Sorry this took so long, I've just started college and tried to get settled. I've written a lot, but I'll post it in two sections to make it easier to read.
Disclaimer: I own only the character I invented (villian, victims) and the story line... Although I do think that Dr. Parker Booth should be considered mine...
Enjoy
Hodgins, Angela and Zach gathered around the Angelator. Cam was connected via satellite, but Brennan had heard Parker crying and had gone to comfort him, trusting Zach to relay the necessary information.
"Cause of death for all three victims was multiple stab wounds to the chest, but there are smaller, less noticeable wounds of varying heights and depths on each victim's body. The other variable is the number of strokes, there are over twice as many wounds on the ribs and pelvis of Darla Peters than the other victims." Angela touched a few things on the controls and the appropriate marks turned red.
"In order for an attacker to inflict this type of damage, he or she would have to hold the knife like this," she said as the image transformed into a hand holding a pocketknife at a very odd angle.
"Wouldn't it be rather difficult to stab someone when you're holding the knife like that?" Cam asked.
"Yes," Zach replied, "Or, the attacker was considerably shorter than the women."
"But Darla Peters is only 5' 2" Not many people 'considerably shorter' than that, Zacharoni."
"So we are looking for a crazy midget assassin?" Hodgins asked, his ears perking up at the thought. But Zach shook his head slowly.
"The damage isn't enough for the fully developed muscular system of an adult. Actually… it matches the damage a child would inflict."
"The damage to Hannah Moore is exactly equal to the force exerted by an angry five year-old." Brennan said, grimly, entering the room.
"Wait, wait," Cam interrupted, "exactly how do we know the power of an angry five year-old?" Hodgins looked to Angela who looked to Zach who looked to Brennan, who looked at the floor.
"Dr. Brennan, care to explain?"
"We set up a routine test to try to match strength, height and weight to the damage inflicted on the victims. When the test concluded we moved in here, but…" Brennan's voice trailed off as she searched for the right words to say about Parker's outburst.
"Agent Booth's son was in the lab and he gained access to the testing equipment," Zach spoke up.
"Do I want to know why he was angry?" Cam asked.
"I don't think it is relevant to the case," Zach said.
"He is scared," Brennan whispered, "His mom left him, didn't pick him up when she said she would. Instead her boyfriend shows up at four in the morning, wakes us all up and demands that we give him Parker. Booth takes Parker home the next morning and all his stuff is jammed in a suitcase. Like he was going to-" Brennan practically jumped up from the chair she'd just settled into and left the room.
"Anyone want to explain that?" Cam asked, but the team just stood, stunned.
"Booth!" Brennan called, rounding the corner to her office and nearly falling on her face. Booth jumped up to catch her.
"Whoa, Bones, careful there," noticing the gleam in her eye he asked, "What's up?"
"It's Becca," she panted, "She's next."
"Slow down, Bones," Booth said, looking towards Parker.
"I haven't had lunch yet," she said, an idea beginning to form.
"Wong Foo's?" Booth asked, reading her mind.
"We'll talk there," she said.
"Hey, Bone Lady! G-Man!," Sid greeted them heartily, "and it's little G too!" The family smiled.
"What did you get yourself into, Dr. Brennan?" Sid asked.
"A little family spat gone awry," Booth said, "Listen, Sid, could you keep Parker up here for a bit, Bones and I need to talk about some stuff."
"Sure thing, but remember, no gross pictures. Hey little G, how abouts some grilled cheese?"
"Cool, only I'm not little G anymore, 'kay. I'm Dr. Booth now. I'm going to be a forensic emologist like Uncle Jack."
Assured that Parker was safe, Booth and Brennan settled into "their" booth.
"What do you mean, Becca's next?" Booth asked.
"Look at his pattern. He dates the women, gets close, presumably the kids trust him. Then, in one night, the responsible mother is late picking up her child and then they disappear without a trace." Booth couldn't say a word, so Brennan continued.
"He always waited until the early morning, when the average person's reasoning skills are at their low point. But he underestimated you and I. Our jobs require that we be able to reason well at all times. It's what keeps us alive." Booth did not like where this was going.
"So you think that Rebecca is-," he threw a glance toward Parker, "you know?"
"Dead? No. Not yet." Brennan said, "I don't think that it's really Becca he's after." Booth absorbed this new revelation and nearly ran to the counter. He pulled Parker into a hug so tight that the boy began to squirm.
"Daddy you're squeezing too hard!" the boy exclaimed. Booth ignored him, tears streaming down his face. Sid looked to Brennan for explanation who merely rolled her eyes and rose awkwardly from her chair. Crossing to stand behind Booth, she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to hurt him to keep him safe, Booth." she whispered, but she understood his need to hold Parker close. Booth let up a little.
"Booth, I need to get back to the lab." Brennan whispered.
"The ring is silver, common alloy, that's all I can give you," Hodgins said, adding another report to the growing pile on the computer desk. Brennan looked up.
"Would it have been valuable?" she asked. Hodgins shrugged his shoulders.
"Without more information, I can't know," he said.
"See if Parker can work with Angela to describe it. He's an alert boy; he could probably tell you which tie Seeley put on this morning, so if the guy gave her a ring-" Brennan stopped when she realized that Hodgins was laughing. "What?"
"You just called Booth, Seeley," The look Brennan shot at him stopped his laugh.
