Temperance walked through the emergency ward of the hospital on a mission. She had called ahead about her partner's condition and knew exactly where to find him. She stopped at the nurse's station to announce her arrival, and they pointed her down the hallway. Nodding, she thanked the staff and marched down the hallway. She could feel the anxiety for her partner's wellbeing rising in her stomach, and worked hard to keep her anxiety to a minimum. She had many issues to deal with, so she knew that if she attempted to compartmentalize them, then it would help ensure that she wouldn't lose her stride, focus, or patience.

She was just approaching the door of the hospital room when she heard Ace's booming voice as he yelped in pain. "Ow! Will you cut it out?" He exclaimed.

She stepped around the corner, and gasped at the sight before her. Ace was sitting on the bed, his leg extended and being prepped for setting, a large bandage wrapped around his forehead, and his hand was pulling at the nurse's arm as she attempted to take his blood pressure. "I'm fine, okay? I'm fine, just…" Harding stopped arguing when he saw Temperance walk into the room, and pulled his hand from the cuff on his arm. "Temperance." He said, wincing when the nurse pulled the cuff off his arm quickly. "Hey… come on… be nice." He glared at the nurse as she walked past him and scribbled into her clipboard.

"You really should be nicer to the help, Agent Harding." Temperance said, her voice holding just a tinge of a humored tone, before she straightened. "We haven't heard anything yet." She said.

"Where is Booth?" He asked.

"I left him at my father's. I'm hoping he'll at least sit down, even if he doesn't sleep, he needs to rest." She said, rubbing her eyes. She let her eyes settle on Harding, and assessed the damage carefully. She turned to see the x-rays that were displayed on the computer monitor behind her, stepping up to it, she rolled her finger over the image. "It appears it was a clean break."

"Nothing was clean about this, Doc. Nothing. Jared played us from the moment we told him we were taking him with us." He said, catching her gaze when she turned to him. "That son of a…" He paused when he caught the nurse's glare. "That jerk played us. Now if they would just put a damn brace or something on my damn leg so that I can get back out there."

Temperance let out a humorless laugh, turning her head to Harding. "You're not going anywhere. You need to have this elevated, they need to set your leg, and you have other injuries, not to mention the fact that you have no means to get around." She replied. "You could develop an embolism, or end up with a misshapen limb. If you don't mind, Agent Harding, I'd prefer it if my partner had full use of all of his limbs. It comes in handy when chasing suspects."

"You don't think that they'll be more afraid if I lumber at them like an insane Quasimodo?"

"I don't suppose that would be advised, Agent Harding." She said, staring at her partner's leg.

"Then what are we going to do, Doc? Are you just going to run off and get yourself a new partner? You've taken this long to break me in, and now you're just going to let me sit here abandoned while you and Booth go save the kids with some stranger?"

"Ah, Agent Harding." She said, reaching over to touch his hand, she leaned in and kissed his cheek tenderly. "I've got just the man for the job… and as luck would have it… I've already broken him in quite thoroughly." She said, standing up straight.

Harding smiled, immediately knowing who she was referring to, he simply shook his head. "I will do what I can from here. Jared stole my phone, but I've had all of the calls forwarded here. I'm sure Booth told you about the call from your office, the trace on that. It's only a matter of time, Temperance. I just hope to hell that Jared was able to get those kids released… that he doesn't do something stupider than he already has." Harding whispered. "I just have a really bad feeling about it, Temperance."

"You're not the only one." She said, sighing softly as she took his hand, giving it a grateful squeeze, as she waited for them to set her partner's leg.


The television was on with no sound, static filled the screen. Programming had long since disappeared from the channel, and Booth just found himself staring at the snow that whisked across the tube in front of him. His eyes were wide open, unseeing and unreflecting as his mind sorted through details and facts of the past two days. He was so focused on Max's television screen, that he didn't see the boy approaching the side of the couch until he spoke.

"Dad?" Parker said, his voice soft and imploring. He noticed his father jump a little, and his head turned to see his son standing in the shadow of the television screen. Their eyes locked. "Are you crying?"

Booth couldn't answer, and after a moment felt the sting of his eyes and the tears rolling down his cheek. He hadn't even realized that he was crying, and for a several seconds couldn't find the words to answer his son.

"It's okay to cry, Dad." Parker said, touching his father's hand as he walked around to the front of the couch, blocking the television. "Bones told me what happened. She told me about Uncle Jared, about Chris. It's alright to cry. You always said that it's okay to cry once in a while. Bones says that crying is just a way that we release emotion, like shouting or… I don't know." He shrugged, still noting that his father hadn't said anything. "I cried too."

In just a quick movement, Booth grabbed his boy and pulled him to his chest, hugging him tightly. Parker wrapped his arms around his father tightly, holding onto him. Parker could feel his father's soft, tender sobs, even as he tried to hide them. He gripped tightly and cried a little himself, just glad to finally be able to release the emotion and angst that he had been battling as he had tried to sleep.

"I love you, Parker." He whispered, holding him tightly against him, his tears soaked into his son's t-shirt. "Don't ever tell me that you're too old to hear that… don't ever tell me not to tell you that. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad." Parker said into his father's shoulder, grateful to know that even though his father was the strongest man he knew, even he wasn't afraid to express his emotions.

Booth held his son tightly, and Parker moved beside Booth on the couch, leaning against his father as he wiped his tears on his father's shirt. After a few short minutes, Parker dozed against the safety of his father, his head resting safely on his chest. Booth let his eyes close, let his mind wander for a moment.

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, and when his phone buzzed violently next to him, he almost forgot that his son was so close, and quickly grabbed at the phone. "Booth." He said into the line gruffly, before he realized that it wasn't a call, but a message. He pressed a button for the media message attached, and his heart dropped like a rock when he saw the image.

Grace's form, lying on a dirty cot, her body curled into a ball. She appeared to be sleeping. In the background, he could hear what sounded like a rattling breath, a sickening chuckle. The camera moved quickly to the corner, a man laying on his side, hands tied behind his back. His face turned and Booth almost let out a guttural yell when he saw his brother's head turn to face the camera. His breathing became labored.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Parker asked, looking up, he could see the image on the phone, his father's hands shaking as Jared shouted something at the person holding the camera. His voice was unintelligible from the microphone on the camera, and the view turned and faced the sleeping girl again.

"If you want to see your little girl again, Mr. Booth. I suggest you pay us the money that your brother owes us… with interest… by tomorrow night. We'll call again in a couple more hours with details. Sleep well."

The sound of a gunshot over the line made Booth and Parker jump, and the little sleeping girl leapt up in fear, her blue eyes staring straight into the camera as she screamed in fear.

The screen went black.