Antonia held her mother tightly on their journey through the lab toward Angela. She had calmed considerably, and felt safe in her mother's arms. She could feel a tension radiating from her mother, and a silent strength that she was succeeding to comfort her frightened child with. Her outburst in her mother's office had frightened her almost as much as her fear for her baby sister. And though her father thought he understood the reason for her reaction, he had only grazed the tip of the iceberg. She had been carted from hospital to home, from home to the lab, from the lab to the hospital, and then directly back to the lab once again. She hadn't been fed, or even had a chance to go to the bathroom, but for the most part those thoughts were the farthest from her mind. Instead, her fragile and sharp mind focused on her missing sister. She imagined the darkness of her own kidnapping. She remembered the scents, the pain, the cold darkness of the locker she had been tossed into.
She could feel the dirty floor beneath her fingertips, hear the angry voices of the man who had taken her from her home, and hear the sound of Deuce's labored breathing as he lay against her, protecting her from everything. She buried her head in her mother's neck, pressing her ear to her chest so she could hear the soft lull of her heartbeat, closing her eyes against the trembling fear that was causing her to shake.
Temperance could feel her daughter's body trembling violently, and was acutely aware of the visions that were most likely parading through her head. She let her daughter listen to her heartbeat, whispered gentle words to her as they walked into Angela's office.
Antonia opened her eyes only to see Parker sitting at Angela's desk, a piece of paper before him as he wrote down something on it. She held tightly to Temperance, and listened to the sound of her voice, as she explained the situation to her father. Parker had identified one of the men, his description and a memory from the abduction had triggered a match in the FBI database, and they had a name and face.
Temperance spoke of the man to Booth, her voice was low and serious and their eyes were clashing in a moment of intense conversation. Neither heard the gentle whispering of the girl in her mother's arms, until her head lifted from her mother's chest, resting it on her shoulder, she recited.
"St. Anthony, St. Anthony… please come around… Gracie is lost and must be found." The soft whisper broke the silence. Temperance looked to Booth and he could see that she was on the edge, teetering precariously close to completely losing it.
"Let me take her." Angela said, reaching for Antonia, the little girl closed her eyes and whispered her prayer again. She panicked a little, breathing heavily as Temperance whispered that Angela would take care of her, her mother's words soothed her for the time being. "I am going to take her home with me. I can take Parker too."
"I want to stay with Dad." Parker said, looking up at Angela, and to his father for defense.
"Parker, you've been a really big help, but you and Toni need some dinner, and to get some sleep." Booth replied.
"You think I am going to be able to sleep? Dad, are you crazy? I need to help."
"Parker."
"Let him stay." Temperance said, catching Booth's eye. "He wants to help, he can help. He was the last one to see the kids, and he wants them safely returned, just like we do."
"Bones, I don't…"
"Besides." She said softly. "I need a control. If I don't have someone here that isn't panicking, isn't fighting with Jared, and is simply here for innocent means… I won't be able to focus. I need to focus."
"He's your control?"
"Yes." She nodded, her eyes flickering to the hopeful little boy, he stood up quickly and rounded the desk, wrapping his arms around her, she hugged him closely. Booth nodded silently, just as his phone began to ring. He looked to Temperance and took a deep breath.
"Private number. It's probably him." He whispered.
"Get as much information as you can." She replied, nodding to Angela as she took a step back with Antonia, walking toward the door, slipping out quietly.
Booth picked up the phone, and watched Temperance take Parker's hand. "Booth." He said into the line, his voice deep and serious.
"Booth, huh? Jared's brother, I presume?" A man's voice slithered through the line in a sarcastic sneer.
"Where is my daughter? Where is my nephew?" He said angrily. He cringed at the sound of the man's laughter.
"Where is Jared?"
"He's here. I want to talk to my daughter."
"Wait, wait, Mr. Booth." The man said, a laugh at the tip of his tongue. "How do I know you have him? How do I know you're not fucking with me? How do I know that this call isn't being traced."
"Because I don't have the time or inclination to play games." Booth replied. "I want those kids back."
"So you're just going to give up your brother, huh?"
"If there is another alternative, I'd like to hear it." Booth said, glancing to Temperance, she scowled at him. He held his hand up to let her know that he had it under control. "Let me talk to my daughter." He said softly.
"She's sleeping right now." He replied. "A little angel."
Booth could feel the heat rising in his face. Every muscle in his body tightened. "Listen to me." He said in a calm, even tone. "If you hurt one single hair on either child's head."