"I'll go see if I can get any more particulates from the clothing," Hodgins practically ran out the door. Brennan just smiled as she picked up the phone to call Booth.
Angela smiled at the little boy who practically bounced into her office.
"Hey Parker, do you want to color?" she asked. After looking to his dad for permission Parker settled himself into a chair. Angela shooed Booth out of the room and sat next to Parker, sketchbook on her lap.
"What are you going to draw?" Parker asked. Angela smiled.
"I'm not sure, I'll need your help. I want to draw a pretty ring, but I'm not sure how to."
"It should be silver," Parker's voice was matter-of-fact, "With pretty flowers all around, and a clear rock on top." Angela drew what he was describing.
"Like this?" Parker studied the drawing, then frowned.
"No, the rock doesn't stick out. Daddy said that way, it won't tear her gloves when she works on a case." Angela sighed, she'd been sketching Brennan's engagement ring. She smiled, drew the image to Parker's satisfaction then flipped to a new page. Angela leaned over to grab another pencil and to look at Parker's drawing.
"What are you drawing?" she asked.
"My family," he replied. "This," he said, pointing to the pair of stick figures in the center, "is me with Temperance. Daddy's over here, looking for Mommy." After pointing out the Booth figure in his drawing, Parker's hand strayed to a tiny pair of figures in the corner of the paper.
"That's Mommy. She ran away with Guy. She said he was going to be my new Daddy. He gave her a ring too, but it wasn't as pretty as Temperance's ring is." Parker started to add another figure to the drawing. Angela knew that if she asked about the ring now it could upset Parker, so she ignored his comment.
"Who's that?" she asked, pointing to the newest figure. Parker added curly hair.
"That's Jack," he said, "Mommy's ring was silver too." he added.
"Why are you adding Jack to your drawing?" she asked, slowly sketching another ring.
"'Cause he's cool."
"Parker, did your mom's ring have a rock on it too?" The little tow-head nodded.
"It was blue. It stuck up." The Jack figure in his picture was finished and he began to add another. This one was hand in hand with Jack and had long black hair.
"That's you,"' he said, smiling up at Angela with a classic Booth smile which melted her heart. She gave him a quick hug.
"Mommy's rock was a square shape," he said, studying the drawing carefully. "And there were swirly shapes on the sides." Angela added the details Parker indicated.
"There was a big scratch on it, here," he said, indicating an area on one side of the ring.
"What happened?" the little boy shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. It was just like that." Another figure, this one looking suspiciously like Zach, appeared on the paper.
"So, what did you think of Guy?" she asked.
"He was okay. He made Mommy laugh. He liked to tickle me." Parker said, "But he wanted me to call him Daddy, too."
"So, you felt like he was trying to take your daddy's place," Angela concluded.
"I heard him talk to Mommy. He said it wasn't good for me to spend so much time with Daddy, 'specially since Daddy was a cop. He made plans for vacation on my Daddy weekends." Parker slowly and methodically took the black crayon in his hand and crossed out the already small figure of Guy. "I don't want him in my family." There were tears streaming down Parker's face.
"I want my mommy back," he sniffed. Angela set down the sketchbook and cradled the five year-old.
"Everything you do will help us find her. You're going to be a hero, just like your daddy," she whispered. Parker looked excited by the possibility.
"Really?" he asked, tears still making his voice quiver.
"Really." she confirmed, wiping his cheeks.
"I can draw him for you," Parker offered.
"While you do, why don't you tell me what you're drawing so I can draw it too." Parker agreed to the arrangement. He settled in with a new sheet of paper and reached for a blue crayon.
"His eyes are blue and small," Parker reached for the red crayon. Instead of drawing a mouth like Angel expected him to, Parker used the red to create a long scar underneath the man's left eye.
"He fell out of a tree when he was ten. He said he's lucky to still have his eye." The mouth came next, frowning, almost always when he thought no one was looking.
"When he smiled his eyes never smiled," Parker said, with all the wisdom of a much older person.
The man was skinny, going bald, with hardly any eyebrows to speak of. Angela and Parker spent forty-five minutes perfecting their sketches. Angela had to admit that Parker showed promise, but then, everyone saw that in him.
"Can we go take my pictures to Daddy now?" Parker asked.
"Sure, but don't forget your first one," Angela said.
"That one is for Temperance," he said, almost making Angela cry with the sweetness of the gesture.
The pair hurried to the platform, where they found Booth, Hodgins, Zach and Brennan crowded around the remains.
"Ahem," Angela cleared her throat. All heads snapped up and Booth and Brennan headed towards them.
"This," Angela said, showing them her sketchbook, "is the ring. And this," she continued, turning the page, "is our guy."
"I drew him too Daddy, Parker said, extending the crayon drawing. He handed Brennan the other paper.
"This is for you. It's our family." Booth beamed. Even Brennan felt tears build up in her eyes.
"Thank you very much, Parker." Brennan carefully folded the paper and tucked it into the pocket of her lab coat.
"Angela, got a minute?" Booth asked. Angela led the way to her office.
"What were you thinking?" he nearly yelled, the minute the door was closed.
"Booth-" she started, but he held up a hand to stop her.
"I know we need a face for the guy, but I could have given you that. There was no need to put my five year-old son through that."
"Booth, it was Parker's idea. He was going to draw the guy anyway, to help you find his mom. He wants to help be a hero, like you."
"Oh. Sorry."
"No problem. Now go, be a hero."