Chapter Two

Missing Persons Case

Thanks to TV Angel 711, squillyfer, Aria-wolfstar, jade254, Scuddyrific, katiedid531, KristieM, YouAndMe Kelly, Melissa, rosyle, mardi55, Bella-mi-amore, krazegirl, rae for their reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to Bones. I merely write and hope that someone likes it. I do not make a profit. I only wish I did.

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"Mommy!" An adorable five year old ran out of her bedroom and launched herself into Brennan's arms. She had blonde curly ringlets of hair with large brown eyes that held tints of green in them. Small for her age.

"Hey easy there kiddo, Mommy just got up." Mark laughed.

Brennan swung the child onto her hip and wondered where the hell she had learned to do that. Kids? Her kid? Five year olds? Her mind was spinning as the child snuggled into her arms and became quiet. Mark grinned at her, kissed her cheek because she turned her face so that he couldn't land one on her lips and left for work.

She was left staring into the wide eyes of an innocent child that stared back at her.

She put Kyra down only to have the child latch onto her leg. She gave an exasperated sigh. Why did she feel so awkward around her own child?

"Are you hungry?" She asked gently, unsure of what to do.

Kyra nodded slowly fixing two shy brown eyes on Brennan. Brennan took her hand and led her into the kitchen and started making pancakes. Unsure of how she remembered to do it. She glanced back at Kyra who was still watching her silently. The child was so gosh darn shy and it unnerved Brennan. This was supposed to be her child, yet there was no connection. It drove her crazy.

"Here you go." She said laying a plate of chocolate chip pancakes before Kyra, feigning a cheerful tone.

"Thank you." She answered politely and taking a slow bite.

"So what do you want to do today?" Brennan asked Kyra.

"We're not supposed to leave the house." Kyra answered.

Brennan raised her eyebrows, slightly confused. "Why?" She probed.

"Because Daddy will be mad." Kyra chewed and replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Why would Daddy be mad?" Brennan asked. Mark was sweet and charming and she found it hard to imagine him angry.

"Because someone might recognize you and Daddy will yell and hit!" Kyra cried.

Brennan stared at the child with awestruck disbelief plastered over her paling face. Kyra burst into floods of tears that oozed out of her eyes in fat droplets. Brennan enclosed her in a warm hug, shushing her with quiet words of comfort.

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"Seeley we have a case." Cam called as she knocked on his door and then headed out again with her coat swung over her shoulder.

"I have one already." He muttered, still looking down at his desk where papers and files were scattered everywhere.

She stopped walking and backtracked into his office. She saw the files and him bent over in concentration. She walked up behind and read the name on the file. Temperance Brennan.

She sighed deeply and sat down at the edge of his desk, placing a hand on his chest and taking the files out of his hands. "Sit." She ordered, giving him a slight push to reinforce the order.

He grudgingly sat down and tried to grab the file back. "I'm not giving up on her Cam. I can't. She's alive and waiting for us to find her."

Cam placed a hand on his shoulder. "No Seeley. She's not coming back. She's gone. Please accept that. Please move on." She pleaded.

The truth was Brennan had been her friend. In some ways they had formed a love/hate relationship in both their understanding and want of control. In the course of six months, Brennan had gone missing, her team at quit, and Cam was walking the line between sanity and insanity. Booth was her last stand, her thread that kept her from quitting. She couldn't lose him in a case that she saw no happy ending for.

"I can't." He said. "What if she's alive and we gave up?"

"Seeley. There's no way she's still alive. That man you guys were chasing that night. He killed five women already. Please Seeley, please let it go. There's no happy ending. She's gone." Cam cried as she felt tears fill in her eyes, refusing to let them fall, successfully winning the battle.

Booth looked up at her. For a moment, she felt frightened. His brown eyes were lost. His shoulders slumped in a defeated way that she had never seen before. To everyone else, he seemed okay, tired, but okay. She knew better. He put endless energy into every case. She had seen him work 52 hours straight without looking as he did now. Now that she was gone.

"I can't give up on her Cam. If it were any of us, she would keep looking until she found us. She wouldn't give up until she got her answers. I can't turn from her when I know that."

"Seeley, even if she's still alive, don't you think she would try to contact us and being Brennan, succeed?" Cam asked.

"Maybe she hasn't gotten a chance yet. Maybe she's still hoping that we'll save her."

Cam wanted to tell him that it was too much to hope for. That they may be better off never knowing what happened to her instead of finding her bones like they had found so many other victims. She didn't want to and secretly she knew that Angela had quit because she had feared the same thing. Feared digging up a body, IDing it as her friend and colleague, and then needing to open Pandora's box and figuring out what happened in her final hours. Wondering if she had felt pain, fear, anger at them for not finding her.

She looked at Booth again and knew that he was afraid of the same thing, but he was different. He was a man that had been tortured, nearly killed and had killed. Here was a man that could hold his own in any fight and always come out victorious.

"Cam, if she is dead. I want to find her body." He said softly. "I want to figure out what happened and catch the bad guy. That's what she would have wanted. Besides, we'll treat it like any other case. A missing persons case."

There was no talking him out of it. She knew better than to try. "Alright, Booth. Keep looking for a lead we may have missed. I'm gonna make some calls." She said, starting for the door.

"Wait." He called after her. "What case we you talking about earlier?"

"Mother's body found. Five year old girl is missing." Cam replied and then raced down the hallway.

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Brennan spent the day cleaning up and feeling shivers run down her spine every time she turned around. Kyra was coloring on the couch and her silence unnerved Brennan. She had tried to coax more out of the girl without success. She felt horrible, questioning her own daughter on the issues concerning her father. But she needed answers.

Finally she had enough. "Kyra let's go." She said. "Let's go to the park."

Kyra shook her head. "Daddy will be mad." She said.

Brennan knelt down until she was at eye level with Kyra. "It's okay sweetie. I'll talk to him. A child needs to get out in the fresh air." She coaxed. "It'll be okay. He won't lay a hand on you."

Kyra shyly took Brennan's hand as they made their way to the car. The streets seemed familiar and Brennan smiled when she found the GPS system in the mini van. That was a machine she remembered how to work.

Once outside of the house, Kyra became more talkative. Laughing at things on the radio, chattering about dolls and the other stuff that five year olds like. Brennan felt herself ease up and the tenseness in her shoulders loosen. She put a little more weight on the pedal as she forgot about all her questions and all her worries for a moment. If only for a moment.

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Author's Note:

I hope everyone liked that. Sadly, I may have confused some readers about the child. I decided to make her five for my own reasons because I have no idea how babies act. Please forgive me for my blunder. Thanks so much for reading.