"I'm not in the business to hurt kids, Mr. Booth. Not if I don't have to. You tell Jared to come to the drop off point he went to for the sixth drop off of his assignment. If he can remember, and you have him… be there. You bring cops, I'll kill the kids… You don't show up, I kill the kids. You fuck with me in any way… I'll send you your little girl back to you in several small boxes, do you hear me?" He grunted.
"Just let me talk to her!" He exclaimed, the desperation finally slipping through the cracks. "Please."
There was a pause on the line, the phone moving away from the man's face, and Booth then heard the tiniest voice.
"Daddy?"
"Gracie?" Booth exclaimed, as he turned to his wife. Temperance's eyes were wide with fear. Quickly, he handed the phone to her.
"Daddy?"
"Gracie!" Temperance exclaimed.
"Mommy!" Grace exclaimed. "Mommy! I'm scared!"
"Mommy and daddy are coming to get you, baby… we're coming to get you!" Temperance exclaimed into the line.
The phone suddenly changed hands, as the man's voice returned. "Midnight. Sixth drop off. Jared knows where it is… and if he doesn't… that'll be the last time you talk to your little girl." He snapped, as the phone went dead.
Temperance's hand was shaking, and she dropped her hand with the phone still in it. Booth could see how pale she was, and wondered for a moment what else had been said on the phone. She stumbled back a step, and Parker held tightly to her.
"Bones, are you okay?" Parker asked.
"Sit." Booth said, taking her arm immediately, he led her to one of the extra chairs in the office. "Here, sit." He whispered.
Instead, she turned to Booth and looked him directly in the eyes. The color began to return to her face as she recovered quickly, taking a deep breath. There were tears in her eyes as she spoke, and Booth was amazed and afraid of how well she was doing despite the entire situation. "Midnight." She whispered. "We're dropping your brother off, and we're getting my baby back." She said, as she took Parker's hand, turned from her husband, and walked away from him, and back into the lab.
Just as Temperance reached her office, the door opened, Harding could see in her eyes that there was no room for argument. She held Parker's hand, and the boy walked alongside her as if his hand alone was giving her the strength to function. "Temperance?"
"Midnight." She whispered. "Booth will bring him there at midnight. They don't want any police."
"I'm not police, Temperance, I'm FBI."
"And do you think that they really care what type of law enforcement you are, Christopher. This is the lives of two children on the line." She whispered, watching him glance into her office, before taking the door handle and closing it slowly.
"And the life of a man, Temperance… a father." He whispered under his breath. "You can't put his life on the line any more than you could put Booth's."
Her eyes narrowed with intense scorn, and she gritted her teeth angry. "How dare you even compare the two of them." She approached him quickly, though he refused to be intimidated. Instead of taking a step back, he stepped into her stance. He glanced to Parker, who had taken a step back, and then back to Temperance. She was taken aback by his brashness, but refused to show her surprise. She instead waited for his argument.
"He's a father, Temperance."
"He's a sperm donor." She whispered. "He hasn't proven to me that he deserves to be a father. That little boy needs love, and care. He was living in a car for weeks! He hadn't bathed, he was undernourished!"
"And his father was doing everything he could to keep him alive, Temperance! And he brought him to you… a person he knew he could trust!" He exclaimed.
"And what good did that do him?" She asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "What damn good did it do him, Christopher, huh? How did 'I' help his son? How did I protect him?" She exclaimed, her voice sharp and angry, filled with anguish.
Christopher put his hands on her shoulders, keeping her steady in his grasp as he looked up to see Booth watching the scene from afar. He watched Temperance's eyes flicker to the side. She didn't have to look to know that her husband was listening to every word, that he was watching over her carefully. "There is a lot of blame going back and forth here, Doc." He said. "There's a lot of frustration and fear… but you can't let that take control, Doc. What we need now is some of your good old fashioned logic. Logic, and planning… that's what is going to get both of those kids back, and save Jared's skin." He said softly. "Because honestly… don't you think it'd be a little more satisfying for both of us… if we were the ones to skin Jared alive… and not some jerk that he owes money to." Harding shrugged. "Why does he get to have all the fun, huh?"
"This isn't time for humor, or irony, Christopher." She replied.
"It's not time for arguing either, Doc." He said, looking up at Booth, as he approached. He put his hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him, his other hand going on his son's shoulder as Parker moved closer again, watching the three adults. "What we need now, is a plan." Ace said with a smile.
