July 5th – 7:25pm-
Ace held Temperance in his arms securely, feeling her body tremble as she gripped him tightly. He only knew of a handful of times when this woman in his arms had felt broken enough to break down without care of those in the room, and he knew that sometimes all she needed was someone to hold her through it. "It's okay." He whispered. "We're going to get some answers, we're going to get some answers." He said again and again, knowing that it was what she needed. He looked up to see Grace, Hodgins and Angela standing by, watching with pity and fear in their eyes. His eyes met Hodgins, and he nodded.
"Hey, why don't we go take a look, see if they need any help with the evidence." He said, watching Angela and Grace look to him briefly. "Please?" He asked, knowing that what Temperance really needed was a moment to think, and to feel in control, something she couldn't do if everyone was standing over her.
Angela took Grace's hand, tugging her lightly as she watched her mother sob into Ace's arms. She resisted just slightly, but the three of them left the office and walked back into the lab.
Ace hugged Temperance tightly, listening as her sobs became more controlled, her trembling slowly coming under control as well. After a few more moments, she was simply just holding him tightly, her tears having wet his shoulder, her sniffles coming to an end. "I'm sorry." She whispered, pulling away with a nearly ashamed expression. "I'm sorry."
"No." He shook his head. "No apologies." He said, lifting the phone she had dropped, he put it back on the receiver. He looked up at her red eyes and reached for a tissue on her desk. He gently dabbed at her cheeks and watched as she leaned forward, leaning her forehead against his as she took a long, deep breath. "We're going to get some answers, Temperance." He said, his voice was serious and resolute, and he watched the fear start to disappear from her eyes. "Antonia is strong. You know that, I know that. She is strong, and I know that doesn't make things any easier on our side, but it's a fact. She's not that little girl anymore, Temperance. She's not that scared little girl."
"But Melody is." Temperance whispered, taking a deep breath as she sat back in her chair.
"This is true." He nodded his head. "I believe they're stronger together though, stronger because they have one another to lean on through this, just like we have one another, Temperance." He cleared his throat and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, watching her eyes flicker a bit as she thought. "Booth will let us know what they found. No speculation, no assumptions, we work with facts here." He watched her eyes meet his and he was about to ask her what she was thinking about when there was a knock on the door, bringing both of their attention to the sound. Ace sighed. "Come in." He said, standing up from the crouch he had been in beside Temperance's chair. The door opened, and one of the interns stepped in, watching as Ace stood in front of Temperance, almost as if he were protecting her from whatever the intern held in his hand.
"Doctor Hodgins asked me to bring this to Doctor Brennan. It's some of the items found in the back of the SUV." He said, holding out a couple of evidence bags, the contents of which made a lump form in Ace's throat. He took the bags into his hand and nodded to the intern, who quickly left the room.
"What? What is it?" Temperance asked, standing up, she looked around at the bags and gasped slightly. She reached for one of the bags, her eyes stinging with tears as she held it tightly in her grasp. "You're taking me to where Booth is going, Shenandoah, or Front Royal, or whatever. You're taking me to the hospital there, wherever it is." She said to Ace, looking at him with a strong determined look in her eyes.
"Temperance, we don't even know if…"
"If my child is in the hospital there, Christopher…"
"Temperance, I can't leave here. I have to keep this investigation going. I have to make sure that Mitch is safe. We have to move forward. I can't just stop everything and run off to a possible lead when we already have an agent on it. We have the evidence here, we have Antonia's car, the suspect's fingerprints, and analysis. You have to be here, you have to run the lab, and we have to solve this together."
"I work with bodies, Agent Harding. I don't have a body here to examine. What I do have, is a daughter that is missing, and a small child who was witness to a murder that is missing. There is a crime scene that I haven't examined, and evidence that I have not collected. I have a well trained staff, Agent Harding, they can work with you on this crime scene." She said, sticking her chin out at him with stubborn determination. "You can stay here and work with them. I'm going to my daughter." She said, gripping the evidence bag in her hand, she looked down at the small gray elephant in the bag staring back at her. With that final declaration, she grabbed the evidence bag from Ace's hand that contained the little pink bunny, and marched out of her office. "Angela!" She called. "Get the address of the hospital in Virginia!" She said loudly. "We're going on a road trip."
"You got it, Sweetie." Angela replied, and headed for her office to get the information.
