A/N: I tried to make this chapter short but it ended up being long anyway. It's still shorter than the last one. Thank you to those who have reviewed. More questions are answered here.
Deputy Director Cullen glanced down at his watch and sighed. In another life, one he would never know, he would have been retiring in less than three hours. Everything was ready. He had chosen his successor, he was convinced Seeley Booth would do a perfect job. Unfortunately, he lived in the real world and in the real world, things rarely went the way you wanted them to go. Bad weather, like the thunderstorm they had had the previous night, caused one of your best field agent to be in an accident. A thirty-year-old case file finally had a breakthrough and necessitated FBI investigation. The remains were bones. The only competent (according to him) forensic anthropologist in the region worked with the field agent. Nobody else wanted to work with her. He was forced to find someone else, someone who was not supposed to be working on the field. Her former partner. No, things rarely went the way you wanted them to go. At least, one thing was for sure: the day he would leave the Bureau that had been his life for over thirty years would be in good hands and that, he was thankful for.
Laura Joyce stared intently at him from his desk, as if surveilling his every move. It seemed as though her stare followed him no matter what he stood in front of it. He eyed the child in an almost frightful way. How many times had he seen that cute little face? That same face that had haunted him for years- his only unsolved case. The Joyce case. Everywhere he went, little Laura Joyce followed him in thoughts. What had happened to her? Why hadn't anybody found her body? How could a nine-year-old girl disappear during an earthquake? All these questions nagged at him from the back of his mind.
Sitting down, Cullen grabbed the child's picture. Long black hair and powerful brown eyes. He had no doubt little Laura Joyce would have been a real beauty if only life hadn't decided to take her away. Cullen stared into the child's eyes and the Director could almost see a sadness in them. Her eyes had plagued his dreams, her pleas had echoed inside his mind. He had never been able to forget her. Of all the cases he had investigated, Laura's was the only one he hadn't solved.
The picture under Laura's was similar. A brown-haired girl with sea blue eyes and a 100-watt smile stared back at him. Hope Lawson, 9 years old. Died in very mysterious conditions. Nobody quite knows what happened to her. After a month of investigation, the case was closed and put into the archives. The world had moved on, leaving little Hope Lawson in the dark.
The one under Hope- Raine Bennett. Short for her age, black hair and dark brown eyes. Cullen almost thought she looked like Riley, his successor's daughter. Booth, he had worked on the case. He had spent weeks trying to figure out what had happened to little Raine Bennett. A nine-year-old child simply didn't vanish in broad daylight only to be never seen again. Cullen shivered at the thought that the child had probably never even left her house.
A knock at the door startled him. Cullen looked up from Raine's picture to find Booth standing at the door. Motioning to his agent to sit down, Cullen stood up and began pacing the room.
"I have some good news and some bad news." Cullen started, not looking over at the man sitting in his office.
Booth glanced briefly at Raine Bennett's picture before replying.
"Please start with the bad news, Sir."
Cullen raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"Most people would want to hear the good news first."
"Well I'm not most people."
"That's true."
Cullen paused at the window and stared out. Outside, a light rain was falling. Light gray clouds populated the skies.
"As you already know, Booth, the investigation has already stared on the remains found by your daughter Sunday night."
Booth nodded, trying his best to remain as detached as possible from the thought. He quickly found that he couldn't.
"The bad news is, I got a call this morning from the hospital. Ryan Longström was in an accident."
"Is he okay?"
Cullen turned around to face the agent.
"I know you don't like him very much because your wife and him are really close. No, he's not fine. He'll have to stay in the hospital for a few days and he won't be able to return to work for a couple of weeks."
Booth nodded.
"Booth, I need you to take the case."
"What?"
Cullen sighed and walked over to his desk. He sat down before continuing.
"That's the good news, Booth. I'll need you to work on this case. You and Dr. Brennan-"
"Booth. Dr. Booth."
"Sorry. Dr. Booth and you have a way of working together. You do quick and efficient work when you are together that Ryan and her never did. Take this as my last request but my retirement. If you succeed at finding the culprit, I will make you my successor."
Booth's heart skipped a beat. Deputy Director? Him?
"And if I don't succeed?"
Booth could have sworn he was seeing a smile tugging at his superior's lips.
"Then I'm making you my successor. Either way Booth, I'm taking my retirement soon. I'm getting too old to do this."
Booth chuckled.
"I'm very honored, Sir."
Cullen simply nodded.
"Now go see your wife. You have a lot of work to do."
Nodding, Booth got up and walked out of the office.
"Is he okay?" Angela asked as she stepped through the sliding doors with her best friend.
"Broken leg, dislocated shoulder and a fractured wrist. All on his left side." Temperance replied.
"What are you going to do?"
"Ryan said that Cullen will probably assign someone else to work with me on the case."
"But who?"
Temperance shrugged.
