AN: Alright, so I lied about having this chapter up sooner. I have an excuse, but I don't think anyone really cares. This chapter is mostly information on the case.

Enjoy.

Without You – Chapter 13

"Looks like you know all the ropes, Johnny," Booth said as he pulled his jacket back and rested his hands on his hips. "The security system at the Jeffersonian and the Hoover building, sneaking the cameras into Doctor Brennan's bedroom, making it look like the calls were coming from your dad's house…it's pretty impressive, really." He leaned on the table at which his target sat. "Now, is there anything you feel like you need to tell me before we continue?"

"I didn't do what you think I did."

"And what is it that I think you did?"

"You think I molested your son."

Stone. Face of stone. No emotions. You are stone. "You say that's not why you kidnapped him, then why did you?"

Johnny looked down at his hands. "You talked to my father, didn't you?"

"Nice man."

"That's what everyone thinks," Johnny said with a disappointed laugh. "Well, he's not when you're a six year old boy in his house."

"You were abused." Booth said, more of a statement than an actual question. He sat down.

"Worse," Johnny spat. "My father likes little boys. Always has. It started when I was three, I think. I'm pretty sure he'd never done anything like that before. But ever since I can remember, it's always been me. I loved my father, I trusted my father. I was one of those little boys who wanted more than anything to be just like his dad. But it was because I didn't understand. I had no idea what my father was doing."

Booth leaned back in his chair. "Your father's a child molester."

"He used to kidnap little boys, ones that no one cared about. But first he'd be out on the streets, meeting them, playing with them, asking for hugs, making them trust him." Johnny spoke with an overwhelming disgust in his voice. "Then he'd invite them over to play with me, convince them to spend the night. And then in the middle of the night while they were asleep, he'd take them to his office."

"No one ever reported him?" Booth asked.

"Everyone was too afraid, and my mother never even knew about it. By the time I figured out what was going on, my father had me on such a short rein that it never even crossed my mind to tell someone. He stopped doing things like that to me when I was twelve, because he didn't want a teenager. He wanted little boys. I booked when I was sixteen, found myself a job, been trying to figure out how to get back at my dad ever since."

"During the years when you were between twelve and sixteen, why didn't you do anything then?" Booth asked.

"I desperately wanted my father's approval. I was young, he was the only person I trusted. But…to get him to even like me at all, I went out, and I was the one to…" Johnny stopped and shook his head. "Arrest me if you want. I deserve it."

"Why? What did you do?"

Johnny took a deep breath and leaned back. "I went out and got him what he wanted. A couple of people in the neighborhood were getting suspicious of him, and it was the only way to really keep that approval I wanted so desperately."

Booth raised his eyebrows. This was getting weirder and weirder. "You went out and kidnapped young boys?"

He said nothing, but he nodded ever so slightly. "It's awful, I know that now. I don't do it anymore."

"So is that a statement that you didn't kidnap Parker?"

"No. I did." He now stated it clearly. "I kidnapped your son, Agent Booth."

"You seem pretty confident with yourself. You think I'm gonna let you off easy just because you didn't try to hide it?"

"Of course not, I'm not stupid."

"I'm not convinced."

"I know what I did was wrong."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I know everything about my father and the things he's done. I can tell you everything if you'll just…please arrest him."

"You did all this to get our attention so we'd arrest your father?" Booth asked. Johnny nodded. Booth wasn't buying it. "How do we know this isn't some big set up? How do we know he won't be expecting us to pay him a little visit?"

Johnny looked Booth straight in the eyes this time. "My own father molested me almost every night for eight years. Believe me, I want him behind bars."

Booth was silent for a minute. "Fine," he finally said. "But first, tell me about your whole kidnapping, blackmailing, abusing adventure you've had recently. Tell me everything. Start with why you kidnapped my son."

"I knew that it would get your attention, I knew that you could do something about what my father has been doing."

"Why did you choose me? There are plenty of other FBI agents, ones that deal with things more like your situation, who have children. My son doesn't even live with me."

"I knew that you worked with Doctor Brennan. I knew you liked Doctor Brennan. I knew that I could use her to get your attention as well. Plus, there is more to my father than just molesting the children. A few of them tried to get away, tried to tell someone. My father wouldn't stand for that. He killed four of them. I don't know what he did with their bodies, but they're nothing but bones now."

"You're telling me that you kidnapped my son so that the case wouldn't have to get reassigned when someone finally figured out what was going on?" Booth asked.

"I guess." Booth just let Johnny fill the silence he was faced with. "You're one of the best agents in DC," he continued. "I knew that if I got your attention, my father was sure to get caught."

