Temperance walked down the hallway toward her daughter's hospital room. She was fairly sure that she wouldn't be making her way to the lab today, simply because of the weather, but also because of her concern over Antonia and Aiden. Nobody had heard from either one of them, and as the afternoon started to move into the later hours, she became more anxious than ever. She was hoping that a visit with Grace would lift her spirits. She had dropped Jared off at the hotel that he had been staying in, instructing him to gather his things and have a cab bring him to her house. She was grateful for one less person to have to worry about, and he seemed to be in slightly better spirits after he had seen Seeley.
Just as she was steps from the room, her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she lifted it to her ear without a moment's pause. She hoped that she would hear her daughter's voice on the other end of the line. "Brennan." She said, her pace slowing to a stop.
"Hey, Bones." Booth said, his voice sounded oddly jovial considering that everything seemed to be against them lately.
"Where are you, Booth?" She asked, praying that he had heeded her warning and hadn't gone out to the crime scene.
"Ace and I are heading over to his place. We're almost there, I just wanted to let you know. Today is kind of a wash on the case front, at least until the snow stops." He said with a sigh.
"I'm pretty sure that I was the one that told you that this morning." She said, lifting her eyebrows and turning toward the end of the hallway, she leaned on the wall. "What are you two up to?"
"Nothing. Rebecca has the kids, so we decided to go over there and discuss the case, maybe make a snowman with the boys, or you know, stuff."
"Stuff?" She asked. "What is the scientific equivalent of 'stuff', Booth?"
"Things?" He asked. He chuckled, and Temperance could hear Ace in the background telling him that he was 'smooth'.
She shook her head. "Whatever it is that you two are up to, will you please promise to be careful."
"Always, Bones." Booth said, pausing for a moment. "I love you."
"I love you." She said, a sad sigh in her voice.
"Tell Gracie that we love her." He said, a tender tone in his voice as she smiled.
"You got it." She said, when suddenly she heard a yelp from her daughter's closed room. She hung up her phone and swung open the door, only to find JV standing over Grace, his hands on her face, squeezing her cheeks as she laughed. "Mr. Hodgins?" Temperance said, causing JV to jump back, stand straight and turn toward Temperance. "What on earth are you doing to my daughter?"
"Um." He mumbled, his face turning bright red as Grace started to laugh.
"He flicked a rubber band at me." She replied, watching as Jack turned to her. "Hit me right in the forehead."
"Tattle!"
"You did!" She laughed, her eyes so light and happy as Jack stepped over to Temperance and hugged her.
"Aunt Bones, I did nothing of the sort." He said, receiving her tight hug in return. He put his arm around her and they walked toward the bed. "I was simply playing with a rubber band, and lost track of it." He said, sitting down as Temperance sat beside him. "Her face just got in the way."
"Well, you two seem to be riding out this snowstorm in good spirits." She said, reaching forward to touch her daughter's hand, Grace gave her mother's hand a tight squeeze and let go.
"Jack is just making sure that I don't go stir crazy." Grace said, her eyes following Jack as he picked up a couple rubber bands on the ground.
"By flinging rubber bands at you?"
"Well, we ran out of raisins." He shrugged.
Temperance shook her head at the two of them, watching as Grace looked toward Jack for a moment, she could feel the shift in the room, but couldn't quite explain it.
"Where is Dad?" Grace asked, watching as Temperance's eyes went to her hands and then back up to her daughter's face. "I figured he'd be here since it's too snowy to do anything else."
"He and Christopher have some misbehaving to do, I'm quite certain." She sighed. "Your sister went to the crime scene last night, and hasn't been back yet."
"What? Mom?" Grace said, her eyes glancing to JV as she watched her mother's gaze drift. "What happened?"
"We're not sure." Temperance sighed. "The crime scene is fairly remote, and it's possible that they lost their cellular signal." She said, kneading the blanket lightly with her fingers. "Your sister is smart, I'm sure they found someplace to shelter." She said softly, glancing to Grace.
"They?" Grace said, lifting her eyebrows.
"Agent Fitzgerald followed her to the crime scene. I'm sure he was concerned for her safety." Temperance said, watching as Grace nodded. "They texted your father late last night, and we've heard nothing since."
"So, Aiden and Ant are out in the woods together during a snowstorm, alone?" She said, trying not to sound amused. It was a serious situation, and she could see the concern in her mother's eyes.
Temperance gave her daughter a knowing glance, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched her daughter try not to smile. "Your sister is very professional, Grace."
"Mmhm." Grace nodded. "And Agent Fitzgerald is very handsome. Very, very handsome, and charming." She said, smirking as she wiggled her eyebrows. "Ow!" she exclaimed as a rubber band lightly tapped the side of her head, rolling down onto her shoulder. She turned toward JV, who was looking at the ceiling. "That wasn't nice!" She exclaimed with a laugh.
