Disclaimer: The characters, or anything related to Bones that is used in this story does not belong to me. Except for the made up characters. Those are mine. But alas, I make no profit.

AN: Woooohooooo! 100+ reviews, and only 5 chapters! Thanks so much to all my reviewers, I love you all! I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying it. And thanks to anyone who reads and doesn't review, too, I hope you're enjoying the story just as much.

AN2: I wasn't sure on Parker's last name, if he'd have Rebecca's or Booth's, so I looked up what he's credited as. It said Parker Booth so I'm going with that.

Enjoy the longest chapter so far.

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Without You – Chapter 6

Booth carefully stepped up the five creaky steps that led to the dilapidated one-story. The house looked like it hadn't seen either a paintbrush or a living plant for at least fifty years, and its surrounding houses of the neighborhood looked the same.

He looked down at the folder again, double-checking that he had the right address. Don and his team had found this address, the number that Doctor Brennan gave him being the home phone number. But Booth kept one hand on the butt of his gun, just in case something didn't go as planned. He assumed that the place would be abandoned, because no one was stupid enough to phone from the traceable number of the location. Right?

But just as Booth was about to knock on the front door, just in case, he heard voices inside and began to wonder if this lead would actually take them somewhere.

Booth knocked, and a few seconds later the door opened a few inches, held closed by a security chain. A tan, wrinkly face appeared in the crack about four and a half feet from the ground.

"Whaddaya want?" a scratchy voice demanded.

"I'm here to speak with Jonathan Mattia," he answered.

"Who are you?"

"I'm from the FBI. Special Agent Seeley Booth," he said, routinely holding up his badge. Didn't he already say that? Or had he forgotten?

"Why da ya wanna talk to John?"

This was making Booth impatient. He smiled his charm smile. "Can I come in?"

The small crack the door was open suddenly closed, and Booth was considering knocking again, when it opened, this time all the way. A small old woman stood in the doorway. "Come on in, Mr. Booth."

"Thanks, ma'am," he said as he stepped over the threshold. "I'm sorry to bother you, but this is kind of an urgent matter."

"John's sleeping. I'll go get him up for you," she said, waddling to somewhere in the back of the house, leaving Booth nothing to do but look around the small front room. There were no pictures up on the walls, but two standing frames on the entryway table. One was a snapshot of a picnic, two smiling people laying out on a blanket. He guess it was Mr. and Mrs. Mattia, and he guessed it was taken a while ago.

The second picture looked like it was professionally taken, like a family portrait. Booth saw the same two people from the other picture, and someone new, a younger man, who looked to be in his teens. He assumed this was their son.

Their son. Booth now let his thoughts wonder. His son. Parker. Today Parker had been missing for a week. Rat bastards who had his son. He'd kill them if he had the chance.

"Goddammit, woman! Whadda the fuckin' cops want?"

Booth was torn from his thoughts by none other than Mr. Jonathan Mattia, fresh from a nap. Booth held out his badge again as he turned to face him. He was not surprised to see Mr. Mattia in a wife beater and worn out jeans. He was also not surprised to see that Mr. Mattia had thinning gray hair, a face that needed shaving, and a beer belly that the wife beater didn't quite cover all the way.

"Jonathan Mattia?" Booth asked.

"Yeah," he sighed.

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth." Booth put the badge back in his pocket and motioned to the couch and the chairs that sat facing each other in the adjacent room. "Shall we?"

"Sure," Mattia muttered.

Once they were seated, Booth leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. Mattia leaned back in the recliner. Booth took out the folder and set in on the coffee table between them.

"Mr. Mattia," Booth began, "I'll start by telling you the exact reason I'm here."

Mattia nodded.

"A colleague of mine received a phone call from your home number. I was not informed of the reason for the phone call, or what was said, but she did seem to think that it would help us in one of our investigations." Booth handed him a picture from the folder.

The picture was one of Brennan and himself at Wong Foo's, sitting at the bar, having just turned around because Angela had demanded that they do so she could take a picture of them. Booth's arm was around Brennan's shoulders, and they were both smiling. It was a thing of the past.

Booth pointed at her. "Ever seen this woman?"

Mattia studied the picture for a little while, and his eyes softened for the first time. He then handed it back. "She's a hottie," Mattia said with a quirk of his eyebrows. "She your girlfriend?"

Booth placed the picture back in the folder. "Nah, just a co-worker."

"Well, nope. Never seen her."

