Disclaimer: Not mine. No profit. Just fun.
AN: Alright, so I got a request for longer chapters, so I'm going to try, but there are no guarantees. Thanks to everyone who reviewed…that kind of behavior is encouraged and rewarded, so keep at it! If nothing else, to keep my happy. And…This chapter's pretty pivotal.
Enjoy.
Without You – Chapter 9
Temperance just stared at him for a moment. She opened her mouth to reply, but quickly changed her mind and shut it, turning to look out the window instead. They were leaving the city, and the buildings were getting fewer and farther between, and the sun was beginning to set. She was trying to think of other things besides the man sitting next to her, but it was to no avail.
"…I thought you'd think less of me and automatically assume that I had something to do with Parker's kidnapping."
He was silent for a moment. Then, "What makes you think I wouldn't no matter what you did?"
Finally, Temperance gathered up her courage. "Why?" she asked simply.
"Why what?" he said, completely monotone.
"I know why I think I have something to do with this whole thing, so what's your theory? Why do you think I have something to do with it?" She kept looking at him.
"I don't know."
"You don't."
"No. I don't. It's just a gut feeling." He looked at her, then his eyes shifted back to the road. "I think that if you'd told me about that phone call, all of this could have been prevented."
"Booth, Parker went missing the day before I got the call. You couldn't have prevented all of it from happening."
Another side glance. "We could've gotten to him a whole lot sooner. We could've stopped this from getting more complicated."
"How do you know that, Booth?" Brennan's voice was beginning to rise. "Besides your gut feeling, how do you even know that this Mattia lead is going to even lead you anywhere? How do you know it's not just some psycho who's obsessed with me?"
"Some psycho who's obsessed with you? Come on, Brennan. Why the hell would they force you to break off our partnership?" Booth almost laughed.
"He saw you as competition."
"Competition," Booth repeated, the hint of laughter completely slaughtered.
"Yes."
"No. I'm not buying it," he said, shaking his head. "Why the hell would someone see me as competition for you?"
Brennan never looked away. "Is that a serious question?"
"Yes."
She sighed, leaning forward slightly in her seat. "Booth, we've had this whole…physical attraction thing going on since the day we met. Do you deny that?"
"No."
His frankness surprised her, but Brennan wasn't about to let it show. "You've been over to my house more than a few times, sometimes for occasions that weren't business-related. Granted, not many, but there were a few times. Do you agree with that?"
"Yes."
"And in the more recent past, we had become less like partners and more like friends. Going out to dinner, driving each other home, the occasional thoughtful gift, and when needed, comforting. Am I right?"
"Yes."
"To the basic observer, we probably looked like we were dating," she concluded.
"Dating."
"Yes, dating."
"But we weren't."
Temperance's voiced dripped with sarcasm. "Some people just aren't as smart as you. Welcome to my world."
"And you're president of that club, right?" he asked, actually cracking a smile.
"What club?" she asked, totally missing not only the joke/complement, but also his smile.
"Never mind. Just…drop it."
The car was silent for a few more minutes. Booth had never answered Temperance's question. How did he know Mattia had anything to do with it? Brennan was about to let it go when it started to really bother her. She tried again and again to tell herself that until they got to this Johnny guy, she'd just have to deal with Booth's gut feeling. But she couldn't stand it after five silent minutes.
"You never answered my question."
"I know."
"Are you going to?"
"Nope."
"Why?"
He didn't answer her. Again. At first Temperance thought he just didn't care enough to answer, but then she realized he was listening closely to an odd sound that was coming from the engine.
"No. No, no, no! Not now…" Booth fumed, pulling the car to a stop on the side of the road. He got out and opened the hood of the SUV. Smoke came tumbling out of it. "Godammit!" He rounded back to the driver's seat and pulled out his phone. He was out of batteries. "Brennan, do you have your cell phone?" he asked.
She reached into her pocket and came out empty. "No, I must have left it in my office because we left so quickly. Sorry."
"Dammit."
"What?"
"I'm gonna have to go for a walk."
"Why?"
"Engine might fry if I drive it anymore."
"Great timing," Brennan said, getting out of the car.
"What are you doing? You can stay in the car."
