Chapter 100

*Guys sorry for the long wit in updating, I really wanted to make this chapter as good as I possibly can, so I hope you enjoy.*

Downstairs Alex is busy feeding Phoebe while she is yawning loudly. The little ten month old didn't give them much time to sleep last night, she's been fussy most of the night and ran a slight temperature, but Alex managed to get it under control with medicine. After feeding Phoebe she felt on her lower gums and noticed a little bump, now it all makes sense why she was so fidgety during the night and why her hands was constantly in her mouth.

"Hey guess what?" Alex said chirpy when her husband came down the stairs.

"What?" Ryan asked smiling knowing how much she hated it when he didn't even attempt to guess.

"Phoebe's getting teeth." She smiled wiping Phoebe's mouth and kissing her until she laughed, handing her over to her father, who repeated the action of stroking a finger over her bottom gum to feel the little bump.

"You're getting teeth Pheebs. You're getting so big!" He smiled and felt a bit sad when she squirmed to get down from his hold to crawl around on the floor, and walk along the furniture.

After Alex cleaned up the surroundings and Phoebe's high chair where food was strewn around everywhere, it was another mission to get her to sit still so she can do her hair. Positioning her on her lap so she can make two short curly pig tails. But whenever her father spoke her head moved in the direction his voice came from and Alex had to start all over again. When they were done she stretched her hands out towards him, laughing as he threw her in the air and caught her again. A game Alex tried to end multiple times but she was always told she's too paranoid.

Their little girl dressed in jeans and a light yellow t shirt with a smiling sunflower on the front the Booth household was ready to get their day started as the three of them walked out the door.

Ryan and Alex walks into the office together, going their separate directions. He had a meeting with some of his superiors and management, but was very secretive about it when Alex asked him what it was about. Deep down she wondered if it had something to do with the stunt she and Shelby pulled a few weeks ago, but he brushed it off saying she shouldn't worry about it.

Maranda watched Shelby and Alex like a hawk, and they knew they weren't out of the woods just yet, because as punishment they weren't allowed to work on any cases, so instead they were stuck doing all the paperwork of the incoming cases and the ones that was concluded. Neither of them asked questions, they kept their heads down and did what was expected of them.

"Please tell me these are the last files I have to look at." Alex begged when Natalie added another file to the pile on her desk.

"No, there's more." Simon smiled adding his two on Shelby's pile ignoring the glare he got from the blonde.

"You'll never do something like that again, right?" Nimah laughed looking at the two them. Neither the blonde nor the brunette paid them any mind, they buried their heads in the amount of papers strewn across their desks hoping to get through them as quickly as they possibly can.

"Ryan, that email you received a few weeks ago, did you get anything else besides that one?" One guy on the management team asks, where they sat around the table trying to figure out what was happening.

"One more, a few days ago." Ryan sighed seeing Liam's face change, knowing in how much trouble his superior could get, since he didn't mention any of this to him earlier, because he told the younger agent to inform him when something else comes through so they can try and trace the address.

"Any enemies you know of who might have something against you?" Another one in a black suit asked. "Never mind, in this field everyone you put behind bars has something against you." He answered his own question.

Ryan received two emails from an address that they couldn't trace yet. Telling him he caused the death of a little girl's father. And because of that he will feel what their family went through. A little girl who has to grow up without her father, but in his case the tides will be changed and Ryan will be the one who has to live without his family.

That was enough of a wake up call for him to realize what they were talking about, he had no idea why they'd pin it on him, he's not the one who killed Drew Watts.

"But when we went on that case it was only the grandmother and the daughter in the house. I don't remember anyone else." Ryan said rubbing his tired eyes as he felt a headache coming. Trying to think back to almost a year ago. Alex was still pregnant with Phoebe and he had no idea how they even knew he had a child.

"Social services said something about a brother he had. I'm not certain." Liam said. "I mean as far as I know he had something against me how did this shift to you?" The superior asked uncertain looking at Ryan who shrugged.

"I'll make a few calls, in the meantime Ryan, when you hear something else I need you to inform us about it." Maranda said as they left the boardroom to get working on this new case at hand, trying to locate a fellow FBI.

Ryan feared for the safety of his wife and daughter, he can handle it if these guys where hunting him down, but they know his family is his weakness and that he'll do anything to keep them safe.

"Oh, and Ryan don't say anything to Alex yet. We'll keep a close eye on her and has to make sure she doesn't leave the office without, supervision. We need to track her whereabouts." Maranda said from the door before disappearing around the corner.

It felt like the amount of paperwork they had would never end, but Alex saw a light at the end of the tunnel when she picked up the last file smiling to herself and it felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

"I think we can reward ourselves with some cake." She told Shelby who was also busy filling out the last of her things.

"Aaaauuww, look who's being generous offering to buy all of us some cake." Natalie smiled as her eyes glistened.

"No, you and Nimah don't count, four is a squad or something like that. And right now blondie and I have separated ourselves from you guys." She stuck out her tongue at the two of them knowing they'll keep texting her to not forget the cake also, as Shelby handed Alex her car keys and she walked out the doors. Driving down the street to their favourite spot, grabbing four slices of celebratory cheesecake.

In the rearview mirror it seemed as if someone was following the car but Alex paid no mind to it. Clearly she isn't the only one who is in a hurry to get something sweet to eat because the car behind her stopped abruptly when she parked. Once outside she walked up to the front door and the guy in the car behind her jogged up to her grabbing a hold of her arm.

"Mrs Booth, right? If I were you I wouldn't make a scene right now." The guy said showing his pistol in the side of his pants, her other hand flew to her own weapon but the guy shook his head. "Don't try anything stupid we know you have a daughter." He said, and that made Alex think twice. He led her to the car that parked behind Shelby's and told her to get into the drivers seat.

Once inside she noticed two others sitting at the back. The guy who came out to talk to her got into the passenger seat pulling his weapon out pointing it against her abdomen. "No funny business, I'm not afraid to pull the trigger. Drive to your daughter's day care." The guy said. Alex tried with every ounce of her to refuse but it was as if her whole body went numb and she just did what was asked of her.

She was told to hand over her weapon and cellphone when they stopped outside the day care. One of the men accompanying her inside making sure she doesn't ask for help or inform the caregivers about what the situation is right now. Marci was quite busy and she didn't seem to notice how weird Alex was acting when she handed Phoebe over, just surprised that she came to get her at lunch time already.

The two of them got into the back of the car, the as one of the men drove them to a surprisingly nice and quiet neighborhood. Phoebe was oblivious to the circumstances and what was going on around her, which Alex was thankful for in some way. Hoping that she won't remember anything of this as she's babbling away in her own language with her hands in her mouth.

"Where are you taking us? What do you want?" Alex asked softly.

"Your husband knows what he did and what we want." One of them in the back seat with her said. "So how all of this plays out is up to him."

"Look, I don't care what you do to me I just need you to promise that you'll leave my daughter alone." Alex pleaded looking at the three men.

"You shouldn't say things like that, we might just scar that pretty face of yours Mrs Booth?" The driver smiled smugly.

Alex bit the inside of her mouth not to say anything to that comment. If it wasn't for another weapon pressed into her side she might have but right now she had a daughter to think of, whose live is more important than hers. They pulled up to a house on the corner in a suburban neighborhood, somehow not as bad as Alex expected. As the ushered her into the house the only things she was allowed to take was her daughter's diaper bag, she had to leave the rest of her belongings in the car.

After an hour when she didn't return the girls became worried. They called her but she didn't answer the phone and they knew something was wrong because Alex always answered her phone. Shelby headed up to Ryan's office and knocked on the door softly before opening.

"Ryan, uhhm, sorry to bother you but Alex left an hour ago to that restaurant down the street that we always go to, and she hasn't returned yet." Ryan's eyes grew wide and Shelby wondered if it would be wise of her to continue the statement or just leave. "We tried calling her but she doesn't pick up."

"Thanks Shelby." He nodded and she left closing the door behind her. He dialed the daycare and asked if Phoebe was still there, and when Marci said Alex came to fetch her with some guy she hasn't seen before he just knew something was wrong.

He headed for Liam's office not bothering to knock, opening the door abruptly. "Alex and Phoebe's gone." He stated simply and Liam looked up at him as if he didn't hear a word Ryan said.

"Okay." Liam said getting up from his desk walking towards Ryan.

"I tell you my family is missing and all you have to say for yourself is okay!?" Ryan yelled incredulous.

"Ryan, I need you to calm down. I don't want you on this it's way too personal." Liam said but Ryan shook his head wanting to say something but was cut off by his superior.

"That's an order Booth!" Liam raised his voice thinking this is the only way he could get through to him.

He walked back to the office not saying a word, sitting down at his desk staring of into the distance. After a few moments he took out his phone and scrolled through his camera roll looking at the pictures of his family.

Alex and Phoebe was led into the neatly furnished house to her surprise. She held onto her daughter as tightly as she could trying to get the ten month old to sit still and not allow her to play on the floor was a mission. Two of the men sat down on the couches while the other stood at the front door. "You can use the bedroom down the hall." He stated simply still none of them identifying themselves. "Relax Mrs Booth we won't hurt you, we'll at least have the decency to wait until your daughter's asleep." Alex walked down the hallway into the bedroom not saying a word.

She closed the bedroom door, taking in the light blue room with the dark brown built in cupboards, and the bathroom in the corner of the room. White linen and fluffy pillows covering the bed. She was trying to put up a brave face although her insides were screaming for her to do something but her mind was numb. Marci informed her that Phoebe didn't have lunch yet and she was playing during nap time so she might be fussy and tired. Alex started feeding her trying to prolong the process longer than what was necessary.

"I'm sure daddy's working on a plan to get us out of here safely bub." She whispered to her daughter but actually more to herself trying to convince herself they'll be okay.

She became restless after a while and Alex gave her some medicine when she developed another slight temperature, and put something in her mouth to soothe her itching gums. About half an hour later she fell asleep and Alex got up and walked back to the front.

"Liam please, I can't just around here doing nothing it's been an hour. Let me help!" Ryan walked into the boardroom and saw everyone on the phones scribbling things down and a map drawn up that shows an outline of the city.

"Ryan what do you think we've been doing this entire time? I'm not walking around here with my thumb up my ass these things takes time! And you should know that better than anyone else!." Liam reprimanded the younger agent who left the room just as quickly as he entered it, up the stairs and out the back door. His hands were tied he has no idea where to start looking or what he can do on his own to speed up the process.

Alex entered the front room and the one man who was standing at the door patted a char where she was supposed to sit. She hesitated but sat down anyway.

"I'm Roy." The one introduced himself, he was the one who told her to get into the car at the café. "That guy at the door is E-Zee, and the one behind you is Keith." Roy introduced all of them.

Keith grabbed her hands and tied them to the back of the chair, Alex struggled but Roy pointed his weapon in her direction again and she gave in. Once her hands were tied her gave her a kiss on her cheek. She turned her face away as far as she could. "Feisty aren't ya?" Keith laughed chewing at the end of a toothpick.

"Please, don't hurt me." Alex whispered lowering her head trying to hide her tears. She felt powerless and left at the mercy of three unknown men fearing for not only her life but her daughter's as well. She tried getting out the harsh rope of her wrists by continually wiggling them but ended up hurting herself when she felt her wrists starting to bruise.

