Here we are again…the next chapter. Hopefully there will only be four or five more chapters after this one.
As always…I do not own Bones or any of the characters. Sad.
4 days after birth…still
Pop-Pop-Pop
Silence.
Quietness.
Noise-less.
Void of anything.
Silence.
That is what Deputy Finley as he quietly stole down the driveway towards the house that he had been watching.
He hadn't lost sight of the suspect for more than a minute before he heard the distinct sounds of a handgun being fired. He wouldn't remember the seconds following, but it would later be known that he quickly called in over the radio for backup.
Without making a sound he crept beside the abandoned truck in the driveway. Not wanting to wait for backup he slowly made his way onto the front porch; praying, hoping that who ever fired that weapon wasn't looking in his direction.
Pop
He heard it go off.
He smelt the gunpowder.
He saw the flash of it.
He felt the pain in his upper abdomen.
That was when he remembered. He made a rookie mistake.
It wasn't waiting for backup.
He forgot to put on his bulletproof vest.
Pop-Pop-Pop
She hoped that she hit him, but she didn't know.
She knew that when he entered the house she would only have a few seconds before he noticed her standing in the corner. She knew that in those seconds she was going to have to aim and fire before he could do the same to her.
Would she be able to do it? Did she have the strength to hold the gun without dropping it?
When she had begun planning attacking him she thought that it was going to take place in her room. She was slowly cataloguing the items in her room, trying to figure out which one would cause the most damage. She needed something that would hurt him, disable him, but not kill him.
She failed to think about the fact that he was slowly leaving reality. Obviously, he must have been a little crazy to think he could get away with his crimes, but something else was happening in his mind. He was becoming careless; leaving the door opened when he brought her extra clothes and food…leaving the door unlocked after he left.
When she tried the doorknob and found it unlocked she was prepared to fight for her life. She expected him to be standing there, waiting for her. But what she found was a shock to her.
The house was empty.
The idiot had left the door to her room unlocked. The idiot had left the house and she was able to escape. But he had also done something that even she couldn't believe.
When she saw it there in the kitchen she knew that she would have to take the best shots of her life. She was going to have to take him out quick…much like Booth had done in the firing range.
After getting off the three rounds she felt herself slipping to the ground. She had expelled too much energy carrying out this mission of mercy for herself.
Did I get him? Am I safe now?
All he felt was pain ripping through his right leg. It felt like someone had stuck a red-hot poker against his leg, and they were keeping it there.
What the hell happened?
He couldn't figure out what happened to him. He needed to go over the facts in his head. He needed to wrap his mind around what was happening. He needed to find out where he went wrong.
He was scared that Tempe was going to die.
He knew that he left the house to get supplies for Tempe.
He went into town for the supplies.
He felt strange at the pharmacy.
……..
Damn it!!!
He didn't lock her door.
He left his gun in the kitchen.
He didn't hear the pharmacist making a phone call.
He missed the car that followed him home.
Damn it!!!
……
He had been shot by his own gun, by the woman who loved him. The woman who he loved more than life itself.
He couldn't believe that she actually shot him. She had gotten out of her room and shot him.
He had left her to go get supplies to take care of her. To help her. He needed to make sure that she was okay, so he risked his own safety to get her stuff that he thought she needed.
That is how she repaid him?!
She shot him!
She used his own gun…against him!!
She shot him in his damn leg.
Breathing through the pain he started to sit up, needing to see where she was. Then he spotted something moving out of the corner of his eye. Turning his gun in the direction of the movement he got off one round and took the 'thing' out.
When he zeroed in on what exactly he shot, he was stunned to see a dead Deputy sprawled out on the front porch. He could see where the bullet entered the man's chest, dead center.
Damn it. What the hell am I going to do now?
He began looking for Tempe again. When he spotted her, he felt the air slip out of his lungs. She was sprawled out on the carpet in the living room, the gun still clutched in her hand. But…she wasn't moving.
Why wasn't she moving? I didn't hit her when I fired back, did I?
No, I couldn't have. I wasn't aiming in her direction.
Moving to get a better look at her he saw that dark blood was slowly starting to pool near her legs. It wasn't coming from a wound that was visible, he saw that much. So, where was the blood coming from?
What was wrong with her?
-------------------
Seeley and the rest of the 'squint' squad were getting restless. They had been waiting for Dr. Stein to return for the past fifteen minutes. No one had been in to tell them where he had disappeared to either.
He could see that Angela was getting more and more agitated by the minute, and it was all Hodgins could do to keep her from running out the door to find someone to talk to. Zack, Cam and Max were in the same boat as Angela, but they kept their emotions in check…almost.
Zack was going over the periodic table under his breathe.
Cam was pacing up and down the length of the room.
Max, Booth noted, was fidgeting and getting more impatient by each passing minute.
Just as Booth was getting up to ask someone what was going on, the door opened. In stepped Dr. Stein. He was followed by a young nurse, and two older nurses. What everyone failed to see was the bassinet behind the younger nurse.
"Special Agent Booth…" he and the younger nurse stepped out of the way to reveal the bassinette "I think we have found yours and Dr. Temperance Brennan's daughter."
"I…what…huh?"
At one of the most important times in his life, Booth was rendered speechless. He moved forward to get a better look at the little girl. When he did he was shocked to see bright, emerald eyes staring back at him.
"Booth...she looks exactly like Brennan." Leave it to Angela to state the oblivious. "Expect for the eyes. She has your eyes."