"No, I'm coming with you."
"Fine, fine," Booth surrendered. "We're probably pretty far away from the nearest phone. Bastard has to live out in the middle of nowhere." He sighed and they began walking.
"The sunlight's pretty much gone, Booth. Are we still going to try to get with Johnny?"
Booth gave her a look. "It's my son, Brennan. My son on the line. Darkness and a retarded car aren't stopping me. You're not stopping me."
"I wasn't trying to stop you."
"Yeah? Then what are you doing?"
"I was just trying to make conversation. Some people believe that conversation is a good way to relieve stress. You're stressed, and I was trying to help."
"Conversation with you is never anything but stressful, Brennan. Talking to you isn't going to make me feel any better. If anything, it's going to make it worse. It is making it worse." His strides got longer and faster.
Temperance had to take two steps for every one of his. "Okay, no, Booth. You can't do that. I'm trying to help, I'm doing everything I can to help you, and you're treating me like I'm the one who kidnapped Parker. I understand that you're stressed, I understand that you're upset about this whole thing, and I understand that you're looking for someone to blame. But you know what? This isn't my fault. It's the bastards who took him. It's Rebecca. God, it might even be you! But just…stop blaming me for it."
Booth had nothing for her. He kept his eyes in front of him and kept up his pace.
"You know what else? I get it. I know. I know what you're going through. I really do."
Booth finally turned to her and stood in front of her so they stopped, eye to eye. His voice was hard and cold, his words slow and icy.
"How could you possibly know? You don't have a child. You are not a parent. Don't you dare tell me that you get it. You. Couldn't. Possibly."
He resumed walking without another word. Temperance stayed where she stood and watched him walk away, then she turned back and returned to the black SUV.
Damn him.
-
Angela had extra work to do at the lab, so after most everyone went home, she was still sitting at her desk. It wasn't required work, but Angela knew that her house didn't have nearly as much stuff as her office did. And when the lab was empty, it was much quieter than her apartment could ever be.
She picked up the eraser again, sighing rather colorful expletives at the piece of art. She couldn't for the life of her get their expressions right. No matter how many pictures of the two of them she drew, she was just never right. It frustrated her to no end, but she was determined to not leave the lab until this picture was done right.
Angela re-sketched her best friend's mouth. Her smile almost wasn't there, but it was just enough so that you could tell something was keeping her from being miserable. And then Angela shifted her attention to that something and re-sketched his eyes. They were so dark and so full of feeling that it was almost too much, but held back just enough for the common onlooker to see that this man had been through some trying times.
Back to the eraser. She was going to be here all night.
After a few more erasing and re-sketching sessions, something caught Angela's attention. A sound. She set the eraser down and stood up in search of whatever it was.
"Mommy? Daddy?"
Angela froze when she saw him in the main lab area, dwarfed by the magnitude of the place. He saw her, too.
"Miss Bones?" He began to walk towards her.
"No, sweetie, it's Angela," Angela told him, finally able to speak. "Come here."
Parker obeyed. Angela waited and when he reached her, he took her hand. "Let's go into my office, okay?" she said. Parker nodded.
"Do you know where my dad is?" Parker asked as they walked.
"No, sweetie, but I'm sure I can find out." They reached Angela's office and Parker took a seat on her couch. Angela sat at her desk and dialed Booth's cell number. Oh, god…please pick up.
He didn't. She looked up his home number in her contacts and dialed. He didn't pick up there, either. She tried Brennan's cell and heard it ring from her office. Frantically, she dialed Brenn's apartment. Nothing. Angela looked at Parker.
She didn't know what Rebecca looked like, much less where she lived or what her number was. "Do you know your mom's phone number?" It was worth a shot.
Parker shook his head. Angela sighed and put her head in her hands. She tried Booth's cell and home again with no answer. She left messages on both. Then she began packing up her things. "Parker, you're gonna come home with me tonight, okay? You're daddy will be here tomorrow."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Parker got up off the couch and walked over to her desk where she was packing up. He saw the sketch she had been working on earlier.
"Is that my dad?" he asked, pointing at the man.
"Yeah," Angela said with a smile.
"And that…that looks like Miss Bones."
"It is. Good eye, Parker."
