The panic that Aiden was experiencing was something he had never experienced before. His chest was hurting from his heart pounding so hard, and he was finding it extremely difficult to hold his composure. He called Antonia's phone again and again, each time being met with her voicemail. He left a frantic message once or twice before finally giving up. He lifted the phone again as he yanked the SUV through traffic, the lights flashing, siren blaring as the questions from the passengers in his car went unanswered. He lifted his phone to his ear and called Ace, waiting for the answer on the line, his eyes moved to the rear view mirror where he could see Fiona's wide eyes, tears streaming down her face. Immediately he could feel a rush of guilt wash over him. He was about to say something to her, when Ace picked up the phone. "Ace, there's a situation. Ant called me in a panic, she was being followed, and they may have forced her off the road. She said she was in the area near where her parents live." He paused for a moment. "I'm on my way there now, call Booth." He said, dropping the phone into the center console, he took a sharp right turn, the tires squealing across the pavement as he pressed hard on the accelerator. It wasn't but a moment before Ace was on the radio, calling out for Aiden's position. Aiden picked up the radio and called in his position.
"Aiden, please slow down." Anna's voice broke through the sound of his thumping heart in his ears, and he turned to see the fear in her eyes as he drove. "It's not going to do her any good if we crash before we get there." She said, feeling the SUV slow just a bit as he maneuvered through the smaller suburban roads.
"It would be a lot more helpful if I knew where the hell she was." He grunted as he looked as he drove, heading down another road that was rarely traveled and had a couple of large houses set back from the road, large trees in the front yards, and hedges that blocked the view. He spun the car around the cul-de-sac, and immediately saw the tire marks on the grass, dirt kicked up. He grunted a swear under his breath, shouted his position into the radio, he didn't wait for a response. He slammed the car to a stop, and leapt from the car. "Stay there! Do not leave the car!" He shouted to Anna and Fiona. As soon as he was clear of the car's door, he pulled his gun from the holster, and ran at full speed through spot in the hedges where it was clear a large car had barrelled through. "Tex!" Aiden shouted. "Tex! Answer me!"
Aiden ran through the brambles where Antonia's large SUV had come to rest, the front end smashed into a tree. The airbags had clearly gone off, and the doors were swung open. He let out a tortured scream of her name, noting that there were more than one set of tire impressions in the vicinity, it was clear that someone had continued on around the SUV and sped down the driveway. Aiden ran for the open driver's side door, finding it empty, the seat belt cut, he frantically looked to the back seat and found that Melody was also missing, the seat belt cut. He could feel an overwhelming urge to throw up, his head dizzy from lack of oxygen. He could see her phone lying on the floor of the car, blood on the seat, as everything started to get just a little dimmer. He was starting to hyperventilate when he felt an arm on his shoulder, and a familiar voice.
"Fitz! Fitz! Look at me!" Ace said, grabbing the younger man's face as he tried to get him to focus, he swung his hand and slapped him hard.
"Holy shit! What was that for?" Aiden shouted, looking into Ace's eyes as he turned toward the car again. "They're gone. They're gone, Ace." He said, looking at the ripped up lawn and tire tracks that had gone around the smashed SUV.
"Look at me." Ace said, grabbing Fitzgerald again, he looked him in the eye. "Go back to your car, put out an APB on the vehicle that we're looking for. Did Ant describe it?"
"Dark sedan." He mumbled, his eyes wild as he started to hyperventilate again, staring at the blood on the seat, he could feel his breakfast rising up in his throat as he leaned down and grabbed his knees.
"Hold yourself together and get the damned APB out!" Ace shouted, pushing at Fitzgerald as he watched the younger agent stumble and run back toward his car.
Ace stood beside the car for a moment, walking slowly around it, taking in the scene. Several things were easy to determine based on the scene. If they wanted to kill Antonia, she would have been dead. They clearly cut her from her seatbelt, meaning she'd have to be unconscious for that to happen without a severe injury to one of the perpetrators. The blood may have been from the broken glass of the windshield, and there was not a lot of it, hand prints were documented through observation, and he knew better than to touch the crime scene. Back seat had blood on it, but it was clearly transfer from the blood in the front seat, as they cut through Melody's belt. Ace could feel his own heart beating rapidly with each moment, dreading the conversation he was about to have as his phone began to ring.
"We found the car, it's down on Albemarle, the cul-de-sac. She's gone, she's not here." He said into the line immediately, leaving formalities for another time.
"What the hell do you mean she's gone?" Booth shouted into the line.
"Toni, Booth. They took her, they took the kid. I told you they weren't going to stop until they got what they wanted!"
"We don't even know what they want!" Booth shouted, his voice full of emotion as Ace looked up to the sound of more sirens heading in his direction, blocked by the foliage by the road. "I'm here."
"I need you to keep everyone except the squints from the scene. Is Doc with you?" Ace asked, continuing to survey the scene.
"She was at the lab, she's on her way." Booth said into the line. "Does it look like she was hurt?"
"Maybe cut by the glass, possible burns from the airbag. She had to have hit the tree pretty hard." Ace said, sparing no detail.
"She hit a tree?" Booth said loudly into the line. "Are you kidding me?"