A conference with Jared, and some careful planning had three cars out on the road. Angela had brought Antonia home with her. She was met with a little resistance from the little girl, but as reality would have it, the entire day had exhausted her beyond any fight that she might have left. Temperance took Parker to her father's, and from Max's apartment, they would wait to hear the news of the retrieval of the children.
Booth was to go to the site first, a lake house at a camping area just outside the city. He was going to park his car inconspicuously, and hike through the woods carefully to the cabin, and it would be Harding who would be delivering Jared. The man on the phone had no idea what Booth looked like, so the deception was planned to be easy. Nearly an hour after Booth had left the lab, Harding sat in the car with Jared, driving toward their destination.
Harding watched the other man sit silently in his seat, staring out the window. "Hey. We're going to get Seeley back. We're not going to give you up."
"You've already given up on me." Jared replied. "All of you. You, Tempe… even Seeley doesn't care one way or another."
"That's bullshit, and you know it, Jared." Harding replied.
"Sperm donor." He scoffed. "That's what she called me, you heard her. She hates my guts. She thinks that I am an awful father… that I don't even deserve to live. She wanted to give me up!"
"She's speaking out of anger, Jared." Harding replied, turning down a more rural road, they were driving slowly toward their destination, noting that they were running nearly an hour early. "Both of those kids were innocent of this, Jared. Gracie has health issues… she has seizures, she kind of… spaces out a little."
"Their kid is sick?" Jared asked, watching Harding carefully.
"She was a premature baby… she has occasional lung issues, and like I said, she has these absence seizures. Temperance is just worried that her condition could worsen if she doesn't have her medication, or her proper diet. She's not a well little girl." He said softly.
Jared simply nodded his head, listening to Harding for a moment. "You know that I don't really hate you, right?
"Huh? Nah… just chocked it up to sibling rivalry." Harding replied good naturedly.
"And… you know that I love my brother, and Tempe." He shrugged. "I love my son."
"I believe you." Harding said, nodding his head.
Jared became very quiet. "I set Seeley up." He said softly.
"Huh?" Harding said softly.
"I set him up, there isn't anyone at the cabin."
"What do you mean there isn't anyone at the cabin? You said that was the sixth drop off, Jared. What are you saying?" Harding asked, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel that this conversation was going very quickly to a place he didn't want it to go. Jared's eyes were dark with emotion.
"I'm sorry." He said softly, looking directly at Harding. "I can't let my brother take the fall for this." He said. "I can't lead him into this. This is up to me."
"What the hell are you talking about, Jared? If we fuck this up, the kids are goners!" He exclaimed. "If you sent Booth to the wrong place, then we're heading into trouble here!"
"I'm heading into trouble, Ace. You… this is where I give up myself for my brother. This is where I sacrifice myself for my son, for my brother's little girl." He said, suddenly emotional.
"Jared, what the hell are you talking…" Before Harding could finish the sentence, Jared had grabbed the steering wheel violently, pulling it quickly to the side. "Jared! What are you doing!" Ace shouted, fighting for control of the steering wheel, for control of the car. "Jared! Stop!" He screamed.
Jared lifted his foot over, and slammed down on the gas as Harding fought him. "I'm sorry!" Jared exclaimed, sending the SUV careening off side of the road, sliding them down an embankment. Dirt skidded under the tires as the car tumbled to the side. Harding screamed for him to stop but it was far too late, and the SUV smashed into a tree, sending the airbags forcefully into Harding's face.
The SUV filled with smoke from the air bags, and came to an eventual stop halfway down the ravine on the side of the road. Harding was unconscious and bleeding, his leg stuck under the console of the SUV, his forehead bleeding.
Jared had held on for the impact, preparing himself for injury if possible, but was able to shield himself from most of the damage. He found that he had minimal injuries when the SUV finally stopped its descent into the dark forest, and all was quiet but for the hissing of the engine. Jared checked himself over quickly and swung his seatbelt off. He looked to the battered FBI agent beside him and groaned, praying for a moment that he didn't kill the other man.
Glass littered the inside of the SUV, and the front of the vehicle was crushed. Jared checked to make sure that Harding was still alive. Unconscious but breathing, Jared pulled the other man's phone from his pocket, and dialed a quick anonymous 911 call. He reached over Harding and pulled the other man's gun from its holster, before pulling himself from the wreckage of the crushed car. "Sorry Ace." He grunted as he jumped onto the stale, crunching leaves, feeling the soft ground beneath his feet. "I can't let my brother lay down his life for my mistakes." He said softly. And with that, Jared was gone, leaving only the sound of sirens in the distance, as he climbed the embankment back to the road.