth sheepishly. "I didn't mean to wake you up. I could just tell you were having a bad dream."

"Yes," she muttered, shaking her head as if to clear out the cobwebs. "Yes. Parker…Parker…" Her voice broke and she hung her head, studiously avoiding looking at her partner. "Sorry I fell asleep, Booth," she finally said in a newly brisk tone. "I need to go examine the remains again. We need to find this…this…" A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she rubbed it away angrily.

Booth, who rarely saw her shed even a tear, couldn't help himself as his hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist, causing her to gaze to pierce his. "Don't work yourself to the ground, Bones. I know you're tired, you haven't slept in forever."

"I was just sleeping a few minutes ago," she contradicted, lifting her chin defiantly.

"Not for very long," he answered quietly, his fingers tightening around her wrist.

"Thank you for your concern, Booth," she replied tonelessly, the memory of their argument earlier in the day suddenly fresh in her mind. "I think I should be fine. But I really need to do what I can for Parker."

"Yeah," he said tremulously, letting go of her hand to run his fingers restlessly through his hair. "Me too." He didn't add that there was really nothing he could do at that point.

Brennan, noting the anguish in his voice, took a few small steps closer, her hands folded anxiously in front of her and resting against her sternum. Upon a closer look, she realized that there were faint tear tracks running down her partner's face; they were nearly invisible until he moved his head, causing them to shimmer slightly in the glow of her desk lamp. Her right hand extricated itself from her left and began its hesitant journey towards Booth's face, pausing questioningly when it was about an inch away. Booth just stared at her with a tortured expression and her fingers touched his face softly of their own accord. Anything to help him feel better when he looked so devastated…

Bzzt.

Brennan dropped her hand instantly, looking guilty as she glanced over at Hannah's sleeping form on her couch. With a sigh, she fished her phone out of her pocket, ignoring the way Booth was blinking rapidly, clearly trying to pull himself out of a daze.

"Brennan." Her eyes grew huge as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line and after only a few moments, she was scrambling to her desk and turning on her computer. "Yes, yes. Thanks so much." She slapped her phone shut and seated herself at her desk, waiting impatiently for her monitor to warm up. "Booth!" she snapped, waving her hand to get his attention. "Hey, we have a lead."

"A lead?" he repeated hopefully, standing directly behind her and resting one palm on her shoulder. She shivered slightly at his touch, but otherwise gave no indication that his presence provoked a reaction.

"When the kidnapper contacted us, your people at the FBI traced the signal and pinpointed a location. They just got there about fifteen minutes ago and they called us right away." Brennan twisted her neck around to meet his eyes, a happy smile breaking out across her face. "Cam was there. She was still tied up to that chair. Luckily, she's not hurt."

Booth tried for a smile, but his face fell. Although he was certainly immensely relieved that his friend and colleague was safe and sound, he was most concerned about Parker's welfare.

"They found Cam. Next, they'll find him," Brennan reassured him with a small smile.

"Yeah…of course," replied Booth, not quite capable of smiling back.

"I'm going to go take another look at the remains," she informed him, making to exit the room once again, a clipboard in hand. "Booth?" she said from the doorway. He glanced up at her expectantly, but Brennan merely opened her mouth a few times, found she wasn't sure what to say, and eventually just smiled sadly and walked away.

"I know, Bones," he whispered to her retreating form even though she was too far away to hear. "I understand. Thanks."

"Talking to yourself?" asked Angela, waltzing into Brennan's office with a stack of folders.

"No—ah, never mind," he mumbled with a smile that looked more like a grimace than anything. "What are you still doing here? It's late and you haven't slept for over a day."

"I know," nodded Angela, plopping down in Brennan's chair and closing her eyes tiredly. "We're all here. We love Parker too, you know. Especially Bren. She's, like, totally freaking out in there," she said matter-of-factly, opening one eye to squint up at him.

"Really? She was in here just a few seconds ago and she seemed fine." Booth's brow crinkled in consternation.