Ace could hear a bit of a scuffle over the line, and Booth talking to someone, the other person's voice was frantic, and he could only imagine it was Fitzgerald. "Booth, is he okay? Deuce, is he alright?"
"I'm going to try to send him home." Booth said into the line. "He's not making any sense. He has his family in the car."
"Good luck with that, Deuce, he's not going to leave. Do you think Doc would leave if you told her to?"
"Shut up, Ace." Booth said, disconnecting the line.
"I shouldn't have let her go." Aiden said, pacing back and forth, completely beside himself as he tried to recall every sound and nuance of their last conversation. "I should have had her go with me to the airport, and then we'd go to the hospital together. I should never have let her go!" He said, staring at his shoes as he repeatedly ran his hand through his hair, walking in a smaller circle. He looked up at Booth and could see an array of emotions on his face. "Goddamnit, I let her down. I let her down, and I let you down, and Doctor Brennan! And Melody! She's just a kid! What do they want? Why? Why?" He said, starting to pace again.
"Fitz, you have to go home." Booth said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You have to take your family home." He said sternly, watching the young man's eyes stare into his, wild and frightened.
"Go home? Go home? Are you insane? Are you nuts? She's out there somewhere, and you want me to just..."
"Pops!" A voice called out, desperate and frightened. Booth looked up to see Fiona in the driver's side of Aiden's car, the window rolled down. "Pops! What happened?"
"You have to go home, Aiden!" He growled, grabbing the shoulder of his jacket, he pulled him toward the car, feeling him resist strongly.
"The hospital." Aiden said, pushing back against Booth. "We have to get to the hospital, talk to the boy. He'll be able to help us." Aiden could feel Booth's grip tighten.
"Do not make me knock you out in front of your niece." Booth grunted, his eyes looking directly into Aiden's.
"You don't understand." Aiden said, his eyes filling with tears, the raw emotion within them was stoic and serious. "We're not just looking for Antonia and Melody, Booth." His teeth were gritted as he looked into the elder agent's eyes. "Tex is carrying my kid." He growled, a tear dropping down his cheek, his voice cracking.
Booth stared into Aiden's eyes, seeing the truth shining back at him as he stopped dead in his tracks. His head snapped up at the Jeffersonian van approaching, with Temperance's SUV leading the way, his grip was still tight on Aiden's jacket. He pulled the younger agent toward him, his eyes so dark they were nearly black. "You speak a word of this to Bones, and I swear on the grave of my mother, I will snap your neck so fast, you won't even see it coming. Get your goddamned ass in my SUV!" He said, pushing Aiden with all of his strength toward the vehicle. Temperance stopped her car literally a foot from Booth, and jumped from the vehicle, running toward him as he turned.
"Where is she?"
"They ran her off the road." Booth said, knowing that the truth is what she needed. "They took her and Melody. We have about ten agents, and Metro PD out looking for the vehicle. Ace is at the car." He said, pointing toward the crime scene. She immediately went in his direction without another word. He looked up to see the squints getting out of the van. "Hey, Chuck!" Booth shouted, seeing Charlie Morris shouldering his bag, he looked up at Booth, his eyes holding alarm and concern.
It didn't matter to him that he got his name wrong, his friend and colleague was missing. He moved toward Booth and could see that he was extremely anxious. "What do you need, Agent Booth?"
"I need you to do a little favor for Agent Fitzgerald." He said, putting his hand on Charlie's shoulder, he led him toward Aiden's SUV. As they reached the SUV, Fiona was practically climbing from the window, her mother tugging at her as she watched on in alarm. "This here is Agent Fitzgerald's niece, Fiona. And I assume that in there is her mother, Anna." He said, his voice friendly, but also extremely curt. "I need you to bring them to their new place. Just put the address into the GPS, it'll take them there. Then I need you to come back here with Agent Fitzgerald's truck, and the squint mobile will take you back. Can you handle that?"
"Yes sir." Charlie said, noting that as Booth spoke, his voice became calmer, which seemed to have the opposite effect on Charlie. He smiled nervously at Booth who leaned in and touched Fiona's hand.
"Get into your seat, little one."
"But where's Ant? Where is she? Is Uncle Aiden okay? What happened?" Fiona asked her rapid fire questions as she moved toward the back seat.
"We're going to figure that out, kiddo." Booth said calmly with a wink. "Be a good girl, and Pops and Uncle Aiden are going to do our super hero thing." He said, watching her nod her head nervously as she buckled herself up. Charlie got into the driver's side and looked nervously at Booth. "Thanks, Charlie." He said, nodding his head as he looked over at him for a moment.
"How do I turn the lights off?" Charlie asked, indicating the cherry top on the vehicle.
"Don't worry about it. You're on official business." Booth said, taking a step back from the truck as Charlie pulled away. Booth then turned around and whistled to one of the squints who was heading in the direction of the crime scene. He turned around and walked toward Booth with an air of anxiety. "I need you to tell Doctor Brennan and Agent Harding that I am taking Agent Fitzgerald with me to the hospital to talk to our other witness. Got that?" Booth said, watching the squint nod his head. "Good, thanks." He said, marching toward his vehicle, he opened the door muttering. "And with any luck, Agent Fitzgerald will be back with minimal injury." He said as he jumped into the SUV, and took off quickly down the road with Aiden sitting broken in the passenger seat.