Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Thanks to someonetookmyname and Rynogeny for all their beta help! This story has been a long time in the making!

Please let me know if you're still reading and what you think!

"Mrs. Booth," Sweets began to speak but Hester cut him off.

"No one has called me that in years. Please, just Hester."

"Of course," he smiled at her. "I'm Lance. I work with your son and Dr. Brennan."

"You're a psychologist."

"Yes, the FBI employs me to profile criminals." As soon as the words left his mouth he knew they were a mistake.

"Are you under the impression that I'm a criminal?"

"Of course not," Sweets smiled. "However, I do think that the people who have been holding you are involved in criminal activity. So does Booth. He thinks that if you talk to me we may be able to understand the motivations behind Dr. Brennan's kidnapping."

"Their motivation was to blackmail my son into allowing me to leave."

"Why do they feel it's necessary to blackmail him?"

"Because I did not return when they expected. They allowed us to leave for two weeks. However, I have now been gone nearly two months. It is my fault. They must've thought that I did not want to return and that by taking Temperance my son would be willing to make an exchange. But I always planned to return."

"You can just do that? You can just leave and go back to them?"

"Yes. Seeley has his life here and I never intended to change his life. I just wanted to see him. I needed to know that it was real, that my son was really alive."

"You haven't had a chance to see Jared yet."

"And that is unfortunate. But The Leader has spoken. By taking Temperance he has made it impossible for me to stay here. I must return to him so that he will return her to her life. Enough lives have been destroyed already; I will not have Christine growing up without a mother because I was selfish."

"What about the lives that The Leader has destroyed?"

"I don't think he has destroyed anyone's life."

"What about yours? He lied to you. He held you captive for thirty years." Sweets moved to sit across from her at the table, slipping deep into professional mode.

"I don't believe that he knew what Edwin was telling him was a lie. I think he believed Edwin was telling him the truth. He thought that he was saving me."

"Then you don't believe that The Leader has lied to anyone?"

"No, he only helps people; he never harms them."

Sweets decided to take a different approach. "Tell me a little about your daily life at The Facility."

"I am responsible for preparing food for all of the inhabitants. I wake at five am to gather eggs from the chicken coups. Gia likes to help me. She's quite the early bird. Sometimes I believe that I remind her of her mother. She often speaks of her as we fix breakfast."

"Why is Gia at The Facility?"

"I'm not sure. I only know that she speaks highly of her mother and that she misses her very much. I don't know why or how they became separated."

Sweets nodded and Hester continued without being prompted further. He realized that he was gaining ground and waited for a good opportunity to present her with the information Booth had given him earlier in the day.

"Some of the inhabitants talk about why they are there. Others do not. Gia is one of those who rarely talks of her life before The Facility. No one is ever forced into giving away their secrets. Some secrets are much too painful to speak of."

"Do you talk about your secret?"

"With those that I am close to. There are others who have also lost children. I find that I am especially close to those inhabitants. We have cried on one another's shoulders many nights."

"Between meals, what do you do?"

"I keep an inventory of what is needed in the kitchen. I help supervise our garden area. I make sure that there is plenty of food being planted and grown to fulfill the needs of everyone. Aside from the chickens we also raise a few other animals for food, cows and pigs. Michael oversees the farm animals but he is always eager and appreciative of my assistance."

"Everyone has their own job to do then?"

"Everyone who wants one. Some prefer to simply spend their time writing or drawing. They are allowed to do what they want. No one forces us to do anything. That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Aside from work what do you do? Do you have any hobbies?"

"I enjoy reading. I've read most all the books in The Facility. That's why I like going to George's office. He has new magazines and access to the computer. I also enjoy sitting in the common rooms. Often the others will ask me to help them complete their own chores or their personal tasks. Sometimes I'll sit up long into the night speaking to one of the other inhabitants about a concern in their life. Counseling them, I suppose you'd call it. "

Sweets' smile was genuine as he spoke, "It sounds like you lead a very nice life."

"Yes I do. And that is why I am more than happy to go back. Then everyone's lives can return to the way they were before I came here."

"So you don't see anything wrong or unusual with The Facility?"

"I suppose I can see why you would think that. But to me, it's a perfectly reasonable way to live. We aren't hurting anyone else. Or at least we weren't until I made the mistake of trying to fulfill my own selfish desire to see my son. And the isolation allows us a manner of privacy and security that we would not have if we had access to the outside world."

"What would you say if I told you that we found evidence that The Leader paid your husband in order to take you to The Facility?"

"I would say that I don't believe you."

"Edwin cashed a large check several days after he held your funeral. The FBI found the receipts." Sweets slide proof of his claim toward her on the table but she didn't move.

Her face was blank as Sweets continued. "Hank Booth remembers his son saying that he had received money from a life insurance policy."

"I don't remember there being an insurance policy."

"That's because there wasn't. Not that anyone can find, at least. "

"He lied."

"Yes. Hank says in the weeks after your 'death' that Edwin bought a new car, did some updates on the house, and took a trip without his boys."

"How much was I worth?"

"Hester …"

"I want to know."

"Forty thousand dollars."

"I have no trouble accepting what you're saying about Edwin. But The Leader, why would he do that? He doesn't pay for people. And even if he did why me? I don't understand."

"I wish I had those answers. We think the money was used to fake your death and to transport you to The Facility." Sweets lowered his voice before he continued. "And as a payoff to your husband for convincing you that your children were dead."

All the color drained from Hester's face. She barely recognized her own voice as she started to speak. "But that would mean that The Leader knew all along that my family wasn't dead. He would've known about my boys. That he was taking me away from my boys."

"Yes."

"He lied to me?" Her voice was a combination of realization, shock and betrayal.

"I'm afraid so Hester. And how many others did he lie to?"

"I – I don't know." Her mind flashed with images of friends that she considered family. Her ears rang with the sound of their voices telling her their stories. The stories that she knew as well as she knew her own. There's Teresa whose husband beat her. Hester always felt she'd found a kindred spirit in her. There was Joe, who loved Hester's apple pie. He had been a businessman worth millions when his company folded. He was blamed for its collapse and for the hundreds of people who lost their jobs when it fell. His life was nothing but regrets. There was Amber and John and Trish and Sam and Charles and Mary… She could go on and on. Her head was spinning with their faces, and with the implications of what her son's friend was telling her.

George had convinced her to believe The Leader but now she wasn't sure of anything.

Were they all there on false pretenses? Had there been one hundred and two charades? One hundred and two lies?

"Hester, are you okay?"

She wiped her eyes as she looked up at the young man. "No. I don't think that I am. I thought that he was helping us, all of us. But if he lied to me," her voice trailed off and she didn't have to finish for Sweets to know what she was thinking.

"You need to help us stop him. There has to be more to this than simply trading your freedom for Dr. Brennan's. I'm almost certain that you aren't the only person that was taken on false pretenses."

"You must realize how difficult this is for me. My whole reality is changing. You're telling me that everything I ever knew was a lie? That the one person who I thought saved me, who I thought I could trust, is a liar. I'm not sure I can process this much information, I'm not sure what you want me to do." Her voice quivered even as it rose in volume with each sentence.

"I need you to accept the truth so that you can help us save your daughter- in- law and help us take down The Leader."

Hester held her eyes closed tightly. She could feel Sweets next to her, his hand resting on her arm trying to reassure her. She knew her son stood just beyond the window of the interrogation room, she could feel his gaze even though she couldn't see him.

Despite all of her confusion it only took her a few minutes of thought to realize exactly what she was going to do. She could only pray that one day her son would understand.