Author's Note: I know these first few chapters are going kinda slow and aren't very revealing, but I'm just trying to set everything up. I'm also trying to make it believable, so I have to do some research. :) Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Spoilers: None.


Booth was squeezing the back of the chair so hard his knuckles were white. His head was starting to pound from the force he was exerting to clench his jaw. Thinly veiled rage bubbled in his veins like boiling water, lighting his blood on fire. Before him, four sets of eyes were looking at him expectantly, various states of panic and uncertainty displayed.

"Anything?" Cam was the first to speak

"Nothing new. Security cameras show her leaving the building at 6:27 p.m. Tuesday night. In the video, she shows no sign of being under any kind of distress. The vehicle exit's the parking garage without a problem. That's it."

"So she was taken after she left, but before she got home?" Sweets clarified

"Her apartment shows no signs of her having been there."

Booth could barely recognize the sound of his own voice. He sounded like he was in control, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the act. They'd been over this already, and it had gotten them nowhere. They had no leads, no suspects. From the looks of it, Brennan had just fell off the face of the Earth. He knew instinctively that such was not the case, but from an investigative point of view that was how it looked.

Booth had been the first to be aware of the situation. Brennan hadn't shown up at the diner for breakfast like she'd said; he'd dismissed it as a fluke until he'd shown up at the lab and no one there had seen her either. From then on, everything just snowballed, eventually landing where they were now. Temperance Brennan had last been seen by a security camera Tuesday evening; that was two days ago.

"What about her car?" Angela asked then, her voice unsteady

"I put out an APB on it, but we haven't gotten any calls on it so far."

Just then, as if to prove him wrong, his cell phone rang. He snatched it from the holster on his hip and flipped it open deftly, holding it to his ear.

"Booth."

The others watched him anxiously, watching for some change in his expression. They were rewarded when his mouth twitched. He barked something that sounded a lot like "Don't touch anything" and then slammed his phone shut and back into his holster.

"They just found her car in a ditch on the side of the road," He said tersely, glancing around at them, "They're expecting us."

"All of us?" Sweets asked

"No. Cam, come with me. The rest of you wait here; I plan on bringing the whole car back to the lab."

For a moment Angela looked like she wanted to argue, but then thought better of it when she caught the look on Booth's face. Seeley Booth could be intimidating in his own right, but at the moment he looked downright dangerous.

Cam and Booth were out of the office before anyone could form another sentence. Angela, at a loss, looked over at Hodgins, who tried to give her a reassuring smile. Tension hung thick in the air, coating the silence. She wanted to say something but no words came to mind. All Angela could think about was the fact that her best friend was missing and they had no way of knowing what had happened. She could remember their last conversation almost perfectly. She had stopped by Brennan's office on her way out to tease her about needing a life outside of work. They'd just solved a particularly harrowing case involving a young boy, one that she was certain had affected them all more than they wanted to say. When she'd gotten to her friend's office she'd found her sitting in her chair behind the desk, head in her hands. Without a word she had perched on the corner of her friend's desk and put a hand on her arm.

"You okay, sweetie?" She'd asked

Brennan had looked up at her then, blue eyes full of emotion and threatening tears. She would never admit it, but Brennan always took it hard when their cases involved children. Angela knew that and had always made it a point to check on her friend.

"You wanna talk?" Angela had offered

"I don't know what to say, Ange. I understand bones, I can read them. People, on the other hand, living people just don't make sense to me. That little boy was six when he was murdered. How could someone do that to him?"

She had been unable to form a suitable answer, and so had just squeezed her friend's arm and tried to reinforce how many lives they had just saved by catching the killer. They'd talked for several minutes more, until Booth had interrupted them. The partners were headed across the street to the diner and had invited her along, but Angela had refused. That was the last time she'd seen Brennan.

Angela sighed and tried to shake those thoughts out of her head. She needed to focus on the task at hand: finding Brennan. She couldn't say how, but she knew that wherever she was, her friend was still alive. Between them and Booth, they would find her. They had to find her.

"Angela?"

She started at the voice. Sweets was looking at her expectantly, and Hodgins had his eyes on her as well. She hadn't been aware that they had been talking, but that was the impression she had now.

"What were you thinking of just then?" Sweets asked, although he probably already knew

"I was thinking about my last conversation with Brennan," Angela answered tiredly, "About how upset she was about the case."

"A child's death is always unnerving," He replied evenly

Something in Angela broke at the calm in his voice, the lack of panic that she perceived. Nothing in this situation made any sense, and she couldn't grasp at how he managed to remain distant. He knew Brennan, had seen her several times a week for the last who knew how long.

"Unnerving?" She repeated, her voice rising heatedly, "Not unnerving, Sweets, horrible! Tragic, needless, horrifying … and no one felt that more than Brennan. Just because you couldn't see it didn't mean that she didn't feel it. Brennan spends her life catching murderers, and for that she deserves at least your respect!"

Her voice reverberated off the walls and bounced back to her. Even now, as the sound died in the air, she could hear the anger, the accusation. Both Sweets and Hodgins looked taken aback at her sudden outburst. Only then did she become aware of the hot wet tears on her cheek, and she swatted at them angrily. She wanted to lash out again, but the anger had died and left her feeling only emptiness.

She took a deep breath and looked down at the floor, then back up at Sweets.

"I'm sorry, Sweets," She amended, "I'm just really freaked out. I didn't mean to snap."

"It's okay, Angela," He replied softly, "I understand. I didn't mean to imply that I'm not upset about Dr. Brennan's … disappearance."

"I know," She answered

The room was quiet again, and Angela took several deep breaths to calm herself. Booth needed to get back with that car ASAP, before she drowned in the helpless feeling that was building in her chest. Whatever happened, they had to keep their heads if they were going to get Brennan back.