Disclaimer: Still wishing. The answer is still no. I don't own Disneyland/California Adventure, either.

AN: Wow. I emphatically apologize for Chapter 14. Yuck. I wrote half of it, then the other half two months later and didn't read over it until after I posted it. I got a lot of disappointed reviews, and I can definitely see why now. But I guess I'll just leave that there and go off of it. I'm putting this story back on track in this chapter. Sorry again.

Please enjoy.

Without You – Chapter 15

Booth shook off the strange feeling and set his mind back to what needed his concentration the most. Enough was enough with Brennan; he couldn't worry about her right now.

As he got off the plane, Booth realized that he had gotten way too caught up in Brennan, and whatever the hell their bi polar relationship was going through. He realized that many times before, he had told himself that he needed to get his priorities straight, and he had failed every time.

Parker was in need of his help. He needed to find Parker.

-

"Anything," Brennan stressed. "The first one you have leaving that's heading in that general direction."

The woman behind the desk looked up and smiled. "The first flight we have leaving to DC is at 9 am. Would that be alright?"

Brennan looked at the time. Seven. Two hours to sit around with nothing to do. "That's fine, I'll take it."

Ticket in hand, Brennan began her long walk across LAX to get to the gate her next flight was leaving out of. Once there, she sat back in a chair and made herself comfortable. This would be a long two hours.

She had to keep reminding herself that it was for both of their own goods, for their relationship, for Parker that she wouldn't go with him, but instead keeping her distance. Ever since Booth started speaking to her again, Brennan had this underlying feeling – which at first she refused to admit – that she was in the way, that she was getting between Booth and his son, where she very simply had no place.

Really, it was one of the reasons she chose the moment on the plane to explode at Booth. She just had this overwhelming feeling that she had made the wrong decision coming with him to California. And unable to think of anything else to do, she chose to run away. Again.

Why had she been such a coward recently? Why didn't she just use logic to solve her problems? Why did she keep listening to her emotions in these situations? Why was everything seeming fine and then going back downhill? Why couldn't she manage to do the right thing?

"You don't have to run away from you problems."

Brennan looked up, startled that she was being spoken to. A woman sat across from her, looking straight at her.

"Excuse me?" Brennan asked.

"You look tense. Like you're trying to avoid something. Or someone."

"I don't mean to be rude, Miss, but I really hate psychology."

The woman raised her palms in surrender. "You're right. I'm sorry. I have issues with getting into people's personal business. I apologize."

Regretting being so blunt with the woman, Brennan decided to give her some slack. She had no idea what was going on. "No, it's okay, I tend to get into other people's business, too."

The woman dropped it like Brennan was hoping she would, turning to read a book. Temperance noticed with a smile that it was Bred in the Bone. Hoping to get her mind off of leaving Booth behind, she decided to try the spontaneous female bonding Angela had once mentioned.

"Do you like that book?"

The woman looked up. "It's fantastic. I recommend it if you're looking for something to read."

Temperance smiled and shook her head. "No, I don't think I'd get much enjoyment out of reading something like that."

"Why not?" the woman asked. "Even if you don't really like the whole forensic aspect, there's an entire romance story interwoven into it. It's really well-written."

Intrigued as to what a reader thought of that aspect, Brennan kept her talking. "What's that part of the book about?"

"The romance part?"

Brennan nodded.

"Oh, you have no idea! So there's this hunk of man meat working with the main character, Kathy Reichs. He's an FBI agent, Special Agent Andy Lister. Mmm! Just reading about him makes me want him."

"What happens with him?"

"Well, he's obviously interested in Kathy, and she's obviously attracted to him – I mean, who wouldn't be? – But it's almost like Kathy refuses to admit that there's a small possibility that maybe he could make her happy. That they could make it work and it wouldn't ruin their relationship. Sometimes I just want to shake her and tell her to get her skinny butt in gear!" The woman sighed and smiled. "Sorry. I really get into my books."

"No, it's great to see someone so enthusiastic about it."

The woman stuck out her hand, leaning forward. "I'm Joanne."

Brennan smiled. "Temperance Brennan."

Joanne laughed, obviously thinking Brennan was making a joke by saying that she was the author of the book. "That's a good one. I haven't heard that one yet."

"No, I'm serious," Brennan assured her with a smile. It was nice to get her mind off of things she would otherwise be brooding over at the moment.

Joanne flipped her book over to Temperance's picture on the back, then looked back up. "It's an honor, Dr. Brennan."

Temperance nodded.

"Can I ask you some things about your book? If you have time?"

"I have all the time in the world," Brennan answered.

"I know you get this question a lot, but Andy Lister? He's got to be based off of some one."

What the hell? Temperance thought, deciding to tell the woman the truth. "He is, actually. He's based on the FBI agent I work with."

"Is he as handsome as you make him sound?"

"More so."

Joanne sighed. "You're a lucky woman."

"Yeah…I guess so."

Joanne must have caught something in Temperance's voice. "You don't think so?"

"Me and my partner…we've been going through some tough times."

"You wanna talk about it?"

That would be completely irrational. It's stupid to tell a complete stranger about an ongoing investigation. Hadn't she messed up enough this time around to realize that enough was enough when it came to taking chances? Call it the woman within, but Temperance desperately wanted to get what she couldn't tell Angela off her chest. She wanted someone else to care. She just wanted to talk for some stupid, genetically encoded, girlish reason.

