AN: Thanks again for everything, everyone. Just finished watching The Predator in the Pool. Oh those two are so frustrating! Ah but next week, Hotblooded is still their song! Too funny. Anyway, here's the update. Enjoy!

"This is insane!" Booth couldn't believe how much of a crowd this dead body had attracted. No wonder they wanted Bones down there ASAP.

"Clearly," Brennan mumbled, lifting up the police tape and stepping under it. She knelt down next to the remains. "Female. Late 20s to early 30s. It looks like she's recently given birth."

"How recently?"

"Well, I'd estimate the remains to be about five days old and by the way her pelvic region is so spread apart yet, I'd say that she was killed right after giving birth."

"The sick bastard has a five-day-old baby with him?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if we came across its remains fairly soon."

Booth watched as his partner fingered the gift tag wrapped the body's wrist. He knew that she hated kid cases just as much as he did, especially since she'd decided that she wanted a baby of her own. He wondered if she still wanted one…

"Booth, what if the first victim was the baby's father?"

She had that look in her eyes that made him just want to hold her. Then he remembered that she had rejected him.

"Is there anyway to tell if she's had previous kids?"

Brennan shook her head. "No, but I have a feeling we're going to find out. He probably killed the whole family."

She stood up straight and examined the surrounding crowd.

"Do you think he's one of those people out there?" Booth asked.

"Yes. I just don't know which one."

She stepped back out from the taped off area.

"Bag everything up and send it to the Jeffersonian," she instructed.

A gaggle of camera crews and reporters had started to form along the edge of the park.

"Come on, let's get out of here before they decide to interview us," Booth suggested.

Brennan nodded, surveying the crowd once more.

"Why is he killing these people for me?" Brennan asked softly.

"My guess is that he's trying to challenge you. He probably has some bizarre obsession with you and has read all about our cases. He wants to be the one guy who stumps Dr. Temperance Brennan."

She sighed heavily and started back towards his SUV. He followed her and they drove back to the Jeffersonian in silence.

~*~

Brennan twisted the gift tag from the body in her fingers. He'd written 'To Temperance' on it, but this time he had also left her some sort of code. And try as she might, she just couldn't decipher the code's key. It was illogical, really; she'd always been good at solving cryptograms. But this one, this one was different.

She wondered if it was because she was 'off her game,' as Booth would have put it. Wondered if it was because she just couldn't focus due to the fact that she was hurting him so badly. She heard it in his voice every time he talked to her. She saw it in his eyes every time he looked at her. She noticed it in the sudden loss of intimate touches they used to share so often.

But Brennan knew that she only had herself to blame. She'd caused this, all of this. If only she hadn't made that toast, admitted that there were feelings there, allowed him to kiss her yet again. She knew that she would end up hurting him in the end. She knew it six years ago from the moment they'd started flirting with each other. But she'd allowed herself to tell her that this one would be different. This man, Booth, was going to be the one she let all the way in.

She sighed and opened her desk drawer in search of a paper clip for the paperwork she'd been neglecting. Her eyes instantly fell on Jasper and Brainy Smurf. Brennan closed the drawer quickly, not wanting to be reminded of everything she'd given up.

"Was there a spider in there or something?"

Angela was leaning against the doorframe.

"What? Oh no, it was just…" Brennan trailed off.

"Booth memorabilia?"

She sighed, nodding and pretending to be hard at work in cracking the code from the tag.

"Sweetie, I don't think –"

"I know what I'm doing, Angela. I don't need your advice, not this time."

"That's where you're wrong. You two are both so obviously in pain here. What part of that makes you think that your decision was the right one?"

"Sure, things are hard right now, but they'll get better."

"Right, so when Booth finally does move on, marries some gorgeous blonde, and has three kids with her, you'll be perfectly fine."

"Yes."

"Like hell you won't! Bren, don't you get it? You two are like soul mates!"

"You know I don't believe in soul mates."

"I don't care if you believe in them or not. You guys belong together."

"Look I'm a little busy right now. Can I get this whole 'love exists' pep talk later?"

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when he falls in love with someone who isn't you."

She left Brennan's office in a huff. Brennan rubbed her temples, feeling the beginning of a migraine coming on. Her cell started vibrating, and she froze. She was wondering when that bastard was going to contact her again.

"Hello?"

"Temperance, darling, did you receive my gift?"

"Where's the baby?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

"What did you do with the baby?" she asked more slowly.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"You killed it, didn't you?"

"Killed her actually."

Brennan's free hand curled into a fist.

"Why are you doing this? Why this family?"

"Now that's cheating, Dr. Brennan. It's not my job to solve the puzzle."

"The cryptogram on the gift card?"

"You'd better hurry, gorgeous. Their son is next."

The line went to a dial tone.

"No!" she screamed, frustrated, throwing her phone across the room.

This wasn't happening. There wasn't really some little boy out there depending on her to save him.

"Bones? What's wrong?" Booth asked popping his head into her office. "I stopped by to give Cam something and I heard you scream."

"The baby girl is dead. But they had a son too and if I don't figure out what this damn code means…"

Her voice broke at the thought of being responsible for a child's death.

"Hey," Booth said in that soothing tone that only belonged to him. He was by her side in seconds, hands rubbing small circles on her back. "You can do this."

"No, I can't. This cryptogram is impossible. And if I don't solve it soon…"

"Don't do that. Do not blame yourself if this boy dies. You're not the one who targeted him and killed him."

"But I could've stopped it!"

"He's not dead yet. Come on, let me help you solve this."

"Do you have any experience with cryptograms?"

"No, but maybe that's exactly what you need. You're probably just over thinking it."

Brennan nodded and handed the tag to Booth.

"I'm going to assume that the numbers don't correspond to the alphabet," Booth mused.

"Of course not. That'd be way too simplistic."

Her back burned where his hands had been seconds before. Why had he touched her? These little intimate touches were supposed to be done with now.

"What all have you tried?"

Brennan handed him her sheet of screw ups. Booth looked it over.

"God, you really have tried everything, haven't you?"

She nodded.

"Why don't you have Angela run it through one of her software programs? Maybe it can figure out a pattern."

"Sure."

She got up and started to walk out of her office and towards Angela's.

"We'll get this guy, Bones," Booth assured her. "And we'll get him good."

AN: Peace. Love. Review. :)