Unlocking the door to her office, she opened it and stepped inside. The room was dark, she turned on the lights.
"Booth said something about Raine Bennett yesterday. What was he talking about?"
Temperance sat down at her desk and turned on her computer.
"Raine Bennett is... was a little girl who disappeared about sixteen years ago. She was Booth's first case. He was forced to drop it when there were no real leads. It's been haunting him ever since."
"What happened to her?"
"I think she just vanished in the middle of the day. Nobody has heard or seen anything. Doesn't make much sense to me if you ask me."
Angela nodded.
"How's Jack doing?" Temperance asked after a few minutes of silence.
Temperance looked up at her friend. Tears were already forming in the artist's eyes.
"He says he likes it over there and he's not going to come back any time soon. I don't understand why he left, Bren."
"Booth says it's probably because of the baby."
"But I'm carrying another one."
Temperance glanced down at her friend's new bulging stomach. She sighed. How she missed being pregnant. Her children were growing up so quickly. The twins would be turning nine in a couple of months and Brina had celebrated her second birthday only months ago. She was already talking, forming short sentences, running, walking and hated to be held. She had inherited her mother's sense of independence. Temperance missed holding her children and, as much as she dreaded the thought of having children before, she now dreaded the thought of never having another one again. But with the twins, Brina and Parker, their family (and their house) was full. She knew Booth would have no problem on having another baby but Temperance knew it was impossible. Their life was already packed the way it was, another baby wouldn't do any good.
"He still thinks about the other one you lost. He might be protecting himself in case you lose that one too."
Angela snorted.
"I thought you hated psychology."
"I do. This is Booth's theory."
"And what is yours?"
Temperance sighed.
"I'm not good at this type of thing, Ange."
"I know but you must have a small theory about it."
Somewhere in the Jeffersonian, the sliding doors opened and closed.
"I think Booth is right. It makes sense. I know that if I was in his situation, I would probably do the same thing."
Angela sighed loudly as she slumped onto the couch.
"I didn't think he was that kind of man. When we first started dating, I made it quite clear that I wanted to have children later on. He didn't object but he didn't agree. When I got pregnant the first time, he was delighted. He took it really hard when I lost it a couple of weeks later. Then I got pregnant again and he just took off."
"I know Angela. I remember."
"I miss him."
Temperance sighed. She hated seeing her friend suffering like this but she didn't know what to do. She still wasn't good at comforting people, not even with her children. Booth was the comforting, sensitive, affectionate one in their family. She just didn't know how to be. She had learned to receive but not to give.
Footsteps could be heard echoing off the walls. The lab was already buzzing with activity. Crime never slept. New bodies were showing up, archaeologists were demanding identification for skeletal remains found across the world. Temperance should have been working but Angela needed her.
A knock at her door startled her. She looked up in its direction to find Booth standing outside her office. A large smile broke across her face.
"Seeley? What are you doing here?"
Angela looked up. Booth smiled kindly at her, Angela forced a smile back.
"Pack your things, Bones. We have some sleuthing to do."
Temperance frowned.
"Booth, what are you talking about?"
"Cullen asked me to take over the case. We'll be working together."
Temperance stared wide-eyed at her husband before frowning once again.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Wow, gee, thanks Honey. I'm glad you're happy too." Booth replied, sarcastically.
"So you're serious?"
"Yes."
"And what are our plans for today?"
A smile tugged at Booth's lips.
"Talking to the Lawson family."
Temperance nodded and turned to her best friend.
"Are you going to be okay?"
Angela stood up slowly, a protective hand on her stomach. She forced a smile.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You two kids have fun."
"Ange, are you-"
"Yes, I'm sure. Now go!"
Temperance turned to her husband.
"Don't forget, if you ever need anything, you call us, okay?" Booth said.
Angela nodded.
"Thanks, Booth."
Smiling one more time at her, the couple turned around and walked out of the office. Wiping a tear that had managed to escape, Angela did the same.
"She's fine as long as she doesn't talk to Jack. When she does, she comes to work the next thing with puffy eyes and she doesn't stop crying." Temperance said as Booth pulled the SUV into the Lawson's driveway.
"How far along is she?"
"Six months, maybe."
Booth turned off the ignition and the couple climbed out of the vehicle.
"She's way passed the last time."
Temperance nodded.
"Do you think Jack is going to come back?" Temperance asked as Booth rang the doorbell.
"How the hell should I know?"
The front door opened to reveal a very-tired looking woman. Booth introduced himself before asking for permission to come in. The woman nodded and stepped aside. The couple stepped inside the house.
They were led to a small living room where they offered a seat and something to drink. Booth declined the drink, Temperance asked for water. The woman fetched it for her. Once they were finally settled comfortably, Booth immediately began.
"As you probably already know, your daughter's remains were found two nights ago."
Mrs Lawson nodded.
"The local police has already dropped by. I thought they were investigating."
