Authors Note; Well I said I wasn't going to post until I finished re-writing the fourth chapter but I was told I needed to get back here and post! :P Bwaha, so I did cause I'm nice like that and I know what it's like to be left at such a ginormous cliffie! Ahhh. So here you guys go. :3

Disclaimer: Am I the only one who gets a little sad when they have to write that word? xD

Chapter Three

Gone

"It feels really good to get out." Brennan stated as she took a sip of her water. Booth nodded in agreement as he glanced over at Hodgins and Angela.

"I bet, seems like you've either been cooped up at the lab or at home. How are you feeling, anyway, sweetie?" Angela placed her hands on the table and clasped them together.

They had all just finished eating their dinner and we're now just chatting. Brennan pushed a stray hair from her face and nodded briefly. "I'm feeling okay. Tired, mostly." She replied, sitting back and resting her hands on her stomach.

Hodgins smiled as he took a sip of his beer, before speaking. "It seems like forever since we just talked outside of work. Everything seems to go by fast now a days." He stared down at his beer bottle and watched water beginning to bead at the top of it.

Booth was about to speak when a phone went off. They all checked their pockets and purses. "It's mine." Angela held up the ringing cell phone a moment, before pressing the talk button. "Hello?"

The group went silent, not wanting to disrupt Angela's phone call. They watched as he face changed from a smile into a worried look. "Jackson, sweetie. Calm down, mommy can't understand what you're saying." Her heart began pounding as she tried to make out what the hysterical little boy was sobbing out.

"Jacky, shhh. Take a deep breath." Angela's voice cracked slightly as she gave Hodgins a look.

Brennan's brows furrowed as she tried to figure out why Jackson would be calling Angela, and not Parker. She watched all the color on Angela's face disappear and a pale white washed over it.

"What do you mean, dead? Jacky, take a deep breath, and hold it and then let it out. Good, now repeat that…"

At that moment Brennan felt a wave of nausea hit her, her heart started to pound in her ears and she tried to keep herself calm.

The sudden pick-up in Brennan's breathing didn't go un-noticed by Booth and he grabbed her hand in his and began to rub it softly.

"O-Okay. J-Just sit right there, baby. Mommy will be there in a minute." She hung up the phone and stood up abruptly. "W-We have to go…" She stammered.

Hodgins got up quickly and wrapped an arm around his wife, looking at her worriedly. Brennan took a breath, concentrating on keeping her dinner down.

"Angela, what's wrong. What's going on." She finally said, feeling Booth wrap an arm around her waist and slowly pull her up.

Angela's eyes we're welling up as she just looked at Brennan. "W-We just have to go." She repeated it over and over. They quickly left the restaurant and rushed back home.

As they pulled up into the driveway, the front door was wide open. Brennan's heart immediately sank into her stomach.

Angela had been quietly sobbing in the back seat, her face hiding in Hodgin's shoulder. She wouldn't say anything. She couldn't.

Booth looked under his seat and grabbed his gun, stepping out the truck. "Hodgins, come with me, you two stay here." Booth ordered as he looked over at Brennan and Angela.

Neither of them listened, of course and they rushed inside, Brennan was first in and Angela was right behind her. They had been holding hands, but once they came inside and saw the scene, they let go.

Jackson was in the corner of the den, curled up in a ball. He was still crying hysterically, almost hypervenalating. Angela quickly came and picked the boy up and he wrapped his arms around her tight, his little body trembling.

"He's dead, he's dead!" the little boy whaled out.

Brennan was finding it hard to stay up, but she immediately found the strength when she saw bits of blood in the shadow and then made out the shape of a body. She knew who it was just by the body shape. "Parker!" She rushed over to him and set his head in her lap.

Booth and Hodgins came in not long after the two woman. They had decided to check the back, figuring whoever broke in would probably run through the back.

"Parker is deaddd!" Jackson cried out once more. "They gotted him! And-And E-Ellie!" The boy's body trembled as he sobbed into his mother's chest.

Brennan was crying quietly, softly running her fingers across Parker's cheek. He had a black eye and the side of his head was bleeding.

She leaned over and let her ear rest on his chest. His heart was still beating. "P-Parker isn't dead." She forced out, and then the second part of Jackson's sentence dawned on her…Where was Ellie. "Booth!" She cried out, tears flowing freely now as she looked down at an unconscious Parker.

Booth was immediately at Brennan's side, kneeling down and picking up Parker, setting him onto the couch. He was trying to stay calm.

As he helped Brennan up, she sobbed into his chest. "Ellie…" It was all she could get out.

