Antonia reached for the chair and grabbed her coat, swinging it over her shoulders as she glanced around at the eyes of the awaiting team. She smiled and pointed at Parker. "You come with me, we have to go back to Grave Digger. I have two sleds in the trunk that are Christmas gifts for the boys, and they should work well. I also have to grab a few other things from my truck. We can put Aiden in one of the sleds with me, and the suspects in the second, with Parker, and they should be good if we go slowly enough, and they're secured well." She turned to Ace, watching as he waited for her instruction. "You need to go back to your truck, call the ambulance for Aiden. Tell them where the car is located, and tell them the situation, that we'll be there when we can. There should be a cell signal up there, and if there isn't, you can take the truck down the road until you get it. Then come back here to help load everyone up." She said, watching Ace nod. "Dad, you can stay here with Aiden." She said, watching as he nodded, a proud smile on his face as he watched the light dance in her eyes. "Keep the fire going, we're going to need it for a bit longer."
"You got it, kid." Booth said, nodding his head.
Ace and Parker headed back outside to the snowmobiles, and Antonia pulled her gloves on as she readied herself to go back outside. She leaned down into Aiden's coat pocket and grabbed her keys, and then knelt beside Aiden and watched him look up at her. He reached his hand up and touched her cheek tenderly. "I'm proud of you." He whispered, watching the smile on her face as she shook her head. She leaned down and closed her eyes, tenderly kissing his lips, she could feel his fingers move to her neck for a moment to deepen the kiss, before she reluctantly pulled away, watching his face flush, as he swallowed hard.
"You just stay alive, okay?" She whispered, touching his cheek.
"I'll do my best." He said, smiling back at her. "Now go on, be careful." He patted her shoulder and she stood up, nearly running into Booth as he stood behind her.
"Hey, Dad." She said sheepishly as she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Love you." She said, and moved around him quickly to follow Ace and Parker out of the cabin.
Antonia stepped out into the snow and Parker handed her a helmet as Ace walked over to her and put his arm on her shoulder. She looked at him for a moment, and could see that he had something to say. "I'm proud of you, Toni." Ace said softly, watching as a smile rose on her lips.
"Yeah? I've been waiting for you to yell at me for coming out here in the middle of the night." Antonia said, watching as Ace narrowed his eyes.
"I love you, kid. I just don't want anything to happen to you." He said, watching the understanding in her eyes, he gave her a squeeze and kissed her head.
"Thanks, Ace." She said, stepping forward, she turned and held out her fist, he bumped knuckles with her and grabbed his helmet as he climbed on his snowmobile. He started it up and he was off.
Parker was waiting on his running snowmobile, and Ant jumped on, and they took off into the night on their way back to her truck.
Once they arrived at the side of the tree, Parker climbed over, helping his sister to the other side, as she looked at the tracks that Ace and Parker had left around the truck. She unlocked the vehicle, and he moved toward the back, lifting the tailgate carefully.
Antonia climbed into the front seat, grabbing the two cards from the window, she quickly slipped them into her back pocket. She leaned over the console and opened the glove compartment, and grabbed a couple items as she looked back and watched Parker pull the two sleds from the back.
"Do we need anything else?" Parker asked, watching Antonia's attention as she thought for a moment.
"I need that bag that's back there, it has evidence in it, and there should be some rope back there." She said, indicating the field bag in the back. Parker grabbed the rope, shoved it in the bag and shouldered it quickly as he pulled the two sleds out of the back.
"These are some nice sleds." He said, noting that they were large and heavy duty. Antonia climbed from the truck and closed the door, looking to her brother.
"I needed to get something that would hold up against your boys, Parker." She said with a laugh as Parker closed the back hatch, tossed the bag into the sled, he then pushed them over the snow toward the tree.
"So you and that Aiden guy…" Parker said, walking around the side of the car, he was met with a glare from his sister that brought a charm smile to his face.
"What about me and that 'Aiden guy'?" Antonia said, turning her attention to the sleds, she grabbed the bag off the sled, and carefully pushed the things she had pulled from the glove compartment within it. "He's a good partner."
"Like, partner partner?" Parker asked, following Antonia back to the tree.
"I don't know what that means." Antonia said, shouldering the bag, and tossing the sleds over. "He's… I don't know." She shrugged. "I don't date." She said, locking the car doors and pocketing her car keys.
"I know you don't." He shrugged, climbing over the tree, he reached for his sister's arm and helped her over as well. "I don't really know him, so I can't really give you an opinion, but… keep an open mind, okay?" He said, as he climbed back onto the snowmobile.
"I'll try to keep an open mind." She said, holding the ropes for the sleds, she tossed the bag with evidence into it. "Thanks, Parker." She smiled.
"That's what big brothers are for." He said with a smile. "And if he breaks your heart, I'll infect his work computer with inappropriate material and get him fired." Parker said with a laugh.
Antonia laughed and squeezed her brother's shoulder, shaking her head as she gripped the ropes connected to the sleds. "Go slowly, there's no weight in them other than the bag, and I don't want them to flip."