"Did you do that Miss Angela?"
Angela nodded.
"Wow. I wanna draw like that."
"Maybe I can teach you a little tonight," she offered.
"Really?" His huge four-year-old eyes got even wider. But then he looked down. "My mommy was gonna show me how to draw. She promised me."
"Oh, sweetie. I'm sure she will once we get a hold of her." She ruffled his hair reassuringly. "And I promise not to teach you everything," she added with a smile.
She finished closing up and held out a hand to Parker. "Ready, hon?"
Parker nodded and threw his arms up and looked at Angela expectantly. He wanted her to carry him. She smiled and picked him up, resting him on her hip, and walked out of her office.
Angela had met Parker on many other occasions, and he had even been entrusted to her a few times while Booth and Brennan talked about dead things, but he had never been so clingy. She guessed it made sense, though, since he probably hadn't seen anyone he knew for an entire week.
And of course, Angela was dying to know where this kid had been, how he'd gotten into the Jeffersonian, and not to mention even there in the first place, but she figured now was not the time for questioning. That would come later.
Parker was alive, safe, and with her. It was a whole lot better than a lot of things, she concluded as they reached the car. She was digging for her keys when she heard Parker whisper in her ear.
"Miss Angela, there's a man in the parking lot."
Oh God. Angela whirled around only to see nothing. "Where did you see him, Parker?" she whispered to the boy in her arms.
"Over there," he pointed to a corner of the parking lot. Frick. It was a tree.
"It's just a tree, Parker."
"A walking tree?" he asked as Angela turned back around and continued digging for her keys.
She found them and let out a triumphant "Aha!" and found her car key. Then she felt Parker tense in her arms. He grabbed onto her neck and clamped his legs tighter around her waist. "It's not a tree, Miss Angela."
Angela decided not to turn around and just get into the car. Quickly. But then she heard Parker scream and felt the cloth come over her mouth and nose. She recognized the smell.
Oh, damn.
As she slipped from consciousness at an alarming rate, her last thought was to hold on to Parker. Her last feeling was him being taken from her arms.
-
Booth walked back to his car. First Bones, then Parker, then Tessa, then Rebecca, then his car, and now Bones for real. God, this week really hated him. But he knew that the only ones on the list that he could do something about right away were the car and Parker. He'd have to try and make the other ones work out later. Except Tessa. He had no desire to fix that one. And he had no regrets about what he had said to Brennan earlier. It was all true. There was no regret. There was no regret. Uh-huh. Sure big guy. You're an ass and you know it.
On his long walk, he finally let himself think about forgiving Brennan. She did have a point about him looking for someone to blame. He was beginning to think that if all of this turned out alright in the end, he just might be able to think about it more clearly. A small smile spread across his face. Of course it would, if Parker was alright. But now they just had to ensure that would happen.
But the smile on his face was immediately torn off as he approached the car. Temperance sat in the passenger's seat, looking at him. As he drew nearer, he could see her expression. Or the lack of one. Her face was ghostly white.
"What's wrong?" he asked her once he'd opened the door.
She couldn't speak. He climbed up into his seat and sat, closing his door. "Brennan."
"It's Angela," she said in a shaky voice. Booth saw that Brennan had plugged in his cell to the car charger – something he hadn't thought of – and she held the phone in her hands.
So, not so much held as much as squeezed so hard he thought she might break it.
But then he noticed something else much more alarming. A tear ran down Temperance's face, and he could tell that there had been many more before it. She spoke in a shaky whisper. "I'm sorry, Booth. I was just charging it…and I saw there was a missed call from Angela…"
"What? What happened?" Booth demanded.
"I checked your messages…just to see what Angela said…" She let out another sob and couldn't go on. She handed him the phone.
He listened to the two messages and understood how cold, detached Brennan could react like that. Listening to the second one, he himself began to shake.
And they could do nothing but sit and wait in his broken down car.
-
AN: Don't you just love my chapter endings? I sure do. Well, I love torturing you all in any way I can… ;D. This chapter I couldn't decide if I really liked it or I really didn't, so your opinions would be nice! …and you're reactions to how –ahem- mean I'm trying to be. Please review! Thanks so much.