"Well, you're not the most observant person who ever lived—" began Angela, swinging the chair from side to side.

"Hey! I am too observant!" retorted Booth indignantly.

"—especially when it comes to Brennan these days. She hasn't slept in even longer than me and she is currently poring over those bones, searching for any and every clue. Do you know what this reminds me of?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the FBI Agent.

"Hmm."

"It reminds me of when we all thought you were dead a few years ago. When you were shot at that karaoke bar."

"I don't…want to talk about that," started Booth uncomfortably, but Angela cut him off with a raised hand.

"Shush. I'm trying to tell you something. Never interrupt a woman with a baby growing inside of her. Particularly if that baby is destined to be a soccer star when it grows up, what with all of its kicking and head-butting..." She rubbed her protuberant belly as she spoke, making a face. "Now, when you were supposedly dead, Bren threw herself into her work to the point of insanity. Like it would distract her from the pain or something. She does the same thing every time anyone is put in danger. It's really not healthy in any way. Could you just do me a favor and just make sure she's okay?"

"I should probably stay here with Hannah," replied Booth, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other.

"Fine," snapped Angela, rolling her eyes as she got clumsily to her feet, clutching the desk in front of her for support as she lugged herself up. "You stay here with Sleeping Beauty. I'll go check on Brennan even though I know she won't talk to me." She glared pointedly at him, turned viciously on her heel, and stomped out of the office, inadvertently bumping into the couch as she passed by.

"Wha—?" slurred Hannah, stirring awake. "What's the matter?"

"They found Cam while you were asleep. They're taking her to the hospital now, I would think," explained Booth, coming forward and taking one of her hands in his with one last glance out the door that Angela had just exited.

Confusion skidded across her face as she processed his words. "Well that doesn't make any sense," she said slowly. "Why did they even take her in the first place if they were just going to leave her at the next opportunity they got? It all seems very pointless."

"I think…" began Booth in a trembling voice. "I think whoever it is that's doing this is trying to send me a message."

"You?" frowned Hannah, evidently not following his line of thought.

"They took my son. They shot my girlfriend. They abducted my close friend. I don't know, it just seems…seems like it's all revolving around me somehow."

"I'm sorry," whispered Hannah in the most heartfelt tone he had ever heard from her.

"Thanks," he responded appreciatively, trying for a smile.

"Where's Rebecca?" she asked, cocking her head curiously.

Booth sighed. "She's still up at the Hoover building, waiting to hear about Parker. I don't know if anyone told you before you fell asleep, but they pulled me off the case. They said I'm too close to it and mistakes are bound to be made if I pursue this investigation. The case has been passed over to some other agents at the FBI and I am forbidden to keep working on it." He paused. "I don't care what they say; if I get a lead on where I can find my boy, I'm following it. But the thing is, there's nothing so far. Nothing for me to do but just sit here and wait." His Adam's apple bobbed up and down in his throat as he fought for control of his emotions.

"I'm so sorry," Hannah murmured again, touching his cheek with a comforting hand. "I'm so sorry you're having to go through this."

"I'm sorry too," chuckled Booth humorlessly. "You're the one sitting here with a battle wound."

"I know! I can't believe they shot at me!" she trilled indignantly.

Looking into her eyes, Booth saw the genuine outrage and anger bubbling under the surface and he lost the last vestiges of suspicion he still had about her. Still, he didn't feel quite right about their relationship anymore, but he decided to ignore that for the time being. There were more important matters to be dealing with at the moment. "Me neither, babe. Me neither. Now let's get you some more painkillers and then I'll take you home."

"Mkay," she answered with a tired smile. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

Booth kissed her on the forehead and helped her to her feet. He was just getting ready to pull her in for a hug when a piercing shriek rang through the air, causing the pair to turn and stare into each other's eyes with horror.

B&B

Ahh, cliffhanger! I'll just tell you right now that it's Angela who screamed. That's all the hints I'm going to give, mahahah! Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it. Leave a review, if you want. Each one makes my life ten times better (: