Once they arrived at the crime scene, it was business as usual. Temperance was quiet and thoughtful as they walked around the room where the boy was kept. The Jeffersonian van pulled up to the building just after they arrived, and the other agents on the scene relinquished it to Ace and Temperance. Charlie stepped out of the van, followed by Emma as they moved toward the back to collect their bags. They met up with Temperance and Ace to enter the building together.

"So the ransom was dropped off, and they gave the location of the kid." Ace said, finishing his explanation of how everything had come to this point.

"His name is Mitchell, Christopher." Temperance corrected, looking to the agent pointedly. "He lost his mother and father, can we at least give him the dignity of calling him by his first name?"

"Sorry, Doc." Ace sighed. "They gave the location of Mitchell. When we got here, it was obvious he had been beaten, almost tortured. We don't know what they were looking for, but assume it was just for the money."

Temperance stopped and looked him in the eyes, lifting an eyebrow slowly. "If they were looking for money, why hurt the boy? They kidnapped him and killed his parents, that was torture enough. Why cause him physical pain if they weren't trying to extract information from him?" She sighed.

"Maybe he was talking back or something." He shrugged.

"The parents were tied together, correct?"

"Yes."

"And there was evidence on their bodies that they had been burned with cigarettes, cut methodically, as well as the final gunshot." Temperance said, watching Ace process everything.

"Okay."

"Well then there has to be more to this than simply breaking into a rich man's home and kidnapping the son just to ask for a pittance of a ransom." Temperance argued.

"$250,000 is a pittance?" Ace snickered.

"To the grandfather it was. His net worth is over six million dollars, Ace. He probably had $250,000 in his wallet." She cleared her throat and shook her head. "I think the ransom was to cover up something bigger." She said, watching as Ace shook his head. "You aren't looking at everything. There has to be more to the story. I think they were looking for something else, and I think they're not going to be happy until they find it. I think you're slipping, Christopher." She said. She turned and gave Charlie and Emma directions on what to collect, and watched them carefully as she surveyed the room. She turned to Ace and watched his expression as he shook his head again. "What?"

"You and Toni. I swear, you two are all about the next chapter of the story."

"I don't know what that means." She said, turning around to collect samples from the room. She sifted through some of the trash left behind, and looked up at Charlie. "Mr. Morris. Please be sure to collect all of this trash. If there are cigarette filters, or anything, be sure to collect those separately. It appears they were keeping the boy here, and while it wasn't long, there may be saliva or other DNA that is detectable."

"Yes, Doctor Brennan." He nodded politely.

"Mr. Morris?" She said, glancing over to Ace as he looked through a few things across the room, she approached the intern. The young scientist looked up at Temperance and gave her a slight smile. "How would you say Doctor Booth handled herself throughout my absence?" She asked, noting that Emma's eyes were on her for a moment as well.

"I'd say that she was fair and true to your standards, Doctor Brennan. She kept things on an even keel, and rarely strayed from your methods or teachings. She is an excellent colleague, and was able to smoothly transition into the temporary position without making the other interns feel as if she were superior." Charlie smiled. He heard Emma snort a bit from her location behind him and rolled his eyes slightly, something that Temperance didn't miss. "She has her own flair, as you know, but it was a pleasure working with her in that capacity." He smiled.

"Thank you for your thoughts, Mr. Morris." She smiled politely as she turned back to the task at hand. She watched her partner for a moment as he moved around the room, surveying the scene as he often did. He focused on the larger picture as he typically did, and while it was useful at times, there was a more pressing need for him to look beyond the initial findings. "Christopher?" She said, watching him look up at her, his eyes on hers for a moment. "I would like to speak to the boy when he wakes up."

"If he wakes up." He said quickly, watching her eyes narrow. "When." He corrected with a nod. "We can speak to him when he wakes up."

Aiden looked to the passenger seat at his fiancée. Her face seemed a bit pale, her eyes staring out the window, though it appeared she was almost sleeping with her eyes open. He glanced to the road and back at her again. "I'm fine." She said softly from her seat, a weak smile on her lips as they met his. "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well." She said, nodding toward their backseat passenger.

"You haven't been sleeping well for a little while now, or at least that's what you've been saying. You just seem more tired than normal. Do you want to go to the doctor?"

"I am a doctor, Aiden. I'm fine." She grumbled, scrunching her nose stubbornly, she rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and yawned. "I still don't think it was fair of Mom to send me home." She mumbled.

"You've been working non-stop. You've fallen asleep at the lab multiple times." He said, reaching to touch her leg, she looked up at him. "Besides, that means you get to spend the rest of the afternoon with me and Shadow." He said, indicating the little girl in the back seat, who was watching them both closely.

"Do you like being called a shadow?" Antonia signed to Melody, who nodded with a tiny smile.

"Bean is funny." Melody replied, her eyes shining as she looked between the two adults.

"Yeah, he is." She said as she communicated back, speaking while she signed.

"He is what?" Aiden asked, glancing to Antonia, who let out a giggle, which was echoed in the back seat. "You guys are talking about me, aren't you?" He asked, keeping his chin high so Melody could read his lips from her seat, the girls giggled again.

"Nope." Antonia said, smiling sleepily at Aiden, she leaned her head back and shook it lightly. She noticed that Aiden's attention was on her again. "Riding in the car just makes me tired. Pay attention to the road, Fitzgerald." She mumbled, reaching for her phone as it buzzed in her hand. "Booth." She said, her attention sharper than just a moment before.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Grace exclaimed over the line. "I didn't mean to say anything. I thought she knew, and before I knew it I was blabbing and she didn't know because you didn't tell her and now she knows, but she thinks you didn't tell her and she's not happy, Toni. She is really, really not happy."

"Grace?" Antonia said, trying desperately to understand what her sister was trying to tell her. "Who knows what? What are you talking about?"

"Mom. Mom knows about your engagement, Toni."

"What? What do you mean she knows?" She asked, glancing to Aiden, who pretended to be paying attention to the road and not her conversation. "Grace." Antonia said, with a sharp edge to her voice.

"I'm sorry. I'm just… I'm sorry."

"Ugh." Antonia grunted as she hung up her phone and tossed it into the cup holder of the car. She rubbed her face with her hand and groaned.

"So your sister told your mother."

"Yes." Antonia groaned. "Thank goodness Grace and Jack didn't join the FBI or something. The enemy would know everything!"

"It's not bad that your mother knows, is it?" He asked, watching Antonia's head snap in his direction.

"No." She said sharply, her dark eyes on him. "I just… I wanted to be the one to tell them, in my own time, and my own way."

"You were just going to go to the Jeffersonian's Fourth of July picnic with the ring on, weren't you?"

"Shut up." She snapped, a bit of a curl on her lips as she admired her ring, wiggling her hand so that the diamond would glitter in the sunlight. "You're in this too." She reminded him. "And I'm a daddy's girl, so you might want to wear body armor tomorrow."

"Duly noted." He nodded, laughing as she watched him smile. "Though, he is a sniper."

"Right, so just bring pie to the picnic, and you should be okay." She smiled sleepily over toward him, listening to his laugh.

Next up: Fourth of July Picnic... because well... I think it's time to ramp this story into overdrive. You guys are entirely too comfortable right now. COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT... otherwise I don't know you guys are out there, and then I dawdle.