"If you have time?" Brennan asked with a smile.

"Honey, I'm not going anywhere until this plane leaves."

Brennan smiled gratefully. Given that it was her virgin experience sharing her life story with a stranger, she thought she might as well ask where to start. She sighed. "Where do I begin…"

"Start with you."

"Me? Well, I was orphaned at fifteen and put in the foster system. I got out of it, but my brother and I were never really close after my parents disappeared."

"What happened to your parents?"

"They left to go Christmas shopping and never came back. For the longest time I didn't know what happened to them. I guess that's one of the reasons I don't like getting too close to people. I think I'm afraid they'll leave and never come back…and I'll be lonely again." There was a pause while they both thought that over. Brennan decided not to go into the details about her mother and father. "Anyway," Brennan continued, "People always pointed out that my partner and I always had this…chemistry going on. Neither of us paid it much attention at first because we hated each other so much," Brennan gave a nostalgic laugh. "But then we became friends. We were there for each other. He saved my life. He was annoying as hell, but somehow I enjoyed working with him." She paused, getting ready to dive in. "But then, I got this phone call…"

-

Booth had informed all of the Disneyland and California Adventure employees of the main details of the case, and gave out photocopied pictures of both Mattia and Parker. Now, he sat just beyond the Disneyland entrance, watching the excited hordes children and their parents bottleneck through the gates and into the Happiest Place on Earth.

There were many moments of false hope where Booth might see the flash of curly, sandy blonde hair, but then the smiling child would turn around and would not carry Parker's features.

But as Booth watched them all, he realized how oblivious everyone was. There was a child molester, many perhaps, among them. What better place to find lost children who will trust anyone? They had no idea. It was Disneyland, and child molesters wouldn't dare step inside the Magical Gates to pollute this perfect place.

But they would. They did. They are, and they will.

Booth wished he could be that happy, innocent child again. He missed how it felt to be truly, completely happy, to not know about the evil in the world. To not know about the evil playing itself over and over again in the minds of adults surrounding him. To not know the evil, the killer, that rested within him.

He knew it all too well, the evil. And he wondered whether or not Parker would ever be that happy, innocent child ever again. At the rate the search was going, it was highly unlikely.

And that was heartbreaking.

-

"…and so we've been going back and forth with being angry with each other, and I just left him to go find his son on his own…and I just don't really know where to go from here."

Joanne nodded. "It was a good idea to let him do this on his own. He'll get some agents here to help him, and I think you're right. You will distract him from his son. From what I can tell, though, it's for different reasons than you think."

"Like what?" Brennan asked.

"You are very important to your partner, and he cares about you too much to pay you no mind. Whether it's good attention or bad, he's never going to ignore you. He most likely knows that as long as you two are still talking or even fighting, there's still hope for when things are less complicated. Staying out of his way is a good idea so that he can focus on his son and not keeping that valuable connection with you intact, but tonight you should give him a call."

"What would I say?" Brennan asked, surprised this woman seemed to know so much.

"Tell him why you really left him behind, and ask him if there's anything you can help him with over the phone or computer on his son's case, since you'll be in DC."

The intercom announcing that their flight was beginning to board startled Brennan; she had forgotten where she was momentarily. Both women stood up, grabbing their things.

"And one more thing, honey," Joanne said, "Ask him for forgiveness."

"Thank you for listening to me," Brennan said honestly, nodding. "It really helped."

"Mmmhmmm."

"How do you get so good at this, though?" Brennan asked, curious.

"It's what I do, honey. I'm a marriage councilor." And with that, Joanne boarded the plane.

Brennan smiled. Of course.

-

The parks had closed without a sign of Mattia or Parker. There was no room checked out to a Mattia or Booth at the Candy Cane Inn or any other hotel in Anaheim. None of the hotel employees recognized either of the pictures. At the Candy Cane Inn, all Booth could think of, and all he wanted to do, was to knock on every door until he got them. But the manager refused to let him.

In a crappy hotel room, Booth laid back on the uncomfortable, squeaky bed. There were a bunch of agents searching the closed parks and rechecking the hotel room lists, but Booth had been forced to stay in his hotel room. Just as well, he knew they wouldn't find Parker tonight. Mattia wanted to hide, and he was doing it well. It was a two-day ticket, so there was tomorrow. Now, Booth needed sleep, but couldn't.

Booth was distracted from his thoughts by the ring of his cell phone. He saw that it was Brennan. What the Hell. Why not?

"Booth,"

"Booth, it's me."

"I know."

"Are you in the middle of something?"

"I'm locked in my hotel room. No."

"Okay, well, I wanted to talk to you about something…"

"What?" Booth could hear the waver in her voice and prayed she hadn't found out any bad news regarding Parker.

"About the plane ride this morning. The things I said, why I left…I just need you to know why."

"If you're calling me just so that you can explain our relationship anthropologically and how the female mind anthropologically works, I'm really not interested." Every time he said 'anthropologically', he practically spat it.

"No, Booth. Can I please just explain myself?" Brennan asked, uncharacteristically passive.

Booth softened a little towards her, his anger and confusion from that morning having finally subsided. "Okay. I'm listening."

-

AN: I've got my fingers crossed that this chapter was better than last, and that maybe I've set things in order again. Tell me how you think I did? Please?

AN2: I'm hoping to finish this story this week, so there might be some rapid fire updates coming up!