Booth's body stiffened. "Sit with Parker, please. You don't need to be standing up. I'm gonna call 911 and then get FBI down here. Brennan simply nodded, sobbing loudly as she gently lifted Parker's head and took a seat on the couch, letting his head rest gently in her lap.

She could see he had been beaten badly, but upon further examination he didn't seem to have broken bones…But she wasn't 100 percent positive. She rubbed his cheek softly, talking softly and trying to wake him up.

Hodgins had been at Angela's side when the two men walked in. He was holding Angela in his arms as she softly rubbed their son's back.

He had finally started to calm down, but was still having trouble breathing. "Shhh. Calm down, baby boy. Mommy's got you." She whispered softly.

Hodgins led her to one of the chairs next to the couch and set her down. He then grabbed a blanket and covered them both up as she began to almost cradle him like a baby.

It had been an hour and the last of the FBI forensics team was finishing up. The EMT had stitched Parker up and stated that he should be fine, but to keep an eye on him when he awoke. He had no broken bones, just bruises and a lot of pain in the future.

Brennan hadn't left him, she still had his head resting in her lap, softly rubbing his forehead. Angela and Hodgins had just left, they had all decided that Jackson needed time to calm down from this traumatic event before even trying to ask him any questions.

Booth sighed and knelt down in front of Brennan, who was crying quietly and staring off into space. "Bones…" He whispered softly.

Brennan looked at him, blue eyes swollen and pink. "We shouldn't have left." She said through tears.

Booth wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead. "Shhh. This is nobody's fault. We'll find Ellie, and everything will be okay. This scumbag picked the wrong family to mess with. I'll find him…" He promised her; And he had every confidence that he would. Though the details of what he planned to do with this person we're left unsaid…

Brennan simply nodded and sniffled. She felt so sick and drained. "Agent Booth!" One of the other FBI Agents motioned for him to come over.

"I'll be right back." Booth said softly as he pressed his lips to Brennan's forehead and looked down at Parker with worry washing over him. He stood up and walked over to the agent and began to discuss something.

Brennan had already blocked out their voices and put all her attention to Parker. She leaned down and kissed his forehead softly. "Parks, please wake up." She mumbled, tears welling up again.

Parker could hear a faint voice in the darkness. As the voice got louder, there was a light. "Bones?" His voice echoed through his mind and he slowly started to come too.

As soon as he began to remember what happen, he tried to sit up, but there was pain and he cried out. "E-Ellie." He whispered, his eyes clenched shut and his face contorted in pain.

"Shhh, Parker. Don't try and get up." Brennan spoke softly, resting one hand on his chest. Parker's eyes began to well up as he slowly began to realize that he had failed. He had failed his little sister. He had failed the ones he loved.

Try as he might to keep them from escaping, the tears began to fall. "I-I'm sorry." He whispered, keeping his eyes shut tight.

Brennan wanted to cry, now. She couldn't bear to see him in so much physical and emotional pain. "Shh, Parker. None of this is your fault." She grazed her fingers gently across his forehead.

Parker sat up now, wincing in pain, causing more tears to fall. He opened one eye, the other too swollen to see out of and looked over at Brennan. "I failed." He mumbled, tears now falling freely.

Brennan gently wrapped her arms around Parker and let his head rest on her shoulder. "Parker, it's not your fault. You need to lay back down, close your eyes." She had forced herself to regain all composure, for Parker.

"No…I hear it…" He sobbed quietly.

Brennan held him close, rubbing his arm softly. "Hear what?" She asked, trying to keep a calm tone. "I-I hear it…Her screaming my name to help her, I-I couldn't move and-She just kept saying my name-The pain, I-" He was sobbing uncontrollably now, wracked with guilt.

Brennan had cut him off. "Parker, hush." Her voice trembled, but she cleared her throat. "You did what you could. Lay back down. Get some rest." She watched him pull back, her heart breaking as she watched his tears fall.

Parker swallowed and sniffled. "Y-You wont leave me, will you?" He didn't care if he was 16 years old…Right now, he didn't want to be alone. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but along with the emotions of feeling responsible for all of this, and his physical pain…He was scared.

Brennan shook her head. "No, I wont. I promise. Lay back down, put your head back in my lap." She said, trying to smile at him.

Parker nodded a thank you and lay back down, calming down a little as he felt Brennan's fingers run across his throbbing head. Her other hand was wresting on his chest.

He grabbed her hand in his own and held it closely to his heart. She smiled softly through tears at the little bit of comfort she had provided for him.

It may not have been much, but it was something he needed. It didn't take too long for him to fall asleep, Brennan's fingers rubbing his head put him out.