Later that night, Temperance sat on a couch near a window looking out at the cars that passed by. She had been waiting for her parents to come home from the store. They had been gone awhile and all Russell had said was maybe they hit traffic, but she knew it was something more.

Tempe turned and look to Russ who had been changing the TV looking for something good on. She gave him a look of frustration and went back to the window. Night fall would be soon and she began to worry about where they were. After a long while of waiting Tempe had fallen asleep on the couch and opened her eyes to her brother nudging her awake.

"Wake up." Russell said "did you spend the whole night there?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she asked back.

"Just wondering, you hungry?"

"No. did mom and dad come home yet?" she asked making her way into the kitchen to sit at the table and pour herself some orange juice.

"No, but I found the Christmas presents, so when your ready we can open them." Her brother said smiling at her.

"No, that's ok I want to wait until mom and dad get home."

"Alright fine."

It had been two weeks later when Temperance realized her parents were never coming home, the gifts they had bought them still sat under, a now rotting, Christmas tree. It was a dark and stormy night and Tempe had grown tired of looking out the same old window for the parents that were never going to come.

Russell had grown worried sometime in the previous week and called the police, they promised to open up a missing persons case and keep an eye out, but now a days nothing said was actually done, at least not at full power.

At the moment Russ stood at the door talking to a police officer who had stopped by about the case so far. As Tempe stood in the hall listening she heard their car had been found abandoned at a rest stop a thousand miles away. Hearing the news, she turned around and ran into her room, not wanting to hear anymore, she needed to get out. Over the past few weeks she had grown distant from her brother and wished for a few moments to herself.

Tempe rose from her bed and walked over to her window that was locked, blocking out all water from entering the house from the storm outside. She looked behind her, grabbed her nearby coat, opened the window and crawled out, her feet hitting the side of the house as she found a nearby branch and climbed down the tree, as she reached the bottom she jumped, her feet hitting the floor at a perfect time.

She didn't know where to go, but she only knew she had to get away, so the first thing that came to her mind was the park, it was only down the street not too far from home. So she put her hood on, though it didn't do much good due to the rain fall, and ran down the street only stopping when she reached the park and the swings.

Temperance sat there for hours, loosing track of time and trying to clear her fogged up mind, confusion clouded her head. Where were her parents? Were they alright? Why hadn't they called? Did something bad happen? Why was their car just left there alone? Were they still alive? Thoughts and questions filled her head, and Tempe lost herself completely, becoming mentally unstable for a brief moment in time.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been when it came, but it'd been a few hours later when she heard a voice calling her name.

"Temperance? Tempie where are you?" it was Russell, he had somehow figured she was at the park and came to look for her, but for the life of her Tempe couldn't call back, her mind was too confused.

"Marco!" Russell began to yell over the pouring of the rain. "Marco."

Though she couldn't fully understand what was going on, Tempe somehow managed to let one word escape her lips.

"Polo." She said barely above a whisper, but it had been drowned out by the rain.

"Marco!" Russell tried again, this time only receiving a little louder 'polo'. "Marco!" he yelled again, hearing a faint 'polo' in the distance. They continued this until Tempe had yelled it loud enough for him to find her. She was cold; soaking wet and only spoke one word, 'polo.'

Russ made his way to Tempe and stopped starring at her, he could tell she had been crying, but it was difficult to tell if she still was or if it was the rain. He started moving towards her again and picked up her head to face him.

Looking deep in her eyes, he saw she looked like the lost little girl he once knew, long before she became Temperance Brennan. Starring in her eyes he still saw his little sister, Joy Keenan. He only got a quick look as she pulled away and looked back down on the ground.

"Come on, Tempie." He said grabbing her hand and started pulling her off the swing, but failed as her hand dropped his and fell back to her side. "Temperance. Let's go." He said.

Tempe looked up to him, then back down.

"Don't make me carry you home." He warned, getting a dirty look from her.

Russ tried pulling her off the swing again, but her hand fell back to her side and rested there lazily.

"Damn it, Temperance." He said, and then turned around to face her. Wrapping his right arm behind her and around her back, then his left below her legs, Russ picked her up off the swing and carried her home like a baby.

Tempe sat in her brother's arms, knowing this would be the last time he would hold her like this, she was getting older, and though she was very light one could tell it was hard for him. She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes, trying to remember her parents and when the last time they held her like this was.

It was a month and a half later and Tempe hadn't said a word to her brother. Ever since her parents left, she hadn't said much at all, and if she talked it was no more than five words and they were never directed to or even mentioned her family or her well being.

Russ was working at the dinner while his sister was at school. It was around 1:45 and an hour away from school getting out. Russ walked over to one of his friends and started talking to him.

"How's your sister doing?" his friend asked.

"Not good, Chris. She hasn't said a word to me since our parents disappeared and theirs no sign of her talking to me anytime in the future either." Russ said bringing in the dirty dishes.

"Man if I were you, I'd put her in a foster home. You can't take care of someone who refuses to acknowledge your presence."

"You know, everybody keeps telling me to do that, but I can't. She's my little sister and I promised my parents I'd take care of her. I promised them I'd keep her safe."

"But you can't keep her safe even if you wanted to, she won't let you." Chris said grabbing a few meals that sat ready to serve. "Look, she's your sister, you get the call. But I'd send her some place where she'll talk to somebody and they can care for her."

Russ stood there thinking it over. Fifteen minutes later, at the end of his shift, he drove home and entered his sister's room. As he stood there he knew what he had to do and the only way he got it done was thinking that this way she'd be safe and taken care of.

Tempe stood at the same spot she always met her brother at and paced until he showed up. Getting in the car she noticed the saddened look on his face and the tense shoulders he had, she wanted to ask him what was wrong, but pushed it away and looked out the window.

A half hour passed and Tempe noticed she wasn't home, that in fact she had no clue where she was. Sitting up in her seat, she saw in the distance a large building, they pulled up to it and she noticed a sign that read, 'St. John's Foster Home.' Her face fell and she looked to her brother.

"I'm sorry Tempie." He said, never once looking at her. "I didn't want to do this, but you won't talk to me and you need to be taken care of. I want you to know I love you."

They got out of the car as it came to a stop and entered the building. There Tempe met a few nuns and was shown her room, one she would share with a few other children. After the tour she walked out to the stairs and watched as her brother walked towards his car.

She saw him stop and face her, and she thought that he had come to his sense and would take her back home, but he only waved good bye and then got in his car and drove away. Tempe watched him until he disappeared and sat on the steps, curling her knees to her chest and for the first time since the night in the park, she cried.

It was later that night that Tempe lay in her bed and remembered her family, in a few short weeks; her life had gone from happy and normal to a complete nightmare. She lay there hoping that when she woke up everything would be back to normal and none of this would have happened, but she the logic of things and knew that when she woke up it would all be the same.