Aiden stood speechless as he stared at the papers that had been tossed through the bullpen, and he tried desperately not to focus on them. His head was spinning as her outburst rolled through his brain like an angry tempest. Physically she was gone, but emotionally she had left quite the mess in her wake. He could see the pain in her eyes, the anger that pushed these memories to the forefront, and he could feel the ache in his heart as he replayed that tone of her voice again and again in his mind. He started with the last pile of papers, the ones that she had dropped at her exit, and began to gather them quickly, piling them neatly on the desk as he fixed some of the pages that had folded or bent, and with no rhyme or reason of order, he just piled them up and refused to look at their content.

He could feel the lump in his throat and the tears in his eyes, and he scolded himself as if he were crying for himself, when he knew deep in his heart that he was crying for her. His hands moved over the piles of photographs. There were more pictures of the crime scene at the apartment, and the warehouse they had found her in, pictures of her injuries, and one picture that nearly broke his heart. Booth lying on the ground, his eyes squeezed tightly while his arm wrapped around the tiny barefooted and bloody child. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her fists balled tightly as she held his shirt as if it were the only thing she needed to be alive. Temperance was kneeling beside them, her body hunched over them with both of her own fists, were balled with rage, or fear, or something more primal.

The next photo was a close up of Antonia's face, scratches and bruises evident, her dark eyes vacant and unseeing and wide. Her hair was matted with blood and dirt, and there was a slight snarl on her lips, one that he had literally just seen minutes earlier. He ran his finger over the photo, seeing her features in the little girl, knowing that the pain that was in her eyes in this picture were mirrored in her eyes just minutes earlier. He picked up the next photo and sighed, a picture of her lying in her mother's arms in a hospital room, her body so tiny as she was rocked by her mother, her feet covered in white socks, which seemed odd to him for some reason. He shook his head and continued to grab the pictures, his heart wrenching with each one. He piled them on top of the other papers, and then walked around where she had been moving, dropping papers as she had avoided him. There were statements and more photos, as well as reports and other notes and information.

He piled everything up on the desk and stared at it, feeling as if he had just made the biggest mistake of his entire life.

Booth was in the kitchen cleaning dishes from dinner when he heard the front door open and slam closed. He listened carefully, but heard nothing further, so he stepped out of the kitchen into the living room. Looking around, he saw two mismatched socked feet sticking out from the side of the couch. "Toni?" He looked over at the stairs, where Temperance had appeared, also having heard the door slam. He indicated the couch, and she shrugged. "Toni, are you okay?" he called.

"No." She said from beneath the throw pillow that she had covered her face with. "No, I'm not okay." She said, looking up, she could see that both of her parents were watching her. "I'll be fine." She said, covering her head again, she put her head back.

Booth looked to Temperance, who took another step or two down the stairs as they wordlessly tried to determine exactly how to handle the situation. Temperance waved Booth off, and he nodded, stepping back into the kitchen, knowing that she may need backup. She stepped to the couch and touched her daughter's foot, watching as she pulled it back quickly, looked up at her mother, she gave her an apologetic look as she moved her foot back. Temperance put her hand on her daughter's foot and watched her eyes for a moment. "Do you want to watch a movie?" Temperance asked.

"Yes."

"Do you want me to get the chocolate ice cream?" She asked.

"Yes." Antonia nodded.

"Anything else?" Temperance asked, watching her daughter shake her head as Temperance nodded, and walked toward the kitchen.

"Mom?" She said, looking over the back of the couch, she gave her a desperate look as Temperance looked toward her. "Ask Dad if he wants to watch too."

"Of course, baby." Temperance said, stepping into the kitchen. As soon as she entered the room, Booth's eyes were on her. He put the last dish in the dishwasher and she stopped by the counter.

"What happened?" Booth asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but it might have to do with Aiden. She wants both of us to watch a movie with her." Temperance said softly.

"Both of us?" Booth said, giving her a concerned look.

"You don't have to, it's alright. I don't know if she's going to want to talk, but she did ask for you specifically." Temperance shrugged.

"Fine, I'll watch a movie with you guys… but nothing too girly." He said, reaching for the silverware drawer, he pulled two spoons out and held them out to her, and Temperance smiled.

"Thank you." She said, grabbing the spoons, she moved toward the freezer for the ice cream.