July 5th, 9:00am
The SUV pulled up to the curb of the apartment, and Antonia glanced back to the curious look on Melody's face when she climbed from her seat and walked around to open the passenger door. The little girl's eyes narrowed as she looked to Antonia, making her laugh a bit as she tipped her head. "One stop first." She said, nodding toward the building.
"I'm hungry." Melody signed back with a heavy sigh.
"You are always hungry. I think you have a hollow leg." Antonia signed back, reaching over to unbuckle the little girl.
"I don't know what that means." Melody signed, watching Antonia laugh out loud.
She lifted Melody and her pink bunny from the seat and held her on her hip as she closed the car door and carried her toward the door to the apartment. She climbed the steps and unlocked the door to the apartment building, quickly entering the building they made their way to her apartment.
Once in the safety of her apartment, she set Melody down on the ground and locked the door. She watched the little girl's eyes, wide with uncertainty. "We are safe. This is my home." She signed, watching as Melody looked around, but gave her a confused look.
"You live with Bean." Melody signed, letting out a discontented grunt as she stepped back against the door.
"Yes." She signed. "I have my things here." She replied, walking toward the kitchen, she sighed with a slight smile when she saw the case of water bottles on the counter, and the fresh bananas and apples on the counter beside them. She had spent the week Aiden was away at his place, so she knew that he had brought these to her place on his way home from the airport. She turned to look at Melody and pointed it out. "Bean takes good care of me." She said, pulling a banana off the bunch, she offered it to Melody.
Melody paused for a moment, but then walked quickly across the floor to Antonia. "Thank you." She signed, smiling as she took the offered fruit, and began to peel it, watching as Antonia started moving around the apartment. She followed her into her bedroom, watching as she moved toward the closet. She pulled down a metal box from the shelf in the back of the closet, setting it down on her dresser, she carefully unlocked the box and then lifted the lid.
Melody couldn't see what was in the box, but she watched as Antonia opened the dresser drawer and pulled out a deck of cards, sliding them inside the metal box, she also put a black marker, and pulled out a roll of something, slipping it into the box as well. She looked down at Melody and smiled. "What are you doing?" Melody asked, watching Antonia lift her eyebrow.
"Being prepared." She signed, a kind smile on her lips as she pulled something else from within her dresser. "Always, always have a plan." She mumbled to herself in the mirror as she closed the box, locked it, slipped the key into her pocket, and grasped it in her hands. She nodded toward the kitchen and plucked the banana peel from Melody's fingers as she rounded the counter, and deposited the peel in the trash. She placed the box on the counter, opened a bottle of vitamins and took them as she swigged from a water bottle, winking at the little girl. Once finished with the bottle of water, she walked around the counter and crouched in front of Melody. She reached out and gently touched the fur on the stuffed bunny that the little girl was holding so tightly. "I have a friend too." She said, signing to the little girl, she lifted her worn gray elephant into view. She watched as the little girl's eyes brightened at the sight of the stuffed animal, her eyes flicking between Antonia and the toy gently as she reached her fingers out to caress his fur. "His name is Deuce." She signed, speaking the words, Melody watched her carefully, her eyes falling on the toy, and back to Antonia.
"Her name is Bonnie." Melody signed, her bunny tucked under her arm, she held her up and showed Antonia.
"It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Bonnie." Antonia signed, watching the girl's eyes brighten a little more.
"My daddy gave me Deuce, a long time ago. He is a good friend." She signed, watching Melody nod.
"Mommy gave me Bonnie." She signed back, a bit of sadness in her eyes as she rubbed her fingers over the bunny's fur. Her eyes were on Deuce as she looked between him and Antonia, a slight smile on her lips as she reached for him.
There may have been a bit of reluctance in her relinquishing her prized friend, but Antonia could see the care and love that Melody put into loving her bunny friend, and allowed her to hug Deuce closely. She could feel a swell of emotions in her chest as the little girl held them tightly in her arms. "Can Deuce come to breakfast with us?" She signed, tilting her head to Antonia curiously.
"Of course." She smiled as she replied, looking at her watch she sighed. "Let's get to the diner. I'm hungry!"
"Me too!" Melody signed enthusiastically, gripping Bonnie and her new friend tightly in her arms as she watched Antonia grab the box from the counter, take her hand, and they made their way out toward the waiting car.