Dr. Stein stepped forward and turned his hand towards the younger nurse with him. "This is Nurse Cheyenne Stone. She was the nurse to receive her in the emergency room from the local cop dropped her off."
Angela, being the most emotional of the bunch, ran up to Cheyenne and threw her arms around the nurse. Booth could see that everything she had been holding inside, the tears she hadn't cried (even though she had shed some), came pouring out all at once.
One of the older nurses reached into the bassinet and gently picked up the pink bundle. Being startled when she was picked up, she started crying. The nurse walked over to Booth and handed him his daughter.
Drawing her into his chest, he started humming to her in an attempt to get her to quite down. Slowly her wails turned into whimpers, and then the tears were completely gone as she nestled her head in Booths chest.
I found you, little girl. Now all I need to do is find your mommy. I will bring her back to you, one way or another you will have her. I will not let her leave you without a mommy.
Angela stood next to Booth, watching him sooth his daughter. She began to wonder if they would ever find Brennan. They had nothing to go on. No evidence. Nothing.
Then something hit her. Maybe the hospital still had the clothes she was brought in. maybe there was something on it. Maybe Hodgins could find something on it that would show them where she might be.
"Dr. Stein" looking towards Hodgins "does the hospital still possess the clothing that she was wearing when she was dropped off?"
She could see recognition beginning to dawn on Hodgins face. He was starting to get excited, she could tell even if no one else could see it. She knew he was running through the tests he could perform here; which ones were the fastest, which ones were the least invasive, which ones might actually work, which ones he could do here.
"Yes, I think we still have her things. They would have been bagged when she was first brought in. why, may I ask, do you need them?"
Hodgins cut in "because if there is anything on them, I can find out where she has been. If I can figure that out, then maybe I can find Dr. Brennan."
She saw him turn towards one of the nurses that accompanied him into the room. He nodded his head to her. She turned and suddenly left the room, only to return a minute later carrying a plastic bag.
Angela prayed that Hodgins would find something. She needed him to find something. She needed her best friend back. This little girl needed her mommy back. But most of all, Booth needed her back. She knew that he was okay for now, but at some point it would start to set in.
She knew Booth, and even though she didn't know his entire past she knew what he was capable of. She knew that after having his daughter shown to him, the blissful feelings would soon disappear. Soon the anger would set in, and he would be uncontrollable.
Brennan was the only one who would have been able to bring him past that point. She was the only one who could reach him when he was in his assassin mode, and if she was lost to them forever then so was Booth.
Hodgins was excited. He didn't even think to ask about the clothing that the baby was wearing. He was too focused on the reunion between Booth and the little girl, so when Angela asked for the clothing he was shocked.
Why didn't I think of that? I should have thought about her clothing or any blankets that she had when she was brought in. how could that have slipped my mind? Maybe that's why Ange and I are so good together…she remembers things that I wouldn't.
When the nurse returned she handed the bag to him, and he could see that there was a blanket and a little sleeper in it. He knew that he wouldn't be able to every test that he would normally do, but he was capable of performing some. Thinking back to when he and Dr. B had been kidnapped by the Gravedigger, and being able to pull thin air out of thin air.
He had to find something. He would not leave her alone, where ever she was. They would find her. He would not let her little girl grow up without her mommy.
Moving towards the table, he laid the bag on it. Carefully opening it he took a deep breathe; wanting to catalogue the subtle smells the came out of the bag. Trees…what type? Animals…what type??? He quickly noticed something else.
"There is no dirt on the clothing." Booth looked at him with a tilted head. "Nothing. At all. All I can get is the smells off the blanket. Everything is new, never been washed. It's like she wasn't even taken outside, except for when they brought her here."
"Can you get anything, Dr. Hodgins?" Cam…wait, she was here too. How had he forgotten that she was here too?
"I can tell you what she might be near, but nothing else."
"Hodgins" Booth spoke for the first time in five minutes "what does that mean?"
"I think it means that whoever took Dr B knew what they were doing. They didn't want anything traced back." He was back to looking at the blanket. "Even if she wasn't found alive, the baby that is, we still wouldn't be able to track her."
"What!!??!!!"
He looked up at Cam, Ange, Booth and Zack at their shocked voices. The four of them were surprised at his admission. They had never known him to say there was no particulate evidence on something, knowing he could find even the smallest piece of evidence.
"I can't pinpoint where she is, but I can give you a round-about location. Give me a couple minutes and a map of the state, and I will tell you where she might be."
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Back at the Jeffersonian, Washington D.C.
The guard placed near the painting was, again, staring at its beauty. Taking in each and every aspect of it, he didn't want to miss even the smallest design. He knew that this piece of artwork would forever be etched into the minds of everyone who visit it.
The Mona Lisa
The Crucifixion
The Last Supper
The Parthenon
The Sistine Chapel
It would never get the acclaim of these pieces; never get the amount of press either. But for those who visited it and were able to take in its beauty, they would forever remember it.
He knew that it was a labor of love for the one who had created it. She had given the people who worked with or knew Dr. Brennan a place to come and pray for her. Even though she didn't believe in that sort of thing, her coworkers did and that was what really mattered.
They were praying for her safe return. Praying for her daughter to be found, unharmed. Praying that whoever took them would be found by someone other than Special Agent Booth. Praying for his soul if he were the one to find them too.
A/N: What do you think of this chapter?? Is it too…I don't know…but it seems like something is lacking. It seems like there is too much going on in it, but I needed to get it out anyways!!!
Tell me what you think!!! Good or bad, I wanna know!!!
Thanx