Aiden put the file back together as carefully as he could, ensuring that all of the papers that had been removed were placed carefully within it. He stared at her name for a long minute as he placed the Boone file on top and quickly walked himself to the records room. He could feel a tightly wound anxiety in his chest as he moved himself around the cabinets and shelves, ending up at the filing cabinet. He placed each file back in its rightful place, looking again at the offending folder that had gutted his heart. Pulling his fingers back, he quickly slammed the drawer closed forcefully, turned and walked out of the records room quickly.

He walked to his desk and grabbed the key from the corner, shoving it into his pocket. He grabbed his coat and shoved his arms into the sleeves as he looked back at the paperwork on his desk. With a quick pull of the lamp string on his desk, he turned and marched quickly out of the office, making his way to his car. He jumped into the driver's seat and started driving, making his way through the streets of Washington D.C., hoping to catch a glimpse of her in any of her usual places. He drove first to the lab, thinking that it would be the first place she'd go, and when her car wasn't in the garage, he continued his quest. He drove to her apartment, to the bar, the diner, to Grace's apartment, and eventually ended up driving toward Booth's house. When he saw her car in the driveway, he finally allowed his stomach to stop clenching, and his pulse to calm. He knew that she was safe, though that did very little for his own peace of mind.

Temperance and Booth sat with Antonia on the couch as a random movie played across the screen. Antonia sat quietly with her body resting against her father as he snored, having fallen asleep not long after the movie had started. They had finished the carton of ice cream, the spoons sticking out of the top as Antonia stared at the television screen. Temperance was fairly certain that she wasn't watching what was on the screen. "Toni?" Temperance whispered, watching Antonia's head turn slowly, her eyes flicker to her mother. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"No." Antonia whispered back. "I don't know."

"Where is Aiden, sweetheart?" Temperance asked, watching her daughter shrug, her eyes dropped to her hands as she flicked her attention back to the television screen. "Did you have an argument?"

"We're done." She whispered, staring at the screen. Temperance could see her daughter's lip trembling, and her head turned to look at her mother again. Carefully, she lifted herself from her father's side, and leaned into her mother's embrace, resting her forehead on her mother's shoulder, she began to silently cry. Temperance ran her fingers through Antonia's hair, listening to her quiet sobs as she kissed her head, her eyes traveled across to Booth, who had woken up, and was watching them, his eyes filled with concern.

"He knows." She whispered into her mother's shoulder. "I think I made a horrible mistake."

"What happened?" Temperance asked, bringing Antonia's eyes even with hers. "Tell me what happened. Did he hurt you?"

"No." She shook her head. "Well, yes, but…I…" Antonia said, gasping for air. "I was…I am so confused."

"So am I." Booth mumbled from the other side of the couch, gaining a scowl from Antonia, and a slight smirk from Temperance. "What?" He shrugged. "Sorry, I'm tired." He mumbled, watching as Antonia repositioned herself, leaning against her mother slightly as she watched her father, a slight scowl on her face. "Why are you confused?"

"If I wasn't kidnapped, would you have ever come back for us?" Antonia asked. "If I was never taken that day, and Mom never found out that you were alive, were you just going to leave us?" She asked, watching Booth sit up a bit uncomfortably.

"Ant." Temperance whispered in her daughter's ear, a tone akin to warning.

"No, I want to know." She said, staring into her father's eyes, her tears having quickly dried as her logical mind churned away at the evidence. "I want to know the truth. I deserve to know the truth. Were you, or were you not planning on leaving and never coming back? It's a simple question."

"It was a lot more complicated than that." Booth said, watching the hurt in her eyes.

"It's not complicated at all, it is a simple question." She said, pulling herself into a standing position, she started to pace in front of the couch. Booth reached over and switched on the lamp, glancing to Temperance as they watched their daughter walk back and forth. "I was visiting Aiden, and he had..." She looked to her father, and paused. "He had taken the file, my missing person's file from the records room." She watched as Booth straightened, his jaw set. "He said he wasn't going to look at it, but he had seen it...and I... I just lost it." She whispered. "I started going through the file." She said, looking at the surprise on their face. "I saw the pictures, and the crime scene, and... and statements, and I read what I said had happened, and...I saw the warehouse, and the room, and the... the blood, and the pain... and I could feel it all again." She stopped for a moment as she paced faster. "He said he wasn't going to look at it. He swore that he wasn't going to, but I just...I couldn't take it anymore. There was just... so much! There was so much, and I... I don't know. I could feel the cuts on my feet, the rope burns on my wrists. I could hear Deuce's breathing. I could see, and feel, and taste Deuce's blood in my mouth, smell it on my skin." She grimaced. "I could hear the gunshots, Mom's scream." Antonia stopped, staring at her mother. "Dad's statement said that he was never supposed to come back." She said, stopping in front of him. "Of all of the things that I read, felt, and saw... that was the one thing that cut me the deepest. Why did you want to leave us?"