"Hope's death falls under FBI jurisdiction. The local PD had stepped back."
"I see."
"Mrs Lawson, I need you to tell me what exactly happened the day Hope disappeared."
"Hope was taking a bath. I was downstairs with my husband and my other children."
"How many other children do you have?"
"Four. Hope was my middle one. She was nine years old the day she disappeared. Anyway, as I was saying, we were downstairs watching television when I heard Hope scream. I ran upstairs to check on her but the bathroom door was locked. We never locked the bathroom door when our children were in the tub. By the time I got to the bathroom, Hope had stopped screaming. I couldn't hear anything. I finally got the door open, I have no clue how. Hope was floating face down in the tub. I got scared and ran downstairs to get my husband. When we came back upstairs, Hope was gone."
"Her remains showed that your daughter drowned."
Mrs Lawson nodded.
"Do you remember anything else about that night?"
"That's all I can tell you. We never found Hope. There was no trace of a break-in, nobody prints of any kind that would link Hope to an abductor. Nothing. There was no water on the floor or anything. It's like the ground sucked her in."
"How long did it take you to fetch your husband, Mrs Lawson?"
"I don't know. I ran down the stairs, tried to tell him that Hope had drowned in the tub. My younger children got scared. We tried to calm them down then we ran back upstairs. The door was still open except that the bathroom was empty. I'd say not more than two or three minutes."
"This gave plenty of time to the abductor to take your daughter and hide somewhere in the house."
Mrs Lawson shuddered.
"Do you mean to say that a stranger could have been hiding in my house the whole time?"
Booth and Temperance exchanged looks.
"How long did you stay at 53 Maple Street after your daughter's disappearance?"
"How did you know we lived there?" Mrs Lawson asked, surprised.
"Just answer my question."
"About six months. Then we moved out. I couldn't bare to stay in that house. My kids were having nightmares about burning bodies and zombies. My youngest one, who was three years old at the time, complained about hearing noises in her bedroom. We moved out before things got out of hand. But why the questions about 53 Maple Street?"
"Do the names Raine Bennett and Laura Joyce ring a bell to you, Mrs Lawson?"
The woman shook her head.
"No. Sorry."
"Your daughter's remains were found amongst the two other girl's. Raine Bennett and Laura Joyce both lived at 53 Maple Street. The remains were found in the basement of the house."
Mrs Lawson gasped.
"No."
"I'm very sorry."
Tears welled at the back of the woman's eyes.
"You mean to tell me that my little Hope never even left our house?"
"It's a possibility." Booth admitted.
The front door opened and closed. The adults fell silent. Footsteps were heard and soon three black-haired heads popped inside the living room. Booth turned around and locked eyes with a teenage girl.
"Kids, this is Agent Booth and Dr. Temperance Booth. They have news about Hope."
The teenage girl turned serious. Her two other brothers fell silent.
"Agent Booth, these are my children Michael, Thomas and Raquel."
Booth nodded politely. The three children said nothing.
"Thomas is my youngest child."
Booth turned to Mrs Lawson.
"Your children are probably hungry. We better leave."
The couple stood up, followed closely by Mrs Lawson. The woman walked them back to the door. Thanking her one more time for her time, Booth opened the door and stepped out. Temperance followed.
They were reaching the SUV when the front door swung open.
"Agent Booth!"
Booth and Temperance turned around to find Raquel running down the stairs. The teenage girl stopped in front of them.
"I shared a room with Hope back on Maple Street." The teenager said. "I would wake up in the middle of the night to see a man standing in our room. But every time I'd get scared and would duck under my covers. When I'd look again, the room would be empty."
Booth nodded.
"Did this occur every night?"
"Almost every night. There's one more thing. There was a little girl sometimes."
Booth frowned.
"A little girl?"
Raquel nodded.
"Short. With brown hair and brown eyes. She sat at the foot of our bed. She cried. I don't know who she is."
"You were quite young when all of this happened. Are you sure you simply didn't just imagine it?"
Booth saw Raquel's features tense.
"You're just like the rest of them, aren't you?" The young girl spat before turning around and running back inside the house.
Booth turned to his wife.
"What was that all about?"
Temperance shrugged.
From the depths of his pocket, Booth's cellphone rang.
"It's probably Angela." The man stated as he reached inside his jacket and fetched his cellphone.
Without checking the caller ID, Booth flipped his phone open.
"Booth."
"Agent Booth?"
A man's voice. Definitely not Angela.
"Yes."
"My name Jason Triggs and I'm a defence lawyer. I'm calling from the Virginia State Penitentiary. I need you to come here right away. It's urgent."
Before Booth even had a chance to reply, the line was disconnected.
"Who was it?"
Booth glanced at the house. From the living room window, Raquel was glaring at him.
"A lawyer named Jason Triggs. He said he needed to meet with me. He said it was urgent."
Temperance frowned.
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