Chapter 12
Brennan looked up as she heard someone lightly knocking on her office door. She wasn't sure who it could be but she shrugged and called out lightly for them to come inside. She sighed as she realized that it was Angela and Brennan knew why she was probably there. Angela was pretty much her best friend, always helping her understand things, helping her look at things differently and even trying hard to make her see what she and Booth could have, when they weren't together. Now Brennan knew that Angela had to be hurt worse than the others over now knowing about the little girl that was so much a part of Brennan's life. It was never her intention to hurt anyone by keeping Alana a secret, but she had thought she was doing the right thing in this.
"Angela…" Brennan started but she stopped when Angela held her hand up, the basic sign that she needed to speak first and she didn't want anything to come out of Brennan's mouth.
"I know we need to talk about the secret of Alana, but that isn't why I am here right now. What kind of friend would I be if I decided to yell and be mad at you when your daughter is in the hands of some seriously bad people?" Angela said as she arched an eyebrow.
"So, then what's the matter?" Brennan asked confused. She wasn't someone who really dealt with emotions, it was the calm practical manner of science that she was used to.
"I wanted to tell you that it's not wrong to smile, to laugh or to be happy at times with Alana not here. I know how much you want to be able to try and make some good memories of your first months in marriage to Booth. Brennan, it's not wrong to keep moving on with life, to try and make sure that your personal life is all right." Angela said as she took a seat opposite Brennan.
"Alana isn't in a safe, comfortable, happy place, so I can't be either." Brennan shook her head, before she sighed and tossed her pen back onto her desk. She leaned back in her office chair and looked at the one woman who had refused to give up on her, who had refused to believe that she was just a cold person who didn't have any feelings and stood only for science. Angela had been the only person who had ever seen through the whole science thing and helped her release her emotions, and deal with her feelings. It was Angela who had seen the automatic attraction between her and Booth and pushed her to try and give it a go.
"Brennan, she will be home and when she comes home she needs to see that her parents are happy together and that everything will be fine at home, because she won't be able to handle her parents fighting with each other or bad things happening." Angela pointed out.
"I see your point." Brennan said as she released an exasperated breath.
Gravedigger felt like dancing around in glee. She was well aware that the FBI, especially Agent Seeley Booth, were tracking her down as if she were an animal to be hunted, and she loved every minute of it. She had seen her face more than once on different news programs and on different websites, that also showed little Alana's photograph and marked her as the missing daughter of a federal agent. Gravedigger knew that life was complicated, but she also was well aware that she had been hiding and lying low so well, that it had to be leaving a bad taste in the mouth of Agent Booth to have to let the press in on this whole case. She knew how much he hated having reporters breathing down his neck, but now he had been the one to bring them in, which meant that she was getting to them in ways that they weren't even aware of. She liked the fact that she had them breaking their own rules, throwing their little worlds off kilter, like they had done to her. She knew that Booth had to be a devoted parent to be pushing this hard to get the little brat, Alana, back home.
"Even if you got her back, you wouldn't like who I am going to be turning her into. The little girl you all knew and loved, will no longer exist by the time I have completed my work." Gravedigger laughed as she looked back at the notebook that she was making notes in for her plans for Alana.
Booth was rubbing at the tension in his neck as he sat at his desk. He didn't want to leave his office, he didn't want to see the way his wife, the woman he had known he had loved for a while, looked around with a blank stare. There were days where it seemed like Brennan was so out of it, that she didn't even remember her own name. He knew this was all because she felt like she had failed her daughter but he wasn't used to seeing her in this state at all and it worried him beyond belief. Booth closed his eyes and laid his head on his forearms, on his desk. He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, are you all right?" Brennan asked him, concern in her eyes.
"Yeah, Bones, you just scared about ten years off my life is all." Booth said as he took some deep breaths to attempt to calm his racing heart.
"Are you ready to head home?" Brennan asked as she studied him carefully.
"I guess so." Booth said, although he really wasn't.
"Okay. I was thinking that I could make dinner tonight. I know it's really late but I didn't eat anything and I know you didn't eat anything, so why don't I cook us something to eat?" Brennan asked him as they headed out of the FBI Building and towards the black SUV that Booth drove.
"All right." Booth was confused but he decided not to bring it up, because the last thing he wanted was to remind her of the way things had been.
"All right." Brennan repeated as she headed for her vehicle parked a little bit away.
Alana knew things were about to get really bad for her. She heard them all talking about starting phase one of her new training and she knew something really bad was about to happen. She hated feeling pain, but it seemed that was all she was about to feel for a long time, unless her mommy could find her and bring her home.
"Please find me soon mommy." Alana whispered, terror in her eyes as she heard some of the things they were planning and knew she could end up dead a lot sooner than anyone knew.