"Your husband killed my brother, Drew Watts and then said it was suicide. Now we just want him to know what it feels like to have to live without someone you love. Our whole family fell apart after his death, and it's all his fault." Roy sang twisting her low pony tail around in his hand until he pulled her neck to the back kissing her mouth and Alex bit down hard onto his lower lip.

He cursed and walked up in front of her slapping her across the face. Her cheek stinging and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. He walked up to her, keeping her face in both hands, kissing her full on the mouth again, pulling away after a few minutes.

"Please don't hurt me." Alex cried looking at Roy as he lit a cigarette.

"What fun would it be if we handed you back to the husband without hurting you?" E-Zee asked walking to her. And without reason he stroked her cheek that Roy slapped a few minutes ago. "I'll kiss it better." He whispered kissing her cheek and Alex pulled her face away again causing the three men to laugh loudly as Roy got out a roll of duct taepe.

Down at FBI headquarters everyone was busy searching for Alex and her daughter. Liam called the day care and asked if they had cameras and they went down there to see if they can run facial recognition on any of the guys if they happened to find it.

"My car has a tracking device." Shelby said. If they took the car we might be able to get her location. Shelby checked but it was a dead end since the car was still at the café. While everyone was out trying to make ends meet Maranda looked for Ryan. It took a few attempts checking all the places he normally is until she found him sitting out at the back.

He looked up slightly when the door opened and started staring off into the distance again. "I got this." He said not making eye contact and handed the phone to Maranda. Another email this time a picture of Alex with tears streaming down her face and the one side of her face a shade of red and duct tape over her mouth.

"What…what if we don't make it there in time?" Ryan asked softly. "What if they.."

"Ryan no. We cannot think like that. They will be fine." Maranda tried to assure him.

"Will they! Does that picture look like my wife is fine?!" Ryan raised his voice in frustration and anger and so many other emotions that prevents him from thinking straight. Maranda left him there but took his phone back trying to find a lead in the background somewhere. They were all ready to give up when Nimah noticed something.

"Zoom in on that picture and look at the car." She said and no one saw what she was getting at. "The image of the car is blurry but you can make out a number plate and there's a street name painted on the side of the pavement." She exclaimed and they got their IT guys on it to get a clearer picture. In the meantime Liam came back from the day care with no useful information. Marci said she didn't know the guy but she was in a hurry and didn't really pay close attention to him. Their camera footage also didn't work properly and it was all a waste of time going through months of tape looking for one particular guy.

Roy walked behind Alex and inspected her hands looking at her wedding band. "Well well well, I'll take this then." He smiled and slipped it from her left hand. She tried curling her fingers inwards so they couldn't take it off but another slap from Keith made her change her mind. Phoebe started crying and Alex looked up at the three men. Teary eyes pleading but they stood there looking at each other.

"She can cry it's fine. Nothing will happen to her." E-Zee said and left her to her cries. Alex didn't know how much more of this she could take. The only thing keeping her fighting is her child.

Ryan walked around like a zombie not knowing if he should be informing his mother in law on what's going on. They've had so much to deal with themselves he will have to see how his wife is for himself before he calls them, he thought. He went into the boardroom to see what progress they've made so far, it's been three hours and anything could've happened in that time.

They ran the number plates and the street address, and got their suburban neighborhood. Once the address showed Ryan was the first person to leave the room and rushed towards his car, but Liam stopped him before he got to his car.

"Damnit Booth! These guys are dangerous and for all we know they might have set traps for us. Can you just listen to authority for once." Liam pleaded

"Would you do that if it was your daughter Liam? Sit down and wait for something to happen to her?" Ryan asked and Liam shook his head.

"Of course not, but you're not going there on your own. You'll make impulsive decisions that might have bad consequences. You can drive with me." Liam offered when the rest of the agents came out and huddled into the vans. The closer they got to the house the more anxious Ryan became.