"Because I had promised your mother that I wouldn't betray her trust." Booth said, glancing to Temperance. "She was doing just fine on her own."

"Was she?" Antonia snapped. "Was she doing just fine on her own? Crying herself to sleep every night was her being just fine on her own?" Antonia nodded. "I get it."

"Antonia." Temperance whispered.

"What?" she said, her tone intrusive and angry.

"Your Dad and I worked all of this out years ago."

"That's nice." Antonia nodded. "That's great, but there were three people involved in all of this, not just you, Mom, not just him. It's not just about you and him." She said angrily, carefully choosing her words.

"Antonia, stop it." Booth said, shaking his head. "Don't come here ready for a fight. We're not going to argue with you about this." Booth said sternly.

"I just want some answers!" She exclaimed, tears springing to her eyes, though her tone was full of anger. "I just want answers." She said, turning around she walked toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Booth asked, getting up from the couch, he walked toward her.

"I'm going home. I'm sorry to bother you." She said, struggling with her sneaker, her scowl was angry, and her body was trembling with rage.

"Antonia." Temperance said, also standing up.

"No. It's fine. I just have a lot on my mind, and I don't want to bother you guys anymore. You're busy people. I've had a crappy night, in fact, a few crappy nights." She said, slamming her foot into the floor when her sneaker wouldn't pull on properly. "Damn sneaker." She muttered. "Maybe I'll just go home and have a few glasses of wine, and take a nap in the bathtub." She said, slamming her foot again, she reached for the other sneaker.

"You're not going anywhere, Antonia. Not angry, you're not going." Booth said, as she held up her other sneaker at him.

"I'm leaving, and you're not stopping me." She said, shaking the sneaker in his face as Booth grabbed it from her hand. "Dad! Give me my sneaker!"

"No." He said, holding it out of her reach. "You're not going to come into my home like a hurricane, rile everyone up, and then just bust out of here leaving us in your wake. That is unacceptable. You will sit down on the couch and have a conversation with us, or you will go to your room and sleep there, but you will not get into your car when you are angry!"

"I don't need my sneaker to drive!" She exclaimed, pulling her keys from her pocket, Booth reached forward and grabbed them too, throwing them over his shoulder, they landed somewhere in the living room.

"Sit down, or go upstairs. Those are your two options right now."

"I am an adult!"

"Then start acting like one!" Booth shouted back.

Antonia stood, redfaced and angry as she stared at her father, with his stance and angry face replicating hers perfectly. It was as if he was having a standoff with himself.

"Alright, that's enough." Temperance said, watching as Booth's shoulders dropped just slightly, though Antonia was still at attention. She reached forward and grabbed Antonia's sneaker from Booth and tossed it onto the floor. "Take your other shoe off, and go sit on the couch." She said to Antonia, who continued staring at her father angrily. "Antonia Elyse!" Temperance said, watching as Antonia's eyes went to her mother. "Couch. Now." She looked to Booth and shook her head slightly.

"I shouldn't have to defend myself from you in my own home." He said, pointing angrily at Antonia. "You've had a pretty damn good upbringing, and..."

"Booth!" Temperance exclaimed. "It's done, stop it." She said, watching as he shook his head.

He looked to Temperance, and then back at Antonia, his chest still heaving with anger. "I'm going to bed." He muttered. "Goodnight." He said as he turned around and pounded his way up the stairs.

Antonia watched her father disappear up the stairs and looked back at her mother, her eyes filled with confusion, despair, and frustration. "I just want to go home." She whispered.

"You are home." Temperance said, watching Antonia clench her jaw. "Now have a seat, and we can discuss all of this without having to start a nuclear war."

Antonia watched her mother closely for a moment, her shoulders slumping slowly as she watched Temperance's eyebrows lift just slightly. She kicked off her shoe and walked toward the couch, setting herself heavily on the cushions, as she waited for her mother to join her.