"You did all of this to get your father arrested."

"Yes."

"Then what did Miss Montenegro have to do with it?"

"Who?"

"Angela," Booth said impatiently.

"To get Doctor Brennan's attention. After she finally confessed to you about the phone calls, she seemed to think that from there it was all your gig, but she was needed just as much as you were, Agent Booth."

"You used Parker as bait."

"It was an easy way to get her out of the lab. I borrowed the little tyke from my dad. Told him I was taking him out for a late dinner. Told Parker I was taking him away from my dad to go see you and Doctor Brennan. He didn't know who that was. I had to tell him it was 'Bones'," Johnny smiled at that. "He seemed pretty excited to see the two of you."

"Why didn't you actually bring him to me and Doctor Brennan? And then get us to go and arrest your father? Because, not having Parker in front of me, and you telling me that you could've had him makes me not really believe you, and not really all that willing to put a team in danger of arresting your father and falling into some big setup."

"Why don't you believe me?" Johnny asked, truly confused as to why his plan wasn't working.

"You're really messed up, Johnny. And stupid. Crime really isn't the life for you. You're…really not good at it."

-

"So nothing happened between the two of you while I was…not there?" Angela asked in disbelief.

"You witnessed the first time he and I have even really touched since this whole thing started."

"But you two have at least been talking."

"Mostly about case related topics…but I guess we kind of talked about other things on our way to you. But…it wasn't anything special. It was mostly about Parker."

"It's better than no talking at all, like you guys were doing for a while there. You had me worried," Angela said with a smile.

"I know. Me too. I mean, I thought that once Booth knew that the whole me not wanting to be partners with him anymore wasn't how I really felt, I thought that maybe he could forgive me. But it seems like it's gonna take a lot more than that."

"…and…?" Angela said, knowing there was more her friend wanted to say.

"I'm afraid he's not going to forgive me," Brennan sighed.

"Brenn, the man just bought us an extremely pricey dinner," Angela reasoned, motioning around herself to the fancy restaurant they sat in.

"It was for you, Angela. He just couldn't do it himself because he had to question Johnny Mattia. It was because you were taken captive, and he wanted to treat you to something nice for all the troubles you've been through recently."

Angela smiled. "He's a great guy, Brenn. Don't underestimate him. Once he gets Parker back, you'll see. And you need to be open to that."

"How do you know, Ange? How do you know he's not just…tolerating me?" Brennan asked desperately.

"I saw the look on his face after you kissed him. The look you refused to look back and see."

"You keep on making it sound like much more than it was. It was just on the cheek," Brennan attempted to emphasize.

Angela sighed. "Sweetie, do you remember what I said when you got in the car? A kiss is a kiss. On the cheek, well, it's not exactly what I was hoping for the two of you, but it means so much. Maybe not to you that you can see, but to him, I know it meant a lot."

Brennan looked down and poked at her food. "I don't feel so great," she confessed abruptly.

Angela eyed her with concern. "Do you want me to drive you home?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not like that, Ange. I'm fine. I just…when I told Booth I didn't want to be his partner, I said I didn't want to be his friend, and I didn't want anything to do with him."

"I thought you guys were past that," Angela said, confused.

"We are. I mean, I think we are. He's being nice to me and everything, and we've kind of started working together again, but he just…" Brennan looked up from her food to Angela. "He hasn't called me Bones. It seems like it's been forever, and I can't stand it every time he calls me Brennan. It makes me feel like he still hates me."

"Sweetie, you snapped at him not to call you Bones for months. He probably sees it as a fragile part of his old relationship with you. He's probably being as careful as he can not to make you angry so he won't lose you again."

"He never lost me! I'm right here, and every time he calls me Brennan it makes me feel sick. I don't know what it means, but I know that I don't like it and I want him to get Parker back for the sole selfish reason that I want my partner back. I want the old Booth. The one who drives me absolutely insane, the one I dedicated my book to. I don't want some stupid rookie FBI agent in my lab anymore. I want to make him change his mind about resigning and I want him to work with me again." She sighed, cooling down a bit. "I want him to come in and call me by that stupid nickname."

Angela could do nothing but smile. "Why are you telling me this, Brenn? Booth's the one who needs to hear it."

Brennan went back to poking at her food. "I can't. He needs to focus on Parker."

"Alright, sweetie, but you have to promise to me that you won't let that man resign. Understood?"

Brennan nodded with a hint of a smile. "I promise."

It was a promise she had every intention of keeping.

-

AN: I really need some motivation right now, so if you could please gift me with some reviews, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.