Antonia kicked the door open for Aiden, helping him maneuver into the cabin. He could feel some warmth from the fire, but the gaping hole in the wall where the window used to be was going to be a problem. "I've got you." She whispered as he looked over into the corner of the cabin, he saw the two suspects lying on their stomachs, their hands and feet bound.
"Oh, Tex." He shook his head, sweat beading on his forehead. "You can't tie them up like that, that's not good." He grunted.
"I was restraining them. If you have a better idea, I'd like to know it.", she said, trying to figure out how she was going to get him somewhere comfortable to lie down so she could assess his head injury, and keep him warm.
"So much paperwork." He mumbled. She started to pull away from him to rearrange some things, but he held onto her tightly. "I'm still wobbly." He whispered.
"Come over to the table here. See if you can lean on it. I have to get you a place to lie down near the fire. You're wet from the snow, and I don't need you to get hypothermia on top of everything else."
"So bossy." He muttered, shuffling with her to the table, he was able to lean down slightly and press his good arm into the table, anchoring himself in place. "Please hurry." He whispered.
Antonia watched his eyes for a moment, glassy and filled with pain, and then turned toward the fire. She quickly tossed a couple more logs into the fire, sending the flames a bit higher. She then moved over toward the old mattress on the floor, carefully peeling it off the floor, she dragged it over toward the front of the fire, draping it onto the floor several feet away from the flames. She then moved toward the corner of the room where his coat and suit jacket were, carefully setting them on the chair for a moment as she looked at the situation. "I'll be right back." She whispered. "Just stay right there." She said, turning sharply, she walked out the cabin door, back into the snow.
She stepped off the porch toward her bag and the two emergency blankets, finally getting a full view of the amount of blood in the snow. She lifted the blanket, watching as blood dripped off it, making her stomach wrench as she gathered everything and quickly made her way into the cabin. She could see that he was leaning slightly, his breathing labored. "You doing okay, buddy?" She asked.
"Please hurry." He whispered.
She quickly spread one of the blankets over the mattress, ensuring that it was all far enough from the fire that it wouldn't catch. She then moved to his side and leaned against him slightly. His eyes flicked up to hers, and then down to her hands. "Are you bleeding?" He whispered, watching as she lifted her hands, they could see the brownish red blood that had gotten onto her hands from the blanket.
"I'm okay." She whispered. "Don't worry about me. Let's get you lying down."
"But you're bleeding." He said, clearly confused and in pain.
"That's your blood, Aiden." She said, "I'm okay." She touched his arm and he gave her a confused glance, carefully putting his arm around her. They moved over toward the mattress and stood beside it. "Okay, we're going to start with kneeling, okay?"
"Kay." He muttered. She steadied him as he slowly slid to his knees. He was staring into the fire, mesmerized by the flames for a moment.
"Aiden?" She said, trying to get his attention, she moved to his side, watching him as he stared into the fire. "Aiden, come on. I need you to lie down."
He looked at her, and he could see the fear in her eyes. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
"Come on, Aiden. Lean into me, and you can lay down and warm up." She said, trying to smile, but only managing a slight grimace.
He leaned toward her, the pain from his collarbone and ribs was excruciating. He let out a growling yell as she supported his back, and he slid his legs out from under him, finally lying on his back. She sat behind him and grabbed her bag, letting it hit the floor hard. "Tex?" he muttered, as she rifled through the bag carefully. He had sweat pouring down his face
"Hm?" She said, pulling gauze and medical tape, she began to bandage the head wound as best as she could.
"Tex." He whispered.
"Talk to me, Aiden. You have to stay with me here, buddy." She whispered. "What did you want to say?"
"I think I like you." He said, lifting his eyes to hers as she hung over him slightly as she bandaged his head.
"Yeah?" She said, giving him a kind smile, the fear pushed to the back of her mind as she carefully wrapped the gauze around his head.
"Yeah. I think I do." He said, his eyes drooping slightly. He smacked his lips and looked up at her again. "You're smart, and pretty, and bad ass." He mumbled.
"Well, I think you're all of those things too." She winked, watching a slow smile on his lips.
"Really? You think I'm pretty?" He said, a chuckle making him wince.
"Yes, yes. Very pretty." She said, setting his head down softly onto the mattress, it was bandaged as best as she could with the supplies she had. She crawled carefully to the other emergency blanket, carefully covering him with it as he lie there, trying to look at her.
"Tex?" He mumbled.
"Hm?" She said, leaning over him slightly as he watched her eyes on his.
"I think I like you a lot." He whispered.
"I like you too, Aiden." She whispered back, leaning down she dropped a kiss on his lips and watched him smile back at her sleepily. "Rest now, okay? I have to figure out what I'm going to do about the FBI Agent sized hole in the side of the cabin." She winked as she stood up. She stared at the snow as it started to blow into the hole, and felt the biting wind from outside as it burst into the cabin. She knew that it was only going to get worse as darkness set in.