"Have you ever heard of Doctor Temperance Brennan?"

"The author-scientist lady?"

"Yeah. That's the one."

"I've seen the interviews on TV, my wife's read her book, but I've never spoken to her myself. That's her, ain't it?"

Booth nodded, then changed the subject. "You've got quite a police record, Mr. Mattia."

Mattia shifted. "Yeah, well, I'm reformed."

"Really now."

"Yeah. You'll see that there's not a single offense in there later than 1982." He seemed rather proud.

"May I ask what changed?" Booth inquired.

"Had my son."

Booth felt a tug in his chest. Mattia continued "I knew the lifestyle was all wrong, I didn't want my boy to be pulled into it, so I changed."

"That's a pretty amazing feat, Mr. Mattia."

"Do you have kids?" Mattia asked.

Booth nodded.

"Then you know what it's like. And it really isn't that hard."

They were both silent for a minute.

"Now, speaking of your son, Mr. Mattia…"

Mattia sighed. "Oh, yeah. Johnny."

"He's also got an interesting record. Only his…it's all recent."

"Johnny's a rebel, Agent Booth. I'm sad to say that I'm not proud of him." Mattia rubbed his temples.

"Is there…anything specific?" Booth prodded gently.

"Look, why don't you tell me what any of this has to do with my son?" Mattia was closing off. Booth was getting somewhere.

Booth now produced a photo of Parker. "Parker Booth went missing a week ago today. We have reason to believe that the call Doctor Brennan received was related to Parker's disappearance."

Mattia started at the photo. "Booth, eh? So he's your son."

"Yes."

"My son visited us a little more than a week ago," Mattia said, handing the photo back to Booth. "But…if he was the one who called Ms. Brennan, he was so full of drugs I wouldn't believe a thing he said."

"So…Johnny doesn't live with you and your wife?"

"Naw, he left when he was sixteen. He only comes by when he'd outa money."

"Do you have the address of where he's living right now?" Booth asked. He hoped he wasn't pushing it too far. But Mattia seemed like a nice man. He seemed like he wanted, or was at least willing, to help.

"Yeah, sure, Agent Booth." Mattia scribbled the address on a piece of paper Booth provided from the file. When he handed the address to the FBI agent, they both stood and shook hands.

"Thank you so much for your time and your help, Mr. Mattia," Booth said as he walked down the hallway to the front door.

"Anything I can do to help, Agent Booth. I know how important kids are."

But right as Booth was letting the screen door swing shut behind him, Mattia called out. Booth turned.

"There's one more thing, Agent Booth, but I don't know if it's entirely true."

Booth waited.

"But…I think my son's girlfriend has done this kind of thing before." He motioned to Booth's file folder.

Booth got her name from the old man, but when he did, he felt his whole body tense and he began to feel sick. He headed to the Jeffersonian. Of course. It was all making sense now. Of course it was because of him. Working for the FBI had gotten him into this situation.

Rat bastard, Booth thought again as he pulled into the parking lot. But he really wasn't sure this time whether he was talking about whoever had his son or himself.

-

Temperance was just finishing up identifying a few WWI bones when she heard Booth talking with Angela. She hoped to whatever god might be up there that he would talk to her, and that if he did she could find the words she had practiced earlier.

When Booth advanced to the center platform where she was packing up, pretending not to notice he was there, Brennan's insides involuntarily tightened. "Brennan," she heard him say.

She turned, pretending to be surprised he was there. "Booth," she said.

"I need to ask you some routine questions regarding that phone call you got. Official stuff." Temperance could tell that he was making a point that he wasn't here for personal reasons. She could also tell he'd much rather be doing something that was more related to Parker.

Brennan nodded in agreement. "Sure." Though before she didn't want him to know about the phone call because of what if would reveal, she knew that now she was ready for whatever was to come. It was amazing what one day off could do.

"Great," Booth said, looking around. Angela, Zack and Hodgins were watching them, obviously not caring how obvious they were being about it. "Your office?" he suggested.

"My office," Temperance agreed.

But as they walked down the steps and into the more private space, Booth couldn't help but place his hand on the small of her back, where it seemed to just fit.

Temperance noticed, and tried very hard not to smile.

Oh, yeah. She was ready.

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AN: Sorry. Gotta stop here. Next chapter is the phone call, what you all seem to be asking about. Then things will begin to make sense…I hope. Please review, it keeps me going no matter how crappy I feel.