"That baby better shut up soon." Keith said holding his head. Alex mumbled something from behind the duct tape but it didn't help. She could be hungry or be scared because she doesn't know her the room she's in. Or she could've fallen off the bed. All kinds of things running through her mother's mind and there's nothing she can do to help her child.

E-Zee walked up to her whistling a tune, unbuttoning the first three buttons on her blouse and Alex looked into his eyes, crying while shaking her head. Mentally preparing herself for the worst when she heard the door being kicked open.

"FBI, don't move." Liam O'Connor's familiar voice came and as more agents streamed in. More tears streaming down her face. This time being thankful for people who started noticing something was wrong. She sat with her back to the door and the window couldn't make see anyone, but listening intently for her husband's voice.

"Ryan don't!" Maranda yelled but it was too late, he fired two shots hitting E-Zee in his shoulder where he was kneeling in front of Alex still trying to get her out of her blouse. "You son of a bitch." Ryan said as one shot hit in his shoulder the other one missed and hit the couch.

Shelby and Nimah walked towards the bedroom where the baby was crying and got her out of the room trying to calm her. Taking her outside and out of the violent environment that's busy happening inside.

Matthew got him to hand over his weapon and he gave it to him without a fight walking over to his wife loosening her tied hands, taking of his blazer and threw it over her shoulders, as he's trying to gently peel the duct tape off her mouth with minimal pain. Since then she hasn't stopped crying and once the tape was from her mouth she crashed into him letting all the emotions spill that she's been holding in for most of the time she's been there. In this moment it was just the two of them as the rest of their team did their work in getting the guys arrested.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you and Phoebe?" He asked trying to inspect his wife by looking at her and she shook her head. Although if he hadn't showed up it might have been too late.

"Phoebe?" Alex asked looking around and not seeing her child.

"She's outside with Shelby and Nimah." He explained and she nodded.

They walked outside and drove to the nearest hospital. Liam driving the car with Maranda driving shotgun, Ryan sitting at the back with his family. Phoebe has calmed down but he still felt guilty looking at the state of distress his wife is in and trying to figure out what his daughter is thinking and if she'll remember any of this. He hope not.

A doctor came to see them and Liam and Maranda explained the situation to him. Alex refusing to let her daughter out of her sight when the doctors wanted to check her out. Once both of them has been cleared but having to spend the night at hospital, Nimah offered to take Phoebe for he night but Alex wouldn't have it. She barely even spoke to Ryan, she sat laid in bed looking at her sleeping daughter.

"They took my wedding bands." Alex said finally and Ryan almost burst out laughing. Here he was worried sick about the well being of his wife and the first thing that she tells him is that her wedding bands are gone.

"It's okay. We'll get you new ones." Ryan smiled seeing the slight smile that appeared on her face.

"They hit me." She admitted softly and Ryan's heart ached and he put his head on the bed. "I could deal with that, I was just so scared that they'd hurt Phoebe." She whispered fresh tears springing to her eyes.

"I hate how I've promised you that I'd be there for you. But then something like this happens and then I start blaming myself for everything you've been through and that it was all my fault." Ryan looked up into her eyes wiping her eyes.

"No, it's not your fault. None of us knew something like this would happen. And we're fine. That's all that matters." Alex assured him but he wouldn't have it that way. Trying to stifle a yawn as he ran a hand through her hair.

"You should try and get some sleep." Ryan suggested sitting down on the bed next to her.

"Please stay until I'm asleep before you go home?" She asked looking up at him.

"I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head glancing over at his sleeping daughter. Waiting for his wife's breathing to even out before he allowed himself to cry softly. The two of them were his world and when he thinks on how close he was to losing them today he don't know what to do if something worse had to happen to either of them.

There it is guys. I hope I've met your expectations. I've been battling with this the whole day and I hope you like it. I'd like to hear your feedback on this. I apologize for any errors I didn't have any time to edit since it's 12:30 AM but I hand to post this chapter before I go to bed.

Lovies-S