"You got it." Parker said softly, as they put their helmets on, and made their way back to the cabin together.
Booth sat in the chair over Aiden, his eyes surveying the dark cabin as he looked down at the young Agent on the floor, he let his eyes focus on the fire.
"Has she been okay?" Booth asked, catching Aiden's attention, he looked up at Booth with a curious glance.
"Tex? I… I mean Antonia?" He stammered as he swallowed hard again. "She's been great." He said softly. "She's running on very little sleep though, it worries me." He said softly. "I don't know how she's doing it."
"She's running on fumes." Booth said, sighing softly. "She's like her mother. She'll run herself completely ragged, then wonder why she's exhausted." He paused for a moment, looking back into the fire. "She's a very special girl, Aiden." Booth said softly. "She's brilliant and charming and sweet. She's confident to a point where it comes across as arrogance, but always ends up grounded in logic and understanding. She's stubborn, so stubborn, and she'll argue with you until your last breath, even if she knows she's not right. She has a fragile heart, though." He said, looking into the younger man's eyes. "So don't forget that, don't ever forget that. She's strong, and a bit too brazen at times, which gets her into trouble, but is also one of her best assets...but her heart is so fragile, and she will act first and think of the consequences later." Booth sighed, turning his attention to the fire for another moment, Aiden was silent. He then glanced over at the young agent who was looking up at him. "But you already know all of that, don't you?"
"Sir, I…"
"It's alright, Aiden." He said, if but a bit sadly. "She'll always be my baby girl." He said as he stood up and stretched. He walked over to Aiden's side and crouched down beside the younger agent. "Just make sure that when she is ready to tell you everything that she wants to tell you, Aiden… just make sure that you're ready, okay? Because if you break that shell, and let her down… She'll disappear, Aiden. She'll never come back from that. She'll be gone forever." Booth looked up when he heard the snowmobile returning to the cabin, the motor cut off as he remained crouched beside Aiden. He saw the younger man nod his head knowingly, a silent agreement.
After a moment, Antonia and Parker came inside, a bit of laughter between the siblings as Antonia stopped when she saw her father crouching beside Aiden, her heart jumping into her throat. "Dad, Is he okay?" She asked, rushing around the table to her father, watching as he stood up, a smile on his face. She looked down at Aiden as he looked up at her with a slight smile. "Thank God." She whispered. "What were you talking about?" she asked, looking between Aiden and Booth.
"Oh, you know, just explaining in excruciating detail how to snipe someone." Booth shrugged, looking down at Aiden as Antonia gaped at her father.
"Dad!" She exclaimed, kneeling beside Aiden as she covered her face in embarrassment. "Ugh. Where is Mom when I need her!" She said, listening to her father chuckle as he settled back in his chair as they waited for Ace to return.
Ace managed to make it to the truck and cut the engine as he pulled the helmet off and picked up his phone. He barely had a signal, but was able to call for an ambulance. He discussed the situation, and he indicated that a half hour would be fine, and that the patient wasn't in distress at this time, and that he would be transported to the location he indicated and could be picked up there. Once he was off the phone with the ambulance, he took a slow, deep breath and dialed another number.
"Brennan." The voice on the other end of the line said tiredly.
"Hey, Doc. I thought you'd be happy to hear from me." Ace said, he could almost hear her eyes narrowing over the line.
"Stop calling me Doc." She replied, pausing. "Did you guys find Antonia? Is she okay?"
"We found her and Fitz." Ace said, pausing for a moment. "Toni is exhausted, but well."
"And Agent Fitzgerald?"
"He's in rough shape." Ace said, letting his concern slip into his voice. "Apparently they ran across our suspects, and there was an altercation. We have them in custody now, but I didn't get the details on what happened to Fitz, but his collarbone is fractured, and he has some broken ribs. We're waiting on an ambulance." He said, keeping the details to a minimum as he listened to her soft breathing. "Where are you?"
"I'm still at the hospital with Grace." She said, her own tiredness beginning to seep into her voice. "I don't want to go home right now."
"Temperance, everything is going to be okay, and you really shouldn't leave Jared alone for too long." Ace said, using her name in a rare moment, he could hear a bit of anxiety in her voice.
"I'm not going to believe that everything is going to be okay until I have both of my children in the same room talking to me, Christopher." She paused. "Where is she, by the way? If she's fine, why do I not hear her behind you ordering everyone around? Are you lying to me, Agent Harding?"
He laughed a bit nervously. "No, no. I left Parker and Booth with them while I looked for a cell signal, to call you to let you know what was going on."
"Wait a minute. You dragged Parker into this too?" She asked.
"Uh, I have to go… I'm losing… signal…bad…" He said, cringing as he listened for one more moment.
"Get them all home safe, Christopher. All of them, with all of their parts still connected, breathing and everything. You got it?"
"Yes, Ma'am." He said, laughing as he ended the call.