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RL has been excruciatingly busy and I'm really tired out. So I'm just gonna concentrate on these one-shots for now, until inspiration for a multi-chapter story hits and I have the time and energy for it.

The previous chapter was light-hearted, but this chapter would be more angsty. The following takes place after the ending of The Monster in the Closet.

Nightmare

It was every parent's worse nightmare. A missing child. Not just any child but their own flesh and blood. For that brief moment, Booth had thought that he would become that parent, frantic with worry, willing to do anything in his power to find his little girl. For that brief moment, he couldn't believe it was actually happening. Not to his own child.

In the course of his work as an FBI Agent, he had met with and interviewed parents who had a child that was missing, taken, presumed dead. He had witnessed their guilt, anguish and grief. That stormy night, he had for a split second thought he would now have first-hand knowledge of what that felt like.

When Christine had miraculously appeared from beneath her pile of stuffed toys, Booth could breathe again. The relief he had felt at that moment had been indescribable.

Sitting at the bar in the now darkened house, he stared down at the brown liquid in his glass. Booth realised his hands were still shaking from the adrenaline. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. His hands never shook. He was a world-class sniper. And yet his eyes were not deceiving him. His hands were shaking, ever so slightly. He downed his glass of scotch, immediately pouring himself another.

Brennan emerged from the hallway. Their eyes met. Wordlessly, he poured her a glass. Since having their two children Brennan only drank wine and the occasional bottle of bear. Tonight she felt the need for something stronger. She reached for the glass, taking a sip.

"Christine asleep?"

"Yes. Soundly."

"I'll go check her room window, make sure it's locked."

"I already checked before I left her room. I checked the windows in Hank's room too. They're all secure."

"Thanks." Booth nodded. He regarded his wife for a moment, before opening his arms to her. "C'mere."

She gladly stepped into his embrace, resting her head on his broad shoulders. Outside the lightning flashed and thunder clapped as the rain continued to pour. A silence lingered between then, the air thick with the memory of what they had just experienced.

"I can't imagine – " Brennan began.

"Yeah." Booth breathed.

"All those parents we met in the past. We could always try to separate ourselves, assure ourselves that it would never happen to Christine or Hank, or Parker."

Booth remembered when Parker was little and what had happened with Epps. That was such a distant memory, Parker was almost a grown man now.

Brennan's voice drew him out of that memory he had buried. "Tonight, for a second, I thought…"

"So did I."

"We have been so fortunate to be spared the possible horrors we encounter in the course of our work."

"Yeah. I mean we've been shot at, kidnapped, but never our children."

"For that I am immensely grateful."

"Me too."

The couple stood, wrapped in each other's arms for a moment as the rain continued to pour outside.

"Bones, you think this job is too much for them? For our children?"

"You can't be thinking of quitting again. We just came back."

"What if it causes us everything?"

Brennan had no answer for him. She sat back down on the bar stool and continued to sip her scotch in silence as Booth glanced around the house, his nerves still on edge.

"Angela said the killer saw us. She found cameras that were still recording and transmitting. He was recording us while we were at George Gibbons' house."

"Hey Bones, look at me alright? It's gonna be okay. We'll catch this guy like we always do. And in the meantime, I'll check our security tapes every night, check that all our windows and doors are locked. We'll get Max to be here when we can't and make sure that it's always either you or me who picks the kids from school and daycare."

Brennan nodded. She trusted his judgement. "For the first time, I finally understood. It does make what we do all the more important. We have to find this killer, as soon as possible. We have to catch him. We can't let him kill any more people."

"Okay, okay. I hear you Bones. We'll catch this guy. Nothing's gonna happen to our kids okay? I swear."

"You promise?"

"Promise."

Deep down inside, Brennan knew it was an impossible promise to keep. But she knew Booth would do everything in his power, even give his own life to keep their children safe. She knew she would do the same.

"I'd like to go check on Christine again." she said.

"Yeah, c'mon."

Hand in hand they made their way to Christine's room again. Peering in, they could set their hearts at ease, seeing their little girl still soundly asleep in her bed. They then walked to the next room. Entering quietly, they gazed down at their sleeping son in his crib.

Brennan waited in the family room as Booth made yet another round of checks, making sure all possible points of entry into their house were securely locked. Booth then sent a text message to Parker, asking him to reply when he could. That night they fell into a fitful sleep in each other's arms, both grateful that they still